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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A13821	The historie of serpents. Or, The second booke of liuing creatures wherein is contained their diuine, naturall, and morall descriptions, with their liuely figures, names, conditions, kindes and natures of all venemous beasts: with their seuerall poysons and antidotes; their deepe hatred to mankind, and the wonderfull worke of God in their creation, and destruction. Necessary and profitable to all sorts of men: collected out of diuine scriptures, fathers, phylosophers, physitians, and poets: amplified with sundry accidentall histories, hierogliphicks, epigrams, emblems, and ænigmaticall obseruations. By Edvvard Topsell.	Topsell, Edward, 1572-1625?	1608 (1608)	STC 24124; ESTC S122051	444,728	331

swelling of the Spleene He writeth also further that if a man catch a Spyder as she is glyding and descending downe-wards by her thred and so being crushed in the hand then applied to the nauell that the belly will be prouoked to the stoole but beeing taken as shee is ascending and applyed after the same former manner that any loosenes or fluxe is stayed and restrayned thereby The same Pliny also writeth that if a man take a Spyder and lay it vppon a fellon prouided that the sick patient may not know so much that within the space onely of three dayes that terrible and painefull griefe will be cleane taken away And besides he affirmeth that if the head and feete of a spyder be cast away and the rest of the body rubbed and bruised that it will thoroughly remedie the swelling in the fundament proceeding of inflamation If any be vexed with store of lyce and doe vse a suffumigation made onely with Spyders it will cause them all to fall and come away neither will there afterwards any moe breede in that place The fat of a Goose tempered and mixed with a Spyder and oyle of Roses together beeing vsed as an oyntment vpon the breasts preserueth them safelie as that no milke will coagulate or curdle in them after any birth Anonymus Yea that same knotty scourge of rich men the scorne of Phisitians I meane the Gowte which as some learned men hold can by no meanes be remedied yet feeleth mitigation and diminution of paine and curation also onely by the presence of a Spyder if it be taken aliue and her hinder legges cut off and afterward inclosed in a purse made of the hyde of a Stag. Moreouer we see which all other medicines can neuer doe that all they are freed for the most part both from the Gowte in the legges and hands where the spyders are most found where they are most busie in working framing their ingenious deuised webs Doubtlesse this is a rare miracle of nature a wonderfull vertue that is in this contemptible little creature or rather esteemed to be so vile abiect and of no estimation Rich men were happy indeede if they knew how to make vse of their owne good Antonius Pius was wont to say that the sharpe words wittie sayings quirkes subtilties of Sophisters were like vnto Spyders webbes that containe in them much cunning Art and artificiall conceit but had little other good besides If any one be newly dangerously wounded and that the miserable partie feareth a bleeding to death what is a more noble medicine or more ready at hand then a thicke Spyders webbe to bynde hard vpon the wound to stay the inordinate effusion of blood Questionlesse if we were as diligent and greedy to search out the true properties and vertues of our owne domesticall remedies which we would buy of others so deerely we would not enforce our selues with such eager pursute after those of forraine Countries as though things fetcht farre off were better then our owne neere at hand or as though nothing were good wholesome vnlesse it came frō Egypt Arabia or India Surely vnlesse there were some wild worme in our brames or that we were bewitched and possessed with some Furie we would not so farre be in loue with forraine wares or be so much besotted as to seeke for greedy new phisicke and phisicall meanes considering that one poore Spyders webbe will doe more good for the stanching of blood the curation of vlcers the hindering of sanies slyme or slough to grow in any sore to abate and quench inflamations to conglutinate and consolidate wounds more then a cart-loade of Bole fetcht out of Armenia Sorcocolla Sandaracha or that earth vvhich is so much nobilitated by the impresse of a seale and therefore called Terra Sigillata the clay of Samos the durt of Germany or the loame of Lemnos For a cobwebbe adstringeth refrigerateth soldereth ioyneth and closeth vppe wounds not suffering any rotten or filthy matter to remaine long in them And in regard of these excellent vertues and qualities it quickly cureth bleedings at the nose the Haemorrhoides and other bloodie-fluxes whether of the opening of the mouthes of the veines their opertions breakings or any other bloody euacuation that too much aboundeth beeing either giuen by it selfe alone in some Wine eyther inwardlie or outwardly or commixed with the Blood-stone Crocus Martis and other the like remedies fit for the same intentions The cobwebbe is also an ingredient into an vnguent which is made by Phisitians against the disease called Serpego and beeing bound to the swellings of the fundament if there be inflamation ioyned withall it consumeth them without any paine as Marcellus Empiricus testifieth It likewise cureth the watering or dropping of the eyes as Pliny reporteth and beeing applyed with oyle it consolidateth the wounds of the ioynts and some for the same intent vse the ashes of cobwebbes with fine Meale and White-vvine mixed together Some Surgeons there be that cure Warts in this manner They take a Spyders-web roling the same vppe on a round heape like a ball and laying it vppon the wart they then set fire on it and so burne it to ashes and by this way and order the vvarts are eradicated that they neuer after grow againe Marcellus Empiricus taketh Spyders webbes that are found in the Cypresse-tree mixing them with other conuenient remedies so giuing them to a podagricall person for the asswaging of his paine Against the paine of a hollovv tooth Gallen in his first booke De Compos medicum secundum loca much commendeth by the testimony of Archigenes the egges of Spyders beeing tempered and mixed with Oleum Nardinum and so a little of it beeing put into the tooth In like sort Kiramides giueth Spyders egges for the curation of a Tertian-Ague Where-vpon we conclude with Gallen in his booke to Piso that Nature as yet neuer brought foorth any thing so vile meane and contemptible in outward shew but that it hath manifold and most excellent necessary vses if we would shew a greater diligence and not be so squeamish as to refuse those wholesome medicines which are easie to be had and without great charges and trauaile acquired I will adde therefore this one note before I end this discourse that Apes Marmosets or Monkies the Serpents called Lizards the Stellion which is likewise a venomous beast like vnto a Lizard hauing spots in his necke like vnto starres Waspes and the little beast called Ichneumon Swallowes Sparrowes the little Titmouse and Hedge-sparrowes doe often feede full sauourlie vppon Spyders Besides if the Nightingale the Prince of all singing-byrds doe eate any Spyders shee is cleane freed and healed of all diseases vvhatsoeuer In the dayes of Alexander the Great there dwelled in the Cittie of Alexandria a certaine young mayde which from her youth vp was fed and nourished onely with eating of Spyders and for the same cause the King was premonished not to come neere

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

out of a Booke of Schilt●ergerus a Ba●arian who knew the same as he writeth while hee was a captiue in Turky his words are these In the kingdome called Genycke there is a Citty called Sampson about which while I was prisoner with Baiazeta King of Turkes there pitched or arriued an innumerable company of Land and Water-serpents compassing the said Cittie a mile about The Land-serpents came out of the vvoods of Trienick which are great many and the Water-serpents came out of the bordering Sea These were nine dayes together assembling in that place and for feare of them there was not any man that durst goe out of the Citty although it was not obserued that they hurt any man or liuing creature there-abouts VVherefore the Prince also commaunded that no man should trouble them or doe them any harme wisely iudging that such an accident came not but by Diuine miracle and that also to signifie some notable euent Vppon the tenth day these two valiant troupes ioyned battell early in the morning before the sunne-rising so continuing in fight vntill the sunne-set at which time the Prince with some horse-men went out of the Cittie to see the battell and it appeared to him and his associates that the Water Serpents gaue place to the Land Serpents So the Prince and his company returned into the Citty againe and the next day went forth againe but found not a Serpent aliue for there were slaine aboue eyght thousand all which he caused presently to bee couered with earth in ditches and afterward declared the whole matter to Baiazeta by Letters after he had gotten that Cittie whereat the great Turke reioyced for hee thereby interpreted happines to himselfe But I haue beene too long in this first and proper affection of Serpents namely theyr mutuall concord and this example of the Land and Water-serpents doth not breake the common promised rule because it is to be vnderstood of serpents that liue in the sam●element The second propertie of Serpents is to presage pestilence rottennesse of ayre famine floods and ruine of those places wherein they are commorant and haue theyr abiding so doe they knowe to chuse a good ayre and fore-knowe fertilitie of fruites earthquakes and great tempests VVhen Helice was destroyed fiue dayes before the serpents snakes rats mice and vvesills departed all out thereof beeing wiser then men that misdeeming no harme although they sawe wondered at these remooualls yet stood it out to their owne vtter ruine ouerthrow and destruction Of the friendship and enmitie which Serpents keepe with other Creatures EVer since the deuill entered into the Serpent it became hatefull to all or the most part of the Beasts of the field so that it may as truly be verified of the Serpent as it was of Esau that the hands of all men and beastes are against them except very few for they are strangers to all and find very fewe or no friends Yet it is reported that the Serpent and the Foxe will liue peaceably together in one caue or lodging There is a story not vnpleasant of a Man that found a Serpent enclosed betwixt two stones and at the intreatie of the serpent he loosed him out of danger and did him no harme The Serpent beeing released and free from death instead of other recompence for so good a turne told the Man that hee had beene therein long time inclosed and was very hungry and therefore was forced against his will to make the best of his fortune therefore must needes eate the Man and bad him prepare himselfe for death The man astonished at this motion replyed to the serpent that he hoped hee would not deale so with him hauing deliuered him from death now to put his deliuerer to death and said moreouer that he would not be the Iudge of his owne case but referre the same to the next they found and the serpent also yeelded to that iudgement beeing assured that no creature would quit the man least he should cast his owne life into perrill Forth then they went and met with an asse to whom the man told the difference betwixt him and the serpent howe kindly hee saued the serpents life and how vnkindly he againe would take away his life And then the serpent bade the Asse consider what iudgement hee gaue and for whom hee spake The Asse adiudged it lawfull for the serpent to kill the man Loe now saide the serpent make you readie for the matter is iudged against you and withall began to make force at him with mouth and sting But the man said that hee would not take this Asses decree for reasonable and therefore prayed the serpent to tarry yet a little longer and to try once more the next beast they met withall and the serpent thinking himselfe sure of the bootie yeelded there-vnto Then forth they passed againe shortly after met with a Fox to whom the man related his case and the benefit he had done to the serpent The serpent againe confessed he released him but withall denyed his case to be as the man had said so desperat but onely he entrapped himselfe the better to compasse a bootie The Foxe hauing heard them both desirous to end the matter for the mans benefit would needes goe with them both to the place where the serpent was inclosed and so all parties consented And whē the Fox came thether he bade the Serpent goe into the same place againe that so he might the better iudge of the whole matter The serpent went in againe betwixt the stones and was so inclosed as he was before for he could not stirre neither backward nor forward Then the Foxe asked the man if this were the serpents case from which he had deliuered him The man answered yea in all poynts Then hee bade the serpent come out againe as he said hee could without the helpe of the man But the serpent called the man to helpe him againe Nay said the Fox I found you two at variance because of your discharge from this place and seeing nowe you are as you were before and the man as he was before your enlargement my sentence is that when you come forth of that place you are in then shall you eate the man and if hee will let you foorth againe I will neuer pittie him By this fable is shewed that Foxes loue not Serpents so well as they loue men and yet they neuer loue men but they are afraide suspitious and vvilling to forsake their familiaritie Some say there is a kind of loue betwixt Serpents and Cats whereof I finde this storie in Ponzettus There were certaine Monks who all of them fell sicke vpon a suddaine and the Phisitians could not tell how or whence this sicknesse came except from some secrete poyson At last one of the seruants of the Abbey saw the Cat which was dailie fedde at the Monks table to play with a serpent and thereby it was coniectured that the serpent hauing in his sport

very greedily for they say it hath in it a refrigeratiue power And there be some which by certaine inchaunting verses doe tame Dragons and rydeth vpon their necks as a man would ride vpon a horse guiding and gouerning them with a bridle Now because we haue already shewed that some dragons haue winges least it should seeme vncredible as the foolish world is apt to beleeue no more then they see I haue therefore thought good to adde in this place a particuler relation of the testimonies of sundry Learned-men concerning these winged Serpents or dragons First of all Megastenes writeth that in India there be certaine flying Serpents which hurt not in the day but in the night time and these do render or make a kind of vrine by the touching whereof all the parts of mortall creatures doe rotte away And there is a Mountaine which deuideth asunder the Kingdome of Narsing a from Alabaris wherein be many winged-serpents sitting vpon trees which they say poyson men with their breath There be many pestilent winged-serpents which come out of Arabia euery yeere by troupes into Egypt these are destroyed by a certaine Black-bird called Ibis who fighteth with thē in the defence of that Country where she liueth so that there lye great heapes of them many times destroyed vpon the earth by these Birds whose bodies may be there visibly seene to haue both wings and legges and their bones beeing of great quantitie and stature remaine vnconsumed for many yeeres after These kinde of Serpents or Dragons couet to keepe about the Trees of Frankinsence which grow in Arabia and when they are driuen away frō thence with the fume or smoake of Stirax then they flie as is afore-said into Egypt and this is to be considered that if it were not for this Stirax all that Country would be consumed with Dragons Neither haue wee in Europe onely heard of Dragons and neuer seene them but also euen in our own Country there haue by the testimonie of sundry Writers diuers been discouered and killed And first of all there was a Dragon or Winged-serpent brought vnto Frauncis the French-King when hee lay at Sancton by a certaine Country-man who had slaine the same Serpent himselfe with a Spade when it sette vppon him in the fields to kill him And this thing was witnessed by many Learned credible men which saw the same and they thought it was not bredde in that Country but rather driuen by the winde thither from some forraine Nation For Fraunce was neuer knowne to breede any such Monsters Among the Pyrenes also there is a cruell kinde of Serpent not past foure foote long and as thicke as a mans arme out of whose sides growe winges much like vnto gristles Gesner also saith that in the yeere of our Lord 1543. there came many Serpents both with wings and legs into the parts of Germany neere Stiria who did bite wound many men incurably Cardan also describeth certaine serpents with wings which hee saw at Parris whose dead bodies were in the hands of Gulielmus Musicus hee saith that they had two legges and small winges so that they could scarce flie the head was little and like to the head of a Serpent their colour bright and without haire or feathers the quantitie of that which was greatest did not exceede the bignes of a Cony and it is saide they vvere brought out of India Besides a further confirmation of these beastes there haue beene noted in all ages for it is written in the Romaine Chronicles the times of their apparision and manifestation When the Riuer of Tiber ouer-flowed aboue the bankes then were many Serpents discouered and many Dragons as in the time of Mauritius the Emperour at what time a dragon came along by the Citty of Rome vpon the waters in the sight of all men and so passed to the Sea after which prodigie there followed a great mortall pestilence In the yeere 1499. the twenty sixe day of May there came a dragon to the Citty of Lucerne which came out of the Lake through Rusa downe along the Riuer many people of all sorts beholding the same There haue beene also Dragons many times seene in Germanie flying in the ayre at mid-day and signifying great and fearefull fiers to follow as it happened neere to the Cittie called Niderburge neere to the shore of the Rhyne in a maruailous cleere sun-shine day there came a dragon three times successiuely together in one day did hang in the ayre ouer a Towne called Sanctogoarin and shaking his tayle ouer that Towne euery time it appeared visibly in the sight of many of the inhabitants and afterwards it came to passe that the said towne was three times burned with fire to the great harme and vndooing of all the people dwelling in the same for they were not able to make any resistance to quench the fire with all the might Art and power that they could raise And it was further obserued that about that time there were many dragons seene washing themselues in a certaine Fountaine or Well neere the towne and if any of the people did by chaunce drinke of the water of that Well theyr bellyes did instantly begin to swell and they died as if they had beene poysoned Where-vpon it was publiquely decreed that the said well should be filled vp with stones to the intent that neuer any man should afterwards be poisoned with that water and so a memory thereof was continued and these thinges are written by Iustinus Goblerus in an Epistle to Gesner affirming that hee did not write fayned things but such things as were true and as he had learned from men of great honestly and credite whose eyes did see and behold both the dragons and the mishaps that followed by fire When the body of Cleomines was crucified and hung vpon the Crosse it is reported by them that were the watch-men about it that there came a dragon and did wind it selfe about his body and with his head couered the face of the dead King oftentimes licking the same and not suffering any bird to come neere and touch the carkasse For vvhich cause there began to be a reuerent opinion of diuinitie attributed to the King vntill such time as wise and prudent men studious of the truth found out the true cause hereof For they say that as Bees are generated out of the body of Oxen and Drones of horses and Hornets of Asses so doe the bodyes of men ingender out of their marrow a Serpent and for this cause the Auncients were moued to consecrate the dragon to noble-spirited men and therefore there was a monument kept of the first Affricanus because that vnder an Oliue planted with his owne hand a dragon was said to preserue his ghost But I will not mingle fables and truth together and therefore I will reserue the morrall discourse of this beast vnto another place and this which I haue written may be sufficient to satisfie

her least peraduenture he might be infected by her poysonous breath or by the venome euaporated by her sweating Albertus likewise hath recorded in his writings that there vvas a certaine noble young Virgine dwelling at Colen in Germany who from her tender yeeres was fedde onely with Spyders And thus much we English-men haue knowne that there was one Henry Lilgraue liuing not many yeeres since beeing Clarke of the Kitchen to the right noble Ambrose Dudley Earle of Warwicke who would search euery corner for Spyders and if a man had brought him thirtie or fortie at one time he would haue eaten them all vp very greedily such was his desirous longing after them OF THE STELLION THey are much deceiued that confound the greene Lyzard or any other vulgar Lyzard for because the Stellion hath a rustie colour and yet as Matthiolus writeth seeing Aristotle hath left recorded that there are venomous Stellions in Italy he thinketh that the little white beast with starres on the backe found about the Cittie ofRome in the vvalls and ruines of old houses and is there called Tarentula is the Stellion of which Aristotle speaketh and there it liueth vpon Spyders Yet that there is another and more noble kind of Stellion aunciently so called of the Learned shall afterward appeare in the succeeding discourse This Beast or Serpent is called by the Graecians Colottes Ascalobotes Galeotes and such an one was that which Aristophanes faineth from the side of a house eased her belly into the mouth of Socrates as hee gaped when in a Moone-shine night hee obserued the course of the starres and motion of the Moone The reason of this Greeke name Ascalabotes is taken from Ascalos a circle because it appeareth on the backe full of such circles like starres as writeth Perottus Howbeit that seemeth to be a fayned Etymologie and therefore I rather take it that Ascala signifieth impuritie and that by reason of the vncleanenesse of this beast it was called Ascalabetes or as Suidas deriueth it of Colobates because by the helpe and dexteritie of the fingers it clymbeth vppe the walls euen as Rats and myce or as Kiramides will haue it from Calos signifying a peece of wood because it clymbeth vppon wood and Trees And for the same reason it is called Galeotes because it clymbeth like a Weasill but at this day it is vulgarly called among the Graecians Liakoni although some are also of opinion that it is also knowne among them by the words Thamiamithos and Psammamythe Among the vulgar Haebrewes it is sometimes called Letaah and sometimes Semmamit as Munster vvriteth The Arrabians call it Sarnabraus and Senabras a Stellion of the Gardens And peraduenture Guarill Guasemabras Alurel and Gnases And Syluaticus also vseth Epithetes for a Stellion And the generall Arabian word for such creeping byting things is Vasga which is also rendered a dragon of the house Insteed of Colotes Albertus hath Arcolus The Germaines English and French haue no words for this Serpent except the Latine word and therefore I was iustly constrained to call it a Stellion in imitation of the Latine word As I haue shewed some difference about the name so it now ensueth that I should doe the like about the nature and place of their abode First of all therefore I must put a difference betwixt the Italian Stellion or Tarentula and the Thracian or Graecian for the Stellion of the Ancients is propper to Gracia For they say this Stellion is full of Lentile spots or speckles making a sharpe or shrill shrieking noyse and is good to be eaten but the other in Italy are not so Also they say in Sicilia that their Stellions inflict a deadly byting but those in Italy cause no great harme by their teeth They are couered with a skin like a shell or thicke barke and about their backes there are many little shining spots like eyes from whence they haue their names streaming like starres or droppes of bright cleare water according to this verse of Ouid. Aptumque colori Nomen habet varijs Stellatus corpor a guttis Which may be englished thus And like his spotted hiew so is his name The body starred ouer like drops of rayne It mooueth but slowly the backe and tayle beeing much broader then is the backe and tayle of a Lyzard but the Italian Tarentulaes are white and in quantitie like the smallest Lyzards and the other Graecian Lyzards called at this day among them Haconi is of bright siluer colour and are very harmefull and angry whereas the other are not so but so meeke and gentle as a man may put his fingers into the mouth of it without danger One reason of their white bright shining colour is because they want blood and therefore it was an errour in Syluaticus to say that they had blood The teeth of this Serpent are very small and crooked and whensoeuer they byte they sticke fast in the wound and are not pulled forth againe except with violence The tayle is not very long yet when by any chaunce it is broken bytten or cut off then it groweth againe They liue in houses and neere vnto the doores and windowes thereof make their lodgings and some-times in dead-mens graues and Sepulchres but most commonly they clymbe and creepe aloft so as they fall downe againe some-times into the meate as it is in dressing and sometimes into other things as we haue already said into Socrates mouth when they descend of their owne accord they creepe side-long They eate Hony and for that cause creepe into the hiues of Bees except they be very carefully stopped as Virgill writeth Nam saepe fauos ignotus adedit Stellio Many times the Stellion at vnawares meeteth with the Hony combes They also of Italy many times eate Spyders They all lye hidde foure monthes of the yeere in vvhich time they eate nothing and twice in the yeere that is to say both in the Spring-time and Autumne they cast theyr skinne which they greedily eate so soone as they haue stripped it off Which Theophrastus and other Authors write is an enuious part in this Serpent or creeping creature because they vnderstand that it is a noble remedy against the Falling-sicknesse vvherefore to keepe men from the benefit and good which might come there-by they speedily deuoure it And from this enuious and subtile part of the Stellion commeth the cryme in Vlpianus called Crimen Stellionatus that is when one man fraudulently preuenteth another of his money or wares or bargaine euen as the Stellion dooth man-kind of the remedy which commeth vnto them by and from his skinne This cryme is also called Extortion and among the Romans when the Tribunes did with-draw from the Souldiours their prouision of victuall and Corne it is said Tribunos qui per Stellatur as Militibus aliquid abstulissent capitali poena affecit And therefore Budaeus relateth a history of two Tribunes who for this stellature were worthilie stoned to death by the commaundement of the