meat from the hand of Tiberius he mentions elsewhere repentes inter pocula sinusque innoxiâ—olapsu Dracones l. 2. de Ira. Dragons that crept upon mens tables among their cups and harmlesly along their bosomes and the four-legged Serpents in Cairo were tame and harmless that wee spake of before in the Chapter of Musick 3. For Birds and wilde Fowle we may instance in the Estridges that were put to draw a Coach in Eagles that are trained in Turky like Hawks to fly at any fowl in the Crow that Scaliger saw in the French Kings Court that was taught to flye at Partridges or any other fowl from the Falconers fist and lastly in Wilde Ducks that are tamed and made Decoyes to intice and betray their fellows which is commonly known 4. Then fourthly for things in the Sea that have been tamed we may instance in a fish called the Manati or Sea-Cow well known about Hispaniola and other places of the West-Indies it hath the form of a Cow and hath four feet and comes often to land to eat grass Peter Martyr in his Decads speaks of an Indian Cacique or Lord of the Countrey that had one of these tame Cows that would eat meat out of his hands and was as sportfull as an Ape would carry his sons and servants sometimes ten of them at a time on his back and waft them over a great Lake from one shore to another We may instance also in the Sea-Horse that hath been tamed and made tractable to carry men on his back as Leo Afer reports of one he had seen in his History of Africa and in the Fish called Reversus by whose help and admirable industry the Indians used to catch Fish in the Sea as Bodin relates in the third book of his Theatrum Naturae He is let loose at the prey as the Greyhound from the slip as Purchas saith and Peter Martyr hath the like story of it in his Decads Pliny speaks the same of Dolphins which he had seen in some places to be used for to catch Fish and to bring them to shore and upon receiving some part of the prey to go their ways and if they failed in some point of service they suffered themselves patiently to be corrected as Setting-Dogs and Qua-Ducks or Decoy Ducks as we commonly call them use to be This same is affirmed of the Dolphins by Oppianus a learned Writer in his Halieuticks Otters have been tamed and taught to drive Fish into the Net as Dogs use to drive cattle into the Fold as Cardan relates But this is not all wilde beasts and birds have been tamed not only for the service but also for the pleasure and pastime of man As man hath learn'd some Arts from them so they have learn'd some from man Camels have been taught to dance as the African Leo hath seen in his Country Elephants have also been taught the same and not only on the earth but also in the air ambulare per funem to dance upon the Ropes Seneca is my Author for it Epist. 85. The manner of teaching them to dance is thus They bring some young Elephant or Camel upon a floor of earth that hath been heated underneath and they play on a Cittern or Tabor while the poor beast lifts up his stumps from the hot floor very often more by reason of the heat then any lust to dance and this they practise so often until the beast hath got such a habit of it that when ever he hears any Musique he falls a dancing Bubsequius saw a dancing Elephant in Constantinople and the same Elephant playing at ball tossing it to another man with his Trunk and receiving it back again Michael Neander saw in Germany a bear brought from Poland that would play upon the Tabor and dance some measures yea dance within the compass of a round Cap which he would afterwards hold up in his paw to the Spectators to receive money or some other boon for his pains There was a dance of Horses presented at the marriage of the Duke of Florence which Sir Kenelm Digby mentions An Asse hath not so dull a soul as some suppose for Leo Afer saw one in Africa that could vie feats with Bankes his Horse that rare Master of the Caballistick Art whose memory is not forgotten in England The Sybarites a people of Italy being given to delicacies had taught some Horses to dance The Crotonians hearing thereof and preparing War against them for some former quarrel brought with them some Flutes and Flutinists to the War who had direction to pipe it as loud as they could when the Sybarites were ready to charge with their Horse whereupon the Sybarites Horses instead of rushing upon the Enemy fell a dancing and so gave the victory to the Enemies thereby as three grave Authors have recorded Diod. Sic. l. 12. Ael l. 16. c. 23. Plin. l. 8. C. 42. A Baboon was seen to play upon the Guittaâ— and a Monky in the King of Spain's Court was very skilful at Chess-play Some birds have been taught to speak mans language and to utter whole sentences of Greek and Latine articulately There were seen in Rome Stares Pyes and Crows that could do this to the admiration of all men Cardinal Ascanio had a Parrot that could repeat the Apostles Creed verbatim in Latine and in the Court of Spain there was one that could sing the Gamâ— ut perfectly and if he was out he would say No va bueno That is not well but when he was right he would say Bueno va Now it is well as John Barnes an English Frier relates in a most learned Book of his De Aequivocatione What witty feats and tricks Dogs have been taught to do are so well known that I may spare instances of this kind Many of these examples that I have produced to make good the Title of this Chapter and the Apostles saying above-mentioned are briefly sum'd up by Martial in his Book of Shows the 105th Epigr. which I have here annexed with the Translation of M. Hen. Vaughan Silurist whose excellent Poems are publique Picto quod juga delicata collo Pardus sustinet improbaeque Tygres Indulgent patientiam flagello Mordent aurea quod lupata Cervi Quod Frâ—nis Lybici domantur Ursi Et quantum Caledon tulisse fertur Paret purpureis Aper Capistris Turpes essed a quod trahunt Bisontes Et molles dare jussa quod choreas Nigro Bellua nil negat Magistro Quis spectacula non putet Deorum Haec transit tamen ut minora quisquis Venatus humiles videt Leonum c. That the fierce Pard doth at a beck Yield to the Yoke his spotted neck And the untoward Tyger bear The whip with a submissive fear That Stags do foam with golden bits And the rough Lybic bear submits Unto the Ring that a wild Boar Like that which Caledon of Yore Brought forth doth mildly put his head In purple Muzzles to
inolescere libro Virg. Georg. l. 2. Whence books are called Libri and Codices for liber properly is interior tunica corticis quae ligno cohaeret in quâ antiqui scribebant as Isiodor defines it The Indians of the East used such a kinde of writing as Q. Curtius mentions l. 8. libri Arborum teneri haud secus quà m Cerae litterarum notas capiunt They wrote also in the leavs of certain reeds which Isaiah called papyr-reeds Isa. 19. 7. growing in the marishes of Egypt which reed â—or sedge is called Biblus or Byblos so Lucan Nondum flumineas Memphis contexere biblos Noverat Which the Translator doth english papyr The River yet had not with papyr serv'd Aegypt Tho. May. From which term or name of Biblos books are by the Grecians called Bibloi and biblia dimunitively and that book of books the Bible because books were usually made of this kinde of reed or sedge and the manner was thus they divided these leaves into thin flakes called Phylirae into which they naturally divide themselves then laying them on a smooth table and moistning them with the water of Nilus which is of a glutinous nature they placed one cross under the other like a woof and warp in a weavers loom then having pressed them they set them to dry in the Sun as Pliny relates in l. 13. of his Natural History The Roman Laws called the Laws of the 12 Tables were written in leaves or tables of brass Smal boards or tables of wood waxed were in frequent use among the later Romans to write in which were called Cerei pugillares in sundry Authors and Ceratae tabulae or tabellae whence Letter-carriers were called Tabellarii These were the Writing tables that Zacharias called for Luke 1. 36. Write these things upon a table Isa. 30. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Septuagint box tables These boards were somtimes made of Box and Cedarâ—wood whence that of the Poet Persius Cedro digna locutus He spake things worthy to be written in Cedar and worthy of immortality Eumenes King of Pergamus devised a way to dress the skins of beasts and to make them fit for writing as Vellam Parchment This latter is called Pergamum from the Town of Pergamus where it was first made But the modern invention of paper surpasseth all in this kinde My Lord Bacon reckons it inter monodica artis among the singularities of Art as being a singular and excellent invention adeo ut inter materias artificiales vix inveniatur simile aliquid saith he it is a web or piece of cloth that is made without a Loom without spinning or weaving as a modern Poet is pleased to describe it Denique compacta est nullo subtemine tela Exuperans candore nives AEtate metella c. It derives its pedigree from the dung-hill being made of rags and things cast out of doors as useless we do not go to the expence of making it of Cotton-wool as the Mexicans do but of nasty clouts Magnarum usque adeo sordent primordia rerum of so mean a birth and original is this commodity Quâ humanitas vitae memoria maximè constat imo quâ hominum immortalitas as Plin. lib. 13. cap. 11. which Grotius describes thus Nunc aurata comas sicco pumice laevis Charta senis scabri fascia nuper eram In some parts of the East they make paper of silk as was to be seen in Ferdinand Imperatus his Cabinet of Rarities Now speak we of the active instruments or those wherewith we write The two Tables of the Law were written with a miraculous pen to wit Gods own finger for writing in brass or lead they had certain Graving tools that were hollow called by the Latines câ—lum and celtes from the hollowness thereof In waxen tables they wrote with pointed bodkins of iron steel or brass called stylus this was sharp at one end for to make impression in that wax but it was flat and broad and somwhat hooked at the other end for to scrape or blot out the letter if need were Men write in glass with pointed Diamonds which yeild to be cut by nothing else except the Smiris or Emeril In ancient paper made of seggs they wrote with a reed called calamus scriptorius arundo which kinde of reed grew much about Memphis and Cnidos and the banks of Nile Dat Chartis habiles calamos Memphitica tell us In parchment and the modern paper they write with a pen or quil pluckt from the wing of some Fowl called by Ausonius Fissipes from the slit that is made in it for to let down Ink which is a very useful invention and commended by an ingenious Muse of the Low Countries Praeteritos reddit praesentes prorogat annos Invidiamque feri temporis una domat Absenti loquitur laedit rostraâ—a juvatque Dumque aliis vitaÌ„ foenerat ipsa caret Past years it rescues makes the present spread To ages and times envy striketh dead Instructs the absent hurts and helps at need And wanting life makes others live indeed Opmerius makes mention of the three last in his Chronicle In pugillares scribebant stylis ferreis in papyros autem arundineis calamis postmodum etiam avium pennis so he Some write with coals but the verse tells you who they are Stultorum calami carbones moenia chartae The Cutlers of Damascus write in iron steel and brass with corroding waters only wherewith they make frets of curious figures and characters in sundry colours as may be seen on Turkish Scimiters and those Gladii Damascinati Swords made at that City of Damascus beautified with Damask work and Embroidery It lasts long for with one pen did Dr Holland a Physitian of Coventry a learned and industrious man write out the great Volume of Pliny translated into English by himself which for a memorial a Lady preserved and bestowed a silver case upon it The Queen of Hungary in the year 1540 had a silver pen bestowed upon her which had this Inscription on it Publii Ovidii Calamus Found under the ruines of some Monument in that Country as Mr Sands in the life of Ovid prefixt to his Metamorphosis relates CAP. V. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OF Printing and Printing-Presses THis is a divine benefit afforded to mankind saith Polydor Virgil an Art that is second or inferiour to none saith Cardan either for wit or usefulness it puts down hand-writing for neatness and expedition for by this more work is dispatched in one day then many Librarians or book-writers could do in a year Quam nulla satis mirabitur aetas Ars Coelo delapsa viris consumere nata Materiem veloxque omnes transcribere libros Cum positis quadrata acie miro ordine signis This Art by multiplying books hath multiplyed knowledge and hath brought to our cognizance both persons and actions remote from us and long before our time which otherwise had perished in oblivion and never
in his description of those Islands The Prophets of old wore garments made of Hair whence Elias is called vir pilosus the hairie man 2 Reg. 1. 8. St John the Baptist had a garment made of Camels hair Matth. 3. 4. Grograms are made of Goats hair pulled from off their backs which kinde of Goats Bâ—bequius reports that he had seen in Asia whose hair was very fine and glistering not inferior to silk and hanging to the very ground they have four horns saith Seal Ex. 199. Camelots or Chamlets are made of Camels hair which is so fine especially those of Persian race that they may compare with Milesian wool for fineness as Aelian reports and the great ones used to wear thereof in those Countries Flax and hemp were first drest in Aegypt Fine linnen with broydered work and sails first came from Aegypt saith the Prophet Ezek. C. 27. V. 7. and the Aegyptians are decyphered by this periphrasis in Isaiah They that work in fine flax and weave Net-works Isa. 19. 9. The Aegyptian priests did alwaies weave linnen in the Temples and therefore are termed linigeri so did the Jewish Priests their Ephods Miters and other Vestures were linnen and so the Priests of most Nations Velati lino verbena tempora vincti Virgil. Of finest Flax their Vestures are And on their heads they vervain wear The fine linnen so often mentioned by Moses for the holy garments is made of the Bombase or Cotton that grows in balls upon certain shrubs which kind of shrub is termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Theophrast the Wool-bearing Tree and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 simply the Tree whence Linum Xylinum in Tremellius his Translation is still rendred in the English Bible fine linnen so that the fine linnen vestments of the Priests were made of Bombase as the learned Salmasius hath observed in his Exercitations upon Solinus so that the wool-bearing Trees in Aethiopia which Virgil speaks of and the Eriophori arbores in Theophrastus are not such trees as have a certain wool or dowl upon the outside of them as the mall-Cotton but short trees that bear a ball upon the top pregâ—ant with wool which the Syrians call Cott the Grecians Gossypium the Italians Bombagio and We Bombase But I believe that some part of their vesture was also of Flax Mundissima lini seges indatui amictui sanctissimis Aegyptiorum Sacerdotibus usurpatur saith Apuleius in Apologia Hadrianus Junius a most learned man in his description of the Netherlands doth highly extol the fine linnen made by the soft hands of the Belgick Nuns in Holland and the Town of Cambray called from thence Hollands and Cambricks quarum cum nive certat candor cum sindone tenuitas cum bysso pretium so he speaks of them and calls them Regum Reginarum praecipuas delicias the chiefest delight of Kings and Queens There is a certain Shell-fish in the Sea called pinna that bears a mossie dowl or wool whereof cloth was spun and made as Tertullian speaks in his book de pallio Et Arbusta nos vestiunt de mari vellera These are his words not only Trees afford wool but also the Sea to clothe us withal this wool or moss is so soft and delicate that it is nothing inferiour to silk saith Lacerda and therefore he calls it Byssum marinum Sea silk in his notes upon Tertullian though the true Byssus be lost and also the Carbasus whence Carbasinae vestes insomuch that great Clerks can scarce tell us what they were but that fine Stuffs were anciently made of them One Ferdinand Imperatus a Drugster of Naples a great storer of exotique and domestique Rarities had some of this Sea-silk both weaved and unweaved and also the Shell-fish that did bear it Men have found a way not only arbores Nere sed lapides not only to spin threads from Trees as Tertullian speaks of the Seres but also from stones There is a stone called Lapis Caristius and Lapis Cyprius from the Countries that this stone or mineral is found to wit Cyprus as Strabo and mount Caristus in Attica as Trallianus and Dioscorides report it is like Allom in colour and being beaten with a Mallet it shews like a small hair therefore called Trichitis or the hayrie stone by some Greek Authors Alumen Plumaceum or downy Alom by the Latinists it is also called for the resemblance of it villus Salamandrae Salamanders wool This hair or dowl is spun into thread and weaved into cloth and the cloth so made hath this strange property that being cast into the fire it will not burn but if it be foul or stained comes forth more bright and clean out of the flames it is therefore called also Amiantus Ferdinand Imperatus before mentioned had a piece of this cloth much like white silk Of this hairy stone some made wick for candles that would not consume or burn out such a candle was made by Callimachus and hung up in the Temple of Minerva at Athens as Salmasius relates in his Plinianae exercitationes There was a vegetable of this kinde a sort of Flax called by the Grecians Asbestos and Asbestinos that had the like property with the mineral before mention'd saith the same Salmasius whereof Pliny makes mention in l. 9. of his History c. 1 and calls it Indian flax and linum vâ—vum quick inconsumptible flax Solinus makes mention of some sayls made in Crete of this stuff quae inter ignes valebant as he saith that would not take fire if it hath this property indeed it is pity to put it to such vulgar use as to serve for sayls that would better serve at our tables for if men had table-clothes and napkins of this stuff they might prefet them before Diapers and Damasks for it would save some cost no small trouble in washing and drying such houshold implements it is but throwing them into the fire and they are presently washed and dryed at once Pliny indeed esteemed it equivalent to pearl and precious stone for it was hard to be found and difficult to be weaved for the shortness of it as he says the bodies of Kings were used to be wrapt in this kinde of cloth when they were to be burnt that the ashes might be preserved unmixt for to be laid up in urns or pitchers as the manner then was Pliny saw some Napkins of this sort in his time and the experiment of their purifying demonstrated One Podocattar a Cyprian Knight and who wrote de rebus Gypriis in the year 1566. had both flax and cloth of this sort with him at Venice and one Thomas Porcacchius hath seen the same in that Knights house and many others with him as he relates in his work concerning the Rites of Funerals Ludovicus Vives also saw a Towel of that kinde at Louaine in Brabant as he relates in his Commentary upon St Augustine de Civitate Dei l. 21. c. 6. Baptista Porta saw the same
to go under water which my Lord of St Albans seems to touch Audimus inventam esse Machinam aliquam Naviculae aut Scaphae quae subter aquis vehere possit ad spatia non nulla We are not now content to sail upon the waters but we must sail under them too I know not whether Julius Scaliger was a braggard or no but he doth confidently aver that he could make a ship that could steer her self as easily as kiss his hand as we say Naviculam sponte sua mobilem ac sui remigii authorem faciam nullo negotio and to frame a flying Dove like that of Archytâ—s velfacillimè profiteri audeo saith the same great Scholar Exer. 326. In a Naumachia or representation of a Naval fight in the time of Claudius Caesar a Triton or Sea god sprung up in the midst of the Lake sounding aloud with a silver Trumpet Suet. in vit Claudii Juvenal makes mention of earthen boats to sail with used also in Aegypt for speaking of the deadly feud and fighting between the Towns of Ombos and Tentyra about their gods he speaks thus Sat. 15. Hac saevit rabie imbelle inutile vulgus Parvula fictilibus solitum dare vela Phaselis Et brevibus pictae remis incumbere testae An Appendix of the Mariners Card or Compass THough these flying Coaches on Sea were brought to great perfection many years since yet there was no small deficience in the Art of Navigation before the use of the Compass was found out which was invented first here in Europe by John Goia or Flavius Goia as others call him of the Town of Amalphi in Campania in the Kingdom of Naples Prima dedit Nautis usum Magnetis Amalphi Du Bartas calls him Flavio in these words We are not to Ceres so much bound for bread Neither to Bacchus for his clusters red As Signior Flavio for thy witty tryal For first inventing of the Seaman's Dyal Before this invention Pilots were directed in their right voyages by certain stars which they took notice of especially the Pleiades or Charles his Wain and the two stars in the tayl of the Bear called Helice and Cynosura which are therefore called Load-stars or leading stars As Travellers in the Desarts of Arabia and those of Tartary were always guided by some fixed stars in the night time to steer their courses in those pathless uncouth ways so Seamen were directed by the like heavenly guides in the pathless wilderness of waters before this excellent invention was found out Sidera Cuncta notat tacito labentia Caelo So Virgil speaks of Palinuras who was Shipmaster or chief Pilot and Steersman to Aeneas but if the sky chanced to be overcast and the stars to be curtain'd with clouds then the most experienced Mariner was at a loss and must cast Anchor presently and take up his rest Cum neque Temo Piger nec amico Sidere monstrat Luna vias medio coeli pelagique tumultu Stat rationis inops But the ingenious Amalphitan hath devised a remedy against this grand inconvenience and found a way that men might steer a certain and infallible course in the darkest nights and this by the help of a little stone called from the use and benefit the Loadstone This Loadstone â—s now our Load-star and the Mariners Directory This stone for the universal benefit and use of it is the wonder of all stones as Rablais said that a Milstone was the most precious stone of any other so I may say that a Loadstone is comparable to all the gems and precious stones in the world it is but obscure and mean in sight no sparkling lustre to be seen in it Lapis est cognomine Magnes Decolor obsâurus vilis c. Si tamen hic nigri videas miracula saxi Tunc superat pulchros cultus quicquid Eoi Indus littoribus rubrâ— scrutatur in Algâ This stone hath two strange properties the one of Attraction the other of Direction this property of Direction which chiefly concerns our present business is that being set in a dish and left to float freely upon the water it will with one end point directly to the North and with the other to the South and will give this faculty or property to a needle that is rubb'd or touched with it From these two faculties of Attraction and Direction many excellent useful and ingenious Inventions have bin found out especially this Pyxis Nautica or Mariners Card or Compass which carries a needle touched with the Loadstone in the middle of it with two and thirty Rumbs or lines drawn round about it according to the number of the Cardinal and Collateral Winds Now this animated needle shews with the Lilly-hand or point the North in any part of the world which is a great help to the Pilot to direct him to what point of the Compass to steer his course This Pyx or Card is no less useful by Land then it is by Sea so that they that travel through Desarts as the Carovans do to Mecha and Medina and other places do now make good use of this device whereas heretofore some star was their best guide by night Pliny speaks of the Inhabitants of Taprobana now called Sumatra that because they do not see the Pole-star to sayl by they carry with them certain birds to sea which they do often let fly and as these birds by natural instinct fly always towards the land so the Mariners direct their course after them In Syria and some Countries of the East that are covered with sand so that there is no tract or path to guide the Traveller and those sands are also scortching hot that they cannot be endured by day they travel by night and by the direction of certain stars which they use as certain way-marks to steer their course by As Mor Isaac in Philosophia Syriaca So also in the Country of the Bactrians as Curtius relates Navigantium modo Sidera observant ad quorum cursum iter dirigunt Curt. l. 7. Lud. Bartema relates that they that travel over the Desarts of Arabia which are all covered with light and fleeting sands so that no track can ever be found do make certain boxes of wood which they place on Camels backs and shutting themselves in the said boxes to keep them from the sands and by the help of the Loadstone like the Mariners Compass they steer their course over the vast and uncouth Desarts Some do ascribe this invention to that ingenious people of China Dr. Gilbert affirms that Paulus Venetus brought it first into Italy in the year 1260 having learn'd it from the Chinois as he saith l. 1. de Magnete c. 2. and Ludovicus Vertomanus another traveller saith that when he was in the East Indies about the year 1500 above an hundred and fifty years since he saw the Pilot of his ship direct his course by a Compass framed after the same manner as we have now when he was sayling towards