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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	cold_a	hot_a	moist_a	5,424	5	10.2024	5	true

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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

of time wherein their rage sheweth it selfe by byting and when not but also the difference of place and region for that they byte in some Countries and not in other When they haue bitten there followeth a vehement payne and s●abbe vppon the place for the cure whereof there must be taken a decoction of Frogges and the broth must be drunke and the flesh applyed to the sore or else other common remedies against the poyson prescribed in the Treatise following The poyson hereof is great and not inferiour to the poyson of any other Serpent for sometimes by creeping vpon Apple-trees it infecteth and poysoneth all the fruite so that those which eate the same dye and languish they know not whereof and if the heele of a man doe but touch any small part or portion of the spettle of a Salamander it maketh all the hayre of the body to fall of The poyson it selfe is not cold as some haue thought but hote like to the poyson of Cantharides and therefore to be cured by the same meanes as by vomits Glysters Ephemeron and such like Onely Swyne doe eate Salamanders without harme or damage for there is in them a kinde of resistance in nature and yet if man or dogge doe chaunce to eate of that Swyne that hath eaten a Salamander it hath beene obserued that they perrished by the same And this poyson spreadeth it selfe the further when it is dead because it is strengthened by putrefaction and wine or water wherin one of these lyeth dead is empoysoned made mortall thereby to others But in our dayes Salamanders are not so venomous if there be any credite in Brasauolus howbeit I haue heard and read that if at this day a Salamander g●… heape of corne she so infecteth it that whatsoeuer eateth of that Corne dyetl sit were of poyson and the Kine of Helueria which are sucked by Salamanders doe euer after remaine barren and without milke and sometime also they dye of that euill And as Arnoldus writeth it casteth forth a certaine mattery white humour like milke out of the mouth wherevpon if a man or any other liuing creature doe but tread he is poysoned thereby and at the least all the hayre of their body falleth off and in like sort they in●ect herbes plants of the earth by theyr poyson Sometimes it happeneth that beasts or men haue swallowed Salamanders and then the tongue is inflamed and all the body falleth into grieuous torment by cold corruption and putrefaction part after part and also paines in the fundament in the stomack likewise dropsies and impostumation in the belly crampe of the guttes and relention of vrine For the cure whereof they giue sweete water Calamynts Saint Iohns-wort ●od with the shells Pine-apples leafes of Cypresse Galbanus and hony or Rozen Ammoniacke and Styrax New cow-milke the meale made of flax-seede with sweete water sweet wine and oyle to cause vomits Scammony a decoction of Calamints and figges fatte Ba●on or hogges-flesh and also the egges of a Torteyse with the flesh thereof besides infinite other remedies ordained by the goodnesse of Almighty God as Phisitians knowe by their owne studie and daily experiments And therefore I hold it sufficient for mee to haue lightly touched them referring those that are desirous to know more vnto the learned collection of Carromus Out of the Salamander it selfe arise also some medicines for it hath a septick power to eate and corrode to take away hayres and the powder thereof cureth cornes and hardnes in the feete The hart tyed to the wrist in a blacke skinne taketh away a quartane-Ague and also Kiradides writeth that being bound vnto a womans thigh it stayeth her monthlie flowers and keepeth her barren But this is worthily reproued for vntruth and therefore I will not commend it to the Reader And thus much for the Salamander OF THE SCORPION SCorpios in Greeke is attributed both to the Scorpion of the Land and of the Sea although some-times for difference sake the scorpions of the earth be called Scorpios chersaios The deriuation is manifold according to some Writers either of Scorpizein ton+'ion that is dispersing his poyson or of Sckanoos erpein because the motion of it is oblique inconstant and vncertaine like as the flame of fire beaten with a small wind The Graecians also vse for a Scorpion Blestas because it casteth poyson octopos from the number of his eight feete And in Ethyopia there is a kind of Scorpion which the Greeks call Sybritae The Latines doe vse indifferently Scorpius Seorpio nepa Cancer also vinula and Geptaria as we find in Ponzettus The Arabians haue many words as Harrab Acrob Achrach and Satoracon Hacparab algerarat algeterat and algenat and alkatareti for little Scorpions which draw their tayles after them Howbeit among these names also Algarat signifieth that little kind of scorpions Algararat the Scorpion with bunches on his backe The Hebrewes according to the opinion of some call a Scorpion Acchabim The Italians Scurtigicio and Scorpione terrestre The French Vn scorpion the Spanyards Alacram alacrani which name they haue also giuen to an Iland in the west-Indies subiect to their dominion In Castilia it is called Escorpion and in Germany Ein scorpion The Countries which breed Scorpions are these that follow in Egypt neere the Citty Coptus are many very great and pestilent stinging Scorpions who kill as soone as they smite Also Ethyopia and Numidia abound with Scorpions especially the latter wherin as writeth Leo Affric are euery yeere found very many that die of their wounds Tenas one of the Cyclades Ilands is called Ophiessa because it yeeldes many Serpents and Scorpions Also in that part of Mauritania which is neere the vvest are Scorpions with wings and without wings likewise in Iberia Caria Lybia And it is also said that once there were many Scorpions brought into India into that part of the Country where the Rhicophagi dwell By the way betwixt Susis in Persia and Media there were wont to abound Scorpions vnder euery stone and turffe for which cause when the King of Persia was wont to goe into Media he gaue commaundement vnto his people to scoure the way by vsing all meanes to kill them giuing gifts to them that killed the greatest number of Scorpions There is an auncient towne in Affricke called Pescara wherein the abundance of Scorpions do so much harme that they driue away the inhabitants all the Sommer-time euery yeere vntill Nouember following And in like sort Diodorus declareth of many other places vtterly forsaken to auoyd the multitude of Scorpions as namely one part of Arabia and the region of India about Arrhatan or the riuer Estumenus likewise neere the Cynamolgi in Ethyopia There is also a Citty called Alabanda standing betwixt two hills or mountaines like as a chest turned inward which Apollonius calleth Cistam inuersam Scorpionibus plenam a chest turned inward full of Scorpions In an Island of

their meate instantly leape out and so the man that deluded them is ready with a paire of tonges or other instrument to lay hold vpon them and take them by which meanes they take many and of them so taken make oyle of Scorpions And Constantius writeth that if a mans hand be well annointed with iuyce of Radish he may take them without danger in his bare hand In the next place we are to proceede to the venom poyson of Scorpions the instrument or sting whereof lyeth not onely in the tayle but also in the teeth for as Ponzettus writeth Laedit scorpius morsu ictu the Scorpion harmeth both with teeth tayle that is although the greatest harme doe come by the sting in the tayle yet is there also some that cōmeth by their byting This poyson of Scorpions as Pliny out of Apollodorus writeth is white and in the heate of the day is very feruent and plentifull so as at that time they are insatiably and vnquenchably thirsty for not onely the wild or wood Scorpion but also all other are of a hot nature and the symptomes of their bytings are such as follow the effects of hote poysons and therefore saith Rasis all their remedies are of a colde qualitie Yet Galen thinketh otherwise and that the poyson is cold and the effects thereof are also cold For which cause Rondeletus prescribeth oyle of Scorpions to expell the stone and also the cure of the poyson is by strong Garlicke and the best Wine which are hote things And therefore I conclude that although Scorpions be most hote yet is their poyson of a cold nature In the next place I thinke is needfull to expresse the symptomes following the striking or stinging of these venomous Scorpions and they are as Aetius writeth the very same which follow the byting or poyson of that kinde of great Phalanx Spyder called also Teragnatum and that is they are in such case as those persons be which are smitten with the Falling-sicknesse He which is stung by a Scorpion thinketh that he is pressed with the fall of great and cold hayle beeing so cold as if hee were continually in a cold sweat and so in short space the poyson disperseth it selfe vvithin the skinne and runneth all ouer the body neuer ceasing vntill it come to possesse some predominant or principall vitall part and then followeth death For as the skinne is small and thin so the sting pierceth to the bottom thereof and so into the flesh where it woundeth and corrupteth eyther some veyne or arterie or sinew and so the member harmed swelleth immediatly into an exceeding great bulke and quantity and aking with insufferable torment But yet as we haue already said there is a difference of the paine according to the difference of the Scorpion that stingeth If a man be stung in the lower part of his body instantly followeth the extension of his virile member the swelling thereof but if in the vpper part then is the person affected with cold and the place smitten is as if it were burned his countenaunce or face discorted glewish spots about the eyes the teares viscous and slymie hardnes of the articles falling downe of the fundament and a continuall desire to egestion foaming at the mouth coughing conuulsions of the braine and drawing the face backward the hayre standes vpright palenesse goeth ouer all the body and a continuall pricking like the pricking of needels Also Gordomus writeth that if the pricke fall vppon an artery there followeth swouning but if on a nerue there speedily followeth putrefaction and rottennesse And those Scorpions which haue wings make wounds with a compasse like a bow whose succeeding symptomes are both heate and cold and if they hurt about the caniculer dayes their wounds are very sildome recouered The Indian Scorpions cause death three months after their wounds But most wonderfull is that which Strabo relateth of the Albenian Scorpions and Spyders whereof hee saith are two kinds and one kind killeth by laughing the other by weeping And if any Scorpion hurt a vaine in the head it causeth death by madnesse as writeth Paracelsus When an oxe or other beast is strooken with a Scorpion his knees are drawne together and he halteth refusing meate out of his nose floweth a greene humour and when hee is layd he careth not for rising againe These and such like are the symptomes that follow the bytings and stingings of Scorpions for the cure whereof I will remit the Reader to that excellent discourse written by Wolphius wherein are largely and learnedly expressed whatsoeuer Art could collect out of nature And seeing we in our Country are free from Scorpions and therefore shal haue no neede to feare their poyson it shall not I trust offend my Reader if I cut off the relation of Scorpions cures as a thing which cannot benefit either the English-Reader or else much adorne this history and so I will proceede to the medicines drawne out of Scorpions The application or vse of Scorpions in medicine is eyther by powder or by oyle or by applying them brused to their owne wounds wherefore euery one of these are to be handled particularly and first of all for the powder it is made by vstion or burning in this manner They take tenne Scorpions and put them aliue into a new earthen potte whose mouth is to be dammed vp with loame or such like stuffe then must it be sette vpon a fire of Vine-tree-shreddes and therein must the pot stand day and night vntill all within it be consumed to powder and you shall know by their white colour when they be enough otherwise if they be browne or burned they must be continued longer and the vse of this powder is to expell the stone Againe they vse to make this powder another way they take twentie Scorpions and put them in a little earthen pot with a narrow mouth which mouth must be stopped and then the potte put into a Furnace by the space of sixe houres which Furnace must also be kept close within and with a gentle fire then after sixe houres take off the pot and bruse the Scorpions into powder and keepe that powder for the vse afore-said There are other waies also to prepare this powder but in all preparations the attendant and assistant must take heede of the fume or smoake that commeth from it for that is very venomous and contagious But besides there are many things to be obserued heerein as first that the Scorpions be aliue and that they be killed in oyle then that they be put in whole with euery member without mutilation and that the Scorpions appointed for this confection be of the strongest poyson and the time of their collection to be when the Sunne is in Leo and not in Scorpius as some without reason haue imagined The oyle so made is distinguished into two kindes one simple and the other compound The simple is made of a conuenient number of Scorpions as

S. Roch the pestilence notwithstanding that S. Sebastian hath some skill in it also Saint Cosmus and Damian are good for all byles and swelling diseases S. Iob for the pocks S. Appolin for the tooth-ach S. Petronella can driue away all manner of Agues And S. Vitus or Vitulus we may well call him S. Calfe that in times past excelled in the musicall Art doth direct all Dauncers or such as will leap or vault So that if this Saint be invocated and pacified with musicall harmonie and melodious sound of instruments he will be an excellent Apothecarie Doctor for the curation of any that are wounded with a Tarantula Supersticious people fondly imputing that to the Patron and Proctor some-times of Musick which ought rather to be attributed to Musicke it selfe and motion of the body Dioscorides concerning the common bytings of hurtfull Spyders or Phalangies vvriteth thus The accidents saith he that doe accompany the bytings of Spyders are these that follow The wounded place waxeth red yet doth it not swell nor grow very hot but it is some-what moyst If the body become cold there will follow trembling and shaking the groyne and hammes doe much stroute out are exceeding distended there is great prouocation to make water and striuing to exonerate nature they sweat with much difficultie labour and paine Besides the hurt persons are all of a cold sweat and teares destill from their eyes that they grow dym-sighted there-with Aetius further addeth that they can take no rest or sleepe sometimes they haue erection of the yarde and the heade itcheth other-whiles the eyes and calfes of the legges grow hollow and lanke the bellie is stretched out by meanes of wind the whole body is puffed vppe but in especiall the face they make a maffeling with theyr mouth and stammer so that they cannot distinctly be vnderstood Some-times they can hardly voyd vrine they haue great paine in the lower parts the vrine that they make is waterish and as it were full of Spyders-webbes the part affected hath a great pricking and swelling which Dioscorides as you reade a little before will by no meanes yeeld to and it is a little red Thus farre Aetius from whom Paulus Aegineta Actuarius Ardoynus and some others differ but a little In Zacynthus an I le in the Ionian-Sea on the West of Peloponesus if any there be hurt of a Phalangium they are otherwise and more grieuously tormented then in any other place for there the body groweth stiffe and benummed besides it is very weake trembling and exceeding cold They suffer also vomiting with a spasme or crampe and inflamation of the virge besides an intollerable paine in their eares and soales of their feete The people there doe cure themselues by bathes into which if any sound man after that doe enter to wash himselfe or be drawne into the same by any guile or deceitfull meanes hee will foorth-with fall into the same greefes passions that the other sicke patient endured before he receiued remedie And the like to this writeth Dioscorides in his Chapter of Trifolium asphaltites in these words following The decoction saith he of the whole plant beeing vsed by way of fomentation bathing or soking the body ceaseth all those paines which are caused by the byting or stinging of any venomous Serpent and with the same bathing or fomenting whatsoeuer vlcerous persons shall vse or wash himselfe withall he will be affected and haue the same accidents as he that hath beene bitten of a Serpent Galen in his booke De Theciaca ad Pisonem ascribeth this to miracle accounting it a thing exceeding common reason and nature but I stand in doubt that that Booke vvas neuer Galens but rather fathered vpon him by some other man And yet Aelianus writeth more miraculously whē he affirmeth that this hapneth to some helthy persons such as be in good plight state of body neuer so much as making any mention of vlcer or sore Thus much of the symptomes accidents passions or effects which sticke and waite vpon those that are hurt by Spyders And now come I to the cure The generall cure according to the opinion of Dioscorides is that first there must be scarification made vpon the wounded place and that often and cupping-glasses must as often be applyed and fastened with much flame to the part affected Absyrtus counsell is to make a fumigation with egge-shells first steeped in water and then beeing cast on the coales with Harts-horne or Galbanum to perfume the venomed part there-with After that to vse sacrifications to let bloud or to sucke the place or to draw out the venom with cupping-glasses or which is the safest course of them all to apply an actuall cautery except the place affected be full of sinnewes Lastly to prouoke sweat well either in bed couering the patient well with cloathes or it is better by long and easie walking to procure sweating In some to attaine to the perfect curation you must worke both with inward outward meanes such as here shall be prescribed and set before your eyes whereof the most choyce and approued I haue set downe for the benefit of the Reader and first I wil beginne with Dioscorides Inward Medicines out of Dioscorides TAke of the seedes of Sothern-wood Annise Dill the wilde Cicer of the fruite of the Cedar-tree Plantine and Trifolie of each a like quantity beate them to powder by themselues before you doe mixe them The dose is two drammes to be taken in Wine Likewise one dramme of the seedes of Tamariske drunke in Wine is very effectuall Some vse a decoction of Chamaepytis and the greene Nuts of the Cipres-tree in Wine There be some which prayse the iuyce of Croy-fishes to be taken with Ashes Milke and Smallage-seede and this Medicine experience hath approoued and confirmed for the ceasing of all paynes Lye made of Figge-leaues is drunke with good successe against all bytings of Spyders It is good also to take the fruite of the Turpentine-tree Bay-berries leaues of the Balme and the seedes of all sorts of Carrets or to drinke the iuyce of Mirtle-berries of the berries of Iuy or Mull-berries the iuyce of Colewort-leaues and of Cliues or Goose-grease with Wine or Vineger A dramme of the leaues of Beane-Trifoly drunke in wine the decoction of the rootes of a Sparagus Iuyce of Sen-greene or any opening iuyce is good for the same Some vse with very good successe the leaues of the Hearbe called Balme with Niter and Mallowes boyled both leafe and roote and so taken often in a potion The leaues of the Hearbe called Phalangium with his floures and seedes The seedes of Nigella also serue to the same end Medicines out of Galen TAke of Aristolochia of Opium of eyther alike much foure drammes of the roots of Pelletorie of Spayne three drams Make thereof Trochisces to the quantitie of a Beane The dose is two Trochisces with three ounces of pure wine The Ashes of a Ramms hoofe tempored with Hony

the Scorpion to be of a cold nature and his poyson to be cold therfore by reason of the antipathy whereby one dyed by the malice of another it must needes follovv that the Viper is hot and her poyson likewise of the same nature For a Serpent of a cold nature killeth not another of the same nature nor a hot Serpent one of his owne kind but rather it falleth out cleane contrarie that the hot kill those that are colde and the cold Serpents the hoter All the Vipers that liue neere the vvaters are of more mild and meeke poyson then others If there be any such but I rather beleeue there be none but that the same Authour which wrote of the vipers of the water did intend Serpents of the water But concerning the poyson of vipers there is nothing reported more strange then that of Vincentius Belluacensis who writeth that if a man chaunce to tread vpon the reynes of a Viper vnawares it paineth him more then any venome for it spreadeth it selfe ouer all the body incurably Also it is written that if a woman with childe chaunce to passe ouer a viper it causeth her to suffer abortment and the Mushroms or Toade-stooles which grow neere the dennes and lodgings of vipers are also found to be venomous The Scythians also do draw an incurable and vnresistable poyson out of vipers where-withall they annoynt the sharpe ends of their darts and arrowes when they goe to vvarre to the end that if it chaunce to light vppon their aduersary hee may neuer any more doe them harme They make this poyson in this manner They obserued the lyttering places and time of the vipers and then with strength and Art did take the old young ones together which they presently killed and afterward suffered them to lye and rot or soake in some moyst thing for a season then they tooke them and put them into an earthen pot filled with the blood of some one man this potte of mans blood and vipers they stopped very close so as nothing might issue out at the mouth and then buried or couered it all ouer in a dunghill where it rotted and consumed a few dayes after which they vncouered it againe and opening it found at the toppe a kind of watery substance swymming that they take off and mixe it with the rotten matter of the Viper heereof make this deadly poyson Wee haue shewed already that there is outwardly a difference betwixt the byting wound of the Male and the Female viper for after the male hath bitten there appeareth but two holes but after the female hath bytten there appeareth foure and this is also a great deale more deadly then is the byting of the male according to the verses of Nicander where he saith Porrò ex Vipereo quod noris germine peior Foemina quae veluti maiori accenditur ira Sic vehemente magis fert noxia vulner a morsu Et plus glicenti se cauda corpore voluit Vnde citatior hac ict as mors occupat artus Which may be englished thus But of the Vipers broode the female is the worst Which as it were with greater wrath doth burne And therefore when she bytes makes bodies more accurst Inflicting hurtfull wounds to vehemency turnd Rowling her bulke and tayle more oft about Whereby a speedier death doth life rydde out But Auicen is directly contrary to this opinion and saith that as the bytings of male-Dragons are more exitiall and harmefull then are the females so is it betwixt the byting of the male and female Viper This contrarietie is thus reconciled by Mercuriall namely that it is true that the wounds which the female maketh by her byting beeing well considered is more deadly then the wounds which the male giueth yet for the proportion of the poyson which the male venteth into the wound he maketh it is more deadly then is the females so that with respect of quantitie they both say true which affirme eyther the one or the other But which soeuer is the greatest it skilleth not much for both are deadly enough as may appeare by the common symptomes and signes which follow and also death Matthiolus reporteth a history of a Country-man who as hee was mowing of grasse chaunced to cut a Viper cleane asunder about the middle or some-what neerer the head which beeing done hee stoode still and looked vppon the dying disseuered parts a little while at last eyther presuming that it had no power left to hurt or thinking it was dead he tooke that part in his hand where-vpon the head was the angry viper feeling his aduersaries warme hand turned the head about and bitte his finger with all the rage force and venome that it had left so that the blood issued out The man thus bitten for his boldnesse did hastily cast it away began to sucke the wound putting his hand to his mouth which when he had done but a little while he suddenly fell downe dead The like story vnto this is related by Amatus Lusitanas of another which more boldly then wisely did aduenture to take a liue viper into his hand vppon a wager of money but as the other so this payd for his rashnes for the angry Viper did byte him as did the former and hee sucked his wound as did the Country-man and in like maner fell downe dead By both which examples wee may well see the danger of the Vipers poyson so that if once it come into the stomacke and touch the open passage where the vitall parts goe in and out it neuer stayeth long but death followeth Wherefore Aetius saith well that sometimes it killeth within the space of seauen houres and sometimes againe within the space of three dayes and that respite of time seemeth to be the longest if remedie be not had with more effectuall speede The signes or effects of the Vipers byting are briefely these first there issueth foorth a rotten matter some-times bloody and some-times like liquid or molten fatnesse some-times againe with no colour at all but all the flesh about the sore swelleth sometimes hauing a redde and some-time a pale hiew or colour vppon it issuing also foorth a corrupted mattery matter Also it causeth diuers little blysters to arise vppon the flesh as though the body were all scorched ouer with fire and speedily after this followeth putrefaction and death The paine that commeth by this Serpents wounding is so vniuersall that all the body seemeth to be set on fire many pittifull noyses are forced out of the parties throat by sence of that paine turning and crackling of the necke also twinckling and wrying of the eyes wih darknesse and heauinesse of the head imbecility of the loynes some-times thirsting intollerably crying out vpon his dry throate and againe some-times freezing at the fingers ends at least so as hee feeleth such a payne Moreouer the body sweating a sweat more cold then snow it selfe and many times vomiting forth the bilious tumours of

young a great vertue and sildome seene in the parents of this age For Bees doe sitte vpon theyr combes when they haue laid their increase almost like vnto birds neither wil they stirre from thence but in case of pinching hunger returning out of hand to their breeding place againe as though they were afeard least that by any long stay and absence the vvorke of their little cell might be couered ouer by some Spyders web which often happeneth or the young by taking cold might be endangered Their young ones be not very nice or tender nor cockeringly brought vp for being but bare three dayes old as soone as euer they begin to haue wings they enioyne them their taske haue an eye to thē that they be not idle though neuer so little They are so excellent in diuination that they euen feele afore-hand and haue a sence of taine and cold that is to come for then euen by Natures instinct they fly not far from home and when they take their iourney to seeke for theyr repast which is neuer done at any set and ordinary time but onely in faire weather they take paines continually and diligently without any stay beeing laden with such plentie of hony that oftentimes being ouer-wearied they faint in their returne to their own priuate cotages not beeing able to attaine them And because some of them in regard of their roughnes are vnfit to labour by rubbing their bodies against stones and other hard matter they are smoothed afterwards addressing themselues most stourly to their businesse The younger sort bestirre thē right doutelie without dores bringing to the hiue all that is needfull The elder looke to the family placing in due order that hony which is gathered and wrought by the middle-aged Bees In the morning they be all very silent till one of them awaken all the rest with his thrise humming noyse euery one bustling himselfe about his owne proper office and charge Returning at night they are as it were in an vproare at the first and after that they make a little muttering or murmuring among themselues vntill the principall officer appointed for setting of the watch by his flying round about and his soft and gentle noyse dooth as it were couertly and priuily charge them in their kings name to prepare themselues to rest and so this token being giuen they are as silent as fishes so that laying ones ●are to the mouth of the hiue you shall hardly perceiue any the least noyse at all so dutifull they are to their Kings officers and rulers reposing themselues wholie in his bookes fauour and pleasure And now I will intreate of theyr excellencie and vse Whereas the Almightie hath ●…ared all things for the vse seruice of 〈◊〉 so especially among the rest hath he made Bees not onely that they should be v●… vs patternes and presidents of politicall and oeconomicall vertues of the which before I haue discoursed but euen Teachers and Schoolemaisters instructing vs in certain diuine knowledge and like extraordinary prophets premonstrating the successe e●ent of things to come For in the yeeres 90. 98. 113. 208. before the birth of our blessed Sauiour vvhen as great swarmes of Bees lighted in the publique and oxe-market vpon 〈◊〉 houses of priuate Cittizens and the Chappell of Mars many conspiracies and tr●●ons were intended against the state at Rome with which the common-wealth was well-nigh deceiued insnared yea and ouerthrowne In the dayes of Seuerus the Emperour Bees made their combes in the Ensignes banners and standerds of the souldiers and most of all in the campe of Niger after which ensued diuers conflicts betwixt the Armies of Seuerus Niger Fortune for a time imparting her fauours equally to them both but at length Seuerus side carried away the bucklers Swarmes of Bees also filled the Statuaes which were set vp in al Hetruria representing Antonius Pius and after that they fell in the campe of Cassius and what hurly burlies after that followed Iulius Capitolinus will resolue you At which time also a great number of Romans were intrapped and slaine by an ambush of Germaines in Germany P Fabius and Q Elius beeing Consuls It is written that a swarme lighted in the tent of Hostilius Rutilus who was in the Army of Drusus and did there hang after such a maner as they did enclose round his speare which was fastened to his pauilion as if it had beene a rope hanging downe M Lepidus and Munatius Plancus beeing Consuls Also in the consulship of L Paulus and Caius Metellus a swarme of Bees flying vp and downe presignified the enemy at hand as the Soothsayers well diuined Pompey likewise warring against Caesar when for the pleasuring of his friends he had set his Army in aray going out of Pyrrhaciū Bees met with him darkened e●en the very ancients with their great multitude We read in the histories of the Heluetians how that in the yere of our Lord God 1385. when Leopold of Austrich prepared to goe against Sempach with an host of men being yet in his iourny a swarme of Bees fled to the towne and there rested vpon a certaine great tree called Tilia wherevpon the vulgar sort rightly fore-told the comming of some strange people to them So likewise Virgill in the 7. booke of his Aeneades seemeth to describe the comming of Aeneas into Italy after this manner Lauri Huius Apes summum densae mirabile dictu Stridore Nigenti liquidum trans aethera vectae Obsedere api●em et pedibus per mutua nexis Examen subitò ramo frondente pependit Continuò vates externum cernimus inquit Aduenture virum that is A tale of wonder to be told there came a swarme of Bees Which with great noyse within the ayre a Bay-tree did attayne Where leg in leg they cleaped fast and top of all degrees O're-spread and suddenly a hiue of them remaind There hanging downe whereat the Prophet said Some stranger heere shall come to make vs all afraid Which thing also Herodotus Pausanias and diuers other Historiographers haue with greater obseruation then reason confirmed Laon Acraephniensis when he could not finde the Oracle of Trophonius by a swarme flying thither hee found the place In like sort the Nurses being absent Iupiter Melitaus Hiero the Siracussan Plato Pindarus Ambrosius were nourished by hony which Bees by little and little put in their mouthes as Plutarch Pausanias and Textor are Authors Zenophon likewise in his Oeconomicks termeth hony-making the shop of vertues and to it sendeth mothers of housholds to be instructed Poets gladly compare themselues with Bees who following Nature onely as a Schoole-mistres vseth no Art So Plato saith that Poets ruled by Art can neuer performe any notable matter And for the same reason Pindarus maketh his brags that hee was superiour to Bacchilides and Simonides hauing onely Nature not Art to his friend Bees vnlesse they be incensed to anger doe no hurt at all but being prouoked stirred vp they sting most sharply

vpon their aduersaries especially the Redde-Toade for looke howe much her colour inclineth to rednesse so much is her wrath and venome more pestilent If shee take hold of any thing in her mouth she will neuer let it goe till shee die and many times shee sendeth forth poyson out of her buttocks or backer parts where-withall she infecteth the ayre for reuenge of them that doe annoy her and it is well obserued that shee knoweth the weakenes of her teeth therefore for her defence she first of all gathereth abundance of ayre into her body where-withall she greatly swelleth and then by sighing vttereth that infected ayre as neere the person that offendeth her as she can and thus shee worketh her reuenge killing by the poyson of her breath The colour of this poyson is like milke of which I will speake afterward particularly by it selfe A Toade is of a most cold tempriament and badde constitution of nature it vseth one certaine herbe where-withall it preserueth the sight and also resisteth the poyson of Spyders whereof I haue heard this credible history related from the mouth of a true honourable man and one of the most charitable Peeres of England namely the good Earle of Bedford and I was requested to set it downe for truth for it may be iustified by manie now aliue which saw the same It fortuned as the said Earle trauailed in Bedfordshire neere vnto a Market-towne called Owbourne some of his company espyed a Toade fighting with a Spider vnder a hedge in a bottome by the high-way-side whereat they stood still vntill the Earle their Lord and Maister came also to behold the same and there he saw how the Spyder still kept her standing and the Toade diuers times went backe from the Spyder and did eate a peece of an herbe which to his iudgement was like a Plantine At the last the Earle hauing seene the Toade doe it often and still returne to the combat against the Spyder hee commaunded one of his men to goe and with his dagger to cutte off that herbe which he performed and brought it away Presently after the Toade returned to seeke it and not finding it according to her expectation swelled broke in peeces for hauing receiued poyson from the Spyder in the combat nature taught her the vertue of that herbe to expell and driue it out but wanting the herbe the poyson did instantly worke and destroy her And this as I am informed was oftentimes related by the Earle of Bedford himselfe vppon sundry occasions and therefore I am the bolder to insert it into this story I doe the more easily beleeue it because of another like history related by Erasmus in his booke of friendship hapning likewise in England in manner as followeth There was a Monke who had in his Chamber diuers bundles of greene-rushes where-withall he vsed to strow his chamber at his pleasure it hapned on a day after dinner that hee fell asleepe vpon one of those bundles of rushes with his face vpward and while he there slept a great Toade came and sate vpon his lyps bestryding them in such manner as his whole mouth was couered Now when his fellowes sawe it they were at their wits end for to ●…er her to stand still vppon his 〈…〉 one of them espying a Spiders 〈…〉 ●duise that the Monke should ●…ght vnderneath the Spyders●… and as soon as the Spyder saw her aduersa●… downe vpon the Toade at 〈…〉 so that it swelled and at the 〈…〉 Spyder kild the Toade and so 〈…〉 in his Chamber for at the third time 〈…〉 swelled to death but the man was pre●… 〈…〉 suffice for the antipathy nature betwixt the 〈…〉 ●…oade for as Albertus writeth he himselfe sawe a 〈…〉 bitterly for a Mole did hold her fast by the leg within 〈…〉 in againe whilst the other stroue to gette out of her teeth 〈…〉 Toades doe eate the Moles when they be dead They are 〈…〉 Lizard and all kinds of Serpents and whensoeuer it receiueth a●… it cureth itselfe by eating of Plantine The Cat doth also kill Ser●… but eateth them not and vnlesse she presently drinke she dyeth for it ●…nd the Hawke are destroyers of Toades but the Storke neuer destroyeth a 〈…〉 eate it except in extremitie of famine whereby is gathered the venomous na●… the Toade Now to conclude the premisses considered which haue beene said of the Toade the vses that are to follow are not many except those which are already related in the Frog When the Spanyards were in Bragua an Iland of the Newe-found-World they were brought to such extremitie of famine that a sicke-man amongst them was forced to eate two Toades which he bought for two peeces of Gold-lace worth in Spanish monie sixe Duckets I doe maruell why in auncient time the Kings of Fraunce gaue in their Armes the three Toades in a yellow fielde the which were afterwards changed by Clodoueus into three Flower-delusees in a field Azure as Armes sent vnto him from Heauen When the Troyans dwelt neere Moeetis after the destruction of Troy they were very much annoyed by the Gothes wherefore Marcomirus their King determined to leaue that Country and to seeke some-where else a more quiet habitation Being thus minded he was admonished by an Oracle that he should goe and dwell in that Country where the Riuer Rhene falleth into the Sea and he was also stirred vp to take vpon him that iourney by a certaine Magitian-woman called Alrunna for this cunning Woman caused in the night-time a deformed appartion to come vnto him hauing three heads one of an Eagle another of a Toade and the third of a Lyon and the Eagles head did speake vnto him in this manner Genus tuum ô Marcomire opprimet me et conculcabit Leonem et interficiet bufonem that is to say Thy stocke or posteritie ô Marcomirus shall oppresse mee it shall tread the Lyon vnder-foote and kill the Toade By which wordes hee gathered that his posteritie should rule ouer the Romans signified by the Eagle ouer the Germans signified by the Lyon and ouer the French signified by the Toade because the Toade as we haue said was the auncient Armes of Fraunce It is an opinion held by some Writers that the Weasels of the water doe ingender in copulation with the Toades of the water for in their mouthes and feete of theyr bellie they doe resemble them VVherevpon these verses were made Bufones gigno putrida tellure sepulta Humores pluvij forte quod ambo sumus Humet is et friget mea sic vis humet et alget Cum perit in terra quiprius ignis erat Which may be englished thus Buried in rotten earth forth Toades I bring Perhaps because we both are made of rayne That 's moyst and cold moyst I and euer freezing When in the earth that force from fire came And thus we will descend to discourse of the Toades poyson and of the speciall remedies appoynted for the same First therefore all manner of

of the iuyce of Raddish l. j. mixe them together for Iron beeing often quenched in this water will grow exceeding hard Another Take of Earth-wormes l. ij destill them in a Limbecke with an easie and gentle fire temper your yron in this destilled water Another Take of Goates blood so much as you please adding to it a little common salt then bury them in the earth in a pot well glased and luted for thirtie dayes together Then destill after this the same blood in Balneo to this destilled liquor adde so much of the destilled water of Earth-worms Another Take of Earth-wormes of the rootes of Apple-trees of Rapes of each a like-much destill them apart by themselues and in equall portions of this water so destilled and afterwards equally mixed quench your yron in it as is said before Antonynus Gallus It shall not be impertinent to our matter we handle to adde a word or two concerning those wormes that are found and doe breede in the snow which Theophanes in Strabo calleth Oripas but because it may seeme very strange incredible to think that any wormes breede and liue onely in the snow you shall heare what the Auncients haue committed to writing and especially Strabo his opinion concerning this poynt It is saith hee receiued amongst the greater number of men that in the snow there are certaine clots or hard lumpes that are very hollow which waxing hard and thicke doe containe the best vvater as it were in a certaine coate and that in this case or purse there doe breede vvormes Theophanes calleth them Oripas and Apollonides Vermes Aristotle saith that liuing creatures will breede also euen in those things that are not subiect to putrefaction as for example in the fire and snow which of all thinges in the world one would take neuer to be apt to putrefie and yet in old snowe Wormes will be bred Old snow that hath lyen long will looke some-what dunne or of a dullish white colour and therefore the snow-wormes are of the same hiew and likewise rough hairie But those snow-wormes which are found to breed when the ayre is somwhat warme are great and white in colour and all these snow-wormes will hardly stirre or mooue from place to place And Pliny is of the same iudgement and the Authour of that booke which is intituled De Plantis falsely fathered vpon Aristotle Yet some there be that denying all these authorities and reiecting whatsoeuer can be obiected for confirmation thereof to the contrarie doe stoutly maintaine by diuers reasons that creatures can breede in the snow because that in snow there is no heate and where no quickning heate is there can be no production of any liuing thing Againe Aristotle writeth that nothing will come of Ise because it is as hee saith most cold and heere-vpon they inferre that in all reason nothing likewise can take his beginning from snow neither is it credible that husbandmen would so often wish for snow in Winter to destroy and consume wormes and other little vermine that els would prooue so hurtfull to their corne and other fruites of the earth And if any wormes be found in the snow it followeth not straightwaies that therein they first receiue theyr beginning but rather that they first come out of the earth and are afterwards seene to be wrapped vp and lye on heapes in the snow But by their leaues these reasons are very weake and may readily be aunswered thus that whereas they maintaine that nothing can breede in the snow because it is voyd of any heate at all herein they build vpon a false ground For if wee will adhibite credite to Auerrhoes there is nothing compounded and made of the three Elements that is absolutely without heate And Aristotle in his fift booke De Generatione Animalium telleth vs precisely that there is no moysture without heate His wordes are Ouden hugron aneu thermou Now snow is a compact and fast congealed substance and some-what moyst for although it proceedeth by congelation which is nothing els but a kind of exsiccation yet notwithstanding the matter whereof it first commeth is a vapour whose nature is moyst and with little adoe may be turned into water I must needes say that congelation is a kind of exsiccation but yet not simply for exsiccation is when as humidity goeth away it putteth forth any matter but in snovv there is no humiditie that is drawne out but it is rather wrapped in and enclosed more strongly and as it were bounded round Furthermore Aristotle in his first booke of his Meteors saith that Snow is Nubes congelata a clowde congelated or thickned together and that in snow there is much heate And in his fift booke De Generatione Animalium he further addeth that the whitenes of the snow is caused by the ayre that the ayre is hot and moist and the snow is white where-vpon we conclude that snow is not so cold as some would beare vs in hand I well hold that nothing will take his originall from Ise inregard of his excessiue coldnes but yet snow is nothing nie so cold as that So then all the hinderance and let is found to exceede of cold which is nothing so effectuall or forceable as in Ise the cold beeing prooued to be farre lesser there can nothing be alleadged to the contrary but that it may putrefie Now in that snow is such an enemie to wormes and many other small creatures as that for the most part it destroyeth them yet it followeth not that the reason of Aristotle is quite ouer-throwne because as wee daily see that those creatures which liue in the ayre will for the most part be suffocate and dye in the water and contrariwise those that liue in the water cannot endure the ayre Yet here-vppon it followeth not that if they be choked in the water that none at all will liue in the water and the same reason is to be alleadged concerning the ayre Therefore it is no maruell if those wormes that first breede in the earth and liue in the earth be killed by the snow yet it necessarily followeth not that no liuing creature can take his first beeing either from or in the snow But if it can as Aristotle witnesseth it is so farre vnlikely that the same snow should be the destroyer of that it first was bred of as I thinke rather it cannot liue seperately but of necessitie in the same snow no otherwise then fishes can liue without water from which they first sprung and had theyr beginning And to this opinion leaneth Theophrastus in his first booke De Causis Plantarū whose words be these Apanta gar phainet ai ta zoa kai ta phuta kai diamenonta kai genomena en tois oikeiois capois For all creatures saith he whatsoeuer seeme both plants to remaine and to be generated and bred in their owne due and proper places And after this he addeth and vrgeth a little further Aparthe men hupo

King of India sent many great Vipers for a gyft vnto Augustus it is profitable to expresse the meanes whereby Vipers are safely taken without dooing any harme Wherefore Aristotle writeth that they are very much desirous of Wine and for that cause the Country-people set little vessels of vvine in the hedges and haunts of Vipers where-vnto the vipers comming easily drinke thēselues tame and so the Hunters come and kill them or else so take them as they are without danger of harme Pliny reporteth that in auncient time the Marsians in Lybia did hunt vipers and neuer receiued harme of them for by a secrete innate vertue all vipers serpents are afraid of their bodies as we haue already shewed in other places Yet Gallen in his discourse to Piso writeth that the Marsians in his time had no such vertue in them as hee had often tryed saue onely that they vsed a deceit or slight to beguile the people which vvas in this manner following Long after the vsuall time of hunting Vipers they vse to goe abroade to take them when there is no courage nor scant any venome left in them for the Vipers are then easily taken if they can be found and them so taken they accustome to their owne bodies by giuing them such meates as doth euacuate all their poyson or at the least-wise doth so stop vp their teeth as it maketh the harme very small and so the simple people beeing ignorant of this fraude and seeing them apparantly carrying vipers about them did ignorantly attribute a vertue to their natures which in truth did not belong vnto them In like manner there were as hath already in another place beene said certaine Iuglers in Italy which did boast themselues to be of the linage of Saint Paule who did so deceitfully carrie themselues that in the presence and sight of many people they suffered Vipers to bite them without any manner of harme Others againe when they had taken a Viper did drowne her head in mans spettle by vertue whereof the viper beganne to grow tame and meeke Besides this they made a certaine oyntment which they set foorth to sale affirming it to haue a vertue against the byting of Vipers and all other Serpents which oyntment was made in this manner Out of the oyle of the seede of Wild-radish of the rootes of Dragons the iuyce of Daffadill the braine of a Hare leaues of Sage sprigges of Bay and a few such other things whereby they deceiued the people and got much money and therefore to conclude I cannot find any more excellent way for the taking and destroying of vipers then that which is already expressed in the generall discourse of Serpents Wee doe reade that in Egypt they eate Vipers diuers other Serpents with no more difficultie then they would doe Eeles so doe many people both in the Easterne and weasterne parts of the New-found-Lands And the very selfe-same thing is reported of the Inhabitants of the Mountaine Athos the which meate they prepare and dresse on this manner First they cut off their heads and also their tayles then they bowell them and salt them after which they seeth them or bake them as a man would seeth or bake Eecles but some-times they hang them vppe and dry them and then when they take them downe againe they eate them with Oyle Salt Annyseedes Leckes and vvater with some such other obseruations Whose dyet of eating vipers I doe much pittie if the want of other foode constraine them there-vnto but if it arise from the insatiable and greedy intemperancie of their owne appetites I iudge them eager of dainties which aduenture for it at such a market of poyson Now it followeth that wee proceede to the handling of that part of the Vipers storie which concerneth the venome or poyson that is in it which must beginne at the consideration of themperament of this Serpent It is some question among the learned vvhether a viper be hot or cold and for aunswere heereof it is said that it is of cold constitution because it lyeth hid and almost dead in the Winter-time wherein a man may carry them in his hands without all hurt or danger vnto this opinion for this selfe same reason agreeth Gallen Mercuriall maketh a treble diuersitie of constitution among Serpents whereof the first sort are those which with their wound doe infuse a mortall poyson that killeth instantly and without delay a second sort are those that kill but more leysurelie without any such speede and the third are those whose poison is more slow in operation then is the second among which he assigneth the Viper But although by this slownes of operation hee would inforce the coldnes of the poyson yet it is alwaies to be considered that the difference of vipers and of their venome ariseth from the place and Region in which they are bredde and also from the time of the yeere wherein they byte wound so that except they fortune to hurt any one during the time of the Caniculer dayes in which season their poyson is hotest and themselues most full of spyrit the same it but weake and full of deadnes And againe it is to be considered whether the viper harme in her moode and furie for anger doth thrust it foorth more fully and causeth the same to worke more deadly Likewise the Region wherein they liue begetteth a more liuely working spirit in the Serpent and therefore before all other the Vipers of Numidia are preferred because of the heate of that Country Also their meate causeth in them a difference of poyson for those that liue in the woods and eate Toades are not so vigorous or venomous but those that liue in the mountaines and eate the rootes of certaine herbes are more poysonfull and deadly And therefore Cardan relateth a story which he saith was told him by a Phaenecian that a Mountaine-Viper chased a man so hardly that he was forced to take a tree vnto the which when the Viper was come and could not climbe vppe to vtter her malice vppon the man she emptied the same vppon the Tree and by and by after the man in the tree dyed by the sauour and secret operation of the same But of the Arabian Vipers which haunt the Baulsom-trees I haue read that if at any time they byte they onely make a wound like the pricks of yron voyde of poyson because while they sucke in the iuyce of that tree the acerbitie and strength of the venom is abated About the Mountaine Helycon in Greece the poyson also of Vipers is infirme and not strong so that the cure thereof is also ready and easie But yet for the nature of Vipers poyson I can say no more thē Wolphius hath said that it is of it selfe and in it selfe considered hot and his reason is because hee saw a combat in a glasse betwixt a Viper and a Scorpion and they both perished one by the others poyson Now he saith that it is granted