make another fire hard by of dry vine cuttings and such like sticks and so he was burnt bare and naked as he was CHAP. LIIII ¶ Of Buriall or Sepulture TO burne the bodies of the dead hath bin no antient custome among the Romans the maner was in old time to inter them But after they were giuen once to vnderstand that the corses of men slain in the wars afar off and buried in those parts were taken forth of the earth again ordained it was to burne them And yet many families kept them still to the old guise and ceremonie of committing their dead to the earth as namely the house of the Cornelij whereof there was not one by report burned before L. Sylla the Dictator and he willed it expressely and prouided for it before hand for feare himselfe should be so serued as C. Marius was whose corps he caused to be digged vp after it was buried Now in Latine he is said to be Sepultus that is bestowed or buried any way it makes no matter how but humatus properly who is interred only or committed to the earth CHAP. LV. ¶ Of the Ghosts or spirits of men departed AFter men are buried great diuersitie there is in opinion what is become of their souls ghosts wandering some this way and others that But this is generally held that in what estate they were before men were born in the same they remain when they are dead For neither body nor soule hath any more sence after our dying day than they had before the day of our natiuitie But such is the folly vanitie of men that it extendeth stil euen to the future time yea and in the very time of death flattereth it selfe with fond imaginations and dreaming of I know not what life after this for some attribute immortality to the soule others deuise a certain transfiguration therof there be again who suppose that the ghosts sequestred from the body haue sense whereupon they do them honour and worship making a god of him that is not so much as a man As if the maner of mens breathing differed from that in other liuing creatures or as if there were not to be found many other things in the World that liue much longer than men and yet no man iudgeth in them the like immortality But shew me what is the substance and body as it were of the soule by it selfe what kind of matter is it apart from the body where lieth her cogitation that she hath how is her seeing how is her hearing performed what toucheth she nay what doth she at al How is she emploied or if there be in her none of all this what goodnesse can there be without the same But I would know where shee setleth and hath her abiding place after her departure from the body and what an infinit multitude of souls like shadows would there be in so many ages as well past as to come now surely these be but fantastical foolish and childish toies deuised by men that would faâ—…ne liue alwaies and neuer make an end The like foolery there is in preseruing the bodies of dead men the vanity of Democritus is no lesse who promised a resurrection thereof and yet himself could neuer rise again And what a folly is this of all follies to think in a mischief that death should be the way to a second life what repose and rest should euer men haue that are borne of a woman if their soules should remain in heauen aboue with sence whiles their shadows tarried beneath among the infernall wights Certes these sweet inducements and pleasing persuasions this foolish credulitie and light beliefe marreth the benefit of the best gift of Nature to wit Death it doubleth besides the paine of a man that is to die if he happen to thinke and consider what shall betide him the time to come For if it be sweet and pleasant to liue what pleasure and contentment can one haue that hath once liued and now doth not But how much more ease and greater securitie were it for each man to beleeue himselfe in this point to gather reasons and to ground his resolution and assurance vpon the experience that he had before hee was borne CHAP. LVI ¶ The first inuenters of diuers things BEfore we depart from this discourse of mens nature me thinks it were meet and conuenient to shew their sundry inuentions and what each man hath deuised in this world In the first place prince Bacchus brought vp buying and selling he it was also that deuised the diadem that royall ensigne and ornament and the manner of triumph Dame Ceres was the first that shewed the way of sowing corne whereas before-time men liued of mast She taught also how to grind corne to knead dough and make bread thereof in the land of Attica Italy and Sicily for which benefit to mankind reputed she was a goddesse She it was that beganne to make lawes howsoeuer others haue thought that Rhadamanthus was the first law giuer As for Letters I am of opinion that they were in Assyria from the beginning time out of mind but some thinke and namely Gellius that they were deuised by Mercurie in Aegypt but others say they came first from Syria True it is that Cadmus brought with him into Greece from Phoenice to the number of sixteen vnto which Palamedes in the time of the Troian war added foure more in these characters following 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And after him Simonides Melicus came with other foure to wit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the force of all which letters we acknowledge and see euidently expressed in our Latine Alphabet Aristotle is rather of mind that there were 18 letters in the Greeke Alphabet from the beginning namely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that the other two 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and and X. were set to by Epicharmus and not by Palamedes Anticlides writeth That one in Egypt named Menon was the inuentor of letters fifteene yeares before the time of Phoroneus the most antient king of Greece and he goeth about to proue the same by antient records and monuments out of histories Contrariwise Epigenes an author as renowned and of as good credit as any other sheweth That among the Babylonians there were found Ephemerides containing the obseruation of the stars for 720 yeares written in bricks and tiles and they that speake of least to wit Berosus and Critodemus report the like for 480 yeares Whereby it appeareth euidently that letters were alwaies in vse time out of mind The first that brought the Alphabet into Latium or Italy were the Pelasgians Euryalus and Hyperbius two brethren at Athens caused the first bricke and tile-kils yea and houses thereof to be made whereas before their time men dwelt in holes and caues within the ground Gellius is of opinion that Doxius the sonne of Coelus deuised the first houses that were made of earth and cley taking his patterne from Swallowes and Martins nests Cecrops founded
not make twenty and many such things of like sort Whereby no doubt is euidently proued the power of Nature and how it is she and nothing els which we call God I thought it not impertinent thus to diuert and digresse to these points so commonly divulged by reason of the vsuall and ordinarie questions as touching the Essence of God CHAP. VIII ¶ Of the Nature of Planets and their circuit LEt vs returne now to the rest of Natures workes The stars which we said were fixed in heauen are not as the common sort thinketh assigned to euery one of vs and appointed to men respectiuely namely the bright faire for the rich the lesse for the poore the dim for the weak the aged and feeble neither shine they out more or lesse according to the lot and fortune of euery one nor arise they each one together with that person vnto whom they are appropriate and die likewise with the same ne yet as they set and fall do they signifie that any bodie is dead There is not ywis so great societie betweene heauen and vs as that together with the fatall necessitie of our death the shining light of the starres should in token of sorrow go out and become mortall As for them the truth is this when they are thought to fall they doe but shoot from them a deale of fire euen of that aboundance and ouermuch nutriment which they haue gotten by the attraction os humiditie and moisture vnto them like as we also obserue daily in the wikes and matches of lampes or candles burning with the liquour of oile Moreouer the coelestiall bodies which make and frame the world and in that frame are compact and knit together haue an immortall nature and their power and influence extendeth much to the earth which by their effects and operations by their light and greatnesse might be knowne notwithstanding they are so high and subtill withall as we shal in due place make demonstration The manner likewise of the heauenly Circles and Zones shall be shewed more fitly in our Geographicall treatise of the earth forasmuch as the consideration thereof appertaineth wholly thereunto onely we will not put off but presently declare the deuisers of the Zodiake wherin the signes are The obliquitie and crookednesse thereof Anaximander the Milesian is reported to haue obserued first and thereby opened the gate and passage to Astronomie and the knowledge of all things and this happened in the 58 Olympias Afterwards Clâ—…ostratus marked the signes therin and namely those first of Aries and Sagitarius As for the sphere it selfe Atlas deuised long before Now for this time we will leaue the very bodie of the starry heauen and treat of all the rest betweene it and the earth Certaine it is that the Planet which they call Saturne is the highest and therefore seemeth least also that he keepeth his course and performeth his reuolution in the greatest circle of all and in thirtie yeares space at the soonest returneth againe to the point of his first place Moreouer that the mouing of all the Planets and withall of Sun and Moone go a contrarie course vnto the starrie heauen namely to the left hand i. Eastward whereas the said heauen alwaies hasteneth to the right i. Westward And albeit in that continuall turning with exceeding celerity those planets be lifted vp alost and carried by it forcible into the West and there set yet by a contrarie motion of their owne they passe euery one through their seuerall waies Eastward and all for this that the aire rolling euer one way and to the same part by the continuall turning of the heauen should not stand still grow dul as it were congealed whiles the globe thereof resteth idle but dissolue and cleaue parted thus diuided by the reuerberation of the contrarie beams and violent crosse influence of the said planets Now the Planet Saturne is of a cold and frozen nature but the circle of Iupiter is much lower than it and therfore his reuolution is performed with a more speedy motion namely in twelue yeres The third of Mars which some call the Sphere of Hercules is firy and ardent by reason of the Suns vicinity and wel-neere in two yeares runneth his race And hereupon it is that by the exceeding heate of Mars and the vehement cold of Saturne Iupiter who is placed betwixt is well tempered of them both and so becommeth good and comfortable Next to them is the race of the Sun consisting verily of 360 parts or degrees but to the end that the obseruation of the shadowes which he casteth may return againe iust to the former marks fiue daies be added to euery yeare with the fourth part of a day ouer and aboue Whereupon euery fifth yeere leapeth and one odde day is set to the rest to the end that the reckoning of the times and seasons might agree vnto the course of the Sun Beneath the Sun a goodly faire star there is called Venus which goeth her compasse wandering this way and that by turnes and by the very names that it hath testifieth her emulation of Sun and Moone For all the while that she preuenteth the morning and riseth Orientall before she taketh the name of Lucifer or Day-star as a second Sun hastning the day Contrariwise when she shineth from the West Occidentall drawing out the day light at length and supplying the place of the Moone she is named Vesper This nature of hers Pythagoras of Samos first found out about the 42 olympias which fel out to be the 142 yere after the foundation of Rome Now this planet in greatnesse goeth beyond all the other fiue and so cleare and shining withall that the beames of this one star cast shadowes vpon the earth And hereupon commeth so great diuersitie and ambiguitie of the names thereof whiles some haue called it Iuno other Isis and othersome the Mother of the gods By the naturall efficacie of this star all things are engendred on earth for whether she rise East or West she sprinckleth all the earth with dew of generation and not onely filleth the same with seed causing it to conceiue but stirreth vp also the nature of all liuing creatures to engender This planet goeth through the circle of the Zodiake in 348 daies departing from the Sun neuer aboue 46 degrees as Timaeus was of opinion Next vnto it but nothing of that bignesse and powerful efficacie is the star Mercurie of some cleped Apollo in an inferiour circle he goeth after the like manner a swifter course by nine daies shining sometimes before the Sun-rising otherwhiles after his setting neuer farther distant from him than 23 degrees as both the same Timaeus and Sosigenes doe shew And therefore these two planets haue a peculiar consideration from others and not common with the rest aboue named For those are seene from the Sun a fourth yea and third part of the heauen oftentimes also in opposition ful against the Sun And all of
of colours by the mixture of clouds aire and firie light together Certes they neuer are knowne but opposite to the Sun nor at any time otherwise than in forme of a Semicircle ne yet in the night season although Aristotle saith there was a Rain-bow seen by night howbeit he confesseth that it could not possibly be but at the full of the Moone Now they happen for the most part in winter namely from the Autumne Equinoctiall as the daies decrease and wax shorter But as daies grow longer againe that is to say after the Spring Equinoctiall they be not seene no more than about the Summer Sunstead when daies are at longest But in Bruma namely when they bee shortest they chance very often The same appeare aloft when the Sun is low and below when he is aloft Also they be of narrower compasse when the Sun either riseth or setteth but their body spreadeth broad and at noone narrower it is and smal yet greater and wider in circumference In Sommer time they be not seene about noon-tide but after the Autumne Equinoctial at all houres and neuer more at once than twaine The rest of the same nature I see few men doe make any doubt of CHAP. LX. ¶ Of Haile Snow Frost Mist and Dew HAile is ingendred of Raine congealed into an Ice and Snow of the same humor growne together but not so hard As for frost it is made of dew frozen In winter Snowes fall and not haile It haileth oftner in the day time than in the night yet haile sooner melteth by farre than snow Mists be not seene neither in Summer nor in the cold weather Dewes shew not either in frost or in hot seasons neither when winds be vp but only after a calm and cleere night Frosts dry vp wet and moisture for when the yce is thawed and melted the like quantitie of water in proportion is not found CHAP. LXI ¶ Of the shapes of Clouds SVndry colours and diuers shapes are seene in clouds according as the fire intermingled therein is either more or lesse CHAP. LXII ¶ Of the properties of weather in diuers places MOreouer many properties there be of the weather peculiar to certain places the nights in Africke bedewie in Winter In Italy about Locri and the lake Velinus there is not a day but a Rainbow is seene At Rhodes and Syracusae the aire is neuer so dimme and cloudy but one houre or other the Sun shineth out But such things as these shall be related more fitly in due place Thus much of the Aire CHAP. LXIII ¶ Of Earth and the nature thereof THe Earth followeth next vnto which alone of all parts of the world for her singular benefits we haue giuen the reuerend and worshipfull name of Mother For like as the Heauen is the mother of God euen so is she of men She it is that taketh vs when wee are comming into the world nourisheth vs when we are new borne and once being come abroad euer sustaineth and beareth vs vp and at the last when wee are reiected and forlorne of all the world besides she embraceth vs then most of all other times like a kinde mother she couereth vs all ouer in her bosom by no merit more sacred than by it wherwith she maketh vs holy and sacred euen bearing our tombes monuments and titles continuing our name and extending our memorie therby to make recompence and weigh against the shortnes of our age whose last power we in our anger wish to be heauy vnto our enemy and yet she is heauy to none as if wee were ignorant that she alone is neuer angry with any man waters ascend vp turn into clouds they congeale and harden into haile swel they do into waues and billows down they hasten headlong into brooks and land-flouds The aire is thickened with clouds rageth with winds and stormes But she is bountifull mild tender ouer vs indulgent ready at all times to attend and wait vpon the good of mortall men See what she breeds being forced nay what she yeeldeth of her owne accord what odoriferous smells and pleasant sauors what wholesome iuices and liquors what soft things to content our feeling what louely colors doth she giue to please our eie how faithfully and iustly doth she repay with vsury that which was lent and credited out vnto her Finally what store of all things doth shee feed and nourish for our sake Alas poor wretch pestiferous and hurtfull creatures when the vitall breath of the aire was too blame to giue them life she could not otherwise chuse but receiue them after they were sown in her and being once ingendred and bred keepe and maintain them But in that they prooued afterwards bad and venomous the fault was to be laid vpon the parents that ingendred them and not to be imputed vnto her For shee entertaineth no more a venomous serpent after it hath stung a man nay more than that she requireth punishment for them that are slow and negligent of themselues to seeke it She it is that bringeth forth medicinable herbes and euermore is in trauell to be deliuered of some thing or other good for man Ouer and besides it may be thought and beleeued that for very pittie of vs she ordained and appointed some poisons that when we were weary of our life cursed famine most aduerse and crosse of all other to the merits of the earth should not consume and waste vs with languishing and pining consumption and so procure our death that high and steepe rockes should not dash and crush our bodies in pieces nor the ouerthwart and preposterous punishment by the halter wreathe our necks and stop that vital breath which we seek to let out and be rid of last of all that we might not worke our owne death in the deep sea and being drowned feed fishes and be buried in their bellies ne yet the edge and point of the sword cut and pierce our bodie and so put vs to dolorous paine So that it is no doubt but in a pittifull regard and compassion of vs shee hath ingendred that poyson by one gentle draught whereof going most easily downe we might forgoe our life and die without any hurt and skin broken of our body yea and diminish no one drop of bloud without grieuous paine I say and like onely to them who be athirst that being in that manner dead nether foule of the aire nor wilde beast prey vpon or touch our bodies but that he should be reserued for the earth who perished by himselfe and for himselfe and to confesse and say the troth the earth hath bred the remedy of all miseries howsoeuer we haue made it a venome and poison to our life For after the like sort we imploy iron and steele which we canot possibly be without And yet we should not do well and iustly to complain in case she had brought it forth for to do hurt and mischiefe Now surely to this only part of Nature and the world
was for being one of those three in the Triumvirate yoked and matched with wicked companions and most dangerous members to the weal publique and this galled him the more that in this fellowship the Roman empire was not equally and indifferently parted among them three but Antonie went away with the greatest share by odds Also his ill fortune was in the battell before Philippos to fall sicke to take his flight and for three daies diseased as he was to lurke and lie hidden within a marish whereupon as Agrippa and Mecoenas confesse he grew into a kinde of dropsie so as his belly and sides were puffed vp and swelled with a waterish humor gotten and spred betwixt the flesh and the skin Furthermore he suffered shipwrecke in Sicily and there likewise he was glad to skulk within a caue in the ground What should I say how when he was put to flight at sea and the whole power of his enemies at his heeles he besought Proculeius in that great danger to rid him out of his life how he was perplexed for the quarrels and contentions at Perusium in what feare and agonie hee was in the battell of Actium a towne of Albanie as also for the issue of the Pannonian warre for the fall of a bridge and a towne both So many mutinies among his soldiers so many dangerous diseases the iealousie and suspition that he had euermore of Marcellus the reproch shame he sustained for confining and banishing Agrippa his life so many times laid for by poison and other secret traines the death of his children suspected to haue bin by indirect meanes the double sorrow and grief of heart thereby and not altogether for his childelesse estate The adulterie of his owne daughter and her purpose of taking his life away detected and published to the World the reprochfull departure and slipping aside of Nero the sonnè of his Wife another adulterie commited by one of his owne Neeces Ouer and aboue all this thus many more crosses and troubles comming one in the necke of another namely want of pay for his souldiers the rebellion of Sclauonia the mustering of slaues and bond seruants to make vp his army for want of other able youths to leuy vnto the warres Pestilence in Rome Citie famin and drought vniuersally throughout Italy and that which more is a deliberat purpose and resolution of his to famish and pine himselfe to death hauing to that end fasted 4 dayes and 4 nights and in that time receiued into his body the greater part of his owne death Besides the ouerthrow and rout of Varius his forces the foule staine and blemish to the touch of his honor and maiestie very neere the putting away of Posthumius Agrippa after his adoption and the misse that he had of him after his banishment then the suspition that hee conceiued of Fabius for disclosing his secrets adde hereto the opinion and conceit be tooke of his owne wife and Tiberius which surpassed all his other cares To conclude that god and he who I wot not whether obtained heauen or deserued it more departed this life and left behinde him as heire to the crowne his enemies sonne CHAP. XLVI ¶ Whom the gods iudge most happy I Cannot ouerpasse in this discourse and consideration the Oracles of Delphos deliuered from that heauenly god to chastise and represse as it were the folly and vanitie of men and two there be which giue answer to the point in question after this manner First that Phedius who but a while before died in the seruice of his countrey was most happy Moreouer Gyges the most puissant king in those daies of all the earth sent a second time to know of the Oracle who was the happiest man next him and answer was made That Aglaus Psophidius was happier than the former Now this Aglaus was a good honest man well stept in yeares dwelling in a very narrow corner of Arcadia where he had a little house and land of his own sufficient with the yearely commodities thereof to maintaine him plentifully with ease out of which hee neuer went but employed himselfe in the tillage and husbandry thereof to make the best benefit he could in such sort that as it appeared by that course of life as he coueted least so he felt as little trouble and aduersitie while he liued CHAP. XLVII ¶ Who was canonised a god here vpon earth liuing BY the ordinance and appointment of the same Oracle as also by the ascent and approbation of Iupiter the soueraigne god Euthymus the famous wrestler who alwaies wan the best prize at Olympia saue once was reputed and consecrated a god whiles he liued and knew thereof born he was at Locri in Italy where one statue of his as also another at Olympia were both in one day stricken with lightning whereat I see Callimachus wondred as if nothing else were worthy admiration and gaue order that he should be sacrificed vnto as a god which was performed accordingly both whiles he liued and after hee was dead A thing that I maruell more at than any thing else That the gods were therewith contented and would permit such a dishonour to their maiestie CHAP. XLVIII ¶ Of the longest liues THe terme and length of mans life is vncertaine not only by reason of the diuersity of climats but also because Historians haue deliuered such varietie of mens ages and euerie man by himselfe hath a seuerall time limited vnto him at the very day of his birth Hesiod the first writer as I take it who hath treated of this argument and yet like a Poet in his fabulous discourse touching the age of man saith forsooth that a crow liues nine times as long as we and harts or stags 4 times as long as hee but Rauens thrice as long as they As for his other reports touching the Nymphs and the bird Phoenix they are more like poeticall tales than true relations Anacreon the Poet maketh mention that Arganthonius king of the Tartessians liued 150 yeares and Cynaras likewise King of the Cyprians ten yeares longer Theopompus affirmeth that Epimenides the Gnossian died when he was 157 yeares old Hellanicus hath written That amongst the Epians in Aetolia there be some that continue full two hundred years and with him accordeth Damases adding moreouer that there was one Pictoreus among them a man of exceeding stature mighty and strong withall who liuedthree hundred yeares Ephorus testifieth that ordinarily the kings of Arcadia were 300 yeares old ere they died Alexander Cornelius writeth of one Dando a Sclauonian who liued 500 yeres Xenophon in his treatise of old age makes mention of a King of the Latines or as some say ouer a people vpon the sea coasts who liued 600 yeares and because he had not lied loud enough already he goes on still and saith that his son came to 800. All these strange reports proceed from the ignorance of the times past and for want of knowledge how they made their account for some
some water will ingender this vermin if we do but wash therein For euen in wax there will breed mites which are thought to be of all creatures that haue life the very least Also ye shall haue others again ingender of filthy dry dust namely fleas which vse to skip and hop with their hinder feet lustily like these tumblers and vautors Last of all there be that come of a certaine moist pouder in câ—…anies of the ground and those be our ordinary little flies CHAP. XXXIV ¶ Of one kind of creature that hath no passage to void excrements THere is a creature as foule and ill-fauoured as the rest which hath euermore the head fast sticking within the skin of a beast and so by sucking of bloud liueth and swells withall the only liuing creature of all other that hath no way at all to rid excrements out of the body by reason whereof when it is too full the skin doth crack and burst and so his very food is cause of his death In Horses Asses and Mules these do neuer breed in Kine and oxen they be common and otherwhiles in dogs who are pestered not only with these ticks but also with all other vermine aboue named And in Sheepe and Goats a man shall finde none other but ticks It is as strange a thing also to see how the horse-leeches which be nourished in standing waters of fens are thirsty after bloud for these will thrust their whole head into the flesh for to draw and suck out bloud Finally there is a kind of flies that plagueth dogs and none else they are busie commonly about their eares where they will bite and sting them shrewdly for there they cannot come by them with their teeth to snap and kill them CHAP. XXXV ¶ Of Moths and Gnats WOoll and cloth when they be dusty breed moths especially if a spider also be gotten within them For the Spider is very thirsty and by reason that he drinketh vp all the moisture of the cloth or wool he increaseth the drinesse much more In paper also they will ingender A kind of them there is which carry their coats and cases with them as cockles and snailes do but they haue feet to be seen If they be turned out of their coats or husks they presently die If they grow still they wil proue to be Chrysalides The wild fig tree breeds certaine Gnats called Ficarij As for the Cantharides or French greene Flies they be bred of little wormes in Fig trees Peare trees wilde Pines or Pitch trees the Eglantine Brier and Roses A venomous vermin this is howbeit medicinable in some sort The wings be they that are good in physick cast them away the rest is deadly Moreouer there be other gnats that soure things will ingender And no maruell seeing there be some wormes found in snow which are white if the snow be but thin and new fallen But in case it haue lien long and bee deep a man shall find in the mids within those which are red for snow also if it be old waxeth red rough and hairy greater also than the rest and dull of motion CHAP. XXXVI ¶ Of the fire-Fly called Pyralis or Pyrausta THe fire also a contrary element to generation is not without some liuing creatures ingendred therein For in Cypres among the forges and furnaces of copper there is to be seen a kind of four-footed creature and yet winged as big as the greater kind of flies to flie out of the very midst of the fire and called it is of some Pyralis of others Pyrausta The nature oâ—… it is this so long as it remaines in the fire it liues but if it chance to leap forth of the Furnace and fly any thing farre into the aire it dieth There is a riuer in the kingdome of Pontus called Hypanis which about the summer Sunstead vseth to bring down the streame thin pellicles or bladders like to grape kernels out of which there breaks forth and issueth a foure footed flie like vnto those aboue named and it liueth not aboue one day whereupon it is called Hemerobion i. a day-fly All other Insects of like sort may continue and liue a seuen-night The Gnat and the little wormes three weeks but such as bring forth their yong aliue may endure a full moneth As for the metamorphosis of these creatures from one forme to another it is most commonly performed in three daies or foure at the most All the rest of the winged kind lightly die in Autumne among which the brees and horse-flies are ordinarily blind first To be short those flies which haue bin drowned and so come to their death if they be laid and kept in hot cinders or ashes will come again to themselues and reuiue CHAP. XXXVII ¶ A discourse Anatomicall of the nature of liuing creatures part by part according to their particular members IT remaines now to treat of the seuerall parts of the body and ouer and aboue the former descriâ—…ion to particularize and set down the story of one member after another First therefore this is generall that all liuing creatures whatsoeuer hauing bloud haue also heads and few of them haue cops or crested tufts vpon their heads vnlesse it be birds and those be of diuers forms and fashions The Phoenix is adorned with a round plume of feathers out of the midst of which growes another little pennache Peacockes carry vpon their heads a tuft as it were of little hairy trees and the Stymphalides a lock of crisped and curled haires Feasants haue feathers standing vp like hornes The pretty Titmouse or Nonett is filletted or coifed vpon the head and in lieu thereof the Lark hath a little peruke of feathers whereupon at first it was called Galerita but afterwards after the French word Alanda and of it one of the Roman legions tooke the name because of their pointed Morions We haue written alreadie of the Ginny or Turky cocks and hens vpon whom Nature hath bestowed a folding crest lying from the very bill ouer the midst of the head vnto the nape of the necke She hath giuen also vnto all the sort of Seamewes Fen ducks and Moore-hens certain cops and crisped tufs to the Woodpeck also and Baleare crane But aboue all others the house dunghill cocks carry vpon their heads the goodliest ornament of their combe and the same consisting of a massie and fleshie substance indented besides like a saw And yet we may not properly say it is either flesh gristle or callositie but composed of some particular matter by it selfe which canot well be named As for the crests of dragons I could meet with no man hitherto that euer saw them To come now to Horns there be many fishes as well of the sea as fresh waters and also Serpents that haue horns in diuers and sundry sorts But to speak a truth and properly they be no hornes indeed for those pertain only to four-footed heasts As for Actaeon and 〈◊〉 of whom we read
virgins and haue not sacrificed vnto Venus The haire growing beneath the ventricles of the brain vnder the crown of the head like as also about the temples and eares falls not off quite Man alone of all creatures groweth to be bald I speake not of those that are so by nature Men women and horses wax gray haired Men and women both begin at the forepart of their heads to be grislie and afterwards behind Men and women alone be double crowned Some creatures haue the bones of their skull flat plain thin and without marrow and the same vnited or ioined together by certain sutures or seams indented toothed on either side which run one into another The ruptures and cracks of the brain pan cannot be consolidated and saundred perfectly again but if the spels and pieces be gently taken out and but smal there is no danger of death for in their place there will grow a certain callous cicatrice or fleshie substance that will supply in some sort that defect Bears of all others haue the tendrest suls and Parrats the hardest as we haue said before in place conuenient Moreouer all liuing creatures that haue bloud haue likewise brains yea those in the sea which we call Soft-fishes although they haue no bloud at all as namely the Pour-cuttles or Polypes But man for his bignes and proportion hath most braine of all other and the same is the moistest coldest part he hath within his body Infolded it is within two tunicles or kels both aboue and beneath whereof if the one be pierced and wounded to wit Piamater there is no way but present death Also men commonly haue more braines than women And both of them haue neither bloud nor veines therein as for that which is in other creatures it wanteth all kind of fat The learned Anatomists who haue searched diligently into the nature of things do teach vs a difference between the brain marrow of bones for brains in the boyling and seething wax hard In the midst of the braine of all creatures there be certaine little bones Man alone in his infancie hath his brain to pant and beat and fully settled it is not nor confirmed before that he begins to speak Of all parts necessary for life it is placed highest and next vnto the cope of head and heauen both without flesh without bloud without filth ordure And in truth it is the fort and castle of all the sences vnto it all the veines from the heart do tend in it they all do likewise end It is the very highest keep watch-tower and sentinell of the mind it is the helme and rudder of intelligence and vnderstanding Moreouer in all creatures it lieth forward in the front of the head and good reason because all our sences bend that way just before our faces From our braine comes sleepe from thence proceedeth our nappes our nods our reeling and staggering And looke what creature soeuer wanteth braine the same sleepeth not Stags by report haue within their heads twentie little wormes to wit in the concauity vnder their tongue and about that joincture where the head is graffed to the chin bone Man alone hath not the power to shake his eares Of flaggie long and hanging eares came the syrnames first of the Flacci families houses in Rome There is no one part of the bodie costeth our dames more than this by reason of their precious stones and pendant pearls thereat In the East countries men also as wel as women think it a great grace and brauery to weare earings of gold As touching their proportion some creatures naturally haue bigger or lesser than others Deere only the fallow as well as the red haue them slit and as it were diuided In Rats and mice they be hairy To conclude no creature hath ears but those that bring forth their yong aliue and none of them are without saue onely Seales Dolphins Vipers and such fishes as were called Cartilagineous and gristly And these all in stead of ears haue certaine holes oâ—… conduits except the foresaid gristly fishes the Dolphins and yet manifest it is that they do heare wel enough For delighted they be with musick and vpon some great noise and sudden crack they are astonished and then easily taken But maruel it is how they should heare as they do neither can I comprehend the reason and means thereof no more than I am able to shew how they do smell for no Organs and Instruments haue they thereof to be seene yet there is not an hound vpon the land sents better nor hath a finer nose than they Of all fouls the Like-owle and the Otus alone haue feathers like eares the rest haue only holes to heare by And after the same manner skaled fishes and serpents In Horses Mules and Asses and all such as serue either pack or saddle the ears are tokens of their courage more or lesse and will shew what stomack is within them If they be tired and weary they hang down flaggie be they afraid you shall perceiue them to wag too and fro in heat of fury they stand pricking vp in sicknes they lie downe Man only of all creatures hath a Face and Visage the rest haue either muzles and snouts or else bils and beakes Other creatures haue Foreheads also as well as men but in mans alone we may see reade sorrow heauinesse mirth and joy clemencie and mildnesse cruelty and seuerity and in one word guesse by it whether one be of a good nature or no In the ascent or rising of the forehead man hath Eie-brows set like to the eaues of an house which he can moue as he list either both at once or one after another and in them is shewed part of the mind within By them we denie by them wee grant These shew most of all others pride and arrogancie Wel may it be that pride doth appeare and settle in some other part yet here is the seat place of residence True it is that in the heart it beginnes but hither it mounteth and ascendeth here it resteth and remaineth No part can it find in the whole body more eminent and hauty and withall more steepe than the browes wherein it might rule and raigne alone without controlment Next vnder the browes is the Eie the most precious member of the whole body which by the vse of light makes difference between life and death Yet hath not Nature giuen eies to all creatures Oisters haue none and for some other shel-fishes it is hard to say whether they haue any or none As for Scallops if a man stir his fingers against them as they lie gaping open they wil shut as if they saw And the shel-fishes called Solenes giue backe if any edge-toole come neere vnto them Of foure-footed creatures Moldwarpes see not at all a certaine shew and forme they haue of eies to be seen if a man take off the
But some men there be which haue their tongues so at commandement and so artificially they can handle it and their throat together that they are able to counterfeit the singing of all birds and the voice of any other creature that one cannot know and discerne them asunder As touching Taste which is the judgement of meats and drinks to wit What smack and tallage they haue all other liuing creatures find it at the tip of their tongue only but man tasteth as wel with the pallat or roofe of his mouth The spungeous kernels which in men be called Tonsillae or the Almands are in swine named the Glandules That which betweene them hangeth downe from the inmost part and roofe of the mouth by the name of the Vvula is to be found in man onely Vnder it there is a little tongue which the Greekes call Epiglossis at the root of the other and the same is not to be found in any creature that laieth egs A twofold vse it hath lying as it doth between the two pipes Whereof that which beareth more outward and is called The rough Arterie or the Windpipe reacheth vnto the lungs and heart And as a man doth eat and swallow downe his meat this foresaid little flap doth couer it for feare lest as the spirit breath and voice passeth that way the meat or drink if it should go wrong to the other conduit or passage might indanger a man and put him to great trouble The other is more inward called properly the Gullet or the Wezand by which we swallow down both meat and drink and it goeth to the stomacke first and so to the belly This also the said flap doth couer by turns to wit as a man doth either speake or draw his breath lest that which is already passed into the stomacke should come vp againe or be cast vp vnseasonably and thereby impeach a man in his speech the Windpipe consisteth of a gristly and fleshie tunicle the Wezand of a membranous or sinewie substance and flesh together There is no creature hauing a necke indeed but it hath also both these pipes Wel may they haue a gorge or throat in whom there is found but the gullet only but nape of neck behind they can haue none As for those vpon whom Nature hath bestowed a neck they may with ease turn their head about too and fro euery way to looke about them because it is composed of many spondyles or turning round bones tied and fastened one vnto another by ioints and knots The Lion only together with the Wolfe and the Hyaena haue this necke bone of one entire and straight peece and therefore stiffe that it cannot turne Otherwise it is annexed to the chine and the chine to the loines This Chine likewise is a bony substance but made round and long and fistulous within to giue passage to the marrow of the backe which descendeth from the brain Learned men are of opinion That this marrow is of the same nature that the braine is and they ground vpon this experience That if the thin and tender skin that incloseth it be cut through a man cannot possibly liue but dieth immediatly All creatures that be long legged haue likewise in proportion as long necks So haue also water-fouls although their legs be but short But contrariwise yee shall not see any birds with long necks that haue hooked tallons Men onely and Swine are troubled with the swelling bunch in their throats which many times is occasioned by corrupt water that they drinke The vpper part or top of the Wezand is called the Gorge or the gullet the nether part or the extremitie thereof is the Stomacke There is another fleshie concauitie of this name vnder the windpipe annexed to the chine-bone long it is and wide made in fashion of a bottle flagon or rather a gourd Those that haue no gullet are also without a stomack a necke and a wezand as fishes for their mouths and bellies meet The sea Tortoise hath neither tongue nor teeth with the edge of his muffle so sharpe it is he is able well enough to chew all his victuals Vnder the Arterie or wind-pipe is the mouth of the stomacke of a callous or gristly substance thicke toothed with prickles in manner or a bramble for the better dispatching of the meat and these notches or plaits grow smaller and smaller as they approch neerer to the belly so as the vtmost roughnesse thereof in the end is like vnto a Smiths file Now are we come to the Heart which in all other liuing creatures is scituate in the very midst of the brest in man only it lies beneath the left pap made in maner of a peare with the pointed and smaller end beareth out forward Fishes alone haue it lying with the point vpward to the mouth It is generally receiued and held that it is the first principall part which is formed in the mothers wombe next vnto it the braine and the eies last of all And as these be the first that die so the Heart is last In it no doubt is the most plenty of heat which is the cause of life Surely it euer moueth and panteth like as it were another liuing creature by it selfe couered it is within-forth with a very soft yet a strong tunicle that enwrappeth it defended it is besides with a strong mure of ribs and the brest bone together as being it selfe the principall â—…tresse and castle which giues life to all the rest It contains within it certaine ventricles and hollow reâ—…s as the chiefe lodgings of the life and bloud which is the treasure of life These in greater beasts are 3 in number none there is without two This is the very seat of the mind and soule From this fountain there do issue 2 great vessels master-veins or arteries which are diuided into branches being spred as wel to the fore-part as the back parts of the body into smaller veins dominister vitall bloud to all the members of the body This is the only principall part of the body that cannot abide to be sick or languish with any infirmity this lingereth not in continuall pain no sooner is it offended but death insueth presently When all other parts are corrupt and dead the Heart alone continueth aliue All liuing creatures that haue an hard 〈◊〉 heâ—…t are supposed to be brutish those that haue small Hearts be taken for hardy and valiant 〈◊〉 â—…riwise they are reputed for timorous and fearfull which haue great Hearts And the biggest Heart in proportion of the body haue Mice Hares Asses Deere Panthers Weasels Hyâ—…es in one word all creatures either by nature fearefull or vpon feare hurtful In Paphlagonia Partridges haue two Hearts In the Hearts of Horses Kine Buls and Oxen are otherâ—…hiles bones found The Heart in a man groweth yerely two drams in weight vntill it be 50 yeares of age and from that time forward it decreaseth from yere to yere
as much whereupoâ—… he is not able to liue aboue 100 yeares for want of Heart as the Aegyptians be of opinion whose manner is to preserue the dead bodies of men spiced and embalmed It is reported of some men that they haue hearts all hairy and those are held to be exceeding strong and valoâ—… Such was Aristomenes the Messenian who slew with his owne hands 300 Lacedaemoniaâ—… Himselfe being sore wounded and taken prisoner saued his owne life once and made an escape out of the caue of a stone quarrie where he was kept as in a prison for hee got forth by narrow Fox-holes vnder the ground Being caught a second time whiles his keepers were fast asleep he rolled himselfe to the fire bound as he was and so without regard of his owne bodie burnt in sunder the bonds wherewith he was tied And at the third taking the Lacedaemonians caused his brest to be cut and opened because they would see what kind of Heart hee had and there they found it all ouergrown with hair Moreouer this is obserued in perusing the inwards of beasts That when they be wel liking and do presage good the Heart hath a kind of fat in the vtmost tip thereof howbeit this would be noted That according to the Soothsaiers learning their Heart is not alwaies taken for a part of the bowels or intrails for after the 123 Olympias when Pyrrhus king of Epyrus was departed out of Italy what time as L. Posthumius Albinus was king sacrificer at Rome the Soothsaiers and Wisards began first to look into the heart among other inwards That very day when as Caesar Dictator went first abroad in his roiall purple robe and tooke his seat in the golden chaire of estate he killed two beasts for sacrifice in both of them the intrailes were found without any Heart whereupon arose a great question and controuersie among the Augures and Soothsaiers How it could be that any beast ordained for sacrifice should liue without that principall part of life or whether possibly it might lose it for that present only Ouer and besides it is held for certaine that if any dye of the trembling and ache of the heart or otherwise of poison their heart will not burne in the fire And verily an Oration there is extant of Vitellius wherein he challengeth Piso and chargeth him directly with Poysoning of Germanicus Caesar vpon this presumption for he openly protested and prooued That the heart of Germanicus would not consume in the funerall fire by reason of poyson But contrariwise Piso alledged in his own defence the foresaid disease of the Heart called Cardiaca wherof as he said Germanicus died Vnder the Heart lie the Lights which is the very seat of breathing whereby we draw and deliuer our wind For which purpose spungeous it is and ful of hollow pipes within Few fishes as we said before haue any Lungs other creatures also that lay egs haue but smal and the same full of froth and without bloud wherupon they be not thirsty at all which is the cause likewise that Seales and Frogs can diue so long vnder the water The Tortoise also albeit he haue very large Lungs and the same vnder his shell yet there is no bloud therein And verily the lesser that the lungs be the swifter is the body that hath them The Chamaeleons lights be very big for the proportion of his body for little or nothing els hath he within it Next followeth the liuer which lies on the right side In that which is called the head of the Liuer much varietie and difference there is For a little before the death of Marcellus who was slaine by Anniball as he sacrificed there was found a Liuer in the beast without that head or fibres aforesaid and the next day after when he killed another for sacrifice it was seen with two When C. Marius sacrificed at Vtica the same was likewise wanting in the beast being opened Semblably when prince C. Caligula the Emperor sacrificed vpon the first day of Ianuarie at his entrance into the Consulship the Liuer head was missing but see what followed in that yeare his hap was to be slain Moreouer his successor Claudius within a month before he died by poison met with the like accident in his sacrifice But Augustus Caesar late Emperor of famous memory as he killed beasts for sacrifice the very first day that he entred vpon his imperiall dignity found in 6 of them 6 liuers which were all redoubled folded inward from the nethermost lobe or skirt beneath wherupon answer was made by tâ—…e Soothsayers That within one yere he should double his power and authority The foresaid head of the Liuer if it chance to be slit or cut presageth some euill hap vnlesse it be in case of feare and pensiuenesse for then it betokeneth good issue and an end of care and sorrow About the mountaine Briletum and Tharne also in Chersonesus neere vnto Propontis all the Hares ordinarily haue two Liuers and a wonderous thing it is to tell if they be brought into other countries one of the said Liuers they loose Fast to the Liuer hangeth the Gall yet all creatures haue it not And about Chalcis in Euboea the sheep are quite without Gall. But in Naxus they all haue two Gals and the same very big The strangers that come into both those parts think the one as prodigious monstrous as the other Horses Mules Asses Deere both red and fallow Roe-bucks Swine Cammels and Dolphins haue no Gall. Some Mice and Rats there be which haue it And few men there are without howbeit such are of a stronger constitution more healthfull longer liued Howbeit some are of opinion That all horses haue Gall not annexed to their liuer but within their bellie and as for the Deere aboue said it lieth as they think either in their taile or els their guts which by their saying are so bitter that hounds and dogs by their good wils would not touch them Now this Gal is nothing els but an excrement purged from the worst bloud therefore bloud is taken to be the matter thereof Certain this is that no creatures haue Liuers but such as likewise haue bloud And in truth the Liuer receiueth bloud from the heart vnto which it is adioined and so conueigheth and destributeth it into the veins Black choler lying in the Liuer causeth fury and madnesse in man but if it be all cast vp by vomit it is present death hereupon it commeth that we terme furious and raging persons by the name of cholericke or full of Gall so great is the venome of this one part if it reach once to the seat of the mind and possesse it Nay more than that if it be spred and dispersed ouer all parts of the body it infecteth it with the yellow jaundice yea and coloureth the very eies as it were with Saffron Let it out of the bladder or bag wherin it is ye shal
for the male putteth forth his bloome in the branch but the female sheweth no floure at all but sprouteth and shooteth out buds in manner of a thorne howbeit both in the one and the other the pulp or flesh of the Date commeth first and after it the wooddy stone within which stands in stead of the grain and seed of the Date And this appeares euidently by a good token for that in the same branch there be found little yong Dates without any such stone at al. Now is the said stone or kernell of the Date in forme long not so round and turned like a ball as that of the Oliue Besides along the back it hath a cut or deep slit chamfered in as it were between two pillowes but in the mids of the belly on the other side for the most part it hath a round specke formed like a nauill whereat the root or chit beginneth first to put forth Moreouer for the better planting of Dates they set two together of their stones in a ranke with the bellies downward to the earth and as many ouer their heads for if one alone should come vp it were not able to stand of it selfe the root and young plant would be so feeble but foure together so ioine clasp and grow one to another that they do well enough and are sufficient to beare themselues vpright the kernel or wooddy substance within the Date is diuided from the fleshy pulp and meat thereof by many white pellicles or thin skins between neither lieth it close thereto but hollow a good distance from it saue that in the head it is fastened thereunto by a thred or string and yet there be other pellicles that cleaue fast and sticke to the substance of the Date within The Date is a yeare in ripening Howbeit in certaine places as namely in Cyprus the meat or fleshie pulp thereof is sweet and pleasant in taste although it be not come to the full ripenesse where also the leafe of the tree is broader and the fruit rounder than the rest mary then you must take heed not to eat and swallow down the very bodily substance of it but spit it forth after you haue wel chewed sucked out the iuice therof Also they say that in Arabia the dates haue but a faint weak sweetnes with them yet K. Iuba makes greatest account of those which the region of the Scenites in Arabia doth yeeld where they be called Dabula and he commends them for their delicate and pleasant tast before all others Moreouer it is constantly affirmed That the females be naturally barten and will not beare fruit without the company of the males among them to make them for to conceiue yet grow they wil neuerthelesse and come vp of themselues yea and become tall woods and verily a man shall see many of the females stand about one male bending and leaning in the head full kindly toward him yeelding their branches that way as if they courted him for to win his loue But contrariwise he a grim sir and a coy carries his head aloft bears his bristled rough arms vpright on high and yet what with his very lookes what with his breathing and exhalations vpon them or else with a certain dust that passes from him he doth the part of an husband insomuch as all the females about him conceiue and are fruitfull with his only presence It is said moreouer that if this male tree be cut downe his wiues wil afterwards become barren and beare no more Dates as if they were widows Finally so euident is the copulation of these sexes in the Date trees knowne to be so effectuall that men haue deuised also to make the females fruitful by casting vpon them the blooms and down that the male bears yea and otherwhiles by strewing the pouder which he yeelds vpon them Besides the maner abouesaid of setting date stones for increase the trees may be replanted of the very truncheons of two cubits long sliued and diuided from the very brain as it were of the green tree in the top and so couched and interred leauing only the head without the ground Moreouer Date trees wil take again and liue if either their slips be pluckt from the root or their tendrils small branches be set in the earth As for the Assyrians they make no more adoe but if it be a moist soile plash the very tree it selfe whole as it stands and draw it along and so trench it within the ground and thus it will take root and propagate but such will neuer proue faire trees but skrubs only And therefore they deuise certain Seminaries or Nource gardens of them and no sooner be they of one yeares growth but they transplant them and so againe a second time when they be two yeares old for these trees loue alone to be remoued from one place to another But whereas in other countries this transplantation is practised in the spring the Assyrians attend the very mids and heat of Summer and in the beginning of the Dog-daies vse to replant them Moreouer in that countrie they neither cut off the heads ne yet shred the branches of the yong plants with their hooks and bils but rather bind vp their boughes that they may shoot vp in height the better Howbeit when they are strong they cut their branches for to make the bodies burnish and waxe thicker but yet in the lopping they leaue stumps of boughes halfe a foot long to the very tree which if they were cut off in other places would be the death of the mother stocke And forasmuch as Date trees delight in a salt and nitrous soile according as hath bin before said the Assyrians therefore when they meet not with a ground of that nature strew salt not close about the roots but somwhat farther off In Syria and Egypt there be some Date trees that diuide themselues and are forked in twaine rising vp in two trunkes or bodies In Crete they haue three and some also fiue The nature of the Palme or Date tree is to beare ordinarily when they be three yeares old howbeit in Cyprus Syria and Egypt it is soure yeares first ere some bring fruit yea and fiue yeares before others begin and such neuer exceed a mans height neither haue they any stone or wooddy kernel within the Date so long as they be young and tender during which time they haue a pretty name for them and call them Gelded Dates and many kindes there be of these trees As for those that be barren and fruitlesse all Assyria and Persia throughout vse them for timber to make quarters and pamels for seeling wainescot and their fine ioyned workes There be also of Date trees coppey woods which they vse to fell and cut at certaine times and euermore they put forth a yong spring from the old root and stock These haue in the very head and top a certain pleasant and sweet marow which they terme The braine and therfore
gout There be who are of opinion That it hath a speciall vertue and property to resist the poison of the Aspis Certain it is that it prouoketh vrine allaieth thirst and the appetite to drink yea and soliciteth to carnal lust Taken in wine it gently putteth forth a kind sweat Moreouer it keepeth cloths and apparel from the Moth. Generally the fresher and newer alwaies that it is and the blacker that it looketh the more effectuall it is found to be Howbeit this one discommodity it hath That it is an enemy to the stomacke vnlesse haply it bee pestered with ventosities CHAP. XVIII ¶ Of Dill of Sacopenium and Sagapenum Of Poppy both white and black The manner of gathering and drawing iuice out of herbes Also of Opium DIll also hath a property to dissolue ventosities to break wind and cause rifting also to assuage any wrings or torments of the belly yet it staieth the flux The roots being reduced into a liniment with water or wine restraineth the flux of watering eies A perfume made of the seed as it boileth receiued vp into the nosthrils staieth the yex Taken as a drinke in water it concocteth crudities and appeaseth the pain of windinesse proceeding from thence The ashes of it burned raise vp the Vvula in the throat that is fallen Howbeit Dill dimmeth the eie-sight and dulleth the vigor of genitall seed As for our Sacopenium here in Italy it differeth altogether from that which grows beyond sea For the outlandish kind resembling gum Ammoniack is called Sagapen Good it is for the pleurisiè and pain of the brest Convulsions or Spasmes and old setled Coughes for those that reach vp filthy and rotten matter for the tumors of the midriffe and precordial parts It cureth the swimming and giddinesse of the head the shaking and trembling of the joints the crampe or convulsion that draweth the neck backward the great swelled spleens the pain of the bones and all shaking and quiuering colds A perfume made therewith in vineger if a woman smell vnto it helpeth the Mother that is ready to stop her wind As for the other accidents it is both giuen in drinke and also rubbed into grieued parts with oile It is thought to be soueraign also against poysoned drinkes giuen by Witches and Sorcerers Touching garden Poppie and the seuerall kinds therof I haue written already but besides them there be other sorts also of the wild whereof I promised to treat Meane while the heads of the foresaid garden white poppy if they be bruised whole as they grow with seed all and so drunk in wine do procure sleep The seed it selfe alone cureth the Leprosie Diagoras giueth counsell to cut the stem or stalk of the blacke Poppy when it beginneth to strout and swell toward the flouring time out of which there wil issue a certaine juice called Opium but Iollas aduiseth to make that incision when it hath bloomed and to chuse a faire cleare day for it that houre of the day when as the dew thereon is dried vp Now would they haue them to be cut vnder the head before the bloom but in the very head after it hath don flouring and verily there is no other kind of herb wherein the head is cut but this only The said juice of this herbe as well as of all other is receiued in wooll or else if it run but in small quantitie they gather it with the thumbe naile as the maner is in Lectuces but the morrow after the incision so much the more vigilant they must be to saue gather that which is dried and in very deed the iuice of Poppy commonly runneth out in great abundance gathereth into a thicknesse which afterward is stamped and reduced into little trosches and dried in the shade Which juice thus drawne and thus prepared hath power not only to prouoke sleep but if it be taken in any great quantity to make men dye in their sleep and this our Physitians call Opion Certes I haue knowne many come to their death by this meanes and namely the father of Licinius Cecinna late deceased a man by calling a Pretor who not able to indure the intollerable pains and torments of a certain disease and being weary of his life at Bilbil in Spaine shortened his owne daies by taking Opium By reason whereof Physitians are growne to great variance and be of contrary opinions as touching the vse of the foresaid Opium Diagoras and Erasistratus condemned it altogether as a most deadly thing would not allow that it should be so much as injected or infused into the body by way of clyster for they held it no better than poison and otherwise hurtful also to the eies Andreas saith moreouer That if Opium doth not presently put out a mans eies make him blind it is because they of Alexandria in Egypt do sophisticat it But in processe of time the later modern Physitians did not vtterly reject it but found a good vse therof as may appeare by that noble and famous Opiat confection called Diacodium Moreouer there be certain ordinary trosches made of Popy seed beaten into pouder which with milk are commonly vsed by way of a liniment to bring sicke patients to sleepe Likewise with oile Rosat for the head-ach and with the same oile they vse to drop it into the eares for to mitigat their pain Also a liniment made therof with brest-milk is singular good for the gout In which sort there is a great vse of the leaues also to the same purpose And being applied as a cataplasme with vineger they help S. Anthonies fire and all sorts of wounds For mine own part I would not haue it in any case to enter into Collyries much lesse vnto those medicines which be ordained to driue away ague fits or into maturatiues no nor to go among other ingredients into those remedies which are deuised to stay the flux that commeth from the stomack Howbeit in this case last specified many giue the black Poppy with wine Al garden Poppies grow rounder in the head than the wild for these beare a head longer smaller howbeit for any vse of greater operation than those of the garden For the decoction therof taken as a drink procureth sleep to such as be ouer watchfull so doth a fomentation thereof if either the visage bee sprinckled or the mouth washed therewith The best Poppies be they that grow in dry places and where it raineth seldome When the heads and leaues both be sodden stamped the iuice that is pressed from them Physitians call Meronium and it is far weaker and duller in operation than Opium Now to know which is good Opium indeed the first and principal trial is by the nose for the true Opium is so strong that a man may not indure to smel it the second proof is by fire for the right Opium will burn cleare like a candle and when it is put forth yeeldeth a stinking sent from it in the end which
liues he saued at what time as he took that garland first vpon his head Let him vaunt as much as he wil of the said Coronet as also of the proud and vain glorious title of Foelix i. happy which addition or syrname he took vpon him caused to be put into his stile yet when as through his tyranny he held besieged those Roman citizens whom he had proscribed and confined into all parts of the world surely he forewent all and yeelded that crowne vnto Sertorius Moreouer M. Varro doth report That Scipio syrnamed Aemilianus was honoured with an Obsidionall Coronet in Africk the same yere when as Manlius was Consull for sauing three cohorts besieged as also three companies besides which he led forth to deliuer the other and by whose means he forced the enemy to break vp his siege This is to be seen and read in a Table which Augustus Caesar late Emperor of famous memory caused to be hanged vp at the base or foot of the said Scipioes statue erected in the Forum or publick hall which himselfe built As for Augustus himselfe the Senate crowned him with an Obsidionall Chaplet vpon the thirteenth day of September that yeare when he was Consull with M. Cicero the son of that great Cicero the Orator Whereby we may see that a Ciuick Chaplet was not thought sufficient nor any waies comparable to this Coronet And setting a side these aboue named I do not find in histories of any one who was crowned with a green chaplet of grasse Now this you must note withall That there was not one certaine hearbe set out appointed for these honorable Guirlands but look what kind of herbage grew then in the place besieged where the danger was that very same they tooke were they neuer so base weeds and of no reckoning for as contemptible otherwise as they were yet being once imploied to this vse they innobled adorned the person himselfe who ware them in a Chaplet And certes the lesse maruel I haue if these things be vnknowne to vs now adaies seeing as I doe how little or no account is made euen of those things which make to the maintenance and preseruation of our health to the cure of all dolorous griefes and maladies of the body yea and to the preuention of death it self But what man is there well giuen and honestly minded who can containe and hold his peace hauing so just cause to reproue and rebuke the maner of the world in these our daies first and formost our life was neuer so costly as now it is in regard of the dainties delights and superfluities which must be maintained if will liue to the fashion of the time and for to injoy these pleasures onely we hold our liues more sweet and precious Neuer were men more desirous of long life and neuer lesse carefull to entertaine the means of long life The gouernment of our health we commit to the charge of others and strangers we credit with our owne bodies and yet slacke enough and negligent are they to ordain according to our trust and confidence that which indeed should do vs good Thus the Physitians are prouided well for they thriue alone and go away with the gains by this means Oh good God to see the folly and vanity of man Nature hauing put so many good things into our own hands as she hath and willing that we should inioy them for our health and pleasure yet we to our great shame and rebuke be it spoken are so vnhappy as to commit our selues to other mens tuition liue vnder their warrantize and assurance Full well I know that I for my part also shall haue but small thanks of many a one for all my paines taken in writing this history of the world and Natures works nay I am assured that I make my selfe a laughing stocke and am condemned of them for spending and losing my time in such a frivolous piece of worke as this is Howbeit this is yet my comfort and no small contentment I take herein that my labors and trauels excessiue and infinit though they be cannot be despised but the contempt will redound likewise to dame Nature her selfe And yet she againe as a kind and tender nurce ouer mankind hath not failed as I wil declare hereafter for our good to indue the very weeds which we tread vnder footwith medicinable vertues yea hath bestowed vpon those which otherwise we hate dare not approch but with careful heed for the shrewd pricks and thorns which they carry about them singular properties to cure diseases For ouer and besides those whereof I made mention in the booke going next before this there be other herbs of that pricking kinde which are so wonderfull in their operation and effects that I can neuer admire sufficiently and comprehend her prouidence appearing in them Furnished shee had the earth with smooth pricklesse plants enough in the nature of meats for to content our tooth satisfie our appetite she had ingrauen and liuely painted in floures notable properties in physick for to recouer maintain our health by the singular beauty which she gaue vnto them to allure the heart and eye of man to look toward them saying as it were Come and gather vs wherin she had made a good medley of profit and pleasure together And when she had thus done she staid not there but deuised to bring other herbs hideous to the eie and vntractable in hand As if in the forming of them in that fashion wee might heare her to giue a reason Why she so did saying after a sort vnto vs in an audible voice That she made them with pricks and thornes because she would not haue the foure footed beasts as hungry and greedy after meat as they be to eat them down That the shrewd hands of some vngracious folk who can let nothing stand might not be euer anon plucking and twitching at them for wantonnesse that people should not go carelessely trampling vpon them with their feet finally for feare that birds pecking setling aloft vpon their tender branches would sliue them down or knap them asunder Therfore I say with these prickles seruing in stead of weapons as wel defensiue as offensiue she hath both protected and also armed them and al to keep them safe and sure for the health of man and to do him seruice Lo how euen that which wee hate and seem to abhorre in these herbs was deuised for our comfort and benefit if we had the grace to see it CHAP. VII ¶ The medicinable vertues of other floures and herbs seruing for Chaplets Also of Erynge AMong those hearbes which beare pricks * Erynge or Eryngion is singular for a soueraigne hearbe it is against serpents and all poysons whatsoeuer as if it grew for nothing els But to come to particulars for stings bitings of venomous creatures the root therof to the quantity of one dram is taken in wine And in case
a perfect wine without appearance of any grape at all nor so much as of Must which ordinarily is the rudiment of wine All Pomgranats as wel sweet as tart are clad with a very hard coat rough rind And verily the coat which the sour kind hath is much vsed and in great request and namely the Curriers know full well how to dresse their skins therwith and this is the cause that the Physitians name it in Latine Malicorium And they would bear vs in hand That the same doth prouoke vrine as also that the decoction therof in vineger with gal-nuts among doth confirm and keep the teeth fast which do shake and are loose in the head Women with child and giuen to longing after a strange and vnreasonable manner finde much good and contentment hereby for no sooner tast they of it but the childe doth stir and sprunt in their wombe The Pomgranat diuided into quarters or parcels and laid to steepe and infuse in raine water for three daies or thereabout yeeldeth a good and wholsome drinke for them to take actually cold who are troubled with loosenesse of the body occasioned by a flux from the stomacke and with casting and reaching vp bloud Of the tart and soure Pomgranat there is a singular composition which the Greeks call Stomatice for that it is a most soueraigne medidine for the infirmities incident to the mouth and yet it is as wholsom for the accidents of the nosthrils and ears as also for the dimnesse of the eies for the trouble some ouergrowing turning vp of the skin and flesh about the roots of the nailes for the genitoirs or priuie members for corrosiue vlcers which they cal Nomae and for the proud flesh and all excrescences in sores Against the poison or venom of the sea-hare there is an excellent composition made with Pom granats in this manner take the grains or kernels of Pomgranates being despoiled and turned out of their outward rind or skin stampe them well and presse out their iuice and liquor from them seeth the same vntil a third part be consumed together with Safron Roch-allom Myrth and the best Attick hony of each halfe a pound Others do compound and prepare a medicine after another sort in this wise they take and pun many soure Pomgranats and draw out of them a juice which they seeth in a new cauldron or pot of brasse neuer vsed before to the thicknesse of honey this they vse in all infirmities of the fundament and priuy parts for al griefs and maladies which be cured with the medicinable juice Lycium with this they clense ears that run with filthy matter restraine all violent fluxes of humors newly begun and especially taking a course to the eies and rid away the red pimples and spots that arise in any part of the body Whosoeuer carieth in his hand a branch of the Pomgranat tree shall soone chase away any serpents The pill or rind of a soure Pomgranate boiled in wine and so applied cureth kibes A Pomgranat stamped and then sodden in three Hemines of wine vntill one remain is a singular remedy for the torments of the Collick and driueth wormes out of the belly A Pomgranate torrified in an ouen within a new earthen vessell neuer occupied before well stopped and couered with a lid and so being calcined and drunk in wine staieth the flux of the belly and assuageth the wrings in the guts The first knitting of this fruit when the tree begins to floure is called by the Greeks Cytinus Of which there be obserued strange properties approued by the experience of many men for if any person man or woman vnbraced vnlaced vnpointed and vnbuttoned with girdle loose hose vngartered shooes vnbuckled and hauing not so much as a ring about any singer come and gather one of these tender bnds or knots with 2 fingers only to wit the thumb and the fourth ring-finger of the left hand and after this ceremony performed proceed forward to another namely to touch lightly with the same bud the compas of the eies round about as if the priest should sacre or hallow them and withal when this is don coueigh the same into the mouth and swallow it down whole so as a tooth touch it not there goeth an opinion That he or she for certain shal feele no impediment or infirmity of the eyes that year throughout The same knots or yong Pomgranats if they be dried and beaten to pouder are very good to keepe downe all excrescences of ranke flesh and be wholesome for the gummes and teeth moreouer the very juice drawn out of them after they be sodden do fasten the teeth in the head although they were loose and ready to fall out before The very yong Pomgranats themselues alone newly knit and making shew vpon the tree if they be stamped to the form of a liniment are singular for any corrosiue vlcers such as tend to putrifaction Likewise they be excellent good in that sort prepared and applied for the inflammation of the eies of the entrailes and in manner for all those occasions wherein the outward rinds and pils do serue And here before that I proceed any farther I canot sufficiently admire and wonder at the careful industry and diligence of our antients before time which they imploied in the consideration of Natures workes searching as they did into euery secret and left nothing behind them vnassaied and vntried in somuch as they took regard of those little pretty floures appearing vpon these knots or buds before said such I meane as break forth and spring before the Pomgranat it selfe is formed and maketh any appearance which smal blossoms as I said before are called Balaustia For euen these as little as they be our ancestors haue found by their experiments to be aduerse vnto scorpions And true it is that being taken in drinke they do restraine the extraordinary flux of womens fleurs they heale the cankers and sores in the mouth the diseases of the Tonsils or Amygdales and of the Vvula they do helpe the spitting and reaching vp of bloud they cure the feeblenesse both of belly and stomack with the fluxes thereupon insuing they are singular besides for the grieuances of the priuy members and for all running vlcers spreading in any part of the body whatsoeuer Moreouer they made proofe of the said floures dried and this high magistery they found That being beaten to pouder they cured those of the bloudie flix who lay at the very point of death on that disease as also that there was not a better thing in the world to stay any lask or flux of the belly Nay they staid not here so inuentiue were our forefathers nor thought much to make trial of the very kernels or stones within their grains to see if they could meet with any goodnesse therein for to deliuer vnto posterity and the age following And in good faith they found That euen those as contemptible
boiled in vineger and water is of the same effect The milt of a sheep first torrified then puluerized and taken in wine helpeth much this infirmitie A liniment likewise made of Pigeons dung and hony is of great vertue if the patients belly be annointed therewith Touching those that haue feeble stomacks and cannot concoct and digest their meat It is said That the maw or gisier of that kind of Geire or Vulture which is called in Latine Ossifragus dried puluerized and drunk is right soueraigne Nay if the patient doe but hold the same gisier in his hand whiles he is at his repast it will help digestion And in truth there bee diuers that for this cause weare these gisiers ordinarily about their necks but I think it not wholsome to do so long for it maketh them leane as many as vse it and spendeth their body To stay a flux of the belly the bloud of Mallards or Drakes is thought also to be singular good The meat made of shell-snailes discusseth and scattereth ventosities The Milt of a Mutton broiled to ashes and giuen in wine is singular good to allay the wrings and torments of the belly Of the same operation is the wild Quoist or Ringdoue sodden in vineger and water The greater kind of Swallows or Martins called Apodes are no lesse powerfull if they bee sodden and taken in wine The ashes of the bird Ibis plucked burnt without his feathers so giuen to drink work the same effect But strange it is and wonderfull if that be true which is reported as touching this malady namely that if a Ducke bee applied aliue vnto the belly which is tormented with such wrings she shal draw away the disease into her own body and die of the torment but the patient shal be eased by that means These painful gripes likewise are cured with sodden hony wherein Bees sometimes were drowned to death As for the Collick there is nothing so good to assuage the paine thereof as to eat Larkes which the Latines name Galeritae Howbeit some giue aduise and think it better to burne and calcine them in their feathers within a new earthen vessel so to stamp them to ashes or pouder and to drink therof foure daies together in water by three spoonfuls at a time Others make no more ado but take the heart of a Lark and bind it to the inward part of the thigh and there be againe who would haue the same to be swallowed downe whole newly taken out of the bird while it was warme There is a family of the Asprenates men of good quality and reputation for that they had bin somtimes Consuls of Rome in which house of two brethren the one was fully cured of the collick by eating these birds and by wearing ordinarily the heart of one of them about his arme inclosed within a bracelet of gold the other being likewise troubled with the said disease found remedy by a kind of sacrifice which he offered in a little chappell made with vnbaked brickes piled vp archwise in manner of a furnace and so soon as the sacrifice was finished he stopt vp the same againe That Vulture which is called Ossifragus hath one gut of wonderfull nature for it is able to concoct and digest whatsoeuer the said foul deuoureth And for certain this is known and generally receiued that the nethermost end therof cureth the collick if the patient do but carry it about him There are other secret and hidden diseases incident to the guts wherof there be wonders told and namely that in these cases if yong whelpes before they can see be applied for 3 daies together vnto the stomack especially and the brest so that they suck milke from out of the patients mouth the while the said disease shall passe into the body of the poore whelps whereof in the end they shall die Let the same be ripped opened then it wil appear euidently what the cause was of the foresaid secret malady of the patient But such whelps ought when they are dead to be enterred buried As for the Magitians they auouch That if the belly be annointed lightly with the bloud of a Bat the party thus dressed shall not need to feare any paine of that part for one whole yeare after or if it chance that one be pained in the belly let him say they indure to drinke the water that runneth down from his feet when his legs be washed and he shall find help anone CHAP. VIII ¶ Medicines against the stone and grauell the paines of the bladder The swellings in the cods and the share Also for the biles and botches called Pani FOr them that are troubled with the stone it is good to annoint the region of the belly with Mouse dung It is said that the flesh of an Vrchin or Hedgehog is very good meat pleasant in tast if so be he were killed outright in the head at one blow before that he had time to shed his owne vrine vpon himselfe and looke whosoeuer eat this flesh shall neuer be subject to the disease of the strangury The flesh of an Vrchin killed in this sort helpeth the bladder in case the vrine passe by dropmeale from it But contrariwise if the Vrchin chance to wet and drench himselfe with his owne vrine as many as eat of the flesh shal fal into the infirmity of the strangury or pissing dropmeale Moreouer it is said That earthworms drunke either in wine or cuit is of great efficacy to breake or dissolue the stone as also that snailes prepared in that sort as they are ordained to be dressed for shortnesse of wind work the like effect Take snails naked out of their shels and stamp them giue 3 of them to the Patient to drinke in a cyath of wine the first day two the morrow after and the third day one againe you shall see how it will helpe the strangurie or pissing dropmeale But let the empty shels be burnt the ashes therof wil scoure away and expell the stone Semblably it is said that the same effect followeth vpon drinking the liuer of a water-snake the eating of the ashes of scorpions calcined either in bread or with locusts Likewise to take the little stones or grit that be found in the craw of a cocke or in the gisier or maw of a stock-doue to beat the same to pouder and therewith to spice the drinke is singular good for the infirmity aforesaid To do the like with the skin of a Cocks or Hens gisier dried or if it be new and fresh to rost and eat it Also for the stone and other difficulties or impediments of the bladder it is good to take the dung of Quoists or Stock-doues with Beane meale In like manner there is much help found by the ashes of Quoists feathers such as be of a wilder kind than the rest taken with Oxymell Moreouer the ashes of the guts of this bird giuen to the quantity of three spoonfuls as also the nest of
enough at these fooleries and absurdities of theirs but surely wonder lesse will they thereat who know what store they set by illfauored ticks the foulest and nastiest creatures that be and why do they thus magnifie so filthy a vermine because forsooth this creature onely of all others hath no passage at all for the voidance of excrements sucke it neuer so much and no way there is but death with them when they are thus full but so long only as they continue hungry and fasting and yet they say that they wil indure so a long time euen a whole seuen-night together with abstinence and spary feeding mary let them feed stil to the ful they wil not hold out so long but burst again in fewer daies space Well this tick so filthy as it is and of so admirable and strange a nature in their conceit they hold to bee of exceeding vertue to appease all paines and torments of the body whatsoeuer in case a man take one of them with the left eare of a dog and carry them hanging to some part about him And more than that these Magitians take marks by it presage of the life or death of their patients for they hold it for a certain and assured signe of life if one hauing a ticke about him stand at the beds feet where the sicke man lieth and when he asketh him how he doth and where he is amisse c. if the patient make answer readily vnto him but in case hee make no answer at all then surely hee shall die there is no remedy But take this withall this ticke must be plucked likewise from the left eare of a dog and the same dog ought to be cole-blacke without any specke of other colour And Nigidius hath left in writing that dogs will not all day long come neare vnto a man nor abide to see him who hath plucked a ticke from an hogge But to returne vnto our Magitians they affirm that such as be lunaticke and beside themselues shall come againe to their right wits and sences in case they be sprinckled with the bloud of a moule They auouch moreouer and say that if one seeth the tongue eies gall and guts of a Dragon in wine and oile and permit this decoction to coole all night abroad in the open aire it is a soueraigne medicine to chase away such bugs spirits and goblins wherewith folke be haunted and affrighted in the night season if they bee annointed therewith all ouer their bodie morning and euening Nicander writeth that whosoeuer carry about them the serpent Amphisbaena dead or no more but the very skin thereof hanging fast to any part of their bodies they shall finde it to bee a most soueraigne remedy for any through cold or chilling fitt that hath surprised them Nay hee staieth not there but addeth moreouer and saith that if the said serpent be bound vnto any part of a tree that is to bee felled and laid along the workemen that hew at the butt thereof shall feele no cold all the while and the tree by that meanes shall the sooner and more easily bee cut downe and ouerthrowne No maruell therefore if this serpent aforesaid dare leaue his nest and commit himselfe to the cold weather for he ventureth first to come abroad and is to be seene aboue ground before the Cuckow begins to sing But since I haue made mention of the Cuckow there comes into my minde a strange and miraculous matter that the said Magitians report of this bird namely that if a man the first time that he heareth her to sing presently stay his right foot in the very place where it was when he heard her and withal marke out the print and just proportion of the sayd foot vpon the ground as it stood and then digge vp the earth vnder it within the said compasse looke what chamber or roome of the house is strewed with the said mould there will no fleas breed there They say moreouer that the fat which is fleeted or skimmed from the broth wherin dormice and rats be sodden is excellent good for those that be affraid of the palsie and subject thereto also that Sowes or Cheeslips called Millipedae prepared and taken in drink in manner as I appointed for the squinancie are singular for those that find themselues to be falne into a phthysick or consumption of the lungs so is a green Lizard by their saying sodden in three sextars of wine till there be but one remaining if the patient take thereof a spoonfull at a time euery day vutill he feele himselfe warished and fully cured Others assure vs of as great effect by drinking the ashes of shell-snailes in wine As for the falling sicknesse the tried greace of sweatie and vnwashed wooll tempered with a little myrrhe so that the quantitie of them both arise to the bignesse of an hazell nut cures the same if it be taken infused and dissolued in two cyaths of wine presently after the patient haue swet and be come out of the baine For the same disease they ordaine the cullions or stones of a ram which haue bin kept long and dried to be reduced into pouder to the weight of halfe a denier Romane and so to be taken in water or else in one hemine of asses milke howbeit with this charge That the patient forbeare drinking of wine fiue daies after and as many before Furthermore they do highly commend the drinking of sheeps bloud likewise their gall in milke but principally if it be the gall of a lambe a sucking whelpe is very good in this case if it be taken with wine myrrhe but first the head and feet must be cut away Some for this purpose drink the surots or rough werts growing to the legs of a mule in three cyaths of oxymell others giue order to drinke in vinegre the ashes of the star-lizard Stellion which breedeth beyond-sea and the tender skin or slough of the said Lizard which she casts in the same maner as a snake doth taken in drink helpeth much Some Physitians are so venturous and bold that they haue giuen to those who be subiect to the falling sicknesse the verie Stellion it self after it is rid and clensed from the garbage or guts and so kept dried appointing their patients to drinke the pouder thereof in some conuenient liquor through a pipe of a cane others appoint it to be rosted vpon a wooden broch or spit and so to be eaten for meat And seeing I haue occasion thus to write of this Stellio and the skin thereof it were very conuenient and necessarie in this place to shew the manner how the said slough which is growne ouer him in winter may be gotten from him when he hath turned himselfe out of it considering that he vseth commonly to deuoure and eat it himselfe because it should not do any man good for there is not a beast againe more spightfull to mankind and enuious of our commoditie insomuch as this word
not that vse of them in physick as at this present for now adays if folk be amisse or il at ease straightwaies they run to the bains and bath for remedy And in truth those waters which stand vpon brimstone be good for the sinews such as come from a veine of alume are proper for the palsie or such like infirmities proceeding from resolution of the nerues Moreouer they that hold of bitumen or nitre such as be the fountains Cutiliae be potable and good to be drunke and yet they are purgatiue To come to the vse of natural bains and hot waters many men in a brauery sit long in a bath and they take a pride in it to indure the heat of the water many hours together and yet is there nothing so hurtfull for the body for in truth a man should continue little longer in them than in ordinary artificiall bains or stouphs and then afterwards when he goeth forth hee is to wash his body with fresh cold water not without some oile among Howbeit our common people here thinke this to be very strange will not be brought to to it which is the reason that mens bodies in no place are most subject to diseases for the strong vapours that steme from thence stuffe and fil their heads and although they sweat in one part yet they chil in another notwithstanding the rest of their bodies stand deep within the water Others there are besides who on the like erronious conceit take great joy in drinking a deal of this water striuing avie who can poure most of it downe the throat I haue my selfe seen some of them so puffed vp and swolne with drinking that their very skin couered and hid the rings vpon their fingers namely when they were not able to deliuer again the great quantity of water that they had taken in Therefore this drinking of much water is not good to be vsed vnles a man do eftsoons eat salt withall Great vse there is and to good purpose of the mud which these fountains do yeeld but with this regard that when the body is besmeared and bedawbed outwardly therwith the same may dry vpon it in the Sun Well these hot waters be commonly full of vertue howbeit this is not generall That if a spring be hot by and by we should think it is medicinable for the experience of the contrary is to be seen in Egesta of Sicily in Larissa Troas Magnesia Melos and Lipara Neither is it a sure argument of a medicinable water as many are of opinion if a piece of siluer or brasse which hath bin dipped therein lose the colour for there is no such matter to be seene by the naturall baths of Padua neither is there perceiued in them any difference in smell from others Concerning Sea waters the same order and mean is to be obserued especially in such as bee made hot for to help the pains and infirmities of the sinews and many hold them good to souder fractures of bones yea and to cure their bruises and contusions likewise they haue a desiccatiue vertue wherby they dry rheumaticke bodies in which regard men bath also in sea water actually cold Moreouer the sea affoor deth other vses in diuers and sundry respects but principally the aire therof is wholsome for those who are in a phthysicke or consumption as I haue beforesaid and cureth such as doe reach or void bloud vpward and verily I remember of late daies that Annaeus Gallio after that he was Consull tooke this course namely to saile vpon the sea for this infirmity What is the cause think ye that many make voiages into Aegypt surely it is not for the aire of Egypt it self but because they lie long at sea and be sailing a great while before they come thither Furthermore the vomits also which are occasioned at sea by the continual rolling and rocking of the ships neuer standing stil are good for many maladies of head eies and brest and generally they doe cure all those accidents for which the drinking of Ellebore serueth As for sea water to be applied simply of it selfe vnto the outward parts physitians are of opinion that it is more effectual than any other for to discusse resolue tumors more particularly if there be a cataplasme made of it and barly meale sodden together it is singular for the swellings behind the ears called Parotides They mingle the same likewise in plasters such especially as be white and emollitiues and if the head be hurt and the * brain touched and offended it is soueraigne to be infused into the wound It is prescribed also to be drunke for albeit the stomack take some offence and hurt thereby yet it purgeth the body well and doth euacuat melancholick humors and black choler yea and if the bloud bee cluttered within the body it sendeth it out one way or other either vpward or downeward Some haue ordained it to be giuen for the quartan feuer others aduise to saue and keep it a time for to serue the turne in case of Tinesmes which are vnordinat strainings at the stoole to no effect also for all gouts and pains of joints and in very truth by age long keeping it forgoeth al that brackish tast which it had at the first Some boile it before but all in generall agree in this To vse for these purposes that sea water which was taken out of the deep far from the land such as is not corrupt with any mixture of fresh water with it and before their patients do drink it enjoyne them to vomit and then also do they mingle with it either vineger or wine for that purpose They that giue little thereof and by it selfe appoint radishes to be eaten presently vpon it with honied vineger or oxymell for to prouoke the patient to vomit againe Moreouer they vse otherwhile to minister a clystre made of sea water first warmed verily there iâ—… not a better thing than it for to bath and foment the cods withall if they be swelled either with ventosities or waterish humors Also it is much commended for kibed heels if they be taken before they are broken and exulcerat and in like manner they kill the itch cure scabs tettars and ringwormes Sea water serueth wel to wash the head to rid it of nits and filthy lice yea and reduceth black and blew marks in the skin to the fresh and liuely colour againe In all these cures after the vse of salt-water it is passing good to foment the place affected with vineger hot Ouer and besides it is thought to be very wholsome and good against the venomous stings of serpents and namely of the spiders Phalangia and scorpions Semblably it cureth those that be infected outwardly with the noysome saliuation or spittle of the Aspis called Ptyas but in these cases it must be taken hot furthermore a perfume made with sea-water and vineger is singular for the head-ach If it be clysterized hot it
that comes out of the Isle Cyprus which hath in it certain veins of brasse that trouble the green colour Theophrastus reporteth that he hath read in the books and records of the Aegyptians That a king of Babylon sent as a present to one of their kings one entire Emeraud foure cubits long and three broad Also that there had bin within the temple of Iupiter among them an Obeliske made of foure Emerauds which obelisk notwithstanding was forty cubits long caried in bredth four cubits in some places and two in others He addeth moreouer that while he wrot his historie there was at Tyros within the temple of Hercules a pillar standing of one Emeraud vnlesse haply it were some bastard Emeraud for such quoth he are found and namely in Cyprus there was seen naturally growing a stone whereof the one halfe was a plaine Emeraud the other a Iasper as if the humor had not bin fully transformed and conuerted into an Emeraud Apion the Grammarian syrnamed Plistonices wrot not long before who hath left recorded That there remained still within the labyrinth of Aegypt the gyant-like image of their god Serapis nine cubits tall and of one entire Emeraud Moreouer many are of opinion that Berils are of the same nature that the Emeraud or at leastwise very like from India they come as from their natiue place for seldome are they to be found elsewhere lapidaries by their art and cunning know how to cut them into six angles and to polish them smooth for otherwise their lustre which is but sad would be dull and dead indeed vnlesse it were quickned and reuiued by the repercussion of these angles for be they polished neuer so much any other way yet haue they not that liuely glosse which those six faces giue them Of these Beryls those are best esteemed which carry a sea-water greene and resemble the greennesse of the sea when it is cleare Next to them are those called Chrysoberylli these be somewhat paler and their lustre tendeth to the colour of gold A third kind there is approaching neere to this but that it is more pale howsoeuer some do think it is no kind of Beril but a gem by it self and this they call Chrysoprasos In a fourth degree are placed the Berils named Hyacinthizontes because they incline somwhat to the Iacinth And in a fift such as are much of a sky colour wherupon they are named Aëroides After them be the Beryls Cerini for that they seem like wax then the Oleagini that is to say of an oile colour And in the last place bee the Crystalline which are white and come very neere to crystals All the sort of these Beryl stones haue these faults to wit white hairy streaks or lines in them yea and other filthy ordure being of themselues without these imperfections apt to shed their colour which soon fadeth The Indians take a wonderfull pleasure in long Beryls and commend them for the only stones gems in the world as if they cared not to be set in gold but chose rather to be worne without it and in truth in that regard their maner is to bore holes through them and then to file them vp into chains and collars with haires of elephants howbeit when they meet with some excellent Beryls indeed which are come to their absolute goodnesse and perfection they think it not good to pierce such but presently they tip them with gold that is to say they set vnto their heads certain knobs in maner of bosses which comprehend and inclose the same And in very truth they delight to cut their Berils into long rolls or pillastres in manner of cylindres rather than after the maner of other gems because their principal grace and commendation lies in their length Some are of opinion that the Beryl groweth naturally cornered and with many faces and they hold those Beryls to be richest which being bored through along haue their white pith taken forth for to giue them a better lustre of gold put vnto them by the reuerberation wherof the ouermuch perspicuitie of the stone may seem more corpulent and in some sort corrected Ouer and aboue the faults already noted subiect they are also to those imperfections which be incident to the Emerauds yea and besides to certain specks called Pterygiae It is thought that Beryls be found likewise in these parts of the world to wit about the kingdome of Pontus As for the Indians after that crystall was once found out they deuised to sophisticat and falsifie other gems therewith but Beryls especially CHAP. VI. ¶ Of the pretious stone Opalus and all the sundry kindes The faults in them and the means to try which be good Also diuers sorts of other gems and pretious stones THe stones called Opales differ little or nothing otherwhile from Beryls and yet the same somtimes are nothing at all like them neither is there a gem that they will giue place to vnlesse it be the Emeraud India is the only mother of them lapidaries therfore those who haue written books of pretious stones haue giuen vnto them the name and glory of greatest price but especially for the difficultie in finding them out and chusing them which is inenarrable for in the Opal you shal see the burning fire of the Carbuncle or Ruby the glorious purple of the Amethyst the greene sea of the Emeraud and all glittering together mixed after an incredible manner Some Opals cary such a resplendant lustre with them that they are able to match the brauest and richest colours of painters others represent the flaming fire of brimstone yea and the bright blaze of burning oile The Opal is ordinarily as big as a filberd Nuâ—… And here comes to my mind an historie among vs as touching the Opal worth remembrance for there is at this day to be seene one of these Opals for the which gem Marcus Antonius proscribed and outlawed one Nonius a Senator of Rome the sonne of that Struma Nonius at whom the stomack of Catullus the Poet did rise so much seeing him as he did sit in a stately chaire of Ivory called Curulis and grandfather to that Servilius Nonianus whom I my selfe haue seene Consul Now the said Senator when he was driuen to fly vpon this proscription took no more of all the goods which he had but onely a ring wherein this Opall was set which as it is well known had bin valued somtime at 20000 Sesterces But as the cruell and inordinate appetite of Antony who for a jewell onely outlawed and banished a Roman Senator was wonderfull on the one side so the peeuishnesse and contumacie of Nonius was as strange on the other side who was so far in loue with that gem which cost him his proscription and rather than to part with it suffered himselfe to be turned out of house and home and yet the very wild beasts are better aduised than so who are content to bite off those parts of their bodies and leaue
them behinde for the hunters seeing themselues in danger of death for them In the Opall there be obserued also diuers blemishes and imperfections as wel as in other stones namely if the colour resemble the floure of that herb which is called Heliotropium i. Turnsole also if it look like crystal or haile likewise if there be a spot comming between in maner of a grain or kernel of salt if it be rough in handling or if there be certain small pricks or spots represented to the eies neither is there any pretious stone that the Indians can counterfeit so well by the meanes of glasse as this insomuch as hardly a man shall discerne the naturall Opal from the false when they haue done withall But the only triall is by the Sun for if a man hold an Opall betwixt his thumbe and finger against the beams of the Sun if it be a counterfeit he shall find those diuers colours which shewed therein to run all into one and the same transparent colour and so to rest in the body of the stone whereas the brightnesse of the true Opal eftsoons changeth and sends forth the lustre to and fro more and lesse yea and the glittering of the light shineth also vpon the fingers This gem for the rare and incomparable beauty and grace that is in it most Writers haue called Paederos There is also another kind of Opalos apart by it self according to the opinion of some who say it is called by the Indians Sangenon It is said that that there be Opals in Egypt and in Arabia like as in the kingdom also of Pontus but such of all other beare the lowest price In Galatia likewise and in the Isles Thrasos and Cyprus for albeit they haue the louely beautie of the Opalus yet their lustre is nothing so liuely and lightsome and seldome shal you meet with any of them that is not rugged their chief colours stand much vpon brasse and purple the fresh verdure of the green Emeraud is away which the true Opal doth participate This is generally held that they are more commendable which be shadowed as it were with the colour of wine than delaied with the clearnesse of water Thus far forth haue I written of gemmes and pretious stones which be esteemed principall and most rich according to the decree generally set downe and pronounced by our nice and costly dames for we may conclude vpon this point more certainely going by their sentence than grounding vpon the iudgement of men for men kings especially and great men make the price of each gem according to their seuerall fancies Claudius Caesar the Emperour made no reckoning of any but the Emeraud and the Sardonyx and these ordinarily he wore vpon his fingers but Scipio Africanus as saith Demostratus tooke a liking to the Sardonyx before him and was the first Roman that vsed it and euer since this gem hath bin in great request at Rome in regard of which credit I will raunge it next to the Opall In old time the Sardonyx as may appeare by the very name was taken for the pretious stone which seemed to be a Cornalline vpon white that is to say as if the ground vnder a mans naile were flesh and both together transparent and cleare and in very truth the Sardonyx of India is such according to Ismentas Demostratus Zenathemis and Sotacus As for these two last named they verily doe name all the rest that are not cleare and shew not through them Blind Sardonyches such as the Arabian be and these haue carried away the name of Onyx without any mention or apparence at all of the Sarda or Cornalline and these stones haue begun of late to be knowne and distinguished by their sundry colours for some of them haue their ground blacke or much vpon azure and the naile of a mans hand for it hath bin generally thought and beleeued that such hath a tincture of white and yet not without a shew of purple as if the said white enclined to a vermillion or Amethyst Zenathemis writeth that these stones were not set by among the Indians notwithstanding otherwise they were so large and bigg as thereof they made ordinarily sword handles and dagger hafts and no maruaile for certaine it is that in those parts land flouds comming downe with a streame from the hils haue discouered such and brought them to light He saith also that they were at the beginning highly accepted of in those parts for that there is not in maner a stone engrauen that will imprint the seale vpon wax cleanly without plucking the wax away but it and through our persuasions the Indians also grew into a good conceit of them and tooke pleasure in wearing the same and verily the common people of India make holes through them and so weare them enfiled as carkans and collars about their neckes only And hereupon it commeth that those are taken to be Indian Sardonyches or Cornallines which be thus bored through As for the Arabicke excellent they are thought to be which are environed with a white circle and the same very bright and most slender neither doth this circle shine in the concauitie or in the fall of the gem but glittereth onely in the very bosses and besides the very ground thereof is most blacke True it is that the ground of these Sardoins is found in the Indian stones to resemble wax or horne yea within the white circle in so much as there is a resemblace in some some sort of a rainbow by means of certain cloudie vapors seeming to proceed from them and verily the superficiall face of this stone is redder than the shels of Lobsters As touching those that be in colour like to hony or lees for this is taken to be an imperfection and fault in Cornallies they be all rejected likewise if the white circle that girdeth it about spread and do not gather round and compact together semblably it is counted a great blemish in this gem if it haue a veine of any other colour but that which is naturall growing out of square for the nature of this stone is such like as of al things els not to abide any strange thing to disturbe the seat therof There be also Armeniacke Cornallines which in all respects else are to be liked but for the pale circle that claspeth them By occasion of this stone Sardonyx I am put in mind for the names sake to write of the gem Onyx also for notwithstanding there be a stone so called in Carmania which is the Cassidoin yet there goeth also a gem vnder that name Sudines saith that the pretious stone Onyx hath a white in it resembling the naile of a mans finger it hath likewise quoth hee the colour of a Chrysolith otherwise called a Topase of a Cornalline also and a Iasper Zenathemis affirmeth that the Indian Onyx is of diuers and sundry colours to wit of a fiery red a blacke a horne grey hauing also otherwhiles certaine white