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
gather as it were a compleat hody of arts and sciences which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that are either altogether vnknowne or become doubtfull through the ouermuch curiositie of fine wits again other matters are deciphered in such long discourses that they are tedious to the readers insomuch as they loath and abhor them A difficult enterprise it is therfore to make old stuffe new to giue authoritie credit to nouelties to polish and smooth that which is worne and out of vse to set a glosse and lustre vpon that which is dim and darke to grace countenance things disdained to procure beleefe to matters doubtful in one word to reduce nature to all and al to their own nature And verily to giue the attempt only and shew a desire to effect such a desseigne as this although the same be not brought about and compassed were a braue and magnificent enterprise Certes of this spirit am I that those learned men and great students who making no stay but breaking through al difficulties haue preferred the profit of posteritie before the tickling and pleasure of itching eares in these daies which I may protest that I haue aimed at not in this worke only but also in other of my bookes alreadie and I professe that I wonder much at T. Livius otherwise a most renowned famous writer who in a preface to one of his books of the Roman history which hee cōpiled from the foundation of Rome thus protested That hee had gotten glorie ynough by his former writing and might sit still now take his ease but that his mind was so restlesse and so ill could abide repose that contrariwise it was fed and nourished with trauel nothing else But surely me thinks in finishing those Chronicles he should in dutie haue respected the glory of that people which had conquered the World and aduanced the honour of the Romane name rather than displaied his owne praise and commendation Ywis his demerit had beene the greater to haue continued his story as he did for loue of the subiect matter and not for his priuat pleasure to haue I say performed that peece of worke more to gratifie the state of Rome than to content his owne minde and affection As touching my selfe forasmuch as Domitius Piso saith That bookes ought to be treasuries store houses indeed and not bare and simple writings I may be bold to say and averre That in 36 bookes I haue comprised 20000 things all worthie of regard consideration which I haue recollected out of 2000 volumes or therabout that I haue diligently read and yet very few of them there be that men learned otherwise and studious dare meddle withall for the deepe matter and hidden secrets therein contained and those written by 100 seuerall elect and approued authors besides a world of other matters which either were vnknowne to our forefathers and former writers or else afterward inuented by their posteritie And yet I nothing doubt that many things there be which either surpasse our knowledge or else our memorie hath ouerslipt for men we are and men emploied in many affaires Moreouer considered it would be that these studies wee follow at vacant times and stolne houres that is to say by night season onely to the end that you may know how wee to accomplish this haue neglected no time which was due vnto your seruice The daies we wholly employ and spend in attendance about your person we sleepe onely to satisfie nature euen as much as our health requireth and no more contenting our selves with this reward That whiles wee study and muse as Varro saith vpon these things in our closet we gaine so many houres to our life for surely we liue then only when we watch and be awake Considering now those occasions those lets and hinderances aboue-named I had no reason to presume or promise much but in that you haue emboldened me to dedicate my bookes vnto you your selfe performeth whatsoeuer in me is wanting not that I trust vpon the goodnesse and worth of the worke so much as that by this means it will be better esteemed and shew more vendible for many things there be that seeme right deare and be holden for pretious only because they are consecrate to some sacred temples As for vs verily we haue written of you all your father Vespasian your selfe and your brother Domitian in a large volume which wee compiled touching the historie of our times beginning there where Aufidius Bassus ended Now if you demand and aske me Where that historie is I answer that finished it was long since and by this time is iustified and approued true by your deeds otherwise I was determined to leaue it vnto my heire and giue order that it should be published after my death lest in my life time I might haue bin thought to haue curried fauour of those whose acts I seemed to pen with flatterie beyond all truth And therfore in this action I do both them a great fauour who haply were minded before me to put forth the like Chronicle and the posteritie also which shall come after who I make reckning and know will enter into the lists with vs like as we haue done with our predecessors A sufficient argument of this my good mind frank hart that way you shal haue by this That in the front of these books now in hand I haue set down the very names of those writers whose help I haue vsed in the compiling of thē for I haue euer bin of this opinion That it is the part of an honest minded man one that is ful of grace modesty to confesse frank ly by whom he hath profited gottē any good not as many of those vnthankful persons haue done whom I haue alledged for my authors For to tell you a plain truth know thus much from me that in conferring thē together about this worke of mine I haue met with some of our moderne writers who word for word haue exemplified copied out whole books of old authors and neuer vouchsafed so much as the naming of them but haue taken their labors trauels to themselues And this they haue not done in that courage and spirit to imitate yea to match them as Virgil did Homer much lesse haue they shewed that simplicitie and apert proceeding of Cicero who in his bookes of Policie and Common-weale professeth himselfe to hold with Plato in his Consolatorie Epistle written to his daughter confesseth and saith plainely thus I follow Crantor and Panaetius likewise in his Treatise concerning Offices Which worthy monuments of his as you know well deserue not onely to be seene handled and read daily but also to be learned by heart euery word Certes I hold it for a point of a base and seruile mind and wherein there is no goodnesse at al to chuse rather to be surprised and taken in theft than to bring home borrowed good or to repay a due debt
a vapor with a dissonant sound like as when a red hot yron maketh an hissing being thrust into water a smokie fume walmeth vp with many turnings like waues Hereupon stormes do breed And if this flatuositie or vapour doe struggle and wrestle within the cloud from thence it commeth that thunderclaps be heard but if it breake through still burning then flieth out the thunderbolt if it be longer time a strugling and cannot pierce through then leams and flashes are seene With these the cloud is clouen with the other burst in sunder Moreouer thunders are nothing els but the blows and thumps giuen by the fires beating hard vpon the clouds and therefore presently the firy chinkes and rifts of those clouds do glitter and shine Possible it is also that the breath and winde eleuated from the earth being repelled back and kept downe by the stars so held in and restrained within a cloud may thunder whiles Nature choketh the rumbling sound all the while it striueth and quarelleth but sendeth forth a crack when it breaketh out as we see in a bladder puffed vp with winde Likewise it may be that the same wind or spirit whatsoeuer is set on fire by fretting and rubbing as it violently passeth headlong downe It may also be stricken by the conflict of two clouds as if two stones hit one against another and so the leams and flashes sparkle forth so as all these accidents happen by chance-medley and be irregular And hereupon come those bruitish vain lightenings such as haue no natural reason but are occasioned by these impressions aboue said With these are mountains and seas smitten and of this kind be all other blasts and bolts that do no hurt to liuing creatures As for those that come from aboue and of ordinary causes yea and from their proper stars they alwaies presage and foretell future euents In like manner as touching the windes or rather blasts I would not denie but that they may proceed from a dry exhalation of the earth void of all moisture neither is it impossible but that they do arise out of waters breathing and sending out an aire which neither can thicken into a mist nor gather into clouds also they may be driuen by the lugitation and impulsion of the Sun because the winde is conceiued to be nought els but the fluctuation and waiuing of the aire and that by many means also for some we see to rise out of riuers firths and seas euen when they be stil and calme as also others out of the earth which winds they name Altani And those verily when they come backe againe from the sea are called Tropaei if they go onward Apogaei CHAP. XLIIII ¶ What is the reason of the resounding and doubling of the Eccho BVt the windings of hils and their often turuings their many tops their crests and ridges also bending like an elbow or broken and arched as it were into shoulders together with the hollow noukes of vallies do cut vnequally the aire that reboundeth them fro which is the cause of reciprocall voices called Ecchoes answering one another in many places when a man doth holla or houpe among them CHAP. XLV ¶ Of Windes againe NOw there be certaine caues and holes which breed windes continually without end like as that is one which we see in the edge of Dalmatia with a wide mouth gaping leading to a deep downfall into which if you cast any matter of light weight be the day neuer so calm otherwise there ariseth presently a stormie tempest like a whirle puffe The places name is Senta Moreouer in the prouince Cyrenaica there is reported to be a rock consecrated to the South-wind which without prophanation may not be touched with mans hand but if it be presently the South wind doth arise and cast vp heaps of sand Also in many houses there be hollow places deuised made by mans hand for receipt of wind which being inclosed with shade and darknesse gather their blasts Whereby we may see how all winds haue one cause or other But great difference there is betweene such blasts and winds As for these they be setled and ordinarie continually blowing which not some smal tracts particular places but whole lands do feele which are not light gales nor stormy puffes named Aurae and Procellae but simply called winds by the Masculine name Venti which whether they arise by the continuall motion of the heauen and the contrary course of the Planets or whether this winde be that spirit of Nature that engendreth all things wandering to and fro as it were in some wombe or rather the aire beaten and driuen by the vnlike influences and raies of the straying starres or planets and the multiplicitie of their beames or whether all winds come from their owne stars namely these planets neerer at hand or rather fall from them that be fixed in the firmament Plaine and euident it is that guided they by an ordinary law of Nature not altogether vnknowne although it be not yet throughly knowne CHAP. XLVI ¶ The Natures and obseruations of the Windes THe old Greeke writers not so few as twentie haue set downe and recorded their obseruations of the Winds I maruell so much the more that the World being so at discord and diuided into kingdomes that is to say dismembred as it was so many men haue had care to seek after these things so intricate and hard to be found out and namely in time of wars and amid those places where was no safe lodging nor abode and especially when pyrats and rouers common enemies to mankinde held welneere all passages I maruell I say that at this day each man in his owne tract and countrey taketh more light and true knowledge of some things by their commentaries and bookes who neuer set foot there than they doe by the skill and information of home-born inhabitants whereas now in time of so blessed and ioious peace and vnder a prince who taketh such delight in the progresse of the State and of all good arts no new thing is learned by farther inquisition nay nor so much as the inuentions of old writers are throughly vnderstood And verily it cannot be said that greater rewards were in those daies giuen considering that the bountie of Fortune was dispersed and put into many mens hands and in truth most of these deepe Clerkes and learned men sought out these secrets for no other reward or regard than to doe good vnto posteritie But now mens manners are waxen old and decay now all good customes are in the waine and notwithstanding that the fruit of learning be as great as euer it was and the recompences as liberall yet men are become idle in this behalfe The seas are open to all an infinite multitude of saylers haue discouered all coasts whatsoeuer they saile through and arriue familiarly at euery shore all for gaine and lucre but none for knowledge and cunning Their mindes altogether blinded and bent vpon nothing
Barderates Industria Pollentia Carrea which also is named Polentia Foro Fuluij the same that Valentinum Augusta of the Vagienni Alba Pompei Asta and Aquae Statyellorum And this is the ninth Canton after the Geographie of Augustus This coast or tract of Liguria containeth betweene the riuers Varus and Macra 211 miles To it is adioined the 7 wherin is Hetruria from the riuer Macra and it oftentimes changed the name In old time the Pelasgians chased the Vmbrians from thence and by them the Lydians did the like of whose king named they were Tyrrheni but soon after of their ceremonies in sacrificing in the Greeks language Thusci The first towne of Hetruria is Luna famous for the hauen then the Colonie Luca lying from the sea and neerer vnto it is Pisae between the riuer Auser and Arnus which took the beginning from Pelops and the Pisians or Atintanians a Greeke nation Vada Volateranea the riuer Cecinna Populonium of the Tuscanes in times past scituate only vpon this coast After these the riuer Prille and anon after Vmbro nauigable and of it tooke name so forward the tract of Vmbria and the port towne Telamon Cossa Volscientium a Colonie planted there by the people of Rome Grauiscae Castrum Novum Pyrgi the riuer Caeretanus and Caere it self standing foure miles within called Agylla by the Pelasgians who built it Alsium and Frugenae The riuer Tiberis distant from Macra 284 miles Within-forth are these Colonies Falisca descended from Argi as Cato saith and for distinction is called Hetruscorum Lucus Feroniae Russellana Senensis and Sutrina As for the rest these they be Aretini the old Aretini Fidentes Aretini Iulienses Amitinenses Aquenses surnamed Taurini Vlerani Cortonenses Capenates Clusines the old Clusines the new Fluentini fast vpon the riuer Arnus that runs before them Fesulae Ferentinum Fescennia Hortanum Herbanum Nepet Nouempagi i. the nine villages the Shire-wiek called Prefecture Claudia or Foro Clodij Pistorucin Perusia Suanenses Saturnini who beforetime were called Aurinini Sudertani Statones Tarquinienses Tuscanienses Vetulonienses Veientani Vesentini Volaterrani surnamed Hetrusci and Volsinienses In the same part lie the territories Crustuminus and Caeletranus bearing the names of the old townes Tiberis beforenamed Tybris and before that Albula from the middest well neere of Apennine as it lies in length runs along the marches of the Aretines small and shallow at the first and not able to beare a vessell without being gathered together as it were by fish-pooles into a head and so let goe at sluces as Tinia and Glanis which run into him the which are at the same passe and require 9 daies for collection of waters and so are kept in for running out in case they haue no helpe of rain at al. But Tiberis by reason of the rough stony and rugged channell for all that deuise hold on no long course together but only for troughes to speake more truly than boats thus it doth for a hundred and fifty miles not far from Tifernum Perusia and Otriculum diuiding as it passeth Hetruria from the Vmbrians and Sabines and so forth vntill anon within thirteen miles of the citie Rome it parts the Veientian countrey from the Crustumine and soone after the Fidenate and Latine territories from the Labicane But besides Tinia and Glanis he is augmented with two and forty riuers and especially with Nar and Anio which riuer being also it selfe nauigable encloses Latium behind and neuerthelesse so many waters and fountaines are brought thereby into the citie whereby it is able to receiue any ships be they neuer so great from the Italian sea and is the kindest marchant to conueigh all commodities growing and arising in any place of the whole world it is the onely riuer of all others to speake of and more villages stand vpon it and see it than al other riuers in what land soeuer No riuer hath lesse liberty than it as hauing the sides therof enclosed on both hands yet he is no quarreller nor much harm doth he albeit he hath many and those suddain swellings and in no place more than in the very citie of Rome do his waters ouerflow yet is he taken to be a prophet rather and a Counsellor to giue warning yea and in smelling more religious and breeding scruple to speake a truth than otherwise cruell and doing any great harme Old Latium from Tiberis to Circeios was obserued to be in length 50 miles So small roots at the first took this Empire The inhabitants thereof changed often and held it some one time some another to wit the Aborigenes Pelasgi Arcadians Sicilians Auruncanes and Rutilians And beyond Circeios the Volscians Ossians Ausonians from whence the name of Latium did reach soone after as farre as to the riuer Liris In the beginning of it stands Ostia a Colonie brought thither and planted by a Roman king the towne Laurentum the groue of Iupiter Indiges The riuer Numicius and Ardea built by Danae the mother of Perseus Then the Colonie Antium sometimes Aphrodisium Astura the riuer and the Island The riuer Nymphaeus Clastra Romana Circeij in times past an Island yea and that verily enuironed with a mighty sea if we beleeue Homer but now with a plain A wonder it is what we are able to deliuer concerning this thing to the knowledge of men Theophrastas who of strangers was the first that writ any thing diligently somewhat of the Romans for Theopompus before whom no man made mention at all said only That the citie was woon by the Gaules and Clitarchus next after him spake of nothing else but an embassage sent vnto Alexander this Theophrastus I say vpon a better ground and more certaintie now than bare hearesay hath set downe the measure of the Island Circeij to be eightie Stadia in that booke which he wrot to Nicodorus the chiefe Magistrate of the Athenians who liued in the 460 yeere after the foundation of Rome citie Whatsoeuer land therefore aboue tenne miles compasse lies neere about it hath beene annexed to the Island But after that a yeere another strange and wonderfull thing fell out in Italy for not far from Circeij there is a meere called Pomptina which Mutianus a man who had beene thrice Consull reporteth to haue been a place wherein stood 23 cities Then there is the riuer Vfens vpon which standeth the towne Tarracina called in the Volscian tongue Anxur where sometime was the citie Amycle destroied by serpents After it is there the place of a caue or peak the lake Fundanus the hauen Cajeta The town Formiae named also Hormiae the ancient seat as men thought of the Laestrigones Beyond it was the towne Pyrae the Colonie Minturne diuided asunder by the riuer Liris called Clanius The vtmost frontier towne in this part of Latium laid to the other is Sinuessa which as some haue said was wont to be called Sinope Thence comes to shew it selfe that pleasant and plentifull countrey Campania From this vale begin the hills full of
and there they name it Indicus And according to the sundry gulfes and creekes that it maketh and the inhabitants by whom it passeth many names it taketh Howbeit a great part of Asia toward the North lieth desart and hath in it much wildernesse vnhabitable by reason of the extreme cold of that frozen climat so subiect to the Pole Artick But being once past the vtmost quarter of the North-point and came to the North-East where the Sun ariseth at midsommer then you come to the Scythians Beyond whom and the very point of the North-pole and the winde from thence some haue placed the Hyperborei of whom we haue spoken at large in the treatise of Europe On this side the Hyperborei the first cape or promontory that you meet withall in the countrie Celtica is named Lytarmis and then you come vnto the riuer Carambucis whereby the forcible influence of the starres the high mountains Rhiphaea as being wearied begin to settle and abase themselues lower At the fall and descent of which mountains I haue heard say that certain people named Arnupheae inhabited a nation not much vnlike in their maner of life to the Hyperboreans They haue their habitations in forrests their feeding is vpon berries oftrees shorne they be all and shauen for both men and women count it a shame to haue haire on their heads otherwise they are ciuill enough in their conuersation and behauior and therefore by report they are held for a sacred people and inuiolable in so much as those cruell nations and inhumane that border vpon them will offer them no abuse neither do they respect them only but also in regard and honour of them they forbeare those also that flie vnto them as to a place of franchise and priuiledge Goe beyond them once you come among the Scythians indeed the Cimmerij Cicianthi Georgi and the nation of the Amazons these confront the Caspian or Hircan sea for it breaks forth of the deep Scithian Ocean toward the back parts of Asia and takes diuers names of the inhabitants coasting vpon it but especially aboue all other of the Caspians Hircaneans Clitarchus is of this opinion that this sea is full as great and large as Pontus Euxinus And Eratosthenes sets downe the very measure and pourprise thereof namely from East to South along the coast of Cadusia and Albania 5400 stadia from thence by the Aratiaticks Amarbi and Hircanij to the mouth of the riuer Zoum 4800 stadia from it to the mouth of Iaxartes where it falleth into the sea 2400 stadia which being put together amount in all to 1575 miles Artemidorus counteth lesse by 25 miles Agrippa in bounding out and limiting the circuit of the Caspian sea the regions coasting vpon it together with them Armenia both the greater and the lesse namely Eastward with the Ocean of the Seres Westward with the mountains of Caucasus on the South side with the hill Taurus and finally on the North with the Scithian Ocean hath written That the whole precinct and compasse of these parts may contain in length so far as is known discouered of those countries 590 miles and 290 in breadth Yet for all this there want not others who say That the whole circuit of that sea and begin at the very mouth and firth thereof ariseth to 2500 miles As for this mouth aforesaid where it breakes into the sea it is very narrow but exceeding long howbeit when it begins once to enlarge it selfe and grow wide it turns and fetcheth a compasse with horned points like to a quarter moone and after the maner of a Scithian bow as M. Varro saith it windes along from his mouth toward the lake Moeotis The first gulfe that it makes is called Scythicus for the Scithians inhabit on both sides and by meanes of the narrow streight between haue commerce and trafficke one with another for of the one side are the Nomades and Sauromatae comprising vnder them many other nations of diuers names and on the other the Abzoae who haue no fewer states vnder them At the very entry of this sea on the right hand the Vdines a people of the Scithians dwell vpon the very point of this mouth and then along the coast the Albanois a nation descended as men say from Iason where the sea lying before them is called Albanum This nation is spread also vpon the mountaines of Caucasus and so along downe the hills as far as to the riuer Cyrus which confines the marches between Armenia and Iberia as hath bin said Aboue the Maritime coasts of Albania the Vdines country the Sarmatians called Vtidorsi and Aroteres are planted and behinde them the Amazones whom we haue already shewed who also are women Sauromatians The riuers of Albani which fall into the sea are Cassios and Albanos and then Cambices which hath his head in the Caucasian mountains and soon after Cyrus which arises out of the hills Corax as before is said Moreouer Agrippa writes that this whole coast of Albanie fortified with those high and inaccessable mountains of Caucasus contains 425 miles Now when you are past the riuer Cyrus the Caspian sea begins to take that name for that the Caspians doe inhabit the coasts thereof And here the errour of many is to be laid open and corrected euen of those also who were in the last voyage with Corbulo in Armenia with the Romane armie for they tooke it that those gates of Caucasus whereof we spake before were the Caspian gates and so called them and the verie mappes and descriptions which are painted and sent from thence beare that name and title Likewise the menacing commandements and threatning commissions sent out by Nero the Emperour for to gaine and conquer those gates which through Iberia lead into Sarmatia made mention of the gates Caspiae there which had in a manner no passage at all to the Caspian sea by reason that the mountaine Caucasus empeached it Howbeit in very truth there be other gates so called which joine vpon the Caspian nations which wee had neuer knowne from the other but by relation of those that accompanied Alexander the Great in his voyage and expedition to those parts For the realme and kingdome of the Persians which at this day wee take that the Parthians hold lyeth aloft betweene the Persian and Hircane seas vpon the mountaines of Caucasus in the very hanging and descent thereof on both sides confining vpon Armenia the greater and on that part which lieth to Comagene confronteth and joineth as we haue said vpon Sepheniae and vpon it againe bordereth Adiabene where the realme of the Assyrians doth begin whereof Arbelitis which boundeth next vpon Syria taketh vp a good part which is the countrie wherein Alexander the Great discomfited and vanquished Darius All this tract the Macedonians who entered with Alexander surnamed Mygdonia for the resemblance of that in Greece from which they came Townes of name there be in it Alexandria and Antiochia which
they called Graucasus that is to say white with snow The principal nations of Scythia be the Sarae Massagetae Dahae Essedones Ariacae Rhymnici Pesici Amordi Histi Edones Camae Camacae Euchatae Cotieri Antariani Pialae Arim aspi besoretime called Cacidiri Asaei Oetei As for the Napaeans Apellaeans who sometime dwelt there they be vtterly extinct and gone The riuers there of name be Mandagraeus and Caspasius And surely there is not a region wherein Geographers doe varie and disagree more than in this and as I take it this commeth of the infinit number of those nations wandring to fro and abiding neuer in one place Alexander the Great and M. Varro make report that the water of the Scythian sea is fresh in taste potable And in truth Pompey the great had such water brought vnto him from thence to drink when he waged war thereby against Mithridates by reason no doubt of the great riuers that fall into it which ouercome the saltnesse of the water Varro saith moreouer That during this expedition and iourny of Pompeius it was for certain knowne that it is but seuen daies iourney from out of India to the Bactrians countrey euen as far as to the riuer Icarus which runneth into Oxus and that the merchandise of India transported by the Caspian sea and so to the riuer Cyrus may be brought in fiue daies by land as far as to Phasis in Pontus Many Islands there lie all ouer that sea but one aboue the rest and most renowned is Tazata for thither all the shipping from out of the Caspian sea and the Scythian Ocean do bend their course there arriue for that all the sea coasts do affront the Leuant and turn into the East The frontiers of Scythia from the first cape therof is vnhabitable by reason of the snow that lies continually neither are the next regions therto frequented and tilled for the barbarous crueltie of those nations that border vpon it such as the Anthropophagi who liue of mans flesh and haunt those parts Hereupon it commeth that you shall find nothing there but huge desart forests with a number of wild beasts lying in wait for men as sauage as themselues When you are past this region you enter againe amongst the Scythians where you shal find likewise a wildernes ful of wild beasts euen as far as to the promontory mountain called Tabis which regardeth the sea In such sort as one moitie in manner of that coast all along which looketh toward the East lieth wast and is not inhabited The first people of any knowledge and acquaintance be the Seres famous for the fine silk that their woods do yeeld They kemb from the leaues of their trees the hoary downe thereof and when it is steeped in water they card and spin it yea and after their manner make therof a sey or web whereupon the dames here with vs haue a double labour both of vndoing and also of weauing again this kind of yearn See what ado there is about it what labour and toile it costeth how far fet it is and all for this that our ladies and wiues when they go abroad in the street may cast a lustre from them and shine again in their silks and veluets As for the Seres a mild and gentle kind of people they are by nature howbeit in this one point they resemble the bruit and wild beasts for that they cannot away in the commerce with other nations with the fellowship and society of men but shun and auoid their company notwithstanding they desire to trafficke with them The first riuer known among them is Psitaras the next to it Carabi the third Lanos and then you come to a cape of that name Beyond it is the gulfe Chryse the riuer Attanos and another bay or creeke called Attanos By it lyeth the region of the Attaci a kind of people secluded from all noisome wind aire keeping vpon hils exposed to the pleasant sun-shine where they inioy the same temperature of aire that the Hiperboreans liue in Of this country and people Amonetus hath written a seuerall booke of purpose like as Herataeus hath compiled such another treatise of the Hyperboreans Beyond the Attaci or Attacores the Thyrians and Tocharians do inhabit yea and the Casirians who now by this time belong to the Indians are a part of them But they within-forth that lie toward the Scithians feed of mans flesh As for the Nomades of India they likewise wander to fro and keep no resting place Some write that they confine vpon the very Ciconians and Brysanians on the North side But there as all Geographers do agree the mountains Emodi arise and shoot vp and there entereth the country of the East Indians and extendeth not only to that sea but also to the Southerne which we haue named the Indian sea And this part of the Orientall Indians which lieth directly streight forth as far as to that place where India beginneth to twine and bend toward the Indian sea containeth 1875 miles And all that tract which windeth and turneth along the South taketh 2475 miles as Eratosthenes hath collected set downe euen vnto the riuer Indus which is the vtmost limit of India West-ward But many other writers haue set downe the whole length of India in this maner namely that it requireth 40 daies and nights sailing with a good gale of a forewind also that from the North to the South coast thereof is 2750 miles Howbeit Agrippa hath put down in writing that it is 3003 miles long and 2003 broad Posidonius took measure of it from the Northeast to the Southeast that by this means it is directly opposit vnto Gaule which he likewise measured along the West coast euen from the North west point where the Sun goeth down at Mid-summer to the South-west where it setteth in in the midst of Winter He addeth moreouer and saith That this West wind which from behind Gaule bloweth vpon India is very healthsome wholsome for that country and this he proued by very good reason demonstration and verily the Indians haue a far different aspect of the sky from vs. Other stars rise in their Hemisphaere which we see not Two Summers they haue in one yere and as many haruests and their winter between hath the Etesian winds blowing in our dog-daies in stead of the Northern blasts with vs. The winds are kind and mild with them the sea alwaies nauigable the nations there dwelling the cities and towns there built innumerable if a man would take in hand to reckon them al for India hath bin discouered not only by Alexander the great his mighty and puissant army and by other kings his successors namely Seleucus and Antiochus and their Admirall Patrocles who sailed about it euen to the Hircane and Caspian seas but also by diuers other Greek Authors who making abode sojourning with the kings of India like as Megasthenes and
Salabastres where standeth a goodly faire city called Horata enuironed and fortified with deepe fosses and ditches full of standing water wherein there keepe a great number of Crocodiles which for the greedy appetite to deuoure mens bodies wil suffer none to passe into the town but ouer the bridge Another towne there is besides among them of great name and importance to wit Automela standing vpon the sea side and otherwise much resort there is vnto it of merchants from all parts by reason of 5 great riuers which meet all there in one confluence Their king maintains in ordinary 1600 Elephants 150000 footmen and 5000 horse The king of the Charmians is but poore to speake of his strength lieth in 60 Elephants for his power otherwise is but smal Being past that realme you come into the country of the Padians the only nation of all the Indians which is gouerned by women One of this sex they say was begotten somtime by Hercules in which regard she was the better accepted and had the prerogatiue of the regencie ouer the greatest kingdome From her the other Queens fetch their pedegree and haue the domiminion and rule ouer 30 great townes and the command of 150000 foot and 500 Elephants Beyond this realme you come to the nation of the Syrieni containing â—…00 Cities and from them to the Deraugae Posunge Bugae Gogyarei Vmbrae Nereae Brancosi Nobundae Cocondae Nesei Pedatritae Solobriasae and Olostrae who confine vpon the Island Patale from the vtmost point of which I hand vnto the gates Caspiae are reckoned 18025 miles Now on this side the riuer Indus iust against them as appeareth by euident demonstration there dwell the Amatae Bolingae Gallitalutae Dimuri Megari Ordabae and Mesae Beyond them the Vri and Sileni and then you come to the desarts for 250 miles which hauing passed ouer you shall meet with the Organages the Abaorts Cibarae and the Suertae and beyond these a wildernesse againe as great as the former Passe on farther you come among the Sarophages Sorgae Baraomatae and the Gunbretes of whom there be 13 seuerall nations and each one hath two great cities apiece As for the Aseni they people three cities their capitall city is Bucephala built in the very place where king Alexanders horse called Bucephalus was interred Aboue them are the mountainers on the rising of the hill Caucasus named Soleadae and Sondrae and when you are on the other side of the riuer Indus as you go along the coast and banks thereof you shall see the Samarabrians the Sambrucenes the Brisabrites Osij Autixeni and Taxillae with a famous city called Amandra of which all that tract now lying more flat and plaine within the countrey is named Amandria Foure other nations there be besides of Indians the Peucolaitae Arsagalites Geretes and Asei for many of the Geographers set not down Indus the riuer for to determine the marches of the Indians Westward but lay thereto foure other prouinces and seuerall seigniories to wit of the Gedrosians Arachotes Arij and Paropamisades CHAP. XXI ¶ The Arij and other nations depending vnto them OTher writers are of opinion that the vtmost frontier and limit of India is the riuer Cophetes and both it and all those quarters are included within the territorie of the Arij yea and most of them affirme that the city Nysa as also the mountaine Merus consecrated to god Bacchus belong vnto India as parcels thereof This is that mountaine whereof arose the poeticall fable That Bacchus therein was borne and issued out of Iupiters thigh Likewise they assigne and lay to India the country of the Aspagores so full of vines laurel and box and generally of all sorts of apple trees and other fruitfull trees that grow within Greece Many strange wonderfull and in manner fabulous things they report of the fertilitie of that land of the diuers sorts of corne of trees bearing cotton of wilde beasts of birds and other creatures there breeding and liuing which because they are not properly belonging to this Treatise now in hand I will reserue them for another part of this Worke and write more particularly of them in their due and seuerall places And as for those 4 prouinces which I touched before I will speake of them anon for now I hasten and thinke it long vntill I haue said somewhat of the Island Taprobane And yet before I come to it there be other Isles which I cannot passe by and namely that of Patala which I noted to ly in the very mouth of the riuer Indus and it carrieth the forme and shape of a triangle figure and is 220 miles long Without the mouth of the riuer Indus two other Isles there be Chryse and Agyrae so named as I think of the gold and siluer mines which they do yeeld for I cannot easily beleeue that the very earth and soile there is all gold and siluer entire as some haue made report Twenty miles from them lieth the Isle Crocala and 12 miles farther into the sea Bibaga where of oisters and other shel fishes called Purples are found good store And last of all 9 miles beyond it Toralliba shewes it selfe and many other petty Islands of no regard CHAP. XXII ¶ The Island Taprobane IT hath beene of long time thought by men in antient daies That Taprobane was a second world in such sort as many haue taken it to be the place of the Antipodes calling it the Antichthones world But after the time of Alexander the Great and the voiage of his army into those parts it was discouered and knowne for a truth both that it was an Island and what cmpasse it bare Onesicratus the Admiral of his fleet hath written that the Elephants bred in this Island be bigger more fierce and furious for war seruice than those of India Megasthenes saith there is a great riuer which parteth it in twaine and that the people thereof dwelling along the riuer be called Palaeogoni adding moreouer that it affordeth more gold and bigger pearles by farre than India doth Eratosthenes also tooke the measure thereof and saith that in length it beareth 7000 stadia and in bredth 5000 that in it there be no cities or great towns but villages to the number of 700. It begins at the Levant sea of Oriental Indians from which it stretcheth and extendeth between the East and West of India and was taken in times past to ly out into the sea from the Prasians countrey 20 daies sailing But afterwards for that the boats and vessels vsed vpon this sea in the passage thither were made wound of paper reeds like those of the riuer Nilus and furnished with the same kinde of tackling the voiage thither from the foresaid country was gaged within a lesse time and well knowne it was that according to the saile of our ships and gallies a man might arriue there in 7 daies All the sea lying between is very ebbe full of shallowes and shelues
there be that write Philotera Beyond them are the Azarei Arabians of the wilder sort halfe Troglodites by reason they marry their wiues from out of the Troglodites countrey Beeing past these coasts you shall finde the Islands Sapyrene and Scytala and within a little thereof desarts vntil you come to Myos-hormos where there is a fountaine called Taduos the mount Eos the Island Lambe many hauens besides and Berenice a town bearing the name of the mother to K. Ptolomaeus Philadelphus to which there is a way lying from Coptos as we haue said last of all the Arabians called Autei and Gnebadei Now it remaineth to speake of the region Trogloditicum which the antient men of old time called Michoe others Midoe therein standeth the mountaine Pentedactylos Vpon the coast of this country there lie to be seen certaine Islands called Stenae-deirae and others no fewer in number named Halonnesi also Cardamine and Topazos which Island gaue the name to the precious stone called the Topaze Then come you to an arme of the sea betweene two lands full of pettie Islands whereof that which is called Mareu is well serued with water sufficient another Eratonos is altogether dry and vnprouided of fresh water These Islands tooke name of two captains and gouernors there vnder the king Within-forth farther into the firm land inhabit the Candei whom they call Ophiophagi because they are wont to feed on serpents and in truth there is not another country that breeds them more than it K. Iuba who seemeth to haue taken great paines in the diligent perusing and discouery of these parts omitted in all this tract vnlesse there be some fault and defect in them that copied out his first originall to speake of a second city named Berenice with the addition of Panchrysos as also of a third called Epidires and yet renowned it is in regard of the place wherupon it is seated for scituat it is vpon a knap of land bearing far into the red sea euen where the mouth of it is not aboue 4 miles an halfe from Arabia Within the prospect of this tract there is the Island Cytis which also bringeth forth good store of the Topaze stones Beyond this quarter nothing but woods and forrests where K. Ptolomaeus surnamed Philadelphus built the city Ptolemais onely for to chase and hunt the Elephant neere to the lake Monoleus and in regard of his game there he named it Epi-theras This is the verie country mentioned by me in the second book wherein for 45 daies before Mid-summer or the entrance of the Sun into Cancer and as many after by the sixt houre of the day that is to say about noone no shadowes are to be seen which being once past all the day after they fall into the South As for other daies of the yere besides they shew into the North whereas in that citie Berenice which we mentioned first vpon the very day only of the Sun-stead at the sixth houre or noon-tide the shadowes are cleane gone and none to be seene for otherwise there is no alteration at all to be obserued throughout the yeare for the space of 600 miles all about Ptolemais A strange notable thing worth obseruation that it should be so but in one houre all the yere long and a matter that gaue great light and direction to the world yea and ministred occasion to a singular inuention and subtil conclusion for Eratosthenes vpon this vndoubted argument and demonstration of the diuersitie of shadowes set in hand hereupon to take the measure of the whole globe of the earth and put it downe in writing to all posteritie Beyond this city Ptolemais the sea changeth his name and is called Azanium ouer which the cape sheweth it selfe which some haue written by the name of Hispalus also anon appeareth the lake Mandalum and in it the Island Colocasitis but in the deep sea many more wherin are taken many tortoises Farther vpon this coast is the towne Suchae and then you may discouer in the sea the Island Daphnis and the city Aduliton built by certaine Aegyptian slaues who ran away from their masters and took no leaue and verily this is the greatest and most frequented mart towne of all the Troglodites country and put the Aegyptians to them and it is from Ptolemais 5 daies sailing Thither is brought great store of yuorie or the Elephants tooth and of the horn of the Rhinoceros there many a man haue plenty of the sea-horse hides of tortoise shels of little Monkies or Marmosets there also a man may be sped with bondslaues A little beyond are the Aethiopians called Aroteres also the Islands named Aliaea and besides them other Islands namely Bacchias Antibacchias and Stratonis being past them there is a gulf in the coast of Aethiopia as yet not discouered or knowne by any name a thing that may make vs maruel much considering that our merchants search into farther corners than so Also a promontory wherein there is a fountaine of fresh water named Curios much desired of the sailers that passe that way and in great respect for the refreshing that it yeeldeth vnto them beyond it is the harbor or port of Isis distant from the towne of the Adulites aboue said ten days rowing with ores and thither is the Troglodites myrrhe brought and there laid vp Before this hauen there lie in the sea two Islands named Pseudopylae and as many farther within called Pyâ—…ae in the one of them be certaine pillers of stones ingrauen with strange and vnknowne Letters When you are past this hauen you come to an arme of the sea called Abalites within it is the Island Diodori and other lying desart and vnpeopled Also along the continent there is much wildernesse but being past them you come to the towne Gaza the promontorie also port Mossylites vnto which store of cynamon and canell is brought Thus far marched K. Sesostris with his army Some writers make mention of one town more in Aethiopia beyond all this vpon the sea side called Baradaza K. Iuba would haue the Atlantick sea to begin at the promontorie or cape aboue-named Mossylites on which sea as he saith a man may saile very well with a West-north-west winde by the coasts of his kingdomes of Mauritania or Maroccho as farre as to the coasts of Gibralter called Gades and sure he speaketh so confidently thereof as I will not altogether discred it his resolution in this behalfe From a promontorie of the Indians called Lepteacra and by others Drepanum vnto the Isle of Malchu hee saith plainely that by a straight and direct course it is 15 hundred miles and neuer reckon those parts that are burnt with the Sun From thence to a place called Sceneos he affirmeth it is 225 miles and from it to the Island Sadanum 150 miles and thus by this means he concludeth that in all to the open and knowne sea it is 1885 miles But all other writers besides him were of opinion that
but he was in his gate slow and heauy and in his wit as dull and blockish howbeit in his time vndergrowne he was and his voice changed to be great and at three yeares end died suddenly of a generall crampe or contraction of all the parts of his body It is not long since I saw my selfe the like in all respects sauing that vndergoing aforesaid in a son of one Cornelius Tacitus a Roman knight and a procurator or general receiuer and Treasurer for the State in Gaule Belgique such the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. Ectirapelos wee in Latine haue no name for them CHAP. XVI ¶ Certaine notable obseruations in bodies of men and women WE see tried by experience that take measure of a man from the sole of the foot vp to the crowne of the head so far it is between the ends of his two middle and longest fingers when he stretcheth out his armes and hands to the full As also that some men and women be stronger of the right side than of the left others againe that be as strong of one as the other and there be that are altogether left handed and best with that hand but that is seldome or neuer seen in women Moreouer men weigh heauier than women and in euerie kind of creature dead bodies be more heauy than the quicke and the same parties sleeping weigh more than waking Finally obserued it is that the dead corps of a man floteth on the water with the face vpward but contrariwise women swim groueling as if Nature had prouided to saue their honesty and couer their shame euen when they are dead CHAP. XVIII ¶ Examples of diuers extraordinarie cases in mans body WE haue heard that some mens bones are sollid and massie and so do liue without any marrow in them you may know them by these signes they neuer feele thirst nor put forth any sweat and yet we know that a man may conquer and master his thirst if hee list for so a gentleman of Rome one Iulius Viator descended from the race of the Vocontians our allies being falne into a kind of dropsie between the skin and the flesh during his minority and nonage and forbidden by the Physicions to drink so accustomed himselfe to obserue their direction that naturally he could abide it insomuch that all his old age euen to his dying day he forbare his drink Others also haue bin able to command and ouer-rule their nature in many cases and breake themselues of diuers things CHAP. XIX ¶ Strange natures and properties of diuers persons IT is said that Crassus grand father to that Crassus who was slaine in Parthia was neuer known to laugh all his life time and thereupon was called Agelastus and contrariwise many haue bin found that neuer wept Also that sage and renowned wise man Socrates was seene alwaies to carry one and the self-same countenance neuer more merry and cheerefull nor more solemne and vnquiet at one time than at another But this obstinate constancy and firm cariage of the mind turneth now and then in the end into a certain rigour and austerity of nature so hard and inflexible that it cannot be ruled and in very truth despoileth men of all affections and such are called of the Greekes Apathes who had the experience of many such and that which is a maruellous matter those especially that were the great pillars of philosophy and deep learned Clerks namely Diogenes the Cinicke Pyrrho Heraclitus and Timo and as for him he was so far gone in his humor that he seemed professedly to hate all mankind But these were examples of a corrupt peruerse froward nature As for other things there be sundry notable obseruations in many as in Antonia the wife of Drusus who as it was well knowne neuer spit in Pomponius the poet one that had sometimes bin Consull who neuer belched But as for such as naturally haue their bones not hollow but whole and solid they be very rare and seldom seene and called they are in Latine Cornei i. hard as horne CHAP. XX. ¶ Of bodily strength and swiftnesse VArro in his treatise of prodigious and extraordinary strength maketh report of one Tritanus a man that of body was but little and lean withall how beit of incomparable strength much renowned in the fence schoole and namely in handling the Samnites weapons wearing their manner of armor and performing their feats and masteries of great name He maketh mention also of a sonne of his a souldier that serued vnder Pompeius the Great who had all ouer his body yea and throughout his armes and hands some sinewes running streight out in length others crossing ouerthwart lattise-wise and he saith moreouer of him that when an enemie out of the camp gaue him defiance and challenged him to a combat he would neither put on defensiue harnesse ne yet arme his right hand with offensiue weapon but with naked hand made meanes to foile and ouercome him and in the end when hee had caught hold of him brought him away perforce into his own camp with one finger Iunius Valens a captaine pensioner or centurion of the gard-souldiers about Augustus Caesar was woont alone to beare vp a charriot laden with certain hogsheads or a butt of wine vntill it was discharged thereof the wine drawne out also his manner was with one hand to stay a coach against all the force of the horses striuing and straining to the contrary and to perform other wonderfull masteries which are to be seen engrauen vpon his tombe and therefore qd Varro being called Hercules Rusticellus he tooke vp his mule vpon his back and carried him away Fusius Saluius hauing two hundred pound weights at his feet and as many in his hands and twise as much vpon his shoulders went withall vp a paire of staires or a ladder My selfe haue seene one named Athanatus do wonderfull strange matters in the open shew and face of the world namely to walke his stations vpon the stage with a cuirace of lead weighing 500 pound booted besides with a pair of buskins or greiues about his legges that came to as much in weight As for Milo the great wrestler of Crotone when he stood firm vpon his feet there was not a man could make him stir one foot if he held a pomegranat fast within his hand no man was able to stretch a finger of his and force it out at length It was counted a great matter that Philippides ran 1140 stadia to wit from Athens to Lacedaemon in two daies vntill Lanisis a courtier of Lacedaemon and Philonides footman to Alexander the great ran between Sicyone and Olis in one day 1200 stadia But now verily at this day we see some in the grand cirque able to indure in one day the running of 160 miles And but a while agoe we are not ignorant that when Fonteius Vipsanus were Consuls a yong boy but 9 yeres old between noon and euening ran 75 miles And verily a man
this that they could mount vp and clime against a rope but more wonderfull that they should slide downe again with their heads downward Mutianus a man who had in his time bin thrice Consull reporteth thus much of one of them that he had learned to make the Greeke characters and was wont to write in that language thus much Thus haue I written and made an offering of the Celticke spoiles Likewise hee saith that himselfe saw at Puteoli a certain ship discharged of Elephants embarked therein and when they should be set ashore and forced to go forth of the vessel to which purpose there was a bridge made for them to passe ouer they were affrighted at the length thereof bearing out so far from the land into the water and therefore to deceiue themselues that the way might not seeme so long went backward with their tails to the banke and their heads toward the sea They are ware know full well that their only riches for loue of which men lay wait for them lieth in their armes and weapons that Nature hath giuen them king Iuba calleth them their hornes but Herodotus who wrote long before him and the custome of speech hath tearmed them much better teeth And therefore when they are shed and fallen off either for age or by some casualtie the Elephants themselues hide them with in the ground And this in truth is the only yuory for all the rest yea and these teeth also so far as lay couered within the flesh is of no price and taken for no better than bone And yet of late daies for great scarcitie want of the right teeth men haue bin glad to cut and saw their bones into plates and make yvorie therof For hardly can we now come by teeth of any bignes vnlesse we haue them out of India For all the rest that might be gotten in this part of the world between vs and them hath bin imploied in superfluities only and serued for wanton toies You may know yong Elephants by the whitenes of these teeth and a speciall care and regard haue these beasts of them aboue all They looke to one of them alwaies that the point be sharp and therefore they forbeare to occupie it least it should bee blunt against they come to fight the other they vse ordinarily either to get vp roots out of the earth or to cast down any banks or mures that stand in their way When they chance to be enuironed and compassed round about with hunters they set formost in the rank to be seen those â—…f the heard that haue the least teeth to the end that their price might not be thought worth the hazard and venture in chase for them But afterwards when they see the hunters eager and themselues ouermatched and weary they breake them with running against the hard trees and leauing them behind escape by this ransome as it were out of their hands CHAP. IIII. ¶ The elemencie of Elephants their foresight and knowledge of their owne dangers also the fell fiercenesse of the Tygre A Wonder it is in many of these creatures that they should thus know wherefore they are hunted and withall take heed beware of all their dangers It is said that if an elephant chance to meet with a man wandering simply out of his way in the wildernesse hee will mildly and gently set him in the right way again But if he perceiue a mans fresh footing before he espie the man he will quake and tremble for feare of being forelaid surprised he wil stay from farther following the sent look about him euery way snuffe and puffe for very anger Neither will he tread vpon the tract of a mans foot but dig it out of the earth and giue it the next Elephant vnto him and he againe to him that followeth and so from one to another passeth this intelligence and message as it were to the vtmost rank behind Then the whole heard makes a stand and cast round about to returne backward and withall put themselues in battel array so long continueth that strong virulent smel of mens feet and runneth through them all notwithstanding for the most part they be not bare but shod Semblably the Tigresse also how fierce and cruell she be to other wilde beasts careth not a whit for a very Elephant if shee happen to haue a sight of a mans footing presently by report carieth away her young whelpes and is gon But how commeth she to this knowledge of a man where saw she him euer before whom thus she feareth for surely such wild woods forests are not much trauelled frequented by men Set case that they may wel wonder at the strange sight and nouelty of their tracts which are so seldome seen how know they that they are to be feared Nay what should be the reason that they dread to see a man indeed being as they are far bigger much stronger and swifter by many degrees than a man Certes herein is to be seen the wonderfull worke of Nature and her mightie power that the greatest the most fell anâ—… sauage beasts that be hauing neuer seen that which they ought to feare should incontinently haue the sence and conceit why the same is to be feared CHAP. V. ¶ The vnderstanding and memorie of Elephants THe Elephants march alwaies in troups The eldest of them leadeth the vaward like a captaine and the next to him in age commeth behind with the conduct of the arrereguard When they are to passe ouer any riuer they put for most the least of al their company for feare that if the bigger should enter first they would as they trod in the channell make the water to swell and rise and so cause the fourd to be more deepe Antipater writeth that K. Antiochus had two Elephants which he vsed in his wars aboue all the rest and famous they were for their surnames which they knew well enough and wist when any man called them thereby and verily Cato reciting in his Annals the names of the principall captaine Elephants hath left in writing That the Elephant which fought most lustily in the point of the Punick war had to name Surus by the same token that the one of his teeth was gone When Antiochus on a time would haue sounded the fourd of a certaine riuer by putting the Elephants before Ajax refused to take the water who otherwise at all times was wont to lead the way Wherupon the king pronounced with a loud voice That look which Elephant passed to the other side he should be the captain and chiefe Then Patroclus gaue the venture for his labor had a rich harnish and caparison giuen him was all trapped in siluer a thing wherin they take most delight and made besides the soueraigne of all the rest But the other that was disgraced thus and had lost his place would neuer eat any meat after but died for very shame of such a reprochfull ignominy For among other
souldiers to enter the squadrons and battalions of the enemies and for the most part all the seruice in the wars of the East is performed by them and they especially determine the quarrell these be they that breake the ranks beare down armed men that are in the way and stampe them vnder foot These terrible beasts as outragious otherwise as they seem are frighted with the least grunting that is of a swine be they wounded at any time or put into a fright backeward alwaies they go and do as much mischiefe to their own side that way as to their enemies The African Elephants are afraid of the Indian and dare not look vpon them for in truth the Indian Elephants be far bigger CHAP. X. ¶ How they breed and bring forth their young and of their nature otherwise THe common sort of men thinke that they go with young ten yeres but Aristotle saith that they go but two yeares and that they breed but once and no more in their life and bring not aboue one at a time also that they liue commonly by course of nature 200 yeres and some of them 300. Their youthful time and strength of age beginneth when they be 60 yeres old they loue riuers aboue all things and lightly ye shall haue them euermore wandring about waters and yet by reason otherwise of their big and vnwealdie bodies swim they cannot Of all things they can worst away with cold and that is it they are most subiect vnto and feele greatest inconuenience by troubled they be also with the collick and ventosities as also with the flux of the belly other maladies they feele not I find it written in histories that if they drinke oile the arrows and darts which stick in their bodies wil come forth and fall off but the more that they sweat the sooner wil they take hold and abide in stil the faster The eatin of earth breedes the consumption in them vnlesse they feed and chew often therof they deuoure stones also As for the trunks and bodies of trees it is the best meat they haue therin take they most delight If the date trees be too high that they cannot â—…each the fruit they will ouerturn them with their forehead and when they lie along eat the dates They chew and eat their meat with their mouth but they breath drink and smell with their trunke which not improperly is called their hand Of all other liuing creatures they cannot abide a mouse or a rat and if they perceiue that their prouander lying in the manger tast and sent neuer so little of them they refuse it and wil not touch it They are mightily tormented with paine if they chance in their drinking to swallow down an horsleech which worm I obserue they begin now to cal a bloud-sucker for so soon as the horsleech hath setled fast in his wind-pipe he putteth him to intollerable pains Their hide or skin of their back is most tough hard but in the belly soft tender couered their skin is neither with haire nor bristle no not so much as in their taile which might serue them in good stead to driue away the busie troublesome flie for as vast huge a beast as he is the flie hanteth stingeth him but ful their skin is of crosse wrinkles lattisewise besides that the smell thereof is able to draw and allure such vermin to it therefore when they are laid stretched along and perceiue the flies by whole swarms setled on their skin suddenly they draw those cranies and creuises together close and so crush them all to death This serues them in stead of taile main and long haire Their teeth beare a very high price and they yeeld the matter of greatest request and most commendable for to make the statues and images of the gods but such is the superfluity and excesse of men that they haue deuised another thing in them to commend for they find forsooth a special dainty tast in the hard callous substance of that which they cal their hand for no other reason I beleeue but because they haue a conceit that they eat yvorie when they chew this gristle of their trunk In temples are to be seen Elephants teeth of the greatest size how beit in the marches of Africke where it confineth vpon Aethiopia they make of yuory the very principals and corner posts of their houses also with the Elephants tooth they make mounds pales both to inclose their grounds and also to keep in their beasts within park if it be true that Polybius reporteth from the testimony of king Gulussa CHAP. XI ¶ Where the Elephants are bred how the Dragons and they disagree ELephants breed in that part of Africke which lieth beyond the desarts and wildernesse of the Syrtes also in Mauritania they are found also amongst the Aethyopians and Troglodites as hath beene said but India bringeth forth the biggest as also the dragons that are continually at variance with them euermore fighting and those of such greatnesse that they can easily clasp and wind round about the Elephants and withall tye them fast with a knot In this conflict they die both the one and the other the Elephant he fals downe dead as conquered and with his heauy weight crusheth and squeaseth the dragon that is wound and wreathed about him CHAP. XII ¶ The wittinesse and policie in these creatures WOnderfull is the wit and subtilty that dumbe creatures haue and how they shift for themselues and annoy their enemies which is the only difficulty that they haue to arise grow to so great an heigth and excessiue bignes The dragon therfore espying the Elephant when he goeth to reliefe assaileth him from an high tree and launceth himselfe vpon him but the Elephant knowing well enough he is not able to withstand his windings knittings about him seeketh to come close to some trees or hard rocks and so for to crush and squise the dragon between him and them the dragons ware hereof entangle and snarle his feet legs first with their taile the Elephants on the other side vndo those knots with their trunk as with a hand but to preuent that againe the Dragons put in their heads into their snout and so stop their wind and withall fret and gnaw the tenderest parts they find there Now in case these two mortall enemies chance to re-incounter on the way they bristle bridle one against another and addresse themselues to fight but the chiefe thing the dragons make at is the eie whereby it comes to passe that many times the Elephants are found blinde pined for hunger and worne away and after much languishing for very anguish and sorrow die of their venome What reason should a man alledge of this so mortall warre betweene them if it be not a very sport of Nature and pleasure that she takes in matching these two so great enemies together and so euen and equall in each respect But some report this
when the Lionesse hath done a fault that way she either goeth to a riuer and washeth away the strong and ranke sauor of the Pard or else keepeth aloofe and followeth the Lion afar off that he may not catch the said smell I see it is commonly held that the Lionesse brings forth yong but once in her life for that her whelps in her kinling teare her belly with their nailes and make themselues roome that way Aristotle writeth otherwise a man whom I cannot name but with great honour and reuerence and whom in the historie and report of these matters I meane for the most part to follow And in very truth King Alexander the Great of an ardent desire that he had to know the natures of all liuing creatures gaue this charge to Aristotle a man singularly accomplished with all kinds of science and learning to search into this matter and to set down the same in writing and to this effect commanded certaine thousands of men one or other throughout all the tract as well of Asia as Greece to giue their attendance and obey him to wit all Hunters Falconers Fowlers and Fishers that liued by those professions Item all Forresters Park-keepers and Wariners all such as had the keeping of heards and flockes of cattell of bee-hiues fish-pooles stewes and ponds as also those that kept vp fowle tame or wild in mew those that fed poultry in barton or coup to the end that he should be ignorant of nothing in this behalfe but be aduertised by them according to his Commission of all things in the world By his conference with them he collected so much as thereof hee compiled those excellent bookes de Animalibus i. of Liuing creatures to the number almost of 50. Which being couched by me in a narrow roome and briefe summary with addition also of some things which he neuer knew I beseech the Readers to take in good worth and for the discouerie and knowledge of all Natures works which that most noble and famous King that euer was desired so much to know to make a short start abroad with me and in a briefe discourse by mine own pains and diligence digested to see all To return now vnto our former matter That great philosopher Aristotle therefore reporteth That the Lionesse at her first litter bringeth forth fiue whelps and euery yeare after fewer by one and when she commeth to bring but one alone she giueth ouer and is barren Her whelps at the first are without shape like small gobbets of flesh no bigger than weesels When they are six moneths old they can hardly go and for the two first they stir not at all Lions there be also in Europe only between the riuers Achelous and Nestus and these verily be far stronger than those of Africke or Syria Moreouer there are two kinds of Lions the one short wel trussed and compact with more crisp and curled mains but these are timerous and cowards to them that haue long and plain haire for those passe not for any wounds whatsoeuer The Lions lift vp a leg when they pisse as dogs do and moreouer they haue a strong and stinking breath their very body also smelleth rank Seldom they drink and eate but each other day and if at any time they feed til they be full they wil abstain from meat three daies after In their feeding whatsoeuer they can swallow without chewing downe it goes whole and if they finde their gorge and stomacke too full and not able indeed to receiue according to their greedy appetite they thrust their pawes down their throats and with their crooked clees fetch out some of it again to the end they should not be heauy and slow vpon their fulnesse if haply they be put to find their feet and fly Mine Author Aristotle saith moreouer That they liue very long and hee proueth it by this argument That many of them are found toothlesse for very age Polybius who accompanied Scipio Aemylianus in his voiage of Africke reporteth of them That when they be growne aged they will prey vpon a man the reason is because their strength will not hold out to pursue in chase any other wild beasts then they come about the cities and good towns of Africke lying in wait for their prey if any folk come abroad and for that cause he saith that while hee was with Scipio hee saw some of them crucified and hanged vp to the end that vpon the sight of them other Lions should take example and be skarred from doing the like mischiefe The Lion alone of all wilde beasts is gentle to those that humble themselues vnto him and will not touch any such vpon their submission but spareth what creature soeuer lieth prostrate before him As fell and furious as he is otherwhiles yet he dischargeth his rage vpon men before he sets vpon women and neuer preyeth on babes vnlesse it be for extreme hunger They are verily persuaded in Lybia that they haue a certain vnderstanding when any man doth pray or intreat them for any thing I haue heard it reported for a truth by a captiue woman of Getulia which being fled was brought home again to her master that she had pacified the violent fury of many Lions within the woods and forrests by faire language and gentle speech and namely that for to escape their rage shee hath been so hardy as to say she was a silly woman a banished fugitiue a sickly feeble weak creature an humble suiter and lowly suppliant to him the noblest of all other liuing creatures the Soueraigne and commander of all the rest and that she was too base and vnworthy for his glorious Maiestie to prey vpon her Many and diuers opinions are currant according to the sundry occurrences that haue hapned or the inuentions that mens wits haue deuised as touching this matter namely that sauage beasts are dulced and appeased by good words and faire speech as also that fell serpents may be trained and fetched out of their holes by charmes yea and by certaine coniurations and menaces restrained and kept vnder for a punishment but whether it be true or no I see it is not yet by any man set downe or determined To come againe to our Lions the signe of their intent and disposition is their taile like as in horses their eares for these two marks and tokens certainly hath Nature giuen to the most couragious beasts of all others to know their affections by for when the Lion stirs not his taile he is in a good mood gentle mild pleasantly disposed and as if he were willing to be plaied withall but in that fit he is seldome seen for lightly he is alwaies angry At the first when he entreth into his choler he beateth the ground with his taile when he groweth into greater heats he flappeth and jerketh his flanks and sides withall as it were to quicken himselfe and stir vp his angry humour His maine strength lieth in his brest hee maketh not a
wound whether it be by lash of taile scratch of claw or print of tooth but the bloud that followeth is black When his belly is full all his anger is past and he doth no more harme His generositie and magnanimitie he shewes most in his dangers which courage of his appeareth not only herein that he seems to despise all shot of darts against him defending himselfe a long time onely with the terrible aspect of his countenance protesting as it were that he is vnwilling to deale vnlesse he be forced thereto in his owne defence i. se defendendo and at length maketh head again not as compelled or driuen thereto for any perill that hee seeth but angred at their folly that assaile or set vpon him but herein also is seen rather his noble heart and courage That be there neuer so many hounds and hunters following after him so long as he is in the open plains where he may be seene hee maketh semblance as though he contemned both dog and man dismarching and retiring with honour and otherwhiles seeming in his retreit to turne again and make head but hauing gained the thickets and woods and gotten into the forrests out of sight then he skuds away then he runneth amain for life as knowing full well that the trees and bushes hide him that his shamefull dislodging and flight is not then espied When hee chaseth and followeth after oher beasts he goeth alwaies saltant or rampant which he neuer vseth to do when he is chased in sight but is only passant If he chance to be wounded he hath a maruellous eye to mark the party that did it and be the hunters neuer so many in number vpon him he runneth only As for him that hath let fly a dart at him and yet missed his marke and done no hurt to him if he chance to catch him he all to touzeth shaketh tosseth and turneth him lying along at his feet but doth him no harme besides When the Lionesse fighteth for her yong whelps by report she setteth her eies wistly and entirely vpon the ground because shee would not be affrighted at the sight of the chasing staues of the hunters Lions are nothing at all crafty and fraudulent neither be they suspitious they neuer look askew but alwaies cast their eye directly forward and they loue not that any man should in that sort looke side-long vpon them It is constantly beleeued that when they ly a dying they bite the earth in their very death shed teares This creature so noble as hee is and withall so cruell and fell trembleth and quaketh to heare the noise of cart-wheeles or to see them turne about nay hee cannot abide of all things Chariots when they be void and empty frighted hee is with the cockes combe and his crowing much more but most of all with the sight of fire The Lion is neuer sicke but of the peeuishnesse of his stomacke loathing all meat and then the way to cure him is to ty vnto him certaine shee Apes which with their wanton mocking and making mowes at him may moue his patience and driue him for the very indignitie of their malapert saucinesse into a fit of madnesse and then so soone as he hath tasted their bloud he is perfectly wel again and this is the only help Q. Scaevola the son of Publius was the first at Rome that in his Curule Aedileship exhibited a fight and combat of many Lions together to delight the people but L. Sylla who was afterward Dictator was the first of all others that in his Pretorship represented a shew of 100 lions with maines and collars of haire and after him Pompey the Great shewed 600 of them fighting in the grand Cirque whereof 315 were male Lions with mane And Caesar Dictator brought 400 into the shew-place The taking of them in old time was a very hard piece of worke and that was commonly in pit-falls but in the Emperor Claudius his daies it chanced that a shepheard or heardsman who came out of Gaetulia taught the manner of catching them a thing otherwise that would haue beene thought incredible and altogether vnbeseeming the name and honour of so goodly a beast This Getulian I say fortuned to incounter a Lion and when he was violently assailed by him made no more ado but threw his mandilion or cassocke full vpon his eyes This feat or cast of his was soone after practised in the open Shew-place in such sort that a man would hardly haue beleeued but hee that saw it that so furious a beast should so easily be quailed and daunted so soone as euer hee felt his head couered were the things neuer so light making no resistance but suffering one to do what hee would with him euen to binde him fast as if in very truth all his vigour and spirit rested in his eies Lesse therefore is it to be maruelled at that Lysimachus strangled a Lion when as by the commandement of Alexander the Great he was shut vp alone together with him The first man that euer yoked them a Rome and made them to draw in a chariot was M. Antonius And verily it was in the time of ciuill warre after the battell fought in the plaines of Pharsalia a shrewd and vnhappy presage of the future euent and namely for men of an high spirit braue mind in those daies to whom this prodigious sight did prognosticate the yoke of subiection for what should I say how Anthony rode in that wise with the Courtesan Cytheris a common Actresse in Interludes vpon the stage To see such a sight was a monstrous spectacle that passed all the calamities of that time It is reported that Hanno one of the noblest Carthaginians that euer were was the first man that durst handle a Lion with his bare hand and shew him gentle and tame to follow him all the city ouer in a slippe like a dog But this deuice and tricke of his turned to his great damage and vtter vndoing for the Carthaginians hereupon laid this ground that Hanno a man of such a gift so witty and inuentiue of all deuises would be able to persuade the people to whatsoeuer his minde stood and that it was a dangerous and ticklish point to put the liberty of so great a state as Carthage was into the hands and managing of him who could handle and tame the furious violence of so sauage a beast and thereupon condemned and banished him Moreouer we find in histories many examples also of their clemencie and gentlenesse seen vpon diuers casuall occasions Mentor the Syracusian fortuned in Syria to meet with a Lion who after an humble maner in token of obedience and submission seemed to tumble and wallow before him he astonied for feare started backe and began to fly but the wild beast followed him still and was ready at euery turne to present himselfe before him licking the very tracks of his foot-steps as he went in flattering manner as if he would make loue vnto him
Pontus 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
towne Coptos there is an Island consecrated vnto the goddesse Isis which euery yere these Swallows do rampier and fortifie for feare lest the same Nilus should eat the banks thereof and break ouer into it In the beginning of the Spring for three nights together they bring to the cape of that Island straw chaffe and such like stuffe to strengthen the front therof and for the time they ply their businesse so hard that for certaine it is knowne many of them haue died with taking such paines and moiling about this worke And verily euery yeare they go as daily to this taske againe as the Spring is sure to come about and they faile not no more than souldiers that by vertue of their militarie oath and obligation go forth to seruice and warfare A third sort there is of these Swallows and Martinets which hollow the banks of riuers and so nestle within between The yong birds of these Martins if they be burnt into ashes are a singular and soueraigne remedy for the deadly squinancy and helpe many other diseases of mans body These build not at all but if they perceiue that the riuer Nilus when it swelleth will rise as high as their holes they are gone many daies before There be certaine birds of the kind of Parrae which of drie mosse make a nest resembling so perfectly a round ball that vnneth or hardly a man can see which way they should goe in And another there is called Argatilis which contriueth her nest after the same forme but it is of hurds and flaxe There is a kind of Woodpecker maketh a nest in manner of a cup or goblet and hangeth it at a twig vpon the vppermost boughs and branches of a tree that no foure footed beast should reach it And as for the birds called Galguli men say for a truth that they take their sleep hanging all by their legges to some branch thinking by that means they are in more safety True it is indeed and commonly known that all these birds in great forecast prouidence chuse some crosse boughes in stead of rafters to suphort and beare vp their nests and then to saue them from the raine either vaut them ouer with an arched roofe or else couer them close and thicke with leaues A bird there is in Arabia called Cinnamologus which with the twigs and branches of the Cinamon tree buildeth her nest The inhabitants of that country being ware thereof shake the same downe by shooting arrowes headed with lead for to make a commoditie therby In Scythia there is a bird of the bignesse of an Otis which commonly laieth two egs and when they are lapped within a hares skin alwaies hangeth them vpon the top of tree boughes The Pyannets when they perceiue by a watching eie that they haue that a man hath spied their nest presently build in another place and remoue their egs thither Now for those birds which haue no hooked nailes how they should translate their egs from one place to another considering their feet are not made to claspe them it is a wonderful thing and reported after a strange maner for they lay a stick ouer two egs and souder it fast to them with a certain viscositie which commeth forth of their own guts when they meut which done they put their neckes vnder the sticke between both egs which hanging equally poised of either side they carry easily whither they would No lesse industrious are they that make their nests in the ground as being not able to fly into the aire by reason of their weightie bodies Among which there is one called Merops that vseth to feed her parents lying hidden within the earth The inside of her feathers in the wing is pale the outside blew and yet those aboue about their neck are somwhat red She makes her nest in an hole six foot deep within the ground Again the Partridges do so fortifie and impale their nests with thornes and twigs of shrubs and bushes that they be sufficiently fenced against the inuasion of wilde beasts They couer their egs with a soft carpet or hilling as it were of fine dust neither do they sit where they laid them first nor yet in a place which they suspect to bee much frequented with resort of passengers but conuey them to some other place The hennes verily of this kind hide themselues from their males the cocks for so lecherous they be and giuen to intemperate lust that they would squash their egs because they should not be amused and occupied about sitting Then for want of the females the males go together by the eares and as they say he that is ouercome suffereth himselfe to be troden like an hen Trogus verily reporteth the very same of the Quailes yea and of dounghill cocks otherwhiles He saith moreouer that tame Partridges vse to tread the wild also that those which are new taken or beaten be troden of others indifferently one with another This libidinous heat of theirs is such and maketh them so quarrelsome that oftentimes they are taken by that meanes For when the fouler commeth with his pipe or call resembling the female to allure and traine them forth out goeth the captain of the whole flocke directly against him and when he is caught another followeth after and so the rest one after another one by one In like manner they vse to take the females at what time as they seeke the male to tread them for them forth they goe against the foulers chantetell or watch which calleth them out that with their quarrelling and brawling which they make they might chace and driue it away In sum there is not to be found in any other liuing creature the like againe for lust and leacherie in the act of generation If the hens dobut stand directly ouer against the cocks the very wind and aire that passeth from them 〈◊〉 cause them to conceiue as wel as if they were troden For so hot they be in that season that they gape again for aire and hang the tongue out of their heads And if the males do but flie ouer them with the very breath and aire that commeth from them they will be ready to conceiue yea and many times if they do but heare their call And that which more is so lecherous they are that setting a side their naturall affection and loue to their yong couie when they are broody and in which regard they steale from the cocke and sit apart in some secret and blind corner yet if they heare once the Foulers chanterell comming toward the male and that he doth call presently they will leaue the nest and suffer the egs to chil and for very iealousie cry again and call backe the males and offer themselues to be troden for feare they would goe to others Nay more than that their fury and rage that way many times is such that otherwhiles in this blind fit and fearfull lust not knowing where they are nor what they do they will
a truth it is hard to judge whether of them twaine plaied the beast more the father or the sonne But that it seemeth lesse pride and prodigalitie to swallow down the throat the greatest riches of Nature than to chew and eat at a supper mens tongues that is to say those birds that could pronounce our language CHAP. LII ¶ The engendring of birds and what foure-footed beasts lay egges as well as they THe generation of birds seemes alwaies to be after one the same manner And yet therein is to be found some strange extraordinarie worke Like as there be four footed beasts known also to haue eggs namely the Chamaeleons Lizards and such as we named among Serpents Of foules those that haue hooked clawes and tallons are but barren that way and lay few eggs Only the Kestrell laieth foure at a time And verily Nature hath well prouided in all the kind of foules That the mightier should be lesse fruitfull than the weaker and those that flie from the other The Ostriches Hens Partridges and Linnets are great laiers As touching the manner of their engendring it is performed two waies for either the female couche th downe as doe our hens or else stand vpon their feet as doe the cranes Of eggs some be white as those of Doues and Partridges others be pale and yellowish as those of water-foule some be spotted as those of the Turkie-hens others againe red and such egs Feasants lay and Kestrils All birds egges within the shell are of two colours In water-foules the yolke is more than the white and the same is more wan and duskish than in others The egges of fishes are of one colour and therein is no white at all Birds eggs are brittle shelled by reason of their heat Serpents eggs are more tough because of cold but they of fishes are more soft and tender for that they be so liquid Those of fishes and such creatures as liue in water haue round eggs ordinarily others be long and pointed at one end in the top Birds lay their egges with the rounder end comming forward their shell is soft whiles they be warm and a laying but presently they harden by piecemeale as they come forth Horatius Flaccus is of opinion that the longer the egge is the better tast it hath The rounder egge prooues to be the hen commonly the rest will be â—…ockes There is found in the top or sharper end of an egge within the shell a certaine round knot resembling a drop or a nauil rising aboue the rest which they call a Kinning CHAP. LIII ¶ The engendring of egges the sitting of birds and their manner of generation SOme birds there be that tread all times of the yeare and lay egs but only two moneths in mid winter and of those pullets lay more than old hens but they be lesse especially the first and last of one laiter So fruitfull they be that some of them wil lay threescore egs ere they giue ouer some euerie day others twice in one day and some will ouer-lay vntill they be so weâ—…ry and feeble withall that they will neuer lay more but die withall The little short legged grig hens called Hadrianae that came from Hadria are counted best Doues lay conuey ten times in the yeare some of them eleuen and in Aegypt there are found that giue not ouer in the twelue months euen at mid-winter in December Swallowes Ousels Quoists or Ringdoues and Turtles lay and sit twice in the yeare other birds ordinarily but once Thrushes and Blackbirds build their nests of mud and clay in trees and bushes one by another so neere as if they were linked together and lightly they eâ—…gender in some corner out of the way After the hen is troden within ten daies the egs commonly knit within her bellie are come to perfection readie to be laid Howbeit if hens haue some wrong done vnto them or if a man chance to pluck a feather or quill from a pigeon at that time or do them some such jniurie it will be longer ere they lay All egs haue within them in the mids of the yolk a certaine drop as it were of bloud which some thinke to be the heart of the chicken imagining that to be the first that in euerie bodie is formed and made and certainly a man shall see it within the verie egge to pant and leape As for the chick it taketh the corporall substance and the bodie of it is made of the white waterish liquor in the egge the yellow yolke serues for nourishment whiles the chick is vnhatched and within the egge the head is bigger than all the bodie besides and the eies that be compact and thrust together be more than the verie head As the chick within growes bigger the white turneth into the middest and is enclosed within the yolke By the 20 day if the eggs be stirred ye shall heare the chick to peepe within the â—…erie shell from that time forward it beginneth to plume and gather feathers and in this manner lies it within the shell the head resting on the right foot and the same head vnder the right wing and so the yolke by little and little decreaseth and faileth All birds are hatched with the feet forward contrarie to other creatures Some hens there be that lay all their egs with two yolkes and of them be hatched two chickens otherwhiles as Cornelius Celsâ—… writeth but the one of them is bigger than the other Howbeit others say it is impossible that one egge should come to two chickens Moreouer it is held for a rule that â—…here should not be put vnder a brood-hen aboue 25 egs at one time to sit vpon After the mid-winter hens begin to lay and sit The best brood is before the spring Aequinoctiall Those that be hatcâ—…ed after mid-summer neuer come to their full and kind bignesse and euermore the later the lesser CHAP. LIV. ¶ The infirmities and impediments incident to brood hens and the remedies THe best egs that can be put vnder hens when they sit are they that were laid ten daies before at the vtmost for neither old eggs nor yet very new laid are good for that purpose After that a hen hath sitten 4 daies take an eg from vnder her hold it in one hand by the narrow end and look between you and the light with the other ouer it if it be cleare through and of one colour it is supposed to be naught and will neuer proue a chicke and therefore put another in place thereof Another experiment there is by water the addle egg wil flote aboue as empty the sound and good will sinke to the bottom and such therefore being full are to be set vnder the hen We ye would try whether an egg be good or bad in this case our countrey wiues say you must not shake them in any hand for if the vital veins parts be broken blended together they will neuer proue Moreouer this is alwaies to
very few who haue a certaine pipe or conduit in stead of a gut the same wrapped and infolded together Which is the cause that if they be cut in two and pulled in pieces yet they haue a speciall property to liue long and each part asunder wil pant stir by it selfe The reason is because the vitall vertue in them whatsoeuer it is is not seated in any one member this or that but spred and defused throughout the whole body and least apparent in the head of all other parts for that alone vnlesse it be plucked away together with the breast moueth not one jot No kind of creatures haue more feet than these and the more they haue the longer liue they when they be diuided asunder as we see by experience in the Scolopendres Eies they haue that is certain besides sight they are not without the sences of feeling tasting some there be that smell a few that haue their hearing also CHAP. V. ¶ Of Bees BVt among them all Bees are principall and by good right deserue especiall admiration as being the only Insects ordained by Nature for mans vse They gather honie a most sweet pleasant fine and wholesome liquor They frame the hony combs and work the wax which serue for a thousand turns in this life They indure pains continually and dispatch their worke and businesse They haue a policie and Commonwealth among themselues They hold their seuerall counsels and there is not a swarme or cast that they haue without a king and captaine of their owne and that which is most admirable of all there be ciuill fashions and customes among them Moreouer being as they are neither tame and gentle nor yet to be counted wilde and sauage yet see the wondrous worke of Nature by the means of so little a creature nay a shadow rather to say a truth of the least creature she hath effected a thing incomparable what strength of sinewes what force and puissance is able to countervaile this so great industry and effectuall power of theirs What wit and policy of man is answerable to their discreet and orderly course Beleeue me they passe them all and in this one point surpasse That all things are common among them and nothing know they priuat and seueral What should we debate and make question any more as touching their breath Why should wee dispute of their bloud which cannot chuse but be very little in such smal bodies Let vs rather consider henceforth their wit and the gifts of their mind CHAP. VI. ¶ The naturall order and regiment that is in Bees BEes all winter time keep close within their hiues and good reason for how possibly should they indure hard frost and chilling snow how should they abide the piercing blasts of the North winds And verily it is the manner of all these Insects so to doe but yet they keepe not in so long For why being nestled warm as they are within our houses they sooner doe recouer their vigor come abroad betimes But as concerning Bees either the times haue changed places altered their course or els the writers beforetime of this argument haue greatly erred They begin to retire themselues and take vp their wintering harbor presently vpon the setting and occultation of the star Vergiliae and come not forth into the field againe vntill after the rising and apparition thereof So that Bees go not abroad at the very beginning of the Spring as Writers haue set downe for who seeth not the contrary throughout all Italie but remaine still close and secret vntill that Beanes begin to bloom before which time they settle not themselues to any worke or labour But from thence forward they lose not a day they slack not their painful trauel neither play they one jot if the weather be faire wil permit the first thing they do is to make their combs wax that is to say their own habitations store-houses When they are prouided of lodging they thinke vpon the multiplying of their owne kind and finally they gather and make both hony and wax the substance whereof they sucke from the floures of trees and hearbes from the gums also of trees which breed such gluie matter and besides out of the iuice gum and rosin of the willow elme and cane With these and such like they plaister all the hiue within throughout as it were with a coat or parget intermingling withall other iuices that are more vnsauorie gathered from the bitterest hearbs they can get to the end that they might keepe out other little vermines that are greedy of their hony as knowing full well that they are about a piece of worke which is worthie to be desired and sought after Of this gummy and glutinous substance they frame also their dores and entries which are wide and large CHAP. VII ¶ The proper termes belonging to their worke THe first foundation of their worke skilfull hony-masters do call Commosis the second Pissoceros the third Propolis which lieth between those former coats and the wax of the hony combe whereof there is so great vse in Physicke Commosis is the first coat or crust of a bitter tast Pissoceros commeth next after it as it were a thinner course of pitch or varnish and a weaker kinde of wax made of the more liquid and mild gum of vines and poplars But Propolis consisteth of a more solid matter as hauing the strength of some floures withall howbeit as yet it is no ful and perfect wax but the foundation and strengthening of the combs and serueth as a good defence against cold and to stop the passage of waspes and such hurtful creatures as would do iniurie to the bees for stil a strong sent it carrieth as which many men do vse in stead of Galbanum After this munition done then followeth the prouision of that which is called Erithace some terme it Sandaracha and others Cerinthus This must serue for the bees meat whereof they are to liue whiles they worke and found it is oftentimes laid apart within the concauities of their combs it being also of a bitter taste Now this Erithace commeth of the Spring-dew and the moisture issuing out of trees in manner of gum in lesse abundance euer when the South-west wind blows but when it is full South more blacke and in the Northerly constitution far better and more red withall Great store hereof Bees meet with vpon Almond trees Menecrates saith That it is a floure foreshewing what haruest shall insue but no man saith so besides him CHAP. VIII ¶ What flowers they be which Bees serue themselues most withall for their worke AS for wax Bees gather and make it of the floures of all trees herbs and plants sauing the docke and Goose-foot which are two kinds of herbs Some except also a kind of Broom called Spart but vntruly for in Spaine where there be many places full of that shrub the honie carrieth the strength thereof in
hath three joynts As for some sea-fishes we haue said before that they haue eight legs namely Many feet Pourcuttles Cuttles Calamaries and Crabfishes and those moue their fore-clees like armes a contrary way but their feet either they turne round or else fetch them crooked atone side and a man shall not see any liuing creature againe al round but they As for others they haue two feet to guide them and lead the way but Crabs onely haue foure There be Insects besides vpon the land that exceed this number of feet and then they haue no fewer than twelue as the most sort of wormes yea and some of them reach to an hundred No creature whatsoeuer hath an odde foot As touching the legs of those which bee whole houfed they be all full as long when they first come into the world as euer they will be well may they shoot out bigger and burnish afterward but to speake truly and properly they grow no more in length And therefore when they be yong sucking foles a man shall see them scratch the haire with the hinder feet which as they wax elder and bigger they are not able to do because their legges thriue only in outward compasse and not in length Which also is the cause that when they be new foled they cannot feed themselues but kneeling vntill such time as their neckes be come to their full growth and just proportion CHAP. XLIX ¶ Os Dwarfes and genitall parts THere are no liuing creatures in the world euen the very fowles of the aire not excepted but in each kind there be dwarfs to be found As for those males which haue their instruments of generation behind we haue sufficiently spoken In Wolues Foxes Weesils and Ferrits those genitall members be of a bonie substance and of them there be soueraigne medicines made for to cure the stone and grauell in mans bodie engendred The Beares pisle also becommeth as hard as an horn men say so soone as his breath is out of his bodie As for Camels pisles they vse in the East countries to make their best bow strings therof which they account to be the surest of all others Moreouer and besides the genitall parts put a difference between nation and nation also between one religion and another for the priests of Cybele the great mother of the gods vse to cut off their owne members and to gueld themselues without danger of death On the contrarie side some few women there be monstrous that way and in that part resemble men like as we see there are Hermaphrodites furnished with the members of both sexe In the daies of Nero the Emperor the like accident was seen and neuer before in some foure-footed beasts For he in very truth exhibited a shew of certaine mares that were of the nature of those Hermaphrodites found in the territorie of Treuiers in France and they drew together in his owne coach And verily a strange and wondrous sight this was To see the great monarch of the world sit in a charriot drawne by such monstrous beasts As touching the stones of Rams Buckes and greater beasts they hang dangling downe between their legs but in Bores they be thrust together knit vp short close to the bellie Dolphines haue these parts very long and the same lying hidden within the bottom of their bellies In Elephants likewise they be close and hidden In as many creatures as doe lay egges the stones sticke hard to their loines within the bodie and such be euer most quicke of dispatch in the act of generation and soone haue done the feat Fishes and Serpents haue none at all but in stead therof there be two strings or veines reach from their kidnies to their genitall member The * Buzzard a kind or Hawke is prouided of three stones A man hath his cods sometime bruised and broken either by some extraordinarie accident or naturally and such as be thus burst are counted but halfe men and of a middle nature betweene Hermaphrodites and guelded persons To conclude in all liuing creatures whatsoeuer the males be stronger than the females setting aside the race of Panthers and Beares CHAP. L. ¶ Of Tailes THere is not a liuing creature excepting men and Apes take as well those that bring forth their yong aliue as others that lay egges only but is furnished with a taile for the necessarie vse of their bodies Such as be otherwise rough-haired and bristly yet haue naked tailes as Swine those that be long shagged and rugged haue very little and short skuts as Beares but as many as haue long side haires be likewise long tailed as Horses If Lizards or Serpents haue their tailes cut off from their bodies they will grow againe In fishes they serue in good stead as rudders and helmes to direct them in their swimming yeathey fit their turnes as well as oares to set them forward as they stirre them to this or that hand There be Lizards found with double tailes Kine and Oxen haue the longest rumpe for their tailes of any other beasts yea and the same at the end hath the greatest tuft and bush of haire Asses haue the said docke or rumpe longer than horses and yet all such beasts either for saddle or packe haue it set forth with long haires Lions tailes are fashioned in the very tip thereof like vnto Kine or Oxen and Rats but Panthers are not after the same manner tailed Foxes and Wolues haue shag tailes like sheep but that they be longer Swine carie their tailes turned and twined round And Dogs that be of curres kind and good for nothing carrie their tailes close vnderneath their bellies CHAP. LI. ¶ Of Voices Aristotle of opinion That no liuing creature hath any voice but such only as are furnished with lungs and wind-pipes that is to say which breath and draw their wind and therefore he holdeth that the noise which we heare come from Insects is no voice at all but a very sound occasioned by the aire that gets within them and so being enclosed yeelds a certaine noise and resoundeth againe And thus it is quoth he that some keep a humming or buzzing as Bees others make a cricking with a certain long traine as the Grashoppers for euident it is and wel known that the aire entring into those pipes if I may so term them vnder their breast and meeting with a certaine pellicle or thin skin beates vpon it within and so sets it a stirring by which attrition that shril sound commeth Again it is as apparent that in others and namely Flies and Bees the buzzing which we heare begins and ends euer with their flying For no doubt that sound commeth not of any wind that these little creatures either draw or deliuer but of the aire which they hold inclosed within and the beating of their wings together As for Locusts it is generally beleeued receiued that they make that sound with clapping of their feathers and wings and thighs together In like manner among fishes
hands 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
likewise of that name bearing an apple or fruit which some cannot abide for the strong sauor and bitternes withall others again like and loue it as well This tree also beautifieth and setteth out the house but I purpose not to bestow many more words thereof CHAP. XVII ¶ Of the tree Lotus IN the same coast of Africk which regards Italy there growes Lotos which they cal Celtis A notable tree it is and of speciall marke found also here among vs now in Italy but together with the soile it hath changed the nature The fairest and goodliest of them be about the Syrtes and the Nasamones they be as big and tall as Peare trees howsoeuer Nepos Cornelius saith they are but little and low The leaues be thick cut and indented otherwise they are like to those of the Ilex or Holme tree Many sorts there be of the Lote tree and those for the most part according to their diuers and seuerall fruits Howbeit ordinarily the fruit is as big as a bean and of yellow colour as Saffron yet before it is full ripe it changeth into sundry colors like as grapes do It growes thick among the branches of the tree in manner of myrtle berries and not like to the cherries in Italy and in those plants aboue named the meat thereof is so sweet and pleasant that it hath giuen the name both to a nation and countrey insomuch as the people be called Lotophagi and withall so welcome be all strangers thither and so well contented with their entertainment that they forget their owne natiue soile for the loue they haue to this fruit when they haue once taken to it By report whoso eats thereof is free from the diseases of the belly This fruit is counted the better which hath no kernell within for there is another kind wherein the said kernell seems as hard as abone Moreouer out of this fruit there is prest a wine like to Mede which the aboue named Nepos saith will not last aboue ten daies who reporteth besides that the inhabitants do stamp the berries thereof with wheat or frumentie into a past and so put it vp in great barrels or such like vessells for the prouision of their food Moreouer we haue heard say that whole armies passing to and fro through Africke haue fed thereof and had no other meat the wood is blacke of colour and much sought for it is to make pipes and fifes of the root whereof hafts of daggers and kniues be made besides other pretty deuises of small vse Thus much as touching the nature of the Lote tree in those parts for there is an herb also of that name called Melilote As for the Egyptian â—…otus it is a plant bearing a stalke and growes in the marishes of Egypt for when the waters of Nilus are fallen which drencht the countrey this plant comes vp in the flat and waterie leuell along the riuer with a stem like to the Egyptian bean with leaues thrust close and thick together howbeit shorter and lesse than those of the bean in the top of which stalk it bears fruit in maner of an head for cuts and chamfers and euery thing els like those of Poppy within which be conta ned certain grains or seeds resembling Millet The inhabitants of that countrey do pile together in heaps those heads and so let them putrifie afterwards they separate them wash them faire and when they be dry stamp and mold them and therof make their bread A strange and wonderful thing it is that is reported besides namely That when the Sun goes down those heads close vp and be couered with leaues and remaine shut vntill the morning at what time they open againe and thus continne this course vntil they be ripe and that the floure which is white doth fall of it selfe CHAP. XVIII ¶ Of the very stalke scape or stem and root of Lotus IT is said moreouer as touching this Egyptian Lotus That in Euphrates the very head of the stalk together with the floure vseth in the euening to be plunged drowned vnder the water vntil midnight and so deep to settle toward the bottom that a man with his hand canot reach thereto nor find any part of it but after that time it begins to rise by little and little and by Sun-rising appeares aboue water and opens the floure and still mounteth higher and higher a good height from the water This Lotos hath a root as big as a Quince couered with a black rinde or barke much like to the huske of a Chestnut The substance within is white and delectable to eat but more pleasant being either sodden in water or rosted vnder embers than raw and Hogs will feed fat with nothing better than with the pills and parings of this root CHAP. XXI ¶ Of Paliurus the Pomegranate and the floure of the Pomegranat THe region of Cyrenaica in Africk makes more account of their Paliurus than of Lotus for the Paliurus shoots forth more twigs and branches and hath a redder fruit than the Lotus besides the fruit and the kernell be eaten apart and in truth pleasant it is of it selfe alone but more pleasant with wine yea and the iuice therof giueth a better tast to wine if it be put into it The inland parts of Africk as far as to the Garamants and the desarts be wel planted with Date trees faire and great bearing goodly and pleasant dates and those especially in that quarter of Barbary which lieth about the temple of Iupiter Hammon But the territorie of Carthage challengeth to it selfe the Punick apple some call it the Pomegranat they haue made seuerall kinds thereof calling that Apyrinon which hath no woody or hard kernell within and indeed these pomegranats are naturally more white the graines within more pleasant and diuided with membranes and pellicles between nothing so bitter as the other for in both sorts they be framed and fashioned within like to hony combs As for those pomegranats which haue such kernels or stones there be fiue kinds of them to wit sweet soure temperat between both styptick or austere and tasting of wine But the pomegranats of Samos and Egypt haue this difference one from another That some haue red floures on the head and are therefore called Erythrocoma others are white and such they name Leucocoma The rind of soure pomegranats is better for tanners and curriors to dresse their leather with than of the rest The floure is called Balisteum both medicinable and also good for to dyt cloth and hereof commeth the colour of Puniceus i. a light red or a bay taking the name of the apple Punicke or Pomegranat CHAP. XX. ¶ Of the Shrubs in Asia and Greece IN Asia Greece there grow certain shrubs to wit Epipactis which some call Elleborine with small leaues which being taken in drink are good against poyson like as the leaues of Erice i. Heath or Lings withstand the stinging of serpents CHAP. XXI ¶ Of Thimelaea or
more gainfull nor groweth to a better reckoning than it for twenty yeres space after it is laid vp neither is there greater losse againe by any thing if ye passe that terme by reason that the price will not grow and arise accordingly for seldom hath it bin knowne to this day and neuer but at some excessiue riot and superfluous expence of wine that an Amphore hath beene sold for a thousand Sesterces True it is indeed that they of Vienna only haue made better reckoning of their wines and sold them deerer I meane those that giue a taste of pitch the seuerall kinds whereof wee haue deliuered before but they are thought so to do among themselues only and for the loue of their countrey that it might haue the names of wines so deere and costly To conclude this wine of Vienna is reputed colder than the rest when the question is of cold drinke and that the body is to be cooled CHAP. V. ¶ Of the Nature of Wine THe nature and property of wine is to heat the bowels within if it be drunke and to coole the exterior parts if it be applied outwardly And here it shall not be amisse to rehearse in this very place that which Androcydes the noble sage and wise Philosopher wrote vnto K. Alexander the Great for to correct and reforme his intemperate drinking of wine whereto he was very prone and ouermuch giuen My good Lord saith he remember when you take your wine that you drinke the very bloud of the earth Hemlock you know sir is poison to man euen so is wine to Hemlock Now if that Prince had bin so wise as to haue obeied these precepts of his certes he could neuer haue killed his best friends as he did in his fits of drunkennesse In sum this may be truely said of wine that being taken soberly and in measure nothing is moreprofitable to the strength of the body but contrariwise there is not a thing more dangerous and pernicious than the immoderate drinking thereof CHAP. VI. ¶ Of kindly Wines made of the best Grapes WHo doubteth that some Wines be made more pleasant and acceptable than others nay out of the very same vat ye shall haue wines not alike in goodnesse but that some go before their brethren pressed though they be at one time and from the same kinde of grape which may be long either of the vessell whereinto they be filled or of some accidentall occasion and therefore as touching the excellency of wine let euery man be his own taster and judge The Empresse Iulia Augusta would commonly say That she was beholden to the Pucine wine for liuing as she did 82 yeares for she neuer vsed to drink any other This wine came of the grape that grew along the Adriaticke sea or Venice gulfe vpon a stony and raggie hill not far from the source or spring of the riuer Timavus nourished with the vapors breathed from the sea and many Amphores there were not drawne thereof at a vintage and by the iudgement of all men there is not a wine more medicinable than it is I would thinke verily therefore that the wine Pyctanon which the Greekes so highly praise is the very same for it commeth from the coasts of the Adriaticke sea The Emperor Augustus Caesar preferred the Setine wine before all others and after him in manner all the Emperors his successors for the ordinary experience they found thereby That lightly the liquor of that wine would not hinder digestion nor breed raw humors in the stomack and this wine commeth of the grape about the towne Forum Appij Before that time the wine Caecubum was in best account and the vines which yeelded it grew to the Poplars in the marish grounds within the tract of Amyclae But now is that Wine cleane gone as well through the negligence of the peisants of that countrey as the streights of the place and so much the rather by reason of the ditch or trench which Nero caused to be made nauigable beginning at the lake or gulfe Baianus and reaching as far as to Ostia In the second degree of excellency are ranged the wines of the Falerne territorie and principally that which came from the vineyards Faustian and this excellency it grew vnto by passing good order and carefull husbandry How be it this wine also in these daies beginneth to grow out of name and request whiles men loue rather to haue plenty from their vines than otherwise lay for the goodnesse thereof Now these Falerne vineyards begin at the Campaine bridge on the left hand as men go to the city-colony erected by Sylla and lately laid to Capua vnder the iurisdiction therof But the Faustian vineyards lie about 4 miles from a village neere Cediae which village is from Sinuessa six miles distant And to say a truth this Faustian wine is inferiour to none in reputation so piercing and quicke it is that it will burne of a light flame a propertie that you shall not see in any other wine Three sorts there be of these Falerne wines the first be hard and harsh the second sweet and pleasant the third thin and small But some haue distinguished them in this wise those that come from the top of the hills be called Gaurane wines from the mids Faustian and last of all from the bottom and foot thereof the Falerne But by the way this would not be forgotten That the grapes whereof be made these wines so singular and excellent are nothing pleasant to the tast for to be eaten As touching the Albane wines from about Alba neere the city of Rome they reach to the third ranke in goodnesse for a certain varietie they haue in their tast sweetish they be and yet otherwhiles they haue an vnripe harsh rellish of the wood tast like the hedge-wine In like maner the wines of Surrentum namely those of grapes growing only in vineyards are excellent good for weak persons that be newly recouered of sicknesse so small they are and wholesome withal And in truth Tyberius Caesar was wont to say That the Physitians had laid their heads together and agreed to giue the Surrentine wine so great a name for otherwise it was no better than a very mild and pleasant vineger and C. Caligula his successor in the Empire vsed to say of it That for a wine that had lost the heart and was a going it was very good The Massike wines which come from the Gaurane hils looking toward Puteoli and Bajae come nothing behind the rest but striue to match them euery way For as touching the Statane vineyards that confine and border vpon the Falerne their wines doubtlesse are now come to be the principall and chiefe of all the rest whereby it is euidently seen that euery territory and vine-plot hath their times and seasons like as all other things in the world one while râ—…se and another while fall For in times past the Calene wines made of the grapes growing hard by
the 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
swine is most commended only Columella condemneth it Some praise the mucke of any foure-footed beasts whatsoeuer so they were fed with Tree-trifolie called Cytisus Others prefer the doung of Pigeons before any other in the second place that of Goats thirdly of sheepe then of kine and oxen and lastly of cart-jades mules asses and such like Thus you see as well what difference there was in times past between this dung and that as also what were the rules so farre as I can guesse and learne whereby they went in the vse and ordering thereof for to say a truth the old way is best euen herein as well as in other matters Ouer and besides the practise hath bin already seen in some of our prouinces where there is so great store of cattell bred to riddle and sift their dung ouer their ground through sieues in manner of meale and so in processe of time it loseth not only the stinking sent and ill-fauored sight that it had but also turneth into a pleasant smel and looketh louely withall Of late found it hath been by experience that Oliue trees doe like and prosper very well if the ashes of lime-kills especially be laid to their roots Varro among many other precepts addeth and saith That corne grounds would be manured with hors-dung because it is the lightest but medowes require compost that is heauier and namely made by beasts that haue barley for their prouender for that such soile bringeth plentie of grasse Some there bee aâ—…so that preferre the dung made by horses before the mucke of kine and Oxen likewise sheeps treddles before Goats dung but Asses mucke before all other because they eat and chew their meat most leisurely But daily experience teacheth the contrary and testifieth against the one and the other And thus much as touching compost of mucke Furthermore all men are of opinion that nothing is better for the ground than to sow Lupines therupon prouided alwaies that before it cod it be turned into the ground by the plough spade or two-piked yron forke also when it is cut down to make it into wads or bottles and so to bury them at the roots of trees and vines especially In countries where there are no cattell to better the lands it is thought good to manure the same in stead of beasts dung with very hawme straw and ferne Cato hath a deuise to make an artificiall mucke or compost of litter lupine straw chaffe beane stalks leaues and branches both of Mast-holm and oke He saith moreouer to the same purpose Weed out of the standing corn Walwort otherwise called Danewort and Hemlock also from about oâ—…er-plots plucke vp ranke weeds or ground Elder also Reeke or Sea-grasse and dead leaues or branches lying rotten vnder trees when thou haste so done strew and lay a course of them vnder sheep where they be folded Item If the Vine begin to decay and wax leane burne the shreads and cuttings of the owne and turne the ashes vnder ground hard to the roots thereof Item where thou meanest to sow any wheat or such like bread-corn draw thy sheep thither and there fold them He saith moreouer that the sowing of some graine is as good as a dunging to the ground for these be his very words The fruit it selfe of the earth is a batling to the earth and namely Lupines Beans and Vetches for they muck the lands like as on the contrary side Chiches do burn the ground both because they are plucked and also for that they stand vpon salt Semblably doth Barley Foenigreeke Eruile and generally all kind of pulse which are pulled and not mowne downe Item Take heed quoth Cato that you set no pepins or kernels where you meane to sow corne As for Virgil he is of opinion that the sowing of Line-seed for flax likewise of Otes and Poppies do burne corne-ground and pill it out of heart He also giueth rules as touching mucke-hills That they should be made in the open aire within some hollow place where it may gather water that they be couered ouer with straw and litter for feare they should dry in the Sun and last of all that they haue a good strong stake of Oke pitched and driuen in about the mids thereof for so there will no snakes nor such like serpents breed and ingender therein Moreouer as touching the spreading of mucke and mingling it with the mould of a land it is exceeding good to do it when the winde setteth full West so that the Moon then be past the full and in the Waine But this rule many haue mistaken and not construed aright supposing that they should so do when the Western wind Fauonius beginneth to rise and namely in the moneth of Februarie only whereas indeed most cornlands require this point of husbandry in other moneths as wel But looke what time soeuer you list to do it be sure in any hand that the wind do then blow from the Equinoctiall point of the West and that the moone then be in the waine and drie withall Haue regard to these rules and obseruations you will wonder to see the effects thereof and what increase the earth thereby will yeeld CHAP. X. ¶ The planting and setting of trees the manner how trees do grow by a Sion sliued and plucked from the root NOw that we haue already sufficiently treated of the considerations as well of the aire and skie as of the earth belonging vnto plants and trees me thinks it were to good purpose to discourse of the industry and artificiall meanes that men haue vsed to make trees grow and verily we shall find no fewer kinds of them that come by mans hand than of such as nature it selfe hath brought forth so kind and thankfull we haue bin to her as to make recompence in this behalfe First and formost therefore this is to be noted That all trees do grow either of seed sowne or of branches growing to the tree and couched in the ground or of an old stocke from whence new imps may sprout also either of a slip or sprig plucked from another tree and so laid in the ground or of a young shoot twig impe or Sion engraffed in the very trunk of a tree slit and clouen for that purpose For I cannot chuse but maruell much at Trogus who was verily persuaded That about Babylon the leaues onely of Date trees beeing set or sowne would prooue trees Now whereas there be so many deuises abouesaid for to nourish trees this you must vnderstand that some trees there be which will grow by many of these waies before specified and others by them all And verily the most part of this knowledge hath beene taught by Nature her selfe for first of all we haue learned by her for to sow seed by occasion that we haue seen some to fall from trees which being receiued by the ground haue chitted taken root and liued And in very truth some trees there be that grow no otherwise as Chestnut and Walnut-trees excepting
bare the roots only of the vines and lay dung thereto The second deluing they would haue to be from the Ides of Aprill and six daies before the Ides of May that is before they begin to conceiue and bud and thirdly before they fall to blossome also when they haue done flouring and also at the time when the grapes alter their hew But the more skilfull and expert husbands affirme constantly That if the ground be ouermuch laboured and digged too often the grapes will be so tender skinned that they will burst againe Moreouer these rules following are to bee obserued That when any vines do require such deluing and digging the laborers ought to goe to worke betimes before the heat of the day mary if the vineyard stand vpon a mirie clay it is not good then either to eare or dig it but rather to wait for the hot season for the dust that riseth by digging is very good by their saying both to preserue the vine and grapes from the partching Sun and also to defend them against the dropping mists As for disburgening of vines and clensing them of their superfluous leaues all men accord that it should be done once in the Spring to wit after the Ides of May for the space of eleuen daies following and in any hand before they begin to put forth floure And how much thereof must be thus diffoiled for the first time euen all that is vnder the traile or frame no more As for the second men be not all of one minde some would haue the leaues to be disbranched when the vine hath done flouring others expect vntill the grapes begin to be ripe But as touching these points the rules that Cato giueth wil resolue vs for we are now also to shew the maner of cutting and pruning vines Many men begin this worke immediatly after vintage when the weather is warm and temperat but indeed by course of Nature this should neuer be done before the rising of the Aegle star as we will more at large declare in the next booke where we are to treat of the rising and fall of the fixed stars and of their influences or rather in truth when the Westerne wind Fauonius beginneth to blow forasmuch as there might be danger in going ouer soon to work considering that hast commonly maketh wast For this is certain that if there come an after-winter and chance to bite the vines newly medicined as it were or rather fore with this pruning if it happen I say that when euery man makes reckoning that winter is gon it come vpon them againe and whiske with his taile their buds pinched with cold will lose their vigor their wounds will cleaue and make rifts in such sort that when the humidity is distilled and dropped forth the oilets wil be nipt and burnt away with the bitternesse of the vnseasonable weather for who knoweth not that in frost it is ticklish medling with vines and that they be in danger soon to breake and knap asunder To say therefore a truth by order of Nature there would not be such hast made But here is the matter they that haue a large domaine and much lands to look vnto they that must go through a great deale of work cannot wil nor chuse but begin betimes and make this computation and reckoning aforesaid And in one word the sooner that vines be pruned if the time wil serue commodiously the more they run into wood and leaues and contrariwise the later you go to work the more plenty of grapes they wil yeeld and therefore it is meet and expedient to prune vines that be poore and feeble very timely but such as be strong and hardy last of all As for the manner and fashion of the cut it ought alwaies to be aslant like a goats foot that no drops of raine may settle and rest thereupon but that euery shower may soon shoot off also that it turn downeward to the ground that it be euen and smooth made with a keen and sharpe edged bill or cutting hook Furthermore this heed would be taken that the cut be iust between two buds for feare of wounding any of the oylets neere vnto that part which is cut off and commonly this is supposed to be blacke and duskish and so long as it is so seen it ought to be cut and cut again vntill you come to that which is sound and cleare indeed for neuer shall yee haue out of a faulty and corrupt wood any thing come forth that will bee worth ought If the vine be so poore and lean that it affordeth no branches meet and sufficient to beare cut it down to the verie ground for best it is then to fetch new from the root and to see whether they will be more liuely Ouer and beside in disburgening and desoiling a vine you must beware how you pluck off those burgeons that are like to beare the grape or to go with it for that were the next way to supplant as it were the grapes â—…ea and kill the vine vnlesse it were a new and yong plant Will you then know which are vnprofitable and may be spared euen all those are deemed superfluous which are come not directly from the knot or neere oilet but grow out of the side and no maruell since that the verie branches of grapes which hang in this manner out of the hard wood are so stiffe and tough also that vnneth a man may plucke them off with his fingers but had need of a knife or hook to cut them away As for the pitching of props into the ground some are of opinion that the best way is to set them between two vines and indeed that were the easier way to come about the vines for to lay their roots bare when time serueth Also better it is far so to doe in a vineyard where the vines run vpon one single traile in case the said traile be strong enough and the vineyard not subiect to the danger of winds but where a vine runneth foure waies it must be relieued with prop and stayes as neer as may be to support the burden yet so as they be no hinderance when as men should come about the foot to lay the root bare and therefore they would be a cubit off and no more Moreouer this is a general rule that a vine be clensed about the root beneath before that it be pruned aboue Cato treating generally of all maters concerning vines writeth thus by way of rule and precept Let your vine quoth he be as high as possibly you can fasten it to the frame decently but take heed you bind it not too hard Dresse and order it after this manner After you haue cut away the tips and tops therof dig round about the roots and be in then to eare vp plow the vineyard draw furrowes and ridges too and fro throughout Whiles vines be yong tender couch the branches within the ground for propagation with al speed as for old
people were holden to call the Commons away from their market affaires Also the manner in those daies was to take their sleepe and repose in good straw and litter Yea and when speech was of glory and renowne men would call it by no other term but Adorea of Ador a kind of fine red wheat Where by the way I haue in great admiration the antique words of those times and it doth me good to think how significant they were For thus we read in the sacred Pontificall Commentaries of the high priests For the Augurie or solemne sacrifice called Canarium let there be certain daies appointed to wit before the corn shew eare out of the hose yea and before that it come into it But to return againe to the praise of Husbandry When the world was thus addicted and giuen to Agriculture Italy was not only well prouided and sufficiently furnished of corne without any help from out prouinces but also all kind of grain and victuals were in those daies so exceeding cheap as it is incredible for Manius Martius a Plebeian Edile of Rome was the first man that serued the people wheat at one Asse the Modius and after him Minutius Augurinus the eleuenth Tribune of the commons euen he who indited that mutinous and seditious citizen Sp. Melius brought down the price of wheat for 3 market daies to an Asse the Modius The people therefore of Rome in regard of this good deed of his erected a statue for him without the gate Trigemina and that with such affection and deuotion that euery man contributed somewhat thereto by way of beneuolence Trebius also in the time of his Aedileship caused wheat to be sold vnto the people at the same rate to wit one Asse a Modius For which cause there were 2 statues also in memorial of him set vp both in the Capitoll and also in Palatium and himselfe when he was departed this life had this honor done vnto him by the people at his exequies as to be carried on their shoulders to his funerall fire It is reported moreouer That in the very same yeare wherein the great goddesse Cybele called also the mother of the gods was brought to Rome there was a more plentifull haruest that Summer and corn was at a lower price than had bin known in ten yeares before Likewise M. Varro hath left in writing That when L. Metellus made shew of so many Elephants in his triumph at Rome a Modius of good red wheat was worth no more than one Asse also a gallon of wine cost no more And as for drie figges thirty pound weight carried no higher price and a man might haue bought a pound of Oile oliue and 12 pound of flesh at the very same reckoning And yet all this plenty and cheapnesse proceeded not from the great domaines and large possessions of those priuate persons that incroched vpon their neighbors and hemmed them within narrow compasse For by the law published by Stolo Licinius prouided it was that no Roman citizen should hold in priuat aboue fiue hundred acres The rigor of which law or statute was extended and practised vpon the Law-maker himselfe and by vertue thereof he was condemned who for to possesse aboue that proportion and to defraud the meaning of the said Act purchased more lands in the name of his Son Loe what might be the proportion and measure of possessions allowed euen then when as the State and Common-wealth of Rome was in the prime and began to flourish And as for the Oration verily of Manius Curius after such triumphs of his and when he had subdued and brought vnder the obeisance of the Roman Empire and laid to their dominion so many forrein nations what it was euery man knoweth wherin he deliuered this speech That he was not to be counted a good man but a dangerous citizen who could not content himselfe with a close of seuen acres of ground And to say a truth after that the kings were banished out of Rome and their regiment abolished this was the very proportion of land assigned to a Roman Commoner If this be so What might be the cause of so great plenty abundance aforesaid in those daies Certes this nothing els great LL and generals of the field as it should seem tilled themselues their ground with their own hands the Earth again for her part taking no small pleasure as it were to be eared and broken vp with ploughes Laureat and ploughmen Triumphant strained her selfe to yeeld increase to the vttermost Like it is also that these braue men and worthy personages were as curious in sowing a ground with corne as in ordinance of a battell in array as diligent I say in disposing and ordering of their lands as in pitching of a field and commonly euery thing that commeth vnder good hands the more neat and cleane that the vsage thereof is and the greater paines that is taken about it the better it thriueth and prospereth afterwards What shall we say more was not C. Attilius Serranus when the honorable dignity of Consulship was presented vnto him with commission to conduct the Roman army found sowing his own field and planting trees whereupon he took that syrname Serranus As for Quintius Cincinnatus a purseuant or messenger of the Senat brought vnto him the letters patents of his Dictatorship at what time as he was in proper person ploughing a piece of ground of his owne containing foure acres and no more which are now called Prata Quintiana i. Quintius his medowes lying within the Vaticane and as it is reported not onely bare-headed was hee and open breasted but also all naked and full of dust The foresaid officer or sergeant taking him in this maner Do on your cloths sir quoth he and couer your body that I may deliuer vnto you the charge that I haue from the Senate and people of Rome Where note by the way that such Pursevants and Sergeants in those daies were named Viatores for that eftsoones they were sent to fetch both Senatours and Generall captaines out of the fields where they were at worke but now see how the times be changed They that doe this businesse in the field what are they but bond-slaues fettered condemned malefactors manacled and in one word noted persons and such as are branded and marked in their visage with an hot yron Howbeit the Earth whom wee call our Mother and whom wee would seem to worship is not so deafe and sencelesse but she knoweth well enough how shee is by them depriued of that honour which was done in old time vnto her insomuch as wee may well weet that against her will shee yeeldeth fruit as shee doth howsoeuer wee would haue it thought by these glorious titles giuen vnto her that she is nothing displeased therewith namely to be labored and wrought by such vile and base hirelings But we forsooth do maruell that the labor of these contemptible bond slaues and abiect villains doth not render the
haue water at command and good cause why prouided alwaies that they lie vnder a good towne side In the third place he rangeth the Oâ—…r plots and after them Oliue rewes then he counteth of medows which our ancestors called Parata as a man would say Ready and prouided The same Cato being asked What was the most assured profit rising out of land made this answer To feed Cattell well beeing asked againe VVhat was the next Marie quâ—…th hee to feed in a meane By which answers he would seeme to conclude That the most certain and sure reuenue was that which would cost least Howbeit this is not so generall a rule but it may alter according to the diuersitie of places sundry occasions occurrent Herunto also is to be referred another speech of his That a good husbandman ought to be a seller and not a buyer as also That a man should make speed in his youth and not delay to plant and stocke his ground but not to build thereupon before it be well and throughly stored that way and euen then also he should not be forward thereto but take leisure ere he be a builder for it is the best thing in the world according to the common prouerbe To make vse and reap profit of other mens follies prouided alwaies that a mans land be not ouer-built lest the expence of keeping all in good repaire be chargeable and burdensome Now when there is a sufficient and competent house builded thereupon a good husband will vse to repaire often thereunto and take pleasure so to do and verily a true saying it is That the lords eie is far better for the land than his heele CHAP. VI. ¶ How to chuse a conuenient place for to build a manour house in the country Also certain rules obserued in antient time as touching Husbandrie and tilling ground IN building vpon a mans land this mean and moderation is commended That the house be answerable in proportion to the ground for as it is a bad sight to see a large domain and circuit of ground without a sufficient graunge or home-stal to it so it is as great a folly to ouer-build the same to make a faire house where there is not land enough lying to it Like as there were two men at one time liuing who faulted diuersly in this behalfe to wit L. Lucullus and Q. Scaeuola for the one was possessed of faire lands without competent building thereto whereas Lucullus contrariwise built a goodly house in the country with little or no liuing adjoyning to it in which regard checked he was by the Censors for sweeping more floures than he ploughed lands Now in building there would be art and cunning shewed for euen of late daies C. Marius who had bin seuen times Consull of Rome was the last man that built an house within the territory of the cape Misenum and he seated it so as if he had pitched fortified a camp right skilfully in such sort that when Sylla syrnamed Foelix i. Happy saw his manner of building he gaue out and said That all the rest in comparison of him were blind beetles and knew neither how to build nor to encamp Well then a house in the country would be set neither neere vnto a fenny and dormant water ne yet ouer-against the course and stream of a running riuer and yet what saith Homer besides to this purpose The aire and mists quoth he and that right truly arising from a great riuer betimes in a morning before day-light cannot chuse but be euer cold and vnholesome How then mary if the country or climat be hot an house must stand into the North but in case the quarter be cold it ought to affront the South if the tract be temperate between both it should lie open vpon the East point where the Sun riseth at the Aequinoxes As touching the goodnesse of the soile and namely what signes and marks there be of it although I may seem to haue sufficiently spoken already in the discourse which I had of the best kind of ground yet I am content to subscribe to other tokens thereof deliuered by other men and especially by Cato in these words following When you see quoth hee growing vpon any land store of Walwort Skeg trees Brambles the little wild Bulbous Crow-toes called otherwise our Ladies Cowslips Clauer-grasse or Trifoâ—…le Melilote Oke wilde Pyrries and Crab-trees know yee that these doe shew a ground good for Wheat and such like white-corne So doth also the blacke mould and that of ashes colour testifie no lesse Where there is store of chalke or plaister the ground is not so fit for corne for all kinde of chalke doth heat ouermuch vnlesse the same be very leane The like doth sand also if it be not passing fine and small And the effects abouesaid are much more seen in the plaines and champaine vallies than vpon the hills and mountaines Our ancestours in old time thought it a principall point of Husbandry not to haue ouermuch ground about one graunge for they supposed more profit grew by sowing lesse and tilling it better of which mind I perceiue Virgil was And to say a truth confesse we must needs That these large enclosures and great domains held by priuat persons haue long since bin the ruine of Italie and of late daies haue vndone the prouinces also thereto belonging Six Land-lords there were and no more that possessed the one moitie of all Africke at what time as the Emperour Nero defeated and put them to death Where by the way I may not defraud Cn. Pompeius of the due glory answerable to that greatnesse of his who neuer in all his life would purchase any ground that butted or bordered vpon his owne land Mago thought it no reason but a very vngentle and vnkind part for the buying of land to sell a mansion house and in his conceit it preiudiced much the weale-publick And verily this was the principall point that he recommended in the entrance of his treatise and rules set downe for Husbandry so as a man might perceiue very euidently that hee required continuall residence vpon the land Next to these principles aboue named great regard would be had in chusing of good skilful bayliffs of the husbandry concerning whom Cato hath giuen many rules For mine own part it shal suffice to say thus much only that the lord ought to loue his bayliffe very well set him next to his heart but himself should not let him know so much Moreouer I hold it the worst thing that is to set slaues condemned persons in their gyues chains about tilling and husbanding of a ferm neither do I like of any thing don by such forlorne and hopelesse persons for lightly nothing thriues vnder their hand I would put down one saying more of our antient forefathers but that haply it may seeme a fond rash speech yea and altogether incredible that is this Nothing is lesse profitable expedient
or stem which they called Magydaris And they affirme besides that it beareth leafy flat graines for the seed in color like gold which shed presently vpon the rising of the Dog-star especially if the wind be south Of which grains or seeds fallen to the ground young plants of Laserpitium vse to grow vp vnderneath that within the compasse of one yere wil thriue both in root and stem to the just and full perfection they haue writen moreouer that the vse was to dig about their roots and to lay them bare at certain times of the yeare Also that they serued not to purge cattell as is aforesaid but to cure them if they were diseased for vpon the eating thereof either they mended presently or else ended and died out of hand but few they were that miscaried in this sort As touching the former opinion of purging and scouring true it is that it agreeth well to the other Silphium or Laserpitium of Persia aforesaid Another kind there is of it named Magydaris more tender and lesse forcible and strong in operation than the former and affourdeth no such juice or liquor at all it grows about Syria and commeth not vp in all the region about Cyrenae Moreouer vpon the mount Pernassus there is great plentie found of a certaine hearbe which the inhabitants would needs haue to be Laserpitium and so they cal it wherewith indeed they are wont to abuse and sophisticat that singular and diuine plant the true Laserpitium so highly commended and of so great account and regard The principall and best triall of the true and sincere Laser is taken from the colour somewhat enclining to rednesse without breake it you shall haue it appeare white within and anone transparent If you drop water vpon it or otherwise thin spittle it will resolue and melt Much vse there is of it in many medicines for to cure mens maladies Two plants more therebe well knowne to the common sort and base multitude and to say a truth few els are acquainted with them notwithstanding they be commodities of much gaine and many a peny is gotten thereby The first is Madder in great request among diers and curriers and for to set a color vpon their wooll and leather right necessarie The best of all and most commended is our Madder of Italie principally that which groweth about villages neere vnto our citie of Rome And yet there is no country or prouince lightly but is full of it It commeth vp of the owne accord and is sowed besides of seed and set of slips in manner of Eruile Howbeit a prickie stalke it hath of the owne the same is also full of joints and knots and commonly about euery one of them it hath fiue leaues growing round in a circle The seed is red What medicinable vertues it hath and to what purpose it serueth in Physicke I will declare in place conuenient The second is that which is called in Latin Radicula i Sope-wort an hearb the juice wherof Fullers vse so much to scoure their wooll withall and wonderfull it is to see how white how pure how neat and soft it will make it Beeing set it will come vp and grow in any place but of it selfe without mans hand it groweth most in Asia and Syria among rough craggie and stony grounds The best is that which is found beyond the riuer Euphrates and that bears a stem like tall Fennell howbeit small and slender and whereof the inhabitants of the countrey there doe make a delicate dish for besides that it hath a commendable tast and much desired it giueth a pleasant colour to what meat soeuer is sodden in the pot with it It beareth a leafe like the Oliue the Greeks cal it Strution it floureth in Summer louely it is to the eie but no smel at all it hath to content the nose prickie moreouer it is like a thorne and the stalke notwithstanding couered with a soft down seed hath it none but a big root which they vse to cut shred mince small for the purposes aforesaid CHAP. IV. ¶ The manner of trimming and ordering Gardens the sorting of all those things that grow out of the Earth into their due places besides corne and plants bearing fruit IT remaineth now to treat of Gardens and the carefull diligence thereto belonging a commendable thing in it selfe and recommended vnto vs besides by our fore-fathers and auncient writers who had nothing to speake of in more account and admiration in old time than the gardens of the Hesperides of Adonis and Alcioniis as also those pendant gardens vpon tarraces and leads of houses whether they were those that Semyramis Queene of Babylon or Cyrus K. of Assyria deuised and caused to be made Of which and of their workmanship my intent is to make a discourse in some other booke Now for this present to goe no farther than Rome the Romane KK verily themselues made great store of gardens and set their minds vpon them for so we read that Tarquin surnamed the Proud the last king of Rome was in his garden when he gaue dispatch vnto that messenger that was sent from his sonne about a cruell and bloudie errand for to know his fathers aduise and pleasure as touching the citizens of Gabij In all the twelue tables throughout which contain our ancient lawes of Rome there is no mention made so much as once of a Grange or Ferm-house but euermore a garden is taken in that signification and vnder the name of Hortus i. a Garden is comprised Haeredium that is to say an Heritage or Domain and herupon grew by consequence a certain religious or rediculous superstition rather of some whom we ceremoniously to sacre and blesse their garden and hortyard dores only for to preserue them against the witchcraft and sorcerie of spightful and enuious persons And therefore they vse to set vp in gardens ridiculous and foolish images of Satyres Antiques and such like as good keepers and remedies against enuy and witchcraft howsoeuer Plautus assigneth the custodie of gardens to the protection of the goddesse Venus And euen in these our daies vnder the name of Gardens and Hortyards there goe many daintie places of pleasure within the very citie vnder the color also and title of them men are possessed of faire closes and pleasant fields yea and of proper houses with a good circuit of ground lying to them like pretie farmes and graunges in the countrey all which they tearme by the name of Gardens The inuention to haue gardens within a citie came vp first by Epicurus the doctor and master of all voluptuous idlenesse who deuised such gardens of pleasance in Athens for before his time the manner was not in any citie to dwell as it were in the countrey and so to make citie and countrey al one but all their gardens were in the villages without Certes at Rome a good garden and no more was thought a poore mans cheiuance it went I say for land and liuing The
is besides found in mountains named by them thereupon Orâ—…oselinum i. Mountain Ach or Parsely of the hils it beareth leaues like Hemlocke and a little slender root the seed resembleth Dill seed verie much but only that it is smaller And as for the garden Ach commonly called Parsely there be many kinds thereof differing one from another first in leafe whereby you shall haue some leafed thick and ful and the same jagged and curled others thinner and those also more plain smooth and broad Item in stalk which in some is more grosse or thin than in other in one kind white in another purple and in a third of sundry colours Of Lectuce the Greeks haue set downe three kinds whereof the first riseth vp with so large and broad a stalke that by their report little garden wickets were commonly made thereof in partitions between quarter and quarter And yet the leafe of this Lectuce is not much bigger than others that be common and serue for pot-herbes the same also passing narrow by reason that all the nutriment is otherwise spent in the maine stem The second hath a round stalk the third is the broad flat Lectuce which settles neer the ground called Laconicon or the Lectuce of Lacedaemon But other writers haue described the distinct kinds therof by their colour and the sundry seasons wherein they be set for say they there be black Lectuces the seed whereof ought to be sowed in Ianuary there be white also and such would be sowed in March there are a third sort which be red and the fit time of their seednesse is the moneth of April and according to those authors all the sort of them are to be remoued in yong plants when they haue growne two moneths Howbeit those Herbarists who haue looked farther into the knowledge of Simples adde more kinds yet vnto the other to wit the purple the crisp or curled the Cappadocian the Greekish Lectuce As for these of Greece they are taller in stem than the rest and broader withall besides their leaues be long and narrow like to those of Endiue or Cichorie The worst kind of all is that which the Greeks by way of reproofe and reproch for their bitternesse terme Picris Yet is there another distinct kind of the black Lectuce which for the plenty that it yeeldeth of a milky white iuice procuring drowsinesse is termed Meconis although all of them are thought to cause sleep In old time our ancestors knew no other Lectuce in Italy but this alone and thereupon it tooke the name in Latine of Lactuca The purple Lectuce which hath the biggest root they name Caeciliana but the round kinde with smallest root and broad leaues is called Astylis i. the chaste Lectuce or the ciuil Lectuce howbeit some giue it the name of Eunuchij because of all others it cooleth lust most and is â—…n enemy to the sports of Venus And to say a truth all Lectuces are by nature refrigeratiue and do coole the body and therfore be they eaten ordinarily in Summer for they please the stomacke when it is inclined to loath meat and procureth good appetite Certes reported it is of Augustus Caesar late Emperour of famous memorie that he escaped a dangerous disease and was recouered by the meanes of Lectuce whereunto he was directed by the discreet counsell of Musa his Physician And whereas in times past folke precisely forbare to eat Lectuce now there is no doubt or scruple at all made thereof nay they are so far from abstinence that way that it is a meat generally receiued and commended insomuch as they haue deuised to keepe it in the syrrup of Oxymel all winter long for to haue it ready and euer at hand yea and more than so men are verily persuaded that Lectuce will increase good bloud Ouer and besides all the sorts of Lettuce before specified there is yet another kind named in Latine Caprina as one would say the Goats Lectuce whereof I purpose to speake more at large among other medicinable herbs As touching the wild Lectuce called Cilician see how it is crept apace into the garden after it came once to be knowne and is commended as exceeding good among other herbs there sown and planted the leafe resembleth the Cappadocian Lectuce but that it is jagged broader than it As for Endiues and Cichories I cannot tell what to make of them for neither can they be truly said a kind of Lectuce nor yet ranged well amongst other herbs More vnpatient they are and fearfull of winter than Lectuces and withall carry vnpleasant strong tast howbeit their stalks are no lesse acceptable than they Their yong plants vse to be set in the beginning of the spring but translated afterwards and replanted in the later end thereof There is a certain wild and wandring Endiue which the Aegyptians call Cichorie whereof I meane to discourse more amply in another place There hath bin a deuise lately come vp to condite and preserue as well the stems as the leaues of all Lectuces for the winter time in pitchers pots within some appropriate liquor as also to dresse and seeth them yong fresh and greene in a kinde of broth or browesse and so serue them vp between two platters And yet where the ground is rich good well watered and holpen with doung Lectuce may be sowed at all times of the yere for within two months they will grow to be good big plants and in as little space come to their ful maturity and perfection Howbeit the true time and ordinary season is to sow their seeds about the mids of December when the daies begin to lengthen and then to remooue their plants at the comming of the Western wind Fauonius in February or els to sow in that wind and to replant in March about the Spring Aequinox White Lectuce of all other can best away with the winter All Garden-herbs loue moisture and muck they loue as well Lectuce especially yet I must needs say that Endiue more than it Some gardiners there be that thinke it a great point of cunning to besmere the roots of Lectuce plants and other such herbs with dung when they are set or after they be bared at the root within the ground to cast in the mould againe and fill vp the place so soon as they be greased as it were with muck at the root Others there be who practise another feat with them to make them cabbage the better and grow faire big by cutting them vp close to the ground when they are come once to be halfe a foot high and then bedaubing them with green swines dung It is thought that white Lectuce come onely of white seed and yet that is not sufficient vnlesse there be some sea sand taken fresh from the shore and laid about the heart of the plant where the leaues put forth first and so reared and heaped vp to the mids and then to take order that the leaues growing ouer them
hard tumors whatsoeuer Semblably that if S. Anthonies fire were annointed therewith being incorporat with hony vineger and nitre or if it were applied vnto the gouty parts there would ensue great easement Moreouer in case the nailes be grown crooked vneuen rugged it is said that it wil cause one to cast them without any vlcer and sore at all Some there be who prescribe an electuary made with the seed of Orach and hony to be giuen for the Iaundise also if the windpipes be hoarse with some fell or sharp rheume falling downe vpon them or if the Amygdales on either side of the throat be amisse it is very good to rub those parts therewith They affirme moreouer That a simple decoction of it alone moueth the body downward but with Mallows or Lentils prouoketh vpward and causeth vomit Finally to conclude with the wild Orach it is vsed much to colour the haire black and for the other aboue named purposes as well as that of the gardens CHAP. XXI ¶ Of the common Mallow Of the Mallow Malope Of the Marish Mallow or Altaea Of the common Docke the soure Docke or Sorrell of the water Docke of the tall Docke called Patience and lastly of that Docke with the long root called Bulapathum ORaches were not so much discommended but on the contrary side Mallows be as highly praised as wel that of the garden as the wild Two kinds there be of the garden mallows distinguished both by the largenesse of their leaues The greater of those that grow in gardens the Greekes call Malopum the other is supposed to be named Malachum for that it doth mollifie and soften the belly Of the wild sort that which carrieth a broad leafe and white roots is called Althaea and of some Aristalthaea for the excellent vertues that it hath in Physick This property haue Mallows To inrich and fatten any ground whersoeuer they be sown or set But this marish Mallow Althaea is more effectuall than the rest against all wounds by sharp pricks or thornes and principally against the sting of Scorpions Waspes and such like as also the biting of the Hardishrew mouse Nay whosoeuer be throughly rubbed or annointed before hand with any Mallow whatsoeuer stamped with oyle or do but carry it about them they shall not be stung or bitten at all As for the leafe of Mallowes if it be laid vpon a Scorpion it will be streightwaies benummed Moreouer good counterpoisons they be all a liniment made of them being raw together with nitre draweth forth all pricks or stings remaining within the flesh but if leafe and root be sodden together and so drunk it represseth the poison of the venomous fish called the sea-Hare but some say it must be cast vp and vomited againe or else it doth no good Certes strange and wonderfull things be spoken as touching the operation of Mallows ouer and aboue those already rehearsed But this passeth all the rest That if a man or woman sup off a smal draught though it were no more but half a cyath euery day of the juice of any mallow it skills not which he shall be free from all diseases and liue in perfect health True it is that if they be putrified and resolued in chamber-lie they will heale all the scurfe running scalls in the head but if they be tempered with hony a collution made thereof cureth the cankers of the mouth and a lauature represseth all tettars ringwormes any such wild fire running vpon the skin A decoction of the root clenseth the head of dandruffe if it be washed therwith setteth the teeth fast that were loose Take the root of that mallow which riseth vp with one only stem prick the gums therwith about the tooth pained do this I say till the ach be gone The same root reduced into a liniment with the fasting spittle of man or woman and applied accordingly resolues the Kings euil dispatcheth the swelling kernels behind the ears and discusseth biles and pushes without any breaking of the skin or making vlcer The seed of mallows if it be taken in thick wine deliuereth the patient from phlegmatick humors from the rheume and the heauing of the stomack making offer to cast and cannot The root wrapped fast and tied within a lock of blacke wooll preuenteth the euill accidents that may befall vnto womens brests The same sodden in milk taken after a sippling sort in manner of a supping for fiue daies together cureth the cough And yet Sextius Niger saith they be hurtfull to the stomack And Olympias of Thebes affirmeth That if women vse it with goose grease they shall not go their full time with childe Others do write That if women take an handfull of Mallow leaues in oyle and wine they shall be throughly purged in their due times This is known for a truth and resolued by all that write or make profession of Physicke That a woman in labour if she sit vpon Mallows strewed vnder her stoole shal be deliuered with greater speed and expedition but then must they be taken away presently after that she is laied for feare that the very matrice follow after the child An ordinary practice it is of sage and discreet midwiues to giue vnto women in trauell fasting a small pint of the juice of Mallows sodden in wine yet those that cannot contain but shed their naturall seed are inioined to take mallow seed brused and so to bind it to their arme Moreouer so good and fauorable naturally be mallows to the game of loue as if they grew for nothing els insomuch as Xenocrates doth affirme That if the seed of that Mallow which runneth vp in one stalk be reduced into pouder and strewed vpon that part of a woman which Nature hath hidden she will be so wood after the company of a man as she will neuer be satisfied nor contented with embracing The like effect saith he there wil ensue if three roots thereof be bound neere to the place of Nature Also that a decoction of Mallows ministred by way of clyster is a singular injection to cure the bloudy flixe or exulceration of the guts as also the extraordinary and bootlesse desire to the seege In like manner a fomentation thereof is very good for other accidents befalling to the seat or tuil The juice of Mallows is giuen warm the quantity of three cyaths to melancholick persons that be troubled in mind and of foure to those that be stark mad indeed and besides themselues A whole hemina of the juice drawne and pressed from mallows boyled is giuen at one time to those that be subject to the falling sicknesse The same being reduced into a liniment is to good purpose applied warm vnto those who are troubled with the stone and grauell with winde cholique and ventosities with the cramp also or crick that doth draw their necks backward The leaues being sodden in oyle are layd with good successe in manner of a cataplasme vpon the hot
it odoriferous and senting well but the root Of which root as Aristophanes an auncient Comicall Poet testifieth in one of his Comoedies they were woont in old time to make sweet perfumes and odoriferous compositions for their ointments whereupon some there be who call the root Barbarica but falsly for deceiued they are The sauour that this root doth cast draweth very neere to the sent of Cinamon It loueth a leane and light soile and in no wise commeth vp in a moist ground As touching the hearb named Combretum it resembleth the same very much howbeit the leaues be passing small and as slender as threds but the plant it selfe is taller than Bacchar well rest we must not in the description of these hearbes and floures only but also we are to reforme and correct their error who haue giuen to Bacchar the name of Nard-rustick For there is anotheir hearbe properly so called to wit that which the Greeks name Asaron i. Asara-bacca or Fole-foot a plant far different from Bacchar as may appear by the description therof which I haue set down among the sundrie kinds of Nardus And verily I do find that this plant is named Asarum because it is neuer vsed in making of guirlands and chaplets Concerning Saffron the wild is the best To plant it within any garden in Italic is held no good husbandry for it will not quit cost considering there is neuer a quarter set therewith but it asketh a scruple more in expence than the fruit or increase commeth to when all the cards be told For to haue Saffron grow you must set the cloues or bulbous heads of the root and being thus planted it prooueth larger bigger and fairer than the other howbeit sooner far it doth degenerate and become a bastard kind neither is it fruitfull and beareth chiues in euerie place no not about Cyrene where the goodliest floures of Saffron in the world are to be seen at all times The principal Saffron groweth in Cilicia and especially vpon the mountain Corycus there next to it is that of Lycia and namely vpon the hill Olympus and then in a third degree of goodnesse is reckoned the Saffron Centuripinum in Sicily although some there bee who attribute the second place vnto the saffron of the mount Phlegra Nothing is so subject to sophistication as Saffron and therfore the only triall of true Saffron indeed is this If a man lay his hands vpon it he shall heare it to cracke as if it were brittle and readie to burst for that which is moist a qualitie comming by some indirect means and cunning cast yeeldeth to the hand and makes no words Yet is there another proofe of good Saffron If a man after hee haue handled it reach his hand vp presently to his mouth perceiue that the aire and breath therof smiteth to his face and eyes and therewith fretteth and stingeth them a little for then he may be sure that the saffron is right there is a kind of garden saffron by it self and this commonly is thought best and pleaseth most when there appeareth some white in the mids of the floure and thereupon they name it Dialeucon whereas contrariwise this is thought to be a fault and imperfection in the Corysian Saffron which is chiefe and indeed the floure of it is blacker than any other soonest fadeth But the best simply in any place whersoeuer is that which is thickest and seemes to like best hauing besides short chiues like hairs the worst is that which smelleth of mustines Mutianus writeth that in Lycia the practise is to take it vp euery 7 or 8 yere and remoue it to a plot of ground wel digged and delued to a fine mould where if it be replanted it will become fresh again and youg whereas it was ready before to decay and degenerate No vse thereis in any place of Saffron floures in garlands for the leaues are small and narrow in manner almost of threads Howbeit with wine it accordeth passing well especially if it be of any sweet kind and being reduced into powder and tempered therewith it is commonly sprinkled ouer all the theatres and filleth the place with a persume It bloometh at the setting or occultation of the star Vergiliae and continueth in floure but few daies and the leaf driueth out the floure In the mids of winter it is in the verdure and al green and then would it be taken vp and gathered which done it ought to be dried in the shadow and the colder that the shade is so much the better For the root of Saffron is pulpous and full of carnositie and no root liueth so long aboue ground as it doth Saffron loueth a-life to be trampled and trod vpon vnder foot and in truth the more injurie is done vnto it for to mar it the better it thriueth and therefore neare to beaten paths and wells much frequented it commeth forward and prospereth most CHAP. VII ¶ Of the floures vsed in old time about coronets and guirlands the great diuersitie in aromaticall and sweet smelling simples Of Saliunca and Polium SAffron was no doubt in great credit and estimation during the flowring estate of Troy for certes the Poet Homer highly commendeth these three floures to wit Melilot Saffron and Hyacinth Of all odoriferous and sweet senting simples nay of all hearbes and floures whatsoeuer the difference consisteth in the colour the smel and the juice And note this to begin withall that seldome or neuer you shal meet with any thing sweet in sent but it is bitter in tast and contrariwise sweet things in the mouth be few or none odoriferous to the nose And this is the reason that wine refined smelleth better than new in the lees and simples growing wild haue a better sauor far than those of the garden Some floures the further they be off the more pleasant is their smell come nearer vnto them their sent is more dull and weaker than it was as namely Violets A fresh and new gathered rose casteth a better smel afar off than neere at hand let it be somwhat withered and dry you shal sent it better at the nose than farther off Generally all floures be more odoriferous and pleasant in the Spring than at any other season of the yeare and in the morning they haue a quicker and more piercing sent than at any houre of the day besides the neerer to noon the weaker is the smell of any herb or floure Moreouer the floures of new plants are nothing so sweet as those of an old stock and yet I must needs say that floures smell strongest in the mids of Summer As for Roses and Saffron floures they cast the pleasanter smell if they be gathered in cleare weather when it is faire and dry aboue head and in one word such as grow in hot countries be euer sweeter to smell vnto than in cold Climats Howbeit in Aegypt the floures haue no good sent at all by reason that the aire
some extremity and desperat case of the whole state nor at any time adiudged tâ—… a â—…n but by the whole army confessing with one voice and generall consent That by him a alonâ—…â—…hey were all saued from the edge of the sword or famine As for the rest the captaines and generals vsed to giue them this onely was presented by the souldiers to their chiefe leader The same was called also an Obsidionall coronet or siege-garland namely when some captaine had forced the enemies to raise the siege and dislodge and thereby saued either a whole towne or campe from vtter shame and finall destruction And Certes if there were so great account made of a ciuicke garland for rescuing the life of one only citizen of Rome and such an one perchance as was of all others the meanest that whose fortune it was to obtain it he was honored euer after with many priuiledges and immunities and counted sacred how highly then is he to be esteemed who by his own valour and proesse hath saued many thousands and a whole army of such citizens This Chaplet then so singular and excellent was made of the green grasse or herbes taken and gathered from the very place where a man had saued deliuered the besieged For in truth the greatest signe of victory in old time and of yeelding to the mercy of the enemy was this If the vanquished did take vp grasse and tender it vnto the conqueror for this serued as a confession and protestation That they rendered vp all their interest which they might challenge in the earth the mother that bred and fed them yea and the very right of sepulture in her which custome I vnderstand the Germans do retaine and obserue euen at this day CHAP. V. ¶ What captaines they were who alone receiued the honor of a brasse Chaplet LVcius Siccius syrnamed Dentalus was crowned but once with this Coronet of grasse notwithstanding it was his good fortune to deserue and obtaine foureteene Ciuick garlands to fight with his enemy in a hundred and twenty battels and euer to return out of the field with victory whereby we may see how rare a thing it was in times past to see an army thus saued through the valour of their captaine for to recognise by this publick present their only fauior And some leaders and captains haue bin honoured this way oftener than so as for example P. Decius Mus receiued two such Coronets for being a Colonell and knight Marshal of the camp he behaued himselfe so valiantly that one was giuen him by the regiment or army which himselfe led and another by those who had bin besieged within their fort And how highly he esteemed of this honourable reward hee testified by his religious deuotion and the sacrifices which he offered thereupon to the gods for no sooner had hee receiued these Coronets but whereas the armie aforesaid besieged and by him deliuered had bestowed vpon him ouer and aboue for his braue seruice one white Oxe and an hundred others which were brended hee sacrificed them all vnto god Mars This was that P. Decius who afterwards being Consull together with that surly and imperious colleague of his T. Manlius syrnamed Imperiosus devowed and yeelded himselfe to all the diuels of hell for the safety of his armie and the obtaining of victory Moreouer that noble and renowned Fabius who set vpright again the declining state of the Romane Commonweale with lying off and not fighting at all with Annibal was crowned therfore with such a chaplet by authority from the Senat and people of Rome such an honor in my judgement as no man in this world can reach and attain to higher True it is that beforetime he had performed good seruice namely when being Dictator he rescued saued his high Constable or grand master of the Cauallery together with his whole army and yèt was he not thus highly rewarded then with this Coronet of green grasse For in testimony of thankfulnesse this gratuity they whom hee had saued thought at that time better namely to crowne him as it were with a new name title to his former stile calling him with one voice Father but the honor aboue named was giuen vnto him as I said by the general consent as wel of Senat as people at what time as he chased Annibal out of Italy And in truth neuer man yet was in this wise knowne to be crowned by the hands if I may so say of the whole Empire but himselfe alone This peculiar honor obtained he aboue all others that this Chaplet alone was offered and presented vnto him by all the states of Italy CHAP. VI. ¶ What he was who alone of all Centurions receiued this Chaplet of grasse BEsides those abouenamed I find that M. Calphurnius Flamma a Colonell of a regiment of souldiers in Sicily was in this manner rewarded and honored with a grasse garland But neuer was there known to this day any one to haue bin crowned in this wise of so base degree and condition as C. Perreius Aâ—…nas in that war wherein the Cimbrians were defeated who indeed was no better than a simple Centurion This Centurion hauing by his place the conduct of the formost band of a regiment of soldiers vnder Colonel Catulus seeing vpon a time certain companies excluded out of their owne campe by reason that the enemies had put themselues between them and home and there incamped perceiuing his captaine or Colonell Catulus aforesaid timorous and doubtfull to breake through the enemies camp put on a resolute mind slew his own Colonell exhorted and encouraged the companies to quit themselues like men and follow his ensigne and so he defeated his enemies and deliuered his own legion I reade moreouer in the Chronicles That the same Centurion ouer and aboue the foresaid braue ornament of a grasse Coronet had this honor done vnto him that being clad in a long robe of purple imbrodered and assisted with both the Consuls for the time being Marius and Catulus he was allowed to sacrifice vnto the gods with a noise of fifes and haut boies sounding hard by the hearth or alter fire Furthermore Sylla the Dictator hath left in writing That when he was lieutenant Generall vnder the Consuls and had the leading of the army in the expedition or journy against the Marsians the whole army presented vnto him a Chaplet of grasse before the city of Nola. And in very truth hee caused this to be pourtraied in a painted table within a house of pleasure which he had in Thusculum the same that afterwards M. Tullius Ciccro was master of Which if it were true the more shame deserued he in my conceit and I hold and pronounce him so much the more accursed and detestable for taking this crowne from his own head and losing such a braue badge of honor in proscribing ouerthrowing banishing and murdering afterwards a greater number of citizens without all comparison than those souldiers came to
mixe with Fenigreek a fourth part of the seed of garden cresses wel clensed to temper them in the strongest vineger that he could come by which he took to be an excellent medicine for the leprosie Damion ordained to make a drink with half an acetable of Fenigreek seed put into 9 cyaths of cuit or sheere water and so to giue it so prouoking of womens fleurs no man doubts but the decoction of Fenigreeke is most wholsome for the matrice and the exulceration of the guts like as the seed it self is excellent for the ioints precordial parts about the heart But in case it be boiled with Mallows it is good for the matrice guts so there be put to the said decoction some honied wine then giuen in drink for euen the very vapor or fume of the said decoction doth much good to those parts Also the decoction of Fenigreeke seed rectifieth the stinking rank smel of the arm-pits if they be washed therewith The floure made of Fenigreeke seed incorporat with nitre wine quickly clenseth the head of scurfe scales dandruffe But boiled in hydromell i. honyed water and brought into a liniment with hogs grease it cureth the swelling and inflammation of the members seruing to generation likewise it is singular for the broad and flat apostems called Pani the swelling kernels and inflammations behinde the ears the gout as well of the feet as of the hands and other ioints also the putrifaction of the flesh ready to depart from the bone and being incorporat in vineger it helpeth dislocations being boiled in vineger and hony only it serueth as a good liniment for the spleen and tempered with wine it clenseth or mundifieth cancerous sores but put thereto hony it healeth them throughly in a short time The said floure of Fenigreeke seed taken in a broth or supping is an approued remedy for an vlcer within the brest and any inueterat cough but it asketh long seething euen vntill it haue lost the bitternesse and afterwards hony is put thereto and then it is a singular grewell for the infirmities before said Thus you see what may be said of those hearbes which are in comparison but of a mean account it remaineth now to discourse of those which are of more account and estimation than the rest THE TVVENTY FIFTH BOOKE OF THE HISTORIE OF NATVRE WRITTEN BY C. PLINIVS SECVNDVS CHAP. I. ¶ The nature and properties of Hearbs growing wild and of their owne accord WHen I consider the excellency of such hearbes whereof now I am to treat and which the earth seemeth to haue brought forth onely for the vse of Physick I cannot chuse but grow withall into a wonderfull admiration of the great industry and careful diligence of our Antients before-time who haue made experiments of all things and left nothing vntried neither reserued they afterwards this hidden knowledge to themselues nor concealed ought but were willing to communicate the same vnto posteritie for their good and benefit but we contrariwise in these daies are desirous to keep secret and to suppresse the labors of other men yea and to defraud the world of those commodities which haue been purchased by the sweat of other mens browes for verily we see it is an ordinary course that such as haue attained to some knowledge envie that little skil vnto their neighbours and to keepe all forsooth to themselues and teach none their cunning they thinke the onely way to winne a great name and opinion of some deepe and profound learning And so far be we off from deuising new inuentions and imparting the same to the generall profit of mankinde that for this long time men of great wit and high conceit haue studied and practised to compasse this one point That the good deeds of their Ancestours might with themselues die and be buried for euer But certes wee see and know that the seueral inuentions of some one thing or other haue caused diuers men in old time to be canonized as gods in such sort as their memoriall hath beene eternized by the names euen of hearbes which they found out so thanke full was the age insuing as to recognize and acknowledge a benefit from them receiued and by this meanes in some measure to make recompence This care and industrie of theirs if it had beene imployed in Domesticall Plants neere home which either for pleasure and delight or else for the Kitchin and Table are set and sowed could not haue beene so rare and wonderfull but they spared not to climbe vp the top of high mountaines and to rocks vnaccessible to trauell through blind and vnpeopled desarts to search euery veine and corner of the earth all to find and know the vertues of herbs of what operation the root was for what diseases the leaues were to be vsed yea and to make wholsom medicines for mans health of those simples which the very four-footed beasts of the field neuer fed vpon nor once touched CHAP. II. ¶ The Latine Authors who haue written of herbs and their natures At what time the knowledge of Simples began to be practised and proffssed in Rome The first Greeke writers who trauelâ—…d â—…n this Argument The inuention of herbs The antient Physicke and the manner of curing diseasâ—…s in old time What is the cause that Simples are not now so much vsed for remedies of diseases as they haue bin Finally of the sweet Brier or Eglantine and the herb Dragons with their medicinable vertues WE Romans haue bin more slack and negligent in this behalfe than was beseeming vs considering how otherwise there was not a nation in the world more apprehenâ—… of all vertues and things profitable to this life than ours For to say a truth M. Caâ—…o that famous clerke and great professor so well seen in all good Arts and Sciences was the first and for a long time the only author who wrate of Simples and howsoeuer he handled that argument but briefly and summarily yet he omitted not the leech-craft belonging also to kine and oxen Long after him C. Valgius a noble gentleman of Rome a man of approued literature compiled a treatise of Simples which he left vnperfect howbeit he dedicated the book to â—…ugustus Caesar the Emperor as may appeare by a preface by him begun wherein after a religious and ceremonious manner of supplication he seemeth to beseech the said prince That it might please his Majesty especially to â—…ure all the maladies of mankind And before his time the only man among our Latines as far as euer I could find who wrot of Simples was Pomâ—… us â—…aeus the vassall or freed man of Pompey the Great And this was the first time that the knowledge of this kind of learning was set on foot and professed at Rome For Mithridates the most mightie and puissant king in that age whose fortune notwithstanding was to be vanquished and subdued by Pompey was well knowne vnto the world not only by the fame that went
Euphorbium The same being grown thick and hard if a man break it resembleth gum Ammoniacke Tast it neuer so little at the tongues end it setteth all the mouth on a fire and so continueth it a long time hot but more by fits vntill in the end it parcheth and drieth the chaws and throat also far within CHAP. VIII ¶ Of Plantain Buglosse and Borrage Of Cynoglossa or Hounds tongue Of Buphthalmus i. Oxe eie or Many-weed Of Scythica Hippice and Ischaemon Of Vettonica and Cantabrica Of * Consiligo and Hiberis Of Celendine the great Canaria and Elaphoboscos Of Dictamnum Aristolochie or Hertwort That fish are delighted so much therwith that they will make hast vnto it and be soon taken Also the medicinable vertues of those herbs aboue named THemison a famous Physitian set forth a whole booke of the herbe Way-bred or Plantaine wherein he highly praiseth it and challengeth to himselfe the honor of first finding it out notwithstanding it be a triuiall and common herb trodden vnder euery mans foot Two kinds of it be found the one which is the lesser hath also narrower leaues and inclining more to a blackish green resembling for all the world sheepe * or lambs tongues the stalke is cornered bending downward to the ground it growes ordinarily in medows The other is greater with leaues enclosed as it were within certain ribs resembling the sides of our body which being in number seuen gaue occasion to some herbarists for to call it Heptapleuron as a man would say the seuen ribbed herb The stem of this Plantain riseth to a cubit in height much like to that of the Naphew That which groweth in moist and waterie places is of greater vertue than the other Of wonderfull power and efficacy it is by the astringent quality that it hath for to dry and condensate any part of the body and serueth many times in stead of a cautery or searing yron And there is nothing in the world comparable vnto it in staying of fluxes and destillations which the Creeks call Rheumatismes To Plantain may be ioined the herb * Buglossos so called for that the leafe is like an Oxe tongue This herb hath one speciall property aboue the rest that if it be put into a cup of wine it cheareth the heart and maketh them that drink it pleasant and merry whereupon it is called Euphrosynon Vnto this for affinity of name it were good to annex Cynoglossos i. Hounds tongue for the resemblance that the leaues haue to a dogs tongue a proper herb for vinet-works and knots in gardens It is commonly said That the root of that Cynoglossos which putteth forth 3 stems or stalks and those bearing seed if it be giuen to drink cureth tertian agues but the root of that which hath foure is as good for the Quartains Another * Cynoglossos there is like to it which carrieth small burs the root whereof being drunke in water is a singular counterpoison against the venome of toads and serpents An herb there is with flours like vnto oxe eies wherupon it took the name in Greek * Buphthalmos the leaues resemble Fennel it groweth about town sides it shutteth forth stalkes from the root plentifully which being boiled are good to be eaten Some there be who call it Cachla This herb made into a salue with wax resolueth all * schirrous and hard swellings Other plants there be which beare the names not of men but of whole nations which first found them and their vertues out And to begin withall beholden we are to Scythia for that which is called Scythica It groweth notwitstanding in Boeotia and is exceeding sweet in tast Also there is another of that name singular good for the cramps called by the Greeks Spasmata An excellent property it hath besides for that whosoeuer holds it in their mouth shall for the time be neither hungry nor thirsty Of the same operation there is another herb among the Scythians or Tartars called Hippice because it workes the like effect in horses keeping them from hunger and thirst And if it be true that is reported the Scythians with these herbs wil endure without meat or drink for twelue daies together Touching the herbe Ischaemon the Thracians first found out the rare vertue that it hath in stanching bloud according as the very name implies For say they it wil stop the flux of bloud running and gushing out of a veine not only opened but also if it were â—…ut through It coucheth and creepeth low by the ground and is like vnto Millet but that the leaues be rough and hairy The manner is to stuffe the nosthrils therewith for to stay the bleeding at nose And that which groweth in Italy stancheth bloud if it be but hanged about the neck or tied to any part of the body The people in Spaine named Vettones were the first authors of that herb which is called in France * Vettonica in Italy Serratula and by the Greeks Cestron or Psychotrophon Surely an excellent herb this is and aboue all other simples most worthy of praise It commeth forth of the ground and riseth vp with a cornered stalke to the heigh of two cubits spreading from the very root leaues of the bignesse of Sorrell cut in the edges or toothed in manner of a saw with floures of a purple color growing in a spike seed correspondent therto The leaues dried and brought into pouder be good for very many vses There is a wine and vineger made or condite rather with Betony soueraign for to strengthen the stomack and clarifie the eiesight This glorious prerogatiue hath Betony that look about what house soeuer it is set or sowed the same is thought to be in the protection of the gods and safe enough for committing any offence which may deserue their vengeance and need any expiation or propitiatory sacrifice In the same Spain groweth * Cantabrica lately found by the people Cantabri and no longer since than in the daies of Augustus Caesar. This herb is to be seen euery where rising vp with a benty or rushy stalk a foot high vpon which you may behold small long floures like to cups or beakers wherein lie enclosed very small seeds Certes to speak the truth of Spain it hath bin alwaies a nation curious in seeking after simples And euen at this day in their great feasts where they meet to make merry Sans-nombre they haue a certain wassell or Bragat which goeth round about the table made of honied wine or sweet mead with a hundred distinct herbs in it and they are persuaded that it is the most pleasant and wholsomest drinke that can be deuised yet there is not one amongst them all who knoweth precisely what speciall herbs there be in all that number in this only they be all perfect that there go a hundred seuerall kinds therto according as the name doth import In our age we remember well that there was an hero discouered
also are of this nature that they be able to cure and ease such as are stung already either by touching only or else by a medicinable sucking of the place of which kind are the Psylli and Marsi those also in the Island Cyprus whom they call Ophugenes and of this race and house there came an Embassador out of the said Island whose name was Exagon who by the commandement of the Consuls was put into a great tun or pipe wherein were many serpents for to make an experiment and trial of the truth and in very deed the said serpents licked his body in all parts gently with their tongues as if they had bin little dogs to the great wonder of them who beheld the manner of it A man shall know those of this family if any of them remain at this day by this signe that they breath a strong and stinking sent from them especially in the Spring season Now these people beforenamed had not only a gift to cure folk with their spittle but their very sweat also had a medicinable vertue against the sting of serpents For as touching those men who are born and bred in Tentyrus an Island lying within the riuer Nilus so terrible they be vnto the Crocodiles that they wil not abide so much as their voice but flie from them so soon as they heare it Moreouer it is knowne for certaine that all the sort of these people who haue their bodies thus priuiledged by that secret antipathie in nature between them serpents are able to ease those who are stung if they do but come in place where they be like as a wound will be more angry and sore if they come neare who at any time before haue been hurt by sting of serpent or tooth of mad dog such also carry about with them in their bodies so venomous a quality that their onely presence is enough to marre the egs that a brood-hen sits vpon and make them all addle yea and to driue ewes and other cattell to cast their yong before the time such a virulent property remaineth still behind in their bodies who haue bin once stung and bitten that notwithstanding they be cured thereof yet venomous they are now and hurtfull to others who beforetime were poisoned themselues But the only way to remedy this inconuenience is to cause them to wash their hands before they enter into the roome where the patients lie and with the same water to besprinckle and wash them who are to be cured Againe this is to be obserued that whosoeuer at any time haue bin pricked with a scorpion shal neuer afterwards be stung by hornets waspes or bees A strange thing this is no doubt howbeit no great wonder vnto them who know that a garment or cloth which had bin vsed at funerals wil neuer be afterwards moth eaten and how that serpents hardly can be plucked out of their holes vnlesse it be by the left hand CHAP. IIII. ¶ Of certaine Sorceries and the properties of a mans spittle Also against Magitians THe inuentions of Pithagoras as touching numbers beare a great stroke in these matters and lightly misse not but principally in this That the said Philosopher would giue judgment by the vowels contained in the proper name of any person concerning their fortunes for in case the vowels were in number odde he pronounced that if the party euer proued lame of a lim lost an eie or met with any such like accidents the same should happen vpon the right side of the body but contrariwise if the number of vowels were euen then these infirmities should befall the left side Furthermore it is commonly said that if one take a stone dart or instrument of shot wherewith a man hath killed these three liuing creatures a man a wilde Bore and a Bear one after another that with one single stroke to euery one of them and fling the same clean ouer an house where there is a woman in hard trauell of child-birth so as it light on the other side without touching any part thereof the woman shal presently be deliueed More reason there is that a light jauelin or Pertuisan should do this feat which had bin drawn forth of a mans body so as it neuer touched the ground after for do but bring this murdering jauelin into the place where a woman is in labor it wil forthwith procure her deliuerance Orpheus and Archelaus do write much after the same maner of arrows pulled out of men bodies namely that if care be had that they touch not the earth then be laid vnder the bed where man or woman lieth they wil cause the parties to be enamored vpon them that bestowed the said arrows there and these authors report moreouer that the venison of any wild beast killed with the same weapon which was the death of a man before is singular to cure the falling sicknesse As some men there be whose bodies all throughout be medicinable so there be others who haue certain parts onely of the same vertue according as I haue written already concerning the thumbe of king Pyrrhus In the citie Elis also the inhabitants were wont to shew as a wonderfull monument the rib of Pelops which they auouched to be all of Iuory And euen at this day many there are who make great scruple to shaue or clip the haire growing in any molle or wert vpon the face As touching the fasting spittle specially of man or woman I haue shewed already how it is a soueraigne preseruatiue against the poison of serpents But that is not all for in many other cases it is found by daily experience to be of great operation and to worke effectually For first and formost if we see any surprised with the falling sicknesse we spit vpon them and by that means we are persuaded that we our selues auoid the contagion of the said disease Item an ordinary thing it is with vs to put by the danger of witch-craft by spitting in the eies of a witch so do we also when we meet with one that limpeth and is lame of the right leg Likewise when we craue pardon of the gods for some audacious and presumptuous praiers that wee make we vse to spit euen into our bosoms Semblably for to fortifie the operation of any medicines the manner is to pronounce withal a charm or exorcisme three times ouer and to spit vpon the ground as often and so we doubt not but it will do the cure and not faile Also when we perceiue a fellon or such like vncom sore a breeding the first thing that we doe is to marke it three times with our fasting spittle I will tell you of a strange effect and whereof it is no hard matter yw is to make the triall If one man hath hurt another either by reaching him a blow neare at hand or by letting flie somwhat at him farther off repent him when he hath so done let him presently spit just in
of Dyrrhachium saith that for to make a mirror or looking glasse cleare againe which was dusked and dimmed by the aspect of a menstruous woman the next way is to cause her to cast her eies backward and to look ouer her shoulders vpon it again he saith moreouer that if women in that case haue about them the fish called a Barbill they shal not by that means infect or do hurt at all but the same menstruous bloud shall lose all the foresaid strength Well as hurtfull and mischieuous as it is otherwise yet many there be who affirm it to be in many diseases medicinable and namely for the gout if the place be annointed therwith as also if women while their monethly sicknesse is vpon them doe handle the wens named the Kings euil the swelling kernels behind the ears the broad tumors or biles called Pani shingles S. Anthonies fire felons or violent flux of humors to the eies or other parts there wil insue much ease therupon Lais and Salpe two notable strumpets haue left in writing That if the foresaid menstruous bloud bestowed within a little locke of wooll that came from a blacke Ram be worne inclosed within a siluer bracelet it is a soueraigne remedy against the biting of mad dogs and for Tertian and Quartan agues Diotimus of Thebes reporteth That any little peece or rag of cloth yea though it were but a thred stained therein and so set handsomly into a bracelet is sufficient to do as much Sotira the renowned midwife affirmed That there was not in the world so good a thing against the Tertian Quartan as to rub anoint therwith the soles of the patients feet but much more effectualy would it do the deed in case the woman her self had the doing of it with her own hand so as the sick party know not thereof in any hand And this quoth she is a soueraigne medicine to raise them out of a fit of the Epilepsie who are surprised and fallen therewith Icetidas a worthy Physitian among the Greeks assureth vs vpon his word That Quartane agues will make an end and go away by the act of generation at what time onely as a woman beginneth to enter into her fleurs But this is agreed vpon by all authors professed and seen in this theam that if one be bitten with a mad dog and so far gone that he is afraid of water so as he dare not see it or drink at all do but put a clout or shred of cloth dipped in the said menstruall bloud vnder the cup whereout hee is to drinke hee shall immediatly be deliuered from that feare And this commeth by that powerfull and predominant Sympathie whereof the Greeks write so much between mad dogs and the said bloud considering as I haue beforesaid that they begin first to run mad by tasting therof This is known for certain that the ashes of a burnt cloth infected therewith or of the bloud it self calcined is a singular pouder to heale the farcins or sores of horses and all such laboring beasts so it be mixed with the soot of chimny or furnace and al incorporat together with wax Now say there be any garment or cloth polluted therewith there is not any thing will take out the staine but the vrine onely of the same woman The ashes beforesaid tempered alone with oile of Roses into a liniment and so applied in maner of a frontal to the forehead allaieth the headach of women specially This also would be noted That for the first yeare after a woman hath known a man and so parted from her virginity her fleurs are most sharp mordant and fretting Furthermore this also is resolued clearly among all writers That there is no charme or enchantment whatsoeuer of any validity to doe harm to that house where the side posts or dore cheeks are striked lightly ouer with menstruous bloud an argument I assure you that convinceth notably the folly of these Magitians the vainest people vnder heauen and ouerthroweth all their art and a point that pleaseth me very wel which for mine own part I am right willing to beleeue and since I am light thus vpon them I care not much if to detect their vanities I set downe one of the most modest receits that they haue giuen their word for and which may seem to carry some shew of truth or probability For thus they prescribe with great warrantize To take al the nail-parings of toes and fingers of man or woman lying sick of an intermittent feuer and to mix or incorporat them with wax so as the party in the doing herof do say these words I am about a remedy for the Tertian Quotidian or Quartan ague according as the patient is troubled with the one or other of these feuers which done and said to stick vp the said wax vpon the dore of another man or womans house that is not sick at all and that before the Sun be risen which no doubt as they say wil cure the sick person and set the ague vpon another that was well before Now would I gladly know what greater vanitie and folly there can be if this medicine misse and do not the feat or what more villany and mischiefe than thus to transfer and remoue diseases from those that be sick already vnto such as be sound and think no harme To conclude some of these Magitians are so far gone that after all the foresaid nailes of fingers and toes be pared they ordaine them to be thrown into Ant-holes and to obserue that Emmet that first bigins to draw one of them into her nest to catch her vp quickly and hang her about the necke of any one that is sick of an ague and so the patient pro certo shall shake off the disease and be quite rid of it CHAP. VIII ¶ The medicines that are found in diuers strange and forrain beasts as namely the Elephant Lion Cammell Hyaena Crocodile Chamaeleon Skinke Water-horses and Ounces THese be the remedies which the bodies of men and women do affoord as many I meane as I may with some honesty relate and yet ywis many of them be such as are not to be read out and vttered but with leaue and patience first craued for the reuerence that we owe to chaste eares I know ful wel there is a great deale more behind that I haue not touched but such stuffe I assure you as is detestable and not fit to bee spoken or committed to writing which makes me rather to make hast and leaue the discourse of Man and Woman and so to proceed to the singular vertues and operations of bruit beasts And to begin with the Elephant The bloud of that beast especially the male staieth all fluxes of humors which the Greeks cal Rheumatismes The shauings of yvory which is the Elephants tooth incorporat with Attick hony scatter as folk say the duskish spots that appeare in the visage like as the dust thereof which the file or saw doth
entred the stage who reproued and condemned as well the one as the other and reduced the pulses or beating of the arteries vnto the times and measures in Musicke according to the degrees of euery age Long after it was not but this Philosophicall subtilty of his sect was giuen ouer and abandoned because the profession tâ—…ereof required of necessitie so much learning and literature and albeit that Asclepiades when he began to professe Physick brought with him an alteration of all that was before yet as I haue already related his Physick continued no longer than others for Themison a scholler and auditor of his so soon as euer his master was departed this life altered quite all that hee wrote and noted at first from his mouth and betooke himselfe to a new practise according to his owne head and fantasie But what became of it Surely within a while after Antonius Musa Physitian to Augustus the Emperour put downe that which Themison had set vp and that by the authority and warrant of the said Emperor his patient whom he deliuered from a dangerous disease vsinâ—… directly a contrary cure to that which had bin practised beforetime Many other Physitians there were of great name whom I ouerpasse but the principall and most renowned of them all were the Casij Calpitani Aruntij Albutij and Rubrij who in their time might dispend in fees allowed them out of the Princes and Emperours Exchequer vnder whom they liued 250,000 Sâ—…es apeece by the yeare And as for Q. Stertinius the Physitian he complained of the Eâ—…s whom hee serued and challenged them for that hee had no greater reuenues than 50000â—… Sâ—…sterces by the yeare from them whereas he was able to make account that by his practise iâ—…â—…e city he gained yearely 600,000 Sesterces being retained Physitian to certain houses which he could readily name at his fingers ends A brother of his receiued no lesse in fees from 〈◊〉 Caesar the emperor And albeit these brethren spent a great part of their wealth substaâ—…e in â—…uilding sumptuously at Naples wherby they adorned and beautified that city yet they left behind them in goods vnto their heires after them to the worth of thirty millions which was such an estate that vnlesse it were Aruntius only there was neuer any known before those daies to haue died so wealthy After these men there arose one Vectius Valens who ouer besides his profession of Physicke and Rhetorick which hee earnestly followed grew into a greater name by reason of the familiar acquaintance hee had with Messalina the Empresse wife to Claudius Caesar. This minion of hers taking his time and seeing how mighty he was followed his fortunes and erected a new sect and practise of Physicke But within the compasse of that age and namely in the daies of the Emperour Nero in commeth Thessalus who woon the name from all the Physitians of former times and ouerthrew the precepts and doctrine of his predecessors raging and faring as if he were mad in open inuectiues against all the professors of Physicke that euer were and with what spirit policie wit and dexterity he performed this it may be gathered sufficiently by this one argument if there were no more that vpon his sepulchre or tomb which remaineth at this day to be seen in the high way or causey Appia he triumphed ouer them all and intituled himself by the name of Iatronices And in very truth neuer marched there player to the stage or coachdriuer to the publick cirque for to run a race better attended and with a greater traine of followers than hee when he passed along the streets and yet Crinas of Marsiles put him down and outwent him far in credit and authoritie and that by the means of a twofold skill and knowledge wherein he was seen For besides his ordinary profession of Physicke he shewed himselfe more warie and ceremonious in all his practise than any other before him by reason of the deepe insight that he had in the Mathematicks obseruing the course of the starrs chusing good daies and houres and going euer by his Almanakes and Ephemerides whensoeuer he ministred vnto his patients insomuch as in their very diet he was so precise that he would not allow them to eat or drink but with great regard of times and seasons Whereby he grew to such wealth that of late he bequeathed by his last will testament ten millions of Sesterces vnto his natiue citie Marsils toward the fortifications therof besides the walls that he caused to be built and emmanteled about other towns which cost him little vnder the foresaid summe Whiles this Crinas with such other as himself seemed with their astrologie to command the course of the destinies and to haue mens liues at their own disposition all on a suddain one M. Charmis a Marsilian likewise put himself forward and entred the citie of Rome who not onely condemned the former proceedings of the ancient Physitians but also put downe the baines and hot houses hee brought in the bathing in cold water and persuaded folke to vse the same euen in the middest of Winter nay he feared not to giue direction vnto his sicke patients for to sit in tubs of cold water And I assure you my selfe haue seen ancient Senatours such as had been Consuls of Rome all chilling and quaking yea and starke againe for cold in these kind of baths and yet they would seeme to endure the same to shew how hardy they were And verily there is a Treatise extant of Annaeus Seneca wherein he approues highly of this course Neither is it to be doubted but such Physicians as these who hauing won credit and estimation once by such nouelties and strange deuises shoot at no other marke but to make merchandise and enrich themselues euen with the hazard of our liues And hereupon come these lamentable and wofull consultations of their about their patients wherin you shall see them ordinarily to argue and disagree in opinion whiles one cannot abide that another mans iudgment should take place and seem to carry away the credit of the cure From hence also arose that Epitaph of his whosoeuer he was that caused these words to be engrauen vpon his vnhappy tombe Turba medicorum perij i. The variance of a sort of Physitians about me were the cause of my death Thus you see how often this art from time to time hath been altered and daily still it is turned like a garment new dressed and translated insomuch as wee are carried away with the vain humor of the Greeks make sail as it were with the puffes of their proud spirit For euer as any of these new commers can venditat and vaunt his owne cunning with braue words straitwaies we put our selues into his hands and giue him power to dispose of our life and death at his pleasure and without further regard are as obedient to him as a souldiour to his captaine and Generall of
else but a plaine and true narration according to my first desseine and intention For well I wot that I might haue inserted here and there the rare receits which are reported to be of the ashes of the bird Phoenix and her nest but that I know all to be meere fabulous howsoeuer they â—…ie a pretence of truth Besides I count it a very mockerie and no better to deliuer vnto the world those medicins which are not to be but once in the reuolution of a thousand yeres CHAP. II. ¶ The vertues and properties of Wooll THe ancient Romans attributed vnto Wool great authoritie had therein a certain religious and reuerent opinion of holines in so much as new wedded wiues by an old custom and ordinance at Rome were wont with great ceremonie to adorn and bedeck with wooll the side-posts of the dore or entrie into their husbands house on the mariage day Now besides the vse of wool for decent apparrel defence against cold weather that which is vnwashed and full of the sheeps swet serueth in Physick and is a soueraign remedy for sundry accidents being applied with oile wine or vinegre according as need requireth either in mitigation of pain or mordicasion and coriosion and according as our purpose is to bind or to enlarge and open any part and namely it is imploied in dislocations of members and griefe of sinues if it be laid to the affected place well sprinkled wet eftsoons with the said liquors that it might be alwaies moist But more particularly for disjointed members some put thereto a little salt others take rue when they haue stamped it incorporat the same with some conuenient grease so apply it in maner of a cataplasme vpon sweatie wooll after which maner it is good for contusions or bruses swellings Also it is said that if the teeth gumbs be well rubbed with such wool and hony mingled together it will cause the breath to be the sweeter a suffumigation or perfume therof is singular for the frensie applied with the oile of roses it stanches bleeding at the nose or otherwise if the ears be well stopped therwith and a little garlick conueied withal therinto Moreouer it is laid to inueterat sores with good successe so that hony be put thereto Soake wooll in wine vinegre or cold water and oile and then wring and presse the same forth it heales any wound The wool of a ram well washed in cold water afterwards steeped in oile is singular for womens infirmities and particularly allaies the inflammation of the matrice but in case it be faln downward and readie to slip out of the bodie a perfume therof receiued beneath staieth the same and keepes it vp The fattie wooll of a sheep being either applied or put vp in maner of a pessarie drawes down the dead infantâ—… out of the mothers belly and yet the same otherwise represseth the immoderat flux of womens fleurs If it be couched hard close within the wound occasioned by the biting of a mad dog it serueth to great purpose but with this charge That it be kept bound therto not remoued vntill the seuenth day be past applied vnto whitflaws and impostimations about the naile-roots with cold water it cureth them the same if it be dipped soked in a medly made of salnitre brimstone oile vinegre and tar all dissolued together and ready to boile and so laid as a cataplasm to the loins as hot as the patient can abide it changing it twice a day appeaseth the paine of those parts Take the greasie wooll of a ram bind therwith very hard the joints of the extream parts as namely the fingers and toes you shal see how it will stanch bleeding Howbeit note this that the wooll growing vpon the sheeps neck is euer best and most medicinable and if we regard the country from whence it coms that of Galatia Tarentum Attica and Miletum is alwaies reputed better than any other Furthermore the greasie or sweatie wooll of a sheepe is proper to be applied to any raw places where the skin is fretted off to contusions bruses looking black and blew strokes crushes rushes rubs and gals as also from them who are tumbled down from some high place for the head-ach and other pains and lastly for the inflammation or heat of the stomack being decently applied with vinegre and oile rosat Reduced into ashes and vsed as a liniment it is singular for them that be crushes or squeesed wounded burnt and scalded This ashes entreth also into colyries and eie-salues it serueth for hollow vlcers fistuloes like as for the ears when they run filthie matter For these purposes aboue specified some sheare it from the sheeps back others chuse rather to plucke it and when they haue clipped off the vpmost parts or forced it lay the same forth to dry they toze card it also and then bestow it in an earthen pot not fully baked which they besmeer all ouer with hony and so burn calcine it to ashes others put vnder smal chips or slices of torchwood and lay certain beds or courses thereof between the locks of wooll and after they haue besprinkled the same with oile set all one fire which done the ashes that come therof they put into little pans or vessels poure water theron and after they haue well stirred the said ashes with their hands they suffer it to settle downe to the bottom which they do oftentimes alwaies changing the water till such time as a man may perceiue the ashes at the tongues end to be somwhat astringent but not biting and they lay vp their ashes for their vse A great scourer and cleanser this is and therefore most effectuall to mundifie the eye-lids Moreouer the very filthy excrements of sheep the sweat sticking to the wool of their flanks between their legs the concauities thereabout which they cal Oesypum is thought to haue infinit number of medicinable ptoperties but the best Oesypum simply is that which coms from the sheep bred about Athens This swet or filthy excrement cal it what you wil is prepared and ordered many waies but the principall is that which is gathered from the wooll newly taken from between the legs shoulders of the sheep and presently tozed ready for to be carded others are content to teke the sweatie filth of any wooll so it be fresh plucked or clipped from the sheep and whether it be the one sort or the other they let it dissolue ouer a soft fire in a pan of brasse which done they set it a cooling and take off the fat that swims aloft gather it into an earthen vessell As for the rest which remained behind of the first stuffe they set iton the fire again that the fatnes may boile forth of it after this the fat that floted aboue as wel the former as the later they wash in cold water let it drie in a linnen cloth expose it
the said wal-lice and the bloud of a Tortoise together also to chase away serpents with the smoak or perfume of them likewise if any beast which hath swallowed down horse-leeches do take them in drink they will either kill them or driue them out yea and in what part soeuer they are settled and sticke fast they will remoue them and make them to fall off And yet some there be who vse this nastie and stinking creature in eie-salues for they incorporat them in salt womans milk and therwith annoint their eies yea and drop them into the eares with honey and oile rosat mingled together Others there be who vse to burne these punaises or wal-lice such especially as be of a wild kind and breed vpon Mallowes and incorporat their ashes in oile of Roses and instill them into the eares Touching other medicinable properties which they attribute vnto them namely for impostumes and botches that are broken and run for the Quartan agne and many more maladies although they giue direction to swallow them down in an egge or else enclosed within wax or a beane I hold them for lies and therefore not worthy to be related in sadnesse Marie I will not say but there is some probabilitie and apparence of reason why they should put them in those medicines which are ordained for the lethargie for surely they are knowne to be very proper against that drow sines which is occasioned by the venome of the Aspis to which effect seuen of them be ordinarily giuen in a cyath of water or but foure if the patient be a child In case of strangurie also when a man pisseth dropmeale they vse to put wall-lice into a syring and so conueigh them into the passage of the yard See the goodnesse and industrie of dame Nature the mother of all how she hath produced nothing in the world but to good purpose and with great reason And yet here is not all that they report of these lice called punaises For they say that whosoeuer carie two of them in a bracelet about his left arme within a lock of wooll but the same forsooth must be stollen from some shepheard he shall be secured against those agues that come ordinarily in the night season but say their fits vse to returne by day time then the said punices ought to be lapped in a reddish clout of a carnation colour Contrariwise the worme called Scolopendra is an enemie vnto these wall-lice and killeth them As for the Aspides look whomsoeuer they haue stung they die vpon it with a kind of deadly sleepinesse and benummednesse in all their lims and to say a truth of all serpents that creep vpon the ground they are most mortall and their wounds least curable Their venome if it enter once so farre that it come to bloud or doe but touch a greene wound there is no remedie but present death marie if it light vpon an old sore the danger is not so speedie nor the force so quick Otherwise let the same be taken in drinke to what quantitie soeuer it is harmelesse and doth no hurt at all for setting aside that sencelesse drowsinesse wich it inflicteth putrifaction and infection it causeth none which is the reason that the flesh of those beasts which die of their sting is meat good enough I would pause and make some stay in reporting a remedie that these Aspides do yeeld but that I haue my warrant from M. Varro whom I know to haue deliuered the same euen when he was fourescore yeeres old and eight namely That there is not in the world so good a thing to cure the bitings of the Aspides as to giue the party who is wounded thereby some of their vrine to drinke To come now vnto the Basiliske whom all other serpents do flie from and are affraid of albeit he killeth them with his very breath and smel that passeth from him yea and by report if he do but set his eie on a man it is enough to take away his life yet the Magicians set great store by his bloud and tell wonders thereof and namely that being of it selfe as blacke and as thick congealed as pitch yet when it is washed and dissolued it looketh more cleare and pure than Cinnabaris Vnto it they attribute strange and admirable effects For whosoeuer say they carie it about them shall gratious with princes or great potentats yea and at their hands obtaine a grant of all their petitions they shall find fauour with the gods aboue and speed in all their praiers remedie they shall haue of all diseases and no sorcerie or witchcraft shall take hold of them And some of them there be who call it the bloud of Saturne As for Dragons they haue no venome in them And if it be true that our Magicians say if a Dragons head be laid vnder the threshold of a dore after due worship and adoration of the gods with praiers supplications vnto them for their fauourable grace that house shall surely be fortunat The eies of a Dragon preserued drie pulverised and incorporat with hony into a liniment cause by their saying those who be annointed all ouer therewith to sleepe securely without any dread of night-spirits though otherwise they were fearfull timerous by nature Moreouer if we may beleeue them the fat growing about the heart of a Dragon lapped within a peece of a Buckes or Does skin and so tied fast to the arme with the nerues or sinues of a red Deere is very auaileable and assurerh a man good successe in all sutes of law The first spondyle or turning joint in the chine of a Dragon doth promise an easie and fauourable accesse vnto the presence of princes great states The teeth of a Dragon lapped within the skin of a roe buck or wild Goat and so bound fast with the sinewes of a Stag or Hind do mitigat the rigor of great lords and potentats causing them to incline to their petitions and requests who present themselues before them But aboue all other receits one composition there is which bewraieth the impudent and lying humor of these Magicians who promise vndoubted and infallible victory to those that haue it about them and this it is Take say they the taile and head both of a Dragon the haire growing vpon the forehead of a Lion with a little also of his marrow the froth moreouer that an Horse fometh at the mouth who hath woon the victory and prise in running a race and the nailes besides of a dogs feet bind all these together with a piece of leather made of a red Deere skin with the sinues partly of a Stag and partly of a fallow Deere one with another in alternatiue course carrie this about you and it will worke wonders Impostures all and loud lies And verily it is as gratious a deed to discouer and lay abroad these impudencies of theirs as to shew the remedies for the sting of serpents considering how these deuices
of their illusions whereby they mocke and abuse the world But aboue all the course that they take in the cure of Feuers sauoreth nothing at all of Physick which indeed is opposite to all their rules and proceedings for they haue diuided and digested the same into all the 12. signes in the Zodiack according as the Sun or Moone passeth through any of them All which is nothing els but a meere mockerie to be rejected and vtterly condemned as I will plainely prooue and shew to the view of the eye by some few examples and instances gathered out of many For in the first place they ordain that when the Sun is in Gemini the combs the ears the nailes and clawes of cocks should be burned and the ashes thereof tempered with oile wherewith the sicke persons are to be annointed all ouer but if the moon do passe through the said sign the same cure they say is to be done with the ashes that come of their barbs spurs whiles either Sun or Moone be in Virgo the cure doth alter and is to be wrought with barly corns in the same manner vsed But how if either of these 2 planets bee in Sagittarius then the wings of a Bat must serue the turne In case the moone be entred into Leo they imploy the leaues and branches of the Tamariske mary it must be the tame and garden Tamarisk in any case Lastly if she be in Aquarius they prescribe the coles made of box wood punned and puluerized Certes I purpose not to run through all their receits such onely as are found and approued good or at leastwaies carry some shew and probability thereof I am content to set downe as namely when they giue order for strong odours and perfumes to be applied vnto patients lying of a lethargy for to awaken and raise them out of their dead sleepe among which peraduenture the stones of a weazill dried and long kept or their liuer burnt may doe some good And whereas they thinke it conuenient to apply hot vnto their heads all about the lungs of a Mutton they speake not altogether besides sense and reason As for quartane agues forasmuch as it is often seen that all the physicke that is vsed about them doth little good or none at all be a Physitian neuer so Methodical Rational Diligent yea though he visits such patients ordinarily be present with them by their bed sides in that regard I wil not stick to relate many of their medicines and receits for this disease beginning first with those that are locall and outwardly to be applied hanged or worne about any part of the body Imprimis they say that the dust or sand wherein any hawke or bird of prey hath basked or bathed her selfe is singular good for the quartane ague if the patient weare it in a linnen cloth tied with a red thred Item the longest tooth in the head of a cole-black dog is very proper for this purpose There is a kind of bastard wesps which the Greeks thereupon cal Pseudospheces and ordinarily they do flie alone and not in troupes as others doe which if they be caught with the left hand and hanged about the neck vnder the chin do cure quartans as some Magitians say howbeit others attribute this effect to one of these wespes which a man saw first the same yeare Cut the head of a Viper off or take out the heart aliue and wrap the one or the other within a little linnen rag and carry it about you the quartane ague will be gone anon by their saying Some of them take only the little pretty snouts end of a mouse or the very tips of the ears and injoin the patient to lap the same in a red carnation coloured cloth and so to carry it about him but then the mouse must in any case be let go again and not killed Others pluck out the right eie of a green lizard aliue which done within a while after they chop off the head then they infold them both in a piece of goats skin and giue the patient in charge to haue the same about him and many there be who by the direction of magitians carry about them in like manner for the same purpose one of these flies or Beetles that vse to roll vp little bals of earth and in very truth in regard of this kind of beetle the greater part of Aegypt honour all beetles and adore them as gods or at leastwise hauing some diuine power in them which cerimoniall deuotion of theirs Appion giueth a subtill and curious reason of for he doth collect that there is some resemblance between the operations and works of the Sun and this flie and this hee setteth abroad for to colour and excuse the superstitious rites of his countrymen Howbeit the Magitians imploy in the cure of a quartan ague another kind of them which hath little horns turning backward but they must be gotten likewise with the left hand or els they will doe no good As for the third sort spotted with white and called in Latine by the name of Fullo they appoint one of them to be slit through in two and the 2 pieces to bee tied to both armes of the patient whereas those of other kinds they bind to the left arme only Semblably they say that the heart of a snake taken out of her body aliue with the left hand cureth the quartan if the patient carry it about him as also that whosoeuer taketh foure of the knots or joints of a scorpions taile together with the sting and carrieth the same about him inwrapped within a piece of black cloth with this charge That for 3 daies space hee doe not see either the scorpion which was let go nor the party who tied the said cloth and that which is within it about him he shal be deliuered from the quartan ague but after the returne of the third fit the patient must hide this clout and the joints aforesaid bury them in the ground some there be who lap a caterpiller in a little piece of linnen cloth bind the same thrice about with linnen thred making three knots thereof saying at the knitting of euery knot that this they do to cure him or her of a Quartane feuer Others carry about them a naked snaile in a little piece of fine leather or else foure heads of snails cut off and inclosed within a small reed Many thinke it better to infold one of these sows or Cheeslips within a locke of wooll and so to carry it about them against the quartane or els the little grubs or worms whereof come the oxe-flies before their wings bee grown And there be that for this purpose fit themselues with those smal worms couered al ouer with a kind of down or Cotton which are found in thickets among bushes or shrubs Some of these Magitians giue direction otherwhiles to take 4 of the said wormes inclosed within a wal-nut shel to bind
other meanes saue only by cleauing and sticking fast to a vessell in such sort as this one small and poore fish is sufficient to resist and withstand so great power both of sea and nauie yea and to stop the passage of a ship doe they all what they can possible to the contrary What should our fleets armadoes at sea make such terrets in their decks and fore-castles what should they fortifie their ships in warlike maner to fight from them vpon the sea as it were from mure and rampier on firme land See the vanity of man alas how foolish are we to make all this adoe when one little fish not aboue halfe a foot long is able to arrest and stay perforce yea and hold as prisoners our goodly tall and proud ships so well armed in the beake-head with yron pikes and brasen tines so offensiue and dangerous to bouge and pierce any enemie ship which they do encounter Certes it is reported that in the nauall battell before Actium wherein Antonius and Cleopater the queene were defeated by Augustus one of these fishes staied the admirall ship wherein M. Antonius was at what time as he made all the hast means he could deuise with help of ores to encourage his people from ship to ship and could not prevaile till he was forced to abandon the said admirall and go into another galley Meane-while the armada of Augustus Caesar seeing this disorder charged with great violence and foone inuested the fleet of Antony Of late daies also and within our remembrance the like happened to the roial ship of the Emperour Caius Caligula at what time as he rowed back and made saile from Astura to Antium when and where this little fish detained his ship and as it fell out afterward presaged an vnfortunat euent thereby for this was the last time that euer this Emperor made his returne to Rome and no sooner was he arriued but his owne souldiers in a mutinie fell vpon him and stabbed him to death And yet it was not long ere the cause of this wonderful stay of his ship was knowne for so soon as euer the vessell and a galliace it was furnished with fiue banks of ores to a side was perceiued alone in the fleet to stand still presently a number of tall fellows leapt out of their ships into the sea to search about the said galley what the reason might be that it stirred not and sound one of these fishes sticken fast to the very helme which being reported vnto Caius Caligula he fumed and fared as an Emperour taking great indignation that so small a thing as it should hold him back perforce and checke the strength of all his mariners notwithstanding there were no fewer than foure hundred lusty men in his galley that laboured at the ore all that euer they could to the contrary But this prince as it is for certaine known was most astonied at this namely That the fish sticking onely to the ship should hold it fast and the same being brought into the ship and there laid not worke the like effect They who at that time and afterward saw the fish say it resembled for all the world a snaile of the greatest making but as touching the forme and sundry kindes thereof many haue written diuersly whose opinions I haue set downe in my treatise of liuing creatures belonging to the waters and namely in the particular discourse of this fish Neither do I doubt but all the sort of fishes are able to doe as much for this wee are to beleeue that Pourcellans also be of the same vertue since it was well knowne by a notorious example that one of them did the like by a ship sent from Periander to the cape of Gnidos in regard whereof the inhabitants of Gnidos doe honour and consecrate the said Porcellane within their temple of Venus Some of our Latine writers do call the said fish that thus staieth a ship by the name of Remora As touching the medicinable properties of the said stay-ship Echeneis or Remora call it whether you will a wondrous matter it is to seâ—… the varietie of Greek writers for some of them as I haue shewed before do hold that if a woman haue it fastened either about her neck arme or otherwise she shal go out her full time if she were with child also that it will reduce her matrice into the right place if it were too loose and ready to hang out of her body Others againe report the contrary namely That if it be kept in salt and bound to any part of a woman great with child and in paine of hard trauell it will cause her to haue present deliuerance for which vertue they call it by another name Odinolion Well howeuer it be considering that mighty puissance which this fish is wel known to haue in staying ships who wil euer make doubt hereafter of any power in Nature her selfe or of the effectuall operation in Physicke which she hath giuen to many things that come vp by themselues But say we had no such euidence by the example of this Echeneis the Cramp-fish Torpedo found and taken likewise in the same sea were sufficient alone to proue the might of Nature in her workes if there were nothing else to shew the same for able she is to benum and mortifie the arms of the lustiest strongest fishers that be yea and to bind their legs as it were how swift and nimble soeuer they are otherwise in running and how euen by touching only the end of a pole or any part of an angle rod which they hold in their hands although they stand aloft and a great way from her Now if we cannot will nor chuse but must needs confesse by the euident instance of this one fish that there is some thing in nature so penetrent and powerfull that the very smell only or breath and aire proceeding from it is able thus to affect or infect rather the principall lims and members of our bodie what is it that we are not to hope for and expect from the vertue of all other creatures that Nature through her bounty hath endued with medicinable power for the remedy of diseases And in very truth no lesse admirable be the properties which are respected of the sea-Hare for to some a very poyson it is taken inwardly either in meat or drinke to others againe the onely aspect and sight thereof is as venomous For if a woman great with child chance but to see the female only of this kind she shal sensibly therupon feele a sicke wambling in her stomacke she shall presently fall to vomiting and anon to vntimely labour and the deliuerie of an abortiue fruit But what is the remedy Let her weare about her arme in bracelets any part of the male which ordinarily for this purpose is kept dry and hardened in salt shee shall passe these dangerous accidents The same fish is hurtfull also in the sea if it be touched only
if they bee reduced into a liniment with vineger and vsed accordingly now must they be burnt and calcined in a new earthen vessel that neuer before was occupied And of the like operation is the liuer of the sea-fish Taenia if the same be dried and thereof the weight of foure deniers Romane incorporate in oile of Cedar to the forme of a liniment for to annoint the haires of the eie-lids by the space of nine moneths together The fresh gall of a Ray or Skeat yea and the same preserued and kept long in old wine is an excellent medicine for the eares so is the gal likewise of the fish Bancus which some cal Myxon also of Callionymus the fish aforesaid if it be dropt into the ears with oile rosat semblably Castoreum with the juice of Poppie There be also in the sea certaine creepers ingendred called Pedunculi i. sea-lice which being stamped and tempered with vineger they giue counsell to drop into the eares Also a lock of wooll died in the bloud of the purple shell-fish Conchylium of it selfe alone is a very good thing to be applied to the eares howbeit some doe wet the same in vineger and salniter mixed together But the soueraigne remedy in the opinion of most Physitians for any grieuance and infirmity of the ears is this namely Recipe of the best sauce or pickle called Garum Sociorum that may be gotten one cyath of hony one cyath and an halfe of vineger one cyath seeth them all together gently ouer a soft fire in a new pot eftsoon skimming it in the boiling with a feather and when it hath left casting vp a scum and is sufficiently purified take it from the fire and of this decoction warm drop into the pained eares If the ears be swelled withall they ordain and prescribe to mitigat assuage the same first with the juice of Coriander The fat of frogs dropt into the eares allaieth their paine presently The juice or decoction of craifishes incorporat with fine Barly meale is a singular and most effectuall salue to heale the wounds of the ears As for swellings and inflammations rising behind the ears there is not a better thing to cure them than to apply therto the ashes of Burrets shels tempered with hony or of the Purples Conchylia with honied wine If the teeth ake the ready means to assuage them is to scarifie the gums and let them bloud with the sharp bones of the sea-dragon and withall to make a collution with the brains of the sea dogfish boiled in oile and saued for the purpose to wash the mouth and teeth therwith once in a yere Likewise in the pain of the teeth found it is most soueraigne to scarifie the gums with the pricky bone or fin of the Puffin or Forkfish vntill they bleed againe The same also beeing puluerized brought into a liniment with white Ellebore and applied to the teeth causeth them to fall out of the head without any great paine Moreouer the ashes of salt fish burnt in a new earthen vessell and mixt with the pouder of the marble stone is reckoned among the remedies for the teeth In like maner the quadrants or square cantons of the old Tuny fish burnt to a cole in a new earthen pan and afterward beaten to pouder are thought to be good for the tooth ach Of the like operation and effect they say be the pricks and sins of all kindes of salt fish if they be first burnt to a coale then puluerized and therewith the teeth well rubbed Furthermore to make a collution to wash the teeth withall and to hold the liquor in the mouth some seeth frogs in vineger with this proportion that to euery frog they take one hemine of vineger But because many a mans stomack lothed abhorred such a medicin Sallustius Dionysius found the means to hang many of them by the hinder legs ouer the vessell or pan of seething vineger that out of their mouth there might fall the humor within their bodies into the said vineger But to those who had good stomacks were of stronger complexions he prescribed to eat the very frogs broth all wherein they were sodden And in very truth many are of this opinion that if the grinders and great jaw teeth do ake this is a speciall medicine for them but in case they be loose in the head then the best way to confirm and set them fast is a collution with the vineger aforesaid And for this purpose some there be who after they haue cut off the feet of 2 frogs lay their bodies to infuse and steep in one hemine of wine and so aduise their patients to wash their vnsteedy teeth with the said infusion Others apply them whole as they be legs and al outwardly to the chawes and keep them fast thereto Whereas some again seeth ten of them in 3 sextars af vineger vntill a third part of the liquor be consumed and with this decoction thinke to fasten the teeth sure that shake in their fockets Moreouer others you shall haue who take the hearts of 36 frogs and bake or boile them in one sextar of old oile vnder a pan or ouen of brasse the grauie or liquor whereof they poured into the eare of that side where the cheek or jaw doth ake whereas many others besides seeth the liuer of a frog and when they haue stamped and incorporat it with hony put it into the hollow teeth or apply it thereto But all these medicines abouesayd you must thinke to be more effectuall if they be made of sea-frogs Now if the teeth bee worme eaten and stinke withall they giue order to dry a hundred of them in an ouen all night long afterwards to put vnto them as much salt in proportion as they come to in weight and therewith to rub the said faulty teeth There is a kind of serpent or water-snake called in Latine Coluber and of the Greeks Enhydris diuers there be who with foure of the vpper teeth of this serpent scarifie the gums of the vpper chaw in case the teeth therin do ake and semblably with foure of the nether teeth if the other bee in paine and yet some there bee who content themselues with the eye-tooth onely They vse also the ashes of Sea-crabs and no maruell for the ashes of Burrets is a dentifrice well knowne for to keepe the teeth cleane and make them neat and white The fat of a sea-Calfe or Seale taketh away the foule tettars called Lichenes and the filthy leprosie so do the ashes of Lampreys if the same be incorporat with hony to the weight of 3 oboli The liuer also of the Puffin boiled in oile Finally the ashes of a sea Horse and a Dolphin mixt with water so that the part affected be well rubbed withall vntill it blister Now when it is thus exulcerat it must be followed with that manner of cure which is appropriat thereto and namely vntil it be healed and skinned againe Some take the
our skin leauing the gold pure and fine behind it and verily the affinitie betwixt gold quick-siluer is so great that if any vessels or pieces of brasse are to be gilded rub the same ouer first with quick-siluer before the gold soile be laid on it will hold the same most surely mary this one discommodity there is in it that if the leaues of gold be either single or very thin the whitenesse of the quicke-siluer will appeare through and make the gilding more pale and wan wherefore our cunning goldsmiths who would make their Chapmen to pay for their plate as double gilt when it is indeed but thin laid and single and so picke their purses set a rich and deep colour vpon their work for the time by laying vnder the gold in stead of quick-siluer natural the white of an egg and then vpon it artificial quick-siluer named Hydragyrum whereof I purpose to write in place conuenient And to say a truth the right quick-siluer which is of the own kind is not commonly found in great plenty Ouer and besides within the same mines and among the veines of siluer there is found a minerall which to speak properly is a stone concrete of a certain scum or some whire and shining howbeit not transparent which is called by some Stimmi by others Stibium Alabastrum or Larbason and hereof there be two kinds the male and the female but the female Antimony or Stibium is the better esteemed for the male is more rude rough and rugged yet for all that not so weighty bright and radiant besides that it is more charged with sand whereas the female contrariwise shineth and glittereth plentifully being also brittle tender apt to cleaue easily into plates or flakes and not to breake into lumps and gobbets Touching the vertues of Stibium pertinent vnto physick astringent it is and refrigerant but a principal and peculiar medicine to be imployed about the eies for therupon it was that most men called it Platyophthalmon for that being put into those ointments that are to beautifie the eies of women named thereupon Calliblephara it seemes to extend the compasse of the eies and make them appeare open faire and large withall Antimonie puluerised and incorporat with the pouder of frankincense by the means of gum withall staieth the flux of humors into the eyes and healeth the fretting and exulcerations incident thereto being otherwise a proper medicine to staunch the bloud that gusheth or issueth from the braine But for to stop the bleeding of any fresh wound the pouder of Antimony alone is thought to be more effectuall if the place be strewed withal which also is a singular thing to heal the old bitings of dogs It cureth moreouer any burn occasioned by fire in case it be tempered in some conuenient suet and wax with Litharge of siluer and Ceruse or White lead and so reduced into a salue But for to prepare Antimonie aright it ought to be well luted all ouer with a certain kinde of paste made of Cow-dung and then dunged and calcined in an ouen which beeing done to bee quenched with Womans milke and then stamped and brayed very well in a mortar putting thereunto raine water also among and euer and anon the troubled water ought to bee transfused into a vessell of brasse and clarified therein together with Sal-nitre As for that which setled in the bottome of the mortar is held to be the drosse and dregs thereof standing most vpon lead and is throwne away as good for nothing but the pot or vessell whereinto the troubled water aforesaid was poured after it is well couered and stopped with a linnen cloth must be suffred to stand all night to take a setling and the next morrow that which â—…oteth aloft is to be poured out by little and little and the rest of the liquor to be soked forth with spunges and separated from the Antimonie Now that which resteth in the bottom is taken to be the floure of Antimonie and so called which they lay forth in the Sun a drying couered with a fine linnen cloth that it should not be ouermuch dried which done they beat this fine floure againe in a mortar and so reduce it into trochiskes But in this operation of preparing antimonie aboue all things regard would be had in the burning thereof that it be not ouermuch calcined and so turne into lead Some in the burning of antimonie vse not dung as is beforesaid but rather lap the same about with some grease or tallow others after it is well beat and punned streine it with water through a threefold linnen cloth cast away the dregs remaining behind but the liquor that passed through they poure out of one vessel into another and the residence alwaies they gather and saue which they mix in the composition of plaisters and eie-salues or collyries As touching the drosse or refuse in siluer the Greeks call it Helcysma the nature thereof is restringent refrigeratiue it entreth into plaistres like as lead ore doth which is named Molybdaena and whereof I intend to write in my treatise of lead especially those that are made to heale cicatrice and skin Also being injected by way of clistre with oile of myrtles it cureth tinesms and dysenteries It is vsed much also in those lenitiue and vncteous plaistres named Lipatae and serueth likewise for the excrescence of proud flesh in vlcers for those exulcerations which come of rubbing and fretting or the running sores and scalls in the head Within the mettal mines aforesaid there is ingendred another minerall known by the name of Spuma argenti i. the some of siluer commonly called litharge three sorts there be found of it The best litharge of gold which they call Chrysitis the second of siluer named Argyritis and a third of lead which is Molybditis and many times all these kinds so distinct in color are found in one and the same lump or puffed loaf of litharge The best litharge is brought out of the region Attica the next in goodnesse comes from Spain Litharge of gold named Chrysitis is made of the very mine and vein of siluer Argyritis of siluer it selfe and Molybditis of the lead which is melted with the siluer as wee may see at Puteoli where great store of it is made and of that place took the name Puteolana All the sorts of them are made after that the mettal or matter appropriat vnto them is throughly melted and tried for it runneth downe from the vpper pan into that vnderneath out of which it is taken vp with iron broches and to the end that it might be of a small weight some wind it about the broch in the very flame of the furnace and as it may appeare by the very name it is no other thing but the scum of the ore or mettal boiling and melting ouer the furnace from drosse it differeth as much as scum or froth aboue may from dregges or
Minium by the name of Miltos and yet some terme it Cinnabari and hereof arose the error occasioned by the Indian name Cinnabari For so the Indians call the bloudy substance of a dragon crushed and squeesed with the weight of the Elephants lying vpon them ready to die to wit when the said dragons are full with sucking out the Elephants bloud before and now their owne and it are mingled together according as I haue shewed before in the story of those beasts And verily there is not a color besides which expresseth the liuely colour of bloud in pictures so properly as Minium As for that other Cinnabaris of India it is most wholsom to be put into antidots preseruatiues and countrepoisons yea and other souerain medicines to be taken inwardly But our physitians beleeue me for that by an error Minium or vermilion is called Cinnabaris vse in stead of Sanguis draconis the said Minium which in very truth is no better than a meere poison as I will shew anon Wel in old time they vsed to draw those pictures and pourtraits which consist of one single colour and bee called Monochromata with this colour Cinnabaâ—…s They painted also with the Minium of Ephesus but they gaue it ouer in processe of time because such colors were so costly required such pains ere they were prepared and made perfect Besides both the one and the other were thought to be ouer-quick and stinging in hand and therfore they betook themselues to the red earth Rubrica and Sinopis of which colours I will speak more in their proper places But to returne again to Cinnabaris or Sangdragon it is sophisticated and corrupted either with Goats bloud or else with the fruit of Seruoises punned But the true Cinnabaris or Sangdragon is worth fifty Sesterces by the pound As for Minium or Vermilion aforesaid K. Iuba saith that it groweth plentifully also in Carmania And Hermogenes affirmeth that Aethiopia likewise is not without good store of it But from neither of those two countries is it brought vnto vs nor to say a truth out of any other place but Spain The best and most excellent is that which comes out of the territory of Sisapone in the Realm of Granada or Boetica a part of Spain euen from a Mine of Vermilion there which payeth a great custome and yeelds much reuenue to the people of Rome and there is nothing looked to more streightly for feare of fraud and imposture for lawfull it is not there to dresse and refine it but vncocted and crude is it brought to Rome in the masse as it lay within the vein sealed by the sworn masters of the mine which yeelds one yeare with another 10000 pound weight or much thereabout At Rome it is washed and a price there is set vpon it by an expresse Act namely That it should not be sold aboue seuentie deniers the pound But many wayes is it sophisticated whereby the societie and fellowship of the Publicanes who had the ordering of it at Rome robbed the Commonweale and gained themselues For a second kind there is of Minium found almost in euerie mine of siluer lead the which is made of a certain stone intermingled in the veins of those mettals after the same is burnt and not of that red stone which yeeldeth forth the humor that I named before Quicke-siluer for this stone may it selfe by boiling be brought to siluer but of other red pieces of earth found together with the said true Vermilion which are knowne to be barraine and void of the right Vermilion onely by the leaden hue which they haue for vnlesse it be in the furnace they neuer wax red and then being fully burnt and calcined they are beaten to pouder This is that Minium of a second sort and much inferiour vnto those naturall pouders and sands of the true Minium notwithstanding very few there bee that know it Well this is that Minium wherewith the true Vermilion is sophisticated in the Worke-houses and shops of those Publicanes whose Companie and Fellowship had the ordering of it like as it is corrupted also with Scyricum But how this colour Scyricum is made I will in due place write hereafter Certes our painters to giue the better lustre vnto Minium yea and to saue charges haue deuised to lay the first ground vnder it of this Scyricum Besides this they haue another cast to gain or steale rather by Minium for by reason that it sticketh to their pensils euer and anon they wash it off when they be full this setleth down to the bottom of the water where it remaines and the painters take it for their auailes but they were as good pick their masters purse who setteth them aworke But if a man would know the true and sincere Vermilion indeed it ought to haue the rich and fresh colour of skarlet As for the brightnesse that is in the second sort if a wall bee painted therewith the naturall moisture and dankenesse that commeth from thence will abate the lustre soon And yet this Minium is taken to be but a kind of rust in mettals either siluer or lead as they lie in the mines Moreouer the minerall Vermilion found naturally in the foresaid Minium mines of Sisapona haue no siluer mixed therwith boyle and trie it in the fire as much as you will Also the way to find true Minium from false is by the means of gold for touch the sophisticat Minium with a piece of gold red hot it will wax blacke whereas the true Minium keepeth colour still Where by the way note That I read it may be falsified with Quicklime And after the same maner if there be no gold at hand to trie it by you shal soon see the proofe and find the falsehood by a plate of yron red hot and vsed accordingly Furthermore this hath beene obserued That the shining beams either of Sun or Moone do much hurt to the lustre of Vermillion or any thing painted therewith But what meanes to preuent this inconuenience Euen to vernish the wall after the colour is dried vpon it in this manner Take white Punicke wax melt it with oyle and while it is hot wash the said painting all ouer with pensils or fine brushes of bristles wet in the said vernish But when this vermish is laid on it must be well chafed heat again with red hot coales made of Gall-nuts held close to it that the wall may sweat and frie again which done it ought afterwards to be rubbed ouer well with cerecloths and last of all with cleane linnen cloths that it may shine again and be slicke as statues of marble be Moreouer the workemen that are emploied in their shops about the making of Vermillion doe bind vnto their faces in manner of Maskes large bladders that they may take and deliuer their wind at libertie and yet not be in danger of drawing in with their breath that pernicious and deadly pouder which is no better than poyson yet so as
the vessels then which our delicats haue those I mean that would seem to be more fine in their houses than their neighbors are only of the Corinth mettal and no better which they cast partly into pots and pans and such like kitchin vessell for to seeth meat in partly into candlesticks chafers chamber pots and such like homely and base vessels without any regard of cleanenesse and neat seruice But this Corrinthian mettall may be reduced well into three principall kinds to wit the white which commeth nearest in brightnesse to siluer as standing most indeed vpon the mixture of siluer the second yellowish according to the nature and colour of gold which beareth the chiefe stroke in it and a third of an equall medley and temperature wherein a man shall not perceiue any one mettall predominant Ouer and besides these 3 sorts of Corinthian brasse there is another kind of Mascellin as touching the mixture whereof precisely we are not able to yeeld any reason for although there be found Images and statues thereof made wherein we may see the handy worke of man yet it should seem that Fortune in some sort hath giuen the temperature thereto and that dainty and precious colour that it hath is a deep red much resembling that of the iliuer and therefore they call it commonly Hepatizon Short it commeth far of the Corinthian mettall but out-goeth a great way the brasse either of Aegina or Delos which two mettals for a long time were thought to be the chiefe And in very truth for antient glory and name the Deliake brasse may challenge the first place for thither as to a mart or fair there was great resort of chapmen from all parts of the world specially of those artificers who were curious in making of table feet trestles and bed-steads and indeed the finest workmanship at first was seen herein and thereby artificers came to be innobled But in processe of time they went farther euen to cast the images of gods the personages also of men for statues yea the solid forms and pourtraits of beasts and other such liuing creatures After this brasse of Delos the most account was made of that which came from Aegina an Island this is without any mine at al of brasse in it howbeit much renowned for the excellent mettal-founders therein in regard of the singular temperature that they gaue vnto their brasse The brasen Oxe which standeth in the beast market at Rome was brought from thence And this may serue for a paterne of the Aeginetick brasse but the image of Iupiter erected within the chappel of Iupiter syrnamed Thundring in the Capitoll is the true paterne testifying what kind of brasse that of Delos was And as Myron was wont to cast the mettall of Aegina in all his works so Polycletus vsed ordinarily that of Delos for this purpose and these two were rare Imageurs liuing at one time and prentises at the Art together but they indeauoured to surpasse one the other in diuers mettalls which they occupied CHAP. III. ¶ Of Candle-stickes and Ornaments belonging to Temples made of Brasse IN old time the Island Aegina was in especial name for the workmanship only of the branches sockets heads of candle-sticks like as Tarentum for the shanke shaft body supporting the same and therefore that candle-sticke was counted rich indeed when both these places seemed to concur to the making and workmanship therof for such a candle-stick some haue not bin ashamed to giue as much mony as the salarie and yearely pension of a Tribune militarie or Colonell commeth to and yet you see an implement or moueable it is that hath but a vile base name for called it is in Latine Candelabrum of sticking a candle in it But wil you know who was so foolish as to bestow so much vpon a candle-stick and what a tale belongeth therunto for to mend the hard bargain thus stood the case it was a jolly dame in Rome named Gegania who made this wise match And when she had so done she must needs forsooth make a feast to shew this candle-stick to her guests which cost her 50000 sesterces Now Clesippus the founder or Brasier that sold it her was mishapen and bunch-backt And order was taken by the commandement of Theon a publick crier of Rome that he should in the middest of supper be brought into the place stark naked as euer he was borne and as foule and ill-sauoured a fellow he was otherwise as a man should lightly see vnder a colour to make sport and to set the company in a laughing but indeed to mocke Gegania the Mistresse of the house But what followed therupon The woman cast a fansie to him by and by and in that heat of loue or lust rather admitted him anon to her bed and after set him into her will and made him her heire This crooke-backed squire seeing himselfe exceedingly inricht by this double bargaine adored the said candlestick no lesse than a god as the only cause of his rising and all the wealth he had and thus by his occasion one tale more goeth currant abroad in the world of Corinthian vessels And yet afterwards as it were to punish his Mistresse for that light behauiour of hers he caused a stately and magnificent sepulchre to be made for her whereby the infamy and shame of Gegania might be eternized and continue fresh in remembrance with all posterity But to return again to Corinthian Brasse and the vessels made thereof although it be well knowne that there are no Candlesticks indeed made of that Mascelin yet there goeth a great name of them as if they aboue all other things were certainly cast of that mettall and the reason is because that Mummius as in the heat of his victorie he sacked and destroied Corinth so withall hee dispersed the brasse by parcels and piece-meale and sent it away into many other townes and cities of Greece Moreouer this is to be noted That in old time it was an ordinary thing to make of brasse the sides lintels sils and leaues of great dores belonging to temples I reade also in Chronicles that Cn. Octauius who defeated K. Perseus in fight at sea and rode in triumph for that naual victorie caused the double gallerie which standeth neere vnto the Cirque of Flaminius to be erected which was called the Corinthian gallerie for that the chapters of the pillers were of brasse Furthermore the Annals do testifie that it was thought good That the roufe of the chappel of Vesta should be alwaies couered ouer with Brasse after the manner of Saracossian work Likewise M. Agrippa made all the chapters of the pillars standing in the temple Pantheon of Syracusian brasse which remaine at this day to be seene And not onely publick places and buildings were thus beautified and adorned but great mens priuat houses also were inriched by this mettall for it appeareth vpon record That Sp. Carvilius one of the Treasurers of Rome amongst
follow of all those workmen that were gon before him hee shewed vnto him a multitude of people and said withall That he should do best to imitate Nature her self and no one artificer and that was it quoth he which I meant by the former demonstration of so many men And verily so excellent a workman he proued in the end that he left behind him the most pieces of any man as I haue said before and those of all sorts and fullest of art and good workmanship and among the rest the image of a man currying rubbing and scraping the sweat and filth off his own body which M. Agrippa caused to be set before his own bains and the Emperor Tiberius Caesar took so great pleasure in it that notwithstanding at his first comming to the crown he knew well enough how to command and temper his own affections yet he could not now rule himselfe but would needs haue the said image to be remoued from thence into his own bed chamber and another to be set in the place of it wherat the common people see their contumacie and frowardnesse were so much offended and displeased that they rested not with open mouth to exclaim vpon him in all their theartes when they met there together and cried to haue their Apoxyomenos set again in the own place insomuch as the Emperor was content so to do notwithstanding he loued it so well This Lysippus also won great credit and commendation by another image that he made representing a woman piping or playing vpon the flute and drunken withall also by a kennell of hounds together with the huntsman and all belonging to the game But aboue all he got the greatest name for making in brasse a chariot drawne with foure steeds together with the image of the Sun so much honored among the Rhodians The personage of King Alexander the Great hee likewise expressed in brasse and many images he made of him beginning at the very childhood of the said Prince and verily the Emperour Nero was so greatly enamoured vpon one image of Alexander that hee commanded it to be gilded all ouer but afterwards seeing that the more cost was bestowed vpon it by laying on gold the lesse was the art seen of the first workman so that it lost all the beauty and grace that it had by that means he caused the gold to be taken off againe and verily the said image thus vngilded as it was seemed far more pretious than it was whilest it stood so enriched with gold notwithstanding all the hacks cuts gashes and rases all ouer the body wherein the gold did sticke remained still which in some sort might disfigure it Of this mans making was the statue of Hephaestion a great fauorit and minion of Alexander the Great and yet some ascribed this piece of worke vnto Polycletus whereas in truth he liued almost an hundred yeres before the said Hephaestion He counterfeited also Alexander the Great how hee rode a hunting with his hounds and all things belonging to the chace and this Worke of his resembling hunting was thought worthy to be consecrated in the temple of Apollo at Delphi At Athens he made a troupe of Satyrs As for Alexander himselfe with all his principall courtiers and friends about him he resembled in brasse most liuely All these pieces of his workmanship before rehearsed were transported to Rome by Metellus after the subduing and conquest of Macedonie Finally Coaches drawne with foure horses he made of many sorts and fashions all in brasse And in a word the art of founderie and imagerie was brought to far greater perfection by this Artificer as it was thought for hee expressed the very haires of the head as fine and small as Nature made them The heads to the images of his making were nothing so big in proportion to the rest of the body as they were in old time his images shewed not so great and corpulent but more lank slender and lean as wel to expresse the knitting of joints the ribs veins and sinues the better as to cause them also to seem the taller The Symmetrie which aboue all things hee obserued most precisely in all his workes is a terme that cannot properly bee expressed by a Latine word A new deuice he had that neuer before him any practised and that was to make his images of a quarry and square stature as the Antients before his time did for an ordinary speech it was of his That in times past men were made plain such as they were but he made them as they would seem to be Finally it seemeth that this singular gift he had aboue all others in all his workes to shew finenesse and subtiltie which hee obserued most curiously in the smallest things that passed vnder his hand When he died he left behind him three sonnes which also were his apprentises of whom Lahippus and Bedas were passing good Workemen and very well regarded but Euthycrates his third sonne ouerwent his brethren Although I must needs say That bee loued rather to follow his father in such Workes as carried some constancie and maiesty with them than any dainty gesture or curious elegancie wherein his father excelled and hee chose rather to employ his wit in expressing sad austere and graue personages than to beat his braine about pleasant and beautiful works to please and content the eie And therefore the portrait of Hercules which is to be seen at Delphos within the temple of Apollo he expressed most excellently The statue also of K. Alexander the great was of his making and is thought to be a rare piece of work the hunter Thespis was of his making a work highly esteemed like as the nine Muses also known by the name of Thesptades Hee represented also in brasse a skirmish on horsebacke representing that Turnois which was performed at the Oracle of Iupiter Throphonius likewise the coches of Queen Medea drawne with foure horses of which kinde he made many as also an horse with panniers and hunters hounds as if there were a cry of them He brought vp vnder him one Tisicrates who also was a Sicyonian but hee rather seemed to imitate Lysippus than his master Euthycrates in somuch as many pieces of his making could bee hardly discerned from those in the same kind which came out of Lysippus his hand as for example the image of an old man resembling in habit a Theban the portrait of K. Demetrius and of one Peucestes who saued the life of Alexander the Great in which regard he deserued well to be immortalised by so good a hand Moreouer diuers artificers there be who haue written great volumes of singular workmen in Imagery and they commend wonderfully one Telephanes a Phocean whose name otherwise had bin vnknown for that in Thessaly where he dwelt his works lay hidden neuer came to light for in regard of his skill and sufficiency by all their voices equal he was to Polycletus Myron and Pythagoras And to come vnto particulars
thought to be of an extraordinary bignes was brought as a present into the kings pallace and so sent into the kitchen where the cook found within the belly therof the foresaid ring of his lords masters Oh the subtiltie of slie Fortune who all this while twisted the cord that another day should hang Polycrates This stone as it is wel known was a Sardonyx if we may beleeue it the very same it is which at Rome is shewed in the temple of Concord where Augusta the Empresse dedicated it as an oblation enchased within a golden horne and verily if it be the same one of the least Sardonyches it is among many other there which be preferred before it Next to this stone of Polycrates there goeth a royall name of the gem which Pyrrhus K. of Albanie had him I mean who warred against the Romans for by report an Agath he had wherein a man might see the nine Muses and Apollo with his harpe liuely represented not by art and mans hand but euen naturally imprinted for the veins and streaks of the stone were so disposed that a man might distinguish euery one of the Muses asunder ech one distinguished by their seueral marks and ornaments Setting aside these two gems aboue-named we do not read in authors of any great reckoning made of such iewels vnlesse wee speake of one Ismenias a famous minstrell who had the name to weare many of them ordinarily about him and those very gay and glittering and surely his vanity that way was such that there goeth a notable tale of him for meeting vpon a time in a merchants hand with an Emeraud in the Island Cyprus wherin ladie Amymone was engrauen and wherof the price was at first held at six deniers in gold he made no more ado but caused the mony to be paid presently but the merchant being a man of some conscience and thinking indeed the price to high gaue two of them back again vnto Ismenias whereat being ill apaid I beshrew you qd he for this bating of the mony hath much empaired the worth of the stone This Ismenias as it is thought was the first who brought vp the order that all such musicians and minstrels as himselfe should be known by their gems and esteemed skilfull in that art according as they were set out therwith more or lesse And in very truth Dionysodorus a great minstrell who liued in those daies with him vsed likewise to be in his change and variety of pretious stones because he would not seeme any way to come behind Ismenias There was a third also as vaine as the best a musician in that age named Nicomachus who loued to haue a number of gems about him but no iudgement hee had in the world to chuse them These examples which offer themselues by fortune to me in the beginning of this my booke may serue to pull downe their plumes who stand so much vpon the vaine ostentation of these stones when they shal see how all the pride they take herein smelleth but of the vain humor of some odd minstrels But to return againe to Polycrates his gem at this day it is to be seen within the temple of Concord whole sound And not only in the time of Ismenias but also many yeres after it should seem that Emerauds were wont to be cut and engrauen This opinion also may be confirmed by the act edict of K. Alexander the Great which forbad expresly That no man should be so hardy as to engraue his image in pretious stone but Pyrgoteles who no doubt was simply the best in that art After him Apollonides and Cronius were of great fame principally one Dioscorides who counterfeited in stone the liuely forme of Augustus Caesar the which serued the Emperors his successors as a signet to seale withall Sylla Dictator was wont alwais to signe with a seale representing K. Iugurtha tied bound as he was yeelded to him We read in Chronicles also that a certaine Spaniard of Intercatia whose father Scipio Aemilianus slew in single fight vsed afterwards no other seale but that which represented this combat whereupon grew this merry conceit of Stilo Praeconinus who asked What this Spaniard would haue done if his father had killed Scipio Augustus late Emperour of worthy memory vsed at the beginning to seale with the image Sphinx vpon his signet and verily in the casket of his mothers jewels two of these he found so like one to the other that one could not be known and discerned from the other as he was wont to weare one of them about him whersoeuer he went so in his absence during the ciuile wars which he leuied against M. Antonius his friends who managed his affairs at Rome signed with the other Sphinx al those letters edicts which passed in his name for the performance of some demands which those times did require And from hence it came that those who receiued any such letters or edicts containing some matter of difficulty were wont pleasantly and merrily to say That the said Sphinx came euer with some hard riddle or other that could not be expounded Moreouer the frog wherwith Moecenas vsed to seale was alwaies terrible to those who receiued any letters signed therewith for euermore they were sure vpon the receit of it to make some paiment of impost or taxes leuied vpon them But Augustus Caesar to auoid the obloquie that arose by his Sphinx gaue ouer sealing therewith and signed euer after with the image of K. Alexander the Great As touching a cabinet or case for many rings and such jewels which they call by a sorreine Greeke name Dactyliotheca the first that euer was known to haue any such at Rome was Scaurus whose mother Sylla the Dictator married and for a long time there was no other besides vntill Pompeius the Great met with the jewel-casket of K. Mithridates which among many other rich oblations he presented in the Capitoll and by the relation of M. Varro and other approued authors of that time it was much preferred before that of Scaurus in imitation of whose example Caesar Dictator consecrated in the temple of Venus Genitrix six such like cabinets or caskets of rings and jewels and Marcellus sonne to Octauia dedicated one in the temple Palatine of Apollo Finally this is to be obserued that the said victorie of Pompeius which he atchieued ouer K. Mithridates set mens teeth at Rome a watering after pearls and precious stones like as the conquests obtained by L. Scipio and Cn. Manlius brought them into loue with siluer plate curiously enchased and imbossed also with rich hangings of cloth of gold siluer and tissue together with beds and tables of brasse euen as the brasen statues and vessels of Corinthian brasse and the curious painted tables came in request vpon the victorie that L. Mummius gained ouer Achaea CHAP. II. ¶ Of Iems and precious stones that Pompeius shewed in his triumph The nature of Crystall and the medicinable properties
shew otherwhiles of sparkles running to fro Enhydros is euermore absolutely smooth and white containing within a certain liquor that moueth too and fro if a man shake it as he may perceiue in egges Polytrix is a greene stone bedecked with fine veines in manner of the haire of ones head but by report it will make the haire to shed off as many as carry it about them Of a Lions skin Leontios beareth the name like as Pardalios of a Panther The golden color in the Topaze gaue it the name Chrysolith so the grasse green of a Leeke was occasion of the name Chrysoprasos and of hony was deuised the colour and name Melichrus although there be many kinds of it As for Melichloros it is of two colours partly yellow and partly resembling hony Crocias is yellow as Saffron and Polia sheweth a certaine greynesse in manner of Spart As for Spartopolios the blacke it sheweth like gtistly veins to the other but much harder Rhodites took name of the Rose Melites of the apple the colour wherof it shews Chalcites of brasse and Sycites of a fig. I see no proportion or reason at all between the stone Borsycites and that name this stone is blacke and branching and the leaues are whiâ—…e or red like bloud no more than I do in Gemites which representeth as it were engrauen in the stone white hands clasped one within another As for Ananchitis it is said That spirits may be raised by it in the skill of Hydromantie like as by Synochitis the ghosts which are raised may be kept aboue still What should I speake of the white Dendritis which if it be buried in the ground vnder a tree that is to be fallen the edge of the axe that heweth it will not turne or wax blunt There be a number of other and those in nature more prodigious than the rest for which the Barbarians haue deuised strange names professing to vs that they were stones indeed for mine owne part it shall suffice that I haue disproued their lies in these abouenamed CHAP. XII ¶ Of new stones and those naturall Of such as be counterfeit and artificiall Of diuers formes and shapes of gems THere grow still precious stones vnlooked for euery day that bee new and haue no names such as that in Lampsacus where one was found in the gold mines so faire and beautifull that it was thought a present worth sending to K. Alexander the Great as Theophrastus writeth As touching the stones Cochlides which now are most common they seeme rather artificial than natural and verily it is said That in Arabia there be found of them huge masses which are sodden in hony 7 daies and nights together continually by which means after that all the earthy and grosse refuse of this stone is taken away the stone it selfe remaineth pure and fine and then comming vnder the lapidaries hand they be diuided into sundry veines and reduced into drawne or inlaid worke of Marquetage as he will himselfe And herein is seen the cunning of the cutter for that it is so vendible euery mans mony In old time they were made of that bignesse that the KK of the East had their horses set out therewith not only in their front stals but also in the pendants of their caparisons And verily al other precious stones being decocted in hony look faire and neat with a pleasant lustre but principally the Corsicks which abhor all things els that are more eager than hony Moreouer this is to be noted that our lapidaries haue a tearme for those stones which are of diuers colors and they call them Physes as if they had not another vsuall name for them this they do in the subtilty of their wit to make them seem more wonderful by these strange words of art as if they would venditat them for their very wonders of Natures worke whereas indeed there be an infinit number of names deuised all by the vain Greeks who knew not how to make an end which I purpose not to rehearse and verily after I had discoursed of the noble and rich stones I contented my selfe in some sort to specifie those of a baser degree such I mean as were more rare than others to distinguish them that were most worthy to be treated of But this eft soons would be remembred that one the self-same stone changeth the name according to the sundry spots marks werts that arise in them according also to the manifold lines drawn in them the diuers veins running between and the variety of colors therein obserued It remains now to set downe some generall obseruations indifferent to all sorts of gems and that after the opinion of the best approoued and experienced authors in this kind Any stones that be either hollow sunk in or bearing out in bosse or belly be nothing so good as those which cary an euen and leuell table The long fashioned gems are most esteemed next to them such as be formed like to lintil seed after them those that be round in manner of a targuet and as for such as be made with many faces angled they be of al other least accounted of To discern a fine true stone from a false and counterfeit is very difficult forasmuch as there is an inuention io transform true gems into the counterfeit of another kind And in truth men haue deuised to make Sardonches by setting and glewing together the gems named Ceraunia that so artificially that it is vnpossible to see therein mans hand so handsomly are couched the black taken from this the white from that the vermilion red from another according as the richnes of the stone doth require all those in their kind most approued Moreouer there be in my hands certain books of authors extant whom I wil not nominate for all the good in the world wherein is deciphered the manner and means how to giue the tincture of an Emeraud to a Crystall how to sophisticat other transparent gems namely how to make a Sardonyx of a Cornalline in one word to transform one stone into another to say a truth there is not any fraud or deceit in the world turneth to greater gain and profit than this CHAP. XIII ¶ The way how to make proofe of fine precious stones LEt other writers teach how to deceiue the world by counterfeiting gems for mine own part I will take a contrary course and shew the means how to find out false stones that be thus sophisticat for surely wanton and prodigall though men and women bee in the excessiue wearing of these jewels yet meet it is they should be armed and instructed against such cousiners And albeit I haue already touched somwhat respectiuely as I treated of the chiefe principall gems yet I wil adde somwhat more to the rest first and formost therfore this is obserued That all stones which be transparent ought to haue their triall in a morning betimes or at the
light and settle vpon the very head of the fouler Also if he chance to approch the nest of the brood-hen she will run forth and be about his feet she wil counterfeit that she is very heauy and cannot scarse go that she is weake and enfeeblished and either in her running or short flight that she taketh she wil catch a fall and make semblance as if she had broken a leg or a wing then will she run out againe another way and when he is ready to take her vp yet will she shift away and escape and so put him besides his hope And all this doth shee to amuse the Fouler after her vntill she haue trained him a contrary way from the couey Now by that time that shee is past that feare and freed of the motherly care she had of her yong ones then will she get into the furrow of some land lie along on her back catch a clot of earth vp with her feet and therewith hide her whole body and so saue both her selfe and her couey To conclude Partridges by report liue 16 yeres CHAP. XXXIV ¶ Of House-doues NExt after Partridges the nature of Doues would be considered since that they haue in a manner the same qualities in that respect howbeit they be passing chaste and neither male nor female change their mate but keep together one true vnto the other They liue I say as coupled by the bond of mariage neuer play they false one by the other but keep home still and neuer visit the holes of others They abandon not their owne nests vnlesse they bee in state of single life or widdow head by the death of their fellow The females are very meek and patient they wil indure and abide their emperious males notwithstanding otherwhiles they be very churlish vnto them offering them wrong and hard measure so jealous be they of the hens and suspicious though without any cause and occasion giuen for passing chaste and continent by nature they are Then shall ye heare the cocks grumble in the throat quarrell and complain and all to rate the hens then shall ye see them peck and job at them cruelly with their beakes and yet soone after by way of satisfaction and to make amends again for their curst vsage they will fall to billing and kissing them louingly they will make court vnto them and wooe them kindly they will turne round about many times together by way of flatterie and as it were by praiers seeke vnto them for their loue As well the male as the female be careful of their yong pigeons and loue them alike nay ye shall haue the cocke oftentimes to rebuke yea chastise the hen if she keep not the nest well or hauing bin abroad for comming no sooner home againe to her yong And yet kind they be to them when they are about to build lay and sit A man shall see how ready they be to helpe to comfort and minister vnto them in this case So soon as the egs be hatched ye shall see them at the very first spit into the mouths of the yong pigeons salt brackish earth which they haue gathered in their throat thereby to prepare their appetite to meat and to season their stomacks against the time that they should eat Doues and Turtles haue this property in their drinking not to hold vp their bils between-whiles and draw their necks backe but to take a large draught at once as horses and kine do CHAP. XXXV ¶ Of Stockedoues SOme authors we haue who affirme that Stockdoues liue ordinarily 30 yeres and some vntill they be 40 yeares old In which time they find no infirmitie nor discommodity at all but only this That their clawes be ouergrowne which is a signe of their age howbeit they may be pared without danger They haue all of them one and the same manner of tune in their singing and commonly they make three rests in their song besides the fa-burden in the end which is a kind of grone All winter they be silent in spring they are loud enough the woods resound with them Nigidius is of opinion that if a man call vnto a Stockdoue within-house as she is sitting vpon her egs she will leaue her nest and come at the call They doe lay after Midsommer These doâ—…es and Turtles liue eight yeres CHAP. XXXVI ¶ Of Sparrowes COntrariwise the Sparrow is but short liued howbeit as lecherous as the best The cocke Sparrow by report liueth but one yeare the reason why men so thinke is because in the spring there is not one of them found with a blacke bill and yet in summer before it began to be blacke The hens liue somwhat longer But to come againe to Doues it is generally held that they haue a certaine sense and feeling of glory and a man would verily thinke that they haue a knowledge of their gay feathers and how they are changeably coloured as a man looketh vpon them as they stand Moreouer they seem to take a pride in their flying whiles they keep a clapping of their wings and cutting of the aire euery way as if they had a pleasure to be flying abroad In which brauerie of theirs whiles they flap with their wings and keepe a glorious noise which cannot be without the beating of their very pinions together they are exposed to the Faulcon and other hauks as prisoners fast bound and tied for otherwise if they would flie at liberty and ease without keeping such ado with their clapping they were much more swift of wing than the very hawks that prey vpon them But the hawke like a very theefe lieth hidden among the boughes and branches of trees marketh the Doue how he fetcheth his flight and taketh his pleasure in the aire and when he seeth his time in all this glory of his and the mids of his brauery seizeth vpon him and carieth him away CHAP. XXXVII ¶ Of the Kestrell TO preuent this danger therefore the Doues need to haue with them the bird which is called Tinnunculus i. a Kestrill or Stannell for she defendeth them and by a certaine naturall power that she hath skareth and terrifieth all other haukes insomuch as they cannot abide either to see her or to heare her cry Wherupon Doues aboue all others loue these birds And as men say pigeons wil not leaue their own douecoat to flie to another if in the foure corners thereof there be enterred foure Kestrils aboue said in foure new earthen pots well nealed and neuer vsed before But others haue vsed means to keep pigeons in their doue house for otherwise they be birds that loue to be ranging and wandring abroad namely by slitting and cutting the ioints of their wings with some thin sharp piece of gold for if you do not so their wounds will fester and be dangerous And in very truth these birds be soon seduced and trained away from their owne homes and they haue a cast with them to flatter and entise one another they
take a great delight to inueagle others and to steale away some pigeons from 〈◊〉 owne flocks and euermore to come home better accompanied than they went forth Moreouer Doues haue serued for posts and courriers between and bin imploied in great affairs and namely at the siege of Modenna Decimus Brutus sent out of the town letters tyed â—…o their feet as far as to the camp where the Consuls lay and thereby acquainted them with newes and in what estate they were within What good then did the rampier and trench which Antonius cast before the towne To what purpose serued the streight siege the narrow watch and ward that he kept wherefore serued the riuer Po betweene where all passages are stopped vp as it were with net and toile so long as Brutus had his posts to flie in the aire ouer all their heads To be short many men are growne now to cast a speciall affection and loue to these birds they build Turrets aboue the tops of their houses for doue-coats Nay they are come to this passe that they can reckon vp their pedigree and race yea they can tel the very places from whence this or that pigeon first came And indeed one old example they follow of L. Axius a Gentleman somtiâ—…e of Rome who before the ciuill war with Pompey sold euery paire of pigeons for 400 deniâ—…s as M. Varro doth report True it is that there goeth a great name of certaine countries where some of these pigeons are bred for Campanie is voiced to yeeld the greatest and fairest bodied of all other places To conclude their manner of flying induceth and traineth me to thinke and write of the flight of other soules CHAP. XXXVIII ¶ Of the gate and flight of birds ALl other liuing creatures haue one certaine manner of marching and going according to their seuerall kind vnto which they keep and alter not Birds only vary their course whether they go vpon the ground or flie in the aire Some walke their stations as Crowes and Choughs others hop and skip as Sparrows and Ousels some run as Partridges Woodcocks and Snites others again cast out their feet before them staulk and jet as they go as Storks and cranes now for flying some spread their wings abroad stirring or shaking them but now then hanging and houering with them all the while as Kites others again ply them as fast but the ends only of their wings or the vtmost feathers are seen to moue as the Chaffinch Yee shall haue some birds to stretch out their whole wings sides mouing them as they flie as Rauens and others a man shal see in their flight to keep them in for the most part close as the Woodpeckers Some of them are known to giue one or two claps with their wings at first and then glide smoothly away as if they were carried and born vp with the aire as Linnets and others are seen as if they kept stil the aire within their wings to shoot vp aloft mount on high to flie streight forward to fal down again flat as Swallows Ye would think and say that some were hurled out of a mans hand with violence as the Partridge and others again to fal down plumbe from on high as Larks or els to leap jump as the Quailes Ducks Mallards and such like spring presently from the ground vp aloft and suddenly mount vp into the skie euen out of the very water which is the cause that if any chance to fall into those pits wherein wee take wild beasts they alone wil make good shift to get forth and escape The Geirs or Vulturs and for the most part all weightie and heauy foules cannot take their flight flie vnlesse they fetch their run and biere before or els rise from some steepe place with the vantage And such are directed in the aire by their tails Some looke about them euery way others bend and turne their necks in flying and some fly with their prey within their talons eat it as they fly Most birds cry and sing as they flie yet some there be contrariwise that in their flight are euer silent In one word some flying carry their brests and bellies halfe vpright others again beare them as much downward Some flie side-long and bias others directly forward and follow their bills and last of all there be that bend backward as they flie or els bolt vpright In such sort that if a man saw them all together he would take them not to be one kind of creature so diuers different are they in their motions CHAP. XXXIX ¶ Of Martinets MArtinets which the Greeks call Apodes because they haue little or no vse of their feet and others Cypseli are very good of wing and flie most of all others without rest And in very truth a kind of Swallows they be They build in rocks stony cliffes And these be they and no other that are seen euermore in the sea for be the ships neuer so remote from the land saile they neuer so fast and far off ye shall haue these Martinets alwaies flying about them All kinds els of Swallowes and other birds do somtime light settle and perch these neuer rest but when they be in their nest For either they seem to hang or els lie along and a number of shifts and deuises by themselues they haue besides and namely when they feed CHAP. XL. ¶ Of the bird Caprimulgus and the Shouelar THe Caprimulgi so called of milking goats are like the bigger kind of Owsels They bee night-theeues for all the day long they see not Their manner is to come into the sheepheards coats and goat-pens and to the goats vdders presently they go and suck the milke at their teats And looke what vdder is so milked it giueth no more milke but misliketh and falleth away afterwards and the goats become blind withall There be other birds named Plateae i. Shouelars Their manner is to flie at those foule that vse to diue vnder the water for fish and so long will they peck and bite them by the heads vntil they let go their hold of the fish they haue gotten and so they wring it perforce from them This bird when his belly is â—…ull of shell fishes that he hath greedily deuou red and hath by the naturall heat of his craw and gorge in some sort concocted them casteth vp all vp again and at leasure picketh out the meat and eateth it again leauing the shels behind CHAP. XLI ¶ The uaturall wit of some birds THe Hens of country houses haue a certaine ceremonious religion When they haue laied an egge they fall a trembling quaking and all to shake themselues They turne about also as in procession to be purified with some festue or such like thing they keep a ceremonie of hallowing as well themselues as their egs CHAP. XLII ¶ Of the Linnet Poppinjay or Parrat and other birds that can speake THe Linnets be in manner the
city side but amongst the rest this of Palaemons in that place was esteemed most cheap and lowest prised in this regard especially That he had purchased those lands which through the carelesnesse bad husbandry of the former owners lay neglected and fore-let were not of themselues thought to be of the best soile chosen and piked from among the worst But being entred once vpon those grounds as his owne liuelode and possession he set in hand to husband and manure them not so much of any good mind and affection that he had to improue and better any thing that he held but vpon a vaine glory of his own at the first whereunto he was wonderously giuen for he makes fallows of his vine-plots anew and delueth them all ouer again as he had seen Sthenelus to do with his before but what with digging stirring and medling therewith following the good example and husbandry of Sthenelus hee brought his vineyards to so good a passe within one eight yeares that the fruit of one yeares vintage was held at 400000 Sesterces and yeelded so much rent to the lord a wonderfull and miraculous thing that a ground should be so much improoued in so small a time And in very truth it was strange to see what numbers of people would run thither onely to see the huge and mighty heaps of grapes gathered in those vineyards of his and ill idle neighbors about him whose grounds yeelded no such increase attributed all to his deepe learning and that he went to it by his book had some hidden speculation aboue other men obiecting against him that he practised Art Magicke and the blacke Science But last of all Annaeas Seneca esteemed in those daies a singular clerke and a mighty great man whose ouermuch Learning and exceeding power cost him his ouerthrowing in the end one who had good skill and judgement in the world and vsed least of all others to esteeme toies and vanities brought this ferm into a greater name and credit for so far in loue was he of this possession that hee bought out Palaemon and was not ashamed to let him go away with the pricke and praise for good husbandry and to remoue him into other parts where he might shew the like cunning and in one word paid for these foresaid vineyards of his fourfold as much as they cost not aboue ten yeres before this good husbandry was bestowed vpon them Certes great pity it is that the like industry was not shewed and imploied in the territories about the hils Cecubus Setinus where no doubt it would haue well quit all the cost considering that many a time afterwards euery acre of vineyard there yeelded seuen Culei that is to say 140 Amphores of new wine one yere with another But lest any man should thinke that wee in these daies haue surpassed our ancestors in diligence as touching good husbandrie know he that the aboue named Cato hath left in writing How of an acre of vineyard there hath arisen ordinarily ten Culei of wine by the yeare Certainly these be effectuall examples and pregnant proofes that the hardy and aduenturous voiages by sea are not more aduantageous ne yet the commodities and merchandise and namely Pearls which be fet as far as the red sea and the Indian Ocean are more gainefull to the merchant than a good ferm and homestall in the countrey well tilled and carefully husbanded As touching the wines in old time Homer writes that the Maronean wine made of the grapes growing vpon the sea coasts of Africk was the best most excellent in his daies But my meaning is not to ground vpon fabulous tales variable reports as touching the excellency or antiquitie of wine True it is that Aristaeus was the first who in that very nation mingled honey with wine which must needs be a passing sweet and pleasant liquor made of two natures so singular as they be of themselues And yet to come againe to the foresaid Maronean wine the same Homer saith That to one part therof there would be but 20 parts of water and euen at this day that kind of wine continues in the said land of the same force and the strength thereof will not be conquered nor allaied For Mutianus who had bin thrice consul of Rome one of those that latest wrote of this matter found by experience being himselfe personally in that tract that euery sextar or quart of that wine would beare 8 of water who reports moreouer that the wine is of colour blacke of a fragrant sweet smell and by age comes to be fat and vnctious Moreouer the Pramnian wine which the same Homer hath so highly commended continueth yet in credit and holds the name still it comes from a vineyard in the countrey about Smyrna neere to the temple of Cybele the mother of the gods As for other wines no one kind apart excelled other One yere there was when all wines proued passing good to wit when L. Opimius was Consul at what time as C. Gracchus a Tribune of the Commons practising to sow sedition within the city among the common people was slaine for then such seasonable weather happened and so fauorable for ill fruit that they called it Coctura as a man would say the ripening time so beneficiall was the Sun to the earth and this fell out in the yere after the natiuity and foundation of the city of Rome 634. Moreouer there be some wines so durable that they haue beene knowne to last two hundred yeares and are come now by this time to the qualitie and consistence of a rough sharpe and austere kind of hony and this is the nature of all when they bee old neither are they potable alone by themselues vnlesse the water be predominant so tart they are of the lees and so musty withall that they are bitter againe Howbeit a certaine mixture there is of them in a very small quantity with other wines that giues a prety commendable tast vnto them Suppose now that according to the price of wine in those daies of Opimius euery Amphore were set but at an hundred Sesterces yet after the vsurie of six in the hundred yearly which is the ordinary proportion and a reasonable interest among citizens for the principall that lieth dead and dormant in stock by the hundred and sixtieth yere after the said Amphor was bought which fell out in the time that C. Caligula Caesar the son of Germanicus was Emperor no maruell if an ounce in measure of the same wine to wit the twelfth part of a Sextarius cost so many Sesterces for as we haue shewed by a notable example when we did set downe the life of Pomponius Secundus the Poet and the feast that he made to the sayd Prince Caligula there was not a Cyathus of that wine drawne but so much was paied for it Loe what a deale of mony lieth in these wine-cellars for keeping of wine And in very truth there is nothing
so late of growth were those trees in his time and so slowly came they forward But now adaies they come vp of kernels and stones set in plots of ground for the purpose and being transplanted againe they beare Oliues the second yeare after Fabianus saith That Oliues loue not to grow either in the coldest or the hottest grounds Virgill hath set downe 3 kind of Oliues to wit Orchitae i. the great round Oliues Radij i. the long Oliues and those which are called Pausiae He saith moreouer That the Oliue trees require no tending or dressing at all and need neither the hooke to be pruned nor the rake and harrow to be moulded ne yet the spade to be digged about Doubtlesse the goodnesse of the soile and the temperature of the climat especially are very requisit and much materiall alone without farther helpe howbeit they vse to be cut and pruned yea they loue also to be scraped polished and clensed between where the branches grow ouer-thicke euen as well as vines and at the same season The time of gathering Oliues ensueth presently vpon the vintage of grapes but greater industry and skil is required to the making and tempering of good oile than about new wine for ye shall haue one and the self same kind of oliue to yeeld a different juice and diuers oiles first and formost of the greene oliue and altogether vnripe there is drawne the Oile oliue which hath of all other the best verdure and in tast excelleth the rest and of this oile the first running that commeth from the presse is most commended and so by degrees better or worse as the oile is drawn before or after out of the presse or according to a late inuention by treading them with mens feet in little panniers and vpon hardles made of small and fine oziers This is a rule The riper that the oliue is the fatter will the oile be and more plentifull but nothing so pleasant in tast And therefore the best season to gather Oliues both for goodnesse and abundance of oile is when they begin to shew black And such halfe-ripe Oliues we in Latine call Drupae and the Greekes Drypetae To conclude it skilleth very much whether the berries be ripe vpon the tree or mellow within their presse also whether the tree be watered that is to say the oliues hanging thereupon be drenched and refreshed with sprinkling water or haue no other moisture than their owne and that which they receiue by dews and raine from heauen CHAP. II. ¶ Of Oyle OIle-Oliue commeth to haue a rank and vnpleasant tast if it be old kept and stale contrary to the nature of wine which is the better for age And the longest time that oile will continue good is but one yere Wherein surely if a man would well consider he may obserue the great prouidence of Nature For seeing that wines are made to seruefor intemperance and drunkennesse there is not that necessitie to drinke much thereof and to spend them out of hand and more than so the daintie tast that they haue when they be stale induceth men to lay them vp and keep them long But contrariwise she would not haue vs make such spare of oile and therefore by reason of the generall vse and need thereof she hath made it vulgar and common to all As touching this benefit and gift of Nature bestowed vpon mankind Italy of all other nations in the world carrieth the name for the goodnesse thereof but principally the territory or county of Venafrum and namely that quarter lying toward Licinia which yeelds the oile called Licinianum wherupon there be no oliues comparable to them of Licinia both for to serue the perfumers in regard of the pleasant smel which that oile doth giue so appropriat vnto their ointments as also to furnish the kitchin and the table as they say that be fine-toothed haue a delicate taste which is the cause I say that this oile carrieth the only name And yet these oliues of Licinia haue this priuiledge besides that birds loue not to come neere them Next to these Licinian oliues the question is between them of Istria Baetica whether of them should go away with the price for their goodnesse and hard it is to say which is the better of the two A third degree there is vnder these twoaboue named namely of the Oliues that come from all other prouinces setting aside the fertile soile of that tract in Africke which yeeldeth so great increase of corn For it should seeme that Nature hath set it apart for graine onely seeing it so fruitfull that way and hath not so much enuied it the benefit of wine and oile which she hath denied those parts as thought it sufficient that they might glory and haue the name for their haruests As for other points belonging to oliues men haue erred and bin deceiued very much neither is there in any part concerning our life to be found more confusion than is therein as we will shew and declare hereafter CHAP. III. ¶ The nature of the Oliue berries also of yong Oliue Plants THis fruit called the Oliue consists of a stone or kernell of oile a fleshy substance and the lees or dregs now by these lees called in Latine Amurca I mean the bitter liquor of the grounds that the oile yeelds It comes of abundance of water and therefore as in time of drought there is least thereof so in a rainy and watery constitution you shall haue store and plenty As for the proper juice of the oliue it is their oile and the chiefe is that which comes of those that are vnripe like as we haue shewed before when we treated of Ompharium or the Oliue verjuice This oilie substance doth increase and augment within the Oliue vntill the rising of the star Arcturus to wit 16 daies before the Calends of October after which time their stones and carnous matter about them do rather thriue But marke when there followes a glut of raine and wet weather presently vpon a dry season the oile in them doth corrupt and turn all well neare into the lees aboue said which may easily be perceiued by the colour for it causeth the Oliue berrie to looke blacke And therefore when this blacknesse begins to appeare it is a sign that they haue somwhat although very little of the lees but before that they had non at all And herein men are foulely dceiued taking this marke for the beginning of their ripenesse which blacke hew indeed is a signe of their corruption and betokens that then they are in the way to be stark naught They erre also in this that they suppose an Oliue the more grown it is in carnositie to be the fuller of oile whereas in very truth all the good juice â—…n them is converted then into the grosse and corpulent substance thereof and thereby also the stone and kernell come to be big and massie which is the cause that they had need of watering at that
time most of all Which being done by great paine and labour of man or happening through raine and plenty of showers vnlesse there insue a drie season faire weather to extenuate that grosse substance into which the Oliue had turned the foresaid iuice and humor all the oile is consumed and lost For it is heat nothing els as Theophrastus saith which ingendreth oile therfore both about the presse at first also in the very garners where Oliues be laid after they vse to keep good fires by that means to draw the more oile forth A third default there is in oile and that comes of two much sparing and niggardise for some men there are who being loth to be at cost to pluck and gather Oliues from the tree wait still and looke that they should fal of themselues And such folke as would seeme yet to keepe a meane herein namely to take some paines and be at a little cost beat and pell them downe with perches and poles whereby they do offer wrong to the poore trees â—…ea and hinder themselues not a little the yeare following when they shall find how much it is out of their way thus to break their boughes and branches Whereupon the law in old time prouided well for this inconuenience by an expresse inhibition to all gatherers of Oliues in these words No man so hardie as to breake strike and beat the Oliue tree But they that go most warily and gentlâ—… to worke stand vnder the tree and with some canes shake the boughes and branches therewith or lightly smite them but in no case let driue and lay at them either with full down-right or crosse-blowes And yet as heedfull as they be in so doing this good they get by striking and knapping off the young shootes and sprigs which should beare the next yeare that they haue the trees carry fruit but once in two yeares for it The like hapneth also if a man stay till they fall of themselues for by sticking on the tree beyond their due time they rob the oliues to come after of all their nutriment wherewith they should be fed and detaine the place likewise where they should come forth and grow An euident proofe hereof is this That oliues vnlesse they be gathered before the ordinary yearely western winds do blow they gather heart again vpon the tree wil not so easily fall as before Men vse therefore to gather the Pausian Oliues first after Autumne which are fullest of carnosity not so much by nature as by misgouernement and disorder soone after the round Orchitae which haue plenty of oile then the oliues Radij and these forasmuch as they be most tender and soonest ouercome with abundance of the lees which we called before Amurca are therby forced to fal Howbeit such oliues as be thick skinned and hard tough also and admitting no wet rain by which means they are the least of all others wil abide on the tree til March and namely the Licinian Oliues the Cominian Contian Sergian which the Sabins eal roial all which change not colour look black before the foresaid Western wind blowes that is about the 6 day before the Ides of February for by that time folk think they begin to ripen Now for as much as the best most approued oile is made of them it seems that reason also being conformable to this defect of theirs justifies aproues the same in the end And this is commonly receiued and held among them that cold winters breed scarcity and dearth but ful maturity brings plenty namely when they haue leisure to ripen on the tree howbeit this goodnes is not occasioned by the time but by the nature rather of those kind of oliues which be long ere they turn into the foresaid dregs Amurca Men are also as much deceiued in this that when Oliues be gathered they keep them vpon borded floors in sellars and garners will not presse them before they haue swet whereas in truth the longer they lie the lesse oile they yeeld the more dregs of lees For by this means the ordinary proportion they say is to presse out of euery Modius of Oliues not aboue 6 pound of oile But no man makes any reckoning of the lees howmuch it increases in measure day by day in one the very same kind of Oliues the longer that they be kept ere they be pressed In one word it is a common error setled euery where that men do think the abundance of oile is to be esteemed according to the bignes of the oliues considering that the plenty of oile consists not in the greatnes of the fruit as may appeare by those that of some are called Roiall of others Majorinae and Phauliae which euery man knoweth are the biggest and fairest Oliues to see to yet otherwise haue least oile in them of any others Likewise in Aegypt the oliues are most fleshie ful of pulp howbeit least oleous As for the country Decapolis of Syria the oliues indeed be very smal there no bigger than Capers yet commended they are for their carnosity And for that cause the oliues from the parts beyond sea are preferred before the Italian for goodnesse of meat and as better to be eaten yet those of Italy yeeld more oile And euen within Italy the Picene and Sidicine oliues surpasse the rest For in truth these are first confected and seasoned with salt or els as all others prepared condite either with lees of oile or wine cuit Some oliues there be which they suffer to swim alone as they be in their owne oile without any help and addition of other things and such be called Colymbades And the same they vse otherwhiles to bruise and cleanse from their stones and then confect them with green herbs which haue some pleasant commendable taste Others there are which being otherwise very green and vnripe are presently brought to maturity and made mellow by lying infused and soking in hot scalding water And a wonder it is to see how Oliues wil drink in a sweet liquor and how by that means they may be made toothsome yea and to carry the tast of any thing that a man would haue them Among oliues there be also that are of colour purple like to those grapes which change colour when they begin to ripen Moreouer besides the aboue named sorts of oliues there be some named Superbae i. proud Also there are Oliues to be found which being dried by themselues onely are passing sweet yea and more delicate than raisins mary these are very geason and yet such are in Africke and about the city Emerita in Portugall As touching the very oile it self the way to preserue it from being ouerfat and thick is with salt If the barke of an Oliue tree be slit and cut it will receiue the rellice and smell of any medicinable spice and the oile thereof wil seem aromatized otherwise pleasant in tast it