Selected quad for the lemma: hand_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
hand_n	left_a	right_a	string_n	8,078	5	13.9494	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

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

they set them vppon the neck neere the head and pulling foorth the pinne the serpent is ineuitably taken and by them loosed into a prepared vessell in which they keepe her and giue her meate It is reported that if a Serpent bee strooken with a Reede she standeth still at the first blow as if she were astonished and so gathereth herselfe together but if she be so strooken the second or third time as one deliuered from her astonishment and feare she recollecteth her wits and strength and slydeth away The like obseruation vnto this is that of the Auncients that a serpent cannot be drawne out of her denne by the right hand but by the left for they say if one lay hold on her taile by the right hand she will either slide farther into the earth from him or else suffer herselfe to be pulled in peeces neuer turning againe and therefore saith mine Authour Non cedit trahenti sed elabitur fugiens aut certe abrumpitur she yeeldeth not to him that draweth her but slideth away flying from him or els suffereth herselfe to bee pulled in peeces in the combat The sundry Hieroglyphicks statues figures Images and other morrall obseruations about Serpents are next heere to be expressed which the Auncients in their Temples Shieldes Banners Theatres and publique places had erected for their honours and dignitie And first of all in the Temple of Delphos neere the Oracle there was placed the Serpent which prouoked Apollo to fight with him wherein it was by him slaine And the Hermopolitans did reserue the Image of Typhon in a Sea-horse wherevppon sat fighting a Hawke and a Serpent by the Sea-horse they signified the Monster Typhon by the other beasts as namely the Hawke and the Serpent how by his principalitie and gouernment which he had gotten by violence he troubled both himselfe and others Hercules had in his shield certaine Serpents heads pictured with these verses Bis sena hic videas stridentibus effer a flammis Coll● venenato vultu maculosa draconum Tum magis offenso spirantia gutture virus Quam magis Alcides offuso sanguine pugnat Which may be englished thus Of Dragons heads twise sixe heere maist thou see Raging amongst the flames with poysond spotted face Casting most venom forth when they enraged be As when Alcides saw his blood distill apace And so Virgill saith of Auentinus Clypeoque insigne parentum Centum angues cinctamque gerit serpentibus Hydram That is to say His shield an hundred snakes his Fathers crest An Hydra in their compasse is entest Oscus which raigned among the Tyrrhenians gaue in his Standard Coate of Armes a Serpent Now the people Osci from whom it may be he was sprung and deriued liued in Campania in Italie as we haue shewed alreadie In auncient time we read that when hostilitie began to be compounded they had Herolds and Embassadors of peace which they called Caduceatores which carried vpright a certaine Rodde or staffe called Caduceus this Rod was very straight at the either side were artificially ioyned two serpents figures winding and crooking into each other as the manner of Serpents is This Rodde was so sacred that it was a great offence to violate or offer any iniury vnto it for by the straight Rod was signified Perfect Vpright reason or vnderstanding by the two crooked serpents at eyther side thereof was figured the two Armies inuading and assailing the same Vpright-vnderstanding yet not preuailing For this passed thorough and betwixt them without harme by truce and entreaties of Peace This Rod was therfore consecrated to Mercury the tailes of the Serpents reaching downe to the handle or halfe of the Rod where they were adorned with vvings Alciatus made these Emblematicall verses vpon the Caduceus Anguibus implicitis geminus Caduceus abis Inter Amaltheae cornua rectus adest Pollentes sic mente viros fandique peritos Iudicat vt rarum copiae multa beet In English thus Twixt Ceres hornes the Rod of Peace doth stand Vpright with winding snakes and double-winged tayles To shew that minds and tongues with Learnings brand Are blest with plenty in all worldly vayles But hauing thus entred into the Hieroglyphicall Emblems if I should say so much as I find made ready and squared for the architecture of this discourse I might loose my selfe in a volumnious world of matter therefore I will but giue the Reader a tast hereof By the Serpent in Holy-writ are many obseruatiue significations and first that the deuill himselfe which is Malus deus mali mundi an euill God of an euill world should be termed and expressed by a Serpent The cause saith Pierius is linguae motatio the continuall and neuer ceasing motion of a Serpents tongue and so the continuall and euer-working perswasions of diabolicall tentations and a true mixture and limbe of this old Serpent speaketh otherwise with his tongue then he thinketh with his hart Therefore it is also said that a naturall serpent hath a clouen or twisted tongue Clemens saith truly that Serpents doe also signifie men giuen ouer to sinnes and fraudulent impostors or malices Onos hybristes ho akotastos bukos agrios ho pleonecticos kai ophis ho apatroon that is An insolent an intemperate Asse There is a raging wolfe which is couetous and there is a serpent which is an impostour and fraudulent The same learned man saith that riches are like to a serpent For as when an ignorant man thinketh to take a Serpent without harme by the tayle shee turneth backe againe and biteth him but if he take her by the necke she cannot execute any part of her malice euen so when a wise man hath the managing of riches by vertue of his discretion hee so charmeth them that there is not in them any harme at all but the foolish man is mortally stung by his imprudent possession and dispensation of them OF THE ADDER IT falleth out in the particular Discourse of Serpents that I expresse the most knowne Serpent to vs in England in the first place according to Alphabeticall order that is the Adder For although I am not ignorant that there be which write it Nad●re of Natrix which signifieth a Water-snake yet I cannot consent vnto them so readily as to depart from the more vulgar receaued word of a whole Nation because of some likelyhood in the deriuation from the Latine For whereas Naders may seeme not improperly to be deriued of Natrix and Natrix of Natando that is swimming in the water the first coniecturall deriuation is destroyed by the latter because this Serpent whereof wee now entreat haunteth not the waters except for drinke in her time of thirst and therefore I mislike the writing of Nadere for Adder rather take that word to signifie a land snake And yet if there be any good argument of deriuation of English from Latine I would not haue the Reader thinke but that the Adder may as well be deriued

thought if it be mixed with some sweet composition that it hath power to cure a quotidian Ague If the toong of Chamaelion be hung ouer an obliuious and forgetfull person it is thought to haue power to restore his memory The Chamaelion from the head to the tayle hath but one Nerue which beeing taken out and hung about the necke of him that holdeth his head awry or backeward it cureth him The other parts haue the same operation as the parts of the Hyaena the Sea-calfe If a Chamaelion be sod in an earthen pot and consumed till the waterbe as thicke as oile then after such seething take the bones out and put them in a place where the Sunne neuer commeth then if you see a man in the fit of the falling sicknesse turne him vppon his belly and annoynt his backe from the Os sacrum to the ridge bone and it will presently deliuer him from the fit but after seuen times vsing it will perfectly cure him The Oyle thus made must be kept in a Boxe This medicine following is a present remedy agaynst the gowt Take the head and feet of a Chamaeleon cut offalso the outward partes of the knees and feete and then keepe by themselues those parts that is to say the partes of the right legge by themselues and the partes of the left Legge by themselues then touch the Nayle of the Chamaeleon with your Thumbe and right finger of your hand dipping the tips of your fingers of the right hand in the bloud of the right foote of the beast and so likewise the fingers of the left hand in the bloud of the left foote then include those parts in two little Pipes and so let the sicke person carry the right partes in the right hand and the left parts in the left hand vntill he be cured and this must bee remembred that hee must touch euery morning about the Sun rising the said Chamaeleon yet liuing and lapped in a Linnen cloth with those parts that are oppressed with the Gout The like superstitious and magicall deuises are these that follow as they are recorded by Pliny and Democritus The head and thraot being set on fire with wood of Oake they beleeue to be good against Thunder and raine and so also the Liuer burned on a Tyle If the right eye be taken out of it aliue and applyed to the whitenes of the eyes in Goats Milke it is thought to cure the same The tongue bound to a woman with child preserueth her from danger in child-byrth if the same tongue be taken from the beast aliue it is thought it foresheweth the euent of iudgement The heart wrapped in blacke Wooll of the first shearing by wearing it cureth a quartane Ague the right claw of the forefeet bound to the left arme with the skinne of his cheekes is good against robberies and terrours of the night and the right pap against all feares If the left foote be scorched in a furnace with the Herb Chamaeleon and afterward putting a litle ointment to it made into little Pasties so being carryed about in a wooden boxe it maketh the party to go invisible The right shoulder maketh a man to preuaile against his aduersaries if they doe but tread vpon the Nerues cast down vpō the earth But the left shoulder they consecrate the same to monsterous dreames as if that thereby a man might dreame what hee would in his owne person and effect the like in others With the right foote are all paulsies resolued and with the left foote all Lethargies the Wine wherein one side of a Chamaeleon hath beene steeped sprinkled vppon the head cureth the ach thereof If Swines Grease be mingled with the powder of the left foote or Thigh and a mans foote be annoynted therewith it bringeth the gout by putting the Gall into fire they driue away Serpentes and into Water they draw together Weasels it pulleth off hayre from the body so also doth the Liuer with the Lightes of of a Toade likewise the Liuer dissolueth amorous inchantments Melancholy men are cured by drinking the iuyce of a Chamaeleon out of a Chamaeleons skin They also say that the Intrals and dung of this beast washed in the vrine of an Ape and hung vp at our enemies gates causeth reconciliation With the taile they bring Serpentes asleepe and stay the flowing of the flouds and Waters the same mingled with Ceder and Myrrhe bound to two rods of Palme and strucke vpon water causeth all thinges that are contained in the same water to appeare but I would to GOD that such Magitians were well beaten with Róddes of stronger wood vntill they forsooke these magicall fooleries And thus much for the story of the Chamaeleon OF THE COCKATRICE THis Beast is called by the Graecians Baziliscos and by the Latine Regulus because he seemeth to be the King of serpents not for his magnitude or greatnesse For there are many Serpents bigger then he as there be many Foure-footed-beastes bigger then the Lyon but because of his stately pace and magnanimious mind for hee creepeth not on the earth like other Serpents but goeth halfe vpright for which occasion all other Serpentes auoyde his sight And it seemeth nature hath ordained him for that purpose for beside the strength of his poyson which is vncurable he hath a certaine combe or Corronet vppon his head as shall be shewed in due place It is also cald Sibilus as we read in Isidorus Sibilus enim occidit antequam mordeat vel exurat The Cockatrice killeth before it burneth The Hebrewes call it Pethen and Curman also Zaphna and Zaphnaini The Chalde Armene Harmene and also Carmene The Aegyptians Vreus the Germans Ein Ertz Schlengle the French Vn Basilic The Spaniards and Italians Basilisco There is some question amongest Writers about the generation of this Serpent for some and those very many and learned affirme him to be brought forth of a Cockes egge For they say that when a Cock groweth old he layeth a certaine egge without any shell in stead whereof it is couered with a very thicke skinne which is able to withstand the greatest force of an easie blow or fall They say moreouer that this Egge is layd onely in the Summer-time about the beginning of Dogge-dayes being not long as a Hens Egge but round and orbiculer Sometimes of a dusty sometimes of a Boxie sometimes of a yellowish muddy colour which Egge is generated of the putrified seed of the Cocke and afterward set vpon by a Snake or a Toad bringeth forth the Cockatrice being halfe a foot in length the hinder part like a Snake the former partlike a Cooke because of a treble combe on his forehead But the vulger opinion of Europe is that the Egge is nourished by a Toad and not by a Snake howbeit in better experience it is found that the Cocke doth sit on that egge himselfe whereof Leuinus Lemnius in his twelth booke of the hidden miracles of nature hath this

innuptae est Paladis eius Hic Draco qui domina constitie ante pedes Cur Diuae comes hoc animal custodia rerum Huic data sic lucos sacraque templa colit Innuptas opus est cura asseruare puellas Pervigili laqueos vndique tendit amor Which may be englished thus This Dragon great which Lady Pallas stands before Is the true picture of vnmarried maydes But why a consort to the Goddesse is this and more Then other beasts more meeke who neuer fades Because the safegard of all things belongs to this Wherefore his house in Groues and sacred Temples set Vnmarried maides of guardes must neuer misse Which watchfull are to voyde loues snares and nette For this cause the Egyptians did picture Serapis their God with three heads that is to 〈◊〉 of a Lyon in the middle on the right hand a meeke fauning dogge and on the left hand a rauening Wolfe all which formes are ioyned together by the winding bodie of a Dragon turning his head to the right hand of his God which three heads are interpreted to signifie three times that is to say by the Lyon the present time by the Wolfe the time past and by the fauning dogge the time to come all which are garded by the vigilancie of the Dragon For this cause also among the fixed starres of the North there is one called Draco a dragon all of them ending their course with the Sunne and Moone and they are in this Spheare called by Astronomers the Intersections of the Circles the superiour of these ascending is called the head of the Dragon and the inferiour descending is called the tayle of the Dragon And some thinke that GOD in the 38. of Io● by the word Gnaish meaneth this signe or Constellation To conclude the auncient Romans as Vegetius writeth carried in all their bands the Escutchion of a Dragon to signifie their fortitude and vigilancie which were borne vp by certaine men called for that purpose Draconarij And therefore when Constantius the Emperour entered into the City of Rome his Souldiers are said to beare vppe vppon the toppes of their speares dragons gaping with wide mouthes and made fast with golden chaines and pearle the wind whistling in their throates as if they had beene aliue threatning destruction and theyr tayles hanging loose in the ayre were likewise by the vvinde tossed to and fro as though they stroue to come off from the speares but when the wind was layd all theyr motion was ended where-vpon the Poet saith Mansuescunt varij vento cessante Dracones In English thus When whistling winde in ayer ceast The Dragons tamed then did rest The tale also of the Golden-fleece if it be worth any place in this storie deserueth to be inserted heere as it is reported by Diodorus Siculns When Actës raigned in Pontus he receiued an aunswere from the Oracle that hee should then dye when strangers should come thether with shippes and fetch away the Gol-den-fleece Vpon which occasion hee shewed himselfe to be of a cruell nature for he did not onely make Proclamation that he would sacrifice all strangers which came within his dominions but did also performe the same that by the fame and report of such crueltie he might terrifie all other Nations frō hauing accesse vnto that Temple Not contented heere-with hee raised a great strong vvall round about the Temple wherein the Fleece was kept and caused a sure watch or guarde to attend the same day night of whom the Graetians tell many strange fables For they say there were Bulls breathing out fire and a Dragon warding the Temple and defending the Fleece but the truth is that these watchmen because of their strength were called Bulls because of their cruelty were said to breathe out fire and because of their vigilancie crueltie strength and terrour to be dragons Some affirme againe that in the Gardens of Hesperides in Libia there were golden Apples which were kept by a terrible Dragon which dragon was afterward slaine by Hercules and the Apples taken away by him so brought to Euryshteus Others affirme that Hesperides had certaine flocks of sheepe the colour of whose woll was like gold and they were kept by a valiant Sheepheard called Draco but I rather agree with Solinus who giueth a more true reason of this fable Nefamae licentia vulneretur fides least as he saith fayth and truth should receiue a disgrace or wound by the lauish report of fame There was among the Hesperides a certaine winding Riuer comming from the sea and including within it the compasse of that land which is called the Gardens of Hesperides at one place whereof the falling of the water broken by a Rocke seemeth to be like the falling downe of Snakes to them that stand a farre off and from hence ariseth all the occasion of the fable afore-said Indeed there was a statue of Hercules in the left hand wherof were three Apples which he was said to haue obtained by the conquest of a dragon but that conquest of the dragon did morrally signifie his owne concupiscence whereby hee raigned ouer three passions that is to say ouer his wrath by patience ouer his cupiditie by temperance and ouer his pleasures by labour trauaile which were three vertues farre more precious then three golden Apples But I will stay my course from prosecuting these morrall discourses of the dragon and returne againe to his naturall history from which I haue somewhat too long digressed There are diuers sorts of Dragons distinguished partly by their Countries partlie by their quantitie and magnitude and partly by the different forme of their externall partes There be Serpents in Arabia called Sirenae which haue winges beeing as swift as horses running or flying at their owne pleasure and when they wound a man hee dyeth before he feeleth paine Of these it is thought the Prophet Esay speaketh chap. 13. ver 22. Serpens clamabit in Templis voluptarijs and for Serpents the old Translators read Syrenae so the English should be the Syrene dragons should cry in their Temples of pleasure and the auncient distinction was Anguis aquarum Serpentes terrarū Dracones Templorū that is to say Snakes are of the water Serpents of the earth Dragons of the Temples And I thinke it was a iust iudgement of God that the auncient Temples of the Heathen-Idolaters were annoyed with dragons that as the deuill was there worshipped so there might be appearance of his person in the vglie forme and nature of a dragon For God himselfe in holy Scripture doth compare the deuill vnto a dragon as Reue 12. ver 3. And there appeared another wonder in Heauen for behold a great Redde-dragon hauing 7. heads and tenne hornes and seauen crownes vpon his head verse 4. And his tayle drewe the third part of the starres of heauen and cast them to the earth and the dragon stoode before the Woman which was ready to be deliuered to deuoure her child when shee had brought

cupping-glasse can be prouided then it is best that the patient doe suppe of mutton veale or goose broth and to prouoke vomiting Yet they that will more effectually and speedily giue help vse to kill a Goate and taking out the entralls with the warme dung therein found forth-with bind it vnto the place The learned Phisition Matthiolus in his comment vppon Dioscorides saith that to auoyd the danger that commeth by sucking out the venom men now a-dayes vse to apply the fundament of some Cocke or Henne or other Birds after the feathers are puld off to the wounded place and the first dying to apply another in the same order and so another and another vntill the whole venomous matter be cleane driuen away whereof one may be certainely assured if the last henne or byrd so applyed doe not die Auicen the Arabian saith that the Phisitians of Egypt in which Country there bee infinite store of venomous beasts doe hasten to burne the part with fire as the safest and surest remedy when any one is this way endangered For fire not onely expelleth poysons but many other grieuances But the way how they vsed to burne with fire was diuers in these cases For some-times they vsed to seare the place with a hot yron and other-whiles with a corde or match beeing fired and sometimes scalding oyle and many other deuises they had with burning medicaments to finish this cure as saith Hieron Mercurialis in his first Booke D● Morb. Venenatis writeth and Iohn Tagault Institut Chirurg lib. 2. saith that the wound must first be seared with a hot yrou if the place can endure it or els some caustick and vehement corroding medicine must be vsed for all such wounds are for the most part deadlie and doe bring present death if speedy remedie be not giuen and therefore according to Hyppocrates counsell to extreame griefes extreame remedies must be applyed so that sometimes the safest way is to take or cut off that member which hath either been bitten or wounded Neither am I ignorant saith Dioscorides what the Egyptians doe in these cases For whē they reape their Co●e in Haruest-time they haue ready at hand prepared a pot with pitch in it and a string or band hanging at it for at that time of the yeere they are most afraid of Serpents which then chiefely doe hide themselues in darke holes and caues of the earth and vnder thick clots turffes for Egypt aboundeth with such venomous poysonfull creatures When as therefore they haue wounded either the foote or any other part they that are present doe put the string into the pot of pitch and binding the place they fall to cutting it with some instrument rounde in compasse as the string is tyed after this is done they powre in of the pitch a sufficient quantitie then vntying and loosing the band they lastly annoynt it with Garlick and Onions A certaine Countriman beeing bytten of a Serpent perceiued by and by his foote to swell and by little little the force of the poyson to swell vp higher neerer to the hart the Castle of life who beeing taught instructed of an old woman to burie his foote vnder the earth and to 〈◊〉 henne into two parts to apply to the wound and to the hen she wished him to lay aliue frogge who continually sucking the blood from the hennes flesh might by this meanes at length attract and draw all the poyson into it selfe So when hee had held his foote a whole night couered and buried vnder the earth finding no abatement but rather an increase of his tormenting paine at length by the aduise and direction of a certaine Noble Matron he dranke a good draught of Theriaca Hony tempred in Ale and so after a few houres fell on a great continuall vomiting by which meanes he was perfectly freed from the paines of the vpper parts of his body his feete notwithstanding continuing in their former swelling which was also taken cleane away onely by drinking the milke of a black Goate so much in quantity at a time as one egge-shell would containe his foote in the meane space beeing held or plunged in a sufficient quantitie of the same milke From which there issued and ranne a foule stinking glutinous snivelly matter and this he was admonished to doe by a certaine Priest But yet afterwards by chaunce washing himselfe in a hot sunnie day in a certaine Riuer and sitting vppon the banke his feete hanging downe into the water and hee falling fast a sleepe hee knew not well how long time hee so continued at length awaking hee plainly perceiued the water that was neere on all sides to bee filthy stained and polluted with much stinking matter and as it were dreggie refuse and ful●ulencie and from that time forwards he remained well and lustie and as sound as a Bell. Another time a Mayde being bitten of a Serpent layd presently vpon the wound some Fresh-cheese made of the milke of a white Goate and powring or sprinkling her foote with the milke of the same Goate as a defensatiue for that part was by this meanes restored to her former health as a certaine learned man testified in his Letters written to Gesner Vegetius affirmeth that if any liuing creature be bytten and wounded of venomous Beasts the place which is hurt must first of all be suffumigated with hens egge-shels burnt which first ought to be infused in Vineger with a little Harts-horne or Galbanum After fomentation the place must be scarified the blood must be let out or else the place must be seared with a hot yron so farre as the venom stretcheth And this care must be had that the Cauterre be neuer applyed and layde either aboue the ioynts or in sinewie parts at any time for the sinewes or ioynts beeing seared and burnt there must of necessitie a continuall weakenes and debilitie follow Therfore great diligence must be vsed that neither a little aboue nor a little beneath the nerues ioynts we lay any Cauterizing medicine yea although necessitie biddeth vs. But it is also requisite that euery one thus wounded doe gently and easily prouoke sweating with warme clothes cast vpon him afterwards to walke vp and downe to take Barley-meale in his meate with some leaues of the Ash-tree and the white Vine added to it And to the wound it is good to apply Attick-Honie or Comin heated and patched and so mixed with olde Wine Some vse to mixe newe Hogs-dung and Attick-honny tempered together with wine and so beeing warmed to apply it as a Cataplasme adding to it some vrine of a man I haue said before that young chickins beeing dissected or cut in peeces when they are warme ought to be layde to the stinged part and some there be that yeelde this reason why they should be good for this purpose because say they there is a naturall antipathy betwixt them and venomous creatures But this reason is reasonlesse and I think

doe liue in more hazard lye open to diuers iniuries and so more subiect to shortnes of life The brouity of their life is after a sort recompenced and some part of amends made by the rare clammy glewishnes of the same for if you seperate their bulkes from the head the head from the breast they will liue a long while after and thrust out their sting almost as strongly as if they were vndeuidable and free from hurt and deathes harme Apollonius calleth waspes Omoboroi and Aristotle Meloboroi although they doe not onely feede on rawe flesh but also on peares plummes grapes reysins and on diuers and sundry sorts of flowers and fruites of the iuyce of Elmes Suger Hony and in a manner of all things that are seasoned tempered made pleasant or prepared with eyther of these two last rehearsed Pliny in his 11. booke capit 53. is of opinion that some waspes especially those of the wilder feller kind do eate the flesh of Serpents which is the cause that death hath some-times ensued of their poysonous stinging They also hunt after great flyes not one vvhit sparing the harmelesse Bees who by their good deedes haue so well deserued According to the nature of the soyle place they do much differ in their outward forme fashion of their body and in the manner of their qualities and dispositions of their mind for the common waspes beeing acquainted familiarly vsed to the company of men beasts are the gentler but the Hermites and solitary waspes are more rude churlish and tempestuous yea Nicander termeth them Olaus that is pernicious They are also more vnhappy dangerous and deadly in very hote countries as Ouidius reporteth and namelie in the West-Indies where both in their magnitude and figure there is great difference betwixt theirs and ours so that they are accounted farre more poysonous deadly then either the English French Spanish or Barbarian waspes Some of these dangerous generation doe also abound in exceeding cold Countries as Olaus Magnus in his 22. booke telleth vs. Their vse is great and singuler for besides that they serue for foode to those kinde of Hawkes which are called Kaistrells or Fleingalls Martinets Swallowes Owles to Brocks or Badgers and to the Cameleon they also doe great pleasure and seruice to men sundry wayes for they kill the Phalangium which is a kind of venomous Spyder that hath in all his legges three knots or ioynts whose poyson is perilous and deadly and yet waspes do cure their wounds Raynard the Foxe likewise who is so full of his wiles and craftie shifting is reported to lye in waite to betray waspes after this sort The wilie thiefe thrusteth his bushie tayle into the waspes nest there holding it so long vntill hee perceiue it be full of them then drawing it slylie forth he beateth and smyteth his tayle-full of waspes against the next stone or tree neuer resting so long as hee seeth any of them aliue and thus playing his Foxe-like parts many times together at last hee setteth vppon their combes deuouring all that he can find Pliny greatly commendeth the solitary wasp to be very effectuall against a Quartaine-Ague if you catch her with your left hand tyeor fasten her to any part of your body alwayes prouided that it must be the first waspe that you lay hold on that yeere Mizaldus memor Cent. 7. attributeth great vertue to the distilled water and likewise to the decoction of common waspes affirming expresly that if any part be there-with annoynted it straightwayes causeth it to swell monsterously and to be puffed vp that you would imagine them to be sicke of a Dropsie and this course craftie-drabbes queanes vse to perswade their sweet harts that they are forsooth with child by them thus many times beguiling and blinding the eyes of vvarie and expert Midwiues Wherevpon we may very confidently conclude that their poyson is very hote flatuous or windie Some do prole after waspes and kill them by other sleights deuises For when the Labourers do much vse and frequent elmes which they doe very often about the Summer solftice to gather from them some gummy and clammy matter their Dukes and Princes beeing at home not standing still but setling themselues to their busines or trade and helping to hatch vp their young they are suddenly choked with the fume of Brimstone Garlicke the branches of Coleworts or other pot-herbes or els by breaking downe onerthrowing their combes they die through famine VVhen you are minded to defend the Bees from the inuasion and spoyle of waspes you must sette a potte with some peeces of flesh in it neere the Hiue and when the waspes in hope of some prey are entered suddenly clappe ouer the couer and so destroy them or else by pouring in some hot water at the toppe you may scald them all to death in the pot In like sort some doe gently breath vppon Raisins fruites Suger Hony Oyle by which eyther the waspes are chased away or by tasting the oyle doe die And againe some doe mixe corrosiues with Honie as for example Sublimate Vitrioll Auripigmentum c. that they by taking this venomous or poyson-infected drinke may suffer condigne punishment for their intemperate and insatiable gluttony Of the stinging of vvaspes there doe proceede diuers and sundry accidents passions and effects as payne disquieting vexation swelling rednesse heate sweatings disposition or will to vomit loathing and abhorring of all thinges exceeding thirstinesse now and then fainting or swounding especially when after the maner of venomous creatures they haue infected their stings eyther by tasting the flesh of some Serpents or by gathering their foode from venomous plants I will nowe sette before your eyes and eares one late and memorable example of the danger that is in VVaspes of one Allens vvife dwelling not manie yeeres since at Lowick in Northamptonshire vvhich poore woman resorting after her vsuall manner in the heate of the Sommer to Drayton the Lord Mordants house beeing extreamely thirstie and impatient of delay finding by chaunce a blacke Iacke or Tankerd on the table in the Hall she very inconsiderately and rashly sette it to her mouth neuer suspecting or looking what might be in it and suddainly a Waspe in her greedinesse passed downe with the drinke and stinging her there immediatly came a grea●tumour in her throate with a rednes puffing and swelling of all the parts adiacent so that her breath beeing intercepted the miserable vvretch whirling herselfe twise or thrise round as though shee had had some vertiginie in her braine presently fell downe and dyed And this is knowne for a truth not onely to me but to most of the inhabitants there abouts being as yet fresh in their memories and therefore their authorities as I take it is vnreproueable Now for feare least I should loose my selfe in this troublesome and vast Ocean of Natures admirable fabricature I wil now discourse of such medicinall meanes as will defend

Aluka by most of the Iewes vnderstand a Horsleach Pro. 30. but Dauid Kimhi taketh and vseth it for a Crocodile For he sayth it is a great Worme abiding neere the Riuers sides and vpon a sudden setteth vpon men or cattell as they passe besides him Tisma and Alinsa are by Auicen expounded for a crocodile and Tenchea for that Crocodile that neuer moueth his neather or vnder chap. shipped by the inhabitants and kept tame by the Priestes in a certaine Lake this sacred Crocodile is called Suchus and this word commeth neere to Scincus which as wee haue said signifieth any Crocodile of the earth from which the Arabian Tinsa seemeth also to be deriued as the Egyptian Thampsai doth come neere to the Arabian Trenisa Herodotus calleth them Champsai and this was the old Ionian word for a Vulgar Crocodile in hedges Vppon occasion whereof Scaliger saith hee asked a Turke by what name they call a Crocodile at this day in Turky and he aunswered Kimpsai which is most euidently corrupted from Champsai The Egyptians vulgarly call the Crocodile of Nilus Cocatrix the Graecians Neilokrokadeilos generally Krocodeilos and sometimes Dendrites The Latines Crocodilus and Albertus Crocodillus and the same word is retayned in all languages of Europe About the Etymologie of this word I find two opinions not vnprofitable to be rehearsed the first that Crocodilus commeth of Crocus Saffron because this beast especially the Crocodile of the earth is afrayd of Saffron and therefore the country people to defend theyr Hiues of Bees and hony from them strow vpon the places Saffron But this is too farre fetched to name a beast from that which it feareth and beeing a secrete in nature it is not likelie that it was discouered at the first and therefore the name must haue some other inuestigation Isidorus saith that the name Crocodilus commeth of Croceus color the colour of Saffron because such is the colour of the Crocodile and this seemeth to be more reasonable● For I haue seene a Crocodile in England brought out of Egypt dead and killed vvith a Musket the colour whereof was like to Saffron growing vpon the stalkes in fieldes Yet it is more likely that the deriuation of Varinus and Eustathius was the originall for they say that the shores of sands on the Riuers were called Croc● and Croculae and because the Crocodiles haunt liue in those shores it might giue the name to the beasts because the water Crocodiles liue and delight in those sandes but the Land or earth Crocodiles abhorre and feare them It is reported that the famous Grammarian Artemidorus seeing a Crocodile lying vppon the sands he was so much touched and moued there-with that he fell into an opinion that his left legge and hand were eaten off by that Serpent and that thereby he lost the remembrance of all his great learning and knowledge of Artes. And thus much for the name of this Serpent In the next place we are to consider the Countries wherein Crocodiles are bred and keepe theyr habitation and those are especially Egypt for that onely hath Crocodiles of both kindes that is of the water and of the Land for the Crocodiles of Nilus are Amphibij liue in both elements they are not only in the riuer Nilus but also in all the pooles neere adioyning The Riuer Bambotus neere to Atlas in Affrica doth also bring foorth Crocodiles and Pliny saith that in Darat a Riuer of Mauritania there are Crocodiles ingendered Likewise Apollonius reporteth that when he passed by the Riuer Indus he met with many Sea-horses and Crocodiles such as are found in the Riuer Nilus and besides these countryes I doe not remember any other wherein are ingendered crocodiles of the water which are the greatest and most famous Crocodiles of all other The Crocodiles of the earth which are of lesser note and quantitie are more plentiful for they are found in Libia in Bithinia where they are called Azaritia in the Mountaine Syagrus in Arabia and in the vvoods of India as is well obserued by Arianus Dioscorides and Hermolaus and therefore I will not prosecute this matter any further The kindes being already declared it followeth that we should proceed to their quantitie and seuerall parts And it appeareth that the water Crocodile is much greater and more noble then the Crocodiles of the earth for they are not aboue two cubites long or some-times eyght at the most but the other are sixteene and sometimes more And besides these crocodiles if they lay their egges in the water saith Bellunensis thē their young ones are much greater but if on the Land then are they lesser and like the Crocodiles of the earth In the Riuer Ganges there are two kinds of Crocodiles one of them is harmelesse doth no hurt to any creature but the other is a deuouting vnsatiable beast killing snoute there groweth a bunch like a horne Now a Crocodile is like a Lyzard in all poynts excepting the tayle and the quantity of a Lyzard yet it layeth an egge no greater then a Gooses egge and from so small a beginning ariseth this monstrous Serpent growing all his life long vnto the length of fifteene or twenty cubits And as Phalareus witnesseth in the dayes of Psammitichus King of Egypt there was one found of fiue and twenty cubits long and before that in the dayes of Amasis one that was aboue sixe and twenty cubits long the reason whereof was theyr long life and continuall growth Wee haue shewed already that the colour of a Crocodile is like to Saffron that is betwixt yellow and redde more inclining to yellow then redde not vnlike to the blacker kind of Chamaeleon but Peter Martyr saith that their belly is somewhat whiter then the other parts Their body is rough all ouer beeing couered with a certaine barke or rinde so thicke firme and strong as it will not yeelde and especially about the backe vnto a cart-wheele when the cart is loaded and in all the vpper parts and the tayle it is impenitrable with any dart or speare yea scarcely to a pistoll or small gunne but the belly is softer whereon he receiueth wounds with more facility for as wee shall shew afterwardes there is a kind of Dolphine which commeth into Nilus and fighteth with them wounding them on the belly parts The couering of their backe is distinguished into diuers deuided shells standing vppe farre aboue the flesh and towardes the sides they are lesse emynent but on the belly they are more smooth white and very penitrable The eyes of a Crocodile of the vvater are reported to be like vnto a Swines and therefore in the vvater they see very dimlie but out of the water they are sharpe and quicke sighted like to all other foure-footed Serpents that lay egges They haue but one eye-lidde that groweth from the nether part of the cheeke which by reason of their eyes neuer twinckleth And the Egyptians say that onely the Crocodile among

many now adaies for all men know she was a gentlewoman borne both by the father and mothers side as beeing the daughter of Bacchus and Venus and all this I say was done to please both her and her two sweet Sisters Chiragra and Congra a poxe take them all three and so I will let them goe and come to the Spyder who likewise beeing directed by some fauourable Planet boldly and luckily trudged to the poore-mans house Atque ibimiro Dogmate quidvé marem deceat deceatque maritam Addocet atque suo sese studore saginat Which may be englished thus And there by strange instructions and documents She teacheth male and female how to liue That is both man and wife how to encrease their rents Whilst she on her owne sweat and fat doth thriue But some man may heere obiect say I see here no such great blessings of Lady Fortune more then besides a bare commendation and good happe in this their exchange of lodging lodgers Yes surely very much not onely because she spendeth her dayes more freely and safely from danger but also because as out of a high watch-tower she no longer beholdeth in the houses of poore persons lauish and needlesse prodigality bankettings quaffings ryotting playes dauncing dicing and whoring and a thousand vanities and villanies besides whereof she knew herselfe conscious and a priuie witnes vnto whilst she liued in the Halls and Bowers of the rich and wealthier sort who when they had thrust cleane from house and home and for euer banished the Spyder the true Schoole-mistres of industrie and frugality straight-wayes the lazie Gowte called Podaga arrested them Had it not beene better for them thinke you to haue graunted a dwelling place to a sauing wise prudent and harmelesse little creature then to haue giuen entertainement to such a base blockish companion and guest as the Gowte is Let not therefore rich couetous men wonder if many times they be tormented with this sore griefe sith they vvill neither admit true Phisitian nor Phisicke I meane trauaile diligence industry moderation and paines-taking with the like Now to touch the rich and rare gifts and graces of the mind and other noble qualities and dispositions of Spyders I know not whither I should first beginne with the commendations of their prudence iustice fortitude temperance their Philanthropia Philoponia Autarkeia their humanitie and loue towards men their studious industry and loue of labour their contentation as hauing sufficient and coueting no more then is allotted vnto them Theyr wittinesse pollicie quicknes and sharpnes of sence their cleannie neatenes with many other vertues or else her admirable cunning and skilfulnesse in their weauing trade Their prudence sagacity and wittines to coniecture thinges future appeareth in this one thing that when great aboundance of raine flouds swelling and ouerflowings of Riuers are like shortly to come to passe and thereby to threaten houses they then begin to build their webs higher by a great deale then their vsuall custome heretofore hath beene And this is another proofe of the same in that they weaue not at all in a cleare Sun-shine-day or when it is faire and calme weather when Flyes are most busie in flying about to and fro that they may be the better at leasure to giue themselues to hunting and watching after them to take aduantage and if any chance to light into their nets forth-with to seize vpon them for their repast Againe when houses are ready to drop downe they with their Copwebs first of all fall and get them away packing alter their clymate to some other surer place and dwelling to rest in If any thing touch her body that is hard or painefull she immediatly draweth vp her Legges round on a heape for this end as I thinke to feele the lesse paine and the better to prouide for the health and safety of her head the director and gouernor of the whole body for if any other part be hurt she can easily cure it Who hath manifested and made knowne this vnto them Hath any Chaldaean Starre-gazer or figure-flinger by the sight and position of the starres shewed it vnto them No certainely But a diuine prudence and forefeeling knowledge originally in-bred by Nature to eschewe that which is hurtfull which is diffused into the Spyder and as that famous Poet Virgilius hath excellently described Spiritus intus alit totosque infusaper artus Mens agitat molem In English thus Mind bred within infused in all limbes Mind mooues the bodies lump and skinnes Furthermore so soone as they espy their enemie to be caught in their nets they do not first of all bite and pricke him to death in any hostile manner but they seeme with theyr feet gently and softly to stroke him yea euen to entreat and allure him with tickling and as it were clipping colling vntill they haue throughly ensnarled him within their clammy and viscous gins and beeing at length wearied turmoyled and tyred with strugling and striuing in vaine the silly fly is made vnable either to get away stir or resist So hauing made sure worke with one she hyeth her to the Center of her Web obseruing and prying whether any newe prey will come to hand againe so by this pollicy you shall see sometimes ten yea otherwhiles twenty flyes hanging aloft by their strings and fine spun threds They onely feede on the iuyce of Flyes and the dry carkase without any moysture they cast away as vnprofitable stuffe to be vsed about any businesse Moreouer because the Female Spyder is sometimes greater then the Male therefore shee chuseth her standing in the lovver part of the webbe that the poore flyes may seeme carelesse of her yet is she very obseruant taking great heed to thē for they seeing her hanging below thinking themselues safe do fly vp into the vpper part of the net but by this meanes seeking to shun Charybdis they fall into Scilla out of the smoke into the fire for though in regard of her bodies magnitude she bee vnwieldy and very vnfit to bestir her selfe in this hunting office yet the crafty Male-Spyder playing Bo-peepe and pretending some other businesse though minding another playing the disembling Hypocrite hydeth himselfe in the toppe of the Webbe noting vvell all occurrents and being seene of no body there he lurketh till some fish as we say come to his net and hauing espyed his prey beeing more light quicke and liuely it is a wonder to see how diligent vigilant and earnestly bent hee is to bend his course vvithall expedition tovvard this nevv offered booty for there hee vvill not suffer it very long to remayne but descending in a tryce Euro velocius as quicke as a Bee from the vpper vnto the lovver part as I haue sayde of the Copweb hee maketh a very quicke dispatch and hauing royally feasted himselfe hee reserueth and layeth vp all his other enemies in one place hanging thē all by one of his own threds till some conuenient time to feast

in euery place they climbe vp into the Courts of mightie Kings to be as it were myrrours and glasses of vertue and to teach them honest prowesse and valiancie They goe into the lodgings shoppes and Ware-houses of poore-men to commend vnto them contentment patience labour tolerance industry pouertie and frugalitie 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 euerie Tree if into the Garden you shall finde them amongst Roses if you trauaile into the field you shall haue them at their worke in hedges both at home and abroad whethersoeuer you bend your course you cannot chuse but meete with them least perhappes you might imagine or else complaine and find some faults that the Scholemistres and perfect president of all vertue and diligence were in any place absent Who would not therefore be touched yea and possessed with an extreame wonder at these vertues and faculties which we daily see behold with our eyes Philes hath briefely and compendiously described their nature properties inclinations wit and inuention in his Greeke verses which beeing turned into Latine sound to this effect Araneis natura per quam industria est Vincens puellarum manus argutias Nam ventris humores super vacaneos Ceu fila nent textoris absque pectine Et implicantes orbium volumina Aduersa sublegunt ijs subtegmina Sed licijs hinc densioribus plagas In aëre appendunt nec vnde 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 et id genus volantibus Intensa nectens fraudulenter retia Quod incidit jejuna pascit hoc famem Vitamque degit haud quietis indigam Suspensa centro cassibusque prouidens Ne fila rumpat orbiumque dissuat Nexus retertos flaminis vis irruens Which may be englished thus Industrious nature Spyders haue Excelling Virgins hands of skill Superfluous humours of bellyes saue And into webbes they weaue them still And that without all Weauers combes Their folding Orbes inrolled are And vnderneath their woofes as tombes Are spread the worthy worke to beare And hang their threds in ayre aboue By plages vnseene to th' eye of man Without foundation you may proue All their buildings firmely stand Nor yet cleere light to eyes most bright Can see the coupling of their thred The thinnesse of the woofe in sight On pinnes of ayre are surest spred On gnats and sillie winged flyes Which guilefully in nets they take They feede their fill when they espy And yet their life much rest doth make They labour to and doe prouide Gainst winds and things that breake their twayles That bands from tacklings may not slyde When greater strength doth them assayle And although Minerua hath nick-named the Spyder calling her malepart shamelesse and sawcie Martiall wandring straying and gadding Claudianus rash presumpteous and aduenturous Politianus hanging and thicke Iuuenall dry Propertius rotten Virgill light And Plautus vnprofitable good for nothing yet it is cleere that they were made to serue and stead vs to many excellent vses so that you may plainly gather and perceiue that this is rather an amplification rather then any positiue or measured truth cōcerning the fond Epithets vile badges liueries which these rehearsed Authors haue vnworthily bestowed on them as by that which followeth may plainly be seene The Spyder put into a lynnen clowre and hung vpon the left arme is an excellent medicine to expell a Quotidian-Ague as Trallianus saith and yet it will be more effectuall if many Spyders be boyled with oyle of Bay to the cōsistence of a liniment to annoynt the wrists and the temples a little before the fit for by this meanes the Feauer will be absolutely cured or will sildome returne againe Kiramides A Spyder tempered and wrought vppe with Milt-wast or Ceterach and so spred vppon a cloth to be applyed to the temples cureth the fits of a Tertian-Feauer Dioscoride The Spyder that is called a Wolfe being put into a quill and so hanged about the necke performeth the same effect as Pliny reporteth The domesticall Spyder which spinneth and weaueth a thinne a white or a thicke web beeing inclosed in a peece of leather or a nut-shell and so hanged about the necke or vvorne about the arme driueth away the fits of a Quartaine-feauer as both Dioscorides Fernelius haue thought For the paine in the eares take three liue Spyders boyle them with oyle vpon the fire then destill or droppe a little of this oyle into the payned eare for it is very excellent as witnesseth Marcellus Empiricus Pliny steepeth them in vineger and oyle of Roses and so to be stamped together and a little thereof to be dropped into the pained eare with a little Saffron and without doubt saith he the paine will be mittigated and the same affirmeth Dioscorides Or else straine out the iuyce of Spyders mixing it with the iuyce of Roses and with some wooll dipped in the same liquour apply it to the eare Sorastus in his booke Peri Dakeon writeth how that the Spyder which is called Cranocalaptes beeing stifled or choked in oyle is a very present helpe against any poyson taken inwardly into the body as the Scholiast of Nicander reporteth There be some that catch a Spyder in the left hand and beate and stampe it with the oyle of Roses putting some of it into the eare on the same side the tooth aketh and as Pliny telleth vs it doth exceeding much good Spyders applyed and layd vpon their owne bytings or taken inwardly into the body doe heale and helpe those hurts themselues procured What should I talke of the white spots of the eyes a most dangerous griefe and yet are they cleane taken away with very small labour if so be one take the legges especially of those Spyders which are of the whiter sort and stamping them together with oyle do make an oyntment for the eyes Pliny The moist iuyce that is squiesed out of a house-Spyder being tempered with oyle of Roses or one dramme of Saffron and a droppe or two thereof dropped into the eyes cureth the dropping or watering of them by meanes of a rhume issuing out thereat or else the moisture of a Spyder or his vrine beeing taken by themselues laying a little wooll on the top of the part affected worketh the same effect whereby you may well vnderstand that there is nothing in a Spyder so vile homelie or sordidous that doth not some good and serueth to some end Against the suffogation of the belly Aetius doth counsell to apply a Cerote to the nauell made of Spyders and saith that he hath found it to preuaile much in this kind of passion Pliny saith but he yeeldeth no reason for it that Spyders doe helpe the paine and