as if they were but newly made considering the places where they be so ruinat and vncouered ouer head Semblably at Lanuvium there remaine yet two pictures of lady Atalanta and queen Helena close one to the other painted naked by one and the same hand both of them are for beauty incomparable and yet a man may discerne the one of them to be a maiden for her modest and chaste countenance which pictures notwithstanding the ruins of the temple where they stand are not a whit disfigured or defaced Of late daies Pontius lieutenant vnder C. Caligula the Emperor did what he could to haue remoued them out of the place and carried them away whole and entire vpon a wanton affection and lustfull fancy that he cast vnto them but the plastre or porget of the wall whereupon they were painted was of that temper that would not abide to be stirred At Caere there continue certaine pictures of greater antiquity than those which I haue named And verily whosoeuer shall well view and peruse the rare workemanship therein will confesse that no art in the world grew sooner to the height of absolute perfection than it considering that during the state of Troy no man knew what painting was CHAP. IIII. Of Romanes that were excellent Painters When the art of painting came first into credit and estimation at Rome What Romans they were that exhibited the pourtraits of their owne victories in pictures And about what time painted tables made by strangers in forreine parts were accepted and in great request at Rome AMongst the Romanes also this Art grew betimes into reputation as may appeare by the Fabij a most noble and honourable house in Rome who of this science were syrnamed Pictores i. Painters the first who was intituled with that addition painted with his own hand the temple of Salus and this was in the 450 yeare after the foundation of our city which painting continued in our age euen vnto the time of Claudius Caesar the Emperor in whose daies the temple it selfe with the painting was consumed with fire Next after this the workmanship of Pacuvius the Poet who likewise painted the chappell of Hercules in the beast-market at Rome was highly esteemed and gaue much credit to the art This Pacuvius was Ennius the Poets sisters sonne and being as he was a famous Tragaedian besides and of great name vpon the stage the excellency of his spirit that way much commended at Rome his handy-work and painting aforesaid After him I doe not finde that any person of worth and quality tooke pensill in hand and practised painting vnlesse haply a man would nominat Turpilius a gentleman of Rome in our time and a Venetian born of whose workemanship there be many faire parcels of paynting extant at this day in Verona and yet this Turpilius was altogether left-handed and painted therewith a thing that I doe not heare any man did before him As for Aterius Labeo a noble man of Rome late Lord Pretour and who otherwise had been vice-consull in Gallia Narbonensis or Languedoc who liued to a very great age and died not long since he practised painting and all his delight and glory that he tooke was in fine and smal works of a little compasse howbeit he was but laughed at and scorned for that quality and in his time the handicraft grew to be base and contemptible Yet I thinke it not amisse to put downe for the better credit of painters a notable consultation held by certaine right honourable personages as touching the Art and their resolution in the end And this was the case Q. Paedius the little nephew of Q. Paedius who had bin Consull in his time and entred Rome in triumph him I mean whom C. Caesar Dictator made co-heire with Augustus hapned to be born dumb and Messala the great Oratour out of whose house the grandmother of this child was descended being carefull how the boy should be brought vp after mature aduise and deliberation thought good that hee should by signes and imitation be trained vp in the art of painting which counsell of his was approoued also by Augustus Caesar. And in truth this yong gentleman being apt therto profited maruellous much therein and died in his youth But the principall credit that painters attained vnto at Rome was as I take it by the means of M. Valerius Maximus first syrnamed Messala who beeing one of the grand-seigmeurs of Rome was the first that proposed to the view of all the world and set vp at a side of the stately hall or court Hostilia one picture in a table wherein hee caused to be painted that battel in Sicily wherein himselfe had defeated the Carthaginians and K. Hiero which happened in the yeare from the foundation of Rome 490. The like also I must needs say did L. Scipio and hung vp a painted table in the Capitol temple containing his victory and conquest of Asia whereupon he was syrnamed Asiaticus But as it is said Africanus although hee were his owne brother was highly displeased therewith and good cause he had to be angry and offended because in that battell his own son was taken prisoner by the enemy The like offence was taken also by Scipio Aemilianus against Lucius Hostilius Mancinus who was the first that entred perforce the city of Carthage for that hee had caused to bee set vp in the market place of Rome a faire painted table wherein was liuely drawne the strong scituation of Carthage and the warlike means vsed in the assaulting and winning of it together with all the particulars and circumstances thereof which Mancinus himselfe in person sitting by the said picture desciphered from point to point vnto the people that came to behold it by which courtesie of his hee woon the hearts of the people insomuch as at the next election of Magistrates his popularitie gained him a Consulship In the publicke plaies which Claudius Pulcher exhibited at Rome the painted clothes about the stage and Theatre which represented building brought this art into great admiration for the workmanship was so artificiall and liuely that the very rauens in the aire deceiued with the likenesse of houses flew thither apace for to settle thereupon supposing verily there had been tiles and crests indeed And thus much concerning Painters craft exercised in Rome To come now to forrain pictures Lu. Mummius syrnamed Achaicus for his conquest of Asia was the first man at Rome who made open shew of painted tables wrought by strangers and caused them to be of price and estimation for when as in the port-sale of all the bootie and pillage gotten in that victorie king Attalus had brought one of them wrought by the hand of Aristides containing the picture only of god Bacchus which was to cost him six thousand Sesterces Mummius wondering at the price supposing that this table had some speciall and secret propertie in it more than himselfe knew of brake the bargain called for the picture again
of Rome Noted it hath bin that the shortest time of theit appearance is a seuen-night and the longest eighty daies some of them moue like the wandering planets others are fixed fast and stir not All in maner are seen vnder the very North star called Charlemaignes Wain some in no certain part thereof but especially in that white which hath taken the name of the Milk circle Aristotle saith that many are seene together a thing that no man else hath found out so far as I can learne Mary boisterous windes and much heate of weather are foretokened by them There are of them seene also in Winter season and about the Antarticke South pole but in that place without any beames A terrible one likewise was seene of the people in Ethiopia and Egypt which the King who reigned in that age named Typhon It resembled fire and was pleited and twisted in manner of a wreath grim and hideous to be looked on and no more truly to be counted a star than some knot of fire Sometimes it falleth out that rhe planets and other stars are bespred all ouer with haires but a Comet lightly is neuer seen in the west part of the heauen A fearefull star for the most part this Comet is and not easily expiated as it appeared by the late ciuill troubles when Octauius was Consul as also a second time by the intestine war of Pompey and Caesar. And in our dayes about the time that Claudius Caesar was poysoned and left the Empire to Domitius Nero in the time of whose reigne and gouernment there was another in manner continually seen and euer terrible Men hold opinion that it is materiall for presage to obserue into what quarters it shooteth or what stars power and influence it receiueth also what similitudes it resembleth and in what parts it shineth out and first ariseth For if it be like vnto flutes or hautboies it portendeth somewhat to Musitians if it appeare in the priuy parts of any signe then let ruffians whore-masters and such filthy persons take heed It is respectiue to fine wits and learned men if it put forth a triangular or foure-square figure with euen angles to any scituations of the perpetuall fixed stars And it it is thought to presage yea to sprinkle and put forth poison if seen in the head of the Dragon either North or South In one only place of the whole world namely in a Temple at Rome a Comet is worshipped and adored euen that which by Augustus Caesar himselfe of happy memorie was iudged verie lucky and happy to him who when it began to appeare gaue attendance in person as ouerseer of those playes and games which he made to Venus genetrix not long after the death of his father Caesar in the colledge by him instituted and erected testifying his ioy in these words In those very daies during the solemnities of my Plaies there was seen a blasing star for seuen daies together in that region of the sky which is vnder the North star Septentriones It arose about the 11 houre of the day bright it was and cleare and euidently seene in all lands by that star it was signified as the common sort belceued that the soule of Iulius Caesar was receiued among the diuine powers of the immortal gods In which regard that marke or ensigne of a slar was set to the head of that statue of Iulius Caesar which soone after we dedicated in the Forum Romanum These words published he abroad but in a more inward ioy to himselfe he interpreted and conceiued thus of the thing That this Comet was made for him and that himselfe was in it borne And verily if we wil confesse a truth a healthfull good and happy presage that was to the whole world Some there be who beleeue that these be perpetuall stars and go their course round but are not seen vnlesse they be left by the Sun Others againe are of opinion that they are ingendred casually by some humour and the power of fire together and thereby do melt away and consume CHAP. XXVI ¶ Hipparchus his opinion of the Stars Also historicall examples of Torches Lamps Beames Fiery Darts opening of the Firmnment and other such impressions HIppaachus the foresaid Philosopher a man neuer sufficiently praised as who proued the affinitie of stars with men and none more than he affirming also that our soules were parcell of heauen found out and obserued another new star ingendred in his time and by the motion thereof on what day it first shone he grew presently into a doubt Whether it hapned not very often that new stars should arise and whether those starres also moued not which we imagined to be fixed The same man went so farre that he attempted a thing euen hard for God to performe to deliuer to posteritie the iust number of starres He brought the same stars within the compasse of rule and art deuising certaine instruments to take their seueral places and set out their magnitudes that thereby it might be easily discerned not only whether the old died and new were borne but also whether they moued and which way they tooke their course likewise whether they increased or decreased Thus he left the inheritance of heauen vnto all men if haply any one could be found able to enter vpon it as lawfull heire There be also certaine flaming torches shining out in the sky how be it neuer seene but when they fall Such a one was that which at the time that Germ. Caesar exhibited a shew of Sword-fencers at vtterance ran at noontide in sight of all the people And two sorts there be of them namely Lampades which they call plaine torches and Bolides i. Lances such as thé Mutinians saw in their calamitie when their city was sacked Herein they differ for that those lampes or torches make long traines whiles the forepart only is on a light fire but Bolis burnes all ouer and draweth a longer taile There appeare and shine out after the same manner certain beams which the Greekes call Docus like as when the Lacedemonians being vanquished at sea lost the empire and dominion of Greece The firmament also is seene to chinke and open and this they name Chasma CHAP. XXVij ¶ Of the strange colours of the Sky THere appeareth in the Sky also a resemblance of bloud and than which nothing is more dread and feared of men a fiery impression falling from out of heauen to earth like as it hapned in the 3 yeare of the 107 Olympias at what time King Philip made all Greece to shake with fire and sword And these things verily I suppose to come at certaine times by course of nature like as other things and not as the most part thinke of sundry causes which the subtill wit and head of man is able to deuise They haue indeed been fore-runners of exceeding great miseries but I suppose those calamities hapned not because these impressions were but these therefore
Man I Am abashed much and very sory to thinke and consider what a poore and ticklish beginning man hath the proudest creature of all others when the smel only of the snuffe of a candle put out is the cause oft times that a woman fals into vntimely trauel And yet see these great tyrans and such as delight only in carnage and bloudshed haue no better original Thou then that presumest vpon thy bodily strength thou that standest so much vpon Fortunes fauors and hast thy hands full of her bountifull gifts taking thy self not to be a foster-child and nurceling of hers but a naturall son borne of her owne body thou I say that busiest thy head euermore and settest thy minde vpon conquests and victories thou that art vpon euerie good successe and pleasant gale of prosperity puffed vp with pride and takest thy selfe for a god neuer thinkest that thy life when it was hung vpon so single a thred with so small a matter might haue miscarried Nay more than that euen at this day art thou in more danger than so if thou chance to be but stung or bitten with the little tooth of a Serpent or if but the verie kernell of a raisin go downe thy throat wrong as it did with the poet Anacreon which cost him his life Or as Fabius a Senator of Rome and Lord chiefe Iustice besides who in a draught of milk fortuned to swallow a small haire which strangled him Well then thinke better of this point for he verily that will euermore set before his eies and remember the frailty of mans estate shall liue in this world vprightly and in euen ballance without inclining more to one side than vnto another CHAP. VIII ¶ Of those that be called Agrippae TO be borne with the feet forward is vnnaturall and vnkinde and such as come in that order into the world the Latines were wont to name Agrippae as if a man should say born hardly and with much ado And in this maner M. Agrippa as they say came forth of his mothers wombe the only man almost known to haue brought any good fortune with him and prospered in the world of all that euer were in that sort borne And yet as happy as hee was and how well soeuer he chieued in some respects he was much pained with the gout and passed all his youth and many a day after in bloudy wars and in danger of a thousand deaths And hauing escaped all these harmfull perils vnfortunate he was in all his children and especially in his two daughters the Agrippinae both who brought forth those wicked Imps so pernicious to the whole earth namely C. Caligula and Domitius Nero two Emperours but two fiery flames to consume and waste all mankinde Moreouer his infelicitie herein appeared that hee liued so short a time dying as he did a strong and lusty man in the 51 yeare of his age tormented and vexed with the adulteries of his owne wife oppressed with the heauy and intolerable seruitude that he was in vnder his wiues father In which regards it seems he paid full deare for the presage of his vntoward birth and natiuitie Moreouer Agrippina hath left in writing That her son Nero also late Emperor who all the time of his reigne was a very enemy to all mankinde was borne with his feet forward And in truth by the right order and course of Nature a man is brought into the world with his head first but is carried forth with his feet formost CHAP. IX ¶ Births cut out of the wombe BVt more fortunate are they a great deale whose birth costeth their mothers life parting from them by means of incision like as Scipio Africanus the former who came into the world in that manner and the first that euer was sirnamed Caesar was so called for the like cause And hereof comes the fore-name also of the Caesones In like sort also was that Manlius borne who entred Carthage with an army CHAP. X. ¶ Who are Vopisci THe Latines were wont to call him Vopiscus or rather Opiscus who being one of two twins hapned to stay behinde in the wombe the full terme when as the other miscarried by abortiue and vntimely birth And in this case there chance right strange accidents although they fall out very seldome CHAP. XI ¶ Examples of many Infants at one birth FEw creatures there be besides women that seeke after the male and can skill of their companie after they be once conceiued with yong one kind verily or two at the most there is knowne to conceiue double one vpon the other We find in books written by Physitians and in their records who haue studied such matters and gathered obseruations that there haue passed or bin cast away from a woman at one only slip 12 distinct children but when it falleth out that there is some pretty time betwixt two conceptions both of them may carry their full time and be borne with life as appeared in Hercules and his brother Iphiclus as also in that harlot who was deliuered of two infants one like her owne husband the other resembling the Adulterer likewise in a Proconnesian bond-seruant who was in one day gotten with childe by her master and also by his Baily or Procurator and being afterwards deliuered of two children they bewrayed plainly who were their fathers Moreouer there was another who went her full time euen nine moneths for one childe but was deliuered of another at the fiue moneths end Furthermore in another who hauing dropped downe one childe at the end of seuen moneths by the end of the ninth came with two twinnes more Ouer and besides it is commonly seen that children be not alwaies answerable to the parents in euery respect for of perfect fathers and mothers who haue all their limmes there are begotten children vnperfect and wanting some members and contrariwise parents there are maimed and defectiue in some part who neuerthelesse beget children that are sound and entire and with all that they should haue It is seen also that infants are at a default of those parts their parents misse yea and they carry often times certaine markes moles blemishes and skarres of their fathers and mothers as like as may be Among the people called Dakes the children vsually beare the markes imprinted in their armes of them from whom they descend euen to the fourth generation CHAP. XII ¶ Examples of many that haue been very like and resembled one another IN the race and family of the Lepidi it is said there were three of them not successiuely one after another but out of order after some intermission who had euery one of them at their birth a little pannicle or thin skin growing ouer their eye Some haue bin known to resemble their grandsires and of two twins one hath beene like the father the other the mother but he that was borne a yere after hath bin so like his elder brother as if he had bin one of the twins Some women
and the Alps also of Vrchins and Hedge-hogs THe Rats of Pontus which be onely white come not abroad all winter they haue a most fine and exquisit taste in their feeding but I wonder how the authours that haue written this should come to the knowledge of so much Those of the Alpes likewise i. Marmottanes which are as bigge as Brocks or Badgers keepe in during winter but they are prouided of victuals before hand which they gather together and carry into their holes And some say when the male or female is loden with grasse and herbs as much as it can comprehend within all the foure legges it lieth vpon the backe with the said prouision vpon their bellies and then commeth the other and taketh hold by the taile with the mouth and draweth the fellow into the earth thus doe they one by the other in turnes and hereupon it is that all that time their backes are bare and the haire worne off Such like Marmotaines there be in Aegypt and in the same manner thay sit ordinarily vpon their buttocks and vpon their two hinder feet they goe vsing their fore-feet in stead of hands Hedgehogs also make their prouision before-hand of meat for winter in this wise They wallow and roll themselues vpon apples and such fruit lying vnder foot and so catch them vp with their prickles one more besides they take in their mouth so carry them into hollow trees By stopping one or other of their holes men know when the wind turneth and is changed from North to South When they perceiue one hunting of them they draw their mouth and feet close together with all their belly part where the skin hath a thin downe and no pricks at all to do harme and so roll themselues as round as a foot-ball that neither dog not man can come by any thing but their sharpe-pointed prickles So soon as they see themselues past all hope to escape they let their water go pisse vpon themselues Now this vrine of theirs hath a poisonous qualitie to rot their skin and prickles for which they know well enough that they be chased and taken And therefore it is a secret and speciall policie not to hunt them before they haue let their vrine go and then their skin is very good for which chiefly they are hunted otherwise it is nought euer after and so rotten that it will not hang together but fall in pieces al the pricks shed off as being putrified yea although they should escape away from the dogs and liue still and this is the cause that they neuer bepisse and drench themselues with this pestilent excrement but in extremitie vtter despaire for they cannot abide themselues their owne vrine of so venomous a qualitie it is so hurtfull to their own body and do what they can to spare themselues attending the vtmost time of extremitie insomuch as they are ready to be taken before they do it When the Vrchen is caught aliue the deuise to make him open again in length is to be sprinkle him with hot water and then by hanging at one of their hin-feet without meat they die with famine otherwise it it not possible to kill them and saue their case or skin There be writers who bash not to say That this kinde of beast where not those pricks is good for nothing and may well be missed of men and that the soft fleece of wooll that sheepe bear but for these prickes were superfluous to no purpose bestowed vpon mankind for which the rough skin of these Vrchins are brushes rubbers made to brush make cleane our garments And in very truth many haue gotten great gain profit by this commoditie merchandise and namely with their crafty deuise of monopolies that all might passe through their hands only notwithstanding there hath not bin any one disorder more repressed and reformation sought by sundry edicts and acts of the Senate in that behalfe euery prince hath been continually troubled hereabout with grieuous complaints out of all prouinces CHAP. XXXVIII ¶ Of the Leontophone the Once Badgers and Squirrils TWo other kinds there be of beasts whose vrine worketh strange and wonderfull effects The one is called Leontophonos and he breedes in no country but where there be lions a little creature it is but so venomous that the lion king of beasts before whom al others tremble for all his might and puissance dieth presently if he taste neuer so little thereof And therfore they that chase the lion get all the Leontophones that they can come by burne their bodies and with the powder of them bestrew season as it were the pieces of other flesh that they lay for a bait in the forrest and thus with the very ashes I say of his enemie kill him and deadly and pernicious is it to the lion No marueile therefore if the lion abhor hate him for so soon as he espieth him he crushes him with his pawes and so killeth him without setting tooth to his body The Leontophone for his part againe is as ready to bedrench him with his vrine knowing right well that his pisse is a very poison to the Lion In those countries were the Onces breed their urine after it is made congealeth into a certain yâ—…ie substance waxes drie so it comes to be a certain pretious stone like a carbuncle glittering and shining as red as fire and called it is Lyncurium And vpon this occasion many haue written that Amber is ingendred after the same maner The Onces knowing thus much for very spight and enuie couer their vrine with mold or earth and this maketh it so much the sooner to harden and congeale The Grayes Polcats or Brocks haue a cast by themselues when they be affraid of hunters for they will draw in their breath so hard that their skin being stretched and puffed vp withall they will auoid the biting of the hounds tooth and checke the wounding of the hunter so as neither the one nor the other can take hold of them The Squirrils also foresee a tempest comming and where the wind will blow for looke in what corner the wind is like to stand on that side they stop vp the mouth of their holes and make an ouerture on the other side against it Moreouer a goodly broad bush taile they haue wherewith they couer their whole body Thus you see how some creatures prouide victuals against winter others battle and feed with sleepe onely CHAP. XXXIX ¶ Of the Viper Land-winkles or Snailes and Lizards OF all other serpents it is said that the Viper alone lies hidden in the ground during winter whereas the rest keepe within cranies and câ—…ifts of trees or else in the hollow chinkes of stones and otherwise they are able to endure hunger a whole yeere so they be kept from extreame cold All the while during their retreat and lying close within they sleepe as if they were dead and depriued of their power
is it brought into the citie For by law forbidden it is on pain of death to take any other way Which done the Priests there of the god whom they call Sabis take the disme or tenth part of the Incense by measure and not by weight and set it apart for that god Neither is it lawful for any man to buy or sell before that duty be paied which serues afterwards to support certaine publick expenses of the citie For al strangers and trauellers within the compasse of certain daies journey if they come to the citie are courteously receiued and liberally entertained at the cost and charge of the said god Sabis Caried forth of the country it cannot be but thorough the Gebanites and therfore there is a custome paid to their king The head citie of that kingdome Thomna is from Gaza the next port-towne in Iudaea toward our coast seuen and twentie miles fourscore times told and this way is diuided into 62 daies journy by Camels Moreouer besides the tyth aforesaid there be measures bestowed vpon the Priests to their owne vse and others likewise to the kings Secretaries and Scribes And not only these haue a share but also the Keepers Sextons and Wardens of the temple the Squires of the bodie the Guard and Pensioners the kings officers the Porters Groomes and other seruitors pill and poll and euery one hath a snatch Moreouer all the way as they trauell in one place they pay for their water in another for fodder and prouender or else fortheir lodging stable-room euery where for one thing or other they pay toll so as the charge of euery Cammell from thence to the sea vpon our coast commeth to 688 deniers and yet we are not come to an end of paiments For our Publicanes and customers also belonging to our Empire must haue a fleece for their parts And therefore a pound of the best Incense will cost 16 deniers of the second 15 and the third 14. With vs it is mingled and sophisticated with parcels of a white kind of Rosin which is very like to it but the fraud is soone found by the meanes aboue specified The best Incense is tried and knowne by these markes viz. If it be white large brittle and easie to take a flame when it comes neare a coale of fire last of all if it still not abide the dent of the tooth but flie in pieces and crumble sooner than suffer the teeth to enter into it CHAP. XV. ¶ Of Myrrhe and the Trees that yeeld it SOme haue written That the Trees which beare the Myrrhe doe grow confusedly here and there in the same woods among the Incense Trees but more there are who affirme That they grow apart by themselues And in truth found they are in many quarters of Arabia as shall be said when we treat of the seuerall species of Myrrh There is very good Myrrh brought out of the Islands and the Sabaesns passe ahe seas and trauell as far as to the Troglodites countrey for it There is a kind of Myrrhe tree planted by mans hand in Hort-yards and much preferred it is before the wild that groweth in the woods These Trees loue to be raked bared and cleansed about the roots they delight I say to haue the superfluous spurnes rid away from the root and the more that the root is cooled the better thriueth the Tree The plant groweth ordinarily fiue cubits high but not all that length is smooth and without pricks the bodie and trunke is hard and wrythen thicker than the Incense trees it is greatest toward the root and so arises smaller and smaller taperwise Some say that the bark is smooth and euen like vnto that of the Arbute Tree others againe affirme that it is prickly and full of thornes It hath a lease like to the Oliue cut more crisped and curled and withall it is in the end sharp-pointed like a needle But King Iuba writes that it beareth the lease of Loueach or Alisanders There be who write that it resembles the Iuniper saue only that it is more rough and beset with sharp pricks And some let not to dream talke that both Myrrhe and also Incense came from one and the same Tree Indeed the Myrrhe trees are twice cut and launced in one yeare and at the same seasons as wel as the Incense trees but the slit reacheth from the very root vp to the boughes if they may beare and abide it Howbeit before that incision be made they sweat out of themselues a certain liquor called Stacte which is very good Myrrh and none better As wel of this franke and garden myrrh tree as of the wild in the woods the Myrrh is better that is gathered or runs in Suâ—…mer time There is no allowance of myrrh offered and giuen to the god Sabis as there was of Incense because it is found in other countries Howbeit the King of the Gebanites hath payed vnto him for toll and custome a fourth part of all that passeth through his kingdome To conclude whatsoeuer is bought in any market or place abroad they put and thrust it hard together in leather bags one with another but the Druggists and Apothecaries can soon separate the better from the worse and be very cunning and ready to digest them according to the marks that they go by as well of smell as fattinesse CHAP. XVI ¶ Diuers kindes of Myrrhe the nature vertue and price thereof MAny sorts there be of Myrrh Of all the wild kinds the first is that which groweth in the Troglodites country Next to it is Minaea in which rank you may place Attramittica and Ausaritis which both come out of the realme of the Gebanites In a third place reckon that which they call Dianitis A fourth sort is gotten here and there in all parts and hudled together In the fift range is Sembracena so called of a city within the kingdom of the Sabaeans and is next vnto the sea The sixt they call Dusaritis Besides all these a white myrrh there is found but in one place which ordinarily is brought to the city Mesalum there sold. The Trogloditick myrrh they chuse by the fattinesse thereof and for that it seemes to the eye greener it shewes also foule rude and ilfauoured but sharper it is and more biting in mouth than the rest The Sembracene hath none of these faults but is pleasant and cheerful to see to howbeit of small operation and strength But to speake in a word and once for all the best myrrh is known by little pieces which are not round and when they grow together they yeeld a certain whitish liquor which issueth and resolueth from them and if a man break them into morsels it hath white veines resembling mens nailes and in taste is somewhat bitter A second degree there is in goodnes when it sheweth sundry colors within And the worst of all is that which within-forth is black and the same is worse yet if it be as black
long agoe the which I saw in the house of Pomponius Secundus a noble citizen of Rome and a renowmed Poet almost two hundred yeares after their death As for the writings of Cicero of Augustus late Emperour of famous memorie and of Virgill we daily see and handle them by the meanes of Paper so good and durable CHAP. XIII ¶ Of the bookes of Numa WE find many examples in stories which very directly and mightily do testifie against M. Varro as touching Papers For Cassius Hemina a most faithfull and ancient writer in the fourth booke of his Annales hath reported That one Cn. Terentius a scribe or publicke Notarie as he digged and delued in a ground which he had neare to Ianiculum light vpon a chist where in lay the bodie of Numa sometime king of Rome In the same also were found the bookes of the said king And as he affirmeth this happened in that yeare when Pub. Cornelius the sonne of Lucius surnamed Cethegus and M. Boebius sonne of Quintus surnamed Pamphilus were Consuls of Rome betweene which time and the raigne of Numa by just computation are reckoned 535 yeres He saith moreouer That those books were made of the Paper abouenamed The greater wonder it was how such kind of books should last sâ—… long especially within the earth and not putrifie The thing therefore being so strange and in manner miraculous that Paper should continue all that time I think it not amisse to set down the very words of Hemina likew I se as he deliuers them The world made a wonder quoth he how these books could possibly endure so many yeres but the party who found them yeelded this reason That within the said coffer about the mids of it there was a stone foure-square lapped all about and bound euery way with waxe candles in manner of a serecloth vpon which stone the foresaid books were laid and therefore it was as he supposed that they did not rot Moreouer the books also were embaulmed with the rosin or oile of Cedar which might be a good reason in his conceit that the moths came not to them Now these bookes contained the Philosophie and doctrine of Pythagoras and for that they treated of that Philosophical argument burnt they were by order from Q. Petilius the Pretor for that time being The same storie in effect doth C. Piso Censorinus a man who had been Censor report in the first book of his commentaries howbeit he setteth downe their number withall and saith they were fourteene in all whereof seuen treated of the Pontificall law and matters of religion and as many discoursed of Pythagoras his Philosophie But Tuditanus in the thirteeneth booke of the Annales affirmeth That they were the decretals only of Numa and contained his ordinances As for Varro himselfe he writeth in the fift booke of Humane Antiquities that they were in all but twelue And Antias in his second booke reporteth That two of them were written in Latine and contained the Pontificial diuinitie and church-matters and other twaine penned in Greeke were full of precepts in Philosophie He also affirmes in his third booke for what cause the said books by vertue of a publick decree were consumed with fire But all Historiographers agree in this That one of the Sibyls brought vnto Tarquinius the proud three books of which two were burnt by her owne selfe and the third likewise perished with fire together with the Capitol during the troubles of Sylla Ouer and besides Mutianus a man who had been thrice Consul of Rome hath left on record that of late while he was lord gouernor or Lycia he read in a certain temple an Epistle written by prince Sarpedon in Paper and bearing date from Troy And I wonder the rather at this if so be that when Homer liued and wrate his Poeme there was no land of Aegypt as now there is or why in case there was such vse of Paper then himself should write that in the very same Lycia Bellerophon had writing tables giuen him to deliuer as touching his owne death and not rather letters missiue wrot in Paper Wel howeuer that be this is certaine that there is a scarsitie otherwhiles of Paper also as well as of other commodities and this cane or reed Papyrus doth many times faile For not long since euen in the daies of Tiberius the Emperor in a dearth and want of Paper there were commissioners deputed and appointed by the Senat of Rome for the dispensing and distribution of it among the people otherwise there had been a great mutinie and tumult at Rome about Paper CHAP. XIIII ¶ Of the trees in Aethiopia AS touching Aethiopia and namely that quarter which confineth vpon Aegypt it hath in manner no trees at all of any name saue those that beare wooll or cotton concerning the nature of which trees we haue sufficiently spoken in the description of the Indians and of Arabia and yet in very truth the cotton that is brought from these trees in Aethiopia comes neerer to wool than any thing els howeuer the trees be otherwise like to the rest of that kinde and the burse or cod wherin this woollie substance lyes is greater and as big as a Pomegranat Besides these there be Date trees also like to such as we haue before described As touching other trees and especially the odoriferous woods within the Isles that lie vpon Aethiopia round about we haue said enough in the treatise of those Islands CHAP. XV. ¶ Of the trees growing in mount Atlas of Citron tables of the commendable perfections and contrariwise of the defaults thereof THe mountaine Atlas by report hath a wood in it of peculiar trees that elsewhere grow not wherof we haue already written The Mores that border vpon it are stored with abundance of Citron trees from whence commeth that excessiue expense and superfluitie about Citron tables made thereof And our dames and wiues at home by way of reuenge vse to twit vs their husbands therwith when we would seem to find fault with the costly pearls that they do weare There is at this day to be seen a board of Citron wood belonging sometimes to M. Tullius Cicero which cost him ten thousand Sesterces a strange matter considering hee was no rich man but more wonderfull if we call to mind the seueritie of that age wherein hee liued Much speech there is besides of Gallus Asinius his table sold for eleuen thousand Sesterces Moreouer there are two other which K. Iuba sold the one was prised at 15000 Sesterces and the other held little vnder Not long since there was one of them chanced to be burnt and it came with other houshold stuff but from the cottages in Mauritania which cost 140000 Sesterces a good round summe of money and the price of a faire lordship if a man would be at the cost to purchase lands so deer But the fairest and largest table of Citron wood that to this day hath beene seene came from Ptolomaee king of Mauritania the
transplant them they proue very bastards and changelings presently And in faith some vines there be that take such an affection and loue to a place that all their goodnesse and excellency they wil leaue there behind them and neuer passe into another quarter whole and entire as they be in their own nature Which euidently is to be seen in the Rhetian vine that of Savoy and Daulphnie of which in the chapter before wee said that it gaue the taste of pitch to the wine made thereof for these Vines at home in those countries are much renowned for the said tast but elswhere if they be transplanted they loose it whole and no such thing may a man acknowledge in them Howbeit plentifull such are and for default of goodnesse they make amends recompence in abundance of wine that they yeeld As for the vine Eugenia it takes well in hot grounds The Rhetian likes better in a temperat soile The Allobrogian Vine of Sauoy and Daulphine delights most in cold quarters the frost it is that ripens her grapes and commonly they are of colour black Of all the grapes aboue rehearsed the wines that be made the longer they be kept the more they change colour and in the end become white yea though they came of blacke grapes and were of a deep colour at first Now for all other grapes whatsoeuer they are reckoned but base in comparison of the former And yet this is to be noted and obserued that the temperature of the aire may be such and the soile so good that both the grapes wil indure long and the wine beare the age very wâ—…ll As for example the Vine Fecenia and likewise Biturica that bloometh with it which beare grapes with few stones within their floures neuer miscarry for they euer preuent and come so timely that they be able to withstand both winde and weather Howbeit they do better in cold places than in hot in moist also than in dry And to say a truth there is not a vine more fruitful yeelding such store of grapes growing so thick together in clusters but of all things it may not away with variable and inconstant weather let the season be staied and setled it matters not then whether it be hot or cold for wel it wil abide the one the other alone hold it neuer so long The lesser of this kind is held for the better Howbeit in chusing of a fit soile for this vine it is much ado to please and content it in a fat ground it soone rots in a light and lean it will not grow at all very choise it is therefore dainty and nice in seeking a middle temper betweene and therefore it taketh a great liking to the Sabine hils and there it loues to be The grapes that it bears be not so beautiful to the eie but pleasant to the tooth if you make not the more hast to take them presently when they be ripe they will fall off although they be not rotten This vine puts forth large and hard leaues which defend the grapes well against haile-stones Now there are besides certain notable grapes of a middle colour between black and purple and they alter their hue oftentimes whereupon some haue named them Varianae and yet the blacker they be the more they are set by they beare grapes but each other yeare that is to say this yere in great plenty the next yere very little howbeit their wine is the better when they yeeld fewer grapes Also there be 2 kinds of vines called Pretiae differing one from the other in the bignesse of the stones within the grape full of wood and branches they are both their grapes are very good to be preserued in earthen pots and leafed they be like to Smallach they of Dyrrhachium do highly praise the Roial vine Basilica which the Spaniards cal Cocolobis The grapes grow but thin vpon this plant they can well abide all South winds and hot weather they trouble and hurt the head if a man eat much of them In Spaine they make 2 kindes of them the one hauing a long stone or grain within the other a round these be the last grapes that are gathered in time of vintage The sweeter grape that the Cocolobis bears the better is it thought howbeit that which was hard and tart at the first will turne to be pleasant with keeping and that which was sweet will become harsh with age and then they resemble in tast the Albane wine and men say there is an excellent drinke made thereof to help diseases and infirmities of the bladder As touching the wine Albuelis it bears most grapes in the tops of trees but Visula is more fruitfull beneath toward the root and therfore if they be set both vnder one and the same tree a man shall see the diuersitie of their nature and how they will furnish and inrich that tree from the head to the foot There is a kind of blacke grape named Inerticula as a man would say dull and harmlesse but they that so called it might more iustly haue named it The sober grape the wine made therof is very commendable when it is old howbeit nothing hurtfull for neuer makes it any man drunke and this property hath it alone by it selfe As for other vines their fruitfulnesse doth commend them and namely aboue all that which is called Heluenaca whereof be two kinds the greater which some name The long and the smaller called Arca not so plentifull it is as the former bat surely the wine thereof goes downe the throat more merily It differs from the other in the perfect and exquisit roundnesse of the leafe as it were drawn by compasse but both the one and the other is very slender and therefore of necessitie they must be vnderpropped with forkes for otherwise they will not beare their owne burden so fruitfull they be They delight greatly to grow neare the sea side where they may haue the vapors of the sea to breath vpon them and indeed their very grapes haue a sent and smell of a brackish dew There is not a vine can worse brooke Italy Her grapes are small they hang thin and rot euen vpon her and the wine made thereof will not last aboue one Summer and yet on the other side there is not a vine that liketh better in an hungry and lean ground Graecinus who otherwise compiled his worke out of Cornelius Celsus in manner word for word is of this opinion That this Vine could loue Italy well enough and that of the owne Nature it mislikes not the Countrey but the cause why it thriueth no better there is the want of skil and knowledge to order and husband it as it ought to be for that men striue to ouercharge it with wood and load it with too many branches and were it not that the goodnesse of a fat and rich soile maintained it still beginning to faint and decay the fruitfulnesse thereof were enough to kill it
we thinking it not sufficient to take wine our selues giue it also to our Horses Mules and labouring beasts and force them against Nature to drink it Besides such pains so much labor so great cost and charges we are at to haue it such delight and pleasure we take in it that many of vs think they are borne to nothing else can skill of no other contentment in this life notwithstanding when all is don it transports carries away the right wit mind of man it causes fury and rage and induces nay it casts headlong as many as are giuen thereto into a thousand vices and misdemeanors And yet forsooth to the end that we might take the more cups and poure it downe the throat more lustily we let it run thorough a strainer for to abate and gueld as it were the force thereof yea and other deuises there be to whet our appetite thereto and cause vs to quaffe more freely Nay to draw on their drinke men are not afraid to make poisons whiles some take hemlocke before they sit downe because they must drinke perforce then or els die for it others the powder of the pumish stone such like stuff which I am abashed to rehearse and teach those that be ignorant of such leaudnesse And yet wee see these that be stoutest and most redoubted drinkers euen those that take themselues most secured of danger to lie sweating so long in the baines and brothel-houses for to concoct their surfet of wine that otherwhiles they are carried forth dead for their labour Ye shall haue some of them again when they haue been in the hot house not to stay so long as they may recouer their beds no not so much as to put on their shirts but presently in the place all naked as they are puffing laboring still for wind catch vp great cans and huge tankards of wine to shew what lustie and valiant champions they be set them one after another to their mouth pour the wine downe the throat without more adoe that they might cast it vp againe and so take more in the place vomiting or revomiting twice or thrice together that which they haue drunke and still make quarrell to the pot as if they had been borne into this world for no other end but to spill and mar good wine or as if there were no way els to spend and wast the same but thorow mans body And to this purpose were taken vp at Rome these forreine exercises of vaulting and dancing the Morisk from hence came the tumbling of wrastlers in the dust and mire together for this they shew their broad breasts beare vp their heads and carrie their neckes far backe In all which gesticulations what do they else but professe that they seek means to procure thirst and take occasion to drink But come now to their pots that they vse to quaffe and drink out of are there not grauen in them faire pourtrais think you of adulteries as if drunkennesse it self were not sufficient to kindle the heart of lust to pricke the flesh and to teach them wantonnes Thus is wine drunke out of libidinous cups and more than that he that can quaffe best and play the drunkard most shal haue the greatest reward But what shal we say to those would a man think it that hire one to eat also as much as he can drink and vpon that condition couenant to yeeld him the price for his wine drinking and not otherwise Ye shall haue another that will inioine himselfe to drinke euery denier that he hath won at dice. Now when they are come to that once and be throughly whitled then shall yee haue them cast their wanton eies vpon mens wiues then fall they to court faire dames and ladies and openly bewray their folly euen before their jealous and sterne husbands then I say the secrets of the heart are opened and layed abroad Some ye shal haue in the mids of their cups make their wils euen at the very board as they sit others againe cast out bloudy and deadly speeches at randon and cannot hold but blurt out those words which afterwards they eat againe with the swords point for thus many a man by a lauish tongue in his wine hath come by his death and had his throat cut And verily the world is now growne to this passe That whatsoeuer a man saith in his cups it is held for sooth as if Truth were the daughter of Wine But say they escape these dangers certes speed they neuer so well the best of them all neuer seeth the Sun-rising so drowsie and sleepy they are in bed euery morning neither liue they to bee old men but die in the strength of their youth Hence comes it that some of them looke pale with a paire of flaggie blabd-cheekes others haue bleared and sore eies and there be of them that shake so with their hands that they cannot hold a full cup but shed and poure it downe the floore Generally they all dreame fearfully which is the very beginning of their hell in this life or els haue restlesse nights finally if they chance to sleep for a due guerdon and reward of their drunkennesse they are deluded with imaginary conceits of Venus delights defiled with filthy and abominable pollutions and thus both sleeping and waking they sin with pleasure Well what becomes of them the morrow after they belch soure their breath stinketh of the barrell and telleth them what they did ouer night otherwise they forget what either they did or said they remember no more than if their memory were vtterly extinct and dead And yet our iolly drunkards giue out and say That they alone inioy this life and rob other men of it But who seeth not that ordinarily they lose not onely the yesterday past but the morrow to come In the time of Tiberius Claudius the Emperor about 40 years since certaine out-landish Physitians and Monte-banks who would seem to set themselues out by some strange nouelties of their own so get a name brought vp at Rome a new deuise and order to drink fasting and prescribed folk to take a good hearty draught of wine before meat and to lay that foundation of their dinner Of all nations the Parthians would haue the glory for this goodly vertue of wine-bibbing and among the Greeks Alcibiades indeed deserued the best game for this worthy feat But here with vs at Rome Nouellius Torquatus a Millanois wan the name from all Romans Italians both This Lombard had gone through all honourable degrees of dignity in Rome he had bin Pretor and attained to the place of a Proconsull In all these offices of state he woon no great name but for drinking in the presence of Tiberius three gallons of wine at one draught and before he tooke his breath again he was dubbed knight by the syrname of Tricongius as one would say The three gallon knight and the Emperor sterne seuere and
the best of all others And the next to it in goodnesse is the Lentiske rosin called Mastich CHAP. XII ¶ Of the Pitch Zopissa which is scraped from ships and of Sapium Also what trees are in request for their timber IT would not be forgotten that the Greeks haue a certaine Pitch scraped together with wax from the ships that haue lien at sea which they Zopissa so curious are men to make experiments and try conclusions in euery thing and this is thought to be much more effectuall for all matters that pitch and rosin are good for by reason of the fast temperature that it hath gotten by the salt water For to draw rosin out of the * Pitch-tree it must be opened on the Sun side not by giuing a slit or gash in the bark but by cutting out a peece therof so that the tree may gape and lie bare two foot at the most and from the earth this wound to be at least a cubite Neither doe they spare the entire bodie and wound of the tree as they do in the rest for there is no danger therof considering that the very chips of the wood being cut out are ful of liquor and do serue to make pitch But the nearer that the said ouerture or hole is made to the earth the better is the rosin that issues forth for if it be higher it is better When this is don all the humor afterwards runneth to the vlcer ot incision aforsaid from euery part of the tree The like it doth in the Torch pine When it hath left running to the first hole there is a second likewise made on another side and so still is the tree opened euery way vntill at length tree and all is hewn downe and the very pith and marrow thereof serueth for Torch wood to burne Semblably in Syria they vse to plucke the barke from the Terebinth yea and they pill the boughes and roots too for Terpentine howsoeuer in other trees the rosin issuing out of those parts is not counted good in Macedonie the manner is to burne the male Larch but the roots onely of the female for to draw out pitch Theopompus wrate that there is found in the territorie of the Apolloniats a kind of minerall pitch called Pisâ—…asphaltum nothing inferiour in goodnesse to the Macedonian The best pitch in all countries is that which is gathered from trees standing vpon the North wind and in places exposed to the Sunne-shine As for that which commeth from shadowie places it is more vnpleasant to the eie and carieth besides a strong and stinking sauor If it bee a cold and hard winter the pitch then made is the worse there is also lesse store of it nothing is it so well coloured Some are of opinion That the pitch issueth in more abundance out of trees in the mountaines also that it is better colored sweeter in tast more pleasant also in smelâ—… namely while it is raw pitch-rosin and as it runneth from the tree but if it be boiled it yeelds lesse plentie of pitch than that which commeth of trees in the plain and runneth all into a thin liquor in manner of whey yea and the very trees themselues are smaller But both the one and the other as wel the mountain pines and pitch-trees as those of the plaines yeeld not so much pitch in a faire and drie season as when the weather is rainy and full of clouds Moreouer some there be of these trees that yeeld forth fruit which is their rosin the very same yere that immediately followeth their incision others two yeares after yea and some again in the third yeare As for the incision or open wound that is made it filleth vp with rosin for neither doth it souder or vnite in manner of a skar ne yet closeth the barke againe for in this tree being once diuided it will neuer come together and meet Among these trees some haue reckoned one kind by it selfe named Sapium because it is replanted and groweth of some of the sions or imps of the said trees in maner as hath been shewed before in our treatise of nut-kernells The neather parts of which tree they call Teda i. Torch-wood whereas indeed this tree is no other than the Pitch-tree brought to a more mild and gentle nature by transplanting As for that which the Latines call Sapinus it is nothing else but the wood or timber of these kinde of trees being hewed or cut downe as well herafter declare in place conuenient CHAP. XIII ¶ Of the Ash foure kinds thereof THere be many trees besides that Nature hath brought forth only for their wood and timber and among them the Ash which of all others growes most plentifully in euery place A tall tree this is grows round bearing leaues set in maner of feathers or wings much ennobled by the praise and commendation that the Poet Homer giueth it as also for the speare or launce of Achilles made thereof And in very truth the wood serueth right well for many vses As for the timber of the ash growing vpon the forrest Ida in Troas it is so like the citron wood that when the barke is off a man may hardly discerne the one from the other insomuch as the merchants and chapmen are deceiued therewith The Greekes haue made two kinds of the Ash the one runneth vp tall and euen without a knot the other is lower more tough and hard and withall of a more browne and duskish color and the leaues resemble the Lawrell In Macedony they haue an Ash which they cal Bumelia which of all other is the tallest and biggest the wood thereof is most pliable and bending Others haue put a difference betweene Ashes according to the places for that of the plaine and champion countrey hath a more curled or frisled graine than the other of the mountaines but contrariwise the wood of this is more compact and harder than the other The leaues of this tree according to the Greeks are hurtfull venomous and deadly to Horses Mules and such laboring garrons but otherwise to beasts that chew the cud they be harmlesse Howbeit in Italy if horses c. do brouse of the leaues they take no harme thereby Moreouer they be excellent good and nothing so soueraigne can be found against the poison of serpents if the juice therof be pressed forth and giuen to drinke or to cure old vlcers if they be applied and laid thereto in manner of a Cataplasme nay so forcible is their vertue that a serpent dareth not come neare vnto the shadow of that tree either morning or euening notwithstanding at those times it reacheth farthest you may be sure then they will not approch the tree it selfe by a great way And this am I able to deliuer by the experience which I haue seene that if a man doe make a round circle with the leaues thereof and enuiron therwith a serpent and fire together within the serpent will chuse rather to go into the fire
of Holly The leaues of the Oliue tree and the Mast-Holme hang by a short stele the Vine leaues by a long The Poplar or Aspen leaues doe shake and tremble and they alone keep a whistling and rustling noise one with another Moreouer in the very fruit it selfe and namely in a certain kind of Apples ye shall haue small leaues breake out of the very sides in the mids in some single in others double and two together Furthermore there be trees that haue their leaues comming forth about their boughs and branches others at the very end and shoot of the twig as for the wild Oke Robur it putteth leaues forth of the trunk and maine stock Ouer and besides the leaues grow thicker or thinner in some than in others but alwlies the broad and large leaues are more thinne than others In the Myrtle tree the leaues grow in order by ranks those of the Box tree turn hollow but in the Apple trees they are set in no order at al. In Pyrries Apple trees both ye shal see ordinarily many leaues put forth at one bud hanging at one and the same taile The Elme and the Tree-trifolie are full of small and little branches Cato addeth moreouer and saith That such as fall from the Poplar or the Oke may bee giuen as fodder to beasts but he wils that they be not ouer drie and he saith expressely that for kine and oxen Fig-leaues mast Holm leaues and Iuie are good fodder yea and such kind of beasts may well brouse and feed of Reed leaues and Bay leaues Finally the Seruise tree looseth her leaues al at once others shed them by little and little one after another And thus much for the leaues of trees CHAP. XXV ¶ The order and course obserued in Nature as touching plants and trees in their conception flouring budding knotting and fructifying Also in what order they put forth their blossomes THe manner and order of Nature yeare by yeare holdeth in this wise first trees and plants do conceiue by the meanes of the Westerne wind Fauonius which commonly beginneth to blow about sixe daies before the Ides of Februarie for this wind is in stead of an husband to all things that grow out of the earth and of it they desire naturally to be conceiued like as the Mares in Spaine of which we haue written heretofore This wind is that spirit of generation which breathes life into all the world which the Latines call thereupon Fauonius à fauendo i. of cherishing and nourishing euery thing as some haue thought It blowes directly from the Aequinoctiall Sun-setting and euermore beginneth the Spring This time out rusticall peasants call the Seasoning when as Nature seemeth to goe proud or assaut and is in the rut and furious rage of loue desirous to conceiue by this wind which indeed doth viuifie and quicken all plants and seeds sowne in the ground Now of all them conceiue not at once but in sundry daies for some are presently sped in a moment like as liuing creatures others are not so hastie to conceiue but long it is first ere they retaine and as long againe before their vitall seed putteth forth and this is therupon called their budding time Now are they said to bring forth and be deliuered when in the Spring they bloome and that blossome breaketh forth of certain matrices or ventricles After this they become nources all the while they cherish and bring vp the fruit and this time also the Latines call Germinatio i. the breeding season When trees are full of blossomes it is a signe that the Spring is at the height and the yeare become new againe The blossom is the very ioy of trees and therein standeth their chiefe felicitie then they shew themselues fresh and new as if they were not the same then be they in their gay coats then it seemeth they striue avie one with another in varietie of colours which of them should excell and exceed in beautifull hew But this is not generall for many of them are denied this pleasure and enjoy not this delight for all trees blossome not some are of an heauie and sad countenance neither cheare they at the comming of this new season and gladsome Spring for the mast-Holme the Pitch tree the Larch and the Pine doe not bloome at all they are not arrayed in their robes they haue not their liueries of diuers colors to fore-signifie as messengers and vantcourriers the arriuall of the new yeare or to welcome and solemnize the birth of new fruits The Figge trees likewise both tame and wild make no shew of floures for they are not too soon bloomed if they bloom at all but they bring forth their fruit And a wonderful thing it is to see what abortiue fruit these Figge-trees haue and how it neuer commeth to ripenesse Neither doe the Iunipers bloome at all And yet some writers there be who make two kinds thereof and they say that the one flowreth and bears no fruit as for the other which doth not blossome it brings forth fruit vpon fruit and berrie vpon berrie which hang two yeres vpon the tree before they come to maturitie But this is false for in very truth all Iunipers without exception haue euermore a sad looke and at no time shew merie And this is the case and condition verily of many a man whose fortune is neuer in the floure nor maketh any outward shew to the world Howbeit there is not a tree but it buddeth euen those that neuer blossome And herein the diuersitie of the soile is of great power for in one and the same kind such as grow in marish grounds do shoot and spring first next to them those of the plaines and last of all they of the woods and forrests And generally the wilde Pyrries growing in woods doe bud later than any other At the first comming of the western wind Fauonius the Corneil tree buddeth next to it the Bay and somewhat before mid-march or the spring Aequinoctiall the Tillet or Linden and the Maple the Poplar Elme Willow Alder and Filberds or Hazell nut trees bud with the first The Palme also maketh hast and is loth to come behind All the rest at the point and prime of the spring namely the Holly the Terebinth the Paliurus the Cheston and the Walnut-trees or Mast-trees Apple trees are late ere they bud but the Corke tree longest of any other Trees there be that put forth bud vpon bud by reason that either the soile is exceeding battill and fat or else the weather faire and pleasant and this happeneth more to be seene in the blades of corne But trees if they happen to be ouer rancke in new shoots and buds they waxe wearie and grow out of heart Moreouer some trees there be that naturally do sprout at other seasons besides the spring according to the influence of certaine starres whereof the reason shall be rendred more conueniently in the third booke next ensuing after this Meane time this would
determine all quarrels These shafts they arme with sharpe barbed arrow heads in manner of fish-hooks which wound with a mischiefe because they cannot be drawne out of the body againe and to make these arrowes flie the faster and kill more presently they set feathers vnto them Now say that a shaft be broken as it is set fast in the body that end without the flesh wil serue againe to be shot so inured are the people in those parts to these kind of weapons so practised withall in discharging of them so nimbly that a man seeing how thick the shafts flie in the aire would say they were a cloud of arrowes that shadowed the very Sun And therefore when they goe to battell they wish euer for faire weather and Sunne-shine daies Windes and raine as most aduerse vnto their warres they cannot abide then are they quiet and rest in peace ful sore against their wils because their weapons at such a time wil not serue their turne Certes if a man would fall to an exact reckoning and aestimate of Aethyopians Egyptians Arabians Indians Scythians and Bactrians of so many nations also of the Sarmatians and other East-countries together with all the kingdomes of the Parthians hee should finde that the one moietie or halfe of the world hath been vanquished and conquered by the meanes of arrowes and darts made of Reedes The Candiots aboue all others were so readie and perfect in this kinde of feat that the ouerweening of their owne skill and the confidence which they had in this manner of seruice made them too bold and was in the end their owne ouerthrow But herein also as in all other things else whatsoeuer Italie hath carried the name and woon the prize for there is not a better Reed growing for to make shafts than that which is found about the Rhene a little riuer running vnder Bononia very full of marrow or pith stiffe also it is and weightie withall it cutteth the aire it flyeth away most swiftly and last of all it will hold the owne and stand in the weather so counterpoised that no winde hath any power on it And those Reeds in Picardie and the Low-countries are nothing comparable ne yet of Candie how highly soeuer they be commended for warre-seruice And yet the Reeds that grow in India be preferred before them and beare the name which indeed some thinke to be of another nature considering they bee so firme and bigge withall that beeing well headed with yron they serue in stead of Speares and Iauelins In very truth the Indian Canes for the most part grow to the bignesse of Trees such as we see commonly in Temples standing there for a shew The Indians doe affirme that there is a difference amongst them also in regard of sexe and namely That the substance and matter of the male is more fast and massie but that of the female larger and of greater capacitie within Moreouer if wee may beleeue their words the verie Cane betweene euery ioint is sufficient to make a boat These great Canes do grow principally along the riuer Acesine All Reeds in generall doe shoot and spring in great number from one root and principall stocke and the more they bee cut the better they come againe The root liueth long and without great iniurie offered vnto it will not die it also is divided into many knottie ioints Those onely of India haue short leaues But in all of them the leafe springeth out of the ioint which embracing the Cane doth clad it round about with certaine thin membranes or tunicles as far as to the middle space between the ioints and then for the most part they giue ouer to claspe the Cane and hang downeward to the ground As well Reeds as Canes spread their leaues like wings round one after another on either side vpon the very ioints and that in alternatiue course alwaies very orderly so as if the one sheath come forth of the right side the other at the next ioint or knot aboue it putteth out on the left and thus it doth throughout by turnes From these nodosities otherwhiles a man shall perceiue as it were certaine little branches to breake foorth and those bee no other but small and slender Reeds Moreouer there be many kindes of Reedes and Canes for some of them stand thicker with ioints and those are more fast and solid than others small distance there is between the same there be again that haue not so many of them and greater space there is from the one to the other and such Canes for the most part are of a thinner substance Yee shall haue a Cane all full of holes within called therupon Syringias and such are very good to make whistles or smal flutes because they haue within them neither gristly nor fleshy substance The Orchomenian Cane is hollow throughout from one end to the other and this they call Auleticus or the pipe Cane for as the former was fit for flutes so is this better for great pipes Now you shall meet with Canes also that stand more of the wood haue but a narrow hole and concauity within and this is full of a spungeous pith or marow within-forth Some be shorter some longer than other and where you haue one that is thin and slender you shall spie a fellow to it more grosse and thicker That which brancheth most putteth forth greatest store of shoots is called Donax and is neuer known to grow but in marishes and watery places for herein also lieth a difference and preferred it is far before the Reed that commeth vp in dry ground The archers reed is a seuerall kind by it selfe as we haue shewed before but of this sort those in Candy haue the greatest spaces betweene euery ioint and if they be made hot they are very pliable and will bend and follow which way soeuer a man would haue them Moreouer Reeds are distinguished one from another by the leafe not for the number but the strength and colour The leaues of those about Lacedaemon are stiffe and strong growing thicker of the one side than of the other And such as these are thought generally to grow along standing pooles and dead waters far vnlike to those about running riuers and besides to be clad with long pellicles which claspe and climbe about the Cane higher aboue the ioint than the rest doe Furthermore there is another kind of Reeds that groweth crooked and winding trauers and not vpright vnto any height but creeping low toward the ground and spreading it selfe in manner of a shrub Beasts take exceeding great delight to feed thereof and namely when it is young and tender for the sweet and pleasant taste that it hath Some cal this Reed Elegia Ouer and besides there breedeth in Italy also among the fens a certain salt fome named Adarca sticking to the rind or vtmost barke of Reedes and Canes onely vnder the verie tuft and head passing good it is for the tooth-ach
by reason of the hot and caustick quality that it hath like to Senuie or Mustard-seed As touching the Reed-plots about the Orchomenian lake I must needs write more exactly considering in what admiration they were in times past for in the first place they called that Cane which was the thicker and more strong Characias but the thinner and more slender Plotia And this verily was wont to be found swimming in the Islands that floted in the said lake whereas the other grew alwaies firme vpon the bankes and edges thereof how farre soeuer it spred and flowed abroad A third sort also there is of Canes which they called Auleticon for that it serueth to make flutes and pipes of but this commonly grew but euery ninth yeare for the said lake also kept that time just and increased not aboue that terme but if at any time it chanced to passe that time and to continue full two yeres together more than ordinary it was holden for a prodigious and fearfull signe The which was noted at Châ—…ronia in that vnfortunate battell wherein the Athenians were ouerthrowne and defeated and many times else is obserued to happen about Lebadia namely when the Riuer Cephisus ariseth so high that he swelleth ouer his bankes and is discharged into the said lake Now during that ninth yeare whiles the inundation of the lake continueth these Canes prooue so bigge and strong withall that they serue for hawking poles and sowlers pearches and then the Greeks call them Zeugitae Contrariwise if the water hold not so long but do fal and return back within the yere then the Reeds be small and slender named Bombyciae Howbeit the femals of this kind haue a broader and whiter leafe little or no down at all vpon them and then they are known by a pretty name and called Spadones as one would say guelded Of these Reeds were made the instruments for the excellent close musick within-house wherein I cannot passe with silence what a wonderfull deale of paines and care they tooke to fit them for their tune and make them to accord insomuch as we are not to be blamed but born withall if now adaies we chuse rather to haue our pipes and hautboies of siluer And in truth to the time of Antigenes that excellent minstrell and plaier vpon the pipe all the while that there was no vse but of the plain musick and single instrument the right time of cutting down gathering these Reeds for this purpose was about September when the signe Arcturus is in force then were they to haue a seasoning and preparation for certaine yeares before they would serue the turne yea and then also much ado there was with them and long practise and exercise they asked before they could be brought into frame and good tune so as a man might wel say that the very pipes were to be taught their sound and note by meanes of certaine tongues or quills that struck and pressed one vpon another and all to giue contentment and shew pleasure vnto the people assembled at Theatres according as those times required But after that musicke came once to be compound and that men sung and plaied in parts with more varietie and delight they began to gather these Reeds before mid-Iune and in three yeares space they had their perfection and grew to their proofe then were those tongues or holes made more wide and open for to quauer and change the note the better and of such are the flutes and pipes made which be vsed at this day But in those times men were persuaded that there was a great difference in the parts of any Reeds for to serue these or those instruments in such sort as that ioint which was next vnto the root they held to be meeter for the Base pipe that was fitted for the left hand and contrariwise for the Treble of the right hand those knots that were toward the head top of the Reed Howbeit of all others by many degrees were those preferred which grew in the riuer Cephisus Now adaies the hautboies that the Tuscans play vpon at their sacrifices be of Box-wood but the pipes vsed in plaies for pleasure only are made of the Lotos of Asses shank-bones and of siluer The best Faulconers Reeds wherewith they vse to chase foules came from Panhormus but the Canes for angle-rods that fishers occupie are brought out of Africk from Abaris The Italian Reeds Canes be fittest for to make perches to lay ouer frames props for to beare vp vines Finally as touching the setting of Reedes Cato would haue them to bee planted in moist grounds after they haue bin first delued laid hollow with a spade prouided alwaies that the oelets stand 3 foot asunder and that there be wilde Sparages among whereof come the tender crops for sallads for those like well and sort together with the Canes CHAP. XXXVII ¶ Of the Willow or Sallow eight kinds thereof and what trees besides the Willow are good for bindings Also of Briers and Brambles MOreouer after the opinion of the said Cato it is good to plant Withies also about riuer sides and neere to Reeds for surely there is not more profit arising from any other tree of the waters than from it howsoeuer the Poplars are well liked and loued of the vines and do nourish the good wines of Caecubum howsoeuer the Alders serue in stead of rampiers and strong fences against the inundation and ouerflowing of riuers withstanding their forcible eruptions howsoeuer they stand in the waters as mures and wals to fortifie the banks or rather as sentinels to watch and ward in the borders of country farms and being cut down to the root do multiply the rather and put forth many shoots and imps as heires to succeed And to bigin withall of Sallowes there be many kinds for some there be that in the head beare perches of a great length to prop and make trails for vines to run vpon and the rind or skin as it were pilled from the wood is as good as a belt or thong to binde or gird any thing withall Others againe there are and namely the red Willowes which carry twigs and rods that are pliable and gentle to wind as a man would haue them fit also for buildings Ye shal haue of these Osiers some that are very fine passing slender wherof are wrought prety baskets and many other dainty deuises others also that are more tough and strong good to make paniers hampers and a thousand other necessary implements for country houses and to fit the husbandmen Being pilled they are the fairer and whiter more smooth also and gentle in hand whereby they are excellent good for the more delicate sort of such wicker ware and better far than stubborn leather but principally for leaning chairs wherein a man or woman may gently take a nap sitting at ease and repose most sweetly A willow the more that it is cut or lopt the better spring will it shoot at
bone which is the very heart and best of the wood All trees whereof the wood is ouer dry beare fruit but each other yeare or at leastwise more in one yere than another as namely the Oliue tree a thing obserued more in them than in those that haue a pulpous and fleshie substance as the Cherry tree Neither are all trees indifferently furnished with store of the said fat or flesh no more than the most fierce and furious beasts As for the Box Cornel and Oliue trees they haue neither the one nor the other ne yet any marow at all and but very little bloud Semblably the Servis tree hath no heart the Alder no carnositie and yet both of them are stored wel enough with marow which is their pith no more than canes or reeds for the most part In the fleshy substance or wood of some trees there are to be found graine and veine both And easie it is to distinguish the one from the other for commonly the veins be larger and whiter contrariwise the grain which the Latines cal Pulpa runneth streit and direct in length and is to be found ordinarily in trees that wil easily cleaue And hereupon it commeth that if a man lay his eare close to one end of a beame or piece of timber he shall heare the knocke or pricke that is made but with a pen-knife at the other end be the piece neuer so long by reason that the sound goeth along the stieit grain of the wood By this means also a man shall find when the timber doth twine and whether it run not euen but be interrupted with knots in the way Some trees there be that haue certain hard bunches bearing out and swelling like to kernels in the flesh of a Swines necke and these knobs or callosities haue not in them long grain and broad veine as is aboue said but only a brawny flesh as it were rolled round together And to say a truth when such knurres and callosities as these be are found either in Citron or Maple trees men make great account of them and set no small store by that wood All other sorts of Tables when the trees are clouen or sawne into plankes are brought into a round compasse with the grain for otherwise if it were slit ouerthwart to make them round against the grain it would soon breake out As touching the Beech the graine of it runneth crosse two contrary wayes like combe teeth but in old time the vessels made of that wood were highly esteemed As for example Manius Curius hauing subdued his enemies protested and bound it with an oath That of all the booty and pillage taken from them hee had not reserued any thing for himselfe but onely a cruet or little Ewer of Beech wood wherein he might sacrifice vnto the gods There is no wood but floteth aloft the water and waueth in length like as that part which is next to the root is far more weighty setleth faster downe and sinketh Some wood hath no veins at all but consisteth only of a meere grain streight and small in maner of threds such commonly is easie to be clouen There is again wood that hath no such direct graine and that will sooner breake out than cleaue and of this nature is the Oliue and Vine-wood Contrariwise the whole body and wooddy substance of the Figge tree is nothing but flesh The Mastholme Cornel Oke Tretrifolie Mulberry Ebeny and Lotus which haue no pith and marrow with in as is beforesaid are all heart All wood for the most part turneth to a blackish colour The Cornel tree is of a deep yellow wherof are made the faire Bore-speare staues which shine again and be studded as it were with knots and chamfered betweene both for decencie and handsomnesse The Cedar Larch and Iuniper wood is red CHAP. XXXIX ¶ Of the Larch tree the Firre and the Sapine the manner of cutting or falling such like trees THere is a female Larch tree which the Greeks call Aegis the wood whereof is of a pleasant colour like to hony Painters haue found by experience that it is excellent good for their tables both for that it is so euen and smooth not apt besides to chink and cleaue as also because it will endure and last for euer And that part they chuse which is the very heart of it and next the pith which in the Fir tree the Greekes call Leuson In like sort the heart of the Cedar is hardest which lieth â—…xt to the pith or marrow aboue named much after the maner of bones in the bodies of liuing creatures when the muddy carnositie is scraped off and taken away The inward part also of the Elder by report is wondrous hard tough and they that make thereof staues for Bore-speares prefer it before any wood whatsoeuer For it standeth only vpon skin and bone that is to say of the rind and heart As touching the falling and cutting downe of trees to serue either in temples or for other vses round and entire as they grow without any squaring as also for to barke them the onely time and season is when the sap runs and that they begin to bud forth otherwise you shal neuer be able to get off their bark for bark them not they wil rot and become worm-eaten vnder the said barke and the timber withall wax duskish and blacke As for the other timber that is squared with the axe and by that means rid from the barke it would be fallen or cut downe between mid-winter and the time that the wind Favonius bloweth or if we be forced to vse the timber before and to preuent that time trees may be fallen at the setting of the star Arcturus or of the Harp-star before it Finally the vtmost and last time thereof is at the summer Sunnested But forasmuch as most men be ignorant of these seasons and know not when these starres aboue named do either rise or fall I will hereafter shew the reason both of the one and other in place conuenient For this present as touching the time of felling trees the common sort make no more scruple but thinke it sufficient to obserue that no trees which are to be hewne square for carpenters work be cast down and laid along before they haue borne their fruit As for the hard and sauage Oke if it be felled in the spring it will be subiect to the Worme but cut it down in mid-winter it will neither warp ne yet cleaue and chink being otherwise subiect vnto both namely as well to cast and twine as to rift and gape a thing incident to the Cork wood be it cut down in as good a season as is possible Moreouer it passeth to see how much the age of the Moon auaileth in this case for it is commonly thought that timber would not be fallen but in the wain and namely in the last quarter from the 20 day of the Moon till the thirtieth And this is generally receiued among
with ease yea and to take his wind and breath at liberty In like manner being taken warm with the juice of Cucumber it cureth the falling sicknesse It purifieth the senses it purgeth the head by smelling it keepeth the body soluble it prouoketh womens monethly fleures and vrine A cataplasme made therewith and applied accordingly helpeth them that be in a dropsie so it doth those that be subject to the falling sicknes but then must it be stamped with three parts of Cumin and figs. If it be tempered with vineger and held to the nose of such women as with the rising of the mother seeme to be strangled and to lie in a trance it raiseth them vp again in like sort it awakens those who be in a fit of the lethargy howbeit in this case it is good to put thereto the seed of Seseli of Candy which they call Tordilion But say that the Patients be in so deep a sleep in this drowsie disease that by such means they will not start vp and be raised then take mustard-seed and figgs temper them with vineger into a cataplasme apply the same to the legs or the forehead or region of the brain rather It hath a caustick or burning quality and being applyed in form of a liniment to any part it raiseth pimples by which means it cureth the old inueterat pains of the brest the ach of the loins the haunch and hucklebone the shoulders or any part of the body where need is that the offensiue humors setled deep within should transpire and be drawn outwardly to an issue Now for that the nature thereof is to blister in case the patient be timerous fear some extreme operation of that burning quality that it hath it may be applied to the part affected between a doubled linnen cloth otherwise if the place be very thick and hard it would be laid too without any figs at all Moreouer there is a good vse of Senuy with red earth for to make the haire come again which is faln for scabs and scurfe for soule morphew or the leprosie the lowsie disease the vniuersall cramp that causeth the body to stand stiffe and stark as it were all of one piece without ioint also the particular cricke which setteth the neck backward that it cannot stir An inunction made with it and hony cureth the eye-lids that be not smooth but rugged and chapped yea and clarifieth the eies which be ouercast with a muddy mist. As touching the juice of Scnvie it is after three sorts drawne the first being pressed forth it is let to take a heat in the Sun gently by little and little within an earthen pot Secondly there issueth forth of the small stems or branches that it hath a white milky liquor which after it is dried and hardened in that manner is a singular remedy for the tooth-ach Where note by the way that the seed root both after they haue bin wel steeped and soked in new wine are stamped or brayed together now if one do take in a supping as much of this iuice thus drawne as may be held in the ball of the hand it is very good to strengthen the throat and chaws to fortifie the stomack to corroborat the eies to confirm the head and generally to preserue all the senses in their entire And verily I know not the like wholsome medicine againe to shake off and cure the lazy and lither feuers that come by fits many times vpon women Senuy also being taken in drinke with vineger breaketh the stone and expelleth it by grauell There is an oyle also made of mustard-seed infused and steeped in oyle and so pressed out which is much vsed to heat and comfort the stiffenesse of sinewes occasioned by cold to warme also and bring into temper the thorough cold lying in the loins hanches and hucklebones whereof commeth the Sciatica Of the same nature and operation that Senuie is Adarca is thought to be according as I haue touched in the discourses of plants and trees growing wild in the woods which is a certain fomy substance arising and sticking in the bark of certain Canes vnder their very leaues and tufts that they beare in the head Concerning Horehound which the Greekes call Prasion others Linostrophon some Phylopes or Philochares an hearbe so well knowne and so common that it needs no description many Physitians haue commended to be as medicinable as the best And in truth the leaues and seed both being beaten into powder are excellent good for the stinging of serpents for the paine of the brest and sides singular for an old cough Moreouer the juice is right soueraign for those who haue their lungs perished and do reach vp bloud if the branches therof gathered and bound vp into bunches be sodden first in water with the grain called Panick for to mitigat in some sort the vnpleasant harshnesse of the said juice A cataplasme of Horehound applied vnto the Kings euill with some conuenient fat or grease resolueth the hard kernels Some prescribe a receit for the cough in this maner Take the seed of green Horehound as much as a man may comprehend with two fingers seeth it with a smal handful of the wheat called Far putting thereto a little oile and salt and so sup off the decoction fasting Others hold That without all comparison there is not a medicine in the world like to the juice of Horehound and Fennel together first drawn by way of expression to the quantity of 3 sextars afterwards boiled to the consumption of a third part vntill there remaine but two sextars then to this decoction there must be put one sextar of hony all sodden again to the consumption of one third part more vnto the height of a syrrup whereof one spoonfull euery day taken in a cyath of water is a drink that in this case hath no fellow Horehound stamped and mixed with hony is of wonderfull effect being applied to the priuy parts of a man for any griefes incident thereto Laid with vineger vnto ring-worms tettars and any such running wildfires it purgeth and riddeth them clean away A wholsom medicine it is to be applied as a cataplasm to ruptures convulsions spasmes and cramps of the sinews Taken in drink with salt and vineger it easeth the belly and maketh it laxatiue It prouoketh womens terms and sendeth out the after-birth The powder of it drie mixed with honey is of exceeding great efficacy to ripen a dry cough to cure gangrenes whiteflaws and wertwalls about the root of the nails The juice dropped into the ears with honey or snuffed vp into the nose cureth their infirmities it scoureth away the Iaundise also and purgeth cholerick humors And for all kinds of poisons few herbs are so effectuall as Horehound for it selfe alone without any addition clenseth the stomack and breast by reaching and fetching vp the filthy and rotten fleam there ingendred If it be taken with hony and the floure-de-lis root it
Reader that we Romanes are acquainted with very few garden floures for Guirlands and know in manner none but Violets and roses CHAP. IV. ¶ Of the Rose employed in Coronets The diuers kinds thereof and where it is set and groweth THe plant whereupon the Rose doth grow is more like a thorn or bush than a shrub or any thing else For it will come of a very Brier or Eglantine also where it wil cast a sweet and pleasant smell although it reach not far off All Roses at their first knitting seeme to be inclosed within a certain cod or huske full of graines which soon after beginneth to swell and grow sharp pointed into certain green indented or cut buds then by little and little as they wax red they open and spred themselues abroad containing in the midst of their cup as it were certain small tufts or yellow threds standing out in the top Vsed they are exceeding much in Chaplets and Guirlands As touching the oile Rosat made by way of infusion it was in request before the destruction of Troy as may appeare by the poet Homer Moreouer Roses enter into the composition of sweet ointments and perfumes Ouer and besides the Rose of it selfe alone as it is hath medicinable vertues and serueth to many purposes in physick It goeth into emplastres and collyries or eye-salues by reason of a certain subtil mordacitie and penetratiue qualitie that it hath Furthermore many delicate and dainty dishes are serued vp to the table either couered and bestrewed with Rose leaues or bedewed and smeared all ouer with their juice which doth no harme to those viands but giue a commendable tast therto We at Rome make most account of two kinds of Roses aboue the rest to wit those of Praeneste and of Capua And yet some haue ranged with these principal Roses those of Miletum which are of a most liuely and deep red colour and haue but twelue leaues in a floure at the most The next to them are the Trachinian Roses not so red all out Then those of Alabanda which be of a baser reckoning with a weak colour inclining to white Howbeit the meanest and worst of all is the Rose Spineola Most leaues in number it hath of all others and those in quantity smaller For this would be knowne that Roses differ one from another either in number of leaues more or lesse or els that some be smooth others rough and pricky also in colour and smell The fewest leaues that a Rose hath be fiue and so vpward they grow euer still more and more vntill they come to those that haue an hundred namely about Campain in Italy and neere to Philippos a city in Greece whereupon the Rose is called in Latine Centifolia How beit the territorie of Philippi hath no such soile as to bring forth these hundred-leafe Roses for it is the mountain Pangaeus neare adioyning vpon which they naturally doe grow with a number of leaues I say but the same small which being remoued transplanted by the neighbor borderers do mightily thriue in another ground namely about Philippi aforesaid proue much fairer than those of Pangaeus Yet are not such Roses of the sweetest kind that are so double and double againe no more than those which are furnished with the largest and greatest leaues But in one word if you would know a sweet smelling rose indeed chuse that which hath the cup or knob vnder the floure rough pricky Caepio who liued in the time of Tiberius the Emperour was of opinion That the hundred-leafe Rose had no grace at all in a garland either for smel or beauty therfore should not be put into chaplets vnlesse it were last in maner of a tuft to make a sur-croist or about the edges as a border no more than the Rose Campion which our men cal the Greek Rose and the Greekes name Lychnis which lightly groweth not but in moist grounds and neuer hath more than siue leaues The floure exceeds not the bignes of a certain violet and carieth no sent or sauor at all Yet is there another Rose called Graecula the floures leaues wherof are folded and lapped one within another neither wil they open of themselues vnlesse they be forced with ones fingers but looke alwaies as if they were in the bud notwithstanding that the leaues when they be out are of all others largest Moreouer there be Roses growing from a bush that hath a stalk like a Mallow and beareth leaues resembling those of the oliue and this kind is named in Greek Moscheuton Of a middle sise between these abouenamed is the Rose of Autumne commonly called Coroneola And to say a truth all the said Roses except this Coroneola and that which groweth vpon the brier or Eglantine before-named haue no smell with them in the whole world naturally but are brought to it by many deuises sophistications yea the very Rose it selfe which of the own nature is odoriferous carieth a better smell in some one soile than in another For at Cyrene they passe all other for sweetnes and pleasant sauor which is the reason that the oile Rosat and ointment compounded thereof is most excellent there of all other places And at Cartagena in Spain there be certaine timely or hastie Roses that blow and floure all winter long The climat also and temperature of the aire makes for the sweetnesse of the Rose for in some yeares yee shall haue them lesse odoriferous than in others Ouer besides the place would be considered for the roses be euer more sweet growing vpon dry than wet grounds And indeed the Rose bush loueth not to be planted in a fat and rich soile ne yet vpon a vein of cley no more than it liketh to grow neere vnto riuers where the banks be ouerflowed or in a waterish plot but it agreeth best with a light and loose kinde of earth and principally with a ground full of rubbish and among the ruines of old houses The Campain Rose bloweth early and is very forward The Milesian comes as late How beit those of Praeneste be longest ere they giue ouer bearing As touching the maner of planting them as the ground would be delued deeper than for corn so a lighter stitch had need be taken than for Vine sets Those that be sowed of seed be latest of all others ere they come vp and thriue most slowly Now lieth this seed in the cup or husk thereof iust vnder the very floure and is couered all ouer with a down And therefore it is better to set sions cut from the stalk or els to slip the little oilets and shoots from the root as the maner is in reeds and canes After which sort they vse to set yea to graf one kind of a pricky pale rose bush putting forth very long twigs shoots like to those of the Cinq-foile rose which is one of the Greekish kind There is no rose bush whatsöeuer but prospereth the better for cutting pruning
whiles some attribute to it the Centaur Chiron others to K. Pharnaces This Panaces is vsually set and planted bearing leaues indented in the edges like a saw and those longer than any of the rest The root is odoriferous which they vse to drie in the shadow and therewith to aromatize their wine for a pleasant and delectable taste it giueth vnto it Hereof they haue made two speciall kinds the one with a thicker leafe the other with a thinner and smaller As for Heracleon Siderion a plant it is also fathered vpon Hercules It riseth vp with a slender stalk to the height of foure fingers bearing a red floure and leaues in manner of the Coriander Found it is growing neare to pooles and riuers and for a wound herb there is not the like especially if the body be hurt by sword or any edged weapon made of yron and steele There is a wild Vine named Ampelos Chironia for that Chiron was the first author thereof Of this plant I haue written in my discourse of Vines vnder the name of Vitis Nigra like as also of another herb which hath the goddesse Minerua for the inuentresse Moreouer vnto Hercules is ascribed Henbane which the Latines call Apollinaris the Arabians Altercum or Altercangenon but the Greeks Hyoscyamus Many kinds there be of it the one beareth black seed floures standing much vpon purple and this herb is full of pricks And in very truth such is the Henbane that groweth in Galatia The common Henbane is whiter and brancheth more than the other taller also than the Poppy The third kinde bringeth forth seed like vnto the graine of Irio All the sort of these already named trouble the brain and put men besides their right wits besides that they breed dizzinesse of the head As touching the fourth it carieth leaues soft full of down fuller and fatter than the rest the seed also is white it groweth by the sea-side Physitians are not afraid to vse this in their compositions no more than that which hath red seed Howbeit otherwhiles this white kinde especially if it be not throughly ripe proueth to be reddish and then it is reiected by the Physitians For otherwise none of them all would be gathered but when they be fully drie Henbane is of the nature of wine and therfore offensiue to the vnderstanding and troubleth the head howbeit good vse there is both of the seed it selfe as it is in substance and also of the oile or iuice drawn out of it apart And yet the stalks leaues and roots are imploied in some purposes For mine owne part I hold it to be a dangerous medicine and not to be vsed but with great heed and discretion For this is certainly knowne That if one take in drink more than foure leaues thereof it will put him beside himself Notwithstanding the Physitians in old time were of opinion that if it were drunk in wine it would driue away an ague An oile I say is made of the seed therof which if it be but dropped into the ears is enough to trouble the brain But strange it is of this oile That if it be taken in drink it serues for a counterpoison See how industrious men haue bin to proue experiments and made no end of trying all things insomuch as they haue found means and forced very poisons to be remedies CHAP. V. ¶ Of Mercury called Linozostis Parthenium Hermupoa or rather Mercurialis of Achilleum Panaces Heracleum Sideritis and Millefoile of Scopa regia Hemionium Teucrium and Splenium of Melampodium or Ellebore and how many kinds there be of it of the black or white Ellebore their medicinable vertues how Ellebore is to be giuen how to be taken to whom and when it is not to be giuen and how it killeth Mice and Rats THe herb Mercury called by the Greeks Linozostis and Parthenion was thought to be first found out by Mercury whereupon many of the Greeks call it Hermu-poa and wee all in Latine name it Mercurialis Of it be two kinds the male and the female howbeit the female Mercury is of better operation than the other It riseth vp with a stem a cubit high which otherwhile brancheth in the top the leaues be like vnto Basil but that they are narrower full of knots or joints the stalk is and those haue many hollow concauities like arme-pits The seed hangeth down from those ioints In the female the same is white loose in great plenty in the male it standeth close vnto those joints but thinner and the same is small and as it were wreathed The leaues of the male Mercury be of a dark and blacker green wheras in the female they be more white The root is altogether superfluous and very little Both the one and the other delight to grow in plains and champion fields well ordered and husbanded It is wonderful if it be true that is reported of both these kinds namely That the male Mercury causeth women to beare boies and the female girls For which purpose the woman must presently after that shee is conceiued drink the juice of which Mercury she will in sweet wine cuit and eat the leaues either sodden with oile salt or els greene raw in a sallad with vineger Some there be who boile it in a new earthen vessell neuer vsed before together with the hearbe Hellotropium or Turnsol and 2 or 3 cloues of Garlick vntill it be throughly sodden VVhich decoction they prescribe to be giuen to women as also the herb it self to be eaten the second day of their monthly sicknes and so to continue for 3 daies together then vpon the fourth day after they haue bathed to company with their husbands Hippocrates giueth wonderfull praise vnto Mercury as wel the male as the female for all those accidents which follow women but the maner of vsing it which he prescribed there is no Physitian hath skil of He appointed to make pessaries thereof with hony oile of Roses oile of Ireos or Lillies and so to put them vp into the secret parts and in this manner he saith that the herb is excellent good for to prouoke the monthly termes of women and to fetch away the after-birth Hee affirmeth also that a potion of fomentation therwith wil do as much Moreouer by his saying the juice of Mercury infused into the ears or applied by way of liniment with old wine is singular for them when they runne with stinking matter he ordained likewise a cataplasme of Mercury to be laid to the belly for to stay the violent flux of humors thither for the strangury also and infirmities of the bladder In which cases he gaue the decoction therof with Myrrhe and Frankincense And verily for to loosen the belly although the Patient were in a feuer there is a potion of Mercury singular good made in this wise Take a good handfull of Mercury seeth the same in two sextars of water vntill one halfe be consumed let the party
be farre lighter and otherwhiles a man shall see in these falsified Rubies certaine little risings in manner of blisters or bladders which shine like siluer Moreouer there is found in Thesprotia a certaine minerall Rubie called Anthracitis resembling coles of fire but whereas some authors haue written that such grow in Liguria I take it to be a meere vntruth vnlesse haply in times past such might be found there It is said also that there be of these kind of Rubies which are compassed about with a white veine and their colour is fierie as wel as of the rest before-named but this peculiar property they haue by themselues That being cast into the fire they seeme dead and doe lose their lustre contrariwise if they be well sprinckled and drenched with water they seeme to glow yea and to flame out againe There is a stone much like to this called Sandastros which some name Garamantites growing among the Indians in a place likewise so named It is engendred also in that part of Arabia which regardeth the South Sun The chiefe grace and commendation of Sandastros is to bee cleare and to haue certaine drops as it were of gold like stars shining within that is to say alwaies in the body of the stone and neuer in the coat or out side in regard of which starre-like specks there is attributed some religious matter to these stones for that they represent in some sort to them that behold them the seuen stars called Hyades both in number and also in order and maner of disposition which is the reason that the wise men of Assyria named Chaldaei doe obserue them with much deuotion Moreouer these Sandastres are distinguished by the â—…ex for the male seeme to haue a more sad and deep colour and by the reuerberation of their fire within giue a tincture to those things that they touch or lie neer to and the Indian verily of this kind are said to dim the eie-sight As for the female Sandastres they carry not such an ardent shew of fire but are more pleasant to the eie as beeing attractiue rather than burning Some writers there be who prefer the Arabian Sandastres before the Indian saying that the Arabian are like to the Chrysolithes that be somewhat smokie As for Ismenias he affirmeth that the Sandastres are so tender that they cannot bee polished in a great errour therefore bee they who call this stone Sandaresos but all authors herein accord That the more stars do make apparence in them so much better is the price Furthermore this is to be noted that the nearenesse in name otherwhiles is the cause of errour as we may see by Sandaser which Nicander called Sandaserion others Sandaseron and in truth this Sandaser some take to bee Sandaster and the Sandaster indeed Sandaresos which is found likewise amongst the Indians bearing the name of the place where it groweth in colour it resembleth an apple or else greene oile and in truth no account is there made of it As touching Lychnites so called for the resemblance that it hath to the blaze of a candle lighted which giueth a singular grace to it and maketh it very rich it may be ranged wel among these fierie and ardent stones found this is about Orthosia and throughout all Caria and the places adjoining but the most excellent come from the Indians which some haue thought and said to be the milder kind of Carbuncle or Rubie balais In a second degree of worth and account vnto this Lychnites is Ionis so called of the March violet which in colour it doth very much resemble Ouer and besides I find other sorts of Rubies different from those aboue named for some of them hold of the fresh and glorious purple of Lac others stand as much vpon the Scarlet or Crimsen which being chaufed in the sun or otherwise set in a heat by rubbing with the fingers will draw to them chaffe strawes shreads and leaues of paper The common Grenat also of Carchedon or Carthage is said to do as much although it be inferior in price to the former These Grenats are found vpon the hils amongst the Nasamons and as the inhabitants are of opinion are ingendred by means of a certaine diuine dew or heauenly show re found they are twinckling against the moon-light and especially when she is in the full In times past all the trafficke of the Grenats was at Carthage whereupon they took the name of Carchedon But Archelaus saith that there be of them in Egypt also about the city Thebes howbeit such are brittle full of veins and like to a cole going out and ready to die I find that drinking cups haue been made of this stone as also of the former called Lychnites Generally all rubies be very hard for to be cut and this ill quality they haue That they neuer do seale cleane but ordinarily plucke some of the wax away with the signet contrariwise the Cornalline or Sarda signeth very faire without any of the wax sticking to it this Sarda giueth part of the name to the Sardonyx the gem it selfe is very common found first about Sardis but in truth the principall is that which commeth from about Babylonia out of certaine quarries of stone where it was found sticking within another stone in manner of the heart After this manner it is said that the Persians had sometime minerall Cornallines but the mine now doth fade howbeit there be of them in many other places besides to wit in Paros and Assos The Indians send vnto vs three seuerall kindes to wit the red the fatty called therupon Demium the third which ordinarily haue a ground of siluer-foil laid vnder them to giue a lustre The Indian Sardes or Cornallines are transparent and carry a through light with them the Arabian be more thicke there be found of them also about Egypt but they haue commonly a ground of gold-foile These gems likewise are distinguished by the sex for the male haue a more bright and orient lustre the female are not so resplendent but shine as it were through a grosse fatty matter In old time there was not a pretious stone in greater request than the Cornallin in truth Menander Philemon haue named this stone in their Comoedies for a braue and proud gem neither can we find a precious stone that maintaineth the lustre longer than it against any humor wherin it is drenched and yet oile is more contrary to it than any other liquor To conclude those that be of the colour of honey aie rejected for nought howbeit if they resemble the colour of earthen pots they be worse than those CHAP. VIII ¶ Of the Topaze and the sundry kinds of it Of Callais and of other greene pretious stones not transparent THe Topaze or Chrysolith hath a singular green colour by it selfe for which it is esteemed very rich and when it was first found it surpassed all others in price they were discouered first in
carrieth a purple floure leaues and branches rough a root in haruest time as red as bloud otherwise black and groweth in sandy grounds effectuall it is against serpents and Vipers most of all others both in the root and leafe as well eaten with meat as taken in drinke In the full strength it is in haruest The leaues if it be bruised or stamped do yeeld the sauor and smel of a Cucumber If the matrice of a woman be slipt downe a draught of three cyaths thereof doth reduce it vp into the place and together with hyssope it driueth out the broad wormes in the belly For the pain of the kidnies or the liuer it ought to be taken in mead or honied water if the Patient haue an ague withall otherwise in wine The root brought into a liniment cureth the Lentils or red spots yea and the infection of the leprosie And it is said That as many as haue it about them cannot be stung by serpents There is yet another Orchanet or Anchusa like vnto this in regard of the red floure which it beareth howbeit a lesse herb than the other hauing the like operation and imploied in the same vses It is reported That if one chew it in his mouth spit it forth vpon a serpent the same will surely die thereupon As touching Anthemis i. Camomile Asclepiades the Physitian doth highly praise and commend it Some name it Leucanthemis others Leucanthemus there be who giue it the name Eranthemon because it flourisheth in the Spring others againe name it Chamaemelon for the sent or sauour that it hath of an Apple many call it Melanthemon Three kinds there be of it differing onely in the floures for none of them exceed an hand-breadth in heighth which bee small and in forme resemble those of Rue howbeit these floures be either white yellow or red In a lean ground and neer to beaten paths this herb loueth to grow gathered it is in the spring and layed vp for to serue in garlands at which time the Physitians also stampe the leaues and make them vp into Trosches so do they also by the floure and the root This vertue they haue That if they be all mingled together to the weight of one dram they are thought to be a soueraigne remedie against the sting of all serpents This herbe expelleth dead infants within the mothers wombe if it be taken in drinke It bringeth downe also the monthly fleurs of women prouoketh vrine and sendeth forth the stone and grauell Being chewed it dissolueth ventosities it cureth the obstructions and defects of the liuer it helpeth the jaundise healeth the fistuloes between the angle of the eye and the nose and generally all running sores and mattering vlcers But of all these kinds that which beareth the red purple floure hath most effectuall operation for the stone and indeed both the leaues and also the branches of this Camomile are somewhat larger than of the rest and some there be who giue this a name it selfe and call it Eranthemon As for those who take lotos to be a tree only may be conuinced euen by the authority and restimony of Homer who among other herbes growing for the delight and pleasure of the gods hath named Lotos as principall The leaues of this herbe incorporat with honey and so applied cureth the cicatrices or scars in the eie the spots also appearing therein and disolueth the cloudy skins which ouercast the sight there is a kind of lotos named Lotometra comming of the garden Lotos it carrieth a seed like to Millet whereof in Aegypt the Bakers make bread but they work knead the floure of this seed with water or milk There is not any bread in the world by report more wholsom and lighter than this so long as it is hot but being once cold it is harder of digestion becommeth weighty ponderous This is known for certain that as many as liue thereof are infested troubled neither with the dysenterie or bloudy flix ne yet with the trouble some offers and strains to the siege without doing any thing nor any other diseases of the belly and therefore it is counted a principal remedie for those maladies Concerning Turnsol I haue oftentimes related the wonderfull nature thereof namely how it turneth about with the sun although it be a close and cloudy day so great is the loue of this herb to that planet and in the night season for want of the Suns presence as if it had a great misse thereof it draweth in and shutteth the blew floure which it beareth Two kinds there be of this Heliotropium or Turnesol of which the lesse is called Tricoccum the other Helioscopium of the twain this later is the taller and yet neither of them both exceedeth halfe a a foot in height and putteth forth branches from the very root The seed of this greater sort lieth within a little cod and is gathered in haruest time it groweth not but in a fat soil wel manured whereas Tricoccum comes vp euery where I find that if it be boiled it is a pleasant and delectable meat but sodden in milk it loosneth the belly gently and with ease for otherwise the bare colature of the decoction in water if it be taken purgeth most extremely The juice of the greater kinde ought to be drawn or gathered in summer at noontide which if it be tempered with wine becommeth more strong and effectual A property it hath being mingled with oile of roses to mitigat the head-ach The juice drawn out of the leafe medled with salt takes away werts whereupon our herbarists haue called the herb in Latine Verrucaria 〈◊〉 Wertwort whereas indeed for other better effects and operations that it hath it deserueth to haue some denominations correspondent thereunto for a countre-poison it is against serpents and scorpions if it be drunk with wine or honied water as Apollophanes and Apollodorus do report in their writings A liniment made of the leaues cureth the rheumes and distillations of the braine in children which disease they call Siriasis Likewise it helpeth contractions of sinues and the drawing in of joints although the patient be taken after the maner of the falling sicknesse and for such as be thus afflicted a somentation made of the decoction of this herb is very wholesom and comfortable but if one drink the colature thereof it thrusteth forth the wormes in the belly and scoureth out the grauell in the kidnies If Cumin be put thereto it breaks the stones ingendred and confirmed there already Boiled it ought to be root and all the which with the leaues and goats tallow being reduced into a liniment is singular good for all kinds of gout The other kind which we call Tricoccon and is otherwise named Scorpiurion hath not only smaller leaues but also they incline and bend downward to the ground A seed it beareth resembling the figure of a scorpions taile whereupon it took that name A liniment made therewith
is powerfull against all venomous beasts and namely the perillous spiders Phalangia but specially against the poison of scorpions And in truth look who carry this herbe about them shall not be stung If a man make a circle or compasse vpon the earth with the branch of this herb a scorpion as some say being within the same shall not haue the power to get forth nay if the herb be laid vpon a scorpion or if with the same being wet a man besprinckle the said scorpion it wil surely die out of hand It is said that foure grains of the seed taken in drink do cure the quartan and three the tertian or if the very herb it selfe be laid vnder the patients head after it hath bin thrice caried about the bed it worketh the like effect The seed is of power to stir vp carnal lust Applied with hony it discusseth biles rising in the emunctories Yea this Heliotropium for a certaintie causeth werts to fall of by the very roots as also it taketh away all excrescences in the fundament It draweth down by vrin the corrupt bloud in the reines and loins lying cluttered about the ridge bone in case the seed be either applied as a liniment or sodden in the broth of a cock or capon and so supped off or else with Beets and Lentils As for the vtmost rind of this herbe it is singular for to recouer the fresh and natiue colour in places black and blew with stripes The Magitians and Wise-men do prescribe for the quartan tertian agues That the Patient should tie the herbe Heliotropium with three knots in a tertian and with four in a quartan praying withall and making a vow That he would vndo those knots after he were once cleare of the feuer but this he must do before the herbe be taken out of the ground Another property as strange and miraculous is reported of Adiantum in Summer it is green in winter it withereth and decaieth not it checketh all water for being bespreint dashed and drenched quite therewith yet it looketh as if it were dry so great is the antipathy or contrarietie between them whereupon the Greeks gaue it that name And otherwise a plant it is fit for Vinet-workes and knots in a garden Some call it Callitrichon others Polytrichon both which names were giuen it for the effect that it worketh For it coloreth the hair black And for this purpose it is sodden in wine with the seed of Ach or Persley and a good quantity of oile is put thereto for to make the haire curled and to grow thick by which meanes it keeps the hair from shedding and falling off 2 kinds there be of it the white and the black which also is the shorter The greater kind they cal Polytrichon the other Trichomanes Both of them haue pretie fine branches shining with a blacke color and the leaues resemble fearn in which the nether sides vnderneath be rough duskish and browne but all the leaues stand directly one a gainst another in order fastened to the stalkes by slender steles No root at all these Capillar hearbes haue but they grow vpon shadowie rocks and walls dashed and beaten on with water but most of all they seek after pits or holes of wels and springs and stony places wherout fountains issue and that is a strange maruellous thing considering they be not wet with water nor haue any sence or feeling thereof They haue a wonderful faculty and the black especially to break the stone and to expel it out of the body For which cause rather than for growing on stones and rocks I beleeue verily it was by our countrymen called in Latin Saxifrage To this purpose as much as 3 fingers be able to pluck vp is ordinarily taken in wine they prouoke vrin and resist the poison of serpents and venomous spiders Being boiled in wine they stay the flux of the belly A Chaplet made of them allaieth the head-ach And a liniment therof is thought good to be applied against the sting of the Scolopendres but it must be often taken off and renewed for feare the hearb become ouer-drie and lose all the vertue In this wise it is to be vsed where the haire is fallen away by some infirmitie These hearbes discusse and resolue the kings euill they dispatch and rid away the skales or dandruffe in the visage and heale the skals of the head A decoction of these Maiden-haires is singular good for those who are short winded for the liuer also the spleene the jaundise and the dropsie An ointment made with Maiden-haire and Wormewood easeth the paines of the kidney and in case of strangurie procureth ease and free passage of vrine They bring downe the after-birth in women and their monethly tearmes Howbeit drink them with vinegre or the juice of the blackberrie bramble they stanch bloud A proper liniment is made thereof with oile Rosat to annoint young children that haue the red gum and be all broken out but first they would be bathed in wine The leaues of Maiden-haire stamped with the vrine of a man child vnder fourteene yeares of age and yet not vndergrowne together with the some of salt petre is said to keep the bellies of women from wrinkles and riuels vpon child-bearing if they be annointed therwith To conclude men say That Partridges and cockes of the game will fight more lustily in case this hearbe bee entermingled with their meat And the same also is very good for sheepe to grase vpon about their folds CHAP. XXII ¶ Of Picris Thesium Asphodill Alimus Acanthus or Brankursine Elaphoboscum Scandix Iasione Of Caucalis Sium Silybum Scolymus or Zimonium Sonchus Chondrillum or Chodrilles and of Mushromes THe hearbe Picris tooke the name as heretofore we haue said of the notable bitternesse which it hath The leaues thereof be round Excellent good it is to take away werts Thesium likewise commeth nothing behind for bitternesse but it purgeth the bellie for which purpose it must be stamped strained and taken in water As touching the Asphodell it is one of the soueraign most renowmed herbs in the world Some haue giuen it the name Heroion And Hesiodus hath written that it growes in the woods Dionysius saith That there is both male and female of it Certain it is that the bulbous roots of the asphodel sodden with husked barly is a singular restoratiue for those bodies which are wasted with a consumption especially of the lungs and bread made of them wrought together with corne meale of floure into a dough is most wholesome for mans bodie As for Nicander he vsed to giue either the stem which we called Antherichon or the seed or els the Onion bulbous roots thereof in wine to the quantitie of three drams as a preseruatiue against serpents scorpions and to preuent the feare and daunger of these harmefull and pestilent creatures hee appointed the same to be laid vnder folks heads as they lay asleep Vsually