Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	blood_n	dragon_n	sanguine_a	164	3	16.9113	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

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

aduersaries The examples before expressed beeing all extraordinary beside nature do not conclude but that there is an ordinary hatred betwixt men and dragons and therefore in the discourse of their enemies men must haue the first place as their most worthy aduersarie for both dragons haue perrished by men and men by dragons as may appeare by these stories following When the Region of Heluetta beganne first to be purged from noysome beasts there was a horrible dragon found neere a Country towne called Wilser who did destroy all men and beastes that came within his danger in the time of his hunger insomuch that that Towne and the fields there-to adioyning was called Dedwiler that is a Village of the Wildernes for all the people and inhabitants had forsaken the same fledde to others places There was a man of that Towne whose name was Winckelriedt who was banished for manslaughter this man promised if he might haue his pardon and be restored againe to his former inheritance that he would combat with that Dragon and by Gods helpe destroy him which thing was granted vnto him with great ioyfulnes Wherefore he was recalled home and in the presence of many people went foorth to fight with the dragon whom he flow and ouercame whereat for ioy hee lifted vppe his sword imbrued in the dragons blood in token of victory but the blood distilled downe from the sword vppon his body and caused him instantly to fall downe dead And thus this noble Conquerour a man worthy to be remembred in all ages Nations who had strength to kill the dragon beeing aliue yet had no power to resist the venome of his blood he being dead But had it not beene that his hand had beene before imbrewed in the blood of a man I do not beleeue that the blood of a dragon could haue fallen so heauy vppon him But this is the iudgement of GOD eyther to punish murder in the same kind or else to teach vs that we should not reioyce in our owne merrits least God see it and be angry For our Sauiour Christ forbade his Disciples that they should reioyce that the deuils were subiect vnto them and therefore much lesse may we poore creatures reioyce for ouer-comming men or beasts And yet one thing more is to bee considered in the death of this man who was banished for killing a man and was pardoued for killing a dragon and yet killed by the dragon after the dragon was slaine Thus blood was the sinne because it brought death and death againe brought blood to be the reuenger of the first that the blood of man might be washed away with the blood of man the blood of a Serpent comming betwixt And thus I may truly say as the Christian Poet saith in another case Sanguine suc creuit sanguine finis erit as it grew so shall it end in blood In the dayes of Phillip King of Macedon there was a way into a Mountaine of Armenia ouer which the King had prayed that neuer man might goe but he might die wherfore Socrates to try the effect of the Kings prayer sette his Opticke Philosophicall glasse that he might see what was in that way and presently hee perceiued two great dragons who comming out of their dennes did infect all the ayre there-abouts wi●h a pestilent evaporation of their owne breath This he declared to the King who for the reuocation of his own prayer 〈◊〉 diuers men to goe out against them and kill them who likewise performed the same and so cleered the way from that annoyance And thus wee see another story of dragons slaine by men Heer vnto may be added how Hercules when he was a child and in his cradle slewe two Dragons as Pindarus relateth And the Gorcyreans did worship Diomede's for killing of a dragon● Donatus a holy Bishop in Germanie finding a dragon to lye secretly hid beside a bridge killing men Oxen Horse Sheepe and Goates he came boldly vnto him in the name of Christ and when the dragon opened his mouth to deuoure him the holy Bishop spetting into his mouth killed him When Orpheus was in hawking and while hee intended his sport suddainely a Dragon set vppon him but his hawking spaniels or dogges released him of that danger for they tore the dragon in peeces Many such other stories I could relate but I spare them heere because I haue handled them in the beginning of this story and so I passe ouer the slaughter of dragons by men and come to the slaughter of men by dragons which are breefely these that follow Petrus Damianus declareth of a certaine husband-man who rising early in the morning and trauelling by the way side saw a great dragon lye still vppon the earth without motion he beeing weary thought him to be a trunck of some tree wherefore hee satedowne vpon him and the beast endured him a little while but at the last hee turned his head in anger and swallowed him vp After that the Graecians fained as though they would goe away from Troy and Synon the Traytour was receiued by the Troyans into the Cittie there were two dragons which slew the sonnes of Laocoon as they landed in the Iland Porey Charibeae and Chalidnae which is thus described by Virgill At gemini lapsu delubra ad summa Dracones Effugiunt saeveque petunt Tritonidos arcem Subpedibusque Deaeclypeique suborbe teguntur Tum verò tremefact a novus per pectora cunctis Insinuat pauor et scelus expendisse merentem Laocoonta ferunt sacrum qui cuspide robor Laeserit c. Which may be englished thus Two dragons slide and to the toppe of Temple flie Making their way vnto the fort of Tritons seirce Vnder the Goddesse feete and shield in circle downe they lie What feare did mortall breast possesse then cannot I rehearse For then Lacoon did beginne to think on 's former sin When he did harme the sacred thing by thrusting speare within About the Temple of Iupiter Nemeus there is a Groue of Cypresse trees among which there is a place wherein a dragon did destroy Opheltes when hee was laid vnder a greene bush by his Nurse There is a prouerbe Bonos viros vel á mure morderi malis ne draconem dentes audere admoliri that is to say euery mouse will bite a good man but euill men are not touched with the teeth of dragons Alciatus hath a pretty Emblem whose title is Ex arduis perpetuum nomen from difficult things and great labours ariseth immortall fame wherein he pictureth a dragon following young sparrowes to take and eate them His verses in Latine are these Crediderat platani ramis sua pignora passer Et bene ni saeuo visa dracone forent Glutijt hic pullos omnes miseramque parentem Saxus tali dignus obire nece Haec nisi mentitur Calchas monimenta laboris Sunt longi cuius fama perennis eat Which may be thus englished To Plantine-leaues the Sparrow did her young commit

mutationis temporum prae cognitione suorum comparium dilectione These are high poynts of vvisedome for men to imitate and I know not what more can be added vnto them if they were generall except I should reckon the vicious affections of Serpents which haue far moe disciples then their vertuous inclination The Serpents spirit is a lofty and high spirit reaching not onely after men but also after the birds of the ayre not beeing afrayd of the Elephants Heerein many follow them for Omnis cura viris vter esset Induperator And it is true as writeth Seneca Animi hominū sunt ignei prouide sursum tendunt It was the poesie of Pompey Semper ego cupio praecellere esse supremus And of Caesar Malem in appido primus esse quam Romae secundus Another vice in Serpents is theyr desire of reuenge for euen to the losse of theyr lines and when they are more then halfe dead they kill other Euen so it is become a noble euill to shed blood or at the least to disgrace and disable other to the poynt of death S. Austen sayth that as a vessell is corrupted vvith the sharpe Vineger it contayneth so is the body and minde of man by the wrathfull reuenge it taketh The inhabitants of Dinantium a Towne of Burgundie to despight theyr Duke Charles for some iniuries to them done made his picture of vvood with all his Armes and Coates of honour vppon it and so brought the same to a Towne of his called Bouinium where they set it in a filthy stinking poole full of Toades and Frogs and other venomous beasts and cryed out to the Bouinians Hic sedet magnus bufo Dux vester To whom the Bouinians sent a man with dehorting perswasions to remoue their minds from that vndutifull disloyaltie of contempt and rebellion which they shewed against theyr Prince but that messenger they instantly killed afterwards they sent a little boy vvith Letters to perswade them to make peace sue for pardon and to turne away the rage of vvarre which the Duke was preparing against them as soone as the little boy had deliuered the Letters they tore him in peeces like so many Wolues Thus they tooke theyr reuenge and shortly after came the Duke with his royall Armie and razed downe theyr Citty to the ground killed and executed many of the inhabitants the residue he cast by couples into the Riuer Mosa where they all perrished men vvomen and chyldron so that the third day after it was sayd Hîc fuit Dinantium The Duke himselfe for this great reuenge enforced by rebellion murther escaped not scot-free but was the last of his race and left the Duchy to another Family Thus if in men there raigne the wrath of Serpents they must also looke for the ruine of Serpents and become like bruite beasts that perrish I omit to speake of theyr flattery embracing while they sting theyr treachery lying in waite in the dust or grasse to doe harme their venome where-withall they are euer armed to spoyle theyr ingratitude when they kill them that nourish them theyr voracity when they kill much more then they can eate theyr hostility whereby they bid battell to all liuing creatures their contempt of the reuerend visage of man whereby they neither spare vitious nor vertuous and theyr desire to liue alone destroying all other to multiply their owne kind like our English-Enclosers who doe herein follow the wisedome of the Serpent but not the innocencie of the Doue Of all these and many more if I did write to a man of meane knowledge I would enlarge and apply in seuerall examples but to you R W. it is as needlesse as to light a Candle at noone day To conclude therefore I onely affect three things in the Serpents wisedome whereof two haue beene practised by the Church already and the third remaineth now for vs to imitate First in the beginnings of the Church all the haeresies did chiefely tend against the doctrine of the Trinitie or Vnitie or Deitie or true humanity of our Sauiour Christ as you know the Simonians Cerinthians Arrians and other detestable beasts did inuent Against them all the noble Christian Bishops and Fathers did oppose themselues and defended their head viz. Iesus Christ to be true GOD and true man and so at one time were wise as Serpents and innocent as Doues dying for his sake that dyed for them Secondly when by the corruption of time and long current of many continued euils the Church grew ouer-worne with many superstitions so as the face thereof was disfigured and the pure wedding-garment which Christ put vppon it ouer-growne and couered with the beggers-cloake of humane inuentions then God made his instruments to follow the Serpents wisedome in passing thorow a narrow passage of persecution death and fire and so stripped off that ouer-growne skinne whereby the Prime decour comlinesse of the Churches party-coloured coate of fine Needle-worke resembled in the Serpent is againe manifested Thus farre they proceeded And thus we haue seene the correspondence of figure to figure already performed But the third and last thing is that part of the Serpents wisedome whereby shee forsaketh societie of men and Citties or places of pleasure and dwelleth alone in the hedges wildernes or desolate Rocks It was a true experimentall saying of him that wrote Extrema Religionis vel in superstitionē vel in profanitatem recidunt Now we haue ouer-passed Superstition I am out of feare that the Church shall neuer-more haue a thick skinne we haue fallen into open prophanenesse and contempt of one another if not of God which must be remedied by the Serpents wisedome And I thinke we must depart out of the ciu ill and worldly wayes and affayres of men and betake our selues to more priuate and secure habitations where the open enemy can neither so soone find vs or wound vs. I neede not prosecute this matter or at the least if I should I must exceed the limits of a Dedication onely this I say that if the Church and Church-men could put on one mind and ioyne together in this action whereby men might be esteemed for theyr worth and not for their wages I know the people would hunt after vs in deuotion where now they tread vppon vs in prophanenesse For we beeing made poore base and contemptible before theyr eyes which are the liuing organs of grace they tread vppon all the residue euen to the blood of the New-Couenaunt and therefore once more I pray that the sons of Leuie may speake one thing I haue now said my full heere I present vnto you my Second Treatise of liuing Creatures hauing collected all that is written of this Argument out of seuerall Authors into one Volume and method so that whatsoeuer Gallen gaue to Piso Aristotle to Alexander Oppianus to Antoninus Bellonius to Cardinall Castillion Fumanellus to the Senate of Verona Cardan to Madrutius the Prince of Trent Grinaeus to Collimitius Gesner to

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 thē 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 thē 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 enm●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 ●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

thirst with drinking alwaies gaping like a Bull casteth himselfe downe into the water maketh no spare of the cold liquor but continually sucketh it in till either the belly breake or the poyson driue out the life by ouer-comming the vitall Spirites To conclude beside all the symptomes which follow the biting of Vipers which are cōmō to this scrpent this also followeth thē that the party afflicted can neither make water vomit nor sweat so that they perish by one of these two waies first either they are burned vp by the heat of the poyson if they come not at water to drinke or else if they come by water they are so vnsatiable that their bellies first swell aboue measure and soone breake about their pr●●y partes To conclude all the affections which follow the thicke poyson of this Serpent are excellently described by Lucan in these verses following Signiferum iuuenem Tyrrheni sanguinis Aulum Torta caput retrò Dipsas calcata momordit Vix dolor aut sensus dentis fuit ipsaque leti Frons caret inuidia nec quicquam plaga minatur Ecce subit virus tacitum carpitque medullas Ignis edax calidaque incendit visceratabe Ebibit humorem circum vitalia fusum Pestis in sicco linguam torrere palato Coepit defessos iret qui sudor in artus Non fuit atque occulos lachrymarum venarefugit Non decus imperij non moesti iura Catonis Ardentem tenuere virum quin spargere signa Auderet totisque furens exquireret agris Quas poscebat aquas sitiens in corde venenum Ille vel in Tanaim missus Rhodanumque Padumque Arderet Nilumque bibens per rura vagantem Accessit morti Libyae fatique minorem Famam Dipsas habet terris adiuta perustis Scrutatur venas penitus squallentis arenae Nunc redit ad Syrtes fluct us accipit ore Aequoreusque placet sed non sufficit humor Nec sentit fatique genus mortemque veneni Sed putat esse sitim ferroque apertre tumentes Sustinuit venas atque osimplere cruore Lucanus lib. 9. In English thus Tyrrhenian Aulus the auncient-bearer young Was bit by Dipsas turning head to heele No paine or sence of 's teeth appear'd though poyson strong Death doth not frowne the man no harme did feele But loe slye poyson takes the marrow and eating fire Burning the bowels warme till all consumed Drinking vp the humour about the vitall spire And in dry palate was the tongue vp burned There was no sweat the sinnewes to refresh And teares fled from the veine that feedes the eyes Then Catoes lawes nor Empiers honor fresh This fiery youth could hold but downe the streamer flyes And like a mad man about the fieldes he runs Poysons force in heart did waters craue Though vnto Tanas Rhodanus Padus he comes Or Nilus yet all to little for his heate to haue But dry was death as though the Dipsas force Were not inough but holpe by heate of earth Then doth he search the sands but no remorse To Syrtes floud he hies his mouth of them he filleth Salt water pleaseth but it cannot suffice Nor knew he fate or this kind venoms death But thought it thirst and seeing his veines arise Them cut which bloud stopt mouth and breath The signes of death following the byting of this Serpent are extreame drought and inflamation both of the inward and outward partes so that outwardly the partes are as dry as Parchment or as a skinne set against the fire which commeth to passe by adustion and commutation of the bloud into the nature of the poyson For this cause many of the auncients haue thought it to be incurable and therefore were ignorant of the proper medicines practising onely common medicines prescribed against Vipers but this is generally obserued that if once the belly beginne to breake there can bee no cure but death First therefore they vse scarification and make vstion in the body cutting of the member wounded If it be in the extremity they lay also playsters vnto it as Treacle liquid pitch with oyle Hennes cut asunder aliue and so layde to hote or else the leaues of Purslaine beaten in Vineger Barley-meale Bramble-leaues pounded with Hony also Plantine Isope White-garlicke Leekes Rue Nettles Then must the gouernement of their bodies be no lesse looked vnto first that they be kept from all sharpe and salt meates then that they be made continually to drinke oyle to procure vomit and vvith theyr vomits which they cast out of their stomacke to giue them glysters that so the waters may be drawne to the lower parts Besides some take medicines out of Fishes especially such as are salt and the leaues barke or sprigges of Laurill and to conclude there is nothing better then Treacle compounded of Vipers fleshe And thus much for the Dipsas OF THE DOVBLE-HEAD BEcause the Graecians call this Serpent Amphisbaina and the Latines from thence Amphisbenae because it goeth both waies as if it had two heads no taile and for this purpose it is neuer seene to turne his body as it were to turne about his head When it hath a purpose to auoyde that thing which it feareth or where-withall it is offended hee doth but onely change his course backward as he went forward so that it is as happy a Lyntius whom the Poets faine to be very quick-sighted or as those Monsters which are said to haue eyes in their backs or rather like to Ianus which is sayde to haue two faces one forward and another backward and therefore I haue called it Double-head I trust fitly enough to expresse the Greeke word although compounded of two words together for so is the Greeke word also which the French doe expresse by a like compounded word Double-marcheur that is going two waies It is likewise called Ankesime Alchismus Amphisilenem And thus much may suffice for the name It is said that this Serpent is found in the Iland Lemnus but among the Germans it is vnknowne There is some question whether it may be said to haue two heads or no. Galen affirmeth that it is like a shippe hauing two fore-parts that is one behind another before Pliny also subscribeth here-vnto and maketh it a very pestilent Serpent Geminum habet caput Amphisbena tanquam parum esset vno ore fundi venenum saith hee It hath a double-head as though one mouth were not enough to vtter his poyson according to the saying of the Poet Est grauis in geminum surgitis caput Amphis-benae Serpens qui visu necat et sibilo Which may be englished thus This Serpent Double-head is grieuous to be seene Whose clouen-head doth kill with sight and hissing keene Vnto this also Elianus subscribeth that it is a true Serpent and hath two heads so that whensoeuer it is to goe forward one of them standeth in the place of the tayle but when it is to goe backward then the head becommeth the tayle and the tayle the head So also Mantuan sayth

them to be the same which Hesychius called Sauritae and Pliny by a kind of excellency Snakes of whom we shall speake afterwards for I haue no more to say of thē at this present but that they are very venomous And it may be that of these came the common prouerbe Latet Anguis sub herba vnder the greene herbe lyeth the Greene-Snake for it is a friendly admonition vnto vs to beware of a falshoode couered vvith a truth like vnto it OF THE HAEMORRHE THis Serpent hath such a name giuen vnto it as the effect of his byting worketh in the bodies of men for it is called in Latine H●morrhous to signifie vnto vs the male and Haemorrhois to signifie the female both of them being deriued from the Greeke word Aima which signifieth blood and Reo which signifieth to flow because whomsoeuer it byteth it maketh in a continuall bleeding sweat with extremitie of paine vntill it die It is also called Affodius and Afudius Sabrine and Halsordius or Alsordius which are but corrupted barbarous names from the true and first word Haemorrhus It is doubtfull whether this be to be ascribed to the Aspes or to the Vipers for Isidorus saith it is a kind of Aspe and Elianus a kind of Viper They are of a sandy colour and in length not past one foote or three handfulls whose tayle is very sharpe or small theyr eyes are of a fiery-flaming-colour their head small but hath vppon it the appearance of hornes When they goe they goe straight and slowly as it were halting and wearilie whose pace is thus described by Nicander Et inster Ipsius oblique suaparvula terga Cerasta Claudicat ex medio videas appellere dorso Parvùm nauigium terit imam lubrica terram Alvus et haud alio tacitè trahit ilia motu Ac per arundineum si transeat illa grabatum In English thus And like the Horned-serpent so trayles this elfe on land As though on backe a little boate it draue His slyding belly makes path be seene in sand As when by bedde of Reedes she goes her life to saue The scales of this Serpent are rough sharpe for which cause they make a noyse whē they goe on the earth the female resteth herselfe vppon her lower part neere her tayle creeping altogether vppon her belly and neuer holdeth vp her head but the male when he goeth holdeth vp his head theyr bodies are all set ouer with blacke spots and themselues are thus paraphrastically described by Nicander Vnum longa pedem totoque gracillima tractu Ignea qundoque est quandoque est candida forma Constrictumque satis collum et tenuissima cauda Bina super gelidos oculos frons cornua profert Splendentum quadam radiorum albentia luce Syluestres vt apes populatricesque Locuste Insuper horribile ac asprum caput horret Which may be englished in this manner following On foote in length and slender all along Sometime of fiery hue sometime milke-white it is The necke bound in and tayle most thinne and strong Whose fore-head hath two hornes aboue cold eyes Which in theyr light resemble shining beames Like Bees full wilde or Locusts spoylers bredde But yet to looke vpon all horrible in seames For why the cruell Bore they shew in head They keepe in Rocks and stony places of the houses and earth making theyr deunes winding and hanging according to these verses Rimosas colit illa Petras sibique aspera recta Et modice pendens facit inflexumque cubile In English thus The chincks of Rocks and passages in stone They dwell wherein their lodgings bare A little hanging made for euery one And bending too theyr sleepie harbours are It is said that Canobus the Gouernour of Menelaus chaunced to fall vpon this Serpent in reuenge whereof Helen his charge the wife of Menelaus broke his backe-bone and that euer since that time they creepe lamely and as it were without loynes which fable is excellentlie thus described by Nicander Quondam animosa Helene cigni Iovis inclyta proles Euersa rediens Troia nisi vana vetustas Huic indignata est generi Pharias vt ad oras Venit aduersi declinans flamina venti Fluctiuagam statuit iuxta Nili ostia classem Namque vbi nauclerus sefessum fortè Canobus Sterneret et bibulisfusus dormiret arenis Laesa venenosos Haemorrhois impulitictus Illatamque tulit letali dente quietem Protinus ouipera cernens id filia Led● Oppressae medium serpenti feruida dorsum Infregit tritaeque excussit vinculae spinae Quae fragili illius sic dempta è corpore fugit Et graciles Haemorrhoi obliquique Cerastae Ex hoc clauda trahunt iam soli tempore membra Which may be englished thus Once noble Helen Ioues child by Swan-like shape Returning backe from Troy destroyed by Graecian warre If that our Auncients doe not with fables vs be-clappe This race was enuyed by Pharias anger farre When to his shores for safety they did come Declyning rage of blustering windy Seas Water-byding-Nauy at Nilus mouth gan runne Where Canobus all tyred faynted for some ease For there this Pilot or Maister of the Fleete Did hast from boate to sleepe in drery sand Where he did feele the teeth of Hemorrhe deepe Wounding his body with poyson deaths owne hand But when egge-breeding Ledaes wench espyed This harme she prest the Serpents backe with stroke Whereby the bands thereof were all vntyed Which in iust wrath for iust reuenge she broke So euer-since out of this Serpents frame And body they are taken which is the cause That Cerasts and leane Haemorrhs are euer lame Drawing their parts on earth by natures lawes They which are stunge with there Haemorrhs do suffer very intollerable torments for out of the wound continually floweth blood and the excrements also that commeth out of the belly are bloody or sometimes little roules of blood in steed of excrements The colour of the place bitten is black or of a dead bloody colour out of which nothing floweth at the beginning but a certaine watery humour then followeth paine in the stomack and difficultie of breathing Lastly the powers of the body are broken opened so that out of the mouth gumbs eares eyes fingers-ends nayles of the feete and priuie parts continually issueth blood vntill a crampe also come then followeth death as we reade in Lucan of one Tellus a young noble man slaine by this Serpent described as followeth Impressit dentes Haemorrhois aspera Tullo Magnanimo iuveni miratorique Catonis Vtque solet pariter totis se effundere signis Coricij pressura croci sic omnia membra Emisêre simul rutilum pro sanguine virus Sanguis erant lachrimae quaecunque for amina novit Humor ab ijs largus manat cruor or a redundant Et patulaenares sudor rubet omnia plenis Membra fluunt venis totum est pro vulnere corpus In English thus The Haemorrhe fierce in noble Tullus fastened teeth That valiant youth great Catoes scholler deere

elles In Bucarteron steepy rough these Vipers flourish Hard Aegagus and high Cercaphus cels VVithin their compasse many such do nourish Others there bee in Asia sixteene foote long and some there bee againe twenty as in the Golden Castiglia where theyr heads are like the heads of Kiddes There be some that make difference betwixt Echis and Echidna bycause one of them when it byteth causeth a conuulsion and so doeth not the other and one of them maketh the wound looke white the other pale and when the Echis byteth you shall see but the impression of two teeth and when the Echidna byteth you shall the impression of more teeth But these differences are very ydle for the variety of the payne may arise from the constitution of the body or the quantity of the poyson and so likewise of the colour of the wound and it is already set dovvne that the Echis or Male-Viper hath but two Canyne teeth but the other namely the Echidna hath foure thus sayth Nicander Masculus emittit notus color ipse caninos Binos perpetuo monstrat sed foemina plures Which may be englished thus The Male two canyne teeth whose colour well is knowne But in the Female more continually are showne But yet the Male hath beside his Canyne teeth as many as hath the Female and besides the Male is knowne from the Female as the same Nicander vvriteth because the Female vvhen shee goeth dravveth her tayle as though shee vvere lame but the Male more manlike and nimble holdeth vppe his head stretcheth out his tayle restrayneth the breadth of his belly setteth not vppe his Scales as doeth the Female and besides dravveth out his body at length The Meate of these Vipers are greene Hearbes and also sometimes liuing Creatures and namely Hore-flyes Cantharides Pithiocampes and such other things as they can come by for these are fit and conuenient meate for them Aristotle writeth that sometimes also they eate Scorpions and in Arabia they not onely delight in the svveete iuyce of Balsam but also in the shadow of the same But aboue all kinds of drink they are most insatiable of wine Sometime they make but little folds and sometime greater but in their wrath their eyes flame they turne their tailes and put forth their double tongue In the winter-time as we haue said already they liue in the hollow Rocks yet Pliny affirmeth that then also they enter into the earth and become tractable and tangible by the hands of man for in the cold weather they are nothing so fierce as they are in the hot and in the Sommer also they are not at all times alike furious but like to all other Serpents They are most outragious in the Canicular daies for then they neuer rest but with continuall disquiet mooue vp downe till they are dead or emptied of their poyson or feele an abatement of their heate Twise in the yeare they cast their skins that is to say in the Spring and in the Autumne and in the spring time when they come out of their hole or winter lodgings they help the dimnesse of their eye-sight by rubbing their eyes vpon fennell But concerning their copulation and generation I find much difference among writers wherefore in a matter so necessary to be knowne I will first of all set downe the opinion of other men aswell Historians as Poets and then in the end conclusion I will be bold to interpose my owne iudgement for the better information of the Reeder Herodotus in his Thalia writeth that when the Vipers begin to rage in lust and desire to couple one with another the Male commeth and putteth his head into the mouth of the female who is so insatiable in the desire of that copulatiō that when the male hath filled her with all his seed-genitall and so would draw forth his head againe she byteth it off destroyeth her husband whereby he dyeth and neuer liueth more but the female departeth and conceiueth hir young in hir belly who euery day according to natures inclination grow to perfection and ripenesse and at last in reuenge of their fathers death doe likewise destroy their mother for they eate out her belly and by an vnnaturall issue come forth into the light of this world and this thing is also thus witnessed by Nicander Cum durum fugiens morsu ignescentis echidnae Frendit echis vel vbi feruente libidinis aestu Saeuo dente sui resecat caput illa mariti Ast vbi post vegetam coeperunt pignora vitam Iam propinqua adsunt maturi tempora partus Indignam chari mortem vlciscentia patris Erosa miseraenascuntur matris ab aluo In English thus When the Male Viper gnasheth auoyding Females bite VVhose fiery rage is all on ardent lust Yet when he burnes for copulation right Her cruell tooth doth Husbands head off crush But yet alasse when seedes begins to liue And birth of young ones ripen in her wombe Then they for Fathers death a full reuenge do giue Eating forth their wretched mothers strong Vnto this agreeth Galen Isidor Plutarch Aelianus and Lucan who writeth Viperei coeunt abrupto corpore nati That is to say The geniture of Vipers bloud Engender breaking bodies good Pliny agreeth with the residue for the death of the Male in carnall copulation but hee differeth in this about the Female affirming that when the young Vipers grow ripe and perfect in their Mothers belly she casteth foorth euery day one for three dayes together for her number is sometimes twenty at last the other impatient of delay gnaw out her guts and belly and so come foorth destroying their Mother And here is no great difference for in the summe and destruction of Father and Mother they all agree and Saint Ierom Saint Basill and Horus doe agree and subscribe to the truth of these opinions Thus we haue shewed the opinions of the Ancient and first Writers now it followeth that we should likewise shew the opinions of the later Writers which I will performe with as great breuity and perspicuity as I can Pierius therefore writeth that in his time there were learned men desirous to know the truth who got Vipers and kept them aliue both Males and Females by shutting them vp safe where they could neither escape out nor doe harme and they found that they engendred brought forth and conceiued like other Creatures without death or ruine of Male and Female Amatus Lusitanus also writeth thus The Male and Female Viper engender by wreathing their tayles together euen to the one halfe of their body and the other halfe standeth vpright mutually kissing one another In the Male there is a genitall member in that part beneath the Nauell where they embrace which is very secret and hidden and against the same is the Females place of conception as may appear manifestly to him that will looke after the same and therefore all the Philosophers and Physitians haue bin deceiued that