Section 53

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228 Natural Magic k. 2?0O^8.
back, and the belly, or by drinking the water or oyl in wine, it will break the ftone and bring it down , and affwageth poyfon. For deafnef?, you muft fteep fome wool in it, and flop the ears with it : anoint the belly and back in any pain there. Being drunk in vinegar, it enreth the falling ficknefs , and reftoreth loft memory ; it provoketh the menftrues in women, by anointing their privities with it, or by drink- ing fome drops of it in wine j taken in the fame manner, it provoketh appetice, being taken early in the morning ; and is good againft the bitings of Scorpions : Drink it going to bed, or when you arife in the morning, and it will cure a fi inking breath.
For cold aches.
Oyl of Hems is excellent to allay and remove all cold aches , the gout , fciatica, griefs of the finews,convulfions, pain in the joynts, cold dcflu&ions, and other dif- eafes of moifture and cold. In the Diomedian ifles, now called Tremity, in the Adri- atique Sea , there are birds , commonly called Hearns , who breed there, and con- tinue there, and are to be found nowhere elfe : they are a kind of Duck , feeding on fifh, which they catch in the night : they are not to be eaten , though they be ve- ry fat, becaufe they favour of the ranknefs of fi(h. Kill thefe birds, and pluck off their feathers ; draw them, and harg them up by the feet , there will drop from them a certain black yellowifh oyl, very offenfive to the nofe, being of a noifome fifiay fmell. This oyl being applied to any place, as much as you can endure , will do the effects before mentioned, and more : but it is very hurtful for any hot maladies. There is a water alfo
For old Seres,
Take lime unkilled,and diffolve it in water ; ftir it three or four times in a day j then when it is fettled and cleared, ftrain it and keep it ; wet a linnen cloth in it, and ap- ply it to a wound or fore, and it cureth them. I will not omit
The venues of Tobacco. Out of the feeds of it is exprefled an oyl , three ounces out of a pound, which al- lays the cruel tortures of the gout: the jayce clarified and boiled into a fyrup, and taken in the morning , maketh the voyce tunable , clear and loud ; very convenient for fingicg Matters. If you bruife the leaves, and extract the juyce, it killeth lice in childrens heads, being rubbed thereon. The leaves cure rotten Sores and Ulcers, running on th c legs.being applied unto them. The juyce of this herb doth alfo prc- fently take away and affwage the pain in the codds , which happeneth t© them who fwimmingdo chance to touch their codds.
Chap. XII. Of a fecret Medicine for wounds*
T Here are certain Potions called Vulnerary Potions, becaufe, being drunk, they cure wounds : and it feemeth an admirable thing , how thofe Potions fhould penetrate to the wounds. Thefe are
Vulnerary Potions,
Take Pirole, Comfrey, Ariftolochy,Featherfew of each a handful ; of Agrimony two : boil them in the beft new Wine : digeft them in horfe-dung. Or take two bandfuls of Pirole, of Sanide, and Sowe»bread one , of Ladies Mantel half one. Boil them in two meafures of Wine , and drink it morning and evening. Binde the herbs, which you have boiled, upon the wound , having mixt a little fait with them : and in the mean while ufe no other Medicine.
The Weapon-Salve
Given heretofore to Maximilian the Emperor, by Paracelfu49 experimented by him, and always very much accounted of by him while be lived : It was given to me by a
noble
Of Thyftcal Experiments. zip
noble nun of his Court. If the Weapon that wounded him, or any ftick dipt in his blood be brought, it will cure the wound, though the Patient be never fo far off. Take of the mofs growing upon a dead nan his fcull, which hath laid unburied, two ounces , as much of the fat of a man, half an ounce of Mummy , and man his blood : of linked oyl, turpentine, and bole-armenick, an ounce ; bray them all together in a mortar , and keep them in a long freight glafs. Dip the Weapon into the oynt- ment,and fo leave it : Let the Patient in the morning, wafh the wound with his own water ; and without adding any thing clfc , tye it up clofe,and he (hall be cured with- out any pain.
Chap. XIII. How to counterfeit infirmities*
IT hath been no fmall advantage to fome, to have counterfeited fickneffes, that they might efcape the hands of their enemies , or redeem themfelves for a fmall ranfom, or avoid tortures ; invented by former ages,and ufed by thefe latter. I will firrt teach you
How to counterfeit a bloody flux. Amyhirettu Acantiusy being taken by Pirates, and carried to Lemnosy was kept in chains, in hope that his ranfom would bring them a great fum of money. He abftain- cd from mear, and drank Minium mixt with fait water. Therefore, wlien he went to ftool , the Pirates thought he was fallen into a bloody Flux, and took off his irons, left he fhould dye , and with him their hopes of his ranfom. He being loofe,efcaped in the night, got into a Fifher-boat, and arrived fafe at Acantum: fo faith PolUnm, Indian Figs, which ftain the hands like ripe Mulberries, if they be eaten, caufe the urine to be like blood : which hath put many into a fright, fearing they fhould dye prefently. The fruit of the Mulberry, or Hoggs blood boiled and eaten , maketh the excrements feem bloody. Red Madder maketh the urine red, faith Diofcorides. We may read alfo, that if you hold it long in your hand , it will colouryour urine. I will teach you alfo
To make Any one /ool^pale. Cumine taken in drink caufeth palenefs : fo it is reported, That the Followers of Portipu Lxtro , that famous Matter of Rhetorick, endeavored to imitate that colour which he had contraSed by ftudy. And Julius Vindexy that affertor of liberty from tyro, made this the onely bawd to procure him an executorfhip. They fmoke them- felves with Cumine,who disfigure their faces, to counterfeit holinefs and mortificati- on of their body. There is an experiment alfo, whereby any one may know how
To caufe Sores to arife. TakePcrwinckle, an herb of an intolerable fharpnefs , that is worthily named Flarn- mula ; bruife it, and make it into a plaifter , and it will in a ftiort fpace ulcerate , and make blifters arife. Cantharides beaten with ftrong water,do alfo raife watry blifters, and caufe ruptures.
Chap. XIV.
Of FafcinatioM^and Prefervatives againfi inchantments.
NTOw I will difcourfe of inchantment • neither will I pafs over in filence, who I they are whom we call Inchanters : For ifwepleafe to look over the Monu- ments of Antiquity, we (hall finde a great many things of that kind delivered down to poftericy. And the tryalof later ages doth not altogether explode the fame of them: neither do I think that it derogateth from the truth of the (lories , that we cannot draw the true caufes of the things, into the ftreight bonds of our reafons, be- caufe there are many things that altogether impede the enquiry : but what I my felf judge of others opinions, I thought fit here to explicate. You may find many things in Theocritus and Vtrgilrf this kind i whence that verfc arofc : Tberft
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There's [cnte^ I know not vhofe unlucky eye Bewitcheth my yong Lambs , find, makes them die,
JfigoKM and Memphedorus fay, There are fome families in Africa , thit bewitch wich their tongue the very Woods : which if they do but admire fomcwhat carneftly, or if they praifefair tree?, growing corn, lufty children, good horfes, or fat fheep, they prefently wither, andd.eof a fuddain, from no other caufe or harm : which thing alfo Saltr.w affirmeth. The fame Ifigomu faith, there are amongft the 1 riballians and Iliyrians, certain men,who have two pupils in each eye , and do bewitch moft dead- ly with them , and kill whatever they look carneftly on, especially with angry eyes ; io pernicious arc they : and yong children are moft (ubje& to their mifchief. There are fnch women in Scythia,, called Bithiac, faith Apollonides. Philarchtu reporteth of another kind, called Thibians in Pontus, who had two pupils in one eye, and in the other the pi^ureof a horfc ; of which Didymttt alfo makcth mention. Damon relateth of a poyfon inEthiopia,who)e fweat would bring a confumption null bodies xc touched : and it is manifeft, that all women which have two pupils in one eye, can bewitch with ir. Cicero wrhcth of thcm; fo Plutarch and Philarchm mention the Paletheobri, a Nation inhabiting in part of the Pontick Sea, where are Inchanc- ers who are hurtful , not ooely to children that are tender and weak, but to men of full growh,who are of a ftrong and firm body j and that they kill with their looks, making the pcrfons languifhand confumc away as in a confumption. Neither do they infect thofe oncly who live among them , but ftrangers, and thofe who have the leaft. commerce with them ; fo great is the power and witchcraft of their eyes : for though, the miichicf be often ought in copulation with them, yet it is the eyes that work; for they fend forth fpirits , which are prefently conveyed to the heart of the bewitch- ed, and fo bfect him. Thus it cometh to pafs, That a yong man, being foil of thin, clear, hot, and fweet blood, iendeih forth fpirits of the fame nature ; for they arc made of the pureH blood, by the heat of the heart : and being light, get into the up- percnoft parts of the body5 *nd flye out by the eyes , and wound thofe who are moft porous, which are fair pcrfons, and the moft foft bodies. With the fpirits there is feet out alfo a certain fiery quality , as red and blear- eyes do, who make thofe that look on them , fall into the fame difeafe : I iuffered by foch an accident my felf : for ti e eye infecteth the air ; which being infected, infe&eth another : carrying along with it felf the vapors of the corrupted blood, by the contagion of which,the eyes of the beholders are overcaft with the like rednefs. So the Wolf maketh a man dumbj fo the Cockatrice killcth , who poyfoneth with looking on, and giveth venimous wound.* with the beams of his eyes : which being reflexetJ upon himfclf, by a look- ing-glafs , kill the A uthor of them. So a bright Mirror dreadeth the eyes of an un- clean women, faith Ariflotle , and groweth cloudy and dull, when (he looketh on it : by reafon that the fanguinc vapour is contracted by the fmoothnefs of the glafs into one place ; fo that it is fpotted with a kind of little mift, which is plainly fcen ; and if it be newly gathered there,will be hardly wip'd off. Which thing never happeneth on a cloth or flone , becaufc it penctrateth and finketh into the one , and is difper- fed by the inequality of parts in the other. But a Mirror being hard and fmooth,coI- leflrth them entire ; and being cold, condenfeth them into a dew. In like manner a?moft, if you breath upon a clear glafs, it will wax moift as it were with a fprinkling of fpettle, which condenfing will drop down : fo this efflux of beams out of the eyes, being the conveyers of fpirits, ftrike through the eyes of thofe they meet, and flye to t he heart, their proper region , from whence they rife ; and there being condenfed into blood, infect all his inward parts. This Hranger blood, beiegquite repugnant to the nature of the man, infers the reft of him, andmikeih him fick : and there this contagion will continue, as long as he hath any warm blood in his body. For being a diHem^cr in the blood, it will cart him into a continual fcaver ; whereas, if it had been a diftemp'r of choler or flegme , it would have afflicted him by intervalls. But » h ar all things may be more diftinctly explained , you muff know firft, that there are two kind of Fafcinations mentioned by Authors : One of Love, the other of Envy or
Malice.
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Malice. If * perfon be enfnared with the defire of a fair and beautiful woman, al- though he be caught at a diftance , yet he taketh the poyfon in at his eyes, and the Image of her beauty fettleth in the heart of this Lover, kindleth a flame there, which will never ceafe to torment him : For the foft blood of the beloved , being ftrayed thi- therjOaaketh continual reprefentations of her : (he is prefent there in her own blood; but it cannot fettle or reft there, for it continually endeavoureth to flye homeward, as the blood of a wounded perfon fpirts out on him that givcth the blow. Lucretius defcribeth this excellently :
He feekj that bo Ay, -whence his grief he found ; For humors always flow unto a wound, t/is brutfed blood ftdl runs unto the fart That's ftruckj **d gathers where it feels the fmxrt : So when the murtherefs of his heart** in place, Blet(hes arife9 and red orefpreads his face.
But rf it be a Fafcination of Envy or Malice, that hath infected any perfon, it is very dangerous , and is found moft often in old women. Neither can any one deny, but that the dileiles of ihemindc do diftemper the body ; and thac the good difpofition of ir, doth ftrengthen and corroborate the fame : and it doth not work this alteration onely in its own body, but on others alio, by how much it ttirreth up in the heart in- ward defires of love and revenge. Doth not covetoufactV-, grief, or love, change the colour and difpofition ? Doth not envy caufc palenefs and meagemefs in the body ? D jth not the longing of the mother , imprint the mark of what flie defired upon the tender Embryo ? So when Envy bends her fierce and flaming eyes, and the defire of rrri'Chief burfts thereout, a vehement heat proccedeth from them, wdi infe&eth thofe that ttand ni^h , efpccially the beautiful • they ttrike them through as with a fword, fet their entrails on fire , and make them watt into a leannnefs, efpecially if they be of a cholerickor fanguine complexion ; for the difeafe is cafily fed, where the pores are open,and the humors thin. Nor is it the paffions of the mind onely, that affedteth the body thm : but the body it felf, as Avicenna provcth, may be endued with veni- mous qualities ! many are fo by Nature j fo that it cannot feem a wonder , if fome- times lbme are made foby Art. The Queen of India fent to Alexander a very beau- tiful maid, anointed and fed with the poyfon of Serpents, as Ariftotle faith, and Avi- cenna from the Tcttimony of Rufm. Galen Writetb of another, who eat Henbane without any harm; and another, Woolf-bane ; fo that a Hen would not come neat her. And Mithridates (as old Hiftories deliver it to us) King of Pentus, had lb ftrengthened himfelf againtt poyfon, that when he would have poyfoned himfelf, left he fhould fall into the hands of the Romans, nothing would do him any hart. If you give a Hawk a Hen fed with makes or lizards flefh , or with barly boiled in the broth of them, it will make him mew his feathers betimes : and many other fuch things are done, which are too long to be recounted. So many men are of fuch a nature, that they will cure feme difeafes onely with their ftroaking. Many eat Spiders and wilde Olives, and care not for the biting of Serpents, nor faffer any watting or confumptiori, if they be of fuch a nature , thac their looks or breath will not onely blaft men , but plants and herbs, and any other thing,and make them wither away : and oftentimes, where fnch kind of creatures are, you may find blafted corn, poyfoned and withered, m^er- ly by the contagion of their eyes , the breath that cometh from them. Do not wo- mea in the time of their couries, infeft cucumbers and melons, by touching or look- ing on them, fo that they wither? Are not children handled with lefs prejudice by men then women ?And you will find more women then men witches , byreafonof theircomplexion ; for they are farther diftant from a right temper, and eat more un- wholefome food ; fo that every moncth they are filled with fuperfluities, and purge forth melancholy blood : from whence vapors arifc, and flie out through their eyes, poyfbning thofe that ftand nigh them, and filling them with the fame kind of blood. Hence fanguine complexioned men, andfomewhat cholerick,who have large, fhining, gray eyes, and live chaftly (for too often copulation exhaufleth the moiflure) who by
frequent