of Fishermen as also huntsmen in that behalf being careful and earnest to learn and understand of them if any such were except you hold opinion that the Beaver or Otter is a Fish as many have believed and according to their belief affirmed as the bird Pupine is thought to be a fish and so accounted But that kind of Dog which followeth the fish to apprehend and take it if there be any of that disposition and property whether they do this thing for the game of hunting or for the heat of hunger as other Dogs do which rather then they will be famished for want of food covet the carcases of carrion and putrified flesh When I am fully resolved and disburthened of this doubt I will send you certificate in writing In the mean season I am not ignorant of that both Aelianus and Aetius call the Beaver Kunapotamion a water Dog or a Dog-fish I know likewise thus much more that the Beaver doth participate this property with the Dog namely that when fishes be scarce they leave the water and range up and down the land making an insatiable slaughter of young Lambs untill their paunches be replenished and when they have fed themselves full of Flesh then return they to the water from whence they came But albeit so much be granted that this Bever is a Dog yet it is to be noted that we reckon it not in the beadrow of English Dogs as we have done the rest The sea Calfe in like manner which our Countrey men for brevity sake call a Seel other more largely name a Sea Veale maketh a spoil of fishes between rocks and banks but it is not accounted in the Catalogue or number of our English Dogs notwithstanding we call it by the name of a Sea-Dog or a Sea-Calf And thus much for our Dogs of the second sort called in Latin Aucupatorii serving to take fowl either by land or water Of the delicate neat and prety kind of DOGS called the SPANIEL GENTLE or the COMFORTER in Latin Melitaeus or Fotor THere is besides those which we have already delivered another sort of Gentle Dogs in this our English soil but exempted from the order of the residue the Dogs of this kind doth Callimachus call Melitaeos of the Island Melita in the sea of Sicily which at this day is named Malta an Island indeed famous and renowned with couragious and puissant Souldiers valiantly fighting under the banner of Christ their unconquerable Captain where this kind of Dogs had their principal beginning These Dogs are little prety proper and fine and sought for to satisfie the delicateness of dainty dames and wanton womens wils instruments of folly for them to play and dally withal to trifle away the treasure of time to withdraw their mindes from more commendable exercises and to content their corrupted concupiscences with vain disport a silly shift to shun irksome idleness These puppies the smaller they be the more pleasure they provoke as more meet playfellowes for minsing mistresses to bear in their bosomes to keep company withal in their Chambers to succour with sleep in bed and nourish with meat at bord to lay in their laps and lick their lips as they ride in their Waggons and good reason it should be so for courseness with fineness hath no fellowship but featness with neatness hath neighbourhood enough That plausible proverb verified upon a Tyrant namely that he loved his Sow better then his Son may well be applyed to these kind of people who delight more in Dogs that are deprived of all possibility of reason then they do in children that be capeable of wisdom and judgement But this abuse peradventure reigneth where there hath been long lack of issue or else where barrenness is the best blossom of beauty The virtue which remaineth in the SPANIEL GENTLE otherwise called the COMFORTER NOtwithstanding many make much of those prety puppies called Spaniels Gentle yet if the question were demanded what property in them they spie which should make them so acceptable and precious in their sight I doubt their answer would be long a coining But seeing it was our intent to travail in this treatise so that the Reader might reap some benefit by his reading we will communicate unto such conjectures as are grounded upon reason And though some suppose that such Dogs are fit for no service I dare say by their leaves they be in a wrong box Among all other qualities therefore of nature which be known for some conditions are covered with continual and thick clouds that the eye of our capacities cannot pierce through them we finde that these little Dogs are good to asswage the sickness of the stomach being oftentimes thereunto applyed as a plaister preservative or born in the bosom of the diseased and weak person which effect is performed by their moderate heat Moreover the disease and sickness changeth his place and entreth though it be not precisely marked into the Dog which to be truth experience can testifie for these kinde of Dogs sometimes fall sick and sometimes die without any harme outwardly inforced which is an argument that the disease of the Gentleman or Gentlewoman or owner whatsoever entreth into the Dog by the operation of heat intermingled and infected And thus have I hitherto handled Dogs of a gentle kind whom I have comprehended in a triple division Now it remaineth that I annex in due order such Dogs as be of a more homely kinde Dogs of a course kinde serving many necessary uses called in Latin Canes rustici and first of the Shepherds Dog called in Latin Canis Pastoralis THe first kinde namely the Shepherds hound is very necessary and profitable for the avoiding of harmes and inconveniences which may come to men by the means of beasts The second sort serve for succour against the snares and attempts of mischievous men Our Shepherds Dog is not huge vast and big but of an indifferent stature and growth because it hath not to deal with the bloudthirsty Wolfe sithence there be none in England which happy and fortunate benefit is to be ascribed to the puissant Prince Edgar who to the intent that the whole Countrey might be evacuated and quite cleared from Wolves charged and commanded the Welshmen who were pestered with these butcherly beasts above measure to pay him yearly tribute note the wisdom of the King three hundred Wolves Some there be which write that Ludwal Prince of Wales paid yearly to King Edgar three hundred Wolves in the name of an exaction as we have said before And that by the means hereof within the compass and term of four years none of those noisom and pestilent beasts were left in the coasts of England and Wales This Edgar wore the Crown royal and bare the Scepter imperial of this Kingdom about the year of our Lord Nine hundred fifty nine Since which time we read that no Wolf hath been seen in England bred within the bounds and borders of this Countrey marry
reins if it be given in a glyster and likewise the fat of a Dog and a Badger mingled together do loosen contracted sinews The ashes of a Badger is found to help the bleeding of the stomach and the same sod and drunk preventeth danger by the biting of a mad Dog and Brunfelsius affirmeth that if the bloud of a Badger be instilled into the horns of Cattel with salt it keepeth them from the murrain and the same dryed and beat to powder doth wonderfully help the Leprosie The brain sod with oil easeth all aches the liver taken out of water helpeth swellings in the mouth and some affirm that if one wear soles made of Badgers skins in their shooes it giveth great ease unto the Gowt The biting of this beast is venemous because it feedeth upon all venemous meats which creep upon the earth although Arnoldus be of a contrary judgement and of this beast I can report no other thing worth the noting save that the Noble family of the Taxons in Ferraria took their name from this creature Of the BEAR A Bear is called in the Hebrew Dob and plurally Dubim of the Arabians Dubbe of the Chaldeons Duba Aldub and Daboube of the Grecians Arctos of some Dasyllis because of the roughness of his hair of other Beiros and Monios signifying a solitary Bear The Latins call him Vrsur which some conjecture to be tanquam orsus signifying that it is but begun to be framed in the dams belly and perfected after the littering thereof The Italians call it Orso so also the Spaniards the French Ours the Germans Bear and Beer the Bohemians Nedwed the Polonians Vuluver and the attributes of this beast are many among Authors both Greek and Latin as Aemonian Bears armed filthy deformed cruel dreadful fierce greedy Calydonian Erymanthean bloudy heavy night ranging Lybican menacing Numidian Ossean head-long ravening rigid and terrible Bear all which serve to set forth the nature hereof as shall be afterward in particular discoursed First therefore concerning several kinds of Bears it is observed that there is in general two a greater and a lesser and these lesser are more apt to clime trees then the other neither do they ever grow to so great a stature as the other Besides there are Bears which are called Amphibia because they live both on the Land and in the Sea hunting and catching fish like an Otter or Beaver and these are white coloured In the Ocean Islands towards the North there are Bears of a great stature fierce and cruel who with their fore-feet do break up the the hardest congealed Ice on the Sea or other great Waters and draw out of those holes great abundance of fishes and so in other frozen Seas are many such like having black claws living for the most part upon the Seas except tempestuous weather drive them to the Land In the Eastern parts of India there is a beast in proportion of body very like a Bear yet indued with no other quality of that kind being neither so wild nor ravenous nor strong and it is called a Formicarian Bear for God hath so provided that whereas that Countrey is abundantly annoyed with the Emmets or Ants that beast doth so prey and feed upon them that by the strength and vertuous humor of his tongue the silly poor Inhabitans are exceedingly relieved from their grievous and dangerous numbers Bears are bred in many Countreys as in the Helvetian Alpine region where they are so strong and full of courage that they can tear in pieces both Oxen and Horses for which cause the Inhabitants study by all means to take them Likewise there are Bears in Persia which do raven beyond all measure and all other so also the Bears of Numidia which are of a more elegant form and composition then the residue Profuit ergo nihil misero quod cominus ursos Figebat Numidas Albena nudus arena And whereas Pliny affirmeth that there are no Bears in Africk he mistook that Countrey for Creet and so some say that in that Island be no Wolves Vipers or other such venemous creatures whereof the Poets give a vain reason because Jupiter was born there but we know also that there be no Bears bred in England In the Countrey of Arabia from the Promontory Dira to the South are Bears which live upon eating of flesh being of a yellowish colour which do far excel all other Bears both in activity or swiftness and in quantity of body Among the Roxolani and Lituanians are Bears which being tamed are presents for Princes Aristotle in his wonders reporteth that there are white Bears in Misia which being eagerly hunted do send forth such a breath that putrifieth immediately the flesh of the Dogs and whatsoever other beast cometh within the favour thereof it maketh the flesh of them not fit to be eaten but if either men or dogs approach or come nigh them they vomit forth such abundance of phlegm that either the hunters are thereby choked or blinded Thracia also breedeth white Bears and the King of Aethiopia in his Hebrew Epistle which he wrote to the Bishop of Rome affirmeth that there are Bears in his Countrey In Muscovia are Bears both of a Snow white yellow and dusky colour and it hath been seen that the Noble womens Chariots drawn by six Horses have been covered with the skins of white Bears from the pastern to the head and as all other creatures do bring forth some white and some black so also do Bears who in general do breed and bring forth their young in all cold Countreys some of a dusky and some of a brown black colour A Bear is of a most venereous and lustful disposition for night and day the females with most ardent inflamed desires do provoke the males to copulation and for this cause at that time they are most fierce and angry Philippus Cosseus of Constance did most confidently tell me that in the Mountains of Savoy a Bear carryed a young maid into his den by violence where in venereous manner he had the carnal use of her body and while he kept her in his den he daily went forth and brought her home the best Apples and other fruits he could get presenting them unto her for her meat in very amorous sort but always when he went to forrage he rouled a huge great stone upon the mouth of his den that the Virgin should not escape away at length her parents with long search found their little Daughter in the Bears den who delivered her from that savage and beastual captivity The time of their copulation is in the beginning of Winter although sometime in Summer but such young ones seldom live yet most commonly in February or January The manner of their copulation is like to a mans the male moving himself upon the belly of the female which lyeth on the earth flat upon the back and either embraceth
when he begat Proserpina and afterward defloured Proserpina his daughter in the likeness of a Dragon It is reported that when Achelous did fight with Hercules for Deianeira the Daughter of Oeneus King of Calydon finding himself to be too weak to match Hercules turned himself suddenly into a Serpent and afterward into a Bull Hercules seeing him in that proportion speedily pulled from him one of his horns and gave it to Copia the companion of Fortune whereof cometh that phrase of Cornucopia Afterward Achelous gave unto Hercules one of the Horns of Amalthea and so received his own again and being overcome by Hercules hid himself in the River of Thoas which after his own name bending forth into one horn or crook was called Achelous By these things the Poets had singular intentions to decipher matters of great moment under hidden and dark Narrations But there are four reasons given why Rivers are called Taurocrani that is Bul-heads First because when they empty themselves into the Sea they roar or bellow like Buls with the noise of their falling water Secondly because they surrow the earth like a draught of Oxen with a plow and much deeper Thirdly because the sweetest and deepest pastures unto which these cattel resort are near the rivers Fourthly because by their crooking and winding they imitate the fashion of a horn and also are impetuous violent and unresistible The strength of the head and neck of a Bull is very great and his fore-head seemeth to be made for fight having horns short but strong and piked upon which he can toss into the air very great and weighty beasts which he receiveth again as they fall down doubling their elevation with renewed strength and rage untill they be utterly confounded Their strength in all the parts of their body is great and they use to strike backward with their heels yet is it reported by Caelius Titornus a Neat-heard of Aetolia that being in the field among the cattel took one of the most fierce and strongest Buls in the herd by the hinder-leg and there in despite of the Bull striving to the contrary held him with one hand untill another Bull came by him whom he likewise took in his other hand and so perforce held them both which thing being seen by Milo Crotoniates he lifted up his hands to heaven crying out by way of Interrogation to Jupiter and saying O Jupiter hast thou sent another Hercules amongst us Whereupon came the common proverb of a strong armed man This is another Hercules The like story is reported by Suidas of Polydamas who first of all slew a Lyon and after held a Bull by the leg so fast that the beast striving to get out of his hands lest the hoof of his foot behinde him The Epithites of this beast are many among Writers as when they call him Brazen-footed wilde chearful sharp plower warrier horn-bearer blockish great glistering fierce valiant and louring which seemeth to be natural to this beast insomuch as the Grammarians derive Torvitas grimness or lowring from Taurus a Bull whose aspect carryeth wrath and hatred in it wherefore it is Proverbially said in Westphalia of a lowring and scouling countenance Eir sic al 's ein ochs der dem fleschâ—uwer Entlofferist That is he looketh like a Bull escaped from one stroke of the Butcher Their horns are lesser but stronger then Oxen or Kie for all beasts that are not gelded have smaller horns and thicker skuls then other but the Buls of Scythia as is said elsewhere have no horns Their heart is full of nerves or sinews their blood is full of small veins for which cause he ingendereth with most speed and it hardneth quickly In the gall of a Bull there is a stone called Gaers and in some places the gall is called Mammasur They are plentiful in most Countries as is said in the discourse of Oxen but the best sort are in Epirus next in Thracia and then in Italy Syria England Maceconia Phrygia and Belgia for the Bulls of Gallia are impaired by labour and the Buls of Aethicpe are the Rhinocerotes as the Buls of the woods are Elephants They desire the Cow at eight months old but they are not able to fill her till they be two years old and they may remain tolerable for breeders untill they be 12. and not past Every Bull is sufficient for ten Kie and the Buls must not feed with the Kie for two months before their leaping time and then let them come together without restraint and give them Pease or Barley if their pasture be not good The best time to suffer them with their females is the midst of the Spring and if the Bull be heavy take the tayl of an Hart and burn it to powder then moisten it in Wine and rub therewith the genitals of a Bull and he will rise above measure into lust wherefore if it be more then tolerable it must be allayed with Oyl The violence of a Bull in the act of copulation is so great that if he miss the females genital entrance he woundeth or much harmeth her in any other place sending forth his seed without any motion except touching and a Cow being filled by him he will never after leap her during the time she is with Calf wherefore the Egyptians decipher by a Bull in health without the itch of lust a temperate continent man and Epictetus saying of Sustine and Alstine that is Bear and Forbear was emblematically described by a Bull having his knee bound and and tyed to a Cow in the hand of the Neat-herd with this subscription Hard fortune is to be endu el with patience and happiness is often to be feared for Epictetus said Bear and forbear we must suffer â—nâ— any-things and with-hold our fingers from forbidden fruits for so the Bull which swayeth rule among beasts being bound in his right knee abstaineth from his female great with young When they burn in lust their wrath is most outragious against their companions in the same pasture with whom they agreed in former times and then the conquerer coupleth with the Cow but when he is weakened with generation the beast that was overcome setteth upon him afresh and oftentimes overcometh which kinde of love-fight is elegantly described by Oppianus as followeth One that is the chiefest ruleth over all the other herd who tremble at the sight and presence of this their eager King and especially the Kye knowing the insulting jealousie of their raging husband When the herds of other places meet together beholding one another with disdainful countenances and with their loughing terrible voices provoke each other puffing out their flaming rage of defiance and dimming the glistering light with their often dust-beating-feet into the air who presently take up the challenge and separate themselves from the company joyning together at the sound of their own trumpets-loughing voyce in fearful and sharp conflicts not sparing not
being about fourteen or twenty dayes old and some have devised a cruel delicate meat which is to cut the young ones out of the dams belly and so to dresse and eat them but I trust there is no man among Christians so inhumanely gluttonous as once to devise or approve the sweetness of so foul a dish but the tame ones are not so good for in Spain they will not eat of a tame Cony because every creature doth partake in tast of the air wherein he liveth and therefore tame Conies which are kept in a close and unsweet air by reason of their own excrements cannot tast so well or be so wholesome as those which run wilde in the mountains and fields free from all infection of evill air They love above all places the rocks and make Dens in the earth and whereas it is said Psal 104 that the stony rocks are for the Cony it is not to be understood as if the feet of the Cony could pierce into the rock as into the earth and that she diggeth her hole therein as in looser ground but that finding among the rocks holes already framed to her hand or else some light earth mingled therewith she more willingly entreth thereinto as being more free from rain and floods then in lower and softer ground for this cause they love also the hils and lower grounds and woods where are no rocks as in England which is not a rocky Countrey but wheresoever she is forced to live there she diggeth her holes wherein for the day time she abideth but morning and evening cometh out from thence and sitteth at the mouth thereof In their copulation they engender like Elephants Tygres and Linxes that is the male leapeth on the back of the female their privie parts being so sramed to meet one another behind because the females do render their urine backward their secrets and the seed of the male are very smal They begin to breed in some Countries being but six moneths old but in England at a year old and so continue bearing every moneth at the least seven times in one year if they litter in March but in the Winter they do not engender at all and therefore the Authors say of these and Hares that they abound in procreation by reason whereof a little store will serve to encrease a great borough Their young being littered are blind and see not till they be nine dayes old and their dam hath no suck for them till she hath been six or seven hours with the male at the least for six hours after she cannot suckle them greatly desiring to go to the Buck and if she be not permitted presently she is so far displeased that she will not be so inclined again for 14 daies after I have been also credibly informed by one that kept tame Conies that he had Does which littered three at a time and within fourteen daies after they littered four more Their ordinary number in one litter is five and sometimes nine but never above and I have seen that when a Doe hath had nine in her belly two or three of them have perished and been oppressed in the womb by suffocation The males will kill the young ones if they come at them like as the Bore cats and therefore the female doth also avoid it carefully covering the nest or litter with gravell or earth that so they may not be discovered there are also some of their females very unnatural not caring for their yong ones but suffer them to perish both because they never provide a warm litter or nest for them as also because they forsake them being littered or else devour them For the remedy of this evill he that loveth to keep them for his profit must take them before they be delivered and pull off the hair or flesh underneath their belly and so put it upon their nest that when the young one cometh forth it may not perish for cold and so the dam will be taught by experience of pain to do the like her self Thus far Thomas Gypâ—on an English Poysician For Conies you may give them Vine-leaves Fruits Herbs Grasse Bran Oatmel Mallows the parings of Apples likewise Cabbages Apples themselves and Lettuce and I my self gave to a Cony blew Wolfe-bane which she did presently eat without hurt but Gallingale and blind Nettle they will not eat In the Winter they will eat Hay Oats and Chaffe being given to them thrice a day when they eat Greenes they must not drink at all for if they do it is hazzard but they will incur the Dropsie and at other times they must for the same cause drink but little and that little must be alway fresh It is also dangerous to handle their young ones in the absence of the dam for her jealousie will easily perceive it which causeth her so to disdain them that either she biteth forsaketh or killeth them Foxes will of their own accord hunt both Hares and Conies to kill and eat them Touching their medicinall properties it is to be observed that the brain of Conies hath been eaten for a good Antidote against poison so also the Hart which is hard to be digested hath the same operation that is in treacle There is also an approved medicine for the Squinancy or Quinsie take a live Cony and burn her in an earthen pot to powder then take a spoonful of that powder in a draught of wine and drink the most part thereof and rub your throat with the residue and it shall cure with speed and ease as Marcellus saith The fat is good against the stopping of the bladder and difficulty of urine being anointed at a fire upon the hairy place of the secrets as Alex. Benedictus affirms Other things I omit concerning this beast because as it is vulgar the benefits thereof are commonly known Of the Indian little PIG-CONY I Received the picture of this beast from a certain Noble-man my loving friend in Paris whose parts it is not needfull to describe seeing the image it self is perspicuous and easie to be observed The quantity of this beast doth not exceed the quantity of a vulgar Cony but rather the body is shorter yet fuller as also I observed by those two which that noble and learned Physician Joh. Munzingerus sent me It hath two little low ears round and almost pild without hair having also short legs five claws upon one foot behind and six before teeth like a mouse but no tail and the colour variable I have seen of them all white and all yellow and also different from both those their voice is much like the voice of a Pig and they eat all kinds of Herbs Fruits Oats and Bread and some give them water to drink but I have nourished some divers moneths together and never given them any water but yet I gave them moist food as Herbs Apples Rapes and such like or else they would incur the Dropsie Their
or train The first kind have no peculiar names assigned unto them save only that they be denominated after the bird which by natural appointment he is alotted to take for the which consideration some be called Dogs for the Falcon the Phesant the Partridge and such like The common sort of people call them by one general word namely Spaniels as though these kind of Dogs came originally and first of all out of Spain The most part of their skins are white and if they be marked with any spots they are commonly red and somewhat great therewithall the hairs not growing in such thickness but that the mixture of them may easily be perceived Othersome of them be reddish and blackish but of that sort there be but a very few There is also at this day among us a new kind of Dog brought out of France for we Englishmen are marvellous greedy gaping gluttons after novelties and covetous cormorants o◠things that be seldom rare strange and hard to get and they be speckled all over with white and black which mingled colours incline to a marble blew which beautifieth their skins and affordeth 〈◊〉 seemly show of comeliness These are called French Dogs as is above declared already The DOG called the SETTER in Latin Index ANother sort of Dogs be there serviceable for fowling making no noise either with foot or with tongue whiles they follow the game These attend diligently upon their Master and frame their conditions to such becks motions and gestures as it shall please him to exhibite and make either going forward drawing backward it clining to the right hand or yeelding toward the left in making mention of fowles my meaning is of the Patridge and the Quail when he hath found the bird he keepeth sure and fast silence he stayeth his steps and will proceed no further and with a close covert watching eye layeth his belly to the ground and so creepeth forward like a worm When he approacheth neer to the place where the bird is he lies him down and with a mark of his pawes betrayeth the place of the birds last abode whereby it is supposed that this kind of Dog is called Index Setter being indeed a name most consonant and agreeable to his quality The place being known by the means of the Dog the fowler immediately openeth and spreadeth his net intending to take them which being done the Dog at the customed beck or usuall sign of his Master riseth up by and by and draweth neerer to the fowle that by his presence they might be the authors of their own insnaring and be ready intangled in the prepared net which cunning and artificial indevour in a Dog being a creature domestical or houshold servant brought up at home with offals of the trencher and fragments of victuals is not so much to be marvelled at seeing that a Hare being a wilde and skippish beast was seen in England to the astonishment of the beholders in the year of our Lord God 1564. not only dancing in measure but playing with his former feet upon a tabberet and observing just number of strokes as a practitioner in that art besides that nipping and pinching a Dog with his teeth and clawes and cruelly thumping him with the force of his feet This is no trumpery tale nor trifle toy as I imagine and therefore not unworthy to be reported for I reckon it a requital of my travell not to drown in the seas of silence any special thing wherein the providence and effectual working of nature is to be pondered Of the DOG called the WATER SPANIEL or FINDER in Latin Aquaticus seu Inquisitor THat kinde of Dog whose service is required in fowling upon the water partly through a natural towardness and partly by diligent teaching is indued with that property This sort is somewhat big and of a measurable greatness having long rough and curled hair not obtained by extraordinary trades but given by natures appointment yet nevertheless friend Gesner I have described and set him out in this manner namely powled and notted from the shoulders to the hindermost legs and to the end of his tail which I did for use and customs cause that being as it were made somewhat bare and naked by shearing off such superfluity of hair they might atchieve the more lightness and swiftness and be lesse hindered in swimming so troublesome and needless a burden being shaken off This kinde of Dog is properly called Aquaticus a Water Spaniel because be frequenteth and hath usual recourse to the water where all his game lyeth namely water fowls which are taken by the help and service of them in their kind And principally Ducks and Drakes whereupon he is likewise named a Dog for the Duck because in that quality he is excellent With these Dogs also we fetch out of the water such fowl as be stung to death by any venemous Worm we use them also to bring us our bolts and arrows out of the water missing our mark whereat we directed our levell which otherwise we should hardly recover and oftentimes they restore to us our shafts which we thought never to see touch or handle again after they were lost for which circumstances they are called Inquisitores searchers and finders Although the Duck otherwhiles notably deceiveth both the Dog and the Master by diving under the water and also by natural subtilty for if any man shall approach to the place where they build breed and sit the Hens go out of their nests offering themselves voluntarily to the hands as it were of such as draw neer their nests And a certain weakness of their wings pretended and infirmity of their feet dissembled they go slowly and so leasurely that to a mans thinking it were no masterie to take them By which deceitful trick they do as it were entise and allure men to follow them till they be drawn a long distance from their nests which being compassed by their provident cunning or cunning providence they cut off all inconveniences which might grow of their return by using many careful and curious caveats lest their often hunting bewray the place where the young ducklings be hatched Great therefore is their desire and earnest is their study to take heed not only to their brood but also to themselves For when they have an inkling that they are espied they hide themselves under turses or sedges wherewith they cover and shroud themselves so closely and so craftily that notwithstanding the place where they lurk be found and perfectly perceived there they will harbour without harm except the Water Spaniel by quick smelling discover their deceits Of the DOG called the FISHER in Latin Canis Piscator THe Dog called the Fisher whereof Hector Boetius writeth which seeketh for Fish by smelling among rocks and stones assuredly I know none of that kind in England neither have I received by report that there is any such albeit I have been diligent and busie in demanding the question as well
Some Dogs there be which will not suffer fiery coles to I le scattered about the hearth but with their pawes will rake up the burning coles musing and studying first with themselves how it might conveniently be done And if so be that the coles cast too great a heat then will they bury them in ashes and so remove them forward to a fit place with their noses Other Dogs be there which execute the office of a Farmer in the night time For when his Master goeth to bed to take his natural sleep And when A hundred bars of brasse and iron bolts Make all things safe from starts and from revolts When Janus keeps the gate with Argus eye That dangers none approach no mischief nie As Virgil vaunteth in his Verses Then if his Master biddeth him goe abroad he lingereth not but rangeth over all his lands thereabout more diligently I wys then any Farmer himself And if he finde any thing there that is strange and pertaining to other persons besides his Master whether it be man woman or beast he driveth them out of the ground not medling with any thing that do belong to the possession and use of his Master But how much faithfulness so much diversity there is in their natures For there be some which bark only with free and open throat but will not bite some which do both bark and bite and some which bite bitterly before they bark The first are not greatly to be feared because they themselves are fearful and fearful Dogs as the Proverb importeth bark most vehemently The second are dangerous it is wisdom to take heed of them because they sound as it were an Alarum of an afterclap and these Dogs must not be over much moved or provoked for then they take on outragiously as if they were mad watching to set the print of their teeth in the flesh And these kinde of Dogs are fierce and eager by nature The third are deadly for they fly upon a man without utterance of voyce snatch at him and catch him by the throat and most cruelly bite out collops of flesh Fear these kinde of Curs if thou be wise and circumspect about thine one safety for they be stout and stubborn Dogs and set upon a man at a suddain unawares By these signes and tokens by these notes and arguments our men discern the towardly Cur from the couragious Dog the bold from the fearful the butcherly from the gentle and tractable Moreover they conjecture that a Whelp of an ill kinde is not worth keeping and that no Dog can serve the sundry uses of men so aptly and conveniently as this sort of whom we have so largely written already For if any be disposed to draw the above named services into a Table what man more clearly and with more vehemency of voyce giveth warning either of a wastful Beast or of a spoyling theef then this who by his barking as good as a burning Beacon foresheweth hazards at hand What manner of Beast stronger What servant to his Master more loving What companion more trusty What Watchman more vigilent What revenger more constant What Messenger more speedy What Water-bearer more painful Finally what Pack-horse more patient And thus much concerning English Dogs first of the gentle kinde secondly of the courser kinde Now it remaineth that we deliver unto you the Dogs of a Mungrel or Currish kinde and then will we perform our task Containing CVRS of the Mungrel and Kascal sort and first of all the DOG called in Latine Admonitor and of us in English Wappe or Warner OF such Dogs as keep not their kinde of such as are mingled out of sundry sorts not imitating the conditions of some one certain spice because they resemble no notable shape nor exercise any worthy property of the true perfect and gentable kinde it is not necessary that I write any more of them but to banish them as unprofitable implements out of the bounds of my Book unprofitable I say for any use that is commendable except to entertain strangers with barking in the day time giving warning to them of the House that such and such be newly come where-upon we call them admonishing Dogs because in that point they perform their Office Of the DOG called TVRNESPIT in Latine Veravers 〈…〉 r. THere is comprehended under the Curs of the coursest kinde a certain Dog in Kitchin-service excellent For when any meat is to be roasted they go into a wheel which they turning round about with the weight of their bodies so diligently look to their business that no dridge nor scullion can do the feat more cunningly Whom the popular sort hereupon call Turn-spits being the last of all those which we have first mentioned Of the DOG called the DANCER in Latine Saltator or Tympanista THere be also Dogs among us of a Mungrel kinde which are taught and exercised to dance in measure at the Musical sound of an instrument as at the just stroke of the Drum at the sweet accent of the Cittern and tuned strings of the harmonious Harp shewing many pretty tricks by the gesture of their bodies as to stand bolt upright to lye flat upon the ground to turn round as a ring holding their tails in their teeth to beg for their meat and sundry such properties which they learn of their Vagabundical Masters whose instrument they are to gather gain withall in the City Countrey Town and Village As some which cary old Apes on their shoulders in coloured Jackets to move men to laughter for a little lucre Of other DOGS a short conclusion wonderfully ingendred within the coast of this Countrey OF these there be three sorts the first bred of a Bitch and a Wolf called in Latine Lyciscus the secoud of a Bitch and a Fox in Latine Lacaena the third of a Bear and a Bandog Vicanus Of the first we have none naturally bred within the borders of England The reason is for the want of Wolves without whom no such Dog can be ingendred Again it is delivered unto thee in this discourse how and by what means by whose benefit and within what circuit of time this Countrey was clearly discharged of ravening Wolves and none at all left no not the least number or to the beginning of a number which is an Vnarie Of the second sort we are not utterly void of some because this our English soil is not free from Foxes for indeed we are not without a multitude of them insomuch as divers keep foster and feed them in their houses among their Hounds and Dogs either for some malady of minde or for some sickness of body which peradventure the savour of that subtill Beast would either mitigate or expell The third which is bred of a Bear and a Bandog we want not here in England A strange and wonderful effect that cruel enemies should enter into the work of copulation and bring forth so savage a Cur. Undoubtedly it is even so as we have reported for
mean the greater Linces of the cruelty of this Beast Martiall made this distichon Matutinarum non ultima praeda ferarum Savus Oryx constat qui mihi morte canum It is reported of this Beast that it liveth in perpetual thirst never drinking by reason that there is no water in those places where it is bred and that there is in it a certain bladder of liquor whereof whosoever tasteth shall never need to drink This Beast liveth in the Wilderness and notwithstanding his magnanimous and unresistible strength wrath and cruelty yet is he easily taken by snares and devices of men for God which hath armed them to take Elephants and tame Lions hath likewise indued them with knowledge from above to tame and destroy all other noisome Beasts Concerning the picture of this Beast and the lively visage of his exterior or outward parts I cannot express it because neither my own sight nor the writings of any credible Author doth give me sufficient direction to deliver the shape thereof unto the world and succeeding Ages upon my credit and therefore the Reader must pardon me herein I do not also read of the use of the flesh or any other parts of this Beast but only of the horns as is already expressed whereunto I may adde the relation of Strabo who affirmeth the Aethiopian Silli do use the horns of these Beasts in wars instead of swords and spears for incredible is the hardness and sharpness of them which caused Juvenal to write thus Et Getulus Oryx hebeti lautissima ferro Caeditur For although of the own length they are not able to match a pike yet are they fit to be put upon the tops of pikes as well as any other artificial thing made of steel or iron and thus I will conclude the story of this Beast The SCYTHIAN WOLF Of the OTTER THere is no doubt but this Beast is of the kinde of Beavers because it liveth both on the water and on the land and the outward form of the parts beareth a similitude of that Beast The Italians do vulgarly call this Beast Lodra and the Latines besides Lutra Fluviatilis Canicula a Dog of the Waters and some call them Cats of the Waters the Italians besides Lodra call it also Lodria and Loutra the French Vne Loutre or Vng Loutre the Savoyans Vne Leure the Spaniards Nutria and the Illyrians Widra the Graecians Lytra because it sheareth asunder the roots of the trees in the banks of the Rivers Some of the Graecians call it Enhydris although properly that be a Snake living in the waters called by Theodorus and Hermolaus Lutris Albertus calleth it Luter and Anadrz for Enhydris Also Boatus by Silvaticus and the Graecians call filthy and thick waters Lutrai for which cause when their Noble ancient Women went to bathe themselves in water they were bound about with skins called Oan Loutrida that is a Sheeps skin used to the water The French men call the dung of an Otter Espranite de loutres the steps of an Otter Leise Marches the whelps of an Otter Cheaux by which word they call also the whelps of Wolves Foxes and Badgers Although they be a kinde of Beaver as we have said already yet they never go into the Sea and they abound almost in all Nations where there are Rivers or Fish-pools as namely in Italy France Germany Helvetia England and Scandinavia Likewise in all Sarmatia in the Bay of Borysthenes They are most plentiful in Italy where the River Padus is joyned to the Sea Also they abound in Noples Their outward form is most like unto a Beaver saving in their tail for the tail of a Beaver is fish but the tail of an Otter is flesh They are less then Beavers some compare them unto a Cat and some unto a Fox but I cannot consent unto the Fox They are bigger then a Cat and longer but lesser then a Fox and therefore in my opinion they are well called Dogs of the water They exceed in length for in Swetia and all the Northern Rivers they are three times so long as a Beaver They have a rough skin and the hair of it very soft and neat like the hair of a Beaver but different in this that it is shorter and unequal also of colour like a Ches-nut or brownish but the Beavers is white or ash-colour It hath very sharp teeth and is a very biting Beast likewise short legs and his feet and tail like a Dogs which caused Bellonius to write that if his tail were off he were in all parts like a Beaver differing in nothing but his habitation For the Beaver goeth both to the Salt waters and to the fresh but the Otter never to the salt For in the hunting of fish it must often put his nose above the water to take breath it is of a wonderful swiftness and nimbleness in taking his prey and filleth his den so full of fishes that he corrupteth the air or men that take him in his den and likewise infecteth himself with a pestilent and noisome savour whereupon as the Latines say of a stinking fellow He smels like a Goat so the Germans say of the same He smels like an Otter In the Winter time he comes out of the caves and waters to hunt upon the land where finding no other food he eateth fruits and the bark of trees Bellonius writeth thus of him he keepeth in pools and quiet aters rivers terrifying the flocks of fish and driving them to the bank-sides in great number to the holes and creeks of the earth where he taketh them more copiously and more easie but if he want prey in the waters then doth he leap upon the land and eat upon green herbs he will swim two miles together against the stream putting himself to great labour in his hunger that so when his belly is full the current of the stream may carry him down again to his designed lodging The females nourish many whelps together at their udders until they be almost as big as themselves for whom the hunters search as for the dams among the leaves and boughs which the over-flowings of waters in the Winter time have gathered together and laid on heaps It is a sharp biting Beast hurtful both to men and dogs never ceasing or loosing hold after he hath laid his mouth upon them until he make the bones to crack betwixt his teeth whereupon it was well said by Olaus Mag. Lutrae mordaces quadrato ore Otters are most accomplished biters It is a very crafty and subtil Beast yet it is sometimes tamed and used in the Northern parts of the world especially in Scandinavia to drive the fishes into the Fisher-mens nets for so great is the sagacity and sense of smelling in this Beast that he can directly winde the fishes in the waters a mile or two off and therefore the Fishers make great advantage of them yet do they forbear his use because he
certain engins of wood to support them the other kinde of sheep have tails like the Syrian sheep All sheep that live in hot and dry Regions have larger tails and harsher wooll but those that live in the moist Regions and salt places have softer wooll and shorter tails There were two of the Arabian Sheep brought into England about the year 1560. whose pictures were taken by Doctor Cay and therefore I have expressed them here with their description The Arabian Sheep with a bread tail The Arabian Sheep with a long tail THis Arabian Sheep said he is a little bigger then our vulgar Sheep in England but of the same wooll figure of body and colour only the shins and fore-parts of their face are a little red the broad tail in the top was one cubit but lower it was narrower and like the end of a vulgar Sheeps tail They being brought on ship-board into England were taught through famine and hunger to eat not only grass and hay but flesh fish breed cheese and butter Herodotus saiâ—h that such kinde of Sheep are no where found but in Arabia the long tailed Sheep he calleth Macrokercos and the broad tailed Sheep Plateukercos yet Leo Afet saith that these are of the African Sheep for thus he writeth His arietibus nullum ab altis disâ—rimen est prâ—ter quam in cauda quam laâ—issimam circumferunt quae cuique quo opimior est crasâ—iâ—r obtigit adâ—o ut nonnullis libras decem aut â—igintipendat cum sua sponte impinguantur There is no difference betwixt these Rams and other except in their broad tail which evermore as it grows in fatness groweth in breadth for if they fat of their own accord it hath been found that the tail of one of these Sheep have weighed ten or twenty pound and not only there but also in Egypt where they cram and feed their Sheep with Barly Corn and Bran by which means they grow so fat that they are not able to stir themselves so that their Keepers are forced to devise little engins like childrens Carts whereupon they lay their tails when they remove their Beasts and the same Leo Afer affirmeth that he saw in Egypt in a Town called Asiâ—â—a standing upon Nilus a hundred and fifty mile from Alcair a tail of one of these Sheep that weighed fourscore pound and whilest he wondred at it scarcely believing that which his eyes saw there were some present that affirmed it to be an ordinary thing for they said according as he writeth Se vidisse quae semi ducentaâ— libras expendissent That is they had seen some of them weigh a hundred pounds and except in the Kingdom of Tunis in Africk and Egypt there are none such to be found in all the world and by it it appeareth that all the fat of their bodies goeth into their tails Among the Garamants their Sheep eat flesh and milk and it is not to be forgotten which Aristotle Dionysius Afer and Varro do write namely that all Sheep were once wilde and that the tame Sheep which now we have are derived from those wilde Sheep as our tame Goats from wilde Goats and therefore Varro saith that in his days in Phrygia there were flocks of wilde Sheep whereof as out of Africk and the Region of the Gadites there were annually brought to Rome both males and females of strange and admirable colours and that his great Uncle bought divers of them and made them tame But it appeareth that these wilde Sheep or Rams were Musmons of which we shall discourse afterwards For wilde Sheep are greater then the tame Sheep being swifter to run stronger to fight having more crooked and piked horns and therefore many times fight with wilde Boars and kill them The Subus doth also appear to be a kinde of wilde Sheep for after that Oppianus had discoursed of the Sheep of Creet he falleth to make mention of the Subus which he saith is of a very bright yellow colour like the Sheep of Creet but the wooll thereof is not so rough it hath two large horns upon the fore-head living both on the water and on the land eating fish which in admiration of it in the water gather about it and are devoured as we shall shew afterwards in his due place The Colus also spoken of before and called Snake seemeth to be of this kinde for it is in quantity betwixt a Sheep and a Hart. It hath no wooll and when it is hunted the Hunters use neither Dogs nor other Beasts to take it but terrifie it with ringing of little bâ—ls at the sound whereof it runneth to and fro distracted and so is taken And thus much I thought good to express before the general nature of Sheep of the divers and strange kindes in other Nations that so the studious Reader may admire the wonderful works of God as in all Beasts so in this to whom in holy Scripture he hath compared both his Son and his Saints and for as much as their story to be mingled with the others would have been exorbitant and far different from the common nature of vulgar Sheep and so to have been mixed amongst them might have confounded the Reader It was much better in my opinion to express them al together and so to proceed to the particular nature of vulgar Sheep And first of all the description of their outward parts the Sheep ought to be of a large body that so their wooll may be the more which ought to be soft deep and rough especially about the neck shoulders and belly and those that were not so the ancient Graecians called Apoki the Latines Apise that is peild Sheep for want of wooll which always they did reject as unprofitable for their flocks for there is no better signe as Pliny saith of an acceptable breed of Sheep Quam crurium brevitas ventris vestitus The shortness of the legs and a belly well clothed with Wooll The female to be admitted to the male after two years old Till they are five year old they are accounted young and after seven unprofitable for breed In your choice of Sheep evermore take those which are rough with wooll even to their eyes without any bald place upon them and those females which bear not at two year old utterly refuse avoid likewise partly coloured or spotted Sheep but choose them that have great eyes large tails and strong legs let them be young also and of breed Nam melior est ea aetas quam sequitur spes quam ea quam sequitur mors probata est progenies si agnâ—s solent procreare formosos saith Petrus Cresce that is that age is better which hope followeth then that which death followeth and it is a good breed of Sheep which bringeth forth beautiful Lambs And concerning their Wooll it is to be observed that the soft wooll is not always the best except it be thick withall for Hares have soft but thin wooll and in Sheep
Pliny affirmeth that the same part of his tail which is beneath the knot will die after such binding and never have any sense in it again Of the Fluxes of Sheep and looseness of the belly FOr this disease the Shepherds take no other thing but the herb Tormentilla or Set-foyl wherewithall they stop all manner of laxes but if they cannot get the same herb then they take salt and give it unto them and so having increased their thirst they give unto them black Wine whereby they are cured Of the milt of Sheep IN April and May through the aboundance of thick grosse bloud the Milt of Sheep is stopped and filled then the Shepherds will take two of their fingers and thrust them within the Nostrils of the Sheep there rubbing them untill they make them bleed and so draw from them as much bloud as they can Of the sickness of the Spleen FOrasmuch as a Horse a Man and a Sheep are troubled with the same diseases they are also to be cured with the same remedies and therefore Spleen-wort given unto Sheep as to a Man and a Horse as we have already expressed is the best remedy for this Malady Of the Fevers of Sheep SOmetimes a shaking rage through an incensed and unnatural heat of the bloud in the Sheep begeteth in him a Fever the best remedy whereof is to let him bloud according to these Verses Quinetiam ima dolor babantum lapsus ad â—ssa Cum furit atque artus depascitur arida febris Profuit incensos aestus avertere inter Ima ferire pedis salientem sanguine venam Quam procul aut molli succedere saepius umbrae Videris aut summas carpentem ignavius herbas Extremamque sequi aut medio procumbere ca 〈…〉 po Pascentem serae solam decedere nocti Continuo ferro culpam compesce priusquam Dira per incautum serpat contagiovulgus In which Verses the Poet defineth the signes of this disease and the cure The signes he saith are solitariness and a careless feeding or biting off the top of his meat following always the hindmost of the flock and lying down in the middle of the field when others be a feeding also lying alone in the night time and therefore he wisheth tolet them bloud under the pastern or ankle bone of their foot but by often experiment it hath been proved that to let them bloud under the eyes or upon the eares is as availeable as in the legs but concerning the Fever we will say more in the discourse of the Lambs Of the Pestilence or Rottenness of Sheep THis sickness first of all cometh unto Sheep out of the earth either by some earthquak or else by some other Pestilent humor corrupting the vitall spirit for Seneca writeth that after the City Pompeii in Campania was overthrown by an Earthquak in the Winter time there followed a Pestilence which destroyed six hundred Sheep about that City in short time after and this he saith did not happen through any natural fear in them but rather through the corruption of water and air which lyeth in the upper face of the earth and which by the trembling of the earth is forced out poysoning first of all the Beasts because their heads are downward and feed upon the earth and this also will poyson men if it were not suppressed and overcome by a multitude of good air which is above the earth It were endlesse to describe all the evils that come by this disease how some consume away by crying and mourning filling both fields and hils with their lamentations leaving nothing behind them no not their skins or bowels for the use of Man For the cure whereof First change the place of their feeding so that if they were infected in the woods or in a cold place drive them to the hils or to sunny warm fields and so on the contrary if in warm places and clement air then drive them to more turbulent and cold pastures remove and change them often but yet force them gently weighing their sick and feeble estate neither suffering them to die through laziness and idleness nor yet to be oppressed through overmuch labour When you have brought them to the place where you would have them there divide them asunder not permitting above two or three together for the disease is not so powerful in a few as in a multitude and be well assured that this removing of the air and feeding is the best Physick Some do prescribe three leaved grasse the hardest roots of Reeds sand of the Mountain and such other Herbs for the remedy of this but herein I can promise nothing certain only the Shepherd ought oftentimes to give this unto his Sheep when they are sound I will conclude therefore this discourse of the Pestilence with the description of Virgil Balatu pecorum crebris mugitibus amnes Arentesque sonant ripae câ—llesqueâ—upini Jamque catervatim dat stragem atque aggerat ipsis In stabulis turpi dilapsa cadavera tabo Donec humo tegere ac foveis abscondere discunt Nam neque erat coriis usus nec viscera quisquam Aut undis adolere potest aut vincere flamma Nec tondere quidem morbo illuvieque peresa Vellera nec telas possunt attingere putres Verum etiam invisos si qu 〈…〉 tentarat amictus Ardentes papulae atque immundus olentia sudor Membra sequebatur nec longo deinde morantâ— Tempore contactos artus sacer ignis edebat It is reported by John Sâ—owe that in the third year of Edward the first and in Anno 1275. there was a rich man of France that brought a Sheep out of Spain that was as great as a Calf of two year old into Northumberland and that the same Sheep fell rotten or to be infected with the Pestilence which afterward infected almost all the Sheep of England and before that time the Pestilence or rottenness was not known in England but then it took such hold and wrought such effects as it never was clear since and that first Pestilence gave good occasion to be remembred for it continued for twenty and six years together And thus much for this disease of the Pestilence caused in England for the most part in moist and wet years Of Lice and Tikes IF either Lice or Tikes do molest Sheep take the root of a Maple tree beat the same into powder and seethe it in water afterwards clip off the wool from the back of the Sheep and powre the said water upon the back untill it hath compassed the whole body some use for this purpose the root of Mandragoras and some the roots of Cypresse and I finde by good Authors that all of them are equivalent to rid the Sheep from these annoyances To conclude therefore the discoursâ— of Sheeps diseases it is good to plant near the Sheep-coats and pastures of Sheep the herb Alysson or wilde Gallow-grasse for it is very wholesome for Goats and Sheep likewise the flowers of
in the said manner The dung of Mice or of a Weasel being anoynted upon the head is an excellent remedy for the falling off of the hair on the head or any other part of mans body and doth also cure the disease called by some the Foxes evil The biting of a Weasel is reported by some to be very venemous and in his ravening or madnesse not to be lesse hurtfull then the bitings of mad Dogs For Weasels and Foxes are very often mad But Arnoldus is of a contrary opinion and affirmeth that the Weasel doth more hurt by his biting then by any venom he can put forth Others also do affirm that there is venom in Weasels for this cause that in all kinde of Weasels when they are angry the force of their smell is so rank and strong The best way to drive away Mice is by scattering the powder of Weasels or Cats dung up and down the savour whereof Mice cannot abide but the same being made into some certain kinde of bread will smell more strongly That the bites of a Weasel are venemous and deadly there is an example written by Aristides of a certain man who being bitten by a Weasel and ready to die gave a great sigh and said that if he had died by a Lyon or Panther it would never have grieved him but to die by the biting of such an ignoble beast it grieved him worse then his death The biting of a Weasel doth bring very quick and grievous pain which is only known by the colour being dusky or blewish and it is cured by Onions and Garlick either applyed outward or taken in drink so that the party drink sweet wine thereon Unripe Figs also mingled with the flour of the grain called Orobos doth much profit the same Treacle in like manner being applyed in the manner of a plaister speedily cureth them Garlick being mingled with Fig-tree leaves and Cinamon and so beaten together are very well applyed to the said bites It cometh also to passe that sometimes the Weasel biteth some Cattell which presently killeth them except there be some instant remedy The remedy for it is this to rub the wounded place with a piece of a Weasels skin well dryed untill it waxe hot and in the mean time give the best Treacle to drink in the manner of an antidote The Weasel usually biteth Cowes dugs which when they are swollen if they be rubbed with a Weasels skin they are instantly healed Of the WOLF A Wolf is called in Hebrew Zeeb as it is said in Gen. 49. and among the Chaldeans Deeba and Deba among the Arabians Dib The female is called Zebah a she-Wolf and the masculine Zeebim but in Ezek. 22. it is called Zebeth that is to say a Wolf Alsebha saith And. Bellun is a common name for all Four-footed beasts which do set on men killing and tearing them in pieces devouring them with their teeth and clawes as a Lyon a Wolf a Tiger and such like whereon they are said to have the behaviour of Alsebha that is wilde beasts which are fierce and cruel From hence happily cometh it that not only Albertus but also some ignorant Writers do attribute unto a Wolf many things which Aristotle hath uttered concerning a Lyon Oppianus among the other kinde of Wolves hath demonstrated one which is bred in Cilicia And also he doth write that it is called in the mountains of Taurus and Amanus Chryseon that is to say Aureum but I conjecture that in those places it was called after the language of the Hebrewes or Syrians which do call Sahab or Schab aurum and Seeb Lupum for a Wolf or Dahab or Debah for Aurum They also do call Deeb or Deeba for a Wolf Dib othertherwise Dijb is an Arabian or Saracenican word Also the translation of this word in the book of medicines is divers as Adib Adep Adbip and Aldip but I have preferred the last translation which also Bellunensis doth use Aldip Alambat doth signifie a mad or furious Wolf The Wolf which Oppianus doth call Aureum as I have said even now doth seem to agree to this kinde both by signification of the name Aurum and also by the nature because it doth go under a Dog close to the earth to eschew the heat of the Summer which Oppianus doth write doth seek his food out of hollow places as a Hyena or Dabh doth out of graves where the dead men are buryed The golden coloured Wolf is also more rough and hairy then the residue even as the Hyena is said to be rough and maned And also these Wolves necks in India are maned but it differeth according to the nation and colour where there are any Wolves at all Lycos a Wolf among the Grecians and Lugos and Lucania and Lycos among some of the Arabican Writers is borrowed from them as Munster hath noted in his Lexicon of three languages In Italy it is called Lupo In French Loup in Spain Lobo in Germany Vulff in England Wolf In Illyria Vulk as it were by a transposition of the letters of the Greek word Now because both men women Cities places Mountains Villages and many artificiall instruments have their names from the Latine and Greek words of this beast it is not vain or idle to touch both them and the derivation of them before we proceed to the naturall story of this beast Lupus as some say in Latine is Quasi Leopos Lyon-footed because that it resembleth a Lyon in his feet and therefore Isidorus writeth that nothing liveth that it presseth or treadeth upon in wrath Other derive it from Lukes the light because in the twilight of the evening or morning it devoureth his prey avoiding both extreme light as the noon day and also extreme darknesse as the night The Grecians do also call them Nycterinoi canes dogs of the night Lupa and lupula were the names of noble devouring Harlots and from thenceforth cometh Lupanar for the stewes It is doubtfull whether the nurse of Romulus and Remus were a Harlot or she-wolf I rather think it was a Harlot then a Wolf that nursed those children For we read of the wife of Fostulus which was called Laurentia after she had played the whore with certain Shepherds was called Lupa In all Nations there are some mens names derived from Wolves therefore we read of Lupus a Roman Poet Lupus Servatus a Priest or Elder of Lupus de Oliveto a Spanish Monk of Fulvus Lupinus a Roman and the Germans have Vulf Vulfe Hart Vulfegang The Grecians have Lycambes of whom it is reported he had a daughter called Neobole which he promised in marriage to Archilochus the Poet yet afterwards he repented and would not perform his promise for which cause the Poet wrote against him many bitter Verses and therefore Lycambes when he came to knowledge of them dyed for grief Lycaon was a common name among the Grecians for many men as Lycaon Gnotius an excellent maker
of edged tools Lycaon the brother of Nestor another the son of Priamus slain by Achilles But the famous and notorious among all was Lycaon the King of Arcadia the son of Titan and the earth whose Daughter Calisto was deflowred by Jupiter and by Juno turned into a Bear whom afterwards Juno pitying placed for a sign in heaven and of whom Virgil made this Verse Pleiadas Hyadas claramque Lycaonis Arcton There was another Lycaon the son of Pelasgus which built the City Lycosui in the Mountain Lyceus this man called Jupiter Lyceus upon a time sacrificed an Infant upon his Altar after which sacrifice he was presently turned into a Wolf There was another Lycaon after him who did likewise sacrifice another childe and it was said that he remained ten years a Wolf and afterwards became a man again whereof the reason was given that during the time he remained a beast he never tasted of mans flesh but if he had tasted thereof he should have remained a beast for ever I might adde hereunto Lycophron Lycastus Lycimnius Lycinus Lycomedes Lycurgus Lycus and of womens names Lyca Lyce Lycaste Lycoris Lycias and many such others besides the names of people as Irpinia of Mountains and places as Lycabetus Lyceus Lycerna Lycaonia Lycaspus Lyceum Aristotles School Of flouds and Rivers as Lycus Lycormas Of Plants as Wolfbane Lupum salictarium Lupinus Lycantheum Lycophrix Lycophone Lycopsis Lycoscitalion and many such others whereof I have only desired to give the Reader a taste following the same method that we have observed in other beasts And thus much shall suffice to have spoken of the names of this beast The Countreyes breeding Wolves are for the most part these that follow The inhabitants of Crete were wont to say that there was neither Wolves Bears nor Vipers could be bred in their Island because Jupiter was born there yet there is in a City called Lycastus so named for the multitude of Wolves that were abiding therein It is likewise affirmed of Sardinia and Olympus a Mountain of Macedonia that there come no Wolves in them The Wolves of Egypt are lesser then the Wolves of Greece for they exceed not the quantity of Foxes Africa likewise breedeth small Wolves they abound in Arabia Swevia Rhetia Athesis and the Earldome of Tyrol in Muscovia especially that part that bordereth upon Lituania The Wolves of Scanzia by reason of extremity of cold in those parts are blinde and lose their eyes There are no Wolves bred in Lombardy beyond the Alpes and if any chance to come into that Countrey presently they ring their Bells and arm themselves against them never giving over till they have killed him or drove him out of the Countrey In Norway there are three kinde of Wolves and in Scandinavia the Wolves fight with Elks. It is reported that there are Wolves in Italy who when they look upon a man cause him to be silent that he cannot speak The French men call those Wolves which have eaten of the flesh of men Encharnes Among the Crotoniatae in Meotis and divers other parts of the world Wolves do abound there are some few in France but none at all in England except such as are kept in the Tower of London to be seen by the Prince and people brought out of other Countreys where there fell out a rare accident namely a Mastive Dog was limed to a she-Wolf and she thereby conceived and brought forth six or seven young Whelps which was in the year of our Lord 1605. or thereabouts There are divers kindes of Wolves in the world whereof Oppianus in his admonition to Shepherds maketh mention of five the first is a swift Wolf and runneth fast called therefore Toxeuter that is Sagittarius a shooter The second kinde are called Harpages and these are the greatest raveners to whom our Saviour Christ in the Gospel compareth false Prophets when he saith Take heed of false Prophets which come unto you in Sheeps clothing but are inwardly Lyce Harpages ravening Wolves and these excell in this kinde The third kinde is called Lupus aureus a golden Wolf by reason of his colour then they make mention of two other kindes called Acmonae and one of them peculiarly Ictinus The first which is swift hath a greater head then other Wolves and likewise greater legs fitted to run white spots on the belly round members his colour betwixt red and yellow he is very bold howleth fearfully having fiery-flaming eyes and continually wagging his head The second kinde hath a greater and larger body then this being swifter then all other betimes in the morning he being very hungry goeth abroad to hunt his prey the sides and tail are of a silver colour he inhabiteth in the Mountains except in the Winter time wherein he descendeth to the gates of Cities or Towns and boldly without fear killeth both Goats and Sheep yet by stealth and secretly The third kinde inhabiteth the white Rocks of Taurua and Silicia or the the tops of the hill Amanus and such other sharp and inaccessible places being worthily for beauty preferred before the others because of his golden resplendent hairs and therefore my Author saith Non Lupus sed Lupo praestantior fera That he is not a Wolf but some wilde beast excelling a Wolf He is exceeding strong especially being able with his mouth and teeth to bite asunder not only stones but Brasse and Iron He feareth the Dog star and heat of Summer rejoycing more in cold then in warm weather therefore in the Dog dayes he hideth himself in some pit or gaping of the earth untill that Sunny heat be abated The fourth and fifth kindes are called by one common name Acmone now Acmon signifieth an Eagle or else an Instrument with a short neck and it may be that these are so called in resemblance of the ravening Eagle or else because their bodies are like to that instrument for they have short necks broad shoulders rough legs and feet and small snowts and little eyes herein they differ one kinde from the other because that one of them hath a back of a silver colour and a white belly and the lower part of the feet black and this is Ictinus canus a gray Kite-wolf the other is black having alesser body his hair standing continually upright and liveth by hunting of Hares Now generally all Authors do make some two some three some four and some five kindes of Wolves all which is needlesse for me to prosecute and therefore I will content my self with the only naming of such differences as are observed in them and already expressed except the Thus and the sea-Wolf of whom there shall be something said particularly in the end of this History Olaus Magnus writeth in his History of the Northern Regions that in the Mountains called Dâ—ffrini which do divide the Kingdomes of Swetia and Norway there are great flocks or heards of Wolves of white colour whereof some wander in the Mountains and some in the vallies They
Italians Serpe Serpente and Massarius saith that Scorzo and Scorzone are general words for all manner of Serpents in Italy which strike with their teeth The Spaniards call them Sierpe the Grecians call the young ones in the Dams belly Embrua and the Latines Catuli And thus much for the names in general which in holy Scripture is Englished a Creeping thing Now it followeth that I should set down a particular description of all the outward parts of Serpents and first of all their colour is for the most part like the place of their habitation or abode I mean like the Earth wherein they live and therefore I have seen some black living in dung some yellow living in sandy rocks and some of other colour as green living in trees and fields but generally they have spots on their sides and belly like the scales of fish which are both white black green yellow brown and of other colours also of which Ovid writeth Longo caput extulit antro Caeruleus Serpens horrendaque sibila misit That is The greenish Serpent extold her head from den so steep And fearful hissing did send forth from throat so deep The frame of their bodies do not much vary in any except in the feet and length so that with a reservation of them we may express their universal Anatomy in one view for almost all of them are of the same proportion that is seen in Lizards if the feet be excepted and they made to have longer bodies For they are inclosed in a kinde of shell or crusty skin having their upper parts on thâ—â—r back and their neather parts on the belly like a Lizard but they want stones and have such manner of places for copulation as fishes have their place of conception being long and cloven All their bowels by reason of the length and narrowness of their bodies are also long and narrow and hard to be discerned because of the dissimilitude of their figures and shapes Their artery is long and their throat longer then that the ground or root of the artery is near the mouth so as a man would judge it to be under the tongue so as it seemeth to hang out above the tongue especially when the tongue is contracted and drawn backward The head long like a Fishes and flat never much bigger then the body except in monstrous and great shaped Serpents as the Boas Yea Aristotle maketh mention of a Serpent that had two heads and Arnoldus of a Serpent in the Pireney Mountains slain by a souldier that had three heads in whose belly were found two sons of the said souldier devoured by him and the back-bone thereof was as great as a mans skull or a Rams head And such an one we read in our English story was found in England in the year 1349. And the 23 year of Edward the third there was a Serpent found in Oxfordshiâ—e near Chippingnorton that had two heads and faces like women one being shaped after the new attire of that time and another after the manner of the old attire and it had great wings after the manner of a Bat. The tongue of a Serpent is peculiar for besides the length and narrowness thereof it is also cloven at the tip being divided as it were with very little or small nails points It is also thin long and black of colour voluble neither is there any beast that moveth the tongue so speedily wherefore some have thought that a Serpent hath three tongues but in vain as Isidorus sheweth for they deceive by the nimbleness thereof Their ventricle is large like their maw and like unto a Dogs also thin and uniform at the end The heart is very small and cleaveth to the end of their artery but yet it is long and sheweth like the reins of a Man wherefore sometimes it may be seen to be 〈…〉 the tip or lap thereof to the breast-ward After this followeth the lights but far separate from 〈◊〉 being simple full of fibres and open holes like pipes and very long The liver long and simple the milt small and round as in Lizards The gall is for the most part as in fishes but in Water-snakes it is joyned to the Liver in other Serpents to the stomach or maw All their teeth stand out of their mouth and they have thirty ribs even as there were among the Hebrews and Egyptians thirty days to every moneth Aristotle saith that as their eyes be small so also they have the same good hap that befalleth young Swallows for if by chance they scratch or rend out their eyes then it is faid they have other grow up naturally in their places In like manner their tails being cut off grow again And generally Serpents have their heart in the throat the gall in the belly or stomach and their stones near their tail Their egges are long and soft and in their teeth they cary poyson of defence and and annoyance for which cause they desire above all other things to save their heads Their sight is but dull and dim and they can hardly look at one side or backward because their eyes are placed in their temples and not in their fore-head and therefore they hear better then they see They have eye-lids for generally no creatures have eye-lids except those which have hair in the other parts of their bodies four-footed beasts in the upper cheek fowls in the neather or Lizards which have egs or Serpents which have soft backs They have also certain passages of breathing in their nostrils but yet they are not so plain that they can be termed nostrils but breathing places Their ears are like to finny Fishes namely small passages or hollow places in the backer parts of their head by which they hear Their teeth are like Sawes or the teeth of Combes joyned one within the other that so they might not be worn out by grinding or grating together and yet they bend inward to the end that they may the better hold their meat in their mouths being without all other externall help for that purpose for even those Serpents which have feet yet can they not apply them to their chaps In the upper chap they have two longer then all the residue on either side one bored thorough with a little hole like the sting of a Scorpion by which they utter their poyson Yet there be some good Authors that affirm that this poyson is nothing else but their gall which is forced to the mouth by certain veins under the ridge or back-bone Some again say that they have but one long tooth and that a crooked one which turneth upward by often biting which sometime falleth off and then groweth again of which kinde those are which men carry up and down tame in their bosoms Although they be great raveners yet is their throat but long and narrow for help whereof when they have gotten a booty they erect themselves upon their tails and swallow down their meat the more
fury of storms and showers The place and Countrey where they are helpeth much and is very available to their generation There is no Countrey almost but there are many Spiders in it For in the Countrey about Arrha which is in Arabia foelix there is an infinite number of them to be found and all the Island of Candie swarmeth with Phalangies Strabo saith that in Ethiopia there be a great number of Phalangies found of an exceeding bignesse although as Pliny saith in his eight Book and 58 chapter there are neither Wolfs Foxes Bears nor no hurtful creature in it and yet we all know that in the Isle of Wight a member of England the contrary is to be found for although there were never dwelling in it Foxes Bears nor Wolfs yet there be Spiders enow The Kingdom of Ireland never saw Spiders and in England no Phalangies will live long nor yet in the Isle of Mon and neer unto the City of Grenoble in that part of France which lyeth next Italy Gaudentius Merula saith there is an old Tower or Gastle standing wherein as yet never any Spider hath been seen nor yet any other venomous creeping creature but rather if any be brought thither from some other place they forthwith die Our Spiders in England are not so venomous as in other parts of the world and I have seen a mad man eat many of them without either death or deaths harm or any other manifest accident or alteration to ensue And although I will not deny but that many of our Spiders being swallowed down may do much hurt yet notwithstanding we cannot chuse but confesse that their biting is poysonlesse as being without venom procuring not the least touch of hurt at all to any one whatsoever and on the contrary the biting of a Phalangie is deadly We see the harmlesse Spiders almost in every place they climb up into the Courts of mighty Kings to be as it were myrrors and glasses of vertue and to teach them honest prowesse and valiancy They go into the lodgings shops and Ware-houses of poor men to commend unto them contentment patience labour tolerance industry poverty and frugality They are also to be found in rich mens chambers to admonish them of their duties If you enter into your Orchard they are busie in clothing every Tree if into the Garden you shall finde them amongst Roses if you travail into the field you shall have them at their work in hedges both at home and abroad whithersoever you bend your course you cannot chuse but meet with them lest perhaps you might imagine or else complain and finde some faults that the Schoolmistresse and perfect president of all vertue and diligence were in any place absent Who would not therefore be touched yea and possessed with an extream wonder at these vertues and faculties which we daily see and behold with our eyes Philes hath briefly and compendiously described their nature properties inclinations wit and invention in his Greek verses which being turned into Latine sound to this effect Araneis natura per quam industria est Vincens puellarum manus argutias Nam ventris humores supervaoaneos Ceu fila nent textoris absque pectine Et implicantes orbium volumina Adversa sublegunt iis subtegmina Sed liciis hinc densioribus plagas In aëre appendunt nec unde conspicor Sejuncta cùm sit omnis a medio basis Quae fulciat mirabilem operis fabricam Et staminum fallit ligamen lumina Subtilitatis sub dio discrimine Firmatur autem densitas subtegminis Raras in ambientis oras aëris Muscis culicibus id genus volantibus Intensa nectens fraudulenter retia Quod incidit jejuna pascit hoc famem Vitamque degit haud quietis indigam Suspensa centro cassibusque providens Ne fila rumpat orbiumque dissuat Nexus retortos flaminis vis irruens Which may be Englished thus Industrious nature Spiders have Excelling Virgins hands of skill Superfluous humors of bellies save And into webs they weave them still And that without all Weavers combes Their folding orbes inrolled are And underneath their woofs as tombes Are spread the worthy work to bear And hang their threads in air above By plagues unseen to the eye of man Without foundation you may prove All their buildings firmly stand Nor yet clear light to the eyes most bright Can see the coupling of their thread The thinnesse of the woof in sight On pins of air are surest spread On Gnats and silly winged Flies Which guilefully in nets they take They feed their fill when they espy And yet their life much rest doth make They labour too and do provide Gainst windes and things that break their twails That bands from tacklings may not slide When greater strength doth them assail And although Minerva hath nick-named the Spider calling her malepert shamelesse and sawcie Martiall wandring straying and gadding Claudianus rash presumptuous and adventurous Politianus hanging and thick Juvenal dry Propertius rotten Virgil light and Plautus unprofitable and good for nothing yet it is clear that they were made to serve and stead us to many excellent uses so that you may plainly gather and perceive that this is rather an amplification then any positive or measured truth concerning the fond Epithets vile badges and liveries which these rehearsed Authors have unworthily bestowed on them as by that which followeth may plainly be seen The Spider put into a linnen clowt and hung upon the left arm is an excellent medicine to expel a Quotidian Ague as Trallianus saith and yet it will be more effectual if many Spiders be boyled with Oyl of Bay to the consistence of a liniment to anoynt the wrists and the temples a little before the fit for by this means the Feaver will be absolutely cured or will seldom return again Kiranides A Spider tempered and wrought up with Milt-wast or Ceterach and so spred upon a cloth to be applyed to the temples cureth the fits of a Tertian Feaver Dioscorides The Spider that is called a Wolf being put into a quill and so hanged about the neck performeth the same effect as Pliny reporteth The domestical Spider which spinneth and weaveth a thin a white or a thick web being inclosed in a piece of leather or a Nut-shel and so hanged about the neck or worn about the arm driveth away the fits of a Quartain Feaver as both Dioscorides and Fernelus have thought For the pain in the ears Take three live Spiders boyl them with Oyl upon the fire then distil or drop a little of this Oyl into the pained ear for it is very excellent as witnesseth Marcellus Empiricus Pliny steepeth them in Vinegar and Oyl of Roses and so to be stamped together and a little thereof to be dropped into the pained ear with a little Saffron and without doubt saith he the pain will be mitigated and the same affirmeth Dioscorides Or else strain out the juyce of Spiders mixing it with the juyce of
King or Master-Bee As also others do besmear or dawb the vent holes out of which they come with the dung of a calf newly calved Moreover if you strew their passages with the leaves of the Olive-tree boyled they will not depart also Wine sod with water is very good but above all the juyce of the herb Balm wherewith as it were with a kinde of philtre or love-potion they are most powerfully retained as the Poet Macer sings Smear but their Hives with Balm and they 'l abide And much the rather if that milk beside Be us'd to keep them that they wander not Pliny saith if some of the dust over which the serpent hath gone be cast upon the Bees they will return to their Hives Others yet advise to sow Goldilocks near where they are as if they delighted most in that flower above all others and would never forsake those places where these flowers abound And Authors report that the wilde Bee is allured and tamed therewith The bodies of Bees likewise are subject to divers diseases viz. repletion inanition drowth moistnesse cold and unnatural heat Repletion or abounding of humours is caused when the Bee-master neglects to gather the Honey in good time for then they do so fill and gorge themselves till being grown over with scab and scurf and swoln in their throats they become sickly there follows upon these sluggishnesse feavers longings loathing of their food watching or wakefulnesse with which the miserable poor outworn Bees unlesse they have some timely remedy do die wherefore of necessity they must have their Honey gathered from them In doing of which two things are to be observed viz. the time when and the quantity how much the which according to the quality and custom of Countreys are divers For in England they gather the Honey every year viz either in the latter end of July or in the beginning of August In hotter Countreys they observe three times in the year to gather in this Honey harvest viz. at the rising of the Pleiades when their are at they Zenith or Vertical point and presently after their setting Didymus in his Geoponicks writes that this time of the Pleiades is the best The Romans did use to unbowel their Hives the first time in the moneth of May and then again when Summer was almost done and thirdly about the Ides of October From whence it was called Spring Honey Summer Honey Autumnal Honey or Honey gathered in Autumn Aristotle adviseth the first taking Honey to be when the wilde Fig-tree begins to be green the second he commends to be done about Autumn Generally it is very necessary that the Honey should be taken when the Hives do over abound with Honey the which is certainly understood by the shrill or squeaking noise that the Bees make For if they be empty they give out a more clear and loud sound as being more full of air then meat but most certainly it is known by looking in at those doors placed on both sides of the Hive being open saith Columella of which we have made mention before in the building or structure of the Hives The manner of taking them is thus Betimes in the morning while they are half asleep and drowsie is the time when the work is to be affected and their Combs taken away it being not convenient to exasperate them in the heat of the day Columella prescribes for this use two Iron instruments of a foot and an half long and somewhat longer the one must be a long knife with a broad edge on both sides but dull with a crooked head and sharp teeth to take out the Combs withall the other plain with two sharp edges to cut down the Combs With these the vessel being opened the businesse will very well be effected In England as also in other Countreys viz. in Helvetia Germany and the Low Countreys they do not set upon them with these Iron instruments but with fire and smoak and water with which they chase the elder Bees from Hive to Hive and keep the Swarm entire at their pleasure Moreover in taking away the Combs there ought a mean to be observed according to the greatnesse of the Swarm and number of Bees For with overmuch plenty of Honey they grow â—ole and both defraud their Masters and themselves for when the abound with Honey they feed not on Bee-bread but glut themselves with the very purest of the Honey on the other side if there be not enough Honey left them to feed on languishing for want of sustenance they grow heartlesse and live carelesly and becoming so thin that you may see through them being starved and feeble they miserably perish Moreover the old and rotten Combs ought to be taken away but not those wherein posterity is concerned and those which are whole and which contain the young spawn or fry of the Bees unlesse you see that there is not so much Honey left as may serve for the sustentation of the Parents or elder Bees Keep such a proportion that in the abundance of Honey you take two parts and leave a third if there be but indifferent store take the half if the Combs be in a manner empty take nothing at all out of them But this proportion is not be observed in all places because in regard of multitude of flowers store of pasture and goodnesse of it together with the condition of the Countrey you may take away more or lesse as you shall see cause For in Aethiopia Syria and Palestine they commonly take all the Honey out of Hives which by reason of the fatnesse of the pasture and continual dews are filled again in very few daies But if there chance to be famine and scarcity you must not only drein the Hives but take away part of the Bees also and choke the greater part of them with the smoke of Tow Reed Turpentine or Brimstone or Galbanum or else drown them in water by which means the honey will become sweeter and purer Famine is caused especially two manner of waies either by scarcity of provision or the badnesse of it by reason of corruption when there is great want you should supply them with Honey sprinkle them with a liquor made of wine and honey boyled together give grapes or figs bruised or pounded together and sugar-sops Pliny would have Hens flesh given to them although he saith that Bees will not touch any flesh whatsoever Now the corruption and unsoundnesse of this meat doth procure first of all longings scowrings barrennesse and consumptions from whence and by the stench of dung and dead corpses ill savours plague and putrefaction with other dysasters do arise In their longing desire of what they fancy they grow so nice and peevish that disliking all things they are ready to fly away unlesse with the perfume or vapour of things of a very pleasant and grateful odour with exquisite playing upon the brasse pan and exceeding neat handling of them they be retained Also they are
for that our Vintners know of no other bred in their cask But Scaligers Ephemerus I should rather have reckoned amongst the Flies called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had not he himself referred it to this Classis I shall not think it much also to speak of Pennius his Triemerus or a Fly living three daies for the likenesse of the one with the other that so the mindes of the studious may be filled with variety and rarity It is of body very long and somewhat like a Butterfly the head little and yellowish the eyes great black standing out of the head the promuscis or beak winding in of the colour of yellow mulleins with which it sucketh dew from the flowers two black cornicles fastened a little above the eyes the back and belly blewish the end of the tail dunnish it hath only four legs the hindermost whereof are yellowish the edges of the foremost black it hath as many wings as feet the outermost whereof are pale wan the utmost borders of them being of a dark yellow the innermost of a brightish yellow The outer wings when they are closed together for to cover the body they are so contiguous that you can hardly yea very hardly perceive where they touch it flies heavily and continues but a while in flight within three daies it expires it lives amongst Mallowes and Nettles this was found at Peterborough in England in the year 82. witnessed by very honest men and without exception Thus Pennius In flowers or rather the buds of the flower called white Bets there is a kinde of Fly that eats the flowers very small I know not whether bred there or coming thither from some other place It seems they abide there for warmth sake and feeding Pennius saith he was informed of this by his most learned friend Dr. Brown I thought good to place the Fly Bibio in this number because it is nourished by Wine i. e. the clear juice of the grape of which also it is bred In the Illyrian Tongue called Vinis robale by the Germans Wein Worme in the English Wine Fly Cardanus cals it Muscilio Scaliger not amisse Volucessam and Vinulam for it flies into cellars often cares for nothing but wine If you take it and look upon it you would think it had no snout or beak at all and yet it is reported that they will strike through a Cask made of inch board insomuch that the wine sometime runneth all out It may be Grapaldus meaneth these when he writeth thus The Muscillae Musculae Musciones Flies bred in Autumn in the mother of Wine and soiling the Wine-cups do not live so long and that deservedly as to come upon the table in the winter In the West Countrey in a Town called Tanton in the fruit of an Apple tree called Velin in the Summer being rotten to the Core there is found a glistering fly of a green colour which when the Apple is cut in twain flies out and seemeth to be bred there of some kinde of worm that is in it The wounds made by any of these Flies must be anointed with bitter Almonds bruised or Walnuts when ulcers are made it is fit to pour on liquid Pitch boyled with Hogs-grease Those things that kill and drive away the Tyke-flies called Ricini for the most part kill and drive away the Dog-flies Columella The Fly also by his boldnesse and saucinesse hath taught men how to provide remedies against them for whereas both at home and abroad every where they were so troublesome that nothing could be so safely kept by the Cook but presently they would be at it and spoil it yea all kinde of meats whatsoever they now use to strew or stick up in their houses or boyl and mingle with such kinde of things as Flies love Nigella seed Elder Lawrel Coriander Hellebore Buglosse Borage Sage Beets Loose-strife Origanum Basil royal Henbane Licebane Balm a shrub having a flower like a Rose Pepper Ferula Cockle Libbards-bane some give them Orpiment powdered with Milk or sweet Wine and sprinkle it about Rhasis writeth that Crocodile Broth chaseth away Flies who also commends the perfume of yellow Arsenick with Olibanum perfume of Vitriol writing Ink tempered with water wherein Wormwood hath been washed keeps the flies from the letters Plin. The seed of Henbane black Ellebore and the Froth 〈◊〉 Quicksilver with Barly flower beaten and kneaded and made into little morsels with Butter 〈◊〉 Grease and smeared with a little honey and so cast to the flies kils them Aetius The gall of a 〈…〉 are mingled with milk or boyled in water and sprinkled about the house will chase away all the flies Anonymus Flies are destroyed with the smell of Wine distilled with the herb Balm 〈◊〉 If you would gather flies together into one place cast Rhododaphne well bruised into a ditch the juice of the herb Ferula sprinkled worketh the same effect Aetius Bury the tail of a Wolf in the house and the flies will not come into it Rhasis Avicen Albertus Boors grease and Rosin melted entangles them Oyl choaks them Verdigrease kils them outright If you anoint any thing with Casia beaten in oyl it will be safe from flies There is found in my Countrey saith Petrus Cressentius a kinde of Toadstool or Mushrome broad and thick reddish about the top which sendeth forth certain knobs or little bunches some broken some whole it is called the Flies Mushrome because when it is made into a pultess with milk it destroyeth the flies If a man hold in his â—and the stone Heraclites or the touchstone although he were dawbed all over with honey yet will not the flies come at him by this means you may know whether the touch-stone he true or no. Aetius They write that the K. of Cambayes son was brought up by poyson who when he came to years was all over so venomous that flies at once sucking were swoln to death Scaliger If the fly get into one eye you may shut the other hard and it helpeth Aphrodisaeus in Problem If Camels chance to be stung by the Tabanus or Asilus a kinde of Fly so called as it often cometh to passe in Arabia anoint them with Whales grease and all sorts of fish and they will presently be gone Plia Solion in Geoponicis biddeth to sprinkle cattel with the decoction of Bay-berries and both these flies through a kinde of natural antipathy depart forthwith If cattel be already stung with the Asilus Fly anoint them with Ceruse and water The Tabani will die saith Ponzettus when you set before them Oyl of the decoction of land Crocodiles called Scinci bruised with Hogs seam the flour of soot Moreover let cattel be led to pasture in the evening the stars guiding them in the day time let them be kept in folds with boughs laid under them that they may lye the more easily and quietly Virgil. Or else let them be brought to the sides of thick woods where these slies by