Book L

OF THE SERPENT.
Hippocrates, by the ufe of fome parts of this animal, attained to himfelf divine honours ; for therewith he cured pefiilence and contagion, confump- tions, and very many other difeafes ; for he cleanfed the flefh of a viper. The utmoft part of the tail and head being- cut off, he {tripped off the (kin, cafU ing- away the bowels and gall ; he referved of the inteftines only the heart and liver ; he drew out all the blood, with the vein running down the back-bone ; he bruifed the flefh and the aforefaid bowels with the bones, and dried them in a warm oven until they could be powdered, which powder he fprinkled on honey •, being clarified and boiled, until he knew that the flefhes in boiling had call afide their virtue, as well in the broth as in the vapours ; he then add- ed unto this electuary the fpices of his country to cloak the fecret. But this cure of difeafes by the ferpent contains a great myftery, viz. that as death crept in by the ferpent of old, itfelf ought to be mitigated by the death of the ferpent ; forAdam, being fkilful in the properties of all beafts, was not ignorant alfo that the ferpent was more crafty than other living creatures, and that the aforefaid balfam, the remedy of death, lay hid in the ferpent ; where- fore the fpirit of darknefs could not more fafely deceive our firft parents than under the guileful ferpent’s form ; for they foolffhly imagined they fhould efcape the death, fo forely threatened by God, by the ferpent’s aid.
Amber is an amulet : — a piece of red amber worn about one, is a preferva- tive againft poifons and the peftilenee.
Likewife, a fapphire ftone is as effectual. Oil of amber, or amber dif- folved in pure fpirit of wine, comforts the womb being difordered : if a fuf- fumigation of it be made with the warts of the fliank of a horfe, it will cure many diforders of that region.
The liver and gall of an eel, likewife, being gradually dried and reduced to powder, and taken in the quantity of a filbert-nut in a glafs of warm wine, caufes a fpeedy and fafe delivery to women in labour. The liver of a ferpent likewife effect's the fame.
Rhubarb,
Chap. II. NATURAL MAGIC. 29
Rhubarb, on account of its violent antipathy to choler, wonderfully purges the fame. Mufic is a well-known fpecific for curing the bite of a tarantula, or any venomous fpider ; likewife, water cures the hydrophobia. Warts are cured by paring off the fame ; or by burying as many pebbles, fecretly, as the party has warts. The kingrs-evil may be cured by the heart of a toad worn about the neck, firfl being dried. — Hippomanes excites luff by the bare touch, or being fufpended on the party. If any one fhall fpit in the hand with ’ which he ftruck, or hurt, another, fo fhall the wound be cured ; — likewife, if any one fhall draw the halter wherewith a malefactor was flain acrofs the throat of one who hath the quinfey, it certainly cures him in three days ; — alfo, the herb cinque-foil being gathered before fun-rife, one leaf thereof cures the ague of one day ; three leaves, cures the tertian ; and four, the quartan ague. Rape feeds, fown with curfings and imprecations, grows the fairer, and thrives ; but if with praifes, the reverfe. The juice of deadly nightfhade, diftilled, and given in a proportionate quantity, makes the party imagine almoft whatever you chufe. The herb nip, being heated in the hand, and afterwards you hold in your hand the hand of any other party, they fhall never quit you, fo long as you retain that herb. The herbs arfemart, comfrey, flaxweed, dragon-wort, adder’ s-tongue, being fleeped in cold water, and if for fome time being applied on a wound, or ulcer, they grow warm, and are buried in a muddy place, cureth the wound, or fore, to which they were applied. Again, if any one pluck the leaves of afarabacca, drawing them upwards, they will purge an- other, who is ignorant of the drawing, by vomit only ; but if they are wrefted downward to the earth, they purge by ftool. A fapphire, or a ftone that is of a deep blue colour, if it be rubbed on a tumour, wherein the plague difcovers itfelf, (before the party is too far gone) and by and by it be removed from the fick, the abfent jewel attracts all the poifon or contagion therefrom. And thus much isfufficient to be faid concerning natural occult virtues, whereof we fpeak in a mixed and mifcellaneous manner, coming to more diflin6t heads anon.
CHAP..
30
NATURAL MAGIC,