Section 36

as
as rhe Wallnut doth. The elder the Maft is, the more Oyl it yields, and the Lees of the Oyl is excellent to fa- Oxen and Hogs. They arc foon gathered, cleanfed, bruited and prefled : We prefled alio
Oyl (rem the baftard Sycamore,
*s they call it; fork is abundant in feed, and in winter the boughs of it are feen loaded with feed onely. In February we colle£ted it and crumbled it , tht fheilis broken into fix or feven parts, the kernels are like a Pear, the are braifed and heat- ed in a pan, then put into a prefs, and they yield their Oyl : They make clear light in lamps, and the feed yields a fourth part of Oyl. There is drawn
Oyl out of the Sanguine -Tree
for lights. About the middle of September the ripe berries arc taken forth of the cinders, let them drv a few days, bruife them, and let them boyl in water in a bra!? kettle for one hour, then put them into the prefs, you (hall have green colour- ed Ovl , about a ieventh part of the feed. The Mountainous people ufc it. There is prtffed
Oyl out of the Grapes or Ra/ftns, The Greek' call'd thefe Gigarta: Cifalpma Gallia makes oyl of them, bruifed, hear> and prefled in a prefs, but it is very little fit for lights , becaufc it burns exceeding clcer. There is much in Egypt
OylofRadifh-fced
made: they ufc it to feafon their meats, and boil it with them. BatCifalpinaGaBid preff.rrh Ovl our of Radifti-fced, and Rape-feed : Rapes are polled up onely in 2v(tf- vemh r hut they are covered with land together with their leaves. They are plan- ten in Marchythn they may feed in LMay, For unlefs they be pulled up, they freeze with winter cold. But thf re is another kind of Rape that is fowedin July ; it is w.-eled, it comes forth in the fpring , in May it yields feed: out of a quarter of a bufhel of ir, eighteen pounds of Oyl are drawn; it is good for liehts, and for com- mon people to eat. If you fow a whole Acre with this feed , you fh#ll have five load of feed, and of every load you may make two hundred pounds of Oyl : it is onely plow'd and weeded. Alfo
Oyl U made of the feed ofCameline.
It is imde for lights, but thofe of Lombardy make great plenty of a golden-coloured Oy] of a feed liketothisP called Dradella. It hath plaired leaves as wild Rochet, which they fowe amongft Pulfe. The fame may be laid of the feeds of Nettles, Mu> ftard, Flax, Rice.
Ch a p. XXV. How a Honjholder m*y provide himfelf with many forts of thread,
NOw fhall I fpeak of many forts of Yarn, becaufe this may much help the Houfe- hold, for the Houfwife hath always need thereof. Our Ancestors ufed ricmp and Flax ; for thus they made
Tarn of flax:
yet there needs no example , the Thread is fo common. I will fpeak of thofe that follow, and of other inventions. Pliny. Flax U known to be ripe two ways , when the feed fmells, or looks yellow j then it is pulled up and hound m handfuls, and dried in the Sun, letting it barg with the roots upwards for one day : Then five of thefe bundles ftanding with their tops one againft another, that the feed may fall in the middle* Then after Whcat-harve^
t 2 the
i$6 Natural Magick. *Boof{\.
the branches arc laid in the water that is warm with the Sun , they are kept down by fome weight and foaked there , and again, as before, turn'd up-fide down .hey are dried in the Sun. Then being dried, they are bruifed on wub a flax-hammer ; that which was next the rind is cail'd hard, or the worft flax,and it is fit for co make weiks for Candles, yet that is kemmed wkhhackes, till ^il the membrans be piled clean. The art of kembing and making of it, is, out of fifty pound of Fiax- bundles, to make fifteen pound of Flax. Thenagainit is polifhed in Thread, ic is often beat upon a hard ftone with water , and when it is woven it is bruifed again with Beetles, and the more you beat it,the better it is. Alfo there h made
Thread of Hemp^
Hemp is excellent for ropes. Hemp is plucked up after the Vintage , but it is clean- fed and pill'd with great labour. There are three forts of it, that next the rinoris the worft, and that next the pith, the middlemoft is the beft, which is called Mefa : Another
To make Thread of Broom^
It is broken and pull'd from the Ides of May , until the Ides in June, this is the time when it is ripe. When it is pull'd, the bundles are fet in heaps for two days to take the wind; on the third day it is opened and fpread in the Sun,and is dried, and then again it is brought into thehoufein bundles. Afterwards it is well fleep'd in lea- water, or other water where that is wanting. Then being dried in the Sun again, it is watered; if we have prefently need of it , if it be wet with hot water in a veffel, it will be the fhorter way. But it muft be heat to make it good , for the frefh nor fea-water cannot foften it enough. Ropes of Hemp arc preferred when they arc dry, but Broom is preferved wet, to make good the drynefs of the g round it grows on. The upper part of Egypt toward Arabia>mikcs linnen of Gotten. ARa makes Flax of Spanifh Broom , efpecially for Fifhers nets to laft long ; rhe Shrub muft be foaked for ten days. And (o every Countrey hath its Thread made of divers Plants and Shrubs. We know that there is made
Thread of Nettles^
amongft the Northern people, and it is very fine and white: alfo there is made
Thread of Aloes intAmerica^ it is hard, white, and moft perfect. I fhall defcribe it by their relation, becaufe the extream parts are full of prickles , we ftrike them off that they may not hinder us, and we cut the branches into long pieces long ways, that the fubftance under the rind may be the better taken away ; then two Poles of wood are fartned in the earth, eroding one the other in the middle likeacrofs; thefe are held fatt with the left hand, to make them hold faft together, and with the right the forefaid pieces or fillets are taken by one end and drawn over the crofs , that the inward part may part from the wooddy part , and the Flax from the fubftance, and then they are kembed fo often, till they become white , pure, nervous, as Fiddle or Harp-ftrings, then are they waftied, dried , and laid up. In thirteen years after that it is planted, the leaves grow very long even twenty foot , theftalk rifeth in the middle forty foot long, then the top is adorned with flowers and bears fruit : I faw this at Rome, and I never remember that I faw any thing more beautiful. I fhall now fpeakof Flax call*d Asbeftinum. Pliny faith there is Flax alfo found, That fire will not confume ; they call it live-Flax, and I have feen Napkins and Table-clothes burning in the fire, acF^afts, and they were better cleanfed of filth with the fire, then they could be by water : Wherefore of this they made Coats for Kings funerals, to keep the afhes of the Body from other afhes. h grows in India in the defarts and fcorched places with the Sun, where no rain falls j but there are terrible creatures and lerpents, andthis is pceferved by burning ; it is hard to be found , and difficult to wear, becaufe it is fo fliort : when it is found it is as dear as the moft precious Pearls. The Greeks call ic Asbeftinum from the nature of it , So faith ?//»/, out of which words it is plain thac
Ofincreafing Houfhold- fluff e. i^J
he kn?w nor the Scone Asbcftinum, when he iaid that it was hardto Fnd, and dif- ficult to wear tor tlx fhormefs of it , for it is kembed and fpun by eierv w rh,tr al- rnnft , it rti he r ot ignorant of it , as I faw at Venice , a woman of Cy ^ru and another or "Valemia. that fhzwed me it in great abundance in the ArTenal or Hof- pital. It is an excellent fecret, very rare and profitable, though few knew it of our times: but I have freely communicated it, though it cannot be had,but at great rates;,
Chap. XXVI. To hatch Eggs with em a Hem
NOw (nail I fhew how without a Hen , Eggs of Hens and other Birds may be hatcht in iummer or winter, fo that if any lick people defire to eat Chickens t en , they may have them. Birds Eggs are hatched with heat , either of the iame Bird or of others , as the heat of man , of the Sun, or fire ; for I have feen Htcus fit on Geele, Ducks, and Peacocks Eggs, and Pigeons fit on Hen Eggs, and aCuc- kow to fit upon any of them. And I have feen women to folter and hatch Eggs be- tween their brefts in their bofoms , and uDder their arm-pits. LtvtA Augttfia when fn? was young and great with childe of Nero, by Cajar 1'ibcritu , became fhe carnelt- ly defired i o bring firft a boy . fhe made ufe of this Omen to try ic by, for fhe fofter- ci an Egse in her bofom , and when fhe mail lay it afide , fhe put it inro her nurfes bofom, that the heat mi^ht not abate, Tlinj. But Ariftotle faith that Birds Eggs, and Eeg> cf forefooted B-alts are ripened by the incubation of the dam ; for all thefe la in the euth , and their Eggs are hatched by the warmth of the eartbc For if fore oo ed B. aft- that lay Eg^s came often where they are, that is more to preferve and keep th=m then otherwife. And again, Eggs are hatcht by fitting. It is Na- tures way, but Eggs are not onely fo hatched, but of their own accord in the earth, as in Ejjypt covered with dung they will bring Chickens. Diodortu SicnlmdeEgy^tiU, Some are found nut by man? industry, by thofe that keep Birds and Geefe ; befides, the ways that others have to produce them, that they may have Birds that are ftrange, and -jrear numbers of them : for Birds do not fit upon their Eggs , but they by their kill hatch the Eggs themfelves. At Syracufe a certain drunken compani- on pu E -g- under the earrh in mats,and he would not leave off drinking till the Eggs were hatcht. In Egypt about grand Cayro , E^gs are artificially hatcht ; they make an Oven with many holes, into which they put Eggs of divers kinds, as Goofe e°gs, Hen Eggs, and of other Birds ; they cover the Oven with hot dung, and if need be they make a fire round abnut it , fo are the Eggs hatcht at their due rimes. Tanlm Jovtwin his Book of his Hittories. In Egypt there is abundance of Hen Chickens : For Hens do not there fit on their Eggs, but they are hatenr. in Ovens by a gentle heat , that by a an admirable and compendious art , Chickens are hatcht in very few days and bred up , which they fell not by tale, but by meafure. They make the mealure without a bottom, and when it is full they take it away . And in the I fland of Malta in Sicily, they make an Oven , where into they put Eggs of divers Fowls, as of Hens, Geefe, then they make a fire roundabout, and the Eggs grew ripe at times. But let us fee how our Ancellors hatched their Eggs, Democritm teacheth
If a Hen do not fih how fhe may have many Chickens,
The day you fet your Hen upon Eggs, take Hens dung , pound ic and fift it, and put it into a hollow veffel with a great belly , lay Hens feathers round abour. Then lay your Fs°s upright in it , fo that the fharp end may be uppcrmoft ; and then of the fame dung, fprinkle fo much on them till the Eggs be covered. But when your Eggs have lain lb covered for two or three days, turn them afterwards every day, let not one touch the other , that they m*v heat alike. But after the twenty day when the Chickens begin to be hatcht, you fhall find thofe that are in the bottom to be crackt round, for this reafonyou muft write down the day they were fet, left you mi- ftake the time : Wherefore on the twentieth day, taking of the (hell , put the Giic* kena into a pen and be tender of them. Bring a Hen to them which is beft to order
158 Natural Magick. Hqo^.
vet I tried this moft diligently, and k took noerTec}, nor can I tell hcwitfliould be done. They that commend the Oven, do not teach the manner how it ftiould
done. But what I have done my felf , and I have ieen others do , I mall briefly relate, that with little labour and without Hens,any one may
Hatch Eggs in a hot Oven.
Make a veffel of Wood like a Hogfhead , let it be round, and the Diameter fo long as your arm is, that you thruft in, that you may lay and turn the Eggs, jct it De four foot in Altitude. This we divide by three boards within into four parts : Let the firft be a foot and half , the fecond little above a foot, the third afoot , and the fourth leaft of all. Let every concavity divided with boards have a little door thereto , fo large as yon may thrult in your arm , and its fliuc to open and (hut at pleafure. Lcc the firft and fecond loft be made of thin boards , or wrought with twigs , let the third be of brafs arched , and the fourth of folid wood. Let the firft and fecond ftage have a hole in the centre three fingers broad , through which muft pafs a bra- zen or iron pipe tinned over , that mutt come half a foot above the fecond ftory, and fo in the lower moft, but in the bottom the orifice muft be wider, like a Pyramis or funnel,that it can fitly receive the heat of the flame of a candle put under it j in the fecond ftory let the pipe be perforated about the top, that the heat breathing forth thence , the place may be kept warm , and the Eggs may be hot in the upper part, as they are under the Hen. Above thefe three rooms ftrew faw-duft, which I thinks is beft to cover them : Let the faw-duft be higheft about the fides of the Hogfhead, but lefs in the middle ; in the bottom where the pipe is lower, that the Eggs that lye upon it may receive the heat that comes from the pipe every way : In the third ftory where the pipe ends , let it beprcfled down about the fides, and higher in the middle about the pipe, let a iinnen cloth cover the faw-duft, a fine clorb, that if it befoul dit may be wafht again , and the Chicken hatchc may go up- on it. Lay upon every ftory a hundred Eggs , more or lefs , let the great end of the Eggs lye downwards , the fharp end upwards. The walls of the Hogfhead that are above the faw-duft within the concavities, and the upper part pf the ftory mult be covered with (heep skins, that their warmth may keep in the heat : In the lower concavity under the Tunnel , muft a light lamp be placed , at firft with two weiks, in the end with three, in fummer ; but at beginning of winter, firft with three, and laft with four or five: Let the light fall upon the middle of the Tunnel, that the heat afcendingby the pipe , the rooms may heat all alike. The place where this vef- fel ftands muft be warm and ftand in a by place ; in the lower part where the lamp is lighted, you muft lay no Eggs, For that heat there will not hatch them. But where the Chickens are wet when they are firft hatched , (hut them in here to dry them by the warm heat of the lamp, marking twice or thrice every day whether the heat abate , be warm or very hot. We fhall know it thus , take an Egg out of the place, and lay it on your Eye, for that will try it well: if it be too hot for you,the heat is great, if you feel it not,it is weak ; a ftrong heat will hatch them,but a weak will make them addle. So you muft adde or take away from your lamp, to make the light adequate & proportionable:after the fourth day that the Eggs begin to be war- med, take them out of the cells, and not fhaking them hard, hold them gently againft the Sun .beams or light of a candle, and fee ♦yherher they be not addle, for if you difcern any fibres or bloody matter run about the Egg, it is good j but if it be clear and tranfparent , it is naught , put another Egg in the place of it : All that are good muft be daily turned at the lamp heat, and turn them round as the Hen is wont to do. We need not fear fpoiling the Eggs , or if any man do handle them gently . in fummer after nineteen or twenty days , or in winter after twenty five or twenty eight day?, you fhall take the Eggs in your hand , and hold them againft the Sun, and fee how the Chickens beak ftands , there break the (hell, and by the hole of the Egg take the Chicken by the beak and pull out its head ■ then lay it in its place again, for the Chicken will come forth it felf , and when it is come out,put it in the lower cell as Tfaid: But let the lamp ftand fomething from the parcment , left the Chickens allured by the light , (hould pick at it and be burnt by it : And if you do