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A05102 The third volume of the French academie contayning a notable description of the whole world, and of all the principall parts and contents thereof: as namely, of angels both good and euill: of the celestiall spheres, their order and number: of the fixed stars and planets; their light, motion, and influence: of the fower elements, and all things in them, or of them consisting: and first of firie, airie, and watrie meteors or impressions of comets, thunders, lightnings, raines, snow, haile, rainebowes, windes, dewes, frosts, earthquakes, &c. ingendered aboue, in, and vnder the middle or cloudie region of the aire. And likewise of fowles, fishes, beasts, serpents, trees with their fruits and gum; shrubs, herbes, spices, drugs, minerals, precious stones, and other particulars most worthie of all men to be knowen and considered. Written in French by that famous and learned gentleman Peter de la Primaudaye Esquier, Lord of the same place, and of Barree: and Englished by R. Dolman.; Academie françoise. Part 3. English La Primaudaye, Pierre de, b. ca. 1545.; Dolman, R. (Richard) 1601 (1601) STC 15240; ESTC S108305 398,876 456

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for griefes in the eares noise in them and difficult hearing if some of the iuice of the leaues therof be dropt into thē The iuice thereof also being snuffed vp into the nose purgeth the fleame of the head cleanseth the braine and fortifieth it The vse of this plant and of the decoction thereof is good against all euill in the breast which may stop the free course and recourse of breath It is profitable for them that are diseased in the liuer and in the spleene not onely freeing the liuer and spleene from oppilations and stoppings but also making them strong and sound The decoction thereof also being drunke is good in the beginning of a dropsie for difficultie in making water and for pulling in ones belly And the leaues thereof serue against the stingings of scorpions being laid thereupon with salt and vineger Of Rue Rue likewise by reason of the great and exquisite properties thereof deserueth to be remembred This plant is alwaies green verie thicke of iuicie leaues many hanging at one stalke of small growth but very broad of a dark green colour It produceth many little boughes branches on the top yellow flowers out of which grow little heads diuided into fower parts wherein small black seed is inclosed This herb is very attenuatiue incisiue digestiue resolutiue prouocatiue driueth out vētosities very forceably For it is hot in the third degree and not onely sharp in taste but bitter also by meanes whereof it may resolue and penetrate grosse and clammie humours and through the same qualities prouoke vrine It doth also consist of subtile parts and is numbred amongst medicines which drie greatly and therefore it is good against inflations asswaging the appetite of lust it resolueth and freeth from all windines The seed thereof drunke in wine to the waight of fifteene ounces is a singular remedie against all poyson The leaues eaten alone fasting or with nuts and drie figs do kill the power of venim and are good against serpents The decoction thereof drunke is profitable against paines in the breast and in the sides inflammation of the liuer the gout and shakings of agues being eaten raw or confected it cleereth the sight is good against difficultie in breathing and against the cough being mixed with French cherries dried it alayeth paines of the eies being mixed with oyle of Roses and vineger it easeth the headach being brayed and put into the nose it stancheth the bleeding thereof The distilled water of it infused into an equall portion of wine and rose water is soueraigne for the paine in the eies Parsley is ordinarie and common in all gardens Of Parsley and the vse thereof great and very commodious for the mouth and stomacke Neither is there any herbe more vsed in meates and in sauces But it hath many properties in phisicke for which it is much to be commended For the decoction of the leaues or rootes thereof openeth the passage of vrine and purgeth out grauell that hath long laine in the vrine conduits it easeth the colicke and paines in the raines being vsed in manner of fomentation vpon the grieued parts The seede thereof is yet of greater vertue in the foresaid effects it serueth beeing drunke against venime of serpents and driueth out ventosities The often vsage of parsley doth take away stinking of breath being applied in a cataplasme with crums of white bread it healeth tetters asswageth the swelling of the dugs and for women in childe-bed doth diminish their milke There is also another kind of parsley called Marsh-parsley commonly named broad smallage which hath as much or more efficacie in phisicke then the other especially the seede thereof which hath most singular vses Which being sharpe with great bitternesse is hot in operation with a pearsing vertue Wherefore it is good for wringings in the belly windines of stomacke for the colicke it is singular in drinke for paines in the sides in the raines and in the bladder Fennell doth also consist of two sorts one is of set fennel Of Fennell and the other wilde fennell Garden or set fennell is very pleasant in taste for the sauorie sweetenes thereof and is profitable being vsed in phisicke The decoction of the leaues serue greatly for paines in the reines being drunke and prouoketh vrine The herbe of fennell eaten or the seede sodden with barlie water doth make very much milke come into womens breasts The roote braied and applied with honie healeth the bitings of dogs The seede is excellent to suppresse winde being taken after meales though it be of hard digestion and doth but badly nourish the bodie But fennell is most principally good both the leaues and seede thereof to cleere the sight and therefore some presse out the iuice of the leaues and tender stalks which they preserue and keepe for this purpose And they doe also distill the water thereof for the same vse In the westerne part of Spaine the fennell yeeldeth a licour like vnto gum which is of greater efficacie then the iuice thereof in medicines for the eies Wilde fennell is sharper in taste hath greater leaues and groweth higher then garden fennell The roote thereof hath a good sent and being taken in drinke doth profit them much that hardly make water it is good against bitings of serpents breaketh the stone and healeth the iaundise which the seede thereof doth likewise Now ACHITOB doe you proceede in talke concerning simples Of Rosemarie Cammomill the Lillie Baulme of grasse or dogs-tooth and of Pimpernell Chap. 76. ACHITOB. IT would be very hard to finde out in one plant onely more vertues and properties then they who haue trauelled to publish the science of simples haue attributed to rosemarie and yet it seemeth to many that it is fit for nothing but to make garlands and nosegayes and being so very common is not esteemed to be of great efficacie Indeede it is a very ordinarie plant and in Prouence it groweth to such greatnes that the people vse it for fire-fewell like other wood and the stocke is of such compasse that they make tables and harpes thereof Yet all this lets not but it may be of admirable vertue For it is very good against cold diseases of the stomacke against the colicke and casting vp of meate Of Rosemary and the admirable propertie thereof by eating it either in bread or drinking it in powder with pure wine It is profitable for such as are diseased in the liuer or spleen for it doth not onely heate purifie and open but through the restringent vertue thereof it doth also fortifie It is very good against all rheumes and all cold maladies against the falling euil numbnes of members the lethargie and palsie It is good to wash the head and for fomentations of the ioints It doth sharpen the sight sweeten the breath and being boiled in vineger and hard wine it staieth the rheumes that fall into the teeth and gums if the mouth be washed with this decoction hot
The powder therof dried doth consolidate greene wounds if they be washed before with wine wherein rosemarie hath beene sodden and then the powder be strowed on afterwards The flowers thereof confected in sugar are good for all things aforesaide particularly against cold passions of the hart against maladies of the breast and against the plague The decoction of rosemarie made in water and taken in drinke doth heale the iaundise So likewise doth the seede being drunke with pepper and white wine In the plague time it is good to perfume the house with this plant for the fume thereof driueth away ill aires Cammomill also groweth abundantly amongst corne Of Cammomill and in the fieldes bearing yellow flowers enuironed with whitish leaues and is of a strong sauour But to mollifie resolue rarifie and loosen this plant is of singular operation And in this respect no medicine is better for wearie folkes then a bath of cammomill The leaues beaten and put into white wine make a profitable drinke to heale quotidian and quartan agues the decoction thereof drunke healeth paines in the side and so doth the water distilled of the flowers which flowers being gathered without leaues beaten in a morter formed with oile into trochisks afterwardes dissolued againe in oyle if they bee therewith rubbed and chafed which are troubled with feuers from the crowne of the head to the foote and that they presently goe into bed to sweate they shall be holpen bicause of the abundant heate that goeth out of their bodie Cammomill is especially good to dissolue feuers that are without inflammation of any chiefe intraile principally those which proceede from cholericke humors and thicknes of the skin Being taken in drinke or the fume thereof receiued in at the fundament it is a great helpe to voide vrine and grauell Of the Lillie The lillie is likewise very woorthie of consideration It beareth long leaues euer greene smooth and iuicie it hath a stalke of two cubits high round straight euen thicke and strong all clad with leaues from the bottome to the top At the top of the stalke growe three or fower little branches out of which issue small long heads of the colour of the herbe which in time become faire lillies of exquisite whitenesse crossed on the outside and the ends turned outwards round about At the bottome of the flower growe certaine yellow stalks as it were dustie on the vpper side of the fashion of toongs out of the midst of which groweth one long one hauing a round head of the colour of the herbe There is no flower so high and it surpasseth in beautie all other whitenesse Now for the vertue of this plant The leaues thereof are good beeing applied against the biting of serpents beeing boiled they heale burnings and confected in vineger are good for wounds water distilled of the flowers are profitable for women that are deliuered of childe with great difficulty and voideth out the after-burden beeing mixed with saffron and Cinamon The oile drawne out of those flowers is good against all cold diseases of the sinewes as cramps and palsies and to mollifie all stiffenes in the ioynts and all hard-swollen kernelles Lillies long time steeped in oile beeing applied hot do ripen hot impostumes without paine and do breake them especially such as are in the ioints And the bodie of the roots hath the same propertie For beeing boiled and braied with oile of roses they ripen impostumes and beeing braied with hony they heale cut and lame sinewes clense the head of scabs and clarifie the visage and make it smooth The seede of Lillies also taken in drink serueth against the bitings of serpents And the water that is distilled of the flowers in a limbeck doth take wrinkles out of womens faces and doth beautifie them very much Of Baulme Baulme is a very odoriferous plant and smelleth much like a Citron the stalke and leaues thereof are somewhat rough and many stalkes issue out of the roote The property of it is to reioyce the heart to comfort cold and moist stomacks to helpe digestion to euacuate the stoppings of the conduits of the braine to heale feeblenes and faintnes of hart to fortifie it being weake especially if the weakenes bee such that it oftentimes breaketh ones sleepe in the night moreouer this hearb staieth the panting of the hart driueth away cares and sad imaginations which proceede either from the melancholie humor or from fleame combust It hath also a laxatiue vertue not so feeble but that it clenseth and purgeth the spirits and bloud of the hart and arteries from all melancholie vapors which it cannot do to the other parts of the bodie The leaues thereof taken in drinke or outwardly applied are good against stingings of the Tarantula of Scorpions and against the biting of dogs and it is good to bath such wounds with the decoction thereof Beeing mixed with salt they are profitable against the kings euill and mundifie vlcers and beeing applied do asswage the paine of gowts They are vsed in clysters against the flux Also the leaues taken in drinke with niter are very good for them that are stopped by eating toad stooles or mushrums and in loch for them that are troubled with shrinking vp of the bellie and breath with such difficulty that they cannot do it except they stand vpright Grasse Of Dogs-tooth or Dogs-tooth is one of the commonest herbs in the field yea euen in leane grounds The branches thereof ly a long vpon the earth and are full of knots out of which and out of the top it often sendeth new rootes The leaues are very small and pointed it is maruailous in propertie For the decoction thereof taken in drinke healeth wringing in the bellie and hard making of water and breaketh the stone and grauell in the bladder The root braied and applied searcheth wounds And the iuice of the decoction thereof may bee vsed to the same effect which the herb also doth beeing beaten and keepeth wounds from all inflammation if to the decoction thereof bee put a little wine or hony and the third part of so much Pepper Myrrh Franckincense and be made to boile afterwards againe in some copper vessell it is a singular remedy for the tooth-ach and the rheume which falleth into the eies Grasse also that hath seuen spaces betwixt the knots is very good for the headach beeing bound about it It likewise stauncheth bleeding at nose The seede thereof doth greatly prouoke vrine and bindeth the bellie and staieth vomiting It is speciall good against byting of Dragons There is found in some places of Germany a certaine kinde of grasse which is tilled with as great care as other corne or pulse because the people vseth the seede thereof in their meats which seede they call Mama and they seeth it in pottage with fat meate and finde it as good as Rice It is smaller then millet and very white But it must bee beaten in a morter to vnhuske it Of
sage neither can much difference be marked in them saue in the leaues which are thinner whiter and rougher in wilde then in garden sage This plant is very singular against all cold and flegmaticke diseases in the head and against all paines of the ioints either being taken in drinke or applied in fomentations Wherefore it is very good for them who haue the falling disease or are sicke of the lethargie and for those that haue their members benummed or senselesse It is profitable against defluxions of fleame and maladies in the breast It is good for great bellied women to eate which are subiect to trauell before their time for euery light cause for it keepeth the childe in the wombe and doth quicken it If you giue three or foure ounces of the iuice of sage to them that spit blood that they may drinke it fasting in a morning with honie the blood will presently be staied The vse of sage in pottage and otherwise serueth to sharpen the appetite and cleanse the stomacke being full of ill humors In summe when occasion is to heate drie and binde sage is a very good and fit medicine Of Mints and their property Mints haue likewise many great properties and are very common both in gardens and fields Whereof though there be many kindes for some haue small and crisped leaues others haue the stalke and flower red and others white yet is there no great matter to be made of these differences considering that one selfe same vertue resideth in all Mints beaten and made into a plaister do comfort a weake stomacke It is a soueraigne thing to restore the smell and feeling to those that haue lost it so that it be often held to the nose The leaues thereof dried and brought into powder kill wormes in little children The iuice drunke with vineger stancheth blood with the iuice of a sower pomegranate it restraineth vomitings hickets and the colicke passion Mints laid vpon the forehead asswage the headach and laid vpon too tender dugs that are ful of milk it easeth the paine of them applied with salt it is good for bitings by dogs and with honied water it is good against paines in the eares The water of the whole plant distilled in a glasse-limbecke in a bath of hot water and drunke to the waight of fower ounces staieth bleeding at nose They that loue milke must presently after they haue eaten thereof chew mint leaues to hinder the milke that it doe not curdle in their stomacke if also you sprinkle cheese with the iuice thereof or with the decoction thereof it will keepe from corrupting and rottennesse Now I referre to you ARAM the sequele of this discourse Of Thyme Sauorie Marierom Rue Parsley and Fennell Chap. 75. ARAM. Of Thyme and the propertie thereof AMongst common herbes admirable in their properties Thyme is worthie to be noted Now there are two sorts thereof one bearing sundry twigs laden with verie manie little narrow leaues hauing small heads at the top full of purple flowers and the other is as hard as wood more branched and like vnto Sauorie In propertie it is hot and dry in the third degree And therefore it prouoketh vrine doth heat and being taken in drinke doth purge the intrailes It is good to make one spit out the ill-humours of the lungs and in the breast Fower drams of drie thyme puluerized being ministred fasting to one that hath the gout with two ounces and an halfe of honied vineger doth profit them verie much for it purgeth choler and other sharpe humours It is good also for diseases of the bladder and the waight of a dram being taken with a spoonefull of honied water it is good for such as begin to haue a swollen belly for the sciatica and paine in the reines in the sides and in the breast for inflations and stitches about the forepart of the belly for melancholie persons for those that are troubled in minde and are in continuall fearfulnes if three drams be giuen to them fasting with a spoonefull of honied-vineger it will doe them much good It is profitable also against inflammation of the eies and vehement paines therof and against the goute in the feete being taken with wine The vse thereof is verie good for them that haue but bad sight Out of Thyme there is an oyle extracted of the colour of gold which commeth forth with the water when the herbe being fresh and greene is distilled in a bathe of hot water This oyle smels like a Citron and is verie tart in taste and good for all things which haue need to be heated But we must note that heed must be taken that to all the foresaid purposes blacke thyme be not vsed for it corrupteth the temperature of the person and ingendreth choler And therfore that thyme must be chosen which beareth a carnation flower and that for the best yet which beareth a white flower Sauorie also is an herbe knowen vnto all Of Sauory and hath the same properties and vertues which thyme hath being taken in such manner There are two kindes thereof one is like to thyme somewhat lesse and more tender bearing a bud full of greene flowers enclining to purple The other is greater and more branched which is often found in gardens hauing many boughes that spread about it being round and woodie The leaues thereof are greater then those of thyme somewhat strong and harder which doe here and there grow about the branches in bunches togither after the springing whereof there grow out little buds enuironed with leaues which are much lesse then the other wherein grow small carnation flowers The leaues and flowers of sauorie being made in a garland or chaplet and set vpon the head of such as sleep do waken them Being vsed in a cataplasme with wheat-meale sod together in wine it is verie auaileable against griefe of the sciatica But the vse of sauorie is chiefly good for healthfull persons whether it be in pottage or in sauce or otherwise And it being dryed in the shade and brought into powder may be vsed insteed of spices and so may Thyme and Marierom with maruellous profit for health and strange drugs tbat are hurtfull may be spared as pepper and ginger are being commonly vsed Of Marierom Marierom is so good for all persons so that there are but few people which haue it not either in their gardens or in earth pots the whole plant is verie odoriferous and most profitable in phisicke It is branched with small plyable twigs with long whitish and hairie leaues growing about those twigs It beareth flowers in great number on the top of the stalkes and buds of the colour of the herbe being long and composed of an heape of scales wel compact together out of which groweth a litle graine In propertie it resolueth and is attenuatiue opening and coroboratiue It is excellent against all cold diseases of the head and of the sinewes both outwardly applied and taken in drinke as also
of it one is called great Centurie and the other is lesser Centurie The great hath leaues like a walnut tree long greene like Colewoorts indented about a stalke of two or three cubits high The flower thereof is blew and the roote verie big full of iuice sharp with astriction and sweetnes The lesser sore hath leaues like rue a square stalke somewhat more then a span long the flowers thereof are red inclining to purple and the root is small smooth and bitter in taste For their properties the vertue of great Centurie consisteth in the roote thereof which serueth for ruptures conuulsions difficultie in breathing old coughes pleurisies and spitting of blood It is also giuen to them that are sicke of the dropsie of the iaundise and are pained in their liuer being either steeped in wine or beaten to powder and drunke Of the lesser Galen hath composed an whole booke which he dedicated to his friend Papias concerning the great and admirable vertues therein For it purgeth choler and fleame for which cause the decoction thereof is good against tertian feuers which also and the iuice thereof helpeth stoppings and hardnes of the liuer and spleene Being drunke likewise to the waight of a dram with honie or laid vpon the nauell it auoideth wormes out of the belly The leaues of this herbe wherein and in the flowers thereof lyeth all the vertue being applied fresh to great wounds search them and heales vp old vlcers But now changing our talke let vs leaue phisicke plants and say somwhat concerning those more excellent ones which particularly serue for the nouriture of Man Of Wheate Rie Barley and Oates and of Rice and Millet Chap. 79. ARAM. AMongsts herbs and plants wherewith men are fed and nourished the chiefe degree is by good right assigned to wheat as to that graine whereof the best bread is made which onely with water may very well suffice for the mainteinance of our life hauing many properties also in the vse of phisick Now according to the diuersitie of places wherein it groweth people do name it and one sort differeth from another but wee will heere speake of that which is most common amongst vs. All wheat hath many verie small roots Of Wheat and of the forme and fertilitie thereof but one leafe and many buds which may diuide themselues into sundry branches All the winter time it is an herb but the weather waxing milder there springeth out of the midst thereof a small stalk which after three or foure knots or ioints beareth an eare not by and by seene but is hidden within a case The stalke beeing made the flower bloometh some foure or fiue daies after and about so long endureth That past the graine swelleth and ripeneth in forty daies or sooner as the climate is in heat The fertility of this plant is meruailous as wee behold by daily experience For there are some places in Italie especially in the territory of Sienna about the sea coasts where there hath beene seene to grow out of one only graine foure and twenty eares of corne and that one bushell of seede hath yeelded an hundred The best wheat should bee hard to breake massiue waightie of the colour of gold cleere smooth kept three moneths ripe faire and growing in a fat soile to be the fitter to make better bread of And the meale also must not be too much ground neither yet too fresh nor too long kept before it be vsed for if it be too much ground it maketh bread as if it were of branne that which is too fresh doth yet retaine therein some heat of the mill-stone and that which is kept too long will be spoyled either by dust or by mouldines or will else haue some bad smell Now besides the common vse of wheat the manner how to make it in drinke is verie notable which drinke serueth insteed of wine in those countries where the vine cannot fructifie Beere For there they take wheat and sometimes barley rie or oates euerie one apart or else two or three sorts of these graines or else all mingled togither and steepe them in fountaine water or in water of the cleanest and cleerest riuer that may be chosen or else for better in a decoction or wourt of hops and this is done for so long time till the graine begin to breake then is it dried in the sunne being drie it is beaten or else ground afterwards sodden in water in which it hath first beene steeped for the space of three or fower howers putting thereto a good quantitie of the flowers of hops and skimming the decoction or wourt verie well that done it is powred out and put in vessels for the purpose This drinke is called Beere And they which will haue it verie pleasant to the taste after it is made doe cast into the vessels sugar cinamom and cloues and then stirre it verie much Some doe put cockle into the composition of beere the more to sharpen the taste And sith we are entred into this speech we will here note that wheat doth easily conuert into cockle chiefly when the weather is rainie and cold Of Cockle for it commeth of corne corrupted by too much moisture or that hath beene too much wet by continuall raines in winter It springeth first out of the ground hauing a long leafe fat rough with a slenderer stalk then that of wheat at the top whereof there is a long eare hauing on all sides little sharpe cods or huskes out of which three or fower graines grow together being couered with a verie hard barke The bread that hath much thereof in it doth dizzie and hurt the head so that they which eat thereof do commonly fall into a sound sleep and their head is much troubled It annoyeth the eies and dimmeth the sight Some also do make * As some thinke wafer-cakes Amylum of wheat which serueth for many things They take verie cleane wheat of three moneths olde which they wet fiue times a day and as often by night if it be possible being well soaked and steeped they powre the water away not shaking it to the ende that the thick and that which is like creame may not runne out with the water After that it is verie wel mollified and the water changed it must be sifted that the bran which swimmeth at top thereof may bee done away and then must it be kneaded verie hard together casting fresh water stil vpon it And so it must be laid in panniers or dossers to drie and then vpon new tiles to be parched in the sun with as much speed as may be for if it remaine neuer so little a while moist it waxeth sowre The best is that which is white fresh light and smooth It hath power to mollifie in sharpe and rough things and is good against rheumes that fall into the eies Being taken in drinke it restraineth spitting of blood and asswageth the sorenes of the throat Next after Wheat Rie is in
of Autumne Of Grapes so also are they the most nourishing of all the fruits of summer which are not to bee kept and they engender the best nourishment especially when they bee perfect ripe But all Raisins do not nourish after one manner for sweete ones haue a more hot substance and therefore they cause thirst do swell the stomacke and loosen the belly Contrariwise tart ones doe binde doe nourish little and are of hard digestion Greene and sowre ones are naught for the stomacke And the bigger grapes are the better they are especially if they be gathered verie ripe They which are kept hanged vp are best for nourishmēt because their great moisture is dried The fresh verie ripe grape is good for burnings if the wine thereof be prest out betwixt ones hands vpon the hurt places The mother of the wine or grapes being kept and mixed with salt is profitable against inflammations of the dugs hardnes of them through too much abundance of milke The decoction thereof clisterized serueth greatly for dysenterias or fluxes The stones or seeds haue a restringent vertue and are profitable for the stomacke Being parched and beaten into powder it is good to eate with meate against the fluxe and weaknes of stomacke Drie grapes or raisins haue yet greater vertues and properties in the vse of Phisicke and especially they which are sweetest and of most substance as they of Damascus of Cypres and of Candia The meate of them being eaten is good for the cough for the throat the reines and the bladder being eaten with their stones they serue against dysenterias Being boyled in a platter with sugar and flower of millet of barley and an egge they purge the braine being reduced into a plaister with flower of beanes and cumin Propertie of dry Raisins they appease inflammations Besides the nourishment of raisins is so distributed through the bodie according as their nature is sweete to the sweete sowre to the sowre meane to them that participate with both qualities and the sweete full and fat raisins doe nourish more then the sharpe and leane They which are without stones either by nature or art if they be sweet they are so depriued of all astriction so that they be maruellous lenitiue And therefore are they most fit for paines of the breast for the cough for sore throats for maladies in the reines and bladder and are good also for the liuer But we may not here forget to make mention of the fruit of the wilde Vine commonly called in French Lambrusque because of the admirable properties thereof The grapes of it are gathered and put to drie in the shade they are of a restringent vertue good for the stomacke and prouoke vrine they binde the belly and stay spitting of blood Now must wee speake of Wine which is made of the Raisin Of Wine and the properties thereof and grape produced by the vine Concerning it many affirme that it is the most sweete licour of all others the principall aide and chiefe prop of humaine life the chiefe restorer of the vitall spirits the most excellent strengthener of all the faculties and actions of the body reioicing comforting the hart very much and for these causes they say that the Auncients haue called that plant which beareth the fruit out of which wee receiue this wine Vitis quasi Vita life But yet wee must not deceiue our selues by so many praises attributed to wine considering that the vse thereof by the least excesse that may bee doth bring so many euils vpon man that they cannot bee numbred nor sufficientlie bewailed But beeing vsed temperately wee must confesse that it is a thing of greatest efficacie in the world to nourish and strengthen the bodie For it engendreth very pure bloud it is very quickly conuerted into nourishment it helpeth to make digestion in all parts of the bodie it giueth courage purgeth the braine refresheth the vnderstanding reioiceth the hart quickneth the spirits prouoketh vrine driueth out ventosities augmenteth naturall heat fatneth them who are in good health exciteth the appetite purifieth troubled bloud openeth stoppings conuaieth the nouriture throughout the whole body maketh good colour and purgeth out of the bodie all that which is therein superfluous But if wine bee taken without great mediocritie and temperance it doth by accident refrigerate the whole bodie For the naturall heat thereof by too much drinke remaineth choaked euen as a little fire is quenched by a great heap of wood cast thereupon Besides wine is hurtfull for the braine for the marrow of the back bone and the sinewes that grow out of it Whereby it falleth out that this principall part beeing hurt there succeede in time great and dangerous maladies thereupon to wit the apoplexie the falling euill the palsie shakings numbnes of members conuulsions giddines of the head shrinking of ioints the incubus the catalepsia lethargie frensie rheumes deafenes blindenes and shrinking of mouth and lips Moreouer wine immoderately drunke corrupteth all good manners and discipline of life For this is it that makes men quarrellers wranglers rash incensed furious dice-plaiers adulterers homicides in a word addicted to all vice and dissolution Besides it is to be noted that wine is fitter for old people then for them of other ages for it moderateth and mantaineth the cold temperature of ancient folkes which hath come vpon them for many yeeres Of the vse of Wine But it should not be sufferable if we will follow the counsell of the elders for children and yoong folkes to drinke thereof till they attaine to the age of twentie yeeres For otherwise it is as much as to put fire to fire And yet if we would follow the counsell of the Sages it should not be drunke at all except in certaine indispositions which might happen to the bodie according as the vse was in times past in Greece namely at Athens where wine was onely sold in Apothecaries shops as Aqua-vitae now is But aboue all heed must be taken that in the great heat of the yeere wine bee not drunke that is cooled by snow yee or verie cold water as we see by great curiositie done among vs. For it greatly hurteth the braine the sinewes the breast the lungs the stomacke the bowels the spleene liuer reines bladder and teeth And therefore it is no maruell if they which ordinarily vse it are in time tormented with the colicke and paine of the stomacke also with conuulsions palsies apoplexies difficultie in breathing restrainment of vrine stoppings of the inward members the dropsie and many other great and dangerous diseases Of Aquauitae and the manner how to distill it It resteth for conclusion of this discourse that wee say somewhat concerning wine distilled through a limbecke in a bathe of water which the Sages haue called for the admirable vertues thereof Water of Life For to make which Take of the best wine a certaine quantitie according to the vessel wherein you will distill it
c. 21. Plinie describeth the Vnicorne to haue a bodie altogether like an horse an head like an hart feete of an Elephant and the taile of a bore bearing an horne in the midst of his front of two cubits in length and he saith that these beasts are nourished in the lande of the Orsians in India Lewes de Barthema in his nauigations into Arabia affirmeth that he did at Meca see two Vnicornes and saith that the bodie and colour of this beast is like an horse of a darke gray hauing feet clouen before and hoofed like a goat And that these two beasts had been giuen to the Soldan of Meca for a verie rich and precious present by a king of Aethiopia to the ende to haue peace with him Lib. 1. de obseruat c. 14. Belon hath obserued out of the testimonies of diuers authors that there are two sorts of beasts who beare one horne onely one of which is the Asse of India which hath not clouen feete and the other is the Orix being a kinde of goate that hath clouen feete And he maketh mention of manie Vnicornes hornes esteemed to be of verie great price especially of two which are in the treasurie of Saint Marks at Venice each of them being of a cubit and halfe long the greatest ende whereof exceedeth not aboue three inches ouer He speaketh also of that which our king hath which is at Saint Denis being seuen foote long and waigheth thirteene pounds and fower ounces in fashiō like a taper being broad at the lower end about a plame and three fingers and so groweth lesse and lesse towards the ende and hath a pit in the great ende aboue a foot deepe which is the place wherein the bone is fastned that holds it firme to the head of the beast that beareth it But this author doth mocke at the folly of those who many times doe buie pieces of bone which are cut of the teeth of the Rohart of the hornes and ribs of many other beasts for true Vnicornes horne paying sometimes for one of these little pieces three hundred ducats so much is Vnicornes horne esteemed being most excellent for many vses in phisicke Theuet also flouteth at these abuses Lib. 5. de co●mog and at many fables inuented vpon this matter alleaging that he had seene an horne taken from a beast of a cleane contrarie shape to that which the Vnicorne is described to be of whereto the same vertue was neuerthelesse attributed And that the countrey of the Sauages breedeth a beast called Pyrassouppi as big as the foale of a Mule hauing almost such an head as rough as a Beare and clouen footed like an Hart which beareth two long straight hornes that do come neere to Vnicornes horne and wherewith the Sauages cure themselues when they be bitten and wounded by venemous beasts and fishes But now chaunge we our talke and ACHITOB let vs heare you speake againe concerning some of the most rare and worthie beasts of the Earth Of the Hiena or Ciuet-cat of the Muske-cat of the Beuer and of the Otter Chap. 88. ACHITOB IF in all our discourses we haue any woorthy matter wherein to admire the workes of God in the nature which he hath ordained vnto them wee shall finde no lesse in the consideration of these whereof I purpose now to speake the odour of whom is very sweete And amongst the rest the Ciuet cat called by ancients the Hiena is woorthie of great maruell For from her commeth an excrement so odoriferous that assoone as it is smelt doth pierce through all the senses and spirits and serueth to compose verie excellent perfumes Of the Hiena This beast is fashioned like a Bedouant but of bigger bodie hauing blacke haires about her necke along the ridge of her backe which she setteth vpright being angrie She is mouthed like a cat and hath fierie and redde eies with two blacke spots vnder them and round eares like vnto those of a Badger Besides she hath white haire full of blacke spots vpon her bodie with a long taile blacke aboue but hauing some white spots vnderneath The ancients haue spoken of this beast as of a wilde cat Lib. 9. and Iohn Leo in his description of Africke doth name her so saying that she is common in the woods of Aethiopia where the people do catch her with her yoong whom they nourish in cages with milke and porridge made of branne and flesh and that they receiue ciuet from her twise or thrise a day which is the sweate of this beast for they beate her with a little sticke making her leape vp and downe about the cage till such time as she doth sweate which they take off from vnder her thighes ● Lib. obseru ● 20. and taile and that is it which is called ciuet Belon reporteth to haue seene one in Alexandria so tame that playing with men she would bite their noses eares and lips without doing them any harme and that she was alwaies nourished with womens milke Mathiolus likewise saith that he hath seene manie Ciuet cats at Venice which had bin brought out of Syria and attributeth certaine properties to their excrements for which cause they haue beene more sought after now then in the daies of our fathers so that they are nourished at this day euen in France Lib. 1. de Dici c. 20. De. subt lib. 10. Cardanus also maketh mention of a beast called Zibetum which is found in Spaine that is like to a cat and carieth a bladder in her members the seede whereof is receiued into a spoone being of so excellent an odour that three drops thereof surmounteth the waight of three pounds of anie odoriferous tree But the Musk-cat doth yet surpasse all other odour Of the Musk-catte and meriteth all maruell in the nature thereof For it is a beast like vnto a goate in forme and haire but that she is of a more blewish colour and hath but one horne and is bigger of bodie There are many in Africa but chiefly in Tumbasco and Sini When this beast is in rutte with the heate and rage that he then endureth his nauell swelleth and filleth it selfe with a certaine bloud in manner of an impostume which at length through much wallowing and rubbing against trees he maketh to breake out of which runneth this bloud being halfe corrupted which in tract of time becommeth very odoriferous And the people of the country do gather it amongst stones or vpon the stocks of trees as the best muske that is bicause it is full ripe after that it hath rested some certaine time out of the bodie of the beast which engendreth it and that it hath beene perfectly concocted by the sunne which the other muske cannot be that is taken out of the liuing beast after that it is catched in chase And therefore this most precious muske is shut vp and reserued in boxes and in the bladders of such of these beasts as haue at any time beene taken