Section 78

544- Natural Magick. 2>00j^ itf.
How Utters may become vijible npon an Egg by the fire. Writ e on the Egg with juice or Lemmons,or Onyons, or Fig-miik : when you put this to the fire, the Letters will appear yellow : and that muft be done on a raw Egg : for if you boy I ir, the letters will be feet).
That letters may be feen on the Egg jhcllby dttft. Mike letters on the fhell with vinegar, fuer, fig-tree- milk, or of Tithymal , or with gums : when you would have them lccn, rub them with colc-duft, or burnt draw, or paper, and they will fetm black. There is a way
Hoyv to put a fetter into an Egg. Make your letter that you fend, narrow and long , fcarce broader then your middle - finger : write your mindc in fhort characters, and with the edge of a knife,make a cut in the Egg, and break the inward skin, and put in your letter at one end by degrees : for it will cafily take it in, were it ten hands breadth : then (lop the cut , with lime and gum mingled,that it may not be feen,and with Cerufs and gum-Traganth; for then k is impofftble to difcern it. But if you will have this done more neatly, put the egge in fharp vinegar three orfourhcurs: and when you findeit left, open the fhell with the edge of your knife, put 'id your roll of paper : then foak it in cold water, and the fhell will grow as hard as it was.
Chap. V.
He w you may write in dt vers pkces, and deceive one that can read.
T Have fhewed you divers wayscf writing invifible; now I come to thofe ways that J. will teach you to write letters on divers things, which though they be vifible, and intercepted, yet the Readers will be deceived by their fecrct device. Firft ,
How to write on a jmall threed. Let us fee how they did this in elder times : GeHtts nott. Attic. relates,That when the Lacedemonians writ to their Generals, that their letters being intercepted by the e- nemies might not be read/invented this kinde of writing ; yet it is referred to Archi- medes to be the inventor of it, Two (ticks muft be made long and round,and polifhed with the Turners inftrument j they mult be equal for length, breadth and thicknefs* One of thefc was given to the General when he went forth to war, and the other was kept at heme by the Senate : as oft therefore as need was , a page was rolled a- bout the Hick, as large as could contain the matter, that it might make a round vo- lume, and i he fides of it were fo well joyned , that tbey were like a collar that ex- actly fitted the woed,aod no chinks between: upon this collar,that thus was rolled about the (lick, they writ letter? oven hwart, from top to bottom. The collar thus wriitcncn, being long ard narrow, was taken off from the flick, and lent tothe Ge- neral ; for they thcughr, if it was intercepted by the enemy , when they faw bits of letters, and fyllables,and of word^/ofar divided,they would never difcern the thing: and they were not deceived in this conjecture. For when they fell among the ene- mie as with a thing done at all advenrure5,and infignificant : but he to whom it was writ, applied this bacd,and rolled it about, as it was at firfi writ upcn: and then the words lay jo\ n d as thev fhould be,and fo he knew the meffage. The Greeks call this kir d of writing, -n*n. Plutarch fail h , A letter thus writ, was brought to Lyfander by JHeHefpor.t. But I invented to v. rite lo with a Threed : make two imall (ticks alike great and rcur d : one we give to our friend that goes far from us, and hold the other by us : let us make them (tick fo clofe rogether, that they may joyn,and feem to be as one, and trie wood not be leen : fit the Threed as it fhculd be, and write long-ways on the flick what you pleafe; the broader the flicks are, the more lines will they re- ceive. If you firft fteep your Threed in water wherein Alcmis diflolved , the Ink will not fpread, but the letters will be the clearer : then take your Threed that is a- bouc the (tick, and wrap it on a heap ; or to keep it the more fecrct , fow it upon the edges of napkins or fhirts , and lend it to your abfenr friend : for the curious watch fhall difcern nothing on the Tbreed,but fome fcattercd points. Your frierd winding the Threed about the fame flaff, and taking care to make the points meet at the tops and agree well, fhall cafily read them. 1 will (hew, Hon*
Of invifibie Writing.
How to write on Parchment, that the Letters may not b: feen
When you have writ on Parchment, put it to the light of a candle, or to the fire, and it will all crumple and run together, and be nothing like what it was; if a man look on it , he will hardly lufpeft any fraud. If he defires to read whst is iair, let him lay it on tnoylt places , or fprinkle it gently with water , and it will be dilated again, and all the wrinkles will be gone, and it will appear as it did at t rff, that ycu may read the Letters upon it, without any hindrance. Now I will fhsw the way
How in the Setlions of Bookj the fharatters {hall be hid.
When the Book is well bound, and cut, and coloured black; if we open ir, and turn back the leaves , that they may be turned in , we may write at the corners of ihe leaves what we will : but when the Book is let back again, and the leaves put into their own places, nothing is feen or can be imagined to be writ in them ; but f.e that would read thofe Letters, muft let the Book that way as it was, and the Letters will be read. So may we write on fly traps, thai are made with wrinkles, and then draw them forth. If need be, we may do
7 he fame wiih Cards to flay with. You may excellent well write on Cards, if you put them in fome order, that one may follcw the other; and feme fhall be upright, others turned downwards. When you have fet them right together, you may write all things where they divide : mingle the Cards together again , and turn t htm , and nothing will be feen but fome dilor- derly marks, if any man lock curioufly upon them. But he that would read them, muft fct them in order, and they will joyn and be read exactly. Alfo, we may write in white Pigeons , and other white Birds , feathers of their wings, turning tbem upwards ; for when they return to their own places, they wiil fhew nothing. Bur if the> be brought to their former pofiure, you will read the Letters ; and this is no fmail benefit for thofe that fhall ufe them for meficngers. There is a way
To hide Letters Upon wood. Any one may make Letters upon wood, and not be fufpe&ed; for they (hall not be feen, but when we pleafe. Let the wood be flefhy and foft , of Poplar, or Tile-tree, or !uch like : and with thofe iron Markers Printers ufe, when they maketfamps upon Brat's , cemmonly called Ponzoncs , make Letters in the wood , half a finger thick t then hew the wood with a Carpenters hatchet, as deep as the Letters go ; when ail is made plain, and equal, fend the ftick to your friend, or board, to him thu knows the matter } he putting the wood into the water , the wood will fwell out, that was beaten in with the marks, and the Letters will come forth. That we may do in wooden vefTcls^pGlifhed by the turner , if when they are turned, we mark the Let- ters on them ; and then turn them again : when this is done , fend it to your friend^ and let him foke it in water, &c.
Chap. VI. In what places Letters may be inclosed.
J Shall fpeak in what places Letters may be inclofcd, and not be fufpe^ed; and I fhall fpeak laftcf Carriers. I fliallbring fuch examples as I have read in Antienr Hiftcries, and what good a man may learn by them. Firft,
How to hide Letter sin wood. Theophafitu^ opinicn was, that if we cut the green bark of a Tree, and make it ho^" low within, as much as will contain the Letters , and then bind it about , in a fhorc time it will^row together again, with the Letters fhut up within it. Thus he faith, Th2t bv including fome religious precepts in wood, people may be allured ; for they will admire at it. But I mention this out of Thophraftm , rather for a fimilitude,
Ala thee
^6 Natural Magick. 2?0o^
then for to do the thing I would have, for that wculd require a long time. But this may be done well in dry wood, as in Fir:thus;the chinks fanning together with com- mon white glew. Alio the Antiencs ufed
To conceal Letters in Junkets. I will relate the cunning of the Wife of Poljcretes • forfbe, whilftinthe Milefian camps they folemnized a Solemn Featt of their Country • when they were all faft afleep, and drunk , took this opportunity to tell her brothers of it, and did thus. She defircd Diognetut, General of the Erythreii, that (he might fend fome Junkets to her brothers: and when fhe had leave , (he put a leaden fcrole into a cake , and flie bad the bearer tell her brothers from her , that no man fhould eat of it but themfelves. When they heard this, they opened the cake, and found the Letter, and performed the contents of it. They came upon the enemy by night, that was dead drunk at the Feaft,and conquered him. Alfo the Antients were wont
To fhut up L etters in living creatures,
Herodotw faith, That Harpagu* fent Letters to Cyrut , put into the belly of a Hare whole entrails were take out, by one that counterfeited a fhepherd hunting. So
Letters may be htd in Garments,
The fecret places of clothes are bed, to avoid fufpicion, as in your bofom, or under the foles of your feet. Ovid in his Arte Amandi, writes to this purpofe :
Letters may be concealed in your breft^ Wrap in a elowt^whtch way u held the beft\ Orelfe ym may under your feet provide A place full clofely Letters for to hide.
To hide Letters in your belt.
Thole of Campania were wont , when they would difcover anything to the Cartha- ginians , and the Romans befieged them round ; they fent a man that ieemed to run from them, with a Letter concealed in his girdle; and he taking occafion to efcape, brought it to the Carthaginians. Others carried Letters in their fcabbards, and fent them away by meftengers, and were not found out. But we ufe now adays
To hide letters m the Bowels of living creatures. For we wrap them in fome meat, and give them to a Dog, or fome other creature to fwallow ; that when he is killed, the letters may be found in his belly : and there is nothing negle&ed to make this way certain. The like was done by Harpagus. He, as Herodotus faith, beingto difcover to Cyrutiomz fecrets, when the ways were flopt, that he could do it by no other means , he delivered the letters to a faithful fervant, who went like a Hunter, that had catcht a Hare; and in her belly were the letters put, when the guts were taken forth, and fo they were broughtto Perfit. We ufc alfo
To fhut up letters in ft ones.
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Flints are beaten very fine in brazen Mortars, and lifted ; then are they melted in a brafs Cauldron, by putting two ounces of Colophonia to one pound of the pow- der of the Hone ; and mingling them, put your letters into leaden plates, and hide them in the middle of the compofition, and put the lump into a linnen bag, and tye it faft, that it may be round; then fink it into cold water, and it will grow hard, and appear like a Bint.
CHAP.
T
Of invifible Writing. 5^7
Chap. VII.
What fecret Meflengers may be ufed.
He Amiencs ufcd the fame craft for Meflengers ; for they ufed men that fhculd be difguiled by their habits, and lome living creatures bcfides. For
To coun'erfeit the (hape of a T)ocy It was the crafty counfel of Jofi^m , that the Meflengers fhould be clad with and (othey pafr the enemies guards , and were not regarded ; for if they Were !een, they were in the likenefs of Dogs ; and this was done until the enemy found out the trick, and compifled the Rampart round about. And mans curiofity was not fatif- fiedhere, till they found means for ways to pafs, where the Sentinels and Seems might not difcover them ; wherefore they left the land, and fent by Water : But that the writing might not be lpoiled in the water, &s Front whs faith, The Souldiers that paft over the River Saltella, had leaden plates writ upon , faftned to their arms. But Lncnllt*6, as the fame Frontinm reports, that he might declare to the Cyziceni, that were befieged by Mithridates, that he was coming to relieve them, all narrow paflages being liopt by the enemies guards , that were joyned to the continent by a imail bridge, he fought a way by fea. For a private Souldier appointed for it, fitting on two bladders blown, wherein the Letters were put in two covers • and fo like fome fea-Monfter , he fwim feven miles at fea, and told of the coming of the Gene- ral. So they often ufed
Arrows for ^Meflengers : But that feemed not fufficient , for they feared mens cunning , left fome chance or fraud might intercept the meltenger, and the fecret fhould be difcovered , or they fhould be racked to make them confefs. Sometimes therefore they tbught a way in the Air, and uied Arrows for meflengers, that none might intercept them. Heredo- tm faith, That Art&baz,iti and TimoxexHt did this , when one would declare any thing to the other j for the paper was folded about the foot of the Arrow, and the feathers were put upon it, and it was fofhotinto the place appointed. To this appertains the example of (^Uonymtu King of the Lacedemonians.He beficging the cityTroezenr, commanded many of his beft Archers to (hoot Arrows into feveral places ; and he writ upon them : I come to relieve your City ; and by this means he fet ladder?, and his Armyfcaled the walls and went in, and plundered the place, anddefiroyed ic. But w hen fafar heard that Cicero befieged by the French, could hold out no longer , he fent a Souldier by night, who ihould fhoot a Letter, fanned to an Arrow, over the wall: when he had done this, the watch found the Arrow and the Letter, and brought.it to Cicero. In it were thefe words written : fafar bids Cicero be conh- denr,andto expect relief. So ^f/^rcame fuddenly, and flaying the enemies,relievcd him. We can do it fafer, and better now adays with Guns : if the matter to be fent be contained in few words , we may (hoot them forth with Muskets ; namely, by folding up the paper, and putting it into a cafe of lead, where they caft bullets, pouring upon it melted lead, but not burning hot ; the paper wrapt up in the lead, we fhoot awav with the Powder to the place. But becaufe the Letters are but fmall, we may fhoot many of them in a day. The way to melt the Ball is, by putting it to a gentle 6re,or into quick-filver,and it will foon melt, and the paper not be touched, I (hall fiiewnow
How to make Pigeons your Meflengersi
We may ufe Birds for Mrffengers • as Pigeons, Swallows, Quails, and others : For thefe Birds carried to other places, when need is, if you bind Letters to their necks crfeet, they will return with them: and when any thing was fuddenly to be rela- ted, the Antients fometimes ufed thefe Meffengers. Htreita beingConfuUa? Fronti- ntu trKihes, fent forth Pigeons from the neereft place he could from the wall'?, which had been long fhut up in the dark* and half famifhed, to Decimw Brww^nho was
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3^8 Natural Magick.
befieged at Mmina by Anthony. They being glad of light, and deHring meat, flew and fat upon the higher parts of the houfes ; Brttttts catcht them, and lo was confir- med how things were: wherefore, always laying meat in thofe pla;es , he call'd them back again. Hence Fltny. Nor Ramparts, nor Scouts, nor Nets pitch'd before Rivers, did profit Anthony ; for the M:flenger went through the Air. By the fame way, in the very fame day, from OlympiatQ was the vifikory of Tauroflhe>.es declared to his Father ; though others fay it was torefcen : others fay, That Tattrofihe- nest when he went forth, took a Pigeon from her yong ones, yet weak and not abie to fly, and as loon as he had conquered , he /ent her back again, purple-coloured; and (lie making great haft to her yong ones, flew that very day from Pifa to v£>ina. %/E.Uan writes this. Some have fought to do this by Swallows, taken out of their nefts from their yong, and fent back again. Some alio atteft, that beyond fea Eaft- ward, there are Pigeons that when the way is ftopr, will fly through the midft of the enemies, and carry Letters under their wings, a very long way. It may be Juvenal meant this, when he faid,