Book II.

The Elk
Bel. Gal. 6. Deut. 14*
The South wind r at feth the Epilepfie.
4trueHi(lory.
How things applycd out- tva'tdly tan abut difeafes.'
\
ifl Simile from W heels healed ard fp drilling flints.
Unicorns horn nfifii venom*
i • .■ * i • • « • s * / • • \ f ■
Aureus, & foliis & lento vimine ramus
AuricomoS generals acihos, atque arbor e fa tw.
Whereby the Poet intimates, that the deadly aflaults and terrible difeales of the brain, will yield to nothing fooncr than to the ufe and medicament made of tins golden colour’d fhrub. For it difeuf- fes, extenuates, and dryes clammy humours, and by a wonderful force it cures the Falling-ficknefie, if land or the powder of it be drank in wine. Now wc fhall fpcak of the force of the Elk. Cajm Cecfar in his Commentary faith, it is a Creature of a Goat kind, bur greater in bulk. In the Bible it is called a (tone buck, like to tie wild Goats that the Jews might feed on. The claw of this Bead is a prdent remedy againft the Epilepfie, as I have proved by many Experiments, though tl e ri alon lean hard to me. In the Low-Countries there are many fufcjc# to this difeafe, bee aufe this Country is cold and moy ft, and the ^outh-wind blowes moft com¬ monly, which is the moft unhealthful of all winds, fo that you fhall fee them in the publike wayes and ftreets milerable fpe- dtacles, and they fly to this remedy as the cure of it. It chanced, that in my Entry twice a woman fell down fuddenly as if fhe had been thundcr-ftritken ; which when I law I came near, and I put a Ring on her finger next her little finger, that had a piece of an Elks claw fet in it ; She prefemly arole, and drank and went mer¬ rily on her way. Another woman when I was not at heme, cryed ouc ilrangely, and ft !1 down on the earth, and kn againft the ground: Oi e of my family laid a piece of the Elks claw on the palm cf lit r hand, and fo (hutting her h and, becaufe it was not fet in a ring, the difeafe prcfl ntly left her. 1 think this is done by fome fpecial hidden property, t r becaufe it dryes and difcuffeth mightily. V\ ere it not afolid fubftance, fome might fay, a vapour goes forth of it , as from ficwcr.v ai d herbs, which yet i think may be done, though the fpirits that ccme forth be very thin, and ary, and nor windy, fo that hey are not fo fcnfible,and cannot be perceived but ty a fecrec operation. So Stones, Jewels, Gold, Iron, and all brafen metals, breathe fi rth a bidden force, but they muftbc heaicd by rubbing, lor when they are on fire, tl ty l'cncli more manifcllly, and mfinuate thtmfelves into the body. As we fee when wheels grew I ot with a quick motion, or when a bodes fhoes Hr ike fire cn the pavement. For prtfentlya fmoky burnt lent is raifcd into the Ayr. And it the caufe of this Effcdt is not evident enough, and no probable reafon can be thought on 5 yet we may fay, that thde things are effected by that force by which the Unicorns horn put into wine or water difpels the poylbn, and kills lpiders ty tout! ing them. I fhall fpeak of ft ones taken out of the ma wes of Swallowes, and by what venue they cure the Failing* fickndle, in another place.
Chap,
Chap.4. whence conics it that difeafes are long and Chronical ,
91
CHAP. IV.
whence comes it that difeafes are long and Chronical, and will not eaftly be cured : whence come Feavers to revise again , and to be with in- termifjion and truce for a time 3 which all men ought to kr.ow, that they may not eafily fall into a difeafe 3 or being fallen rnayfoon cure it,
LOng difeafes may be well compared to long and tedious voy¬ ages, that a weak man, or one that carries a great burden is tuuxd to go, on nis feet. He by reafon of tile difficulty of the way, an.i weight othis burden goes forward the more (lowly, and is more prefled than if he were carried in a Chariot, or had fome bvmg partner to help him carry his pack. But fince there are many caufes that lengthen outdifeafes, amongfl the refl,this feen s to rrv to be the chief, becaufe fo foon as dilcaics take hold, they neglect to call a skilfuil Pnyfitian, who by preferibing a whole- fome diet, and fit remedies in time, may help' nature, and by his Arc, may underprop her when fhe fails. For the Pnyfitian is Na¬ tures fervanc and takes care for her prdervation with all his migi r~ Whence it comes that they that know not what may do them gooe or ill, feed on naughty meats, even when difeafes are feizing up on them, and make no choice of diet, and fo ftoppmgs and cor¬ ruption is augmented, and the difeafe gathers ifrength, and all force of the body fails. But if difeafes fall in Autumn,
A [mile from a journey that is difficult.
With flan din the beginntng.
The Vhyfitwi is Nd fares fer- 11 Writ.
• c
For difeafes are like unto the year,
Turning about the fame way like a fphere,
, AC \ ( ft 1 j ' ; O MX'" • • . * • . . 1 !
Now there rifeth together a double caufe of duration, partly from the abundanceof col J clammy matter, and partly from the toughnefle and clammincfle of it. For -Autumn, and V\ inter parts oftiie year, cool, and thicken rhe humours, and caufe a con¬ tinuance, that difeafes are longer,- foe the dikaies cannot bedifeuf- fed becaufe the hum )urs are thick an.l fid together, and cine skin is not fo lull of tranfoirarion. For as Wax, Pitch, TaJJow, Ro- fin, and ali fluxibie matter grows. hari i, not be fo eafily- handled and made p’lable : fo when the weather is cold, the humours are hardy med ed and diflbived i and it is thing, proved becaufe in winter men lweat Idle, wherefore we mud gi ve fuel 1 tried icarocnts as will wipe away forcibly, and open the pores. For c e tilth ana rubbifh of the I umours flick no ldfe to , thef mens. bodies, than the lees and dregs do fo veflkls, which mull: be hiked* with fait water or pickle, and rub’J with beef >ms to a fmilc from .-make rhem clean, and take away all ill fends from them. Other- fobbing of vef. wile whatioever is put into them will grow fowre and be fpoiled. ***' •Wherefore Hoppocrates deems to me to have fpoken very righr;
Impure bodies the more you feed them, the more y u hurt them. £. t-Apbor ii: For the food corrupts being minded with vitious humours, and
Q.' fo
5)8
whence conies it that dif eafes are long and Chronical. Book II,
fo the difeafe lafls the longer, orifat any time by the Phyfitians skill or force of nature the difeafe begins to abate, it will grow again by the leaft occafion. For new corruption is bred in the body, and a filthy fmell accompanies it, as we may perceive by the breath, and this diffufed in the body vitiates the ipirits, and ex tinguifheth natural heat, for want of tranfpiration. To this be¬ longs that lentence of Hippocrates ; If there be any remainders in- i. z.npb'iz. the body or reliques, the difeafes will grow again $ for the nutri- ifient taken in doth not ftrengthen the fick, but corrupts by min¬ gling with ill juice, and increafeththe difeafe, as we fee in quar¬ tans, and baftard tertians, when the Patients will not be ruled by the Phyfitian, nor ufea gooddier. Now thefe Feavers are with whence comes Intermiflion becaufe the humour is without the veins and farther intemiffion m fr0£n the heart. But in continual feavers men are tormented con- Feaven. Bandy, by reafon of the Iharp biting vapours of blood and choler inflamed within the veines, which when they cannot freely get forth and breathe out , they immediately offend the heart and liver, and do more hurt by their corruption ari- Bloodfukjett to from Bopping, than if they were without the veins. For when corruption. there is great plenty of humours, and the corruption is vehement, and the proportion of this is great for putrefaction (for blood is of a hot and raoiB quality, and loon corrupts) it falls out that thefe feavers alwaies rage, and foon come to their Bate. Whence i4t.Apb.t3, Hippocrates maintains that fuch difeafes dure not above fourteen daies 5 and fometimes where the matter is furious and fwels,they end on the fifth, feventh, ninth, or eleventh day. The caufes of Feavers that come by circuits, and at fet times are contrary, for they come from fome force bred in the humour, and by reafon of place and time, whence it happens that they come with intermif- fion,khat they antedate the time, or come flower and later, that they are unftable and unconflant, and the fits lafi longer fometimes. Feavers grow Arongcr and come fooner where the humours are increafed and more inflamed, or where fome errour hath been committed, or there hath been fome intemperance in meat and drink. But Feavers come later and more gently, when the mat¬ ter decreafcth, and the Bopping and corruption being difeufled, it inttabic wan- abates and decayes fenfibly. But when one humour takes upon it thin? feavers. another s nature, or changeth its place, or is mingled and confoun¬ ded with another, the fits come in noorder but with uncertain mo- long Feavers tion, anc\ no certain time is obferved by them. A long fit is made by a plentifull humour and vapour, and that is diffufed all through the body, and that which is clammy and grofle. For as • ’A [mile from moyfi green wood is long a lighting and burning ^ and as Ox beef, ddflefh.°d and if A be old requires long feething: fo a clammy humour muB be longer a Beeping, and grow foft by concodfion, and made fluxi- ble that it may be fit for excretion. But fince we Brew’d before thathumours corrupting without the veins, and when they are in¬ flamed in any other part of the body, caufe intermitting feavers that give us time to breathe^ yet oftimes we ©bferve that thefe will
more
Anticipating
Feavers.
Feavers that come later.
Intermitting
Feavers.
Chap. 5. Ofthofe that come forth of their beds, and walk in their fie ey.
more continually though they be without the veins, both by rca- ion of plenty of humours, and from the lharpnefic of them. As we fee m pares that are inflamed, as in carbuncles, buboS, and ail contagious and peftilent Impoftumes, In which a continual fca- verand not an intermitting is kindled; though the venome break forth wicnout the veins, and be far from the heart, for the pelti- lcnt venenuus force penetrates to the heart, and hurts theprinci- pal parts, inte&mg both the natural! and vital ipirits. Whence it is that thefe difeafes are numbred amongft acute difealcs,becaufc they loon come to their ftace, and the change to health or death is very Ludden. For the like befalls thofe bodies as happens to a City be lieged, which is fo ftormed without interinilfion by the Enemy wich Guns, and other engines of war, that it can hardly tfcand ouc any longer againft the violence of the enemy, and looks every moment to be fubdued unldfe it can with Ordnance and Engines make oppolition, or can Tally ouc and beat the enemy away. For to ycild and to make an agreement for life and fafety, a.stney do that fight faintly againft an enemy oradifeafe were ig¬ noble, and commonly very hurcfull, for the Conqucrours oftimes will not hand to agreements) but will break their words : fo in acute difeales it ufeth to fall out chat the fick cannot endure vio- lenccot the difeafe, and cannot live above fourteen dayes, if they can hold outfo long, unlefte nature be ftrong and well alftfted by the Phyficians art, and can conquer th6 difeafe, which being Obtained, lhc can hardly recoiled her forces, and cannot prefent- ly recover what Idle hath loft by violence) but recovers her forces by degrees) and to reedifie and fottifie her batter’d walls.
y
Carbuncles without the bo¬ dy caufc conti¬ nual feaicr's .
A (tmile taken from a city be - (ieged.
As the affatelts of enemies Ja difeafes mufl be driven off.
CHAP. V.
Of thofe that come forth of their Beds, and walk in their fie ey, and go over toys of Towrs, and roofs of boufes, and do many things in their fiery , which men that are awake can hardly do by the greatest care and inaujtry. *
IT happens that forrie in their youth and floiirildiing years ffof old men want Vital fpiritS) and are to weak too undertake fuch tilings, and are flow in venerious a&ions) will leap ouc of their bedsat midnight) or about break of day, and do fuch things that men that are awake can hardly do, and to do it with fo little dan¬ ger that all that fee it admire it: Which if you do not hinder them, and call them back, they will by degrees go to bed again. But when they do thefe things, if you fpeak to them in a known voice, or call them by their chriftian nanieS) they will fa'll being frighted thus; their fpirits being diftipated, and their natural force difeufted whereby they perform thefe things. Wherefore you mull let them go as they will, and to retire again at pleafure. But they that are troubled with the night-marc, and arc toiled
in
whence it comes that fomc men ■walk and cry out in their flecp.
Ton mufl net call night wal¬ kers by their proper names l
The night mart.
%
I oo Of thofe that come forth of their beds> and walk in their Jleep. Book II.
itl to ly upon the back-
Hot fptrits
m their deep, which happens when lmoky fuliginous grofle va¬ pours offend the heart and brain, they mult be pulled and called by their proper names, for they are prefencly wakened if you fpcak but low, and they come to chemfcives, the fumes being dif- cufled, and the blood linking down, which is diffufed through tne conduits of the veins.But for the molf part this difeafe comes at begini ing of the fpring upon thofe that have alwaies a crudity on their ftomachs, and that lie often on their backs. Whence it comes that they ly with open eyes and mouths, which is great inconve¬ nience to their health. For fiiddenly as if fome great weight came upon them they feel that ftreightnefle, that they cannot cry out, but mourn and lament, but fo foon as one calls them by their names, they will prefently turn on their fide, and fhake of thofe hags they thought opprelfed them. But our night walkers are clean contrary to thel'e : for they with their eyes lhut, walk in the dark and make a great noyfe every where, and fometimes they are fi- lent, and go upward and downward, and clamber up to the tops of houfes without any help ; which I believe is done by them, by their fwelling and frothing blood, and by their hot fiery fpirit, which being carried into the feat of the mind, drives on the force and faculties of the foul whereby fhe perfects her fun&ions, and the mftrumemal parts to thefe actions, and moves them to thefe effects. Whence it comes that the body by the force of the ani- caufe of motion tnal fpirit which contains the ftrength of the nervs and mufcles, mfieep, that tfic office of feeling and moving in the brain, and maintains it, is carried upwards, and by the force thereof in fleep, is pro¬ voked to fuch a&ions. Such condition’d men are of fine and loofe, woven bodies, and of little ftature, but full of active Ipirits, and hotminds: whence it is that if they lay hold of any thing with the outmoft joynts of their hands or feet, they will ballance and day themfelves, and flick fall to the planks. For it falls out' with thefe bodies as it is with thofe boys, that are eaft into the mouth teMsofboys of ^ Sea in tKd Low- countries, whereby Marriners know how ^ ; ; to ride fafely, and fail to their Ports, avoiding; fords and rocks
they cannot fee. For thefe though they be covered with plates of Iron, and bound with chains, and fallned to a mighty great done : yet they dote and fwim in the Sea, nor do they fall to the bottom unleffe they caneafiunder:becaufe they are filled with winds and blafts, bellows being joyn’d to them for that purpofe. So they be- caufe they are fwoln with wind, and are full of aereal fpirit, are carried upward, and with a dow pace, like fnails that want their eyes, they try their way with their horns thrud forth, and creep upon all high places, andwahj in the night. But they do this without danger or hurt to their bodies, and fall not, becaufe they do it leafurely, and without fear or refped unto danger, which will fometimes drive men that are awake from earned bufineffc, &; dangerous attemps.For they go about thefe things no otherwife than men thatare drunk or mad, who inconfiderately, and with great rafhncffe and boldneffe feat not to adventure upon any dan¬ ger
thefe a-
kfimUfroM Snails With horns-
10 I
Chap. 5 . Of thofe that come forth of their beds , and walk in their fleep.
per, which if the next day, or when they come to thcmfelves they think upon, and what danger they were in, they will really profeffe they have forgot all, and be much frighted at the relation they hear from others. And if the humours be not fo hoc in fuch kind of bodies, and the fpirits arc not fo much ftirred and troubled, they vvill onely cry out and leap a little, but they will flay in their beds, for the fpirits are not fo violent as to raile the body. For Lib.de emit, wnofoever as Hippocrates l aith, hath a hot brain, as cholerickand morb' not fkgmatick perfons have, thefe will cry and brawl in the night, efpecially if they do unquictly perform their dayes la¬ bour, and have care of. their bulineffe, having much to do. As are fome bufie-bodies, unquiet boalling people, that thruft thcm¬ felves into all bufineiles, and run here and there, and ufe llrange geftures, and you may know them by their eyes, countenance,gace, cloathing, and whole habit of their bodies, all which they com¬ pote divers wayes, and change them, taking upon them another perfon, as of a Player, Fencer, or Mountebank, that runs up and down, and calls the pcople together to fee idle fports. Hence it Men quiet in comes that they rife in their deep, and make a great noife and the dah arc clapping of their hands, by reafon of phantafms that are repre- fentedto their fenfe? and that agree with their wills and diurnal anions. So all of us when we do any thing ferioufly in the day¬ time, the fpecies and reprefentations of fuch things will trouble our minds in the night,and make us cry out and tofle up and down, y Which Lucretm fets down in verfe thus ;
We fee that many in their fleep will walk,
Will do what they did wakings Lawyers talk find plead their caufes firongly, anclLawes write ” And CjeneraU wage war , and fiercely fight.
Saylers will ft rile with winds , and every man Ufeth the fame profeffion that he can . .
Or what he hath long ufed , or that kind That id mofi pleafing to his troubled mind .
' ; i \ * ■ f v . ’ . > 1
For what hath tryed us and employed us all the day, when the day is at an end flies to the brain, and caufeth ditlempcrs in the ib t,ter at lead holds the mind with Employment, that the fleep i* iioc iwcec but interrupted by dreams.
ft
CHAP.
102
Mens bodies when they are drown'd willflote on their backs , Book If,
CHAP. YI.
*
1. 7. c.
A SitMle fronts floting blad¬ ders.
An Egg and Ambcrgrcece put into brine ■will fwim.
A woman bath larger paflages than a. man. +s
why men have a (Irong voice , and women a jbriU voice.
€>f tbofe that are drown'd ^ mens bodies will flote on their backs , and womens will flote on their faces ^ and if then lungs be taken forth they will not fwim.
IT is found by experience in the Low-Countries, which Pliny alfo certifies, that mens bodies when they are drown’d lye on their backs with their faces upwards toward Heaven ; but women lve with their faces groveling downwards, and flote with their faces toward the ground. In which Nature is thought to take care of their chaftity, that their fecrets may not be feen, but be decent- ly concealed. But I think it is becaufe a woman hath a great bel¬ ly flicking forth, and larger receptacles, and her belly, inteftines, urinary paflages are more open, and her breads more fpungy and fwoln ; which becaufe they are fill’d with abundance of humours, the belly is made heavy, and being thus ftretchcd with the water, inclines downwards.
Which thing we fee in bladders and veflels that are flopped, that part of them which contains the Ayr flotes upward ; but where the water is contain’d, that part is downwards. The fame you may fee in an Egg, thatcaft upon (alt brine willflote, but that part where the weight is, will link: but the part filled with Ayr, namely, that which when the fhell is broken is empty, when they grow old and rotten it will fwim a top. But unlefle nature had given larger paflages and receptacles to thisfex, I pray how could copulation be done ? what could help conception and carry¬ ing the child in the womb, for fecrctly by reafon of this the ma¬ trix fwells, and the child growes ? what remedy were there for painful labour in child-birth, where the parts muft be flretched forth and dilated, that the child may come forth with more eafe ? what laftly would ferve for the childs nourifbment ? unlefle the womb and entrance of it were fo made ; unlefle the curious and fo handfomely fwelling forth breafts that are fo full of millk were /nadefor that ufe? Since therefore a woman hath all her pafla¬ ges and cavities larger, and drinks in much moyfture ; it muft be that that part fhould fink downward that ismoft loaded with wa* ter. But a man hath narrow guts, {freight urinary paflages ; and is more endanger’d by the ftone than a woman is, hath his abdomen not fo much flretched out, hiship bones are ftrong and weighty, his arms are ftrong, and his fhoulders large ; his back bone is faft with the fpondils joyn’J together ; his Lungs are hollow and large; whence it is that men have a loud and deep voice, but women have a fmall fhrill voice, becaufe their breaft is narrow. All thefe things undoubtedly caufc a man to fwim on his back, and a wo¬ man on her belly. For by nature all heavy things fall downwards, and light things upwards. And I think that is the caufe that men that are drown’d cannot come above water prefently. For when “ . . . “ their
The bodies that are drown'd will bleed , &c.
Chap.7.
102
their bodies arc full of water, and kept down by the weight of the water, they cannot come up, becaufc there is no ayr in them, and ^Lnui d9 allthpfpiric is driven forth by the abundance of water. But in 7. not rife fre¬ er 9. dayes the body will fiore, for it is diflolved and corrupts, fmb. and the lungs gather much Ayr. Hence it is, that our common n people ufe to lay, that on the 9th day when a man’s gal l is broken drown’d wilt he will rife above watery not that his gall bladder is broken, but becaule the humours run forth of that and other moyft parts that are flagging, whence the body when the flefh is rarified rlotes ; and the lungs that are hollow like a l'punge, taking in a great deal of Ayr, ratio the body abovethe water; For this part ballances andfuliains bodies doting on the water; and the larger lungs a man hath, and the more holes are in them, the longer a man can hold his breath, and flay at the bottom of the water a longer time.
I heard Dr. refaliw, a man of excellent wit and learning, relate, a memorable that a Moor that was a urinator, was brought to Ferrat" out of a °f* galley, that could alone continue hisvoyce longer, aqd-.holloyy without taking breath, than any four of the ftrongeif Mc/i : Aga-jn he would flop his breath and his noftrils, and hofcf'hjs tupgiji dole, and not breathe at all longer than all they could : By whifh gift of nature he won thus much, that being oft-times taken, jap llili efcaped, and like a Dydapper he would for half an hour jyp at the bottom of the Sea, and lhake off his yoke of captivity th$t was more bitter than death. Large capacious Lungs will dp wbat ^go(i thus much for a man , that he fhall foon run a Journey ; coma from that if he can fwim, he can lyc longer upon the waters , ***$?•■
and if he fall into any deep River he will not be fo foon drown’d 5 and when he is drown’d he will fiote in a few dales.
And if thefe bellows of breath be taken out when a man is dead, as I hear feme Pyrars have done ; he will flay at bottom and neyqr fwim up again, becaufc he wants the benefit of the Ayr. :j3
. -i ' ; .... ..II
CHAP. VII.
/
7 he bodies of thefe that are drown'd when they fwim up and come to be feen ; at of thofe that are murder ed, when their friends are prefent y or the murderers , they bleed at the nef ? and other parts of their body,
Since there arc many things in Nature that will make us to woo- The dead wjt Jerfi mink this is one of the chief, that blood .will run out ofthje wounds, of one that is flain, if he be prefent that gave the woup.d, and is guilty of the murder: and that drowned bodies taken out of the waters, will bleed at fome parts, if any of their friends be n igh, and the blood is commonly fo red and lively, as though the /
faculties and vital lpirits that agitate the humours were not yet defunct. For that is obferved by the Magiftratcs and the Rulers of all the Low-Countries, who are wont to be prefent to take no¬ tice of dead bodies, however they came to die, before they be
buried.
V
104
The bodies that are murdered will bleed , &c. Book II.
Plants cut up growing for a time .
Mi?:
buried. But how this fhould be, it is no eaBe matter for any man to refolve. I know that in dead people for a time there re¬ mains a vegetable force, whereby their hair and nails incrcafe, imbred moyBure affording nutriment to outward heat. So Plants and ihrubs cut off, will grow green for fome dayes, and bear flow¬ ers if they chance to be moyftned with water. For there is an im¬ bred force in Balks, which they have from the root, and when that is gone, the leafs wither and grow dry and fall off. So it may be that the blood lying hid in the veins may break forth when the body is Birred. For we feeiuch men carryed up and down by Porters, and to be fet with their faces fometimes upwards, fome- times downwards, and tolled to and fro. Whence it may be the veins mouths are opened, and the blood that hath not yet put off its natural colour may run out; But from, thofe that are long dead, and late found, rot red blood, but bloody corrupt matter runs forth of the wound of him that is flain. But if they dyed by a fall, or were killed by fomething falling on them, at mat part where the paflages of the body are open, a bloody liquor will run out,namely by the eyes,noBriU,cars,or nether parts. So commonly we fee in a- Buxibleand loofebody, when it hath layn unburied -Two or three dayes, that a liquor will run forth mingled with blood, when the bearers with much motion carry the bier on •their ihoulders*. AlfoOxen &: Bulls when they are flain and hang’d up to the beams in houfes, make the pavement bloody with drops oFolood ; whe refore I conjecture it comes from fome fuch caufe. But this leems to be mod likely, that the friends of the party flain, bleed fMniy or he that-4ilkd him will bleed at the nofe, by a fudden fright, from a pig t. .wjien t^y^hehold thedead ca’rkaBe, becaufc the natural facul¬ ties and mind happen to be vehemently moved and fhaken, and the ^humours do not Band Bill, but Bote here and there. For we fee them Brangely affeCted, and troubled both in their fpeech and thoughts, and fometimes they blufh, fometimes look pale , and tremble for fear 5 whence it comes to pa Be, that by long looking on, and being troubled, the blood will break out of their noBrils whether they will or no. As we fee the fame will happen to thofe who fudderijy chance to fee and think on fome lad objects, or la¬ mentable tilings. If any man fay, that fympathy, that is, mutual content of Nature, drawes blood from kindred, and Antipathy and fecret difagreement makes the murderers bleed, I am not againft that. But I fhall more eafily grant this, that blood will run forth of the wound, though it be beund over with Ivvathbands, if he that did the murder Band by. For fo great is the force of fecrec ’Nature, and fo powerful is Imagination, that if there be any life left, or the dead body be warm, the blood will boyl, and wax hot by choler kindled in thedead body.
A man will
Blood will wax hot again in dead bodies.
Chap. 8.
■ — :-r
Of. the Helmets oj Children newly lorn.
' "I-O? ',-0
CHAP. VIII.
Of the Helmets of Children newly born , or of the thin and foft caul , wherewith the face is covered as with a vizard, or coverings when they come firfl into the world ,
THere is an old opinion, not onely prevalent among# the com* mon and ignorant people, but alfo among# men of great note, and Phyficians alfo, how that children born with a caul over their faces, are born with an omen , or fign of good or bad luck; when as they know not that this is common to all, and that the child in the womb was defended by thefe membranes. For there are three coverings or membranes that involve the Infant in the Mothers womb : The outmoft is called by the Greeks yjifv, or in Latine the Secondine^ becaule it comes forth prefently artcr the birth: there are two ocher membranes under this ^ the fir# whereof from the figure or a pudding-gut is called tAlantorides , and it is bred of the womans ieed that is put upon the head, but¬ tocks and feet, and lyes upon the eminent parts, and the ufe of it is to receive the urine outlie child formed. Tne la# is a very thin skin or membrane, that drinks up the fvvect and vapours that conic forth of the child when It growes up, and compafleth the child roundabout, it is called oAmnios^ from its thin lamb-like tender* neffe. Which fences and helps in child-bearing, provident na¬ ture hath provided, left the Infant fhould fuffer any inconvenience by bruifing, or be hurt outwardly. The la# of thefe fometimes come forth with the child, being faftned to the parts they are ap¬ pointed for, efpecially when the paftages are open, and the fecrets of the woman and genital parts are 1 oof e, and open wide in bear¬ ing. But if the child can hardly with great ftrugiing get forth of thefe (freights, and the woman be of a narrow palfagc, thofe membranes flick by the way, and thofe skins are wiped off, as any fmall skin is wiped from the face, or other parts or the body, when we creep through fome cranny or narrow hole. Wherefore old Wives fay, this skin when it covers rhe face, is a helmet, of which they fpeak many fabulous things, and fright or cheer the child¬ bearing woman. If this cover be black, they fpeak as from an Oracle (whenas they do but dote, and know not what they fay) that fuch children fhall fuffer many fad accidents, and that manv misfortunes hang over their heads, and chat ill {pints will haunt them, and fhall be vexed with dreams and night vifions, un- Iefie this be broken and given in drink-, which again# my will many have done to the great hurt of the child. But if this cover be red, or the skin that is fa# co toe crown of the head, they pro¬ phetic that he will be a notable child, and fhail have great fuc- cefleinall his affairs. And this fupcrftitious old opinion was held alfo by the Ancients* For pJ^Liw Lampridim in the life of An- toninw 'Diadumenw , vvhofe head was crown’d with a Diadem and a
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R Garland,
An old Wives opinion of the caul of chil¬ dren.
Three Mem¬ branes defend the child .
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when the thUd comes with a helmet.
What fignificth a blacli cover¬ ing of the child.
The red helmet What that fig- nifies.
Antoninus had a Diadem on his head .