the Serpents life is cold and dry and the humane life hote moyst wherfore either of both abhorreth one the other and the serpent leapeth as farre from a mans spittle as it would doe out of a vessell of scalding water Agatharcides writeth that there was a King in Affrick called Psyllus whose Sepulchre was preserued in the greater Syrtes From this King there were certaine people named Psyllians in whose bodies there was a certaine inbred and naturall power to kill or at the least to astonish Serpents Spiders Toades and such like and lay them for dead euen by the sauour or smell of them And the manner of these men to try the chastitie of theyr wiues was to take their children newly borne and to cast them vnto direfull Serpents for if they were of the right line lawfully begotten then did the serpents die before them but if they were adulterous and the children of strangers the serpents would eate and deuoure them Pliny affirmeth that euen in his dayes there were some of those people aliue among the Nasomons who destroyed many of them did possesse their places yet some running from death escaped Generally such people were called Marsi and Psilli for the Marsi were a people of Italy descended of Circes as is said in whom there was a vertue to cure all the stinging of serpents by touching the wounded places Such saith Crates Pergamenus are in Hellespont about the Riuer Parius And some are of opinion that at the beginning they were Ophiogenes borne or bred of Serpents or that some great Noble man father of that country was of a serpent made a man And Varro saith that in his time there were some few men aliue in whose spettle was found that vertue to resist cure the poyson of venomous beasts But hauing named Ophiogenes or Anguigenae that is men bred of serpents or snakes I see no cause why it should be iudged that those which cure serpents poyson should be so misiudged for to cure poyson is not the worke of poyson but of an Antidote or contrary power to poyson and therefore curers resisters of poyson are without all learning called Ophiogenes that is serpents broode but rather that terme belongeth more iustlie to those people whose nature is sociable with serpents and serpents agree with them as they would doe with their own kind Such an one was Exagon the Embassadour at Rome who at the commandement of the Consuls for their experience was cast naked into a vessell or tunne of snakes who did him no harme but licked him with their tongues and so with great miracle he was let foorth againe vntouched and yet there is no more reason to say that this man was borne of the linage of serpents because those Men-enemies did not hurt him then it was to say that Daniell was borne of Lyons because that the Lyons did not harme him Or that Romulus and Remus were borne of the kindred of Wolfes because a shee Wolfe did nourish theÌ„ VVe do read of many people in the world which were surnamed of Serpents all which may as well be deemed to be discended of such creatures because of their name as well as the other who were by GOD for their innocencie preserued from death Ebusus was called Colubâ—â—xia and the people thereof Ophiussae and in Arabia we reade of the Ophiades both which are deriued from Serpents called in Greeke Opheis Eustathius also relateth a story of a man called Ophis I omit to speake of the Ophitae and others yet thus much I must needs say that commonly such names haue been giuen to Serpents for some cause or accident either fainedly or truly deriued from Serpents So wee read of Ophion a companion of Cadmus and a builder of Thebes who was said to be made by Pallas of a Dragons tooth Likewise the Spartanes were called Ophiodeiroi by Pythius because in a famine they were constrained to eate Serpents S. Augustine maketh mention of certaine blasphemous Haereticks who were called Ophitae because they worshipped a Serpent said that the serpent which deceiued our first Parents Adam and Euah was Christ Wherefore they kept a Serpent in a Caue whom they did nourish and worshippe which at the charme of the Priest would come out of his Caue and licke the oblations which they set vppon his denne rowling and folding himselfe round about them and then would goe in againe then did these abhominable Haereticks breake these oblations into the Eucharist and receiue them as sanctified by the serpent And such also is the storie of Caelius Rhod where hee termeth the great deuill Ophioneus whom both holy Scripture and auncient Heathen say that hee fell out of Heauen But all these things are but by the way vpon occasion of that vnnaturall conceit of those men called Ophiogenes that is descended or begotten by Serpents Therefore I will returne where I left namely to the hatred of Men to Serpents and of Serpents to Men againe In testimonie whereof there haue beene mutuall slaughters namely men which haue killed monstrous serpents and serpents which haue killed men againe Hercules beeing but an Infant as Poets faine killed thóse two serpents which Iuno sent to his cradle to destroy him for Iuno is saide to be much offended at his birth because hee was begotten by Iupiter vppon Alâ—mena and therefore there was reserued the Image of Hercules at Athens strangling a serpent But Pierius maketh of this fiction a good morall or Hieroglyphick when he saith that by Hercules strangling of the serpents in his cradle is vnderstood how those men which are borne for any great enterprises should kill their pleasures while they be young I neede not to stand long vpon this poynt for it is euident that to this day there are many Hyades both men and women which are not afraid to kill the Serpents broode But such as haue perrished by serpents I meane men of any note are also expressed whereof Ouid writeth of Aâ—lacos the sonne of Priamus and Alixothoes who following the Nymph Hesperia with whom hee was in loue was suddainly killed by a snake biting his foote So were Apaesantus Munitus Eurydice Laocoon Opheltes the sonne of Lycurgus King of Nemea Orestes Idmon and Mopsus were slaine by serpents vvherof Opheltes by the negligence of his Nurse Hypsiphiles leauing him vngarded in his cradle It is recorded by Aelianus and Pliny that when a serpent hath killed a man he can neuer more couer himselfe in the earth but in punishment of so vile an offence wandereth to and fro subiect to infinite miseries and calamities beeing not acknowledged by his female if he be a male nor yet by the male if it be a female and is forsaken of all his crew or societie The earth it selfe not dayning to entertaine a man-murtherer into her bowels but constraining him to liue Winter and Sommer abroad vppon the open earth And thus hath the Diuine prouidence dispensed his iustice that hee suffereth not
their meate instantly leape out and so the man that deluded them is ready with a paire of tonges or other instrument to lay hold vpon them and take them by which meanes they take many and of them so taken make oyle of Scorpions And Constantius writeth that if a mans hand be well annointed with iuyce of Radish he may take them without danger in his bare hand In the next place we are to proceede to the venom poyson of Scorpions the instrument or sting whereof lyeth not onely in the tayle but also in the teeth for as Ponzettus writeth Laedit scorpius morsu ictu the Scorpion harmeth both with teeth tayle that is although the greatest harme doe come by the sting in the tayle yet is there also some that cōmeth by their byting This poyson of Scorpions as Pliny out of Apollodorus writeth is white and in the heate of the day is very feruent and plentifull so as at that time they are insatiably and vnquenchably thirsty for not onely the wild or wood Scorpion but also all other are of a hot nature and the symptomes of their bytings are such as follow the effects of hote poysons and therefore saith Rasis all their remedies are of a colde qualitie Yet Galen thinketh otherwise and that the poyson is cold and the effects thereof are also cold For which cause Rondeletus prescribeth oyle of Scorpions to expell the stone and also the cure of the poyson is by strong Garlicke and the best Wine which are hote things And therefore I conclude that although Scorpions be most hote yet is their poyson of a cold nature In the next place I thinke is needfull to expresse the symptomes following the striking or stinging of these venomous Scorpions and they are as Aetius writeth the very same which follow the byting or poyson of that kinde of great Phalanx Spyder called also Teragnatum and that is they are in such case as those persons be which are smitten with the Falling-sicknesse He which is stung by a Scorpion thinketh that he is pressed with the fall of great and cold hayle beeing so cold as if hee were continually in a cold sweat and so in short space the poyson disperseth it selfe vvithin the skinne and runneth all ouer the body neuer ceasing vntill it come to possesse some predominant or principall vitall part and then followeth death For as the skinne is small and thin so the sting pierceth to the bottom thereof and so into the flesh where it woundeth and corrupteth eyther some veyne or arterie or sinew and so the member harmed swelleth immediatly into an exceeding great bulke and quantity and aking with insufferable torment But yet as we haue already said there is a difference of the paine according to the difference of the Scorpion that stingeth If a man be stung in the lower part of his body instantly followeth the extension of his virile member the swelling thereof but if in the vpper part then is the person affected with cold and the place smitten is as if it were burned his countenaunce or face discorted glewish spots about the eyes the teares viscous and slymie hardnes of the articles falling downe of the fundament and a continuall desire to egestion foaming at the mouth coughing conuulsions of the braine and drawing the face backward the hayre standes vpright palenesse goeth ouer all the body and a continuall pricking like the pricking of needels Also Gordomus writeth that if the pricke fall vppon an artery there followeth swouning but if on a nerue there speedily followeth putrefaction and rottennesse And those Scorpions which haue wings make wounds with a compasse like a bow whose succeeding symptomes are both heate and cold and if they hurt about the caniculer dayes their wounds are very sildome recouered The Indian Scorpions cause death three months after their wounds But most wonderfull is that which Strabo relateth of the Albenian Scorpions and Spyders whereof hee saith are two kinds and one kind killeth by laughing the other by weeping And if any Scorpion hurt a vaine in the head it causeth death by madnesse as writeth Paracelsus When an oxe or other beast is strooken with a Scorpion his knees are drawne together and he halteth refusing meate out of his nose floweth a greene humour and when hee is layd he careth not for rising againe These and such like are the symptomes that follow the bytings and stingings of Scorpions for the cure whereof I will remit the Reader to that excellent discourse written by Wolphius wherein are largely and learnedly expressed whatsoeuer Art could collect out of nature And seeing we in our Country are free from Scorpions and therefore shal haue no neede to feare their poyson it shall not I trust offend my Reader if I cut off the relation of Scorpions cures as a thing which cannot benefit either the English-Reader or else much adorne this history and so I will proceede to the medicines drawne out of Scorpions The application or vse of Scorpions in medicine is eyther by powder or by oyle or by applying them brused to their owne wounds wherefore euery one of these are to be handled particularly and first of all for the powder it is made by vstion or burning in this manner They take tenne Scorpions and put them aliue into a new earthen potte whose mouth is to be dammed vp with loame or such like stuffe then must it be sette vpon a fire of Vine-tree-shreddes and therein must the pot stand day and night vntill all within it be consumed to powder and you shall know by their white colour when they be enough otherwise if they be browne or burned they must be continued longer and the vse of this powder is to expell the stone Againe they vse to make this powder another way they take twentie Scorpions and put them in a little earthen pot with a narrow mouth which mouth must be stopped and then the potte put into a Furnace by the space of sixe houres which Furnace must also be kept close within and with a gentle fire then after sixe houres take off the pot and bruse the Scorpions into powder and keepe that powder for the vse afore-said There are other waies also to prepare this powder but in all preparations the attendant and assistant must take heede of the fume or smoake that commeth from it for that is very venomous and contagious But besides there are many things to be obserued heerein as first that the Scorpions be aliue and that they be killed in oyle then that they be put in whole with euery member without mutilation and that the Scorpions appointed for this confection be of the strongest poyson and the time of their collection to be when the Sunne is in Leo and not in Scorpius as some without reason haue imagined The oyle so made is distinguished into two kindes one simple and the other compound The simple is made of a conuenient number of Scorpions as
neere Liuonia there are great store of great serpents also so that the Heard-men are at continuall war and contention with them for defence of their flock Likewise in the Mountaines of Heluetia and Auergne whereof there are many wonders reported in the world which I will not stand vpon to relate in this place We reade also that some places haue beene disinhabited dispeopled by serpents such were the people of Scythia called Neuri who before the war of Darius were constrained to forsake theyr soyle because they were annoyed not onely with home-bred serpents but also with many other which came from other parts and so the Country remaineth desolate to this present day the ancient Inhabitants beeing all remooued to dwell among the Buditani The Cittie Amyclae in Italy as M Varro writeth was destroyed also by serpents And there be certains places of the world which haue receiued their denomination from serpents besides the Ophiusae neere Creete The Iland Tenos was called Hydrussa and Ophiussa so were Cremiuscos Aepolium and the Mountaines Macrocremnij Rhodus the long Ilands Ophiades in the Arabian coast which after it had remained a long time desart was purged and cleered from serpents by the Kings of Egypt Nicaenetus also calleth Cyprus Ophiodia And in Pausanias we read of a place name Opheos Kephale the Serpents head The like might be saide of Riuers as of Orontes called also Ophites and Ophis in Pontus which deuideth a sunder Colchis and the Country Thiamica Ebusus nourisheth no serpents and the earth thereof hath in it a secret vertue to driue away serpents wherefore it is much desired of all men to carry about them for that it hath beene often prooued that neuer any venomous beast durst aduenture vpon any man possessed thereof The like is said of Ireland as our owne Chronicles doe plentifully declare and therefore I will spare to enter into any narration thereof To come therfore to the more particular abode of Serpents especially of such as are knowne to vs we must leaue of the talke and nominaton of Kingdoms and descend to dennes holes caues dunghils sheep-coats valleys rocks hollow-walls and trees woods greene pastures hedges and such like places wherein they make their most abode And now and then in these Northerne parts of the world yet sildome they diue downe into the bottome or rootes of trees especially such as are greene all the Winter-time For they finde in them a greater heate or warmth then in other whose leaues fall off and decay in the cold weather except in the rootes of Birch And by reason of their multitude gathered together at the roote of this tree it falleth out that their breath heateth the same and so preserueth the leaues of it from falling off Wherefore in auncient time the ignorant multitude seeing a Birch-tree with greene leaues in the Winter did call it our Ladies Tree or a Holy tree attributing that greenenesse to miracle not knowing the former reason or secrete of Nature Solinus reporteth of such a like wood in a part of Affrica wherein all the Winter time the leaues of all the Trees abide greene the cause is as before recited for that the Serpents liuing at the rootes of the trees in the earth doe heate thē with their breath Neither ought any man to wonder that they should so friendly liue together especially in the winter cold time seeing that by experience in England we know that for warmth they will creepe into bed-straw about the legges of men in their sleepe as may appeare by this succeeding discourse of a true history done in England in the house of a worshipfull Gentleman vpon a seruant of his whom I could name if it were needfull He had a seruaunt that grew very lame and feeble in his legges thinking that he could neuer be warme in his bed did multiply his clothes and couered himselfe more more but all in vaine till at length he was not able to goe about neither could any skill of Phisitian or Surgeon find out the cause It hapned on a day as his Maister leaned at his Parlour window he saw a great Snake to slide along the house side and to creepe into the chamber of this lame man then lying in his bedde as I remember for hee lay in a lowe chamber directly against the Parlour window afore-said The Gentleman desirous to see the issue and what the snake would doe in the chamber followed and looked into the chamber by the window where hee espied the snake to slide vppe into the bed-straw by some way open in the bottome of the bedde which was of old bordes Straightway his hart rising therat he called two or three of his seruaunts and told them what he had seene bidding them goe take their Rapiers kill the said snake The seruing-men came first and remoued the lame man as I remember and then the one of them turned vp the bed and the other two the straw their maister standing without at the hole whereinto the said snake had entered into the chamber The bedde was no sooner turned vp and the Rapier thrust into the straw but there issued forth fiue or six great snakes that were lodged therein Then the seruing-men bestirring themselues soone dispatched them cast them out of doores dead Afterward the lame mans legges recouered and became as strong as euer they were whereby did euidentlie appeare the coldnes of these snakes or Serpents which came close to his legges euerie night did so benumme them as he could not goe And thus for heate they pierce into the holes of chimneyes yea into the toppes of hills and houses much more into the bottomes and rootes of Trees When they perceiue that winter approcheth they find out their resting places wherin they lye halfe dead foure moneths together vntill the Spring-sunne againe communicating her heate to all Creatures reuiueth and as it were raiseth them vp from death to life During which time of cold and vvinter as Seneca writeth Tuto tractari pestifera serpens potest non desunt tunc illi venena sed torpent They may bee safely handled without feare of harme not because they want poyson at that time but because they are drouzie and deadly astonished But there is a question whether when they be in this secrecie or drouzines they awake not to eate or else their sleepe be vnto them in stead of foode Olaus Magnus affirmeth of the Northerne serpents that they eate not at all but are nourished with sleep Cardan saith that they take some little foode as appeareth by those which are carried vp and downe in boxes to be seene and are fedde with branne or cheasill But this may be aunswered that serpents in boxes are not so colde as those in woods and desarts and therefore seeing cold keepeth them from eating the externall heate of the box-house or humane body which beareth them about may be a cause that inclosed serpents feede in
breasts some on his sides and backe some on his legges and some hanging vpon his priuie partes byting him with mortall rage to end and ouerthrow him The poore Hart beeing thus oppressed with multitude and assailed without any warning to the battell in vaine attempteth to runne away for their cold earthy bodies winding tayles and pinching teeth hinder his wonted pace and ouer-charge his strength whereat beeing forced to quite himselfe in the best manner he can enraged with teeth feete and hornes assaileth his enemies whose speares and arrowes of teeth and stinges sticke so fast in his body tearing them in peeces which he can touch with his teeth beating others asunder where he can reach theÌ„ with his hornes and trampling vnder his feete those which cleaue to his lower parts and yet such is the rage and dauntlesse courage or rather hatred of these enemies not willing to die alone but like Champions to end their liues vppon and with their aduersarie doe still hold fast and euen when their bodies are beaten in peeces their heads sticke close and hang sharpe vpon the Harts skinne as though they would grow with him and neuer fall off till he should also fall downe dead But the Hart feeling some ease and hauing by the slaughter of their bodies deliuered his feete from thraldome by a diuine naturall instinct flyeth and runneth fast to some adioyning fountaine where hee seeketh for Sea-crabbes whereof he maketh a medicine that shaketh off their heads which cleaue so fast vnto him and also cureth all their wounds and poyson This valiant courage is in Harts against serpents neuer yeelding tyring or giuing ouer and yet otherwise are afraid of Hares and Connyes by nature But what is the cause of this hostilitie betwixt Harts and serpents is it for meate or for medicine and cure Surely they would abhorre to eate them if it were not for health and naturall medicine for sometimes the pores of their body are dulled and shut vp somtimes the wormes of their belly doe ascend vp into the roofe of their mouthes while they chew the cudde and there cleaue fast for remedie whereof the Hart thus afflicted runneth about to seeke for serpents for the eating of a serpent cureth this maladie Pliny saith that when the Hart waxeth old and perceiueth that his strength decayeth haire changeth his bodie beginnes to be feeble then for the renewing of his strength he first deuoureth a serpent and afterward runneth to some fountaine of water wherof when he hath drunk he findeth a sensible alteration both in horne haire and whole bodie And this thing is also deliuered by the Writer of the Glosse vpon the 42 Psalme which beginneth Like as the Hart desireth the water springs so longeth my soule after my GOD. But for the ending of this question we must consider and remember that there are two kinds of Harts one eateth serpents and feeling the poyson to worke straight-way by drinking casteth vp the poyson againe or else cureth himselfe by couering all his body ouer in water The other kind onely by nature killeth a serpent but after victorie forbeareth to eate it and returneth againe to feede in the Mountaines And thus much for the discorde betwixt Harts and Serpents In the next place great is the variance betwixt Serpents Dragons Elephants wherof Pliny Solinus write as followeth When the Elephants called Serpent-killers meete with the Dragons they easily tread them in peeces and ouer-come them wherefore the Dragons and greater serpents vse subtiltie in stead of might for when they haue found the path and common way of an Elephant they make such deuises therein to intrap him as a man would thinke they had the deuise of men to helpe them for with their tayles they so ensnare the way that when the beast commeth they entangle his legges as it were in knots of ropes now when the beast stoopeth downe with his trunke to loose and vntie them one of them suddenly thrusteth his poysoned head into his trunke whereby hee is strangled The other also for there are euer many which lye in ambush set vpon his face byting out his eyes and some at his tender belly some wind themselues about his throat and all of them together sting bite teare vex hang vpon him vntill the poore beast emptied of his blood and swollen with poyson in euery part fall downe dead vppon his aduersaries and so by his death kill them at his fall and ouerthrow whom hee could not ouer-come beeing aliue And whereas Elephants for the most part goe together in flocks and troupes the subtile serpents doe let passe the formost of euery rancke and sette onely vpon the hindermost that so one of the Elephants may not helpe another these serpents are said to be thirtie yardes long Likewise forasmuch as these Dragons know that the Elephants come and feede vpon the leaues of trees their manner is to conuay themselues into the trees and lye hid among the boughes couering their fore-parts with leaues and letting their hinder partes hang downe like dead parts and members and when the Elephant commeth to brouze vpon the Tree-toppes then suddenlie they leape into his face and pull out his eyes and because that reuenge doth not satisfie her thirsting onely after death she twyneth her gable-long bodie about his necke and so strangleth him It is reported that the blood of Elephants is the coldest blood in the world that the Dragons in the scorching heate of Summer cannot get any thing to coole theÌ„ except this blood for which cause they hide themselues in Riuers Brookes whether the Elephants come to drinke and when he putteth downe his trunck they take hold thereof instantlie in great numbers leape vp into his eares which onely of all his vpper parts are most naked and vnarmed out of which they suck his blood neuer giuing ouer their holde till hee fall downe dead so in the fall kill them which were the procurers of his death So that his and their blood is mingled both together whereof the Auncients made their Cinnabaris which was the best thing in the world to represent blood in painting Neither can any deuise or arte of man euer come neere it and beside it hath in it a rare vertue against poyson And thus much for the enmâ—tie betwixt Serpents and Elephants The Cat also by Albertus is said to be an enemie to serpents for hee saith shee will kill them but not eate thereof howbeit in her killing of them except she drinke incontinently she dieth by poyson This relation of Albertus cannot agree with the Monks of Mesven their relation about their Abbey-cat But it may be that Albertus speaketh of vvildcats in the woods and mountaines who may in â—auine for their pray kill a serpent which followeth with them the same common game The Roes or Roe-bucks do also kill serpents the Hedge-hogge is enemy vnto them for sometimes they meete both together in one hole and then at
making their thighes more visible It is som-what questionable whether they lye hid within their caues 4. months or 60. daies for some Authors affirme one thing some another but the reason of the difference is taken from the condition of the cold weather for which cause they lye hid in the winter-time Now forasmuch as the winter in Egypt is not vsually aboue foure months therfore it is taken that they lye but foure months but if it be by accidēt of cold wether prolonged longer thē for the same cause the crocodile is the longer time in the earth During the time they lye hid they eate nothing but sleepe as it is thought immoueably when they come out againe they do not cast their skinnes as other Serpents doe The tayle of a Crocodile is his strongest part and they neuer kill any beast or man but first of all they strike him downe and astonish him with their tailes and for this cause the Egyptians by a Crocodiles tayle doe signifie death darknes They deuoure both men and beasts if they find them in theyr way or neere the bankes of Nilus wherein they abide taking sometimes a calfe from the cow his damme and carrying it whole into the waters And it appeareth by the portraiture of Nealces that a Crocodile drew in an Asse into Nilus as he was drinking and therefore the dogges of Egypt by a kind of naturall instinct do not drinke but as they runne for feare of the Crocodiles wherevpon came the prouerbe Vt canis é Nilo bibit fugit as a dogge at one time drinketh and runneth by Nilus When they desire fishes they put their heads out of the water as it were to sleepe and then suddenly when they espy a booty they leape into the waters vppon them and take them After that they haue eaten and are satisfied then they turne to the land againe and as they lye gaping vpon the earth the little bird Trochilus maketh cleane their teeth and is satisfied by the remainders of the flesh sticking vppon them It is also affirmed by Arnoldus that it is fedde with mud but the holy Crocodile in the Prouince of Arsinoe is fedde with bread flesh wine sweet and hard sodde flesh and cakes and such like thinges as the poore people bring vnto it when they come to see it VVhen the Egyptians will write a man eating or at dinner they paynt a Crocodile gaping They are exceeding fruitefull and prolificall and therfore also in Hieroglyphicks they are made to signifie fruitfulnes They bring forth euery yeere and lay their egges in the earth or dry land For during the space of three-score dayes they lay euery day an egge within the like space they are hatched into young ones by sitting or lying vpon them by course the male one while the female another The time of their hatching is in a moderate and temperate time otherwise they perrish and come to nothing for extremity of heate spoyleth the egge as the buds of some trees are burned and scorched off by the like occasion The egge is not much greater then the egge of a Goose and the young one out of the shell is of the same proportion And so from such a small beginning doth this huge and monstrous Serpent grow to his great stature the reason whereof saith Aristotle is because it groweth all his life long euen to the length of ten or moe cubits When it hath layd the egges it carryeth them to the place where they shall be hatched for by a naturall prouidence and fore-sight it auoydeth the waters of Nilus and therefore euer layeth her egges beyond the compasse of her floods by obseruation whereof the people of Egypt know euery yeere the inundation of Nilus before it happen And in the measure of this place it is apparent that this beast is not indued onely with a spirit of reason but also with a fatidicall or propheticall geographicall delineation for so shee placeth her egges in the brimme or banke of the flood before the flood commeth that the water may couer the nest but not herselfe that sitteth vpon the egges And the like to this is the building of the Beauer as we haue shewed in due place before in the History of Foure-footed beastes So soone as the young ones are hatched they instantly fall into the depth of the vvater but if they meete with frogge snayle or any other such thing fit for their meate they doe presently teare it in peeces the damme byteth it with her mouth as it were punishing the pusillanimity thereof but if it hunt greater things and be greedy rauening industrious and bloody that she maketh much of and killing the other nourisheth and tendereth this aboue measure after the example of the wisest men who loue their childrē in iudgement fore-seeing their industrious inclination and not in affection without regard of worth vertue or merrit It is said by Philes that after the egge is layd by the Crocodile many times there is a cruell stinging Scorpion which commeth out thereof and woundeth the Crocodile that layde it To conclude they neuer prosper but neere the waters and they liue threescore yeeres or the age of a mans life The nature of this beast is to be fearefull rauening malitious and trecherous in getting of his prey the subtiltie of whose spirit is by some attributed to the thinnesse of his blood and by other to the hardnes of his skin and hide How it dealeth with her young ones we haue shewed already as it were trying their nature whether they will degenerate or no and the like things are reported of the Aspes Cancers Torteyses of Egypt From hence came the conceit of Pietas Crocodili the pietie of the Crocodile But as we haue said it is a fearefull Serpent abhorring all manner of noyse especially from the strained voyce of a man and where hee findeth himselfe valiantly assaulted there also hee is discouraged and therefore Marcellinus saith of him Audax Monstrum fugacibus at vbi audacem senserit timidissimum An audacious Monster to them that runne away but most fearefull where he findeth resistance Some haue written that the Crocodile runneth away from a man if he winke with his left eye and looke stedfastly vppon him with his right eye but if this bee true it is not to be attributed to the vertue of the right eye but onely to the rarenesse of sight vvhich is conspicuous to the Serpent from one eye The greatest terrour vnto Crocodiles as both Seneca and Pliny affirme are the inhabitants of the Ile Tentyrus within Nilus for those people make them runne away with their voyces and many times pursue and take them in snares Of these people speaketh Solinus in this manner There is a generation of men in the Ile Tentyrus within the waters of Nilus which are of a most aduerse nature to the Crocodile dwelling also in the same place And although their persons
And safe enough had not the Dragon them espied Hee eate the young ones all the damme with sannes destroyde Well worthy such a death of life to be denied This is by Calchas said a type of labour long Whose fame eternall liues in euery tongue There be certaine beasts called Dracontopides very great and potent Serpents vvhose faces are like to the faces of Virgins and the residue of their body like to dragons It is thought that such a one was the Serpent that deceiued Eue for Beda saith it had a Virgins countenaunce and therfore the woman seeing the likenes of her owne face was the more easily drawne to belieue it into the which when the deuill had entred they say he taught it to couer the body with leaues and to shew nothing but the head and face But this fable is not worthy to be refuted because the Scripture it selfe dooth directly gaine-say euerie part of it For first of all it is called a Serpent and if it had beene a dragon Moses vvould haue said so and therefore for ordinary punishment God doth appoint it to creepe vpon the belly wherefore it is not likely that it had either winges or feete Secondly it was vnpossible and vnlikely that any part of the body was couered or conceited from the sight of the woman seeing she knew it directly to be a Serpent as afterward shee confessed before GOD and her husband There be also certaine little dragons called in Arabia Vesga and in Catalonia dragons of houses these when they bite leaue their teeth behind them so as the wound neuer ceaserh swelling as long as the teeth remaine therein and therefore for the better cure thereof the teeth are drawne forth and so the wound will soone be healed And thus much for the hatred betwixt men and dragons now we will proceede to other creatures The greatest discord is betwixt the Eagle and the Dragon for the Vultures Eagles Swannes and dragons are enemies one to another The Eagles when they shake theyr winges make the dragons afraide with their ratling noyse then the dragon hideth himselfe within his den so that he neuer fighteth but in the ayre eyther when the Eagle hath taken away his young ones and he to recouer them flieth aloft after her or else wheÌ„ the Eagle meeteth him in her nest destroying her egges and young ones for the Eagle deuoureth the dragons and little Serpents vpon earth and the dragons againe and Serpents doe the like against the Eagles in the ayre Yea many times the dragon attempteth to take away the prey out of the Eagles talants both on the ground and in the ayre so that there ariseth betwixt them a very hard and dangerous fight which is in this manner described by Niâ—ander Hunc petit invisum magni Iouis armiger hostem Cumque genis parat acre suis ex aethere bellum Pascentem in siluis quam primum viderit Quod totos ferus is nidos cum mitibus ouis Et simul ipsa terens et vastans pignora perdat Non timet hoc serpens imò quodam impete dumis Prosiliens ipsamque aquilam leporemque tenellum Ex trahit ex rapidis vifraudeque fortior vncis Cauta malum declinat auis fit ibi aspera pugna Vt queat extortam victor sibi tollere praedam Sed frustra elapsam et volitantem hinc inde volucrem Insequitur longos sinuum contractus in orbes Obliquoque leuans sursum sua lumina visu Which may be englished thus When as the Eagle Ioues great bird did see her enemy Sharpe warre in th' ayre with beake she did prepare Gainst Serpent feeding in the wood after espy Cause it her egges and young fiercely in peeces tare The Serpent not afraid of this leapes out of thornes With force vpon the Eagle holding tender Hare Out of her talants by fraude and force more strong That takes and snatches despight her enemies feare But wary Bird auoydes the force and so they fight amaine That Victor one of them might ioy the prey alone The flying fowle by winding Snake is hunted all in vaine Though vp and downe his nimble eyes this and that way be gone In the next place we are to consider the enmitie that is betwixt Dragons Elephants for so great is their hatred one to the other that in Ethyopia the greatest dragons haue no other name but Elephant-killers Among the Indians also the same hatred remaineth against whom the dragons haue many subtile inuentions for besides the great length of their bodies where-withall they claspe and begirt the body of the Elephant continually byting of him vntill he fall downe dead and in the which fall they are also bruzed to peeces for the safegard of themselues they haue this deuice They get and hide themselues in trees couering their head and letting the other part hang downe like a rope in those trees they watch vntill the Elephant come to eate and croppe of the branches then suddainly before he be aware they leape into his face and digge out his eyes then doe they claspe themselues about his necke and with their tayles or hinder parts beate and vexe the Elephant vntill they haue made him breathelesle for they strangle him with theyr fore-parts as they beate them with the hinder so that in this combat they both perrish and this is the disposition of the dragon that he neuer setteth vpon the Elephant but with the aduantage of the place and namely from some high tree or Rocke Sometimes againe a multitude of dragons doe together obserue the pathes of the Elephants and crosse those pathes they tye together their tailes as it were in knots so that when the Elephant commeth along in them they insnare his legges and suddainly leape vppe to his eyes for that is the part they ayme aboue all other which they speedily pull out and so not beeing able to doe him any more harme the poore beast deliuereth himselfe from present death by his owne strength and yet through his blindnesse receiued in that combat hee perrisheth by hunger because hee cannot choose his meate by smelling but by his eye-sight There is no man liuing that is able to giue a sufficient reason of this contrariety in nature betwixt the Elephant the Dragon although many men haue laboured their wits and strayned their inuentions to finde out the true causes thereof but all in vaine except this be one that followeth The Elephants blood is saide to be the coldest of all other Beasts and for this cause it is thought by most Writers that the dragons in the Sommer time doe hide themselues in great plenty in the waters where the Elephant commeth to drinke and then suddenly they leape vppe vppon his eares because those places cannot be defended with his truncke and there they hang fast and sucke out all the blood of his body vntill such time as hee poore beast through faintnesse fall downe and die and they beeing drunke with his blood doe likewise perrish in
necke thereof are two blanches and betwixt them a hollow place the backe part whereof is attenuated into a thinne and sharpe tayle and vppon eyther chappe they haue many teeth which are sharpe and without poyson for when they byte they doe no more harme then fetch blood onely and these men for ostentation sake weare about their necks and women are much terrified by them in the hands of wanton young boyes The backe of this Snake as writeth Erastus is blackish and the other parts greene like vnto Leekes yet mixed with some whitenesse for by reason it feedeth vppon herbs it beareth that colour They are also carried in mens bosoms and with them they will make knots For the same Erastus affirmeth that he sawe a Fryer knit one of them vp together like a garter but when hee pulled it harder then the Snake could beare it turned the head about bytte him by the hand so as the blood followed yet there came no more harme for it was cured without any medicine and therefore is not venomous In the mountaine of Mauritania called Ziz the Snakes are so familiar with men that they waite vpon them at dinner-time like cats and little dogges and they neuer offer any harme to any liuing thing except they be first of all prouoked Among the Bygerons inhabyting the Pyrenes there be Snakes 4. foote long and as thicke as a mans arme which likewise liue continually in the houses and not onely come peaceably to their tables but also sleepe in their beds without any harme in the night-time they hisse but sildom in the day time and picke vp the crummes which fall from their tables Among the Northerne people they haue household-Snakes as it were houshold-gods and they suffer them both to eate and to play with their Infants lodging them in the cradles with them as if they were faythfull Keepers about them and if they harme any body at any time they account it Pium piaculum a very diuine and happy mischaunce But after they had receiued the Christian-fayth they put away all these superstitions and did no more foster the Serpents broode in detestation of the deuill who beguiled our first Parents in the similitude of a Serpent Yet if it happen at any time that a house be burned all the Snakes hide themselues in their holes in the earth and there in short space they so encrease that when the people come to reedifie they can very hardly displant their number Plautus in his Amphitryo maketh mention of two-maned-Snakes which descended from the clowdes in a shower but this opinion grew from the fiction of the Epidaurian-Snake which onely by the Poets is described with a mane and a combe and therefore I will not expresse the Snake to haue a mane There is no cause why we should thinke all Snakes to be without poyson for the Poet hath not warned vs in vaine where he saith Frigidus ô puèri fugite hinc latet Anguis sub herba Which may be englished thus Fly hence you boyes as farre as feete can beare Vnder this herbe a Snake full cold doth leare For this cause we will leaue the discourse of the harmelesse Snake and come to those which are no way inferiour to any other Serpent their quantitie and spirit beeing considered wherefore we are to consider that of Snakes which are venomous and hurtfull there are two kinds one called the Water-Snake the other the Land-Snake The Water-Snake is called in Greeke Hydra hydros hydrales karouros Enhydris in Latine Natrix and Lutrix Munster calleth it in Hebrew Zepha and Auicen relateth certaine barbe rous names of it as Handrius Andrius and Abides and Kedasuderus Echydrus and Aspistichon The Germans call it Nater Wasser-nater and Wasser-schlange and they describe it in the manner as it is found in their Country which doth not very farre differ from them of our Country heere in England It is as they say in thicknes like the arme of a man or child the bellie thereof yellow and of a golden colour and the backe blackish-greene the very breath of it is so venomous that if a man hold to it a rodde newly cutte off from the Tree it will so infect it that vppon it shall appeare certaine little bagges of gall or poyâ—on And the like effect it worketh vppon a bright naked sword if it doe but touch it with the tongue for the poyson runneth from one end to the other as if it were quicke and leaueth behind a lyne or scorched path as if it had beene burned in the fire And if this Serpent fortune to byte a man in the foote then is the poyson presently dispersed all ouer the body for it hath a fiery qualitie and therefore it continually ascendeth but when once it commeth to the hart the man falleth downe and dyeth And therefore the meetest cure is to hang the party so wounded vppe by the heeles or else speedilie to cut off the member that is bitten And that which is heere said of the vvater-Snake doth also as properly belong to the Land-snake seeing there is no difference betwixt these but that at certaine times of the yeere they forsake the water when it draweth or falleth lowe and so betake themselues to the Land They liue in the water and in the earth but they lay their egges on the land in hedges or in dunghills and especially in those waters which are most corrupt as in pooles where there is store of Frogs Leaches Newtes and but few fishes as in the Lakes about Puteoli and Naples and in England all ouer the Fennes as in Ramsey Holland Ely and oâ—… such like places and when they swymme they beare their breast aboue the water They abound also in Corcyra and about Taracina in Italy and in the Lake Nyclea and especially in Calabria as the Poet writeth Est etiam illa malus Calabris in saltibus Anguis Squammea conuoluens sublato pectore terga Atque notis longam maculosus grandibus aluum Qui dum amnes vlli rumpuntur fontibus dum Vere madent vdo terrae ac pluuialibus austris Stagna colit ripisque habitans hic piscibus atram Improbus ingluuiem ranisque loquacibus explet Postquam exhausta palus terraeque ardore dehiscunt Exilit in siccum flammantia lumnia torquens Saeuit agris asperque siti atque exterritus â—stâ— Which may be thus englished That euill Snake in the Calabrian coasts abides Rowling his scaly backe by holding vp the brest And with great spots vpon large belly glydes When as the Riuers streames in fountaines all are ceast For whiles the moystened spring with raine from Southwind falls It haunts the pooles andin the water all blaoke it feedes In rauening wise both fish and frogs doe fill his gall For why when Sommers drought enforce then must in needes Fly to dry Land rowling his flaming eye Rage in the fields to quench his thirstfull dry There be some Writers that affirme that there is
Emperour And all fraudes whatsoeuer are likevvise taxed by this name vvhich were not punishable but by the doome of the supreame or highest Iudge and there-vppon Alciatus made this Embleme following Parua lacerta atris Stellatus corpore guttis Stellio qui latebras caua busta colit Inuidiae prauique doli fert symbola pictus Heu nimium nuribus cognita Zelotypis Nam turpi obtegitur faciem lentigine quisquis Sit quibus immersus Stellio vina bibat Hinc vindicta frequens decepta pellice vino Quam formae amisso flore relinquit amans Which may be englished thus The little Lyzard or Stellion starred in body graine In secrete holes and graues of dead which doth remaine When painted you it see or drawne before the eye A symbole then you view of deepe deceit and cursed enuy Alas this is a thing to iealous wiues knowne too well For whosoeuer of that Wine doth drinke his fill Wherein a Stellion hath beene drencht to death His face with filthy lentile spots all vgly it appeareth Here-with a Louer oft requites the fraude of concubine Depriuing her of beauties hiew by draught of this same wine The Poet Ouid hath a pretty fiction of the originall of this cursed enuy in Stellions for he writeth of one Abas the sonne of Metaneira that receiued Ceres kindly into her house and gaue her hospitalitie whereat the said Abas beeing displeased derided the sacrifice which his mother made to Ceres the Goddesse seeing the wretched nature of the young man and his extreame impietie against the sacrifice of his Mother tooke the Wine left in the goblet after the Sacrifice and poured the same vppon his head wherevpon he was immediatly turned into a Stellion as it is thus related by Ouid Metam 5. Combibit os maculas quae modo brachia gessit Crura gerit cauda est mutatis addita membris Inque breuem formam ne sit vis magna nocendi Contrahitur paruaque minor mensura lacerta est In English thus His mouth suckt in those spots and now where armes did stand His legges appeare and to his changed parts was put a tayle And least it should haue power to harme small was the bodies band And of the Lizards poysonous this least in shape did vayle Their bodyes are very brittle so as if at any time they chaunce to fall they breake their tayles They lay very small egges out of which they are generated and Pliny writeth that the iuyce or liquor of these egges layde vppon a mans body causeth the hayre to fall off and also neuer more permitteth it to grow againe But whereas wee haue said it deuoureth the skinne to the damage hurt of men you must remember that in auncient time the people did not want their pollicies and deuises to take away this skinne from them before they could eate it And therfore in the Sommer-time they watched the lodging place and hole of the Lyzard and then in the end of the winter toward the Spring they tooke Reedes and did cleaue them in sunder these they composed into little Cabonets and set them vppon the hole of the Serpent Now when it awaked and would come forth it being grieued with the thicknes and straightnes of his skinne presseth out of his hole thorough those Reedes or Cabonet and finding the same some-what straight is the more gladde to take it for a remedie so by little and little it slydeth thorough and beeing thorough it leaueth the skinne behind in the Cabonet into the which it cannot reenter to deuoure it Thus is this wylie Serpent by the pollicie of man iustly beguiled loosing that which it so greatly desireth to possesse and changing nature to line his guttes vvith his coate is preuented from that gluttony it beeing sufficient to haue had it for a couer in the Winter and therefore vnsufferable that it should make foode thereof and it the same in the Sommer These Stellings like as other Serpents haue also theyr enemies in nature as first of all they are hated by the Asses for they loue to be about the maungers and rackes on which the Asse feedeth and from thence many times they creepe into the Asses open nostrills and by that meanes hinder his eating But aboue all other there is greatest antipathy in nature betwixt this Serpent and the Scorpion for if a Scorpion doe but see one of these it falleth into a deepe feare and a cold sweat out of which it is deliuered againe very speedily and for this cause a Stellion putrified in oyle is a notable remedie against the byting of a Scorpion and the like warre and dissention is affirmed to be betwixt the Stellion and the Spyder Wee haue shewed already the difference of Stellions of Italie from them of Greece how these are of a deadly poysonous nature and the other innocent and harmelesse and therefore now it is also conuenient that wee should shew the nature and cure of this poyson which is in this manner Whensoeuer any man is bytten by a Stellion hee hath ache and payne thereof continually and the wound receiued looketh very pale in colour the cure whereof according to the saying of Aetius is to make a playster of Garlicke and Leekes mixed together or else to eate the said Garlice and Leekes drinking after them a good draught of svveete Wine vnmixed and very pure or else apply Nigella Romana Sesamyne and sweet water vnto it Some as Arnoldus writeth prescribe for this cure the dunge of a Faulcon or a Scorpion to be bruised all to peeces and layd to the wound But sometimes it happeneth that a mans meate or drinke is corrupted with Stellions that fall into the same from some high place where they desire to be clymbing and then if the same meate or Wine so corrupted be eaten or drunk it causeth vnto the partie a continuall vomiting payne in the stomacke Then must the cure be made also by vomits to auoyd the poyson and by Glysters to open the lower passage that so there may be no stoppe or stay to keepe the imprisoned meate or drinke in the body And principally those thinges are prescribed in this case which are before expressed in the Cantharides when a man hath by any accident beene poysoned by eating of them The remedies which are obserued out of this Serpent are these Beeing eaten by Hawkes they make them quickly to cast theyr old coates or feathers Others giue it in meate after it is bowelled to them that haue the Falling-sicknesse Also when the head feete and bowels are taken away it is profitable for those persons which cannot hold in their vrine and beeing sodden is giuen against the Bloody-flixe Also sodde in wine with blacke Poppy-seede cureth the payne of the loynes if the wine be drunke vp by the sicke patient The oyle of Stellions beeing annoynted vpon the arme-holes or pittes of chyldren or young persons it restraineth all hayre for euer growing in those places Also the
lost or left some poyson vppon the Cats skinne the Monkes by stroking of the Cat were infected there-with And the cause why the Catte was not harmed thereby was for that shee receiued the poyson from the sport and not from the anger of the serpent And this thing surely is not so maruailous seeing that little Mice and Rats doe also play with Serpents and heerein Politicians play the serpents vvho hold correspondence and peace both with the Catte and the Mouse that is with two sworne and naturall enemies together The like peace and league they are also saide to keepe with Eeles as may more plainely appeare by this following historie of a certaine Monke called Rodolphus a Will Monachus Capellensis There vvas as this Monke affirmeth one of his fellowe Monks which did often tell him that beeing a little boy and vsing to sport himselfe by the water side hee hapned to catch an Eele which he attempted for his owne pleasure to carry to another water and by the way as he went hee passed thorough a vvood at which time when hee was in the vvood the Eele began to hisse cry mainelie at the hearing wheteof there gathered together very many serpents round about him insomuch that he was afraid and set downe his basket fast pinned and ranne away afterward he came againe and sought for his basket but he found not the Eele therein wherefore it was supposed that the Serpents deliuered the same Eele out of the basket by some sleight of nature the onely doubt is whether Eeles doe hysse or not seeing they are fishes and Omnes pisces mâ—ti all fishes are mute or dumbe But for answer to this obiection it is most certaine that Ecles haue a voyce as all they knowe which vse fishing in the night for I my selfe haue not onely heard such a voyce in the night time in Riuers and other waters where Eeles abounded but haue had it confirmed by diuers other of greater practise experience in fishing The reason wherof may be their manner of generation for they engender not by spawne as other fishes but of the slyme of the earth or vvater and differ not froÌ„ serpents in their externall forme except in their colour and therefore may be said to partake with fishes serpents in both their natures that is hauing a voyce like a serpent a substance like a fish Such is theyr confederacie with liuing Creatures and with no more that I euer read or heard of But moreouer it is said that they loue some plants or herbes aboue measure as the Fenell and Iuy and for this latter both Pliny and Textor doe not without great cause wonder that euer there was any honour ascribed or giuen to the Iuy seeing that serpents the most vnreconcileable enemies of man-kind delight so much therein But herein the deuil blinded their reason as hee did the modest women that worshipped Priapus or the Tartars which at this day worship the deuill to the end that he should do theÌ„ no harme Thus much I can onely say of the friends and louers of Serpents by the multitude whereof wee may coniecture how among other parts of the curse of God vpon them they are held accursed both by man and beast Now then it followeth that we enter into a more particular description or rather a relation of that hatred which is betweene them and other creatures and first I will beginne with their arch enemie I meane Man-kind For vvhen GOD at the beginning did pronounce his sentence against the Serpent for deceiuing our first Parents among other things he said I will put enmity betwixt thee and the Woman betwixt thy seed the womans seede Whereby he did signifie that perpetuall warre and vnappeaseable discord vvhich should be for euer by his owne appoyntment betwixt them And the truth heereof is to be seene at this day for by a kind of secret instinct and naturall motion a man abhorreth the sight of a Serpent a serpent the sight of a man And as by the tongue of the serpent was wrought mans confusion so by the spettle of a mans tongue is wrought a serpents astonishment For indeed such is the ordinance of God that men Serpents should euer annoy and vexe each other And this Erasmus saith shall continue as long as meminerimus illius inauspicati pomi we shall remember that vnfortunate Apple Isidorus saith that serpents are afraid of a man naked but will leape vpon and deuoure a man clothed Which thing is also affirmed by Olaus Magnus for he saith that when he was a boy hee often tryed it that when hee was naked hee found little or no resistance in serpents and did safely without all danger combat with them hand to hand I my selfe also in my younger time when I was about tenne or twelue yeeres old vsed many times in the Spring and Sommer time to wash my selfe with other my colleagues in certaine fish-ponds wherein I haue seene and met with diuers water-snakes without all harme and I did neuer in my life heare of any harme they did to any of my fellowes beeing naked neither did I euer see any of them runne away so fast on the Land as they did fly from vs in the vvater and yet are not the vvater-snakes lesse hurtfull then the Land-Adders And this was well knowne to many About the beginning or Fountaine Springs of Euphrates it is said that there are certaine serpents which know strangers from the people of the Country wherefore they doe no harme to the naturall borne Country-men but with strangers men of other countryes they fight with might and maine And along the bankes of Euphrates in Syria they also do the like sauing that if they chaunce to be trode vpon by any of the people of those parts they bite like as a dogge doth without any great harme but if any other forrainer or stranger annoy them they also repay him with malice for they bite him and intollerably vexe him wherefore the Country-men nourish them and doe them no harme Such as these are also found in Tirinthus but they are very little ones and are thought to be engendered of the earth The first manifestation in nature of mans discord with serpents is their venom for as in a serpent there is a venome which poysoneth a man so in a man there is the venom of his spittle which poysoneth a serpent For if the fasting spittle of a man fall into the iawes of a serpent he certainly dieth thereof And of this thus writeth the Poet Lucretius Est vtique vt serpens hominis quae tacta saliuis Disperit ac sese mandendo conficit ipsa In English thus As serpent dyeth when spittle of man he tasteth Gnashing his teeth to eate himselfe he wasteth The cause of this the Philosophers which knew nothing of Adams fall or the forbidden Apple doe assigne to be in the contrarietie betwixt the liuing soules or spirits of these Creatures for
rumors of perrill vnto guiltie consciences such as all wee mortall men beare are many times as forcible as the sentence of a Iudge to the hart of the condemned prisoner and therefore it vvere happy that either we could not feare except when the causes are certaine or else that wee might neuer perrish but vpon premonition And therefore I conclude with the example of this man that it is not good to holde a superstitious feare least God see it and beeing angry there-with bring vppon vs the euill which wee feare But this is not the end of the story for that fire-drake as by the sequell appeareth prooued as euill to the seruaunts as he did to the Maister These two sonnes of the deuill made thus rich by the death of their Maister foorth-with they sayled towards the Coasts of Fraunce but first of all they broke the Chayre in peeces and wrapped it vppe in one of theyr Nettes making account that it was the best fish that euer was taken in that Net and so they layde it in one end of theyr Barcke or fisher-boate And thus they laboured all that night and the next day till three or foure of the clocke at what time they espied a Port of Brittaine whereof they were exceeding gladde by reason that they were wearie hungry and thirstie with long labour alvvaies rich in their owne conceit by the gold which they had gotten which had so drawne their harts from God as they could not feare any thought of his iudgement And finallie it so blinded theyr eyes and stopped theyr eares that they did not see the vengeance that followed them nor heare the cry of theyr Maisters-blood Wherefore as they were thus reioycing at the sight of Land behold they suddainely espyed a Man-of-Warre comming towards them whereat they were appalled and beganne to thinke with themselues that theyr rich hopes were now at an end and they had laboured for other but yet resolued to die rather then to suffer the bootie to be taken from them And while they thus thought the Man-of-Warre approched and hailed them summoning them to come in and shew what they were they refused making forward as fast to the Land as they could Wherefore the Man-of-warre shot certaine Muskets at them and not preuailing nor they yeelding sent after them his Long-boate vppon the enterance whereof they fought manfully against the assaylants vntill one of them vvas slaine and the other mortallie wounded who seeing his fellow kild himselfe not like lie to liue yet in enuy against his enemy ranne presently to the place where the Chayre lay in the Nette and lyfting the same vp with all his might cast it from him into the Sea instantly falling downe after that fact as one not able through weakenesse to stand any longer wherevppon he was taken and before his life left him hee related the whole storie to them that tooke him earnestly desiring thē to signifie so much into England which they did accordingly and as I haue heard the whole story was printed so this second History of the punishment of murder I haue related in this place by occasion of the fire-drake in the history of the Dragon A second cause why poyson is supposed to be in Dragons is for that they often feede vppon many venomous rootes and therfore theyr poyson sticketh in theyr teeth where-vppon many times the partie bytten by them seemeth to be poysoned but this falleth out accidentally not from the nature of the dragon but from the nature of the meate which the dragon eateth And this is it which Homer knewe and affirmed in his verses when hee described a dragon making his denne neere vnto the place where many venomous rootes and herbes grew and by eating whereof hee greatly annoyeth man-kinde when hee byteth them Os de Drokoon espi Xein oresteros andra menesi Bebrocos kaka pharmaka Which may be thus englished And the dragon which by men remaines Eates euill herbes without deadly paines And therefore Elianus saith well that when the dragon meaneth to doe most harme to men he eateth deadly poysonfull herbes so that if he bite after them many not knowing the cause of the poyson and seeing or feeling venome by it doe attribute that to his nature which doth proceede from his meate Besides his teeth which bite deepe he also killeth with his tayle for bee will so be-girt and pinch in the body that hee doth gripe it to death and also the strokes of it are so strong that either they kill thereby foorth-with or else wound greatly with the same so that the strokes of his tayle are more deadly then the byting of his teeth which caused Nicander to write thus Nec tamen ille graues vt caetera turba doloris Si velit infixo cum forte momorderit ore Suscitat exiguus non noxia vulner a punctus Qui ceu rodentes noctu quaeque obvia muris In fligit modicum tenui dat plaga cruorem Which may be thus englished Nor yet he when with his angry mouth Doth byte such paines and torments bringeth As other Serpents if Auncients tell the truth When with his teeth and speare he stingeth For as the holes which byting-myse doe leaue When in the night they light vpon a prey So small are Dragons-byts which men receiue And harmelesse wound makes blood to runne away Their mouth is small and by reason thereof they cannot open it wide to byte deepe so as their byting maketh no great paine and those kind of dragons which do principallie fight with Eagles are defended more with their tayles then with their teeth but yet there are some other kind of dragons whose teeth are like the teeth of Beares byting deepe and opening theyr mouth wide where-withall they breake bones and make many bruses in the body and the males of this kinde byte deeper then the famales yet there followeth no great paine vpon the wound The cure hereof is like to the cure for the byting of any other beast wherin there is no venome and for this cause there must be nothing applyed there-vnto which cureth venomous bytings but rather such things as are ordinary in the cure of euery Vlcer The seede of grasse commonly called Hay-dust is prescribed against the byting of dragons The Barble beeing rubbed vppon the place where a Scorpion of the earth a Spyder a Sea or Land-dragon byteth doth perfectly cure the same Also the heade of a dogge or dragon which hath bytten any one beeing cutte off and fleyed and applyed to the wound with a little Euphorbium is said to cure the wound speedily And if Albedisimon be the same that is a dragon then according to the opinion of Auicen the cure of it must be very present as in the cure of Vlcers And if Alhatraf Haudem be of the kind of dragons then after theyr byting there followeth great coldnes and stupiditie and the cure thereof must be the same meanes which is obserued in colde poysons For
which cause the wound or place bitten must be embrewed or washed with luke-warme Vineger and emplaistered with the leaues of Bay annoynted with the oyle of herbe Mary and the oyle of Wilde-pellitory or such things as are drawne out of those oyles wherein is the vertue of Nettles or Sea-Onyons But those thinges which are giuen vnto the patient to drinke must be the iuyce of Bay-leaues in Vineger or else equall portions of Myrrhe Pepper and Rewe in Wine the powder or dust whereof must be the full vveight of a golden-groat or as we say a French-Crovvne In the next place for the conclusion of the history of the dragon we will take our farewell of him in the recitall of his medicinall vertues which are briefely these that follow First the fatte of a Dragon dryed in the sunne is good against creeping Vlcers and the same mingled with Hony and Oyle helpeth the dimnesse of the eyes at the beginning The head of a dragon keepeth one from looking a squint and if it be sette vp at the gates and dores it hath beene thought in auncient time to be very fortunate to the sincere worshippers of GOD. The eyes beeing kept till they be stale and afterwards beate into an Oyle with Hony and made into an oyntment keepe any one that vseth it from the terrour of night-visions and apparisions The fatte of a Hart in the skinne of a Roe bound with the nerues of a Hart vnto the shoulder was thought to haue a vertue to fore-shew the iudgement of victories to come The first spindle by bearing of it procureth an easie passage for the pacification of higher powers His teeth bound vnto the feete of a Roe with the nerues of a Hart haue the same power But of all other there is no folly comparable to the composition which the Magitians draw out of a dragon to make one invincible and that is this They take the head and tayle of a dragon with the hayres out of the fore-head of a Lyon and the marrow of a Lyon the spume or white mouth of a conquering horse bound vppe in a Harts-skinne together with a clawe of a dogge and fastned with the crosse nerues or sinew of a Hart or of a Roe they say that this hath as much power to make one invincible as hath anie medicine or remedy whatsoeuer The fatte of dragons is of such vertue that it driueth away venomous beastes It is also reported that by the tongue or gall of a dragon sodde in wine men are deliuered from the spirits of the night called Incubi and Succubi or else Night-mares But aboue all other parts the vse of theyr blood is accounted most notable But whether the Cynnabaris be the same which is made of the blood of the dragons and Elephants collected from the earth when the dragon and the Elephant fall downe dead together accordings as Pliny deliuereth I will not heere dispute seeing it is already done in the story of the Elephant neither will I write any more of this matter in this place but onely referre the Reader vnto that which hee shall finde written thereof in the history of our former booke of Foure-footed-beastes And if that satisfie him not let him read Langius in the first booke of his Epistles and sixtie-fiue Epistle where that learned man doth abundantly satisfie all men concerning this question that are studious of the truth and not prone to contention And to conclude Andreas Baluacensis writeth that the Blood-stone called the Haematite is made of the dragons blood and thus I will conclude the history of the dragon with this storie following out of Porphyrius concerning the good successe which hath beene signified vnto men and women eyther by the dreames or sight of dragons Mammea the Mother of Alexander Seuerus the Emperour the night before his birth dreamed that she brought forth a little dragon so also did Olympia the Mother of Alexander the great and Pomponya the Mother of Scipio Affricanus The like prodigie gaue Augustus hope that he should be Emperor For when his mother Actia came in the night time vnto the Temple of Apollo and had sette downe her bedde or couch in the Temple among other Matrons suddainely shee fell asleepe and in her sleepe shee dreamed that a dragon came to her and clasped about her bodie and so departed without dooing her any harme Afterwards the print of a dragon remained perpetually vppon her belly so as shee neuer durst any more be seene in any bath The Emperour Tyberius Caesar had a dragon which hee daily fedde with his owne handes and nourished like good fortune at the last it happened that this dragon was defaced with the byting of Emmets and the former beautie of his body much obscured Wherefore the Emperour grewe greatly amazed thereat demaunding a reason thereof of the Wisemen hee was by them admonished to beware the insurrection of the common people And thus with these stories representing good and euill by the dragon I will take my leaue of this good and euill Serpent OF THE DRYINE THere be some that confound this Serpent with the water-snake and say it is none other then that which of auncient time vvas called Hidrus for so long as they liue in the water they are called Hidri that is Snakes of the water but when once they come to the land they are called Chelidri and Chersydri but it is certaine that the Chelidrus is different from the Chersydrus by the strong smell and sauour which it carrieth with it wheresoeuer it goeth according to these verses made of Vmbo the Priest in Virgill Viperio generi et grauiter spirantibus Hydris Spargere qui somnos cantuque manuque solebat Which may be englished thus Who could by song and hand bring into deadly sleepe All kind of Vipers with Snakes smelling strong and deepe Which beeing compared with that instruction which hee giueth to Shepheards teaching them how to driue away the strong-smelling-serpents from the foldes hee calleth them Chelydri when he writeth in this manner Disce et odoratam stabulis accendere Cedrum Galbanioque agitare graues nidore Chelydros That is to say in English thus Learne how to driue away strong smelling Cheliders From folds by Galbanum and sauourie Cedars So that it is cleere that these Dryines are the same which are called Chelydri vvho doe stincke on the face of the earth whereby they are oftentimes disclosed although they be not seene howbeit some thinke that this filthy sauour doth not proceede from any fume or smoake comming out of their bodies but rather from their motion according to the opinion of Macer in these following verses Seu terga ex pirant spumantia Virus Seu terra fumat quateter labitur Anguis Which may be englished in this manner Whether their foming backs that smell Doe send abroade such poyson pestilent Or whether th' earth whereon this Snake full fell Doth slyde yeeldes that vnwholsome scent It is sayd that these Dryines doe
with rage of sandy flankes Nor sayles bend downe to blustering Corus wayne Now can it not the swelling sinewes keepe in hold Deformed globe it is and truncke ore-come with waight Vntoucht of flying foules no beakes of young or old Doe him dare eate or beasts full wilde vpon the body bayte But that they dye No man to bury in earth or fire Durst once come nigh nor stand to tooke vpon that haplesse case For neuer ceased the heat of corps though dead to swell Therefore afrayde they ranne away with speedie pace The cure of the poyson of this Serpent is by the Phisitians found out to be wild Purslaine also the flowers and stalke of the bush the Beauers stones called Castoreum drunke with Opponax and Rew in wine and the little Sprat-fish in dyet And thus much of this fire-burning venomous Serpent OF THE RED SERPENT THis kinde of Serpent beeing a serpent of the Sea was first of all found out by Pelicerius Bishoppe of Montpelier as Rondoletus writeth and although some haue taken the same for the Myrus or Berus of which we haue spoken already yet is it manifest that they are deceiued for it hath gills couered with a bony couering and also sinnes to swym withall much greater then those of the Myrus which wee haue shewed already to bee the male Lamprey This Serpent therefore for the outward proportion thereof is like to the Serpents of the Land but of a redde or purplish colour beeing full of crooked or oblique lines descending from the backe to the belly and deuiding or breaking that long line of the backe which beginneth at the head and so stretcheth foorth to the tayle The opening of his mouth is not very great his teeth are very sharpe and like a saw his gills like scalie fishes and vppon the ridge of his backe all along to the tayle and vnder-neath vppon the ryne or brimme of his belly are certaine haires growing or at the least thinne small things like hayres the tayle beeing shut vp in one vndeuided finne Of this kind no doubt are those which Bellonius saith hee sawe by the Lake Abydus which liue in the waters and come not to the Land but for sleepe for hee affirmeth that they are like Land-serpents but in theyr colour they are redde-spotted with some small and duskie spots Gelliusâ—…th â—…th that among the multitude of Sea-serpents some are like Congers and I cannot teâ—…ether that of Vergill be of this kind or not spoken of by Laocoon the Priest of Neptune Solennes taurum ingentum mactabat ad aras Ecce autem gemini á Tenedo tranqulla per alta Horresco referens immensis orbibus angues Incumbunt pelago pariterque ad littora tendunt Pectora quorum inter fluctus arecta iubaeque Sanguineae exuperant vndas pars caetera pontum Pone legit sinuatque immensa volumine terga Fit sonitus spumante saelo c. Which may be englished thus Whilst he a Bull at Altars solemne sacrifice Behold I feare to tell two monstrous snakes appeared Out of Tenedus shore both calme and deepe did rise One part in Sea the other on Land was reared Their breasts and redde-blood manes on waters mounted But backe and tayle on Land from foaming sea thus sounded OF THE SALAMANDER I Will not contrary their opinion which reckon the Salamander among the kinds of Lyzards but leaue the assertion as somewhat tollerable yet they are not to be followed or to be beleeued which would make it a kinde of Worme for there is not in that opinion eyther reason or resemblance What this beast is called among the Hebrewes I cannot learne and therfore I iudge that the Iewes like many other Nations did not acknowledge that there was any such kinde of creature for ignorance bringeth infidelitie in strange things and propositions The Graecians call it Salamandra which word or terme is retained almost in all Languages especially in the Latine and therefore Isidore had more boldnesse and wit then reason to deriue the Latine Salamandra quasi valincendram resisting burning for beeing a Greeke word it needeth not a Latine notation The Arabians call it Saambras and Samabras which may wel be thought to be deriued or rather corrupted from the former word Salamandra or else from the Hebrew word Semamit which signifieth a Stellion Among the Italians and Rhaetians it retaineth the Latine vvord and sometimes in Rhaetia it is called Rosada In the dukedome of Sauoy Pluuina In Fraunce Sourd Blande Albrenne and Arrassade according to the diuers Prouinces in that Kingdome In Spayne it is called Salamantegna In Germany it is called by diuers names as Maall and Punter maall Olm Moll and Molch because of a kinde of liquour in it like milke as the Greeke word Molge from à melgein to sucke milke Some in the Country of Heluetia doe call it Quattertetesh And in Albertus it is likewise called Rimatrix And thus much may suffise for the name thereof The description of theyr seuerall parts followeth which as Auicen and other Authours write is very like a small and vulgar Lyzard except in their quantitie which is greater theyr legges taller and their tayle longer They are also thicker and fuller then a Lyzard hauing a pale white belly and one part of their skinne exceeding blacke the other yellow like Verdigreace both of them very splendent and glistering with a blacke line going all along their backe hauing vppon it many little spots like eyes And from hence it commeth to be called a Stellion or Animal stellatum a creature full of starres and the skinne is rough and balde especially vpon the backe where those spots are out of which as writeth the Scholiast issueth a certaine liquour or humour which quencheth the heate of the fire when it is in the same This Salamander is also foure-footed like a Lyzard and all the body ouer it is set with spots of blacke and yellow yet is the sight of it abhominable and fearefull to man The head of it is great and sometimes they haue yellowish bellyes and tayles and some-times earthy It is some question among the Learned whether there be any discretion of sexe as whether there be in this kinde a male and a female Pliny affirmeth that they neuer engender and that there is not among them eyther male or female no more then there are among Eeles But this thing is iustly crossed both by Bellonius and Agricola for they affirme vpon their owne knowledge that the Salamander engendereth her young ones in her belly like vnto the Viper but first conceiueth egges and she bringeth forth fortie and fiftie at a time which are fully perfected in her wombe and are able to runne or goe so soone as euer they be littered and therefore there must be among them both male and female The Countries wherein are found Salamanders are the Region about Trent and in the Alpes and some-time also in Germany The most commonly frequent the coldest and moystest places as in the shaddow
of Woods in hedges neere Fountaines and Riuers and some-times they are found among Corne thornes and among Rocks They are sildome seene except it be eyther in the Spring-time or against raine for this cause it is called Animal vernale and Pluuiosum a Spring or raynie creature And yet there were many of them found together in a hole neere vnto the Citty Sneberge in Germanie in the month of February for they loue to liue in flocks and troupes together and at another time in Nouember a liuing Salamander was found in a Fountaine Howbeit if at any time it be seene forraging out of his denne or lodging place it is held for an assured presage of rayne But if the Spring-time fortune to be colde or frostie then they keepe home and goe not visibly abroade Some doe affirme that it is as cold as Ise and that it therefore quencheth heate or fire like a peece of Ise which if it be true then is the old phylosophicall Maxime vtterly false namely that all liuing creatures are hot and moyst beeing compared to creatures without life and sence for there is not any dead or sencelesse body that so quencheth fire as the Ise doth But the truth is that the Salamander is cold and colder then any Serpent yet not without his naturall heate which beeing compared to Armans may truly be said to be hot and therefore the venome of the Salamander is reckoned among Septicks or corroding things It naturally loueth milke and therefore some-times in the Woods or neere hedges it sucketh a Cow that is layde but afterward that Cowes vdder or stocke dryeth vppe and neuer more yeeldeth any milke It also greatly loueth the Honny-combe and some Authours haue affirmed that they vse to gape after ayre or fresh breath like the Camaelion yet they which haue kept Salamanders in glasses neuer perceiued by theÌ„ any such thing They are slow of pace and voyde ground very sluggishlie and therfore it is iustly termed a heauy and slothfull beast But the greatest matter in the Salamander to be inquired after is whethet it can liue and be nourished by and in the fire or whether it can paâ—se thorough the fire without any harme or quench and put out the same Which opinions in the very relation and first hearing doe crosse one another for how can that either be nourished or liue in the fire which quencheth the same beeing put into it Aristotle that neuer saw a Salamander himselfe but wrote thereof by heare-say hath giuen some colour to this opinion because he writeth nonulla corpora esse animalium quae igne non absumantur Salamandra documentâ— est quae vt aiunt ignem inambulans per eum extinguit That is to say the Salamander is an euidence that the bodies of some creatures are not wasted or consumed in the fire for as some say it walketh in the fire and extinguisheth the same Now whether this beseemed so great a Phylosopher to write vppon heare-say vvho tooke vpon him to gather all naturall learning into his owne Graunge or store-house out of the same to furnish both the present and all future ages I leaue it to the consideration of euery indifferent Reader that shall peruse this story I for mine owne part rather iudge it to be lightnes in him to insert a matter of this consequence in the discourse of this beast without either Authours or experience gathered by himselfe This one thing I maruaile at why the Egyptians when they will expresse or signifie a man burnt doe in theyr Hierogliphicks paint a Salamander except eyther fire can burne a Salamander or else contrary to all their custome they demonstrate one contrary by another Nicander plainely affirmeth that the Salamander dooth without all harme passe thorough the fire and the Scholiast addeth that there are certaine passages in the skinne out of vvhich issueth a kind of liquour that quencheth the fire And hee telleth a story of one Andreas who did dippe a peece of cloth in the blood of a Salamander and tried afterward whither it would burne or not but did not find that it would burne wherfore he put it vppon his hand and thrust that into the fire and then also he felt no manner of paine And therefore the said Nicander calleth this creature Ciporrhinon because of a certaine fatte humour which issueth out of it quenching the fire but I rather thinke that this fat humour maketh the skinne to glister for if it were properly fatte it would rather kindle and encrease the fire then quench or extinguish the same Suidas followeth the common receiued opinion that the Salamander quencheth the fire although it be not bredde of the fire as Krekets are like Ise and when the fire is so quenched it is in vaine to blow or kindle the same againe with any bellowes as they say hath beene tryed in the forges of Smithes And this also caused Serenus to write Seu Salamandra potens nullisque obnoxia flammis the potent Salamander is neuer hurt by flames Seneca consenteth heere-vnto and Zoroastres and so great hath beene the dotage about this opinion that some haue written that it ascendeth vp to the fire neere the moone farre aboue the reach of the Eagles or swiftest Fowles Thus say they that write and maintaine the Salamanders abyding in the fire without harme Now on the contrary let vs also heare their opinions vvhich deny this naturall operation in the Salamander Pliny affirmeth that in his owne experience hee found that a Salamander was consumed in the fire and not the fire by it for he saith he burned one to powder and vsed the same powder in medicines Sextius also denyeth that it quencheth the fire and vnto this opinion agreeth Dioseorides Aetius writeth that when it is first put into the fire it deuideth the flame and passeth thorough speedily without harme but if it tarry long therein it is burned and consumed because the liquour or humiditie thereof is wasted And this is also graunted by Galen Theophrastus and Niphus And Matthaeolus affirmeth that hee tryed the same and found that if burning coales were layde vppon it then it burned like vnto any other rawe flesh but beeing cast into the fire it burneth not speedily Albertus writeth that there were some which brought to him a certaine thing which they called Wooll and said that it would not burne but he found it not Laua vvooll but Lamygo that is a vapoury adhaerencie of a thing which flyeth from the strokes oâ— hammers vppon hot burning yron and beeing collected vppon cloth or cleauing to any part of the forge it there becommeth in shew like yellowish pale wooll The said Authour affirmeth that hee tooke a Spyder and layde the same vpon a hot burning yron where it continued vnburned and vnharmed without motion a great while by reason of his thicke skinne and coldnesse and vnto another hee suffered a little Candle to be put which instantly put it out And for the same causes that