SPECULUM MUNDI OR A GLASS REPRESENTING THE FACE OF THE WORLD; SHOWING both that it did begin, and must also end: The manner How, and time When, being largely examined.  
WHEREUNTO IS JOINED an Hexameron, or a serious discourse of the causes, continuance, and qualities of things in Nature; occasioned as matter pertinent to the work done in the six days of the World's creation.  AUG. in Ser. de Ascen. Qui se dicit scire quod nescit, temerarius est. Qui se negat scire quod scit, ingratus est. 
¶ Printed by the Printers to the University of Cambridge. 1635.   

TO THE MOST NOBLE AND ILLUSTRIOUS JAMES Duke of Lenox, Earl of March, Baron of Setrington, Darnley, Terbanten, and Methven, Lord great Chamberlain and Admiral of Scotland, Knight of the most noble order of the Garter, and one of his Majesty's most honourable Privie-Councel in both Kingdoms.  
May it please your Grace,  
AFter I had brought this small portion of my intended labour to that unpolished perfection which now it is, and loath to let it go abroad without a Maecenas to protect it, I could not on the sudden resolve, either whom, or where to make my choice. For it is a tenet which may be easily granted, that men of retired lives, and small-grown fortunes, are seldom known to many; it being with them as with those in the dark, who see and observe the passages to and fro of others in the light, but are unseen themselves: which condition, sith it doth little less than jump with mine, and reflect with an opposite rade upon me, I could not, I confess, at the first be settled, until my second thoughts recalled the happy memory of your gracious name: unto whom I could not but commit the patronage of this unworthy work; both in regard that I was then a student in that house, where and when your welcome presence made it glad; as also (if it be not presumption so to say) in that I was directed by one and the selfsame tutor with your gracious self. But above all, my especial motive hereunto, was the never doubting thought of your kind good will to students, and encouragement of those whose wishes are well devoted to the Muses. Now then, if it may please your Grace to make this book yours, by protecting it from the detracting crew of Zoilus his company, I shall think myself always too poor to express my thankfulness. Let it be as the grapes of Babel, who (as the Jews have it in a certain Apologue) sent upon a time to the vineleaves of Judea, desiring to be overshadowed by them; for otherwise they should be consumed by the heat of the sun, and never suffered to grow up to maturity. The wings of your favour may be as those leaves to shelter my green and scarce grown grapes; so shall I hope to see them thrive: not as the camomile, by being trodden on; nor as the palm, by being suppressed: for they be like to such a plant which needeth props, and is cherished by the pearled distillations of crystal dew. And as for your gracious self, my wishes are, that your honours and dignities may increase with your hours; and let eternal glory be attendant on your virtues, to crown them with eternity: so shall you live, not only with saints above, but with ●…en below; and have the precious memory of your ren●…wned name honoured of those, whose times are yet unborn, and beings as yet far from being. Thus prayeth  
Your Grace's most humbly devoted servant, JOHN SWAN.   

To the Reader.  
Gentle Reader,  
I Present thee here with a book of no great volume, yet stored with much variety; and seeing I am guilty of my many weak infirmities, and no few overfights, I cannot but crave thy courteous acceptation: for it is a granted Maxim, that a slander by hath often better eyes than they who play the game. Howbeit he were no man that could not err, no more than they whose rancored mouths shall bite with scorn, or vent the poison of a loathed disdain. In a word, if thou expectest acquaint language, or fragrant flowers of flowing Rhetoric, I am somewhat sorry my sad fate should prove so cruel as not to give way for satisfaction. Believe it, I could have wished a better style, and not been sorry to have soared aloft: and yet again I must confess, that as eloquence was never any part of my essence, so neither was my aim so much at that, as to produce apt matter fitting the seriousness of the subject I took in hand. And verily if in this my hopes fail me not, I do not fear but my pains will be accepted: for although I go not about to teach the learned (because Humiles arbusta juvant) yet the ignorant may be instructed in what before they knew not; yea, and the learned also may be occasioned to call again to mind something which (for the present) hath either slept, or slipped their memories by reason of their better thoughts, and deeper contemplations. Be not therefore unjust judges in an harmless cause, nor forward censurers, churlishly to blast young springing blossoms in their tender bud: but rather take in good part this from him, who resteth, as his own, so also  
Yours in this or the like endeavour, JOHN SWAN.   

To his friend the Author.  
THou art the World, and now methinks I see  
A world of goodness here distilled from thee;  
Distilled in lines so sweetly, I protest  
I thought thy book the crystal of thy breast:  
Where live Ideas, such as all shall pass  
When they endure; only in clearness glass.  
Yet now i'll blame thee: If thou wouldst have had  
The world drawn right, some line should have been bad.  
THO. HARLESTON, Coll. Pemb.   


WHen fresh Aurora first puts forth her head,  
And calls bright Solemnising from out his Eastern bed,  
She modestly doth blush; her crimson die  
Makes red the verges of the dawning sky:  
Fearing (perhaps) that Sols reflecting ray  
Procures too hot, to some too cold a day.   

So I, with bashful fear and trembling doubt,  
This newborn book into the world send out.  
Some (sure)▪ 'twill please: but never all did any.  
I wish the All were few, the Some were many.   

But be they as they will; 'tis told me since,  
That envy snarleth most at innocence:  
And those who least know where to find th' amiss,  
Will soon brag they could do more than this.  
Let them go on; they hurt not me nor mine:  
Detracting harms reflect at home in fine.   
J. S.   

A table of the contents in the several Chapters, Sections, Paragraphs, Articles, and Questions, which are contained in this book.  
CHAP. I. 
THe first Chapter concerneth the world's beginning and ending; and is divided into three Sections. 

Sect. 1. That the world began, and must also end.  
Sect. 2. Of the manner how the world must end.  
Sect. 3. Of the sundry times which some have fancied out for the world's ending.    CHAP. II. 
THe second Chapter concerneth the time of the year when the world began: and it is divided into seven Sections. 

Sect. 1. Of three opinions concerning the time of the world's creation; with a confutation of the first.  
Sect. 2. Their reasons showed who suppose the time to be in the Spring.  
Sect. 3. That the world began in Autumn; with an answer to their first reason who endeavour to prove it was in the Spring.  
Sect. 4. An answer to their second reason.  
Sect. 5. An answer to their third reason.  
Sect. 6. An answer to their fourth reason.  
Sect. 7. Concluding the time to be Autumn.    CHAP. III. 
THe third Chapter concerneth the first day of the world; and is divided into three Sections. 

Sect. 1. Of God the Architect of all; and of the first part of the first day's work.  
Sect. 2. Of the creation of Light.  
Sect. 3. Of the intercourse between day and night.    CHAP. FOUR 
THe fourth and fifth Chapters concern the second day, with such things as are pertinent to the work done in it; and are divided into these following Sections, Paragraphs, and Articles. 

Sect. 1. Of the Expansum, or stretching out of the heavens, called the Firmament.  
Sect. 2. Of the waters above the heavens.  
Sect. 3. Of the matter of the heavens, etc.    CHAP. V. 
THe fifth Chapter beginneth with the second part of the second day's work; and hath two Sections. 

Sect. 1. How to understand the word Heavens.  
Sect. 2. Of the Air; together with such appearances as we use to see there. This Section hath seven Paragraphs. 

Parag. 1. Of the division and quality of the Regions in the Air.  
Parag. 2. Of Meteors: first in general; then how they be divided in particular.  
Parag. 3. Of Fiery Meteors, such as are said to be pure and not mixed. This Paragraph hath thirteen Articles. 

1. Of burning Torches.  
2. Of burning Beams.  
3. Of round Pillars.  
4. Of Pyramidal Pillars.  
5. Of burning Spears, Streams, or Darts.  
6. Of dancing or leaping Goats.  
7. Of flying Sparks.  
8. Of shooting Stars.  
9 Of flying Lances.  
10. Of Fires in the Air, two kinds.  
11. Of Flying Dragons, or Fire-Drakes.  
12. Of Wand'ring Lights.  
13. Of Licking Lights.      
Sect. 2. of the fifth Chapter, still continued. 

Parag. 4. of the second Section. It concerneth Fiery Meteors impurely mixed. 

This Paragraph hath three Articles.  
1. Of Comets, etc.  
2. Of New stars, their matter and significations.  
3. Of Thunder and Lightning.    
Parag. 5. Of such Meteors as are Fiery only in appearance. This hath seven Articles. 

1. Of the Galaxia, that it is no Meteor.  
2. Of Colours in the Clouds.  
3. Of many Suns and Moons.  
4. Of Beams or Streams of Light.  
5. Of Circles or Crowns.  
6. Of the Rainbow.  
7. Of Openings, or Chaps in the sky.    
Parag. 6. Of Watery Meteros, and of their several kinds. This Paragraph hath eight Articles. 

1. Of Clouds, and their matter.  
2. Of Rain.  
3. Of Dew.  
4. Of Frosts.  
5. Of Snow.  
6. Of Hail.  
7. Of Mists, and their kinds.  
8. Of the Cobweb-like Meteor.    
Parag. 7. Of Airy Meteors. This hath five Articles. 

1. Of diverse opinions concerning Wind.  
2. Of Wind, what it is, etc.  
3. Of the division of Winds, etc.  
4. Of the quality and nature of Winds.  
5. Of Whirlwinds, Storm-windes, etc.        CHAP. VI 
THe sixth Chapter treateth of the third day, together with such things as are pertinent to the work done in it. Here befoure Sections, and two Appendices. 

Sect. 1. Showing into how many main parts the business of this day may be distinguished.  
Sect. 2. Concerning the first thing done; viz. The gathering together of the Waters, which God Almighty calleth Seas. This Section disputeth seven Questions. 

1. How the Waters were gathered together.  
2. How they could be gathered but to one place, seeing there be many Seas, Lakes, Rivers, and Fountains, far asunder.  
3. Whether they be higher than the Earth.  
4. Whether there be more Water than Earth.  
5. Whether the Earth be founded upon the Waters.  
6. The original of Rivers; as also why the Seas be salt and Rivers fresh.  
7. Of the Ebbing and Flowing of the Sea.    
Unto which Section, an Appendix is joined: and it concerns strange properties in certain Wells, Waters, and Fountains.  
Sect. 3. Of the Drie-land, appearing after the Waters were gathered: wherein the cause of Earthquakes, together with the compass and circuit of the Earth, is showed.  
Sect. 4. Of the Sprouting, Springing, and Fructification of the Earth: wherein the variety, and virtues of sundry Herbs and Trees, is largely discovered, according to the best Authors.  
Unto which two last Sections, an Appendix is joined concerning all kind of Metals, as Gold, Silver, Stones of all sorts, and such like things as are under ground.    CHAP. VII. 
THe seventh Chapter concerneth the fourth day, together with such things as are pertinent to the work done in it; namely the Matter, Names, Natures, Motions, and Offices of the Stars. It hath three Sections. 

Sect. 1. An entrance towards the discourse of the Stars and Lights.  
Sect. 2. Of the Matter, Place, Motion, and Height of the Stars, etc. This Section hath two Articles. 

1. That the Stars consist most of a Fiery matter, and are cherished by the Waters above the Heavens; as was mentioned, Chap. 4.  
2. Of their Order and Place in the Sky: and why one is higher than another.    
Sect. 3. Of those offices given to the Stars when they were created. This third Section hath three Paragraphs. 

Parag. 1. Showing that their first office is to shine upon the Earth, to rule the Day and Night, etc. Here we have two Articles. 

1. Of Light, what it is: and whether the Sun be the only fountain of Light.  
2. Of the Stars twinkling, and Suns dancing.    
Parag. 2. Of that other office; viz. that the Stars should be for Signs, etc. This Paragraph hath three Articles. 

1. That the Stars work upon the inferior world, and are signs of future events.  
2. Whether it be not a derogation from the perfection of things created, to grant that the Stars may give an inclination to Man, in his actions.  
3. Of Predictions, or understanding the Signs.    
Parag. 3. Of that other office, wherein the Stars were made (as it were) heavenly clocks. This hath three Articles. 

1. Of Seasons; as Spring, Summer, etc.  
2. Of Days and their kinds, etc.  
3. Of Years and their kinds, etc.        CHAP. VIII. 
THe eighth Chapter concerneth the creatures made in the fifth day of the world; viz. Fish, and Fowl. This Chapter hath two Sections. 

Sect. 1. Of Fishes, their names, kinds, properties; together with sundry emblems drawn from them.  
Sect. 2. Of the names, kinds, and properties of Fowls; with many and sundry emblems drawn from most of them.    CHAP. IX. 
THe ninth Chapter concerneth the creatures made in the sixth and last day; being such creatures as live neither in the Air or Water, but upon the Earth. This Chapter hath likewise two Sections. 

Sect. 1. Of Beasts, their properties, names, kinds, etc. together with sundry emblems drawn from many of them.  
Sect. 2. The creation of Man, being created male and female, and made according to the image of God: together with the institution of Marriage, and blessing given to that estate.      


CHAP. I. Wherein is showed that the world neither was from eternity, nor yet shall be extended to eternity; but that it had both a beginning, and shall also have an ending: wherein also is considerable how that ending shall be; as also the time when is largely examined.  

Sect. 1. That the world began, and must also end.  
THe Philosophers of ancient times were diversely transported in the stream of their own opinions, both concerning the world's original and continuance: some determining that it once began; others imagining that it was without beginning, and that the circled orbs should spin out a thread as long as is eternity, before it found an ending. Plato could say that it was, Dei Patris ad genus humanum 
Plato in 〈◊〉.  epistola, an epistle of God the Father unto mankind; and that God was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Creator, Maker, and Father of the whole universe. But 
a Lib. 1. de calo, cap. 10. 12. & ●…b. 2. 1 lib 8. I h●…s. & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, & co●….  Aristotle sticked not to affirm that the world neither began, nor yet shall end. Yet this his opinion, himself being witness, was nothing else but a Paradox; and (as without wrong to him may be affirmed) he maintained it rather by way of contradicting others, then for any desire of truth, calling it Problema topicum, as in the first book of his Topics, chap. 9 is manifest; and as in 
b Lib. de mundo.  that book written in his old age to king Alexander the Great, he also confesseth. This therefore made 
c Pareus on Gen.  one say, that it was not so much a logical question, as a thesis or position which Aristotle held and maintained: whose reasons some have called 
* Inaniasoph. smata ad obscurandam veritatem, ingenios●… magis quam solid●… excogitata. Pareus ibid.  vain sophistications to obscure the truth, having more with then matter in them; and may again be answered by more solid arguments than he allegeth. For that the world had both a beginning, and must also have an ending, even reason itself, although there were no Scripture for it, is sufficient.  
As first, if the world were eternal, then there would be some memory given us of the generations of men more ancient than that which Moses mentioneth: but there is none given us; for all other histories are but late in respect of the sacred story: which is an evident argument, not only against the eternity of the world, but also against the fables of the Egyptians, Scythians, and Grecians, concerning their ancientness, and the ancientness of their acts and deeds of fame.  
For indeed (omitting their palpable fictions) when Ethnic writers tell us of any ancient thing, it is either concerning the Theban or Trojane war; of Cecrops, of Inachus, of Ogyges, Deucalion, or janus; of Ninus, or his father Belus, or of the war of the giants, striving to heap mountain upon mountain that they might pull the gods out of heaven. Now all these were either about the days of the Judges, Moses, Abraham, or Noah at the furthest. For to whom did they allude by their janus with two faces, but to Noah, who saw the times both before and after the flood? Or whom did they point at by their Gigantomachia, when Pelion (forsooth) must be set upon Ossa's back, and all thrown down with a thunder-crack; whom (I say) did they point at, but Nimrod and his company, or those who built the tower of Babel, and had their languages confounded for it?  
That of the Poet is therefore pertinent, 
L●…ret. lib. 6.   
— Si nulla fuit genitalis origo  
Terrarum & coeli, sempérque aeterna fu●…re:  
Cur supra bellum Thebanum & funera Trojae  
Non alias alii quoque res cecinêre Poetae?  
Quò tot facta virûm toties cecidêre? nec usquam  
Aeternis famae monimentis insita florent?  
If that the heavens and earth did not begin,  
Had no creation, but remained from aye;  
Why did not other Poets something sing  
Before the Theban war, or fall of Troy?  
What are become of great men's many deeds?  
They could not die,  
But would remain unto posterity.  
Secondly, thus it may be also proved; All things which are to us conspicuous, consisting of matter and form, are of themselves frail and fading, having such a nature, that they either are or may be subject to corruption; but such is the world: and therefore as in respect of its essence it is finite; so likewise in respect of time it cannot be infinite, but have both a beginning and an ending. For first that is properly eternal, which is altogether incommunicable, or which is without beginning, mutation, succession, and end: and such only is God, and not the world. Secondly, it cannot be denied but that there is the same reason of the whole which is of the parts; so that if the parts of the world be subject to corruption, then must likewise the whole world also: but the parts are (as we daily see) and therefore the whole.  
But leaving reason, we have a rule beyond it, which is the rule of faith; whose first assertion makes it plain that the world began; and that Time (by which we measure days, weeks, months, and years) hath not 
Gen. 1. 1.  been for ever. For, In the beginning (saith Moses) God created the heavens and the earth: and why is it said, In the beginning he created, but that it might be known (especially to his Church) that the world 〈◊〉 from everlasting?  
Divinely therefore did Du Bartas sing, as in the sound of Silvester we have it,  
Clear fire for ever hath not air embraced, 
Du Barta●… first day.   
Nor air for aye environed waters vast,  
Nor waters always wrapped the earth therein;  
But all this ALL did once of nought begin.  
Th' immutable divine decree, which shall  
Cause the world's end, caused his original.  
Which whosoever shall deny, he doth but betray his misery; either because he wants God's holy word to be his rule, or else because he disdaineth to be ruled by it.  
How great a privilege than is that which even the poorest Christian hath above the greatest and most wise Philosopher! And as for the scoffing Atheist, whose peevish and perverse opinion leads him up and down in an affected cloud of ignorance, disdaining to have faith, because he scoffeth at the rule of faith; it is no more than thus with him, he kicks against the pricks, and cannot therefore escape away unhurt. For, Sequitur injustas ultor à tergo Deus; God, as a revenger, follows at the heels of a sinner,  
Which many thousands now can witness well,  
Whose faults with woe recanted are in hell.   

Sect. 2.  
BUt concerning the world's ending, here fitly may 
The manner of the world's ending is showed.  arise this question, viz. Whether it shall be destroyed according to the substance, or according to the qualities.  

1. If it be destroyed according to the substance, than it must be so destroyed, as that nothing of it be remaining.  
2. If it be destroyed according to the qualities, than it shall only be purged, the substance still abiding.   
Now of both these opinions there can be but one truth; which I verily think to be in the latter of them. For although it be said in S. Peter, that 
* 2. Pet. 3. 10.  the heavens shall pass away with a noise, & the elements shall melt away with heat, etc. Yet it is not so far forth to be understood, as that in their substances they shall be quite burnt up; but rather that they shall be purified in their vicious qualities, which the vanity of sin hath laid upon the model of the whole world. And this S. Paul points at when he saith, that 
* Rom. 8. 21, 22.  the creature itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. For we know (saith he) that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And again in the hundred and second Psalm, where the Prophet saith that 
* Psal. 102. 26.  the heavens and the earth shall perish, and wax old; he showeth that their perishing shall only be a changing: For as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed.  
Whatsoever therefore is spoken of their consuming, passing away, and perishing, is meant only in respect of their corruptible qualities, the substance still abiding: and so shall the fire at the last day serve for a purging, not for an utter consuming. There shall indeed be nothing unchanged, because all things shall be renewed, and each thing brought into a perfect state, Acts 3. 21. A new heaven and a new earth, 2. Pet. 3. 21. Not new by creation, but by commutation; Non per interitum pristinorum sed commutationem in melius, as saith 
* Hier. on▪ 〈◊〉.  S. Hierome; Not by a destruction of the old, but by a change into a better.  
Which thing is yet further seen even in the little world Man, who is the Epitome of the greater world itself. For he, in the substance of his body, shall not be destroyed, but changed; and in stead of corruption shall put on incorruption▪ as saith S. Paul; beholding at the 
1. Cor. 15. 53.  
Job 19 26.  last day his Redeemer, not with other (saith Job) but with these same eyes. In like manner, the greater world, in stead of corruption, shall (I verily think) put on incorruption; and being purged by the fire, shall be delivered 
* Rom. 8. 21.  into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. It shall not be delivered only in the liberty of the sons of God; that is, when they are delivered: but it shall be delivered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, into their liberty; as it is Rom. 8. 21. If it were only in their liberty, or when they are delivered; then in stead of a changing, there might be a consuming: which is in some sort a delivery; because (although quite taken away) there is then no longer a subjection unto vanity: but seeing it is into the liberty of the sons of God, it shall (like man's glorified body) put on incorruption; and so, suo modo, in its kind, be partaker of an incorruptible state.  
But in this changing, I think we may fitly exempt all 
The creatures remaining at the world's ending.  such creatures which now serve only for the necessity of man's life; as those which be for food, clothing, and the like: because then (at the end of the world I mean) there shall be an end likewise of all such needs.  
Yet there are those who comprehend the brute beasts also, and other creatures having sense and life, within the limits of this liberty: but they do somewhat qualify their meanings; as thus: They shall not be partakers of the glory of the sons of God; yet in their kind they shall be fellows with them in that glorious state, like as once they were in Paradise, before man had fallen. But whether I may embrace this opinion, I know not; and 
See also Dr. willet's Hexap. on Rom. chap. 8. quaest. 34.  that in regard of the foresaid reason: unto which others also assent, 
a Pot. Mart. ●…oc. c●…m.  saying, Istas naturas rerum non mansuras in extremo die, nisi aliquid opus habiturae sint. Wherefore we may rather rely upon this, without any such special respect unto those creatures; namely, that the world's fabric, consisting of heaven and earth, shall not be destroyed, but renewed according to the qualities, by the purging fire. For the moon shall shine as the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as saith the Prophet Esay, chap. 30. 26. which S. Hierome expoundeth thus, viz. that the sun and moon shall receive that admired augmentation of light, as a reward of their labours. Yea and 
* Zach. 14. 7.  Zachary also witnesseth that there shall be but one perpetual day: for there shall be so great light that there shall be no difference between day and night; as some observe from thence. Neither is it a marvel, saith 
b Pet. Mart. ●…x ch●…soss.  Chrysostome, that the creatures should at that time be illustrated with so great splendour and light: for kings, upon the day when they inaugurate their sons, are wont to provide, not only that they may come forth with all singular pomp and appearance; but also that their servants may be well adorned. Much more therefore may we think, when Christ shall sit in glorious majesty upon his throne, and the just, who are the sons of God, shall be admitted to their paternal heritage and kingdom, that then God Almighty shall cause that all his creatures be decked with an extraordinary brightness, beauty, and lustre. For although it be 
* Esay 60. 19 Revel. 21. 23.  said that the moon and the sun shall shine no more, but rather that the Lord himself will be for an eternal light; yet it meaneth not that those stars should perish, but that the uncreated light shall be 
c Part. in Apoc. cap. 21.  more glorious. So that as now the greater light obscures the less; in like manner it shall be then when we come into that city which wanteth not the sun or moon. It is not said, solemn & lunam non habebit; sed, Non indigebit, ut luceant in ea; that the city shall have no sun and moon; but that it shall not want them to shine in it: silently declaring, that then indeed shall be those luminaries; yet they shall not then perform, as now, the same uses of light, being subject to motion, and an incessant wheeling up and down to cause a rising and setting, yea and to distinguish one time and day from another: For time is but as a space borrowed, and set apart from eternity, which must at the last return to eternity again. This for the heavens.  
And as for the earth, our Saviour promiseth, amongst other blessings, a blessing to the meek, saying, that they 
Matth. 5. 5.  shall inherit the earth: which promise of his (saith 
d Dr. Willet, Hexap. in Rom.  one) we see is not performed in this world; and therefore to be then expected, when there is a new heaven and a new earth for the saints of God; and when the whole creation (which now groaneth) shall be delivered into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Thus some.  
But in this new heaven and earth we must not expect any terrene pleasures, as the carnal Jews do dream, as the Turks believe, or as that Heretic Cerinthus held, and after him the Millenaries or Chiliasts: because such pleasures are fading, and corruptible; joys far unfit for saints, whose very bodies have put on incorruption. We look therefore for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, as saith S. Peter, 2 Pet. 3. 13. and spiritual delight unto eternity; as in Psal. 16. 12.  
And further, seeing it is said that righteousness shall dwell in the new earth as well as in the new heaven, it may from thence be gathered, that both the heaven and the earth shall be the seat of the blessed; and that the saints shall 
* Revel. 4. 14.  follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth; and that there shall be an intercourse between the said heaven and earth: which is as Jacob in his 
* Gen. 28. 12.  vision saw, when the angels were some of them ascending, some descending that ladder which reached from heaven to earth: or as 
* Matt. 17. 3.  Moses and Elias were seen talking with Christ upon the Mount.  
But herein let us not be too bold; for in this we may soon wade too far: namely if we should nicely determine how the saints shall then be disposed of; whether some always to the heaven; some always to the earth; or such like things which to us are unrevealed.  
Let it therefore suffice, that although the manner of this change be secret, and not known in every point, yet the change itself is most certain: and therefore hold we most certainly this truth for our stay, that the world shall end; and leave we the manner thereof to be exactly and particularly revealed by him, who will very quickly perform it. But of the time when, in the following Section.   

Sect. 3.  
ANd thus much concerning the manner of the world's ending.  
Now follows the time when. But here I purpose not 
Of the time when the world endeth.  to meddle with any thing which shall tend to the precise scanning of it. I will leave that to them, who, out of a desire they have to launch into the deep, have pried too far (I fear) into the secrets of the Thunderer: for oftentimes we see that they do but wisely tell us foolish tales, and smoothly bring long lies unto an end, because they say more than they have warrant for: To whom Du Bartas by our famous Silvester thus sendeth greeting,  
You have mis-cast in your Arithmetic,  
Mislaid your counters, gropingly ye seek  
In nights black darkness for the secret things  
Sealed in the Casket of the King of kings.  
'Tis He that keeps th'eternal clock of Time,  
He holds the weights of that appointed chime,  
And in his hand the sacred Book doth bear  
Of that close-clasped final CALENDAR,  
Where, in Red letters (not with us frequented)  
The certain Date of that Great Day is printed;  
That Dreadful Day, which doth so swiftly post,  
That 'twill be seen, before foreseen of most.  
Yet such is the folly and curiosity of many, that they will needs undertake to tell us when this time shall be: which if they could, than it seems it should not come as a 
* Luke 21. 3●…. 2. Pet. 3. 10. 1. Thess. 5. 2. Revel. 16. 15.  snare upon the world, nor yet steal upon us as a thief in the night: But so it shall do. For of that day and hour knoweth no man, saith our Saviour: and we may take his word; because himself by his humanity could not know it: although in his humanity, by reason of his Godhead, he was not ignorant of it. Had he not therefore been God as well as man, and of a divine as well as humane nature, he must have remained ignorant in both with men and angels. Mar. 13. 32. And furthermore concerning us, that we be not too bold, the same lesson which he taught his disciples is also ours, not to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power; as it is Act. 1. 7.  
From whence we may learn, that whilst we exercise ourselves in things that be too high for us, we shall sooner betray our own curiosity, then deliver a truth. For, Maxima pars eorum quae scimus, est minima pars eorum quae nescimus; The greatest part of those things which we know, is the least part of what we know not.  
Whereupon I cannot but think that the predictions of men in this kind (especially seeing they are so various) must needs be as true as those amongst the brood of presumptuous Astrologers concerning the end of Christian Religion, which (as 
a De verit. Christ. Relig.  Du Plessie observeth from them) should have been some hundreds of years before this time: nay, it should then have ended, when indeed it began most of all to flourish: And so I doubt not, but am certain, that the world also should have had many end before this time, according to the doting froth of some men's idle fancies; which, if need were, I could relate. But as time was little beholding to them for cutting it off so short; in like manner they were as little beholding to time for discovering their lies so plainly.  
I will therefore (before I meddle further with such approved liars) leave them unto their best friends to gain (if they can) their credit for the time past, and address myself to examine those who talk of a time yet to come.  
Amongst whom the Jews have a tradition, which although they fetch from the school or house of Elias, yet we are not bound to credit it: For it was not Elias the Prophet, but a Rabbin of the same name, as the learned know; and who more fabulous, or more full of vain fancies, than those their greatest Doctors?  
Six thousand years (saith he) the world shall stand, and then it shall be consumed by fire. Two thousand years shall be void or without Law; two thousand years shall be under the Law; and the last two thousand shall be the days of Messiah or Christ. Thus far Elias. And that this opinion hath been favoured by 
† It was favoured by Justin Martyr, Ireneus, Lactantius, Hierome, etc. but disallowed by Ambrose and Augustine. See Augustine in exposit. Psal. 90.  some of old, and is also favoured now by some of our time, I am not ignorant: which chiefly they do for this reason; namely, because the six days of weekly labour do bear the Symbol of 6000 years, wherein mankind should endure the cares, and troubles, and travels of this world; and then shall come that Sabbath of Sabbaths in the heaven of heavens, when they are to rest from their labours. Or as God was six days in creating the world before there was a Sabbath: so he shall be 6000 years in governing it; and then the seventh begins an eternal rest in heaven.  
Now this they ground upon the words of S. Peter; who, speaking of the day of judgement, noteth that a thousand years in God's sight are but as one day, and one day as a thousand years, 2. Pet. 3. 8. So that in this regard, for six days of weekly labour, they would have 6000 years of worldly trouble, and the like, before it endeth.  
But if this weakness be the greatest strength for maintaining their assertion, than I do not doubt to see their cause fainting upon the ground, as not being able to subsist, or stand upright.  
For first concerning the Rabbin, had he been a Prophet, he would certainly have been a better Seer. This I am sure of, that he was much deceived in the particular division of his time, in making three periods, all of 2000 years apiece. For although the years of the world have been diversely accounted by sundry authors; yet you shall not find the Rabbins just number of 2000 years, from the Creation to the Law; in any of them. Sealiger, Calvisius, Helvicus, Funccius, Bucholcerus, and others, who reckon the fewest years, do account 453 above two thousand; and yet they reckon not so many as they should by almost 60 years: some say altogether 60: as may be seen by Calvin, junius, Pareus, Ainsworth, or Dr. Willet on Genesis; besides many excellent Chronologers: especially Sr. W. Ralegh (that learned Knight) who in his history of the world makes it plain.  
And not only doth this Elias fail in his first division, but in his second also: For from the Law to the death of Christ are not 2000 years; there be wanting well near 500 to make them up. As for example, take a view again of Scaliger, Calvisius, Helvicus, or our countryman Mr. Thom. Lydiat, or Bucholcerus, or Petavius, or Funccius, and see if it be not even so. Bucholcerus (I think) wanteth the fewest, and yet it is manifest that he falleth short of 2000 Whereupon it may be seen that in his first division (which is for the time before the Law) he overshoots; And in his second division (for the time under the Law) he is too short; imitating a bad archer, who tries, but cannot hit the mark.  
If then for the time past the Rabbin is found to be faulty, why should we be so mad as to give credit to him for the time which is yet to come? Questionless as he hath deceived us in the one, so likewise he will deceive us in the other; and therefore he is to beslighted and nothing credited at all. Yea saith 
b 〈◊〉. Tom. 7. Praelect. de fine seculi.  one, Dictum Eliae non est authenticum. Valet quidem adversus judaeos (qui vaticinium illud admittunt) ad probandum venisse Messiam, cum jam elapsi sint anni quinquies mille & 560: sed ad finem seculi demonstrandum nihil valet. That is, The saying of Elias is not authentic. It maketh indeed against the Jews (who entertain that prophecy) to prove that the Messias or Christ is come, seeing there are 
c Note that the years from the Creation are now many more.  5560 years of the 6000 already run out: but it prevaileth nothing to show the end of the world, for which cause it was chiefly intended.  
But come we now to the examination of that forenamed place in Peter, which is brought as an help to uphold the Jews opinion, because a day taken for a thousand years, and applied to the weekly days, seemeth to point out six thousand years: so some imagine. But without doubt the Apostle meant no such thing; nor yet had in his mind to set down any strict manner of accounting times, peculiar to the court of heaven: For mark but the circumstances of the place, and view well the occasion given him to speak so as he did of the Lords coming to judgement, and then you shall soon find, that it was to comfort the godly against the cavils and reproaches of the wicked; who, because the time seemed long to them, did thereupon mock at the promise of his coming, taking it as if he would not come at all. For, Where is (say they) the promise of his coming? since the fathers 
2. Pet. 3. 4▪  fell asleep, all things continue as they did from the beginning, etc. Which is as if they should say, Is it not a great while since the world began, and yet what alteration can we see in it? yesterday was as is this day: men are born and die as orderly as they ever did: nature keeps her course, and the like: Wherefore if the Judge had meant to come or show himself at all, he would not surely that his coming should be thus long deferred, but would rather have showed himself before thus many years could possibly be born. Thus, or after this manner, such mockers reasoned and cavilled with S. Peter: which cavil of theirs is agreeable to that of S. 
* 1. Cor. 15. 12.  Paul, where he mentions such as did not believe the Resurrection, but were like minded with these who mocked at the slackness of Christ's coming to judgement.  
Saint Peter therefore, that he might 
† It was but to show (saith S. Augustine) contentnendam futuri tempo●…is 〈◊〉 vitatem.  comfort the weak and confute the wicked, showeth how to answer this their faithless objection; namely thus, That although the time be long in respect of us, yet to God (with whom there is no time either long or short) it is not so. A day compared with an hour, to us may seem long: But a thousand years compared with a day, to God they seem but short; for what is time to eternity? And therefore, although that day to the faithless seems so to be taken away, or deferred rather, as if it were not, or would not come because it quickly came not; yet know that it is not quite taken away. For (as the same Apostle speaketh at the 9 verse) God is not slack in his promises as some account slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And this (questionless) was the Apostles meaning, far differing from their fancies who from hence would fain gather that for one day God useth to account a thousand years, and a thousand years for one day. Hic sermo (saith 
d Marlor. in Pet.  one) est de aestimatione hominum, qui non aequè aestimant tempus longum & breve. This speech is according to the estimation of men, who do not equally esteem of times long and short.  
Which also doth yet further appear by that in the 90 Psal. at the 4 vers. Where, as there is a comparison likewise between 1000 years and one day; so also, in respect of God, a thousand years are compared to that which is less than a day, namely to a watch in the night. For (saith the Prophet) God turneth man to destruction, and then he saith, Turn again ye children of men. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday, and they are gone as a watch in the night. To which purpose S. Hierome 
Hierome on ●…er.  speaketh also fitly, saying, Aeternitati comparatum omne tempus est breve; that is, All time compared with eternity is but short time, yea indeed as no time. And again, did not Zanchius worthily find fault with Ireneus 
Zanch. Tom. 7. Praelect. ae 〈◊〉 se. u●…i.  and Lactantius concerning these things? Undoubtedly he did; affirming that their opinion was contrary to the word of God: For our Lord himself saith, that none can know, etc. Whereas (saith he) if this sentence of the 6000 years were true, than the time might be known.  
Let therefore they, who will, embrace this fancy of six thousand years for the whole time of the world's continuance; I cannot: For sure I am, that the tradition of Elias hath greatly failed for the time that is past: if therefore it should be true for the time which is yet to come, it were more than an unheard of wonder: and as for the argument taken from S. Peter to uphold it, how his meaning hath been thereby forced, is declared.  
Yet nevertheless I will not deny but that the world 
The world hath six Ages, but not reckoned by thousands of yeare●….  may stand six ages before it endeth; and so the ages, although not the years, may be compared to the six days of weekly labour: and that the seventh age shall begin at the resurrection, as was figured in Henoch the seventh from Adam, who died not as did the six before him, but was taken up into heaven. Unto this I assent as probable. But that each age should have a thousand years, is still denied; and as in setting them down according to Scripture will be manifest.  
The first is from the creation to the flood: and this by S. Peter is called the old world, 2. Pet. 2. 5.  
The second is from the flood to Abraham. Matth. chap. 1.  
The third, from Abraham to David. Matth. chap. 1.  
The fourth, from David to the captivity. Matth. chap. 1.  
The fifth, from the captivity to Christ. Matth. chap. 1.  
The sixth is the time after Christ; called in many places the last age, and the last of times: as in Hebrews, chap. 1. 1. God (saith the Apostle) who at sundry times and in diverse manners spoke unto the fathers by the Prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son. And again, S. Peter calls this the last of times, 1. Pet. 1. 20. S. John also saith, Little children, it is the last time, 1. John 2. 18.  
These I grant to be the six ages of the world: but who is so mad as to say or think that there were just thousands of years betwixt each or any of them? The Septuagints make more than thousands between some of them: and the Hebrews, they make less; excepting the first age. Yet if you will know their lengths according to that which is none of the worst accounts, take them thus: and this account I may afterwards prove in another work.  
The first hath 1656 years.  
The second (if we end it at the beginning of Abraham's peregrination and giving of the promise) hath the just number of 423 years.  
The third (if we end it at the death of Saul and beginning of David's kingdom after him) containeth the number of 866 years.  
The fourth (if we begin the captivity in the first year of Nabuchadnezzar) hath 448 years.  
The fifth containeth the length both of the Chaldean, Persian, and Grecian Monarchies; together with so much of the Roman greatness as was passed before Christ came into the world: amounting in all to the sum of 605 years, or there about; although we reckon no further than the birth of Christ. But go rather to his baptism, and then this age is 634, etc.  
The sixth and last hath so many years as are from the time of man's redemption until now: for hitherto this age hath continued, and shall not be ended until the 
* 1. Cor. 15. 52. Revel. 10. 5, 6.  last trumpet be blown, and Surgite mortui, venite ad judicium, Arise you dead, and come to judgement, be sounded in our ears. 
Du Bartas in the handicrafts.   
To which purpose, divine Du Bartas, that noble Poet, brings in our father Adam, speaking of these ages thus: setting them down, as if the speech had been uttered by him to his son; saying,  
The First begins with 
1 Adam.  me: the Seconds morn  
Is the first 
2 Noah.  Shipwright, who doth first adorn  
The hills with vines: that 
3 Abram.  Shepherd is the Third,  
Who after God through strange lands leads his herd,  
And (past man's reason) crediting Gods word,  
His only son slays with a willing sword.  
The four's another valiant 
4 David.  Shepherdling,  
That for a cannon takes his silly sling,  
And to a sceptre turns his shepherd's staff;  
Great Prince, great Prophet, Poet, Psalmograph.  
The Fifth begins from that sad 
5 Zedech ●…ah, or the captivity.  Prince's night  
Who s●…es his children murdered in his sight;  
Or from poor judah's doleful heaviness,  
Led captives on the banks of Euphrates.  
Hoped 
6 Christ.  Messias shineth in the sixth;  
Who, mocked, beat, banished, buried, crucifixt  
For our foul sins, (still selfly-innocent)  
Must fully bear the hateful punishment.  
The 
7 The eternal sabbath.  Last shall be the very resting-day;  
Air shall be mute, the waters works shall stay;  
The earth her store, the stars shall leave their measures,  
The sun his shine: and in eternal pleasures  
We plunged, in heaven shall aye solemnize all  
Th' eternal sabbaths endless festival.  
Thus far Du Bartas.  
But from hence I proceed; and on the sudden I have met some other sorts of calculatours. For so various are men's searching heads, that these things have not only been boulstered out by rabbinical traditions, sabbatical symbols, and the like; but also by sundry other fancies.  
Some have pretended revelations, and thereby deluded many. Amongst whom learned 
e Ger. loc. come. Tom. 9 pag. 182.  Gerard makes mention of a certain woman of Suevia in Germany, who was called Thoda; & she, in the year of Christ 848, prophesied 
Impostors and false Prophets concerning the world's ending.  that by the apparition of an Angel it was revealed unto her, that the world should end that very year. After whom there were others as true prophets as herself: namely in the years 1062, 1258, 1345, 1526, 1530, etc. He in the year 1526, ran up and down the streets, in the city of S. Gallus in Helvetia, crying with horrid gestures, that the day of the Lord was come, that it was present. And he in the year 1530, did so strongly prevail with some, that he persuaded them the last year of the world was come; whereupon they grew 
f Ibid. ut antea.  prodigal of their goods and substance, fearing that they should scarcely spend them in so short a time as the world was to continue. But this surely was an anabaptistical trick, and a chip of that block which maketh all things common; boasting of visions and dreams in an abundant manner.  
Others have pitched upon certain Mathematical revolutions, and thereby constituted a time: amongst whom joannes Regiomontanus is said to be one, who partly thought that the year 1588. should add an end to the world; because at that time was a great conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter, & Mars. Upon which occasion I remember these verses,  
Post mille expletos à partu Virginis annos,  
Et post quingentos rursus ab orbe datos,  
Octogesimus octavus mirabilis annus  
Ingruet; is secum tristia multa trahet.  
Si non hoc anno totus malus occidet orbis,  
Si non in nihilum terra fretúmque ruent;  
Cuncta tamen mundi sursum ibunt atque deorsum  
Imperia: & luctus undique grandis erit.  
That is,  
When from the Virgin's 
* Or from the time of Christ born of a Virgin.  birth a thousand years  
With full five hundred be complete and told,  
The Eighty Eighth a famous year appears,  
Which brings distress more fatal then of old.  
If not in this year all the wicked world  
Do fall, and land with sea to nothing come;  
Yet Empires must be topsy turvy hurled,  
And extreme grief shall be the common sum.  
Which what it was, the event hath showed.  
Others again dream of secrets in Cabalistical conclusions.  
Some subscribe to Analogies taken from Jubilees, or from the years of Christ's age, and the like.  
Yea, and to omit many, sundry others have their tricks and devices in Arithmetical numbers, whereby they can directly calculate the time, and make the superstitious multitude admire them, and lend a more than greedy ear to their feared predictions.  
Such a one was he, who out of these words, MUNDI 
A crotchet to show that the world must end in the year 1657; which is 24 years hence.  CONFLAGRATIO, which signify The burning of the world, hath set down the time when the world must end; namely in the year of our Lord, 1657: and that for two reasons. First, because as the year of the world 1657 was a fatal year, in regard of the universal ●…loud, which them came and drowned all the world: In like manner the year of Christ 1657 shall also be a fatal year, in regard that then shall be the end of the world by fire: for is it not said in Matthew, As it was in the days of Noah, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be? Matth. 24. 37.  
Secondly, take these two words, namely, MUNDI CONFLAGRATIO, 
1000 M 5 V  n 500 D 1 I   100 C  o  n  f 50 L  a  g  r  a  t 1 I  o 1657.   which signify in English The burning of the world, and you shall find in them so many numeral letters as will make 1657, if they be all added together; as in the margin may be plainly seen. For in the first word [MUNDI] there are M, V, D, and I; which are all numeral letters: and in the other word, namely CONFLAGRATIO, C, L, and I, are likewise letters of number; and how much every one of them doth signify is easily known: amounting in the whole sum to 1657.  
Thus, upon these two fancies, is this prediction grounded: which that it is altogether idle may easily appear.  
For first concerning the universal flood which they urge; that year was indeed a fatal year to the world when it came: but that it came in the year of the world 1657, is denied: for it came, not when Noah was 600 years complete; but when he was in the six hundredth year current of his age: and so the year of the world was not 1657, but 1656. As for example; 

Seth was born to Adam, when he was 130. Gen. 5. 3.  
Enos to Seth, when he was 105. Gen. 5. 6.  
Kenan to Enos, when he was 90. Gen. 5. 9  
Mahalaleel to Kenan, when he was 70. Gen. 5. 12.  
Iared to Mahalaleel, when he was 65. Gen. 5. 15.  
Henoch to Iared, when Iared was 162. Gen. 5. 18.  
Mathuselah to Henoch, when Hen. was 65. Gen. 5. 21.  
Lamech to Mathuselah, when Ma. was 187. Gen. 5. 25.  
Noah to Lamech, when Lamech was 182. Gen. 5. 29.  
Then came the flood in the year of Noah 600. Gen. 7. 11   All which do make (being added together) 1656, and not 1657, as they imagine: because that which is said of Noah in Gen. chap. 7. verse 6. viz. that he was 600. years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth, is expounded in two several places after it, that it must be understood of his 600 year current, and not complete. The places are Gen. 7. 11. and Gen. 8. 13; the one expressing the beginning, the other the ending of the flood: and so also the most and best chronologers hitherto have observed, although some do not.  
Which, as it is agreeable to the truth of computation, so also (that I may answer one fancy by another) it is more congruous to the nature of the number of the year wherein it came: For Six is no number of rest; witness the six days of creation, the six days of our weekly labour, and the six ages of the world. But Seven is for rest; witness the sabbatical days, the sabbatical years, and that▪ eternal sabbath in the heaven of heavens, when the six ages of the world shall be ended.  
Wherefore, in the year of the world 1656, the Ark was without rest, and tossed upon the waters: but in the year 1657, it found rest; the waters were dried up and gone; and Noah then came out and offered sacrifice.  
And further, admit it be said, that As it was in the days of Noah, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be: Doth this point out any thing concerning the time of his coming? Verily no. It shows indeed the great security that shall then be in the world amongst the wicked: so that as the flood came upon the old world when they feared nothing; in like manner shall the coming of the Son of man be. But what is this to the time? Our Saviour doth not compute the time, but compares the manners of the times together; as may be very plainly seen by that which he hath elsewhere published, saying, that the coming of the Son of man shall be, not only As it was in the days of Noah, but also As it was in the days of Lot, Luke 17. 28.  
For conclusion therefore, seeing the flood came before that year which they have computed, it may easily appear that their Mundi conflagratio for the end of the world in the year of Christ 1657, is but an idle fancy. And as for the time which they refer to the days of Noah, we see that it is likewise referred to the days of Lot: the intent only being to compare the times, and not compute them.  
But secondly for their Mundi conflagratìo; admit it were so that the flood did not come until the year of the world 1657 (as they would have it) yet why should it be that these numeral letters must be picked out of two Latin words rather then out of words in some other language? In Greek it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; out of which words you may gather 1830 at the least.  
Surely in this we may say, that as in the making of anagrams upon a name, if one language will not help us, we may then write the name in some other tongue rather than want letters for our purpose: so the same liberty (belike) he took who was the first author of this fancy for the world's ending: wherefore we may well conclude that it is but idle and not worth regarding.  
Another (much like to this) is that which others have also hatched; whereby in the year of Christ 1645, should be the end of the world.  
Now this they gather out of these words, ADVENTUS 
Another erotchet, whereby the world should end in the year 1645; which now 12 is years hence.  DOMINI, which signify The coming of the Lord; for in them they have so many numeral letters as will make 2012: out of which they subtract so much as they gather out of these words, DIES ABBREVIABUNTUR, The days shall be shortened; namely 517: and then the remainder of 2012 is 1495: unto which they add so many as these words will afford, viz. PROPTER ELECTOS, which signify For the elects sake; wherein is a number of 150; and so the whole sum amounteth to 1645, being (as they fond imagine) the last year of the world.  
But if such or the like fancies could hold, than (questionless) 
The former opinion confuted.  the world should have had many end since it first began; and must either have had a new creation, or else no world had been till now.  
As for example, either in the year 1532, or in the year 1533, or in the year 1578, or in the year 1588., or in the year 1623., the judgement day (upon these grounds) was foretold to come. For first, in the year 1532, they had two ways to prove it; either out of these words, VIDEBUNT INQVEMPUPUGERUNT; or out of these words, VIDEBUNT IN QVEMTRANSFIXERUNT; 
John 19 37.  which signify, They shall look on him whom they pierced; the numeral letters being in either of these so many as will make 1532. Secondly, for the year 1533, they had this false proof, binding still upon numeral letters, which they gathered out of these words, JESUS NAZARENUS REX JUDAEORUM, jesus of 
Vide Buchol. chron. anno Dom. 1533.  Nazareth king of the jews; here being so many as will make 1533. Thirdly, for the year 1578, thus it was: viz. they take these words, ADVENTUS DOMINI, and in them they have 2012; out of which number they subtracted 517, which they gathered from DIES ABBREVIABUNTUR; and then the remainder makes 1495: unto which they add the number of the letters [a, c, n, t, s,] in adventus, which were not numeral before, yet by their natural position in the alphabet or crosse-row they give 56: then again by the same reason they take 27 out of [o and n] the non-numerall letters in the word Domini; both which numbers being added to 1495, do make 1578. Fourthly, for the year 1588., the manner of calculating is as before for the year 1645; unto which number having raised their sum, they subtract [a, e, n, t, s,] viz. 56: and so they have 1587. years, which they reckon complete, and refer their prediction to the beginning of the year 1588. Vide Gerardum in locis communibus, pag. 185. Tom. 9 Fifthly, for the year 1623., thus was the fancy, JUDICARE VIVOS & MORTVOS, To judge the quick and 
Vide Diete●…. post Dom. 2. adven.  the dead: Now here (as before) they were led by numeral letters, having so many as would make 1623., in which year they dreamt of the world's ending. Now these times we know are passed long since, but the event you see hath not answered to the prophecy. Things therefore of the like nature being yet to come, and built upon the same grounds, cannot but prove as false.  
But what need many words be spent about the confutation of such idle dreams and foolish fantasies? Surely, that great and terrible day of the world's ending, is a thing of greater moment then that it should be thus dallied with. Let not therefore the quintessence of wit expose us to such impudent folly: For although it may somewhat please us in show; yet, when the best is made of it that can be, it will be proved, not only the doting froth of a witty brain, but also a superstitious and an heathenish vanity.  
I have seen a world of fancies more upon this subject, especially such as may be taken out of 
g See Treas. of ancient and modern times, l. 4. cap. 20.  Cusa, who was made Cardinal under Pius the second: But seeing they are as idle as the former, and built upon as false grounds, I scarce hold them worth the answering.  
Yet (having come thus far) let me go a little further, because in the next place I hope to meet some wiser men; granting (as indeed they ought) that the precise day and hour of the world's ending cannot be known: yet they would not have any to be so 
h Napeir on the Revelat. Prop. 14 where he determines the time to be betwixt the years 1688, and 1700; naming either the year 1697, or 1699.  base of judgement, as to conclude thereby, that an apparent length of this last age may not be found; or that seemingly between such and such years the judgement day shall not be known to come: For is it prophesied? and why are prophecies, if they either may not, or cannot be understood? It is recorded in Matth. 24. 15. Let him that readeth, understand. It is said Dan. 12. 10. None of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. And Revelation 1. 3. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. And Dan. 12. 4. it is said, that these things towards the end shall be unsealed: for many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.  
Now here I may answer, that although some understand the foresaid texts to have relation to the times towards the world's ending, yet there be no 
i See Jun. Cal●…. Polan. or Dr. Will. Hexap. 〈◊〉 Dan.  few who contradict it; affirming that what they allege out of Daniel was accomplished about the time of Antiochus: and that by running through (which some read running to and fro) is meant the diligent perusing of the book: namely, that though at the first it were not regarded, yet many in time to come should give their minds unto it: being (as Polanus expoundeth) thus to be understood, that in the great persecution under Antiochus, many shall be found faithful, who shall cleave unto this prophecy: And as for the wicked not understanding it, we must apply it unto the false brethren which should be in those days of persecution, and give way unto Antiochus his wicked proceedings; labouring to seduce and betray their brethren; and they themselves living without any care to observe the accomplishment of this prophecy, never comparing the event with the thing prophesied: For (as was foretold Dan. 11. 34.) many shall cleave unto them feignedly, etc. And for sealing it up unto the end, is meant the not making it too common on the sudden, because from the time of these visions until the days of Antiochus were about 300 years. In which regard it is said concerning that other prophecy of the Revelation, that it must not be sealed up, because the time was at hand, Revelat. 22. 10. Yea some part of it was not only presently to take effect, but even then in act, chap. 1. verse 19 And as for that in Matthew, it hath relation unto the destruction of Jerusalem under Titus and Vespasian.  
Or secondly, be it so that I do not altogether condemn this their inquiry, because I verily think that a modest and religious search into these mysteries may see very far: yet nevertheless, seeing interpreters of such mysteries are not (as yet) at one among themselves, especially in their Synchronismes and periods of time; it cannot be denied but that even in them there is much matter of doubt (although they stand upon better grounds than Hesychius did, whom S. Austin 
k August. Epist. 80 〈◊〉 Hesych.  confuted:) so that it is hard to say when such a time appears indeed to be. And further, were it so that we had perfect Synchronismes of all things prophesied in the Revelation (for that prophecy doth most concern the end) and knew how to link them together; yet if we erred in the true placing of our first link, it must needs be that the end of our reckoning either fall short, or else overshoot that period, which otherwise might point out an apparent time, if not directly of the world's ending, yet of such prophecies as shall be fulfilled before it endeth: (for perhaps that which some take to be the apparent time of the world's ending, may as well be taken for the time wherein other things prophesied shall be accomplished) but how long the end shall be after them, is unknown. We know that the seventh Trumpet shall give an end to all, because when that seventh Angel came and stood upon the sea, and upon 
Revelat. 10. 6.  the earth, he lift up his hand and voice to heaven, swearing solemnly by him who liveth for ever, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Time shall be no more: but we do not know whether the space of time allotted for that Trumpet be either long or short. The Trumpets before it had time allowed them; and what time this last shall have, the event will best discover.  
Wherefore I do well perceive, that it is no easy thing to find an apparent length of this last age any long while before it endeth, unless we could be directly certified of the utmost periods of all the Trumpets; or knew the times of the seven Vials, which by seven Angels were to be poured out. The best and only way is always to watch, and to be evermore ready either for death or judgement: For certainly when that time comes, pure hearts (as Bernard speaketh) shall prevail more than subtle words; good consciences, better than full purses; because the Judge will not be deceived with words, nor moved with gifts: neither is it possible that any should avoid him; for all shall be summoned to appear before him. To which purpose Du Bartas descants thus,  
Those that were laden with proud marble tombs,  
Those that were swallowed down wild monsters wombs,  
Those that the Sea hath drowned, those that the flashes  
Of ruddy flames have burned all to ashes,  
Awaked all, shall rise, and all revest  
The flesh and bones that they at first possessed.  
" But some must Justice, some must Mercie taste;  
" Some called to joy, some into torment cast.    

CHAP. II. Showing, in what part of the year the world was created.  

Sect. 1. Of three opinions concerning the time of the world's beginning, with a confutation of the first.  
IN the account of Times, it is very necessary that there should be a proposed point or mark, from whence every reckoning may take beginning; that thereby the years which have several times of beginning, may the more truly be computed and compared amongst themselves. Wherefore it cannot be amiss to set down the most probable conjectures concerning the year wherein the world began; especially seeing amongst Chronologers it is usual to refer their accounts either to the year of the world's Creation, or to the birth of Christ.  
And now▪ concerning this, there be chiefly three opinions.  

1. Some imagine that the world was created in the very time of the Summer Solstice, and that in the beginning of time, the Sun entering into Leo, gave beginning to the year.  
2. Others refer it to the Spring, when the Sun entered into Aries.  
3. And in the last place 'tis supposed, that the world was made in Autumn, when the Sun entered into Libra. Of all which I purpose to discourse severally, and to show the best reasons for that which I think to be the truest time.   
The first is an opinion maintained by Mercator, and (as is thought) was first hatched among the Priests of Egypt, who, observing the river Nilus to overflow about the Summer Solstice, adored it for a God, esteeming the time of its inundation for an infallible beginning of divine actions in things created; and thereupon, for the beginning likewise of the year at the time of the world's creation.  
But if this were the only cause, we may not unfitly say, that it was folly and superstition which first set this opinion abroach; and therefore he is worthy of blame who will go about to maintain it. And although Mercator in his Chronologie seems to allege some other reasons, thereby to uphold his share in it; yet his chief reason is not sufficient; for it is grounded upon that which is not granted; viz. that the Flood should end about july; because in the eleventh month, which he supposeth to be May or june, when the Olive beginneth to put forth, the Dove brought green Olive leaves unto Noah into the Ark.  
To which it is answered, That the word in Gen. 7. 11. which he taketh to signify green leaves, may (as expositors witness) as well be taken for branches; even such as have been used to make Bowers with: which (according to the translation of the Septuagint) is expressed by a word signifying a dry stalk. And so saith that † Doctor, in his Hexapla upon Genesis, chapter the first, question the 17, that the word in the original is G●…alce, which (as S. Hierome translateth it elsewhere) signifies the branches of Olives: and in the Septuagint it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a stalk without leaves.  
That therefore which the Dove brought, might be some branch of the Olive tree rather than the leaves; and so might the Flood end at the dead time of the year, rather than when things were fresh and flourishing.  
But admit that the stalk or branch had leaves on it, yet it proves not that it was about May or june, when the Dove found and brought it; because it is recorded of the Olive, that she loseth not her leaves as other 
Plin. lib. 16. cap. 20.  trees do, but is green and flourishing all the year. Such leaves therefore as it had before the Flood, it might have after the Flood: for if they were new ones, they must needs spring out in seven days, because the Dove was sent out but seven days before, returning then as a creature disconsolate, not finding any thing at all.   

Sect. 2.  
ANother opinion is, that it was created in the Spring, 
A second opinion is, that the world began at the Spring.  and that the Sun (who is the Index of time, by whose revolution we account our years) began his course in Aries.  
The most forcible reasons to uphold this opinion, are these.  
First, the natural beginning of the year was in the Spring time, because Noah entered into the Ark the first month; and after a year, about the end of the second month, he came forth of the Ark again, Gen. 7. 8. Now the first and second months here mentioned, agree not to Autumn; because if Noah came out of the Ark at that time of the year, he could not then provide himself with victuals for those creatures which were with him against the next year, by reason that the Harvest time was then past, and Winter coming on: so that the year naturally began in the Spring time, and not in Autumn.  
Secondly, it is likely that the world took beginning at such a time when things were growing more and more to perfection, as in the Spring; rather then when they were decreasing, as in Autumn.  
Thirdly, it is no weak assertion to affirm that the world was created about that time of the year when by the second Adam it was redeemed; which was not in Autumn, but in the Spring.  
Fourthly, the children of Israel coming out of Egypt were commanded to begin their year at Abib, called afterwards Nisan; which month agreeth partly to our March, and partly to April. [See Exodus chap. 12. verse 1; and chap. 23. verse 15.] Now by this command it is like that they were only put in mind of their ancient custom which was in use amongst their Ancestors, and lost by them, since their going into Egypt, and death of the Patriarches: For when the twelve Patriarches, the sons of Jacob, were dead, they of their posterity learned the customs of Egypt, and so came to change their year from the Spring to Autumn: But when Moses brought them out from among the Egyptians, they had a command to reckon the beginning of their year from Autumn no longer, but from the Spring, beginning (as hath been said) in the month Abib or Nisan. Now this is chiefly grounded upon that which Moses writeth concerning the order of the months in the history of the Flood: For by that it appeareth, that the ancient form of the year was no other than what was observed from the times of Moses when he wrote his history, until the end of the old Testament, and afterwards. Consider therefore the order of the months which was before the coming out of Egypt (I mean that order specified in the history of the Flood) and compare it with that order which God gave Moses command to put in practice, and see if it be not the same. So that as Moses reckoned the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, etc. from Nisan, which began in the Spring; in like manner did Noah: for where can it be showed in any place of Scripture, when the months are reckoned in their orders, that they take beginning from any other time?  
And thus these are the chief reasons to uphold this opinion that the world should take his beginning at the Spring time of the year, at the Vernal Equinox, the Sun entering into Aries, rather than at any time else.   

Sect. 3.  
BUt, if they be well weighed, I rather think that 
A third and best opinion is, that the world began in Autumn.  those, who in the third place imagine that it was in Autumn, are nearest the truth.  
For first in the description of the flood, it is true indeed that the first and second months there mentioned, are meant the first and second months of the year: but that they must take their beginning from the Spring, rather than from Autumn, I cannot be persuaded. First, 
An answer to their first reason who place the creation in the Spring.  because josephus (who wrote the Antiquities of his own nation) in his first book and 5 chapter writeth thus, viz. that the second month, being the month wherein the flood came, was called by the Hebrews Marhesuvan, and by the Macedonians, Dyo; both which months agree to that part of the year wherein our November falleth, and not April or May. Secondly, because the Chaldee Paraphrast begins the ancient year of the Jews from Autumn, as afterwards shall be showed.  
And further, whereas it is said, that if Noah were to go out of the Ark when the year was so far spent, he must needs want food for those creatures which were with him; I answer, that it follows not.  
For first, the mountain tops appeared by the 
* Viz. the first day. Gen. 8. 4, 5.  beginning of the tenth month, which was (according to our Julian account) about the end of May, or beginning of june, although the head of the year be accounted but from Autumn: so that if the waters began to assuage so soon, then surely all the montanous places were flourishing with their fruits and herbs, by such time as Noah came out of the Ark; which (questionless) he might then gather to feed those creatures that were with him.  
Neither secondly doth the temperature of the climate wherein the Ark rested, afford such a rigid winter, but that Noah might sow some kind of grain, such as might afford him food against the next year, if need were; and so both himself and other creatures with him might be preserved and kept alive.  
But what need I speak of Noah's providing for himself, or them? seeing to the beasts, fowl, and the like, their dismission from the Ark was enough; especially there being but a few of every kind.  
And as for himself and his family (who were but eight persons) they had liberty given them by Almighty God to eat of any living 
* Gen. 9 3.  creature whatsoever, as well as of the green herb. And therefore their first reason on the contrary contending to prove the world's creation in the Spring rather than in Autumn, is not so forcible as they imagine it.  
But let me illustrate the matter yet more fully, and in so doing I cannot omit what 
* Calvis. chr●…. cap. de temp. mundi conditi.  Calvisius urgeth for proof of the same tenant. Those (saith he) who would have the time of the creation in the Spring rather than in Autumn, use this for one of their chiefest reasons. Dic mihi, inquiunt, etc. Tell me (say they) if the world were created in Autumn, and that Noah, with those living creatures which he kept alive, did then or at that time of the year come out of the Ark▪ how could they be sustained, the year being so far forth spent? what? must they hunger for the space of a whole year, or live with nothing, feeding, like Cameleons, on the air? etc.  
To which he answereth, that these men speak, as if for their singular wisdom the Patriarch Noah had made them of his counsel when he carried food into the Ark, because thus punctually they seem to know how much of it was left when he came out from thence: which that it was all spent, how can they tell? yet nevertheless concerning such creatures as lived ravenously by feeding on flesh, if Noah's old store were gone, I bid (saith he) that they take no great care for them, because they had dead carcases enough to feed on. Likewise concerning the other kind of beasts or cattle, let them not be too solicitous; because the mountains, being watered with such a fatting flood, and dried also since the 
* Or from the tenth to the second month. See Gen. chap. 8.  fifth month before, had now brought forth herbs, grass, and young tender shoots by which those creatures might easily have their lives sustained. Which reason of his is very pertinent, either because it makes it appear that it was possible to find food if all in the Ark were spent; or that there might be some of the old store still remaining to help such creatures as were least able to help themselves.  
Come we therefore now to the examination of their next reason; which is as followeth.   

Sect. 4.  
SEcondly, whereas they say that it is most like the 
An answer to ●●eir second reason who place the creation in the Spring.  world took beginning at such a time of the year when things were growing more and more to perfection, rather than when they were decreasing: answer is made, that if we stand upon such probabilities for proofs, it is then more like that the world took beginning, not when things were growing to perfection, but when they were in perfection itself, immediately before they began to decline; which could not be in their infancy, but in their maturity; not in the Spring time, but in Autumn. And so we find it even in the history of the creation itself: for the trees, as it is said, were made to grow 
Gen. 1. 29. and 3. 2.  up with their fruits on them; not green, but ripe, as is evident: not only because they were pleasant to the eye, but also because they were good for food; in which regard they were made even in their very perfection: and so God is said to have seen them, not only as they were good, but also as they were very good, which was with an approbation of their perfectness, as may be seen in Gen. chap. 1. verse 31.  
Yet nevertheless we know that the Almighty could have created trees with their ripe fruits on them, as well in that part of the year which is our Spring, as in Autumn: but surely the course of nature once begun 
The course of nature was never changed.  was never altered: and therefore, as now they are in their perfection about Autumn, so were they then when they were created.   

Sect. 5.  
THirdly, whereas it is said that it is very like the first 
An answer to their third reason who place the creation in the Spring.  Adam was created about such time as by the second Adam he was redeemed; that proveth nothing: the contrary may rather be affirmed: so that the time of the fall and the redemption are better severed then conjoined. For surely me thinks it is far more probable that there followed a sad winter for Adam to bewail his horrid fall in, rather than an acceptable and pleasant summer: for do but grant this (which may not well be denied) namely that Adam fell presently after his creation, and then tell me what time of the year was fitter to express the time of his fall then Autumn.  
For as the trees in Autumn being come to maturity do then lose their beauty by the fall of their fruits and leaves; or as the year than slides away like the day at the setting of the sun: even so mankind, as soon as he began to be in a perfect state, kept it not, but fell away and lost his happiness: yet as the day is restored again by the rising of the sun; and life is as it were put anew into the year by the return of the Spring: even so at that very time decayed man was again restored by the death of Christ, who in the Springtime of the year paid the price of our redemption.  
The fall therefore of man at the fall of the leaf, and the restoring of him at the reviving Spring, do make a more perfect harmony, then if for their circumstances of time we should cast them both into the Spring: for as the death of Christ was contrary to Adam's fall; so the time for the one was contrary to the time for the other: and yet being contrary, both do well express the nature of each act at either time.  
And now, lest it may be doubted whether Adam fell 
Adam ●…ll soon after his creation.  presently after his creation, this may be added as a proof.  
First, that Satan was a murderer from the beginning, and therefore he delayed no time to purchase man's misery.  
Secondly, it was the sixth day that man was created, even as on the sixth day he was redeemed. By which it appeareth that he fell on the very day of his creation. Whereupon 
* Upon Matth. chap. 27.  Theophylact maketh this observation, saying, sixth â die homo est conditus, qui & sext â hor â de ligno comedit: sixth â quoque die & sext â hor â Christus cruci est affixus. Quâ igitur hor â Dominus hominem condidit, eâdem & lapsum curavit. By which he meaneth, that as man was form the sixth day, and did eat of the tree the sixth hour: so Christ reforming man, and healing the fall, was fastened to the tree the sixth day and the sixth hour. And hence also came that common saying concerning Adam, that 
* Broughton●… Consent.  In one and the same day he was form and deformed, not continuing in righteousness and true holiness until the Sabbath: for then (as some observe) he would have performed the ordinances of the Sabbath, which was to have eaten of the tree of life, and so have lived for ever, being never guilty of that fall whose ache even yet the sons of Adam feel.  
3. And surely Moses making mention of many times, would never have omitted this time of the fall, except it had been presently after the creation.  
4. Besides, it must necessarily be granted that Adam fell before ever he knew his wife: otherwise Cain had been conceived without sin, because presently after the man and woman were made, God said, Increase and multiply; as in Genesis 1. 28. is manifest: but it is a thing not to be imagined that Cain was conceived without sin; neither is it true that Adam accompanied with his wife until after he was cast out of Paradise. Eve therefore and Mary may well be compared together; as thus: Eve being a Virgin, hearing the words of the serpent, and believing them, brought forth death. The Virgin Mary hearing the words of the Angel, and believing them, brought forth life. Such is their resemblance; and it very fitly serveth to teach us that the fall was soon after the creation.  
5. To which purpose that place in the nine and fortieth Psalm, at the 13 verse, is very congruous, viz. that Adam lodged not one night in honour. For so (saith Dr. Willet) do the words signify, if they be properly 
Hexap. upon Gen. chap. 3. quest. 31.  translated. As for example, the word (saith he) is lun, which signifieth to lodge or stay all night: which by diverse of the Rabbins is expounded of Adam who continued not one night in Paradise, but fell on the self same day of his creation: which for the time of the year bears a fit resemblance with the fall of the leaf, even as on the other side the redeeming of him bears a fit resemblance with the reviving Spring, when he was again delivered from his spiritual prison, like the herbs and plants from their earthly one.  
All which considered, their argument is but weak to prove the creation of the first Adam in the Spring, because the redemption by the second Adam was at the same time: for we see by an exact and perfect harmony how those times are better severed then conjoined.  
Let us come therefore unto their fourth reason now, and see the greatest force it beareth.   

Sect. 6.  
FOurthly, the children of Israel coming out of Egypt 
An answer to their fourth reason who place the creation in the Spring.  were bidden to begin their year at Abib or Nisan.  
Now they (as hath been showed) who maintain the world's creation in the Spring, think that the year naturally began at that time, and that the Israelites by this command were only put in mind to restore again their ancient custom which was in use amongst their ancestors, before they went into Egypt.  
All which is but a mere conjecture: for what author ever reported that the Egyptians made the Israelites forget their ancient customs? it is written no where but in some men's imaginations, and therefore it proveth nothing▪ In which regard we may be rather confident of the contrary, namely that the year was changed, and not renewed: especially if we consider but of this one thing more concerning the beginning of the Egyptian year, which was not from September, as the Jews began; but from july, or about the Summer solstice, when their river Nilus began to overflow. If therefore the Jews had altered the beginning of their year that they might observe the customs of the Egyptians and imitate them, why did they not reckon their first month from the Summer solstice, as did the Egyptians, but rather from the Autumnal Equinox, as did not the Egyptians? I confess that conjectures in some cases for want of better proof may hold water; but here the case is otherwise, as evidently appeareth.  

But it is objected, that the Chaldeans reckon the beginning 
Object.  of their year from the Spring; and from whom did they learn their customs but from the ancient Hebrews? wherefore the Hebrews of old time began their year from the Spring, and not from Autumn.  
The Chaldee Paraphrast mentions no such thing, but 
Answ.  plainly affirms the contrary; showing that that month which after the coming out of Egypt was the seventh month, had in former times been the first month. This that author affirmeth; than which what can be more plain?   

But it is further objected, that the order of the 
Object.  months in the history of the Flood makes it appear otherwise; for it cannot be showed in any place of the Scripture where the months are reckoned in their order, as the first, second, third, etc. that ever they began but from Nisan: Moses therefore, according to the command of God, ordaining this month to be the first month, doth make no new institution, but reneweth the old, as before was mentioned.  
To which it is answered, that when Moses had occasion 
Answ.  to speak of the months of the year in the history of the Flood, he must either mention them as he did, or else say nothing of them at all: For it is plain enough that all of them had not names to be called by; and must therefore be reckoned according to their number (if at all they be reckoned) from whence soever the reckoning began. We do not find that any of them had names, excepting four, until after the captivity. The four were these: 1 Ethanim. 2 Bul. 3 Abib or Nisan. 4 Zif. The first was called 
* 1. King's ●…. 2.  Ethanim, or mensis fortium, from the excellency and dignity of it; not only because it was the beginning of the year, but also of the rest and Jubilee. The next to it was called 
a 1. King. 6. 38.  Bul, which is as much as defluens; because in this month the leaves do as it were flow, slide, or fall away from the trees. The seventh was Abib, so called à novis frugibus, from the new fruits or ears of corn than first appearing. The eighth was called 
b 1. King. 6. 1, ●…7.  Zif, which was à splendore & nitore, from the splendour and brightness of it; seeing the earth was at this time stored with dainty fine flowers, and curious fair objects. These were all which had names.  
That therefore for the order of the months proves as little as any thing else.  
Wherefore I cannot see but that this opinion above all others may stand as the most probable, namely, that the year naturally began from Autumn; and so, by consequent, the world's creation was then.  
The Autumnal Equinox was at that time (if it be reduced to our Julian account) about the latter end of October; but now it is about the 13 day of September: And the Sun then entered into Aries about the latter end of April, which in these days is about the 10 or 11 of March; so much hath the Equinoctial anticipated since the beginning.    

Sect. 7.  
BUt concerning the particular day, it was on the 
The conclusion, wherein the former part of the chapter is recapirulated, and all explained.  26 or 27 day of October. And as for the other, when the Sun entered into Aries, it was about the 21 or 22 day of April.  
So that if the world began in the Spring, or at the Vernal Equinox, than we may account that about the 21 or 22 day of April was the first day of the world. Or if it began in Autumn, than the first of days was near about the 26 or 27 of October.  
But in my judgement the best opinion is (as hath been showed) that it was in Autumn when things were not growing to perfection, but even in perfection itself, as Adam was, who presently after fell: so also the trees and plants in Autumn, with their fruits and seeds on them at the ripest, were in their perfection, began the course of Nature, faded afterwards by little and little through the approaching winter: which time seems to be a fitter time for Adam to bewail his fall in, and to make him the more sensible of his lost happiness, than a pleasant and cheerful Summer; because by how much the more he was afflicted, he would by so much the more be sensible of his misery, and thereupon long the more earnestly after the promised seed.  
And not only so, but also the fall of man at the fall of the leaf, and the restoring of him again at the reviving Spring, do make a more perfect and exact harmony, then if for their circumstances of time we should cast them both into the Spring. For (as hath been said) like as the death of Christ was of a contrary nature to Adam's fall; so the time for the one being contrary to the time for the other, doth well express the nature of each act at either time.  
And further, we have not only the testimony of josephus before alleged, against whom some except; but also the 
* Calvis. Chr. cap. de temp. mund. cond. & B●…oald. lib. 1. cap. 7.  Chaldee Paraphrast doth witness as much, saying that that month which in the first book of the Kings, the 8 chapter, at the 2 verse, is called the seventh month, was in former times the first month. The words of which text stand thus, And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto King Solomon, at the feast in the month Lthanim, which is the seventh month. The meaning of which place that author doth thus explain, saying, All Israel were gathered together to king Solomon in 
* FORTIUM, à praestantia & dignitate dicitur; quia non a ●…ni tantum, sed etiam Sabbati & jubilaei principium fuit. Wolph. de Temp. lib. 1. pag. 15.  mense fortium, or in the month Ethanim, on the feast day; which month in times past they called the first month, but now it is the seventh month. Thus he for the ancient beginning of the year: and of what authority this Paraphrast is in the Church, the learned know.  
Also we have testimonies in holy Writ to strengthen the same assertion, and to show us that the ancient beginning of the year was from Autumn, because that Tekupha or Quarter is expressly termed the end of the year. As for example: in Exodus, chapter the 23. verse 16. and chap. 34. verse the 22. it is said, the feast of tabernacles was to be celebrated in the 
† Levit. 23 39  seventh month, at the end and return of the year: which seventh month was agreeable to Autumn, as is well known. It is not only said, at the return of the year, which may be attributed to any of the 
* 2. Sam. 11. 1. 2. Chron. 36. 10. Ezek. 40. See also Wolph. de temp. Bux. de Synag. jul. Seal. de Em. Temp. etc.  four Quarters when the sun returns to them again▪ but it is also said, at the end and return of the year, being always about the seventh month.  
Yet nevertheless we are not to think that the first day of the seventh month was always the first day of their year; for their months being lunar were movable: and therefore the head of the year was to take beginning according to the course of the sun. So that in what part soever of the lunar month that Tekupha happened which pointed out the Autumnal Equinox, from thence must the year be reckoned; for there the last year ended and the next began.  

And now if it be further demanded why God commanded 
Quest.  the Israelites at their return out of Egypt, to alter the beginning of their year from Autumn unto the Spring, unless it had been so of old:  
To that it is answered thus, viz. that there are two 
Answ.  reasons for it.  

1. The one is this; They coming out of Egypt from the bondage of Pharaoh, were to begin their year from that time in memory of their deliverance. And therefore it is said in Exod. 12. 42. It is a night to be much observed to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt: this is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations.  
2. And not only so, but also at the same time of the year (as God had determined it) there was a better and a greater delivery to be wrought for mankind; namely such a delivery as should free him from the bondage of Satan by the death of Christ. Now this may be called the Delivery of deliveries; of which that other out of Egypt was but a figure, because it was but from a corporal bondage, whereas this was from a spiritual.   
And thus came the year to be changed, which ever before pointed to the time of man's creation: but now it is made to point another way, namely to the time of man's redemption: by which God taught his Church (than typically delivered) how to expect the acceptable year of the Lord, and time of man's redemption; which was both proclaimed and purchased by that Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world: whose offering upon the cross was at the same time of the year when that Paschal lamb, by which he was prefigured, was slain: which time why it is severed from Autumn, hath been showed.  
Yea thus came the first to be last, and the last first: thus came Nisan to get the dignity from the other months, and to be called the beginning or first moneth●…in the year. At which we need not marvel: for the time of man's redemption was a more worthy mark from whence to reckon, than the time of his creation.  
And thus have I delivered what I find and verily think to be most probable in this matter. Unto which may be added, that as the evening was before the morning, so was the Autumn before the Spring: for the year and the day have a kind of analogy between the one and the other (as may be seen in the seventh day compared with the seventh year) and therefore they do well serve, the one to express the natural beginning of the other.     

CHAP. III. Containing a discourse of such things as are pertinent to the first day's work.  

Sect. 1. Of God the Architect of all, and of the first part of the first day's work.  
TIme, by whose revolutions we measure hours, days, weeks, months and years, is nothing else but (as it were) a certain space borrowed or set apart from eternity; which shall at the last return to eternity again: like the rivers, which have their first course from the seas; and by running on, there they arrive, and have their last: for before 
a Deus dum coetum 〈◊〉 et▪ fecit aete●…nitatis quandam in num●… fluentem imaginem: quam no●… T●…pus voca●… us. Coclen. ex Pl●…t.  Time began, there was Eternity, namely GOD; which was, which is, and which shall be for ever: without beginning or end, and yet the beginning and end of all things. Aeternitas enim, Dei solummodo naturae substantialiter inest, saith one: that is, Eternity is substantially only in the nature of God. When Moses therefore would have known God's name, he tells him, Thus shalt thou say 
Exo●…. 3. 14.  unto the children of Israel, 
b .  I AM hath sent me unto you: By which name, saith Junius, he would have himself known according to his eternal essence, whereby he is discerned from all other things which are either in heaven, on the earth, or elsewhere. Which in another place is thus illustrated; Egosum Primus & Ultimus, & praeter me non est Deus; I am the First and the Last, and beside me there is no God, Esay 44. 6. Or thus, Before the day was, I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand, Esay 43. 13. To which that of the Psalmist doth well agree, Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were made, thou art God from everlasting to everlasting, Psal. 90. 2.  
Thus we see, that before ever any thing was, God only was, who 
c When we behold the admired fabric of the world, etc. we can no more ascribe it to chance, than a Printers case of letters could by chance fall into the right composition of any such book as he printeth.  gave both a beginning and a being unto every thing that is: and he, in respect of his divine essence, is but one. Yet so, as in that single essence of his there be three divine subsistences, or persons all truly subsisting; whereof every one is distinct from other, and yet each hath the whole Godhead in itself: and these are, the Father, Son, and holy Ghost, 1. John, 5. 7.  

1. The Father is a person who from all eternity hath begotten the Son.  
2. The Son is a person from all eternity begotten of the Father.  
3. The holy Ghost is a person eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son, 
* Psal. 2. 7. John 15. 26.  as the holy Scriptures witness.   

d Du Bart. 1. day of the 1. week.  These thus distinct in person, not divinity,  
All three in one make one eternal Trinity.  
From which eternal and undivided Trinity, the whole world, consisting of things visible and 
* Coloss. 1. 16.  invisible, took beginning, as the original words, Elohim and Bara, do well express. For Elohim being a word plural doth signify Dii, Gods: but being joined with a word singular, namely Bara, which is Created, they then together show that there are three persons in the Deity, and that the three persons are but one God, who did create. Or thus; 
e Dr. Willet on Gen. pag. 20.  Those two words, being the one of the singular, the other of the plural number, do note unto us the singularity of the Godhead, and plurality of the persons. And not only so, but they also show that the three persons being but one God, did 
f Gib. on Gen. Quest. 1.  all of them create: For such is found to be the propriety of the Hebrew phrase, Elohim bara, 
g Freig. Histor. Mosaic. pag. 5.  Creavit Dii, The Gods created.  
1. Of the Father it is witnessed, that he created as the fountain of goodness. For saith S. James, Every good and perfect gift is from above, & cometh down from the Father of lights, Jam. 1. 17. Of whom and through whom, saith S. Paul, are all things, Rom. 11. 36.  
2. Of the Son it is witnessed, that he created as the wisdom of the Father. For, when he created the heavens, saith Wisdom, I was there, Prov. 8. 27. And again, By him were all things created that are, Coloss. 1. 14, 15. namely by him who did bear the image of the Father, and was the Redeemer of the world.  
3. And lastly of the holy Ghost it is witnessed, that he createth as the power of the Father and the Son. For by his Spirit he garnished the heavens, and by his hand he hath form the crooked serpent, Job 26. 13. and chap. 33. 4. Or, as the Psalmist hath it, By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the hosts of them [spiritu oris] by the spirit of his mouth, Psal. 33. 6.  
All which considered, and found to be done in the beginning, must needs be then when there was no pre-existent matter to work upon. For (
h Gib. on Gen. Quest. 1.  as it is witnessed) the Hebrew word Reshith, which is englished the beginning, doth not signify any substance; neither doth the other word Bara, to create, signify any way to create but of nothing: and thereby it is distinguished from the word jatzar, to form, and Gnasha, to make. And therefore though now we behold a glorious something wherein appears in every part more than much matter of wonder; yet at the first, saith noble Bartas,  
Nothing but nothing had the Lord Almighty,  
Whereof, wherewith, whereby to build this city.  
That Axiom therefore in philosophy, Ex nihilo nihil fit, must needs stand aloof off when we speak of creation. For although it be 
i Etsi ex rihilo nihil sit per m●…um seu transmutatio●…em, id est, generatur, tamen ex nihilo aliquid sit per sim●…licem emanationem, id est, creature. Go●…len. disp▪ Phys.  true that according to the course of nature and ordinary custom of things, nothing can be made, unless out of some former matter: yet when we descend ad inquirendam primarum rerum conditionem, to inquire after the first condition of the first things, than we shall find that God is above nature, because he is the Lord of nature. And he, whose sufficiency and efficiency is altogether absolute, must needs be able supernaturali quadam ratione, by a certain supernatural means, to produce all things out of nothing.  
Of which nothing that I may say something, my best and only way is to look at Moses, and (as near as I can) explain his meaning.  
In the beginning (saith he) God created the heavens and the earth. In which words he laboureth not so much to deliver a general proposition of the works of creation, or of the two distinct parts of the world, or of the matter of heaven and earth, as if the one word did insinuate all the superior parts of the world, the other all the inferior parts beside: or as if taking both together, he meant by them jointly totius mundi semen, the seed of the whole world, mentioning it under these two words of Heaven and Earth, as a Chaos. This he meaneth not; because that which concerns the Chaos is mentioned afterwards in the second verse. And what were it but a plain tautology, to say that in the beginning God created a Chaos, and that Chaos was a Chaos? Wherefore in those first words he intendeth nothing more, then to show that the world which now is called, according to its parts, Heaven and Earth, was not from everlasting, but took beginning: and so without controversy the right reading of his words doth also witness. For in their original (as it is witnessed by expositors) thus they sound, In the beginning God created these heavens and this earth: as if it should be said, These very heavens and this very earth which now we see in being, were not always, but began. Then afterwards he proceedeth to show how, and in what time God created them: speaking first how all was like a disordered and deformed Chaos, the earth and the heavens not distinguished, but lying as it were in a confused heap all together. And this is manifest. For on the second day, when the heavens were made, it seemeth that their matter was from amongst that mass or unfashioned lump which was said to be void and without form, and not able to be kept together, had not the Spirit of God cherished it, (for the Spirit of God moving upon the waters, did as it were sit upon it and nourish it, as a fowl doth her eggs, with heat and life:) yea their matter, I say, was from among the waters, which by the power of God's word were extended and stretched like a canopy round about the earth, as now we see them. In which regard S. Austin's words are also pertinent, saying concerning this All of which we now speak, 
k Confess. lib. 12. cap. 21.  Materies adhuc erat corporearum rerum informis, sine ordine, sine luce; It was yet an informed matter of corporal things, without order, without light. Or, as that 
l Du Bart▪ first day of the first week.  Nightingale of France hath sung it,  
This was not then the world: 'twas but the matter,  
The nursery whence it should issue after;  
Or rather th' Embryon that within a week  
Was to be born: for that huge lump was like  
The shapeless burden in the mother's womb,  
Which doth in time into good fashion come.  
Thus and in this manner I cannot but think of these things, not doubting that Moses in his description of the sensible world meaneth otherwise; but showeth that that heaven and earth which now we see, were in the beginning or first degree of being, an earth, or as an earth, or one lump, without form, and void; a darkened depth and waters; a matter of no matter, and a form without form, as one speaketh; a rude and indigested Chaos or confusion of matters, rather to be believed then comprehended of us. And this, saith 
m Mr. Purch. in his first part, lib. 1. cap. 2.  he, is the second natural beginning. For, after the expressing of the matter, followeth that which Philosophers call a second natural principle, Privation, the want of that form of which this matter was capable; which is accidentally a natural principle, required in regard of generation, not of constitution, here described by that part next us, earth, which was without form, as is said, and void. This was the internal constitution. The external was darkness upon the face of the deep. Which deep compriseth both the earth before mentioned, and the visible heavens also, called a depth, as to our capacity infinite, and pliant to the Almighty hand of the Creator: called also waters, not because it was perfect waters, which was yet confused; but because of a certain resemblance, not only in the uniformity thereof, but also of that want of stability whereby it could not abide together, but as the Spirit of God moved upon these waters to sustain them, etc. Here therefore is the third beginning or principle in nature, that form which the said 
n Not the air or wind; they were not yet.  Spirit by that action framed it unto.  
The Hebrews 
o Gibbens on Gen. quest. 2. ann●…t. d.  call the whole mass, as it is comprehended under the names of Heaven and Earth, Tohu Vabohu: Tohu, without order; bohu, without variety. But it was not long that it continued in this imperfect state: for in one week it was (as I may say) both begotten and born, and brought from a confused Chaos, to a well ordered and variously adorned Universe. Or, as one saith,  Materiam Deus ipse create, comitque creatam. 
Whose meaning may be taken thus,  
The matter first God out of nothing drew,  
And then adds beauty to that matter new.  
Which was, not because he was unable to make all the world perfect in an instant; but because he would not. Whereupon an holy 
† Aust.  Father said, Voluntas Dei est causa coeli & terrae; & ideo major est voluntas Dei quam coelum & terra: The will of God is the cause of heaven and earth, and therefore it is greater than either of them.  
God therefore doth not disable his omnipotence in not working all at once, but sheweth that he worketh all things 
* Ephes. 1. 11.  according to the counsel of his will; which in this work of creation (prosecuted both by an order of time and degrees) is so far from eclipsing his power, that it rather doth demonstrate both his power and wisdom to be infinite: and that he hath so done his marvellous works, that they ought always to be had in remembrance, Psal. 111. 4. For in wisdom he hath made them all: And why not all at once, was because the counsel of his will was otherwise.  

But may we not yet inquire a further reason why it 
Quest.  pleased the Almighty thus to will such a space, and would not rather produce this All perfect at once?  
This perhaps may be thought a question too curious 
Answ.  to be determined, because Gods will is a sufficient reason in all his actions; and therefore it is better left then looked into. Which surely might well be so, if the reasons urged prove too eagle-eyed and unprofitable, not bettering us in our dulness or want of knowledge. But otherwise, if they instruct man in any thing pertinent to his present condition, and inform him so as he may be somewhat reform by them: then they may be urged without the brand of niceness or imputation of curiosity.  
First therefore we may join with them, who say that perhaps it pleased Gods infinite perfection to take this leisure; because if the creatures had been made all at once, they might be thought to be increate, and not made at all; nor yet to have the like sense of their infirmity as now they have, one seeing another made before them.  
Secondly, seeing the world was thus perfected by degrees before man was, who (being made) was the chief inhabitant of it: me thinks so orderly to raise such a sumptuous palace for mankind, whilst yet mankind was not, what was it, but the declaration of a greater kindness, and a demonstration proving how kind, how careful, and how gracious God would be to us ever after being made? and therefore now we must not distrust him, but in all our ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct our paths, Prov. 3. 5, 6. For so he hath promised, and so he doth perform to all that love and fear him; causing every thing to work together for their good; nay, for their best, as the Apostle speaketh. Or, as the Psalmist hath it, No good thing shall he withhold from them who live a godly life, Psal. 84. 12.  
Thirdly, by this example mankind may read a lecture against himself, if heedlessly or hastily he behave himself in any work, and shall not rather proceed soberly and by degrees, making haste (as it is said) by leisure. For true it is, that with us a soft pace goes far: Which made one 
* Bish. Hall, contempt. lib. 1.  fix this contemplation upon the works of creation, saying, How should we deliberate in our actions which are so subject to imperfection; seeing it pleased Gods infinite perfection (not out of need) to take leisure! Upon thought of which, let us  
Make sober speed: for 'tis observed by proof,  
That what is well done is done soon enough.  
Festina lenté: Nam sat citò, si sat been.  
Thus having (as it were) considered the first part of the first day's work, we may now come more nearly to that which is the beauty of it, I mean the Light, which some call Gods eldest daughter, or the first distinguished creature, wherewith the Lord 
* Psal. 104. 2.  decked the world as with a garment.    

Sect. 2. The creation of the Light.  
ANd now concerning this bright creature, no sooner did God say, Let it be, but lo it was. He 
* 2. Cor. 4. 6.  commanded that it should shine out of darkness, as speaks the Apostle; and that being separated and set apart from 
a Ex tenebris dicitur eduxi●…se lu●…em, non ut ex materia (nihil enim tenebrae fu rient, nisi negatio lacis) sed ut è con●…rario termino. Pare. in Gen. pag. 146.  the darkness, the first of days might be, and Gods good works appear, beginning with the Lights proceeding to show forth his exceeding glory.  
But of this resplendent creature (without which the beauty of the rest could not be seen) there are no few opinions.  
1. Some would have it a spiritual Light; and so under it they comprehend the creation of Angels. But surely in my judgement their opinion is the founder who make it a natural and material Light only, such as now is in the Sun, the Index of time, and the world's bright eye. For as the office of the Sun's light is now to distinguish between the Day and the Night; so was the office of this Light, being commanded to shine out of 
b Which was the local, but not material original of it, as saith Pareus. ibid.  darkness before the Sun was made: which being made, was the subject ever after to retain it. If it were otherwise, or any other light, where is it now? shall we say that it is either extinguished or applied to some other use? surely I think not; because God (who made all by the power of his word) needed no instrument or help in the work of his creation: And therefore that Light which at the first made his works appear, is no spiritual Light; but such and the same that now is in the Sun. And yet perhaps, as 
c Aquin. Sum. 1. par. Quest. 70. a●…tie. 1.  Aquinas thinketh, it was but Lumen inform, quod quarto die formatum est; An informed Light, which on the fourth day had its perfect form.  
And as for the creation of Angels, it is not like that 
Of Angels, and when the●… were created.  they were made this first day, but on the fourth day: For it is very probable that there was the like order observed in making of the invisible world, which was in the visible; and that on the second day, not only the visible, but also the invisible heavens were created; yet so as both of them remained as it were unpolished or unfinished until the fourth day: For then as the outward heavens were garnished with Stars, so might the inward and highest heavens be beautified with Angels. This me thinks is not obscurely pointed at in Job, chap. 38. vers. 7. Where wert thou, saith the Lord to Job, when the stars praised me (or sang together) and all the sons of men shouted for joy? it being here 
d See Dr. Willet on Gen. chap. 1. Quest. 33.  evident that when the Stars were made, the Angels also had then their being, & rejoiced before God; which was but upon the fourth day of the creation. All this, I say, might well be thus although Moses doth not directly mention it; which was because he applied himself to the simple capacity of the people, describing the creation only of sensible things, being that which at the first he intended, and did in plain terms testify in the beginning of his history, when he said, These Heavens, and this Earth, of which I spoke before.  
And further, were the creation of Angels comprehended under the creation of the heavens and light, what were this but to leave the literal sense (which is to be followed in the history of the creation) and to cleave unto Allegories?  
But secondly, concerning this Light, others think that the element of fire was signified by it, whose effect is light, and whose act and quality is to enlighten: which made one therefore say, that The uncreated Light (viz. God) commanded this elementary light to be, that so the thinner and higher element severed from the air, might by his enlightening operation effect a light some shining,— and the air, according to the nature thereof, receive it: which to the fire was an essential property,— to the air an accidental quality approved of God, as good both to himself and the future creatures. Thus some. But others except against it, affirming that this light was movable, by the presence of it making day, and by its absence making night: which could not have been, had it been the element of fire; unless it be more or less in one place then in another, and not equally dispersed. Or, as Pareus answereth, it could not be the element of fire, because that is above the clouds (according to the common rules of Philosophy) and therefore in his judgement the fiery element was not until the second day, being created with the Expansum or stretching out of the air.  
But unto these exceptions I think an answer may be framed, as I perhaps shall afterwards show you.  
Thirdly, if (as some have done) we should think that this was the very light of the sun, and then in the sun, or in such a cloud or subject as was the matter of the sun, the text would be objected against it; which affirmeth that the sun was not until the fourth day: for the creation of that was but then, although the light was before.  
Fourthly, Aquinas saith, 
e Aquin. Sum. part 1. quest. 70. 〈◊〉▪ 〈◊〉.  Lux primo die fuit producta secundum communem lucis naturam: quarto autem die attributa est luminaribus determinata virtus ad determinatos effectus: secundum quod videmus alios effectus habere radium solis, & alios radium lunae, & sic de aliis. Whereupon he concludeth, that howsoever it was, it was but an informed light until the fourth day.  
Now therefore, amongst a multitude of opinions which are beside these already mentioned, I (for mine own part) cannot but prefer this as the best; namely, that the light for three days space wanted a subject, such as now it hath: and yet it did perform the same office which now it doth being fastened to a subject, or to the body of the Sun, which is Vehiculum lucis, A Chariot for the light. For we may easily perceive that in the works of creation there is such an 
f God made one proper centre for all things of one kind, unto which he reduce●…. them.  harmonious order observed, as that there may be an union and reduction of all things of one kind to their own heads and centre.  
As for example, the upper waters must be severed by the out-spread firmament; and the lower must repair all to one sea, as their natural subject: and as for heavy substances, they hasten downwards; and the light ones, they fly upwards. In like manner, that light which at the first was dispersed and fixed to no subject, doth presently (as soon as the sun was) unite itself unto that body, as now it is.  
This of all other seemeth to me the best opinion to pitch upon, and the most probable in this kind: which may well be as an Emblem how God will one day gather his elect from all coasts of heaven to the participation of one glory. S. Paul applieth it to our regeneration, thus; 
* 2. Cor. 4. 6 & Ephe. 5. 8.  God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, etc. that we, who were once darkness, are now light in the Lord. And in this consideration I think we need not much dissent from them who would have the element of fire signified by it; which opinion was before mentioned: for howsoever it be that that element be now dispersed, or wheresoever placed, yet it might be that the first light shined from it; thus I say it might be, because we may not reason 
g Purc●…. lib. 1. cap. 2.  à facto ad fieri, or from the order of the constitution of things in which they now are, to the principles of their institution whilst yet they were in making. And for further proof of this, I do easily assent to them 
h 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉. cap. 4.  who have probably affirmed that the stars and lights of heaven contain the greatest part of this fire; as afterwards in the fourth day's work shall be more plainly showed.  
This I have said, as seeming to me the best and most probable tenant; although perfectly to affirm what this light was, must be by our enlightening from him who commanded that it should shine out of darkness. Of which shining and darkness (seeing the Sun was not yet made, which by his course and turning about makes it day and night at the same time in diverse places) it may be said that it was day and night at the same instant now over the face of the whole earth: which made 
i in●…n ●…n. pag. 148.  one therefore say, that the first darknesses were not loco divisae, sed planè depulsae à luce ut nusquam essent; yet so, as that they should either return or depart, according to the contraction or expansion of this first light, caused by a divine dispensation. 
k But otherwise it may be said, that the first day's light was carried to another hemisphere just with the dawning of the second day: for as soon as the out spread Firmament was commanded to be, the Heavens surely were made, and began to move.  Thus Pareus.  
And now of thee, oh bright-shining creature, it may be said, that, hadst thou never been, the beauty of the world had been as nothing: For thou art the beauty of all the beauties else, as saith Du Bartas,  
God's eldest daughter, Oh how thou art full  
Of grace and goodness! Oh how beautiful!  

Quest. But if God made the Light, was he not before in darkness? Answ. No: For he needs not any created light, who is himself a Light uncreated; no corporal light, who is a spiritual one. God is light, and in him is no darkness at all, 1. Joh. 1. 5. He made this light for our mortal journey on earth; himself is the Light of our immortal abode in heaven: neither did he more dwell in this light that he made, than the waters were the habitation of the Spirit, when it was said that the Spirit moved upon the waters.  
But see, there was Night, Light and Day before the Sun; yet now without it there is neither: which showeth that we must allow God to be the Lord of his own works, and not limit his power to means.  
And surely as it was before man was made, so shall it be after he is dissolved: For then, as the 
* Esay 60. 19  Prophet speaketh, The Sun shall no more be thy light by day, neither shall the Moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.  
Lastly, unto this amongst many things let me add but one thing more. God made light on the first day; so Christ arose from death on the same day, being the first of the week: And he is the true light which lighteth every one that cometh into the world: Of which light if we have no portion, then of all creatures man is the most miserable.    

Sect. 3. Of the intercourse between day and night.  
WHat now remaineth? God called the light Day, and the darkness Night: 'Tis true;  
Th' Alls Architect alternately decreed,  
That Night the Day, the Day should Night succeed.  
Of both which we have more than manifold use and benefit. The night easeth the burden of the day; the day driveth away the terror of the night. The night burieth our cares, and doth what she can to drown all our griefs in a silent sleep: the day serveth for our needful labours; is the wicked man's just terror, the mother of truth, and true beauties only glass, wherein she may both see herself, and be also seen. The night serveth to temper the days exceeding drought, and to cool its heat; for by moistening the air it makes the earth to fructify: the day again warmeth the coolness of the night, melting the white hoary hairs of winter's beard; and with a reviving, cherishing, and nourishing of things, as well sensible as vegetative, adds life afresh into the dying universe; serving (as I said before) for the need full labours of man: For, as the Psalmist hath it, The sun ariseth, and then man goeth forth unto his work, and to his labour until the evening, Psal. 104. 22. And so also for the night, it is destinated or appointed for quiet and sleep, wherein the wearied bodies of living creatures are refreshed, and their strengths repaired: the noisome beasts now come forth and feed, lest coming in the day they might be a terror unto men: For, as the Psalmist again recordeth, Thou makest darkness that it may be night, wherein all the beasts of the forest do move; as the lions roaring after their prey, and the like, vers. 20.  
But of this enough. And now last of all when this day's work was done or brought to an end, God is said to view it, and behold there was nothing amiss; That is, Moses, speaking according to our capacities, telleth us that God doth approve and ratify that work now done, which before he purposed to make.  
So Eve and Morn conclude the first of days,  
And God gives to his work deserved praise.    

CHAP. FOUR Of the second day; and of such things as are pertinent to the work done in it.  

Sect. 1. Of the Expansum, or stretching out of the Heavens.  
COncerning this days work what it was, we find it thus expressed, And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters; and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament; and divided the waters which were under the firmament, from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven: and the evening and the morning were the second day. Gen. 1. 6, 7, 8.  
This is the narration of what was done. And here let us consider, first of the Firmament: then of the waters which it separateth: and lastly of the several Heavens, together with the regions of the air, and of such appearances as we use to see there: unto which if any thing else be met withal pertinent to this day's work, it shall be added.  
The word 
a Janius, Gibbens, and others.  Rakiah translated Firmament, signifieth Expansum, or expansionem, which is a stretching out; not only from the earth, but about the earth: so that the world being man's house, the Firmament is as the vaulted roof of it: Or (as 
b Meth. The●…l. lib. 2. pag. 333.  Hyperius observeth) it is tanquam theca quaedam, omnia quae Deo ipso inferiora sunt, inclusa continens; as a certain husk, shell, or box, inclusively containing all things without the Heaven of heavens, or which are below that place where God doth manifest his glory. Which also is further to be seen in the hundred and fourth Psalm, at the second verse, where it is said that God hath stretched out the heavens as a canopy: or, extendisse incurvando coelos tanquam conopeum, as some read it: by which comparison it seemeth that the Firmament is not so much expansum ratione extensionis à centro, quam circa centrum; not so much a thing stretched out by reason of its distance from the centre, as about the centre.  
And again, we call it the Firmament, because in the stretching out it was not weakened, but made strong: In which regard expositors do well observe the difference which is between Rakiah and Karah. For, the word which is here used, they read it Rakiah, and 
c See Gibbens on Gen. chap. 1. quest. 5.  say that it doth properly signify a thing made strong by stretching out; being therefore contrary to the word Karah, which is to break in stretching.  
And the Greeks likewise, that they may give a full expression according to the propriety of the word, do translate it and call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, from the verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, signifying to make strong or firm: and thus also the ancient Greek Philosophers observed, calling the whole compass of the heavens 
d See Lydiats disquisitio Phys. cap. 10. pag. 196.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, meaning the very utmost bound of them, which is not so weak that it should be broken in the stretching; but strong, and far more free from a fluid nature then is that air which the concave of it keepeth and holdeth.  
The Latins also call it Firmamentum; and we, in our speech, the Firmament: which in respect of its extension is the whole compass of heaven on all sides; being as it were the case of the visible world and all things in it, as hath been showed.   

Sect. 2. Of the waters above the Heavens.  
BUt from the concavity of this firmament, we may pass to the convexity of it. And now if it be considered as it is convex, than we shall come to the examination of that which God assigned as proper to it most especially; viz. that it separate the waters from the waters. For this out-spread firmament is by its office to separate; and to be, not above the waters, but between them: and therefore those waters which it separateth, cannot be such waters as are in the clouds, but rather above the concave of the firmament.  
If they be such as are in the clouds, then are they rather in the middle of the firmament, than the firmament in middle or between them. And this made one argue thus, saying, 
a ●…oclon. disput. 18. sect. 29.  Expansio in nubium regione aut finitur, aut ulteriùs extenditur: si ibi finitur, stellas infra nubes constitutas esse oportet. Sin ulteriùs extenditur, supercoelestes aqu●…s ab inferioribus expansio non sejungit, sed nubes potius unam expansionis partem ab altera dispescunt. Atqui utrumque horum à Mosis narratione absonum. Tutissimè igitur aquas coelestes supra sidera esse constitutas; totúmque illud, quod à globo terrae & aquae sursum expanditur, coeli velaëris nomine contineri sentiemus. That is, The out-spread firmament either is ended in the cloudy region, or is further extended. If it be ended there, than the stars must needs be under the clouds, because they are within the firmament, Gen. 1. 6. But if it be further extended, than the supercelestial waters are not separated by the firmament, but rather the clouds sever one part of the firmament from the other: both which are against Moses his narration. Therefore we may safely think that the celestial waters are above the stars, etc.  
In which regard it may be also thought that both these waters dropping from clouds in the air, and also all other waters under the canopy of Heaven, or within the concavity of this Expansum, are but the lower waters: and those other, which are separated from them, must be in an higher place, viz. above the firmament, and so shall they be divided by the firmament; otherwise not. To which purpose 
b In his second day of the first week.  Du Bartas thus,  
I'll rather give a thousand times the lie  
To mine own reason, then but once defy  
The sacred voice of th'everlasting Spirit,  
Which doth so 
* Gen. 1. 7. Psal. 104 3. Psal. 148. 4.  often and so loud aver it,  
That God above the shining firmament,  
I wot not, I, what kind of waters penned.  
Or, as 
c Hyp. Meth. 〈◊〉. liv. 2. pag▪ 335.  Hyperius also writeth, Assentiemur Mosi, ac simpliciter statuemus aquas non tantùm infra firmamentum, ubi in portiones & quasi regiones certas eae ipsae sunt distributae, aliaeque per aërem circumvehuntur, aliae terris sunt adglutinatae; verùm etiam super illud esse alias undique circumfusas. That is, Let us assent to Moses, and plainly determine that there are not only waters below the firmament, as it were divided into certain portions and regions, some of them carried about through the air, some fastened to the earth; but also that there are other waters above the firmament spread round about it.  
Which thing is also thus further manifested; because those waters that are separated by the firmament, are to be at all times separated. For God, in the creation of this firmament, did not only command that it should separate, but also that it should be separating: that is, Let it 
d Ainsworth on Gen.  continually separate or divide the waters from the waters; 
e Lydiat. disqui s●…tio Phys. cap. 10.  quasi voluerit nullum esse tempus quo non distinguat; as if he would have it that there should be no time wherein it might not distinguish between the one & the other. Which as it cannot be do●…e unless there be always waters to be distinguished; so neither can it be pertinent to those waters in the clouds, because the air is often clear, and those bottles of rain are not always there.  
And again, it is from the vapours drawn from 
* ●…er. 10. 13.  below that clouds and rain come: which cannot at all times be; but then only when there is a natural concourse of causes to effect it. And then again when they are there, they be soon gone: for the rain, proceeding from those vapours which we call the clouds, stayeth not long in the air, but forthwith falleth down again; and so by little and little the vapour consumeth and the cloud is gone. How can it therefore be that these should be those supercelestial waters separated from all other waters by the firmament, seeing the firmament is above them? and not only so, but also their proper place is here below, being but at times drawn from hence, and then it is as it were against their wills, which makes them therefore hasten hither again with all the speed they can: whereas on the contrary the firmament is to be between those waters, and not over them; separating them, not at times, but continually.  
Neither may it seem strange how the out-firmament can be able always to uphold them, seeing (as hath been said) it was made strong by stretching out, lifting then the waters up with it, and therefore well fitted for this office, and can no more fall than 
f 〈◊〉 no●… magis 〈◊〉 c●…lum ipsum qu●…ant. Hyper. Meth. The●…l. lib. 2. pag. 335.  the heaven itself, whose beams or rafters are laid in the waters, as the Prophet speaketh, Psalm 104. 3. And hereupon it also was that noble Bartas said,  
I see not why m●…ns reason should withstand,  
Or not believe that He whose powerful hand  
Bayed up the Red sea with a double wall,  
That Israel's host might scape Egyptian thrall,  
Could prop as sure so many waves on high  
Above the heavens starspangled canopy.  
This was his opinion concerning the waters separated by the firmament; of which opinion are sundry more.  
But on the contrary side are other some who are of 
The contrary and their reasons.  another mind, affirming that they are meant only of those waters in the clouds: for (say they) the air is called the firmament; so also is the sky, etc. And of the clouds it is said in Job, that 
* Job 26. 8.  God bindeth up his waters in thick clouds, and the cloud is not rend under them. So that, first as every part of the water is called by the name of water; in like manner every part of the firmament is called by the name of the firmament: in which regard those waters in the clouds, although no higher than the air, may be taken for those waters which the firmament doth separate: and secondly, that place in Job showeth no less, making it appear, how and in what manner the waters are separated by the firmament.  
Furthermore, Ex ipsa nubium natura, saith 
g In Gen. pag. 70.  Pareus, From the very nature of the clouds this appeareth to be so: for what other thing are the clouds but waters separated by force of the diurnal heat, and by the cold of the air made thick? whereupon (as Pliny calleth them) they are said to be 
h Plin. lib. 31. cap. 1.  Aquae in coelo stantes, Waters standing in the heavens. Also, it may be added (saith Pareus) that Moses makes mention but of two kinds of waters, superas, & inferas, the higher and the lower: but the clouds are waters, as hath been showed; and no low waters; therefore they are the upper waters: unless there be three kinds of waters, which is contrary to Moses.  
Besides, this (saith he) is confirmed by the grammatical construction of the words. For Moses saith, not that it divided from the waters which were supra Expansum; but thus, viz. from the waters which were desuper Expanso: The sense therefore is, not that the waters were carried up above the whole Expansum or Firmament; but rather that they were carried upwards, so, as that with the firmament they were supra and desuper; that is, above and on high.  
Also, the name of heaven confirms no less: for (saith he) the Expansum is called according to the Hebrews Schamajim or Shamajim; from Shame, There, and Majim, Waters: which derivation is common. And therefore those upper waters are not quite above the Expansum, or the Firmament; but are there, that is, in the Firmament, namely in the middle Region of the air.  
Thus we see the difference concerning these waters. And now let the reader choose which opinion likes him 
The reader is left unto his free choice.  best. But for mine own part I like this latter worst: yet let me not tie another to be of the same mind any further than he pleaseth: for it is no matter of faith, and therefore we have our free choice according to the best reasons and most forcible demonstrations. Wherefore let me proceed a little further, that thereby (as near as I can) I may set down that which seemeth to me the best meaning and nearest to the truth.  
First then I answer, that they do mistake who divide 
The matter in question is cleared by answering the contrary arguments.  the Expansum into parts, as if in so doing they could absolutely clear the matter in question: for it is not a part of the Firmament that is appointed to this separating office, but the whole Firmament; as any one may see, if he do but observe the words of God, producing and assigning it. Neither do we find that the Firmament is any more than one. To divide it into parts so as they imagine, is not to divide it into parts, but rather to make so many Firmaments as they imagine parts; like as every scale of an onion is a several and differing scale, and not one the part of another. And beside, neither is there the same reason between the parts of water and these supposed parts of the Firmament: for then when God made the Sun, Moon, and Stars, he would not have said, Let them be in the Firmament, but above the Firmament; for they are far higher than the clouds; yet, I say, they being 
The sun, moon, and stars, are higher than the clouds, and yet they are not said to be above the firmament, but in it▪ the fowls also fly in it, but not above it.  higher than the clouds, he is said to place them but in the Firmament: and they being no more but in it, how improperly do we affirm those things to be above it, whose places are lower than either Sun, Moon, or Stars!  
And secondly, admit Job tells us that there are waters bound up in thick clouds; doth not Jeremy also tell us that they are drawn up in 
* ●…er. 10. 13.  vapours from the earth? which (as hath been showed) cannot at all times be, but then when there is a natural concourse of causes to effect it: whereas the out-spread Firmament is to be always between them, separating them, not at times, but continually. And as for the rain proceeding from those waters which we call the clouds, it stayeth not long in the air, but forthwith falleth down again; showing that of right their proper place is here below: and therefore we make not three kinds of waters (as if we would be contrary to Moses) in saying that there are other waters above the concave of the Firmament, which on this second day of the world's creation were separated from all other waters.  
Wherefore observe but this, they being separated on this second day, how could they be such as the air affordeth? for the middle Region of the air, which is the place for the clouds, was not until the third day: 
There was no middle Region until the third day.  Not until the third day, I say, because it is found by experience, and from sufficient witness proved true, that the tops of the highest mountains do reach up unto that place which we call the middle Region of the air, being some of them more lofty than the clouds.  
As for example, in japan there is a mountain called Figeniana, which is some certain leagues higher than the clouds. And in Ternate among the Philippine Islands there is a mountain, which (as Mr. Purchas in his pilgrimage relateth) is even angry with nature because it is fastened to the earth, and doth therefore not only lift up his head above the middle Region of the air, but endeavoureth also to conjoin itself with the fiery Element. And of the mountain Athos between Macedon and Thrace, it is said to be so high, that it casteth shade more than 
* Viz. 300 furlongs which make 37 miles and an half.  thirty and seven miles. Also the mount of Olympus in Thessaly is said to be of that height, as neither the winds, clouds, or rain do overtop it. And (although I omit sundry others of 
† As Atlas, Pelion, Ossa, Caucasus, and Tabor, which last riseth up 30 furlongs, as Iosephu●… writeth.  exceeding height) it is also written of another mount so high above the clouds, that some who have seen it do witness that they have been on the top of it, and have had both a clear sky over their heads, and also clouds below them pouring down rain and breaking forth with thunder and lightnings; at which those below have been terrified, but on the top of the hill there was no such matter. This surely was that mountain which 
i Lyd. de orig. fonti●…ns, cap. 10.  Mr. Lydiat meant when he said, that etiam aestivis diebus, even in the summer time, when the clouds are at the highest, those on the top of the mountains have had fair weather, and withal perceived that there was plenty of rain about the middle height of the same hills.  
Thus we see that there are lofty mountains: And indeed their loftiness is the cause of a middle Region: for the hills, hindering the air from following the motion of the heavens, do make it about their tops a fit & convenient place to thicken these vapours into clouds, which by the attractive power of the heavenly bodies are drawn up thither.  
Wherefore (that I may conclude) the place of the middle Region being both caused and also overtopped by sundry high mountains, it will appear that there was no middle Region of the air until the third day, because the waters were all over the earth, and standing above the hills until that very day: For then, and not before, God gathered them together unto one place, and made the dry land to appear, which before was covered with waters as with a garment, Psalm. 104. Rarior aqua, saith one, velut nebula, terras tegebat, quae congregatione densata est; The thin water, like a mist or wet cloud, covered the earth, which by gathering together was made thick. In which regard it may be said, saith 
k Aquin. Sum. p●…r. 1. Quest 69. Art●….  Aquinas, that it was as natural for the water to be every where about the earth, as for the air to be about both water and earth: yet nevertheless, propter necessitatem finis, saith he, for the necessity of the end, namely that plants and living creatures should be upon the earth, it was meet that the earth should be so uncovered, and the waters so gathered, that the dry land appear. Now this was a work pertinent unto the third day; and before this work done there could be no middle Region: and the middle Region being on this day and not before, how can the waters in the clouds be those waters which were separated by the out-spread Firmament on the second day? Neither do I here argue à facto ad fieri, because in the very creation of this Firmament, God then said, Let it be between the waters; that is, even then beginning its office and art of separating them. Which that it is even so, we see he speaketh next concerning the lower waters, and makes no more mention at all of those upper ones, because he had already done with them, and left them in their place unto which he had appointed them.  
But furthermore, this tenant is not a little helped by a 
Of the windows of heaven opened in the Flood.  consideration of the cataracts or windows of heaven which in the days of Noah were opened, and poured down rain by the space of forty days: For me thinks the clouds could not be those windows of heaven, because it reigned forty days, and before it left raining the waters were higher than the hills, being, when forty days were ended, fifteen cubits above the highest mountains, as in the history of the Flood is manifest. And hereupon it was that one once by the same reason concluded and said, that either it did not rain forty days, (which assertion we are sure is false) or else it reigned from some other where then from the middle Region: For seeing the middle Region itself was drowned before it ceased to rain, it cannot but be that the rain descended from some higher place.  

1. Object. But perhaps some may think that the clouds mounted higher and higher as the waters increased; insomuch that as the waters by little and little got above the mountains, so did the clouds.  
Answ. This cannot be; because that which makes us distinguish the air so as it may have a middle Region, is nothing else but the differing temper that it hath, both from the upper and lower Region; and this differing temper is caused by the hills, which hindering the air from following the motion of the heavens, do make it a fit place to thicken those vapours into clouds, which by the attractive power of the stars and planets are drawn up thither; as already hath been showed, and as afterwards shall be touched when I come again to speak of the several Regions and their tempers; showing you that it is an Axiom undeniable, that the farnesse from a circular motion gives quietness, coldness, and heaviness; even as the nearness to it gives motion, heat, and lightness.   

2. Object. Or secondly, perhaps some may think that the hills and mountains were not before the Flood, but made by the violence of the waters; and that Moses, when he would describe how high the waters were, doth but show us that they were higher by fifteen cubits then the highest mountain that was then in his time: which he might well say, and make such a comparison, although there were no hills before the flood.  
Answ. That which hath been said in the former answer concerning the cause of the middle Region, doth sufficiently stop this last objection, unless it be granted, that there were no clouds until the Flood had made the hills: And indeed if any such thing be granted, than all is granted, and the controversy quite ended concerning these waters above the Heavens.  
But besides that answer, I hope to make it appear 
That hills and mountains were not caused by the Flood.  that mountains, valleys, and plains were created in the beginning, and were before the Flood in the days of Noah.  
For first, if hills were caused by the Flood, than it must be that the waters suffered an extreme violent motion: but the waters being over the whole face of the earth had nothing to hinder them from their own free motion, nor any thing to compel them to a violent motion; such I mean as should make them work such wonders as are supposed. Had they been overtopped by any thing, then indeed running from one place to another there might have been a repercussion, and by such contention more strange accidents than were, might have been produced, as the making of hills, and the like.  
Or secondly, if there were such a violent motion, (as questionless the waters moved until all places were filled alike, with no small violence) yet the violence was not so great as to be the parent of the hills and mountains; for then without doubt it would have been so forcible also as to have turned rivers and changed them from one place to another, cast down all manner of buildings and structures, rooted up all trees and the like, so that after the Flood nothing should have had the same name, bounds, and description which before it had, neither would the memories of the former ages have been but buried from all succeeding time; which we know is otherwise: for if it were not, it is likely that Moses, speaking of the site of Paradise, and setting down all the rivers of it exactly, would have specified it in his history, that thereby after-ages looking for those places might not mistake or suspect the truth of his relation. Neither have we just cause to think that all buildings and ancient monuments of the Fathers before the flood were extinguished in the flood: For it is reported by 
l Pom. Mela, lib. 1. cap. 11. & Plin. lib. 5. cap. 13.  Pomponius Mela, and Pliny, concerning the city joppa, that it was built before the flood, and that Cepha or Cepheus reigned there; which is witnessed by certain ancient altars, bearing titles of him and his brother Phineus, together with a memorial of the grounds and principles of their religion. And of the city Henoch there is a much like relation. But what need I mention more, seeing 
m Antiq. lib. 1. cap. 3.  josephus, a writer of good credit, affirmeth that he himself saw one of those pillars which was set up by Seth the son of Adam? and this for the truth of it was never questioned, but warranted by all antiquity.  
Moreover, seeing the dove was twice sent out of the ark, and returned with an olive branch at her last return, and not at her first, it is not without reason that we think the trees were not torn up by their roots, but remained still fixed in the ground even as they had done before; for, if the trees had been swimming or floating upon the waters (as some may think) than the poor dove might have found one branch or other as well at the first as second time. Besides, when she did bring any thing, Noah took it not as a token what havoc the flood had made, but as a sign that the waters were decreased: she therefore plucked it off from some tree growing on the earth, and not floating on the waters.  
And last of all (although I say nothing of the delectation and profit of the mountains, which do thereby even amplify the goodness of God in his works, creating and not occasioning them) I shall need to point you no further then to the plain text itself, which doth most plainly tell us, not that the waters were as high as the highest mountains which are now, or were then when Moses wrote his history, but that even from the beginning there were hills and mountains whose lofty tops in the universal flood were covered with waters: for thus stand the words, 
* Gen. 7. 19, 10.  And the waters▪ prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills which were under the whole heaven were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. Whereupon, as I remember, 
n Ains. on Gen.  one writeth thus, saying that this judgement was admirable, seeing there are mountains, as Atlas, Olympus, Caucasus, Athos, and other such, that are so high, as their tops are above the clouds and winds (as Historiographers do report it) and yet see, all these are covered: and these being covered, the middle Region must needs be drowned; and that being drowned, how could the clouds be those windows of heaven which poured down rain for forty days? And those not being the windows of heaven, it cannot but be that the waters above the heavens are in a more remote and higher place, even above the concave of the out-spread Firmament.   

3. Object. But perhaps you may think that I now pitch too much upon reason concerning this of the Flood; seeing it was caused not by natural and ordinary means, but by the extraordinary power of God.  
Answ. To which it is answered, that this flood was partly natural, partly supernatural; and to show how far nature had a hand in this admirable effect, we may distinguish with them, who say that an effect may be called natural two manner of ways: first, in regard of the causes themselves: secondly, in regard of the direction and application of the causes. If we consider the mere secondary and instrumental causes, we may call this effect natural; because it was partly performed by their help and concurrence: but if we consider the mutual application and conjunction of these second causes together with the first cause, which extraordinarily set them on work, we must needs acknowledge it to be supernatural.  
Now then, although we have built upon reason, and so found that before forty days fully ended the middle Region itself was drowned, whereupon it could not rain from thence; yet in so doing we do not argue amiss: for it is no whit derogating from the power of the Almighty to ascend up higher till we find the cause of this long rain, and also the place from whence it came, seeing that when we have so done we shall plainly find, that in regard of the direction and application of the cause it was extraordinarily set on work by a divine dispensation; and so the effect was supernatural.  
I may therefore now proceed: and that I may make the matter yet a little plainer concerning these cataracts or windows of heaven, and so by consequence of the waters also above the heavens, this in the next place may be added; namely, that Moses setteth down two causes by which there grew so great an augmentation of water as would drown the world: the one was the fountain of the great deep: the other was the opening of the windows of heaven. Now if these windows were the clouds, than it seemeth that the waters were increased but by one cause: for the clouds in the air come from the waters in the sea, which by descending make no greater augmentation than the decresion was in their ascending. And although it may be thought that there are waters enough within the bowels of the earth to overflow the whole earth (which is demonstrated by comparing the earth's diameter with the height of the highest mountains) yet seeing the rain-water is made a companion with the great deep in the augmentation of the drowning waters, I see no reason why that should be urged against it; especially seeing it is found that the earth emptied not all the water within her bowels, but only some: For thus stand the words, 
* Gen. 8. 2.  The fountains also of the deep, and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained: their store therefore was not spent when they had sufficiently drowned the world, but their fury rather was restrained, when they had executed God's purpose by climbing high enough above the hills.  
Cardinal Cajetan was conceited that there was a mount in Paradise which was not overflown, and there forsooth he placeth Henoch: The like dream also they have amongst them concerning Elias: And, as their champion and Goliath 
o Dr. Will. ex Bel. de gra. pri. hom.  Bellarmine is persuaded, all those mountains only were overflown where the wicked dwelled. 
p Antiq. lib. 1. cap. 4.  josephus also reporteth out of Nicholas Damascenus, that the hill Baris in Armenia saved many who fled thither for succour. But these are dreams and devices, which are soon overthrown by Moses in his foresaid evident text; where the words are so general, that they include all and every mountain, under, not only the Airy heaven (as Cajetan collecteth) but under the whole Heaven without exception.  
And now after all, what hindereth that there should not be waters above the concave of the Firmament, and that the opening of the windows of heaven should not be more than the losing of the clouds? For it is affirmed, and not without reason you see, that the rain, or a great part of it which fell in the universal Flood, came from an higher place than the middle Region of the air: and that the upper waters are to be above the Firmament, and not the parts of it, is an assertion well agreeing to Moses his description of this second day's work. For (as hath been showed) concerning the fowls and stars, it is true that they are but in the Firmament, and not above it: neither is there any more Firmament than 
q Necessario fatendum est, si modo ●…ubes sint superiores ill●… aq●…ae, duo esse expansa, & ita duo, ut de fabrica illius quod duo●…um multo est nobillus, nulla siai ment●…o. Lyd. de Orig. font. cap. 10.  one, seeing Moses mentions not a second. The fowls indeed fly above the earth (as the text itself speaketh in Gen. 1. 20.) but not above the Firmament: their course being (as junius reads the place) versus superficiem expansi coeli; or ante expansum; or coram expanso coeli; but never supra expansum. And as for the stars, the text likewise saith, ver. 15. Let them be for lights in the out-spread firmament; mentioning never more than one and the same Firmament. But for the waters, it is otherwise: The Firmament is appointed to separate them, as being between, and not above them. Esto expansum inter aquas (it is learned junius his right version of the place) ut sit distinguens inter aquas. Fecit ergò Deus expansum quod 
r Distinguit, a word of the present tense, noting the present performance of that which it was made for.  distinguit inter aquas quae sunt sub expanso, & inter aquas quae sunt supra expansum. That is, Let there be a firmament between the waters, etc. Between the waters, as having waters above it: And how unlike it is, that the upper waters should be placed otherwise, let the former reasons witness: For, all things considered, we need not stand so much upon Pareus his reading Super, quasi in expanso, and desuper expanso, as if they were but above, or on high within the concave, as are the fowls and stars: this (I say) we need not stand upon, seeing junius readeth Supra expansum, without any such nice salving, although he thinketh with Pareus that these upper waters are no higher than the middle Region of the air. And also, admit that some derive the word Schamajim or Shamajim (which signifieth Heavens) from Shame, There, or in that place; and from Majim, Waters; concluding thereupon that these waters which we now speak of must be There, viz. in the heavens, and not above them: although some (I say) make this derivation, yet others derive the same word otherwise: And no 
s As Val. Schindi. & Fagius upon Gen. chap. 1. out of Aben Ezra.  few be there, who, not without reason, do suppose that it is no derivative nor compound word at all; but rather that the Ismaelitish word Schama, which signifieth nothing else but High or Above, doth proceed from this word Schamajim which in English we read Heavens: In which regard the Etymology helpeth nothing to prove the adverse part.  
And yet (as I said before) let the reader take his choice: For perhaps he may now think after all, that if there be waters above the starry heaven, and that part of those waters descended in the time of the Flood, that then the Heavens would have been corrupted and dissolved (as some have said) the rain falling through them from the convexity of the out-spread Firmament.    

Sect. 3. An objection answered concerning the nature of the Heavens, examining whether they be of a Quint-essence.  
BUt concerning this it may be said, that it is not known whether the heavens be of such a nature, as that the rain falling through them should dissolve or corrupt them. Those indeed who follow Aristotle, make them of a Quint-essence altogether differing from things compounded of the Elements: But for mine own part more easily should I be persuaded to think that there is no such fifth essence in them, but rather that they are of a like nature with the Elements, or not much differing.  
For first, although Aristotle deny any change or alteration to have been observed or seen in the heavens since the beginning of the world; yet he was deceived: For Hipparchus, who had better skill in Astronomy then ever Aristotle had, he (as 
a Plin. lib. 2. cap: 26.  Pliny witnesseth) telleth us out of his own diligent and frequent observations that the heavens have had changes in them; for there was in his days a new star like unto that which was once in Cassiopea. And that which is beyond the authority of the greatest philosopher, doth also witness as much; I mean the sacred voice of the everlasting Spirit, affirming that the two parts of this universe, the heavens as well as the earth, do both of them 
* Psal. 102. 26.  wax old even as doth a garment: which is as if it should be said, that by little and little they are changed, tending so long to corruption till at last shall come the time of their dissolution.  
What great difference then can there be between the heavens and things here below, seeing in their own natures both of them do tend to corruption, and are subject to mutation?  
Besides, as it is with Man who is the little world, so certainly it is with Macrocosm who is the greater world: but man changeth and declineth daily, not being now as heretofore he hath been; and so also as a good consequence it must follow, that the greater world doth also suffer change, and, by declining, alteration. That man declineth, 
b Dove conf●…t. of Atheil. chap. 14.  saith one, is a thing most manifest: For men are of lower stature, lesser bones and strength, and of shorter lives than their forefathers were. Now from whence cometh this but from the declining estate of the greater world? The earth, we see, which is the lower part of it, is not so fruitful as before, but beginneth to be barren like the womb of Sarah; neither do the fruits which she bringeth forth, yield so much nutriment as heretofore they have done. And how cometh that to pass but because the heaven also fainteth? For the Planets wax old and cannot afford so great virtue and influence to these lower bodies, as in times past they did; which 
c Ideme▪ ●…lin. lib. 7. ●…ap. 1●…. ●… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gell. N●…t. A●…. l. 13. c. ●….  Pliny and Aulus Gellius testify. And indeed this must needs be a manifest proof, seeing less and weaker bodies are conceived every Age in the womb of nature, that nature therefore waxeth old and weary of conceiving.  
Also, saith he, if a man do but behold the face of heaven, the Moon looketh pale and wan, Mars less rubicund, Sol less orient, jupiter not of so amiable and favourable countenance, Venus more hypocritical, and all the rest both of the wand'ring and fixed stars more weak and suspicious than they did before. That mighty 
* Psal. 19 5.  Giant, which was wont to run his unwearied course, now waxeth weary, as if he would stand still in heaven, as he did in the days of Joshua; for he shineth more dimmely, and appeareth more seldom then before, being much nearer to the earth then of ancient times. For, (if we may give credit to the calculations of the chief masters in Astronomy) the Sun, quoth Copernicus, and after him also Stofler, is nearer to the earth than it was in the days of Ptolemy, by the space of twenty six thousand, six hundred and sixty miles: or (as Philip Melanchthon saith) nine thousand, nine hundred, seventy and six miles; to whom (saith 
d Di●…. Po●…. 〈◊〉. 2. 〈◊〉 A●…vent.  Di●…tericus) assenteth that famous mathematician of our age, David Origanus, in his Prognostication for the year of our Lord 1604.  
All these are proofs: and although we do not greatly contend concerning this last allegation of the sun's approach so near us, yet nevertheless the assertion in general is true enough, that the heavens as well as the earth, as they grow older and older, do suffer change, and in that regard their natures cannot but be much alike.  
Unto which add this, namely, that these visible heavens, of which we now speak, were taken from that mass or lump which lay here below, and that the whole lump was created at once; in which regard it cannot be denied that they differ toto genere or altogether, but that they are of a much like nature with inferior bodies or things here below. And as for Aristotle, he never would so earnestly have defended the contrary, had he not known that it was an excellent means to colour that which he also held concerning the world's 
Phys. lib. 8. cap. 1. & 〈◊〉.  eternity.  
But besides all this, the observations of our best and modern Astronomers make much against him: for they have modestly and manifestly proved, that not only new stars, but comets also have been far above the moon. As for example, that strange star which once was at the back of Cassiopea's chair, was of an extraordinary height above it; for it shined without any difference of Aspect, Parallax, or diversity of sight, even until all the matter whereof it consisted was consumed; having always (as the observers thereof do witness) one and the same station to every of the stars, both in all climates, and also in all parts of the heaven, no diversity of sight at all observed: all which in the lowermost Planets is otherwise, and perceived most of all in the moon, because the Semidiameter of the earth (according to which quantity we dwell from the centre) hath a sensible bigness unto the distance of the moons sphere from us. Had therefore that New star, Comet, or what you please to call it, been lower than the moon, and not in the starry heaven, than (like the inferior Planets) it would have suffered a Parallax or diversity of sight, and never have kept such a regular motion as it did; contending not to be overcome of the starry heaven in its motion, but to keep as it were an equal pace with it: thereby showing that it was even in the Ethereal heaven itself. For this is a rule, that by how much a star is higher than the earth, by so much it imitateth the highest heavens in their daily motion.  
Neither was it this star alone, but others also after it, even Comets themselves, whose places were found to be above the moon: for observing more diligently and exactly then in former times, the observers could easily demonstrate this truth also: thinking thereupon that many of those Comets which have been seen in former ages were burnt out, even in the starry heaven itself, and not so many of them below the moon, as generally (without serious observation) have been supposed. 
f Lib. de 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Longomontanus proveth this, both in that last Comet which was seen in the year 1618., and also in other Comets before it. And now what of all this? Nothing but only thus: viz. If Comets be burnt, consumed and wasted in the starry heavens, it seemeth that there is no great difference between them and things here below: for if there were, it might be thought that they would not suffer such earthly matter to ascend up their territories; such, I say, as doth either wholly or in part compose them. Wholly or in part I add, because (perhaps) even the heavens themselves may afford some matter towards the generation of them, especially if they be 
g For new stars Tycho affirmeth it, lib. de nova ●…iella.  new stars, such as Aristotle never saw; wherefore he writes that a Comet consisteth altogether of an hot, dry, and a kind of oily exhalation drawn from the earth: and questionless in such as are utterly below the moon it is even so; but if they ●…e higher and continue longer, they, as well as new stars, may have some help from such matter as the heavens afford towards the generation of strange appearances: which though they have, yet that they have no earthly matter is not excluded, because next under God the efficient cause of these things is attributed to the stars and their operation; for when they are aptly and conveniently placed and aspected, then by their power, working upon things here below, they draw up hot, dry, and oily exhalations, and these exhalations afford unto Comets that matter whereof they consist. Ptolemy attributeth much in this kind to Mars and Mercury; and so do many others else beside him: and why the yearly aspects of these stars do not always produce such effects, is because they are not always aspected in the same manner, but sometimes in one part of the heavens, sometimes in another, and cannot therefore produce their intended effects, without either the meeting or avoiding of apt or inconvenient occurrences.  
But I conclude, and do yet affirm that the nature of the heavens is certainly such, that the waters above the heavens might pass or issue through them in the time of the Flood, and yet the heavens not be dissolved, nor suffer damage by their falling; damage, neither in corrupting them, nor yet in leaving a vacant place by coming all away: of which in the fourth day's work, when I come to speak of the stars, I shall add yet something more.    

CHAP. V. How to understand the word Heavens; and of the several Regions of the air, together with a consideration of such appearances as we use to see there.  

Sect. 1.  
ANd now to go on with the residue of this day's work: God (saith Moses) called the firmament Heavens, etc.  
By heavens in this place Moses meaneth only the visible heavens, because he speaketh only of the visible part of the world. And yet the same word which is here used is sometimes put for the 
* Dan. 7. 2, 13.  air, wherein winds, clouds, and fowls do fly: sometimes for the 
† Psalm. 8. 9 Gen. 1. 16. 17.  upper Firmament, where the sun, moon, and stars are set: and sometimes for the high places, where 
* Matth. 22. 30.  Angels dwell. And hereupon it was that S. Paul mentioned the third 
† 2. Cor. 12. 2▪  heavens, wherein he saw things unspeakable.  
The first of these is like to the outward court of Solomon's temple, and is the most open to us.  
The second is like his inward court, less open, and abounding with starry lights or lamps never going out.  
And the next is as the Sanctum Sanctorum, whither he is entered once for all, who is a Priest for ever, and maketh intercession for us.  
In the two lowest is no felicity; for neither the 
a Bish. Hall's contemplation●….  fowls nor stars are happy. It is the third of these alone where the blessed Trinity enjoyeth itself, and the glorified spirits enjoy it.  
And questionless in this highest part must needs be more than exceeding glory, seeing the other two within the concave of the Firmament are so full of wonder.  
But of the one of them I shall need to speak little in this day's work: yet of the other under it, as being more pertinent, something must be added.   

Sect. 2.  

Parag. 1. Of the Air and the several Regions in it.  
WE may therefore now (if you please) look into the Air: and here, following the common path, and separating it from the starry heaven, I must say that it is divided into three stages or Regions: although I verily think (as afterwards shall be showed when I come to speak of the stars) that all this space, even from the earth to the eighth sphere, is nothing else but air.  
The highest Region is said to be exceeding hot, and also 
The highest Region.  dry, by reason of the neighbourhood that it hath with the fiery element (as is said) and with the stars; by the force of whose beams it receiveth heat, which is also much increased by following the motion of the heavens.  
The lowest Region is somewhat contrary; for it is 
The lowest Region.  said to be hot and moist: hot chiefly by the reflection of the sunne-beams meeting with the earth; and moist, by reason of the proper nature of the air, and also by reason of the vapours exhaled out of the earth and water. This is the quality which commonly is attributed to this Region.  
But I think that we may rather say it is variable; now hot, now cold, and sometimes temperate; differing according to the times and seasons of the year: In which regard Du Bartas writeth thus,  
Warm-tempered showers do wash it in the Spring;  
And so in Autumn, but more varying:  
In Winter time 'tis wet, and cold, and i'll:  
In Summer season hot and sultry still;  
For then the fields, scorched with flames, reflect  
The sparkling rays of thousand stars aspect.  
The chief is Phoebus, to whose arrows bright  
Our 
* The earth.  Globie Grandam serves for But and White.  
Neither is it altogether variable in regard of time, but also by reason of the diversity of place; some climates being more hot and dry, some more cold and moist than others; which cometh to pass according to their distance from the Equinoctial towards either of the Poles.  
Thus for these two Regions. But now concerning the 
The middle Region.  middle Region, it is always cold: yet surely in its own nature it would be warmer than the Region which is here below, were it not cooled by a cold occasioned by the reflection of the Sunne-beams: For they, reflecting upon the earth, drive up above the beams of their reflection much cold from below, which being daily supplied is kept as a continual prisoner between the heat above and the heat beneath.  
Or, if you will, take it thus, namely that it is cold, but not extremely cold: yet cold (I say) it is in respect of the two other Regions which are hotter than it. And this coldness happeneth partly through the causes before expressed; and partly by reason of the Air in it which cannot follow the motion of the heavens, seeing it is hindered by the tops of the mountains. And hereupon it is that the Philosophers make this a rule, saying that 
a Remoti●…●… 〈◊〉 circula●…i dat qui●…tem, frigiditatem, & 〈◊〉; si●… pro 〈◊〉 dat m●…um, calo●… & levitate●….  the farrenesse from a circular motion gives quietness, coldness, and heaviness; even as the nearness gives motion, heat, and lightness: Which in this thing concerning the middle Region is found to be true, the Air in it being cold, because it is hindered from following the circular motion of the heavens. But (as I said) it is not absolutely cold, but respectively: For if it were extreme cold, than the heat of the Sun would never pass through it to this Region here below; neither would there be grass, herbs, and such high trees as are upon the tops of the mountains.  
But to proceed; 1. In the highest Region, and oft times above it, be generated Comets or Blazing stars, and such like fiery Meteors of diverse sorts. 2. In the middle Region, Clouds, Thunder, Rain, Windes, Storms, etc. 3. In the lowest Region we have Dews, Mists, Hoar-frost, Ice and Frost. As also here is your Ignis fatuus, or foolish fire, with other Lights burning about graves, or such like fatty places where there is store of clammy or fat oily substance for their matter. These Lights are seen also in fields, and are driven by a gentle wind to and fro until their matter be consumed.  
Now these and every one of these, seeing they have their causes in nature, let us a little view them, both how and what they are: For they who send us to God, and his decree in nature, have indeed said what is the true cause, but not how it is by natural means effected. For the manner of producing these things doth no less amplify the power and providence of God, than the things themselves when they are produced.    

Sect. 2.  

Parag. 2. Of Meteors, first in general, then how they are▪ divided in particular.  
ANd these things of which we now speak, seen in any of the Regions, by a general name are called Meteors. And the matter of Meteors, as it is remote, is from the Elements; but as it is propinque or near, it consisteth of Exhalations.  
And Exhalations are of two kinds. 1. There is Fumus. 
Exhalations are of two kinds.  2. Vapour.  
If it come from the earth or some sandy place, it is Fumus, a Fume or a kind of Smoke.  
If it come from the water or some watery place, it is Vapour. For this is a rule, that A Fume hath a certain earthly nature in it, and yet is not earth; and a Vapour hath a certain watery nature in it, and yet it is not water. Or, if you had rather, take it thus; Fumus est mediae naturae inter terram & ignem; Vapour verò inter aquam & aërem: That is, A Fume is of a middle nature between earth and fire; but a Vapour is of a middle nature between water and air.  
And further, all vapours are warm and moist; and will 
The nature of vapours.  easily be resolved into water; much like the breath that proceedeth out of a man's mouth, or out of a pot of water standing on the fire: and these are never drawn higher than the middle Region of the Air; for there they are thickened and conglomerated by the cold into clouds. And why vapours are warm, being drawn from that 
Why vapours are warm.  which is cold, is not from any internal property of their own, but they receive this quality from the power and influence of the stars. For after that the matter is by them attenuated or made thin, their beams cannot but warm it, although it proceed from that which is cold.  
Again, all fumes are as smokes which be hot and dry; 
The nature of fumes.  which because they be thin and lighter than vapours, they often pass the lowest and middle Regions of the Air, being sometimes carried even beyond the highest Region itself.  
And thus we see how there are two kinds of Exhalations;  
Th'one somewhat hot, but heavy, moist and thick:  
The other light, dry, burning, pure and quick.  
Moreover, these Exhalations being the matter of Meteors (as hath been said) are either from the Earth or Water. As for the Fire and Aire, they are mixed with this matter, as with all other things, but not so abundantly that they may be said to be the material cause of any Meteor, although without them none can be effected. And thus much generally. But now more particularly.  
And in coming to particulars, it may be found that these kind of Meteors concerning which I speak, are 
Three sorts of Meteors.  of three sorts; either Fiery, Watery, or Airy.  
Fierie are of two sorts: either such as are in very deed fired; or else such as only seem to burn, which are therefore called Phasmata: In which regard it may be said that these Fiery ones are either Flames or Apparitions.  
And again in respect of their matter, if they be such as burn in very deed, than they be either more or 
Two sorts of Fiery Meteors which burn in very deed.  less pure.  
Their place where we see them is according to the abundance and scarcity, or rather quality of the matter whereof they consist: for if it be heavy and gross, it cannot be carried high; but if it be not so gross, but rather light and more full of heat, than it aspires and transcends so much the higher by how much it is the lighter; sometimes above the highest Region of the Air, even into the starry heaven itself; which is witnessed by our best modern Astronomers, who have observed many Comets above the Moon.  
Furthermore, these Fiery impressions, according to the divers disposing of their matter, are of several fashions; and thereupon they have several appellations, being called according unto the names of those things unto which they seem to be like.  
As 

1. Torches.  
2. Burning Beams.  
3. Round Pillars.  
4. Pyramidal Pillars.  
5. Burning Spears, Streams, or Darts. 
These sorts are ignita pura.   
6. Dancing or leaping Goats.  
7. Flying Sparks.  
8. Shooting Stars.  
9 Flying Lances.  
10. Fires, either scattered, or else as if all the air burned.  
11. Flying Dragons, or Fire-drakes.  
12. Wand'ring Lights.  
13. And also licking or cleaving fire, sticking on the hairs of men or beasts.    
Now all these kinds (of which I have mentioned thirteen) I take to be such fiery Meteors as are said to be pure and not mixed.  
Then again have you those which are said to be mixed and less pure:  
As 

1. Comets of all sorts. 
These sorts are ignita 〈◊〉.   
2. All kinds of lightning.  
3. Unto which must be joined thunder, as an adjunct.    
And now of these severally, before I mention any more of another kind, whether watery or airy.    

Sect. 2.  

Parag. 3. Of such fiery Meteors as are pure and not mixed.  

1. FAx, which is a Torch or Firebrand, or as a lighted 
Article 1. Of burning Torches.  candle, is an exhalation hot and dry, drawn beyond the middle Region of the air, where being arrived it is set on fire (as are all exhalations that come there) partly by their own heat, and partly by the heat of that place: and because the matter of the exhalation is long and not broad, and being equally compact, and fired at the one end, it burneth like a torch or candle, until the whole whereof it consisteth be consumed. And why it should burn at the one end rather than at the other, is found to be because it is long and standeth upright, having the most of its aspiring matter in the top; and in this station ascending up, it comes to pass, that when the upper end doth present itself to the heat of the upper Region, it is fired, and so consumeth by degrees, even as by degrees it ascendeth, or peepeth into that hot place.   

2. Trabs arden's, a burning Beam, is an exhalation hot & 
Article 2. Of burning Beams.  dry, drawn beyond the middle Region of the air; the matter of which exhalation being long & not very broad, makes it seem like a beam or log: and because it is more gross and heavy on the under part from the one end unto the other, and on the upper part hath much aspiring matter equally dispersed, it is transversly carried up, and so being fired it lieth at length, and standeth not upright.   

3. Round Pillars are of the same nature, unless perhaps 
Article 3. Of round burning Pillars.  their light and heavy matter is not so equally or in like order disposed, but rather heavier towards the one end then the other, which makes it be carried up or presented in perpendicular fashion; and also having the hottest and driest and most combustible matter driven to the superficies or outside of it, by reason of a contrary qualitied substance within it, which makes it therefore be fired on all sides alike, and appear like a burning Pillar.   

4. Pyramidal Pillars are nothing differing from the 
Article 4. Of Pyramidal burning Pillars.  other, unless that the exhalation have more earthly matter in it below, and not so much above: for when the lighter and thinner parts are ascended to the top, than the grosser, heavier, and thicker are left in the bottom: which makes it therefore of fashion great beneath and small above. 
Article 5. Of Flashing, Streams, or Darts    

5. Burning Streams, Spears, or Darts, is that Meteor which is called Bolis or jaculum, and is an Exhalation hot and dry, meanly long; whose thick and thinner parts are equally mixed: and thereupon being fired in the highest Region, it flameth on the thin or subtle part; which nevertheless, because the matter is well mixed, doth also send fire to the other parts, insomuch that it seems to run like a dart from the one unto the other.  
Or, if you will, this Meteor (or one very like it) is thus generated, viz. when a great quantity of hot and dry Exhalations (which indeed may fitly be called a dry cloud) is set on fire in the midst, and because the cloud is not so compact that it should suddenly rend, as when thunder is caused, the fire breaks out at the edges of it, kindling the thin Exhalations which shoot out in great number like to fiery spears or darts, the streaming or flashing being so much the whiter by how much the Exhalation is the thinner. Such like coruscations as these we use to see many nights in the North and North-east parts of the sky.   

6. Caprae saltantes, or dancing Goats, are caused when 
Article 6. Dancing Goats.  an Exhalation hot and dry is so compact, that on the one side or other it hath some parts which appear as the appendices of it, or joined to the main Exhalation by an other kind of Exhalation far thinner than the main one, so that the fire running on the main part, and as it were outright, by the way it cannot but seem to skip unto those parts on the sides, inflaming them also; which, because it is variously and nimbly performed, makes the flame seem to leap or dance, just as wanton goats use to do when they are dancing or playing.   

7. Scintillae volantes, or flying Sparks, are caused when 
Article 7. Flying Sparks.  the matter of the Exhalation is not only thin, but in all parts thin alike, but not compacted or knit together: and not being closely joined, but interrupted by small spaces, those parts which come up first into the highest Region are fired before the other that follow, and thereupon they fly abroad like sparks out of a chimney, even as when sawdust or any such like matter is cast into the fire. This Meteor by some is called Stipula arden's, or Burning stubble.   

8. Stellae cadentes, Shooting or Falling stars, are 
Article 8. of Shooting stars▪  caused when an Exhalation hot and dry is gathered as it were on a round heap, but not throughly compacted, nor yet so apt to ascend as other Exhalations, which makes it therefore be beaten back again when it comes near the cold confines of the middle Region; and so, hover aloft, by an 
* Antiperistasis is a repulsion on every part, whereby either heat or cold is made more strong in itself by restraining the contrary.  Antiperistasis, or repulsion by the contrary to it on every part, it is set on fire, and then sliding away, it appears as if a star fell down or were thrown to the earth.  
For, shooting stars these some do fond call;  
As if those heavenly lamps from heaven could fall.  
Moreover, sometimes it is generated after another manner, which is but in respect of the disposing of the matter; and then the Exhalation is more long and narrow, which being kindled at the one end burneth swiftly to the other, even like a piece of waxed thread being lighted in a fire or candle.  
Again, some think that this Meteor is not so much set on fire, as directly under some star or other which gives it a shining. But how this can be I cannot well perceive, seeing it shooteth obliquely as oft as directly downwards.   

9 Lancea arden's or volans, A burning or flying Lance, 
Article 9 Flying Lances.  is another fiery Meteor kindled in like sort that the former was, and hath this name because the matter of it is so disposed, that when it is fired it seems to be like a Lance.   

10. Illuminations, or Fires scattered in the Air, and 
Article 10 Of the seeming burning of the heavens.  appearing in the highest part of the lowest Region, are caused when very dry and hot Exhalations are drawn up, and meeting with cold clouds are sent back again, which motions to and fro do set them on fire, and then their parts not being thick in equal proportion, but as it were unjoined together, do seem as though Fires were scattered in the Air. Thus one way. But sometimes the matter of this Exhalation is more nearly conjoined, and then (if the Exhalation be large) it is as if the whole Air were on fire, as appeared on the 15 day 
a Stow in his Abridg. Ann, 1574.  of November in the year of our Lord God 1574; in which year about the last day of March the strange star in Cassiopea's chair vanished and disappeared.   

11. Draco volans, or a flying Dragon, called by some 
Artic. 11. Fire-drakes, or flying Dragons.  a Fire-drake, is a Fiery Exhalation whose matter is thick and as it were hard tempered together; or rather not so hard as conglutinously conjoined: which lump, ascending to the Region of cold, is forcibly beaten down or back again; by the force of which motion it is set on fire; and not only fired, but also bend and violently made crooked: For (as hath been said) the matter of it hangeth so conglutinously together, that the repulse divides it not, but by a strange encounter moulds it into such a fashion as (seen afar off) looks much like 
b Paracelsus is persuaded that it is a fiery living creature bred in the element of the Fire, even as flies in the Air, fish in the Water, and worms in the Earth: affirming that it is of à short life like the Salamander, etc. But if this be not ridiculous, than nothing is.  a Dragon. This is the opinion of the most. But some say that it is done into this fashion between two clouds of differing natures, the one hot, the other cold: and so perhaps it is sometimes made.   

12. Ignis fatuus, or foolish Fire (so called, not that it hurteth, but feareth or scareth fools) is a fat and oily Exhalation hot and dry (as all Exhalations are which are apt to be fired) and also heavy in regard of the glutinous 
Artic. 12. Foolish Fire, Jenny, or Will with a wisp.  matter whereof it consisteth: in which regard the cold of the night beats it back again when it striveth to ascend, through which strife and tossing it is fired, (for in this encounter it suffereth an Antiperistasis) and being fired it goeth to and fro according to the motion of the Air in the silent night by gentle gales, not going always directly upon one point, unless the wind be more than such a gale as is commonly called Aura: And note that if the wind be any thing big or blowing▪ than this Meteor cannot appear at all, because the wind will disperse the matter of the Exhalation, not suffering it to be conjoined.  
Moreover, some think that it may be kindled of itself, although it be not so moved as before: and this is performed by the active moving of the heat which is within it, as is seen in an heap of moist hay which will set itself on fire.  
These kinds of lights are often seen in Fens and Moors, because there is always great store of unctuous matter fit for such purposes; as also where bloody battles have been fought; and in 
b Taken therefore (but falsely) for the souls of the departed: as you may see if you look but a little further.  churchyards or places of common burial, because the carcases have both fatted and fitted the place for such kind of oily Exhalations. Wherefore the much terrified, ignorant, and superstitious people may see their own errors in that they have deemed these lights to be walking spirits; or (as the silly ones amongst the Papists believe) they can be nothing else but the souls of such as go to Purgatory, and the like. In all which they are much deluded: For souls departed 
* 2. Sam. 12. 13.  cannot appear again; I shall go to him (saith David) but he shall not return to me. And (saith Job) He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place 
Job 7. 10. Psal. 103. 15, 16. and Psal. 39 15.  know him any more. Or (as it is in the Psalmist) Before I go hence and be no more seen. So that if they walk, sure it is invisible, for (saith the Scripture) They shall be no more seen. But what need I urge that? For we see that they cannot at all return, but are 
* Eccles. 9 5, 6.  ignorant of all things done under the sun; and as it was with Dives and Lazarus, so it is with every other: Wherefore we may well say thus,  

1. 
If after death souls can appear,  
Why then did Dives crave,  
That one his brethren word might bear  
What pains the damned have?   
2. 
Or if there be 
* Eccles. 9 10. Host 13. 14. John ●…7. 24.!  another room  
Which is not Heaven or Hell,  
How 'scaped the 
* Luke ●…6. 22. and chap▪ ●…3. 43.  beggar from the doom  
Of Purgatories cell?   
3. 
What shall become of Christ's dear 
* 1. John 〈◊〉, 9  blood,  
If after death there be  
A way to make our own works good,  
And place the soul in glee?    

Quest. But, if these lights be not walking spirits, why is it that they lead men out of their way?  
Answ. They are no spirits, and yet lead out of the way, because those who see them are amazed, and look so earnestly after them that they forget their way; and then being once out, they wander to and fro, not knowing whither, sometimes to waters, pits, and other dangerous places; whereupon the next day they will undoubtedly tell you strange tales (as one saith) how they were led up and down by a light, which (in their judgement) was nothing else but some devil or spirit in the likeness of fire which fain would have hurt them. But of this enough: and know last of all, that if one be something near these lights, and the night calm, then going from them they will follow us, because there being no wind to hinder, we draw the Air after us; or going towards them they go from us, because we by our motion drive the Air before us.  
Moreover, when the like matter chanceth to be fired 
Of Helena, Castor and Pollux.  in some such part of the Air as is over the Sea, than these lights appear to mariners, and are called Castor and Pollux, if there be two at once; otherwise Helena, if there be but one: The reason of which names was this; Helena was the daughter of jupiter and Leda, and by the heathens she was taken for a goddess, but not for a goddess of good fortune: for this Helena was the cause of Troy's destruction; as thus. She was stolen away by Paris the son of Priamus K. of the Trojans, stolen, I say, out of Greece; whereupon her two brothers Castor and Pollux sail to seek her, but they were never heard of more, or seen after: which loss of these brethren made it be supposed that they were translated into the number of those gods who use to give good success to mariners; for they were lost at sea; which is, as if they were translated from thence. Now than the Seamen having seen by often experience that one light was to them a sign of some tempest, and that two lights were a sign of fair weather, they called the one light Helena, and the two lights they called Castor and Pollux.   

Quest. But why should it be, may some demand, that they should thus appearing show either fair or foul weather? can any reason be shown for it?  
Answ. It is answered, that one flame alone may be 
Why two lights at once show fair weather, and one light foul weather.  a sign of tempest or foul weather, because, that as that matter which burneth is so compact into one that it cannot be dissolved into two; so in like manner the matter of tempest being exhaled, by the like cause is kept from being dissipated, and is so close together that before any long time it must needs work.  
And again, when two lights appear, why then it should be fair, it is because there is not the like working in nature which was before; but rather the contrary: for as this Exhalation of the lights is divided; so the matter, which otherwise might be fit for tempest, is not thickened, but by the like cause is also divided, scattered, and easily dissolved: insomuch that it cannot work so as at other times, when there is a working to compact, and not to dissipate.    

13. Ignis lambens is a cleaving and licking fire or light; 
Artic. 13. Licking Lights.  and is so called because it useth to cleave and stick to the hairs of men or beasts, not hurting them, but rather (as it were) gently licking them. These flames may be caused two ways, as the learned write.  
First, when clammy Exhalations are scattered abroad in the air in small parts, and in the night are set on fire by an Antiperistasis; so that when any shall either ride or walk in such places as are apt to breed them, it is no wonder that they stick either on their horses, or on themselves.  
Secondly, they may be caused another way, viz. when the bodies of men or beasts, being chafed, do send out a fat and clammy sweat; which (according to the working of nature in things of this kind) is kindled and appeareth like a flame. Virgil makes mention of such a fire as this, upon the head of julus, the son of Aeneas;  
Ecce levis summo de vertice visus juli 
Virg. Aeneid. lib. 2. prope finem.   
Fundere lumen apex, tactúque innoxia molli  
Lambere flamma comas, & circum tempora pasci.  
Behold, the lively crown  
Of soft julus' head  
With light was circled round:  
A flame his temples fed.  
But touched, not having hurt, nor feeling harm,  
The licking fire his hairs would scarcely warm.  
Livy also maketh mention of two others, upon whom the like Meteor appeared: For Servius Tullius, when he was a child, even as he lay sleeping, had his hair on his head as if it were all on a fire. And upon the head of Marius, that worthy Roman, was the like appearance, even whilst he was making an oration to his soldiers. And I myself do also know one, who hath often protested to me, that as he lay in his bed one night, his head was all on a flame; which hurt him not, although it greatly scared his wife and him, as I have heard them both confess. Moreover, others testify how they have been scared in their beds by a kind of light sticking to their cover, like dew upon the nap of a frieze coat: which must needs be this Ignis Lambens, caused by some kind of clammy sweat proceeding from among them. For, that a clammy sweat will cause these things, is manifest in the nimble currying of a foggy horse; visible sparks appearing and coming from him, if it be done in the dark. But of these kinds of fiery Meteors enough.     

Sect. 2.  

Parag. 4. Of such fiery Meteors as are impurely mixed.  

Article 1. Of Comets.  
NOw follow those which are Ignita mixta, and less 
Why some fiery Meteors are less pure than others.  pure; coming so to pass when the Exhalation, through the admixtion of some vapour, is more slimy, gross, and impure: For those Meteors already described were merely Fumes without the admixture of Vapours; unless it might be some little in one of a glutinous nature or composition. Now these Ignita mixta are usually divided into two sorts: for they are either such as continue long; or else such as are but for a little while.  
Those that continue long, are Comets or blazing stars.  
And a Comet is a fiery Meteor, whose matter is an 
What Comets are.  Exhalation hot and dry, fat and clammy, drawn by virtue of the heavenly bodies into the highest part of the air (and sometimes into the starry Region) where it is closely conglutinated into a great lump, by reason of supply that it hath from below, so long as there is a working to exhale it: and being thus compacted and exhaled, it is set on fire in convenient time by the excessive heat of the place where it resteth. Sometimes it continues burning long; sometimes but a little while: seven days is the least time; whereas some have been seen 
* Pliny maketh their shortest time to be seven days, and their longest 80 days, lib. 2. cap. 25. but we find it otherwise: And therefore there is a fault; 80 being put for 180, which might come to pass by the loss of a C.  six months: all which cometh to pass by reason, either of the paucity, or plenty of the matter whereof it consisteth. That last Comet which was seen of us, viz. Anno Domini 1618., was perspicuous by the space of one month; namely from the 18 day of November until the 16 day of December next following; and was far above the highest Region of the air, overlooking even the moon herself, as Longomontanus proveth in a book of his, where he treateth of new stars, and such appearances as have been seen in the heavens, since the year of our Lord God 1572.  
But in a Comet two things especially are considerable: the one the colour; the other the fashion: both which arise out of the divers disposing of the matter.  
Their colours are principally three. 1. If the matter 
Three principal colours in a Comet.  be thin, than the colour is white. 2. If meanly thick, than the colour is ruddy, looking like fire. 3. If very thick, than their colour is like the burning of brimstone, or of a blue appearance.  
Yet know that they are not always exactly of these three colours without any difference, but as near them as the disposing of their matter will suffer: as in stead of white we sometimes have them of a yellowish colour; in stead of blue, of a watchet or greenish colour, and the like.  
Concerning their fashions (if we stand upon a curious 
Two chief fashions in a Comet.  examination of them) they may be manifold: and yet, as Aristotle accounteth, they are principally but two, all their other shapes being dependant on these two. For first either they seem round, having beams round about them; which cometh to pass when the matter is thin on the edge●…, and thick every where else: or secondly, they seem as it were with a beard or tail; which cometh to pass when it is but meanly thick towards some one side or other, and rather long then round. But some would have these two fashions to be three, because the tail sometimes hangs downward as well as sidelong: and so there is by this means stella crinita, stella caudata, and stella barbata; concerning which I am not much solicitous.  
That therefore which in these things I do much more 
The strange effects of Comets.  wonder at, is the strange and admired multitude of effects which are produced by them; as not only change of air, but change of heirs also, proceeding from the disturbance of states, translation of kingdoms, bloody wars, and death of Potentates. Histories have carefully recorded these things, and left them to the consideration of aftertimes.  
First therefore let it be observed, that when the kingdom of the Macedonians came to an end, in the last year of Perseus, which was about the year 584 or 585 of the building of Rome, a 
a Carion, ex Seneca, lib. 2.  Comet appeared, as if it came to point out the last period of that kingdom.  
Secondly, when the Emperor jovian attained to the empire, succeeding the Apostata julian, under whom the Church suffered much persecution; when (I say) the said jovian was Emperor, and that under him both Church and Commonwealth were like to have had a 
b Socrat. lib. 4. cap. 22.  flourishing time (had he not been taken away by sudden death) then also 
c Carion, lib. 3.  appeared a Comet, showing that further trouble was yet to be expected.  
Thirdly also, when a certain captain of the Goths, an Arian, named Cajan, had raised sedition against the Emperor Arcadius, God showed by manifest wonders that both Arcadius and his city should be well protected: but before this tumult (saith 
d Lib. 3. pag. 294.  Carion) a strange Comet was seen, great and terrible, casting flames down to the very earth; the like whereunto no man had ever seen before.  
4 And again, other authors make mention of a strange Comet seen in the year of Christ 410, being like unto a twoedged sword, which portended many mischiefs. For Rome was taken about the same time by Alaricus King of the Goths. Sundry calamities happened both in the East and West; and so great slaughters of men were about those days, as no age ever afforded the like. All Europe was in a manner undone, no small part of Asia was affrighted; and Africa also was not void of those evils. War, Famine, Drought, and Pestilence, all of them strove (as it were) to trouble the whole world.  
5. Also in these years, viz. 1400, 1401, 
e Of this Comet you may read in Carrion, lib. 5. pag. 854.  1402, 1403, Comets appeared, and great calamities followed; sundry and unheardof diseases were felt, rivers dried up, and plagues were increased. Tamerlain, K. of the Scythians and Parthians, with an innumerable host invadeth Asia, calling himself the WRATH OF GOD, and DESOLATION OF THE EARTH; as did Attilas', of whom it is written, that he named himself THE SCOURGE OF GOD.  
6. Also in the year 1529 appeared 
f Alst. Chron. 〈◊〉.  four Comets: and in the 
g Goclen. Phys. Lanquet. Chron. & in contin. Chron. Euseb.  years 1530, 1531, 1532, and 1533, were seen in each year one: (
* So also a certain German in the continuation of Euseb. Chron.  Lanquet saith that there were three within the space of two years) upon which, these and the like changes and calamities followed; (viz.) A great sweeting sickness in England, which took away whole Myriads of people. The 
h Buchod. in his chron.  Turk, in the quarrel of john Uvavoyda, who laid claim to the crown of Hungary, entered the said kingdom with two hundred and fifty thousand fight soldiers; committing against the inhabitants thereof most harsh and unspeakable murders, rapes, villainies, and cruelties. A great famine and dearth was also in Venice and the country thereabout, which swept away many for lack of sustenance. The sweeting sickness 
* Idem, ibid.  also vexed Brabant, and a great part of Germany, and especially the city Antwerp, where it consumed five hundred persons in the space of three days. Great wars concerning the Dukedom of Milan between the Emperor Charles the fifth, and Francis the French King. All Lusitania or Portugal was struck with an Earthquake; insomuch that at Ulisippo or Lisbon, a 
h In Lanq. Chron. it is 1400. Vide Ann. Dom. 1531.  thousand and fifty houses were thrown down, and 600 so shaken that they were ready to fall, which made the people forsake the city and run into the fields: and as for their churches, they lay upon the ground like heaps of stones. Upon this followed a great pestilence in those parts. But a little before, viz. in the year 1530, was a great deluge in Brabant, Holland, Zealand, and the seacoasts of Flanders; as also an overflowing of the river Tiber at Rome, occasioned by unseasonable tempests of wind. Upon the neck of which troubles the Turk comes again into Hungary and Austria; but he was beaten back, and a great company of his men slain and taken. Unto which may be added how the sect of the Anabaptists, not long after, brought new tumults into Germany.  
7. And for that last Comet, in the year 1618., saith a German writer, Praesagium ipsius jam ●…heu est in manibus nostris; meaning that they felt by doleful experience the 
i 〈◊〉 Bohemicum & Germanicum oritu●…, quod hodié que affligit 〈◊〉 nostram Germaniam. 〈◊〉. Chron. mirab. Dei, Fuit etiam anteces●… mortis Ma●…hiae Imperatoris.  sad events which followed after it.  
Wherefore seeing these and the like accidents have been attendant upon the appearing of Comets, it may well be said that although they have their causes in nature, yet Nunquam futilibus excanduit ignibus aether; The sky never burnt with such fires in vain. For (as one saith) Loquitur cum hominibus Deus, non modò linguâ humanâ, per Prophetas, Apostolos, & pastors; sed nonnunquam etiam ipsis Elementis in formas & imagines diversas compositis▪ That is, God speaketh with men, not only with the tongues of men, by Prophets, Apostles, and Teachers; but sometimes also by the very Elements composed or wrought into diverse forms and shapes; there being a Theological end of sending Comets, as also a Natural and Political end.  
But first (before I come to that) I think it not amiss to 
Why wars, deaths, famines and the like, are the effects of Comets.  speak something concerning these their events and accidents; namely whether it can be showed why they should be wrought either so or so.  
To which it is answered, that in some sort we may give reasons for this, and show the causes of their significations. For being Comets they consist of many hot and dry Exhalations: And hot and dry Exhalations do not only stir up heat, dry and parch the air, which may cause drought (especially when much of the earth's fatness is drawn away with the Exhalation) and drought bring barrenness: but also the bodies of living creatures upon the distemper of the air are mainly hurt, suffering detriment in the consumption of their radical moisture, and suffocation, through the poisonous breathe which the bellows of the body suck in, and receive: insomuch that there cannot but be sicknesses, plagues, and much mortality.  
Besides which, that they should usher in wars, seditions, changes of kingdoms, and the like, may also proceed from the same cause: For when the Air is distemperately heated, than it is very apt so to disorder and dry up the blood in humane bodies, that thereby great store of red and adust choler may be purchased; and this stirreth up to anger with the thought of many furious and violent actions; and so by consequent to war: and from war cometh victory, from victory proceedeth change of commonwealths, and translations of kingdoms, with change of Laws and Religion: for, Novus Rex, nova Lex; New Lords, new Laws. Unto which also may be added, that because great personages live more delicately than other men, and feed more daintily, having as many new fashions in their diets as in their clothes, for their boards as for their backs, that their bodies therefore are more subject to infection, and will take the poison of an intemperate air before more temperate livers; whereupon necessity enforceth that they die sooner in such a calamity then other people, as he once witnessed that said, Plures pereunt gulâ quam gladio.  
Besides, the death of great ones is more remarkable than when inferior persons die, so that if but some of them be taken away in common calamities, it is as if they were only aimed at; because they are obvious to every one's eye, as cities standing upon hills, which cannot be hid.  
And now that our bodies should follow the temperature 
Our bodies follow the temper of the air: and our minds do somewhat sympathise with the body.  of the Air, is nothing doubted, seeing every lame, aching, or bruised joint doth witness it even to the very ignorant: But that our minds and manners should follow the temperature of the body, is more strange and wonderful. Yet true it is that by the mediation of humours and spirits, as also through ill disposed organs, the mind also suffereth. For the body is Domicilium animae, the souls house, abode and stay: so that as a Torch (saith 
† Burton, in his Melancholy.  one) gives a better light, and a sweeter smell, according to the matter it is made of; in like manner doth our Soul perform all her actions, better or worse, as her organs are disposed: or as wine savours of the cask where it is kept, so the soul receives a tincture from the body, through which it works. For the Understanding is so tied to, and captivated by his inferior senses, that without their help he cannot exercise his functions; and the Will being weakened so as she is, hath but a small power to restrain those outward parts, but suffers herself to be overruled by them: of which I shall have occasion to speak more in the 
† Chap. 7. sect. 3 parag. 2▪ art. 1.  fourth day's work, until when I leave it; in the mean time adding, that Comets do not always, when they bring sicknesses, corrupt the air through immoderate heat and dryness, but sometimes also through immoderate heat and moisture; as also by immoderate winds which may bring the poison of the Exhalation whereof the Comet consisted, unto some such place as lieth obvious unto it, and the like. Yea and upon the raising of winds come often showers and rains, or else overflowings of banks upon high tides and other lofty waters, which are forced over upon the violence of the winds.  
Astrologers say that Comets do most hurt either unto those places to which they are vertical, or unto those countries which are subject to the sign wherein they are (for they maintain that such and such countries are subject to such and such signs:) but omitting part of 
How to guess at the signification of Comets.  that, they also tell us (which stands with good reason) that in earthy dry signs they produce barrenness by reason of drought; in waterish signs barrenness also by reason of too much wet; in airy signs extraordinary wind; in signs of a fiery triplicity, extraordinary heat, wars, fires, drought, and the like; and in all of these (seeing their operation is extraordinary) some one perilous and infectious sickness or other.  
Besides, they also 
i Origan●… de effectibus, pag. 526, ex Cardano.  tell us that if a Comet be in fashion like unto a sword, it than signifieth wars and destruction of cities, etc. If it be stella crinita, or blazing round about, and of diverse colours; than it signifieth wind, seditions, heresies, and the like: but if it be blackish, with a short tail, and no hairs; than it is a sign of barrenness, together with long and continued wars.  
But know now that although these and the like accidents be produced by Comets; yet if Comets should not be, the case would be far worse for mankind, and more readily would eager death seize upon him. For if that which is the matter of Comets were not taken into one place, and drawn, so as it is, up into the air; it would kill us by being dispersed about our dwellings: such being the nature of their poisonous Fumes, as they by experience know who have seen the danger of damps whilst they played the part of pioneers under ground.  
Wherefore let me add, that the end for which Comets 
The several ends of Comets.  are, is threefold: for either they appear for a Political end; for a Theological end; or for a Natural end.  
In respect of a Political end they are so to be taken 
Political.  for the Heralds of future calamities, that men being forewarned may be forearmed, and provided either to shun the threatened disaster, or else to endure with patience the common and inevitable misery.  
In respect of a Theological end, they are either a 
Theological.  sign of calamities, or else the efficient cause of calamities. If they be a sign, than their end is this, viz. that they may be monitors, instigatours, and admonishers to repentance; and to desire and expect either the turning away, or mitigation of those public punishments. But if they be the efficient causes of misery, than their Theological end is, that they are sent as the instruments of punishing some such enormous malice and contumacy of mankind as would not be kept under or restrained by any humane law or discipline.  
And lastly in respect of a Natural end, it is that those 
Natural.  pestiferous winds, spirits, or breathe, which are gathered from metallique liquours and the like in the earth, should be taken up far into the air from the common seat of men, that thereby we may partake the less of their malice: for being burnt out and consumed there, they can less hurt us, then if they were below. If they should remain in the earth, they then (as they often do) would rend and shake it: or should they remain below in the near neighbouring air, they would poison us 
k Witness the great plague which was in Portugal Ann. Dom. 1531, occasioned by vapours which through a breach of ground in an earthquake issued forth and poisoned the air. Lanq. Chron.  sooner than above; because if the air be infected when they are on high and a great way from us, much more would it be infected should they be below and round about us.  
But of Comets I have said enough. And now methinks I am led from them to a consideration of such appearances as are called New stars; such as were in the years 
l After which were these appearances, if not new stars, yet most of them supralunary Comets: as in the year 1577, which Sibylla Babylonica prophesied of (as may be seen in Tycho) showing that it should arise about four years after the vanishing of Cassiopea's star; which was true inclusively: and in the years 1580, 1585., 1590., 1593.; and in the year 1596 (but this was a New star) and in the years 1607, and 1618.  1572, 1596, 1600, 1602, 1604, and 1612.   

Artic. 2. Of New stars, and especially of that which was in the Constellation of Cassiopea, Anno Dom. 1572.  
NOw here I must confess that I know not what to write: for how they are generated, or what they signify, is a matter of most intricate question.  
Noble Tycho, that Phoenix of Astronomy, and after him Longomontanus, with certain others, have been persuaded that they were more than Comets, and generated far otherwise, or of other matter then fiery Meteors are; being first set a work so to think by the sight of that strange and admirable New star which was seen in the constellation of Cassiopea; seen from the ninth of November in the year 1572, until the last of March in the year 1574.  
Which star was indeed truly admirable, and (as I may say) attended with a sad event; I mean that cunningly plotted Massacre of Protestants in France, at the solemnisation of a marriage between Henry of Navarre chief of the Protestants party; and lady Margaret, sister to the French King Charles the ninth, then reigning, and chief author of the foresaid Massacre: at which wedding there was not so much wine drunk as blood shed; thirty thousand Protestants and upwards, of the best and most potent, being sent through this Red sea to the land of Canaan.  
Or if this New star were not attended with that particular accident, because the 
a Viz. on Bartholomew day. Calvis.  Massacre was in August, and the star appeared not until 
b Viz. on the ninth of November.  two months after; yet we may hope, that rising after such a butchery, and so soon after it as it did, that therefore it came to animate distressed Christians, shining at the first with a cheerful countenance, but at the last turning into a martial and bloody hue: as if in so doing, he which sent it would have the world take notice that his righteous servants should see truths enemies (be they where or whom they will) confounded at last by martial discipline; and that those who had made havoc of others should be trodden down at last themselves, although for a time they fairly bore it out.  
But by what instruments the execution of these projects should be performed, we cannot tell. Yet this I verily think may be said, that those late, blessed, and admired proceedings of the prosperous and successful GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS King of Sweden, whose manifold and sudden conquests made him a spectacle to the astonished world, that those (I say) do point us to him above all men, as being the man appointed to show the first effects of that strange star; and that it was to have an operation far surpassing the saddest consequents of former threatening Comets.  
To which purpose I find, that learned Tycho hath added a kind of prophetical conclusion to that book of his which he wrote concerning this New star; wherein he declareth (according to his modest and harmless rules of art, proceeding in them not like a doting heathenish stargazer) that the effects were to be declared by 
c And therefore he could not then name any one in particular.  succeeding events: which as they shall not begin (saith he) until some years after the apparition, so they shall continue for a long time afterward. The beginning of the effect, or some part of it, was to fall out after the third septenary of years from the first appearing of the star (as he also writeth) which was afte●… one and twenty years; about which time I plainly find that the foresaid 
d The King of Sweden born at such time as the star began its operation.  King was born: For the time of his birth falleth into the year 1594, which is the very next year after the one and twentieth year from the stars first rising; so that the year of his conception falleth into the very one and twentieth year itself: or, if you account inclusively from the year of the stars vanishing, unto the year of the King of Swedens' appearing, or entrance into the world, than not his conception, but his birth, falleth into the said one and twentieth year. Which thing is also somewhat agreeable to Tycho his own meaning, where he telleth us (although he nameth no particular person) that those noble Heroes which shall happen to be born at the first rising of this star, are ordained to be the authors and atchievers of such great mutations as should then be, when the men ordained for them came to be fit, and of ripe age to work them. Thus he; the difference between us being, that he applieth it to the birth of such eminent men as were to be born when the star first appeared; and I to that time when (according to his conjectures) the operation of it first began: which, albeit he casteth it into the year 1592., must not be until the year after, being the one and twentieth year from the stars first rising, and the very year of the King of Swedens' conception: For he was born on the last day of November in the year 1594; being also (as hath been said, both terms included) the very one and twentieth year from the stars first vanishing.  
Neither doth the time of his birth fall out thus fitly, 
The place pointed at by the heavens hath 62 degrees of North latitude.  but the place likewise, which was to be the ominous nest concerning the occasion, or bringing forth of one, for the author or beginning of the intended alterations, is pointed at by the heavens to be such a place as hath for its latitude about 62 degrees from the Equator northwards; for in that parallel the star moved day by day, and was vertical once every day to Norvegia, Swedia, Finlandia, Livonia, Moscovia, and Tartary, with all such places as lie under the same parallel.  
Now though the star in his daily motion was in this manner vertical to more places successively then to the King of Swedens' dominions; yet at the time of the next new Moon (which Tycho maketh a rule concerning the place, from whence either the occasion, or authors of the great changes should proceed) it was just over the Meridian of Finland, being vertical to that country: And who but the foresaid GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS King of Sweden hath the country of Finland as a part of his dominions? For he is not only King of the Swedes, Goths and Vandals; but also great Prince of Finland.  
Tycho, I confess, doth not directly name the country of Finland, but chose rather to express the place by callng it Moscovia, or Russia, bordering upon Finland: wherein I find (according to the observations of a learned and great Divine) that he was something mistaken. For in a book lately set forth, and entitled The new star of the North, the said Author, having made some observations from Tycho's writings concerning that star, and applied them unto these times, doth manifestly prove that it ought rather to be Finland bordering upon Russia, than Russia or Moscovia upon Finland: withal, amongst other reasons which should make Tycho choose that place, rendering this for one, that perhaps he was loath to bring the prediction too near home, seeing there often happened diverse distastes and quarrels between his Sovereign the King of Denmark, and the neighbouring King of Sweden: Which, upon this ground may the better be granted, viz. because Tycho was once fain to hide his head for denoting in too direct terms a prediction too near his own home, although it afterwards proved true. But I refer you to the book, and proceed.  
And now we shall see, that not only the time of his birth and place pointed at by the heavens, but the chief time also when the stars influence should be most perceived, doth point at him. For Tycho witnesseth that about the year 1632 (if not also a few years after) the chiefest force and influence of this strange star should show itself, the greatest significations depending upon the trigonal revolution and transmutation of the Planets: which force and influence, why he referreth it to those times, I leave to the admired perfection of his art, wherein he was a kind of Phoenix, and scarce hath left his parallel. For will you hear King JAMES of blessed memory, and our late learned Sovereign speak for him? his commendations then will surely be no less. For in certain verses (as being able to judge both of him and his treatises) he approves his labours, and commends his skill as superexcellent. The like also he doth in an Epistle which he wrote unto him: some of which verses, as I find them englished, are to this effect,  
Great Tycho's labours also do fore-show  
Events, which shall befall on earth below;  
And by disastrous or fair Aspects,  
What destinies on kingdom's God directs.  
Now then, if the chief effects shall demonstrate themselves about the year 1632; questionless the King of Sweden must not be baulked in his late proceedings, but taken as a prime man upon whom the beams of this New star hath shined: for his great famous victories, and never enough admired conquests in Germany (that Sedes belli) achieved in so short a time, have witnessed as much. Nay, when I hear himself speak to his soldiers, and those citizens where he conquered, I am confirmed. For speaking to the men of Norimberg, thus he saith; Truly God hath marvellously preserved you, as he hath also pleased to call me to this work. For I had rather thought that the last day of judgement should come, then that I should come into Norimberg, and (as you said yourselves) leave so far behind me mine own dominions, good subjects, and what else there is loving and dear unto me; and to bring along with me so many brave worthies, to expose their lives (as I do mine own) for the restitution, safety, and preservation of the common Evangelicall cause, and liberty of Germany. And again, to those of his Court before Ingolstadt, amongst other things, he addeth this; I know (saith he) that the good success which it hath pleased God to afford me in my enterprises, hath made some to be envious, who labour to persuade the simple that I endeavour nothing more than mine own gain, and the robbing and spoiling of others. But I call to witness in this case the Princes who were thus spoiled, which I have again established in their own right and estates; as also the creditors of whom I have borrowed such extraordinary sums of money, both at Frankford and elsewhere, and the dangers which I do daily expose myself unto: I call all these to witness, whether I have left mine own kingdom, and the dearest I have in the world, to any other end, and with other intention, but only to destroy the tyranny of the house of Austria, and to obtain a profound and settled peace unto all.  
These words of his show nothing less than that he was extraordinarily set on work to undergo such fortunes as the eyes of all the world have bravely seen him struggle with: and God knows who shall end that which his coming into Germany hath begun. It was his own saying, that if he himself should not survive so long as to bring to pass so great a work, that then in his stead some other might succeed and go on, until a full point and period were put unto the war. For upon the occasion of his deliverance from a cannon shot, he utters these words; saying, that he was not only mortal, but subject also unto the very same accidents that the poorest and meanest soldier is subject unto. It is a general law, (
l In a speech to his court at Ingol●…tadt.  saith he) from which my crown, my birth, my victories, are not able to rescue and exempt me. There remaineth nothing else therefore, but that I must resign myself to the providence of the Almighty, who (if it please him to call me out of this world) will nevertheless not abandon and leave a cause so just as that which I have undertaken; but will doubtless raise up some other, more wise, more courageous and valiant than myself, who shall put a period to this war.  
And again, it was but three days before his death, that at Naumbourg he uttered these words; Our affairs (
m Taken out of the relation of his last battle, pag. 20. translated out of French into English.  saith he) answer our desires; but I doubt God will punish me for the folly of the people, who attribute too much unto me, and esteem me as it were their God: and therefore he will make them shortly know and see I am but a man. He be my witness, it is a thing distasteful unto me: And what ever befall me, I shall receive it as proceeding from his divine will. Only in this I rest fully satisfied, that he will not leave this great enterprise of mine imperfect.  
Great King of Hearts, in arms transcending fame! 
A memento for aftertimes.   
Eternal praise shall blazo●… forth thy name.  
Soul of thy friends thou wert;  
But terror, scourge of foes.  
Canst thou then die, though death  
Thine eyes in spite may close?  
No no: For times unborn shall yet repeat  
What deeds were done by thee a King so great.  
And this doth ●…lso raise thy just renown,  
That in thy fall thine enemies fell down.  
Thine was that day: thy men undaunted fought  
Until their foes the field were driven out:  
For as it were from forth their King's last blood  
The palm and bay sprung up, and conquering stood.  
Great deeds thou didst soon: hot Mars his sphere  
In Germany thee moved a double year:  
From whence at last above the spheres he caught thee,  
And to a place of peace eternal brought thee:  
Where thou shalt rest, how e'er the rest proceed  
With those fierce wars which heaven hath thus decreed  
But let me now return again to this New star, and show you that in the days of Hipparchus, 
* He flourished 135 years before Christ's birth. Helvic. Chronol.  who lived towards the end of the Grecian Monarchy, there appeared one much like it: and so 
m Lib. 2.  Pliny telleth us. But since that time we read of no other until this in the year 1572, excepting that which appeared at our Saviour's birth, which indeed was no such star: for it had three properties 
n See more in Aquinas sums.  never seen in any else; moving first from the North to the South; secondly, it was seated in the lowest Region of the air; thirdly, it was nothing hindered by the light of the sun, etc. Yet in later times, following the said year 1572, some smaller ones have been: as in the year 1596; this was seated in the Whale. And in the year 1600, or thereabouts, another was seen in the constellation of Cygnus. Kepler makes mention of one in the year 1602 in the constellation of Pisces; soon after which upon the death of Q. Elisabeth, and coming in of K. james, was that great plague at London. Some say that Andromeda's girdle and the constellation of Antoninous afforded each of them one, in the year 1612. But the year 1604 must not be forgotten; for in the 
o Some say the 17 degree. Calvis. ch●…ei.  16 degree and 40 minute of Sagittarius toward the South-west a remarkable one appeared, having 2 degrees and 15 minutes of North latitude, and was seated in the constellation of Ophiucus: this at the first shined as bright as Venus; and in the very next year that damnable powder plot of the Papists was discovered.  
But now, though these and more were reckoned up, yet that in Cassiopea would be the chief, the elder brother, and captain of them all; because both in height, bigness, and lustre, they were less remarkable.  
Tycho, upon the sight of this New star, laboureth to 
A consideration of this New stars matter.  prove that the heavens, and not the earth, afford matter to such as these are; thinking that it differeth not from the matter of other stars, unless in this, viz. that it is not exalted to such a perfection and solid composition of the parts as in the first continuing and created stars; the main and principal reason being taken from the magnitude of them, together with their extraordinary height. As for example; 
Lib. denova ●…ella.  Tycho affirmeth concerning that New star in Cassiopea (being as it were the elder brother of all the other after it) that it was 300 times 
* Yet the same matter, had it been crushed together, or as solidly composed as the earth, would have been as nothing in respect of the earth.  bigger than the earth. Which being so, it is with small probability affirmed that it should have matter from that which is so much less than it; and indeed a thing impossible. The heavens are large enough to afford matter, although the earth be not: and no part of the heaven can be imagined to be more fit for such a purpose then the via lactea, or milky way; for that place always shows itself, even to the eye, so as if there were much indigested matter in it, reserved only to work such wonders.  
Yet nevertheless I suppose it may be also granted, that an earthly Exhalation may have recourse sometimes unto the battlements of heaven, and in some sort and in part concur towards the composition of these New stars (as they are called) and of such Comets as have been above the Moon. What should we think of that last, in the year 1618.? it 
* 〈◊〉 de novis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  was (as I have already said) amongst the wand'ring stars themselves; and yet it was no other than such a star as we call a Comet or a blazing star. Now then, if this had matter from the earth, and spent it amongst the Planets, rather than below the Moon; why might not those which we call New stars obtain the like freedom to have the like matter ascend a little higher? What should hinder this conjecture I do not easily see: for questionless the same power remains still in the stars to exhale the matter as well after it comes into the highest Region of the air, as before it came there; neither need we then imagine an abatement of their exhaling virtue.  

Object. 1. But perhaps it may be thought that the nature of the place above the Moon doth sufficiently deny the ascent of any terrene Exhalation so high; there being too great a difference between the one and the other; between the matter ascending, and the matter of that place whither it ascendeth.  
Answ. To which I may partly answer as before, in the 4. Chapter and 3. Section, that seeing the out-spread Firmament in the creation was taken from that mass of matter which lay here below, and separated from it rather then created of any newer matter, that therefore (I say) there cannot be so great a difference as to bring in such an Antipathy as will not at all suffer any terrene Exhalation to scale those flammantia moenia mundi, or battlements of heaven; but rather, that without reluctancy, or any great striving, the one may admit of the other, and entertain it as a guest near of kin unto itself, or unto the nature of that place where the continuing stars have ever had their residence.  
For, if I urge it further, it may well be proved even by 
From the earth to the highest Firmament is nothing but air.  optical demonstration, that the great vast space from the earth, as high as the fixed stars themselves, is not of a divers nature from the Air; for if it were, than there would be a multitude of Mediums between the sight and the thing visible: but there is no multitude of Mediums: For where there is a multitude of Mediums, there the beams which come to the sight from the thing visible would beget a multiplicity of refraction in the said rays or beams; but it is manifest that there is only one refraction found in the beams of the stars, and that but only when they are near to the edge of the Horizon, at which time the ascending vapours are between our sight and them: And therefore there is but one kind of Medium by which the stars offer themselves to our sight: And being but one Medium, there cannot be such diversity of natures between the heavens and things compounded of the elements. Whereupon it may be concluded, that an Exhalation may ascend into the territories of the starry heaven, and so by consequent have a mutual concurrence with such matter as the heavens do naturally afford towards the generating of supralunary Comets, or new admired stars.  
Indeed I must confess that were I of Pythagoras his opinion, I then would cry out with Auditus in the 
p Called Lingua.  Comedy— Hark, hark, list, list now, etc. What, are you deaf? do you not perceive the wondrous sound and the celestial music the heavenly orbs do make with their continual motion? Or I would imagine firm spheres or solid orbs, and so set an undoubted stoppage, and hinder the passage of any Meteor above the Moon: But seeing that tenant is made the fit subject of laughter, I therefore pass it over.   

Object. 2. But may not the Element of Fire stand in the way, and so consume such matter as ascendeth, before it come beyond the Moon?  
Answ. To which it is answered, that the chiefest cause why men have been persuaded to think that Fire is generated immediately under 
q In 〈◊〉 Lun●… generat●…r ignie.  the spheres, and that within the concave of the Moon's orb, the said Fire, as it is there generated, hath there its place of residence, is for no other reason but because of an imagined attrition of the spheres and orbs: Which seeing they are taken away, and that all is filled with Air, the Elementary fire is not hindered from ascending, but may have a more lofty station. For questionless, this kind of fire, as 
What place the Element of Fire possesseth.  it is not visible to the sight, so neither may it be thought any other thing then the more subtle, light, and hot part of the Air; in which regard it must needs be both in and of that part, which is nearest to the highest heavens: For both the motion of the heavens is there most swift; and also, there is the greatest neighbourhood to that infinite number of stars fixed in the heavens.  
An earthly Exhalation may therefore climb above the Moon, and yet not run through a fiery purgatory, or be consumed by the way.  
Mr. Lydiat our countryman, his opinion is, that if we consider of this Element, not as it is absolutely pure, than the greatest part of it is in the stars (of which see more in the fourth day's work) and some also is under ground, as being there a great cause of generating metals; occasioning the burning and breaking out of sundry sulfurous hills, and the like.  
But of this enough. And in the consideration of it I have made way (you see) for the admittance of terrene Exhalations to join their forces towards the effecting of supralunarie Comets, or new and strange admired stars. This, I say, I have proved as a thing both possible, and not unlike. But that they do always therefore thus concur, I am not certain; neither will I stand curiously to decide it.  
Let therefore learned Tycho his tenant go for currant concerning Cassiopea's star, that the heavens only were the material parents of it, and especially the Galaxia, or white milky way; unto the edge of which place (whilst it appeared) it was situated, and continued visible in the same, for the space of 19 months, or thereabouts.  
And thus I conclude, adding herewithal concerning other Comets whose station hath been supralunarie, and time of continuance any thing long, that if in them there could be any right to challenge a portion out of the same storehouse, then questionless they were tied to rest beholding both to the heavens, and also to the earth, for the matter of their composure. But for ordinary Comets the case must needs be otherwise, seeing their place and small continuing time confirm it.  
These things for mine own part I think more probable than if I should affirm that the Planets afforded certain Exhalations, which by force of the Sun are expired and exhaled from them, and being exhaled are made the matter of all kind of Comets above the Moon; yea and New stars also (as some affirm) consist of no other causes: wherein they descent from Tycho, thinking (contrary to him) that the Galaxia affords no matter toward the composure of these appearances. For (as 
r Lib. 3. Met. cap. 2. Art. 7.  Fromondus, a late writer, affirmeth) Simon Marius beheld a New star in the year 1612, in Andromeda's girdle; and one justus Prygius beheld another in the constellation of Antoninous; Kepler, in the year 1602, saw one in the constellation of Pisces; and David Fabricius, in the year 1596, saw another in the Whale; all of them far enough distant from the Galaxia or milky way.  
But suppose all this; must the continuing stars therefore needs be forced to waste their own bodies, and spend themselves in teeming such ample portions of matter as are required for glittering Comets, or New strange shining stars? Surely if they should suffer their bodies to be thus exhaled, they could not choose but fall into a deep consumption, and be visibly disproportioned in their shapes and figures, far otherwise then we see them: For it is a long time since the world began, and no few Comets have had their seats above the Moon, where they all cry out against an opinion so improbable, showing that the changes would be such as would be apparent and visible enough to every vulgar eye.  
Besides, it cannot but be granted, that for ordinary Meteors every star and Planet hath an exhaling virtue as well as the Sun: why therefore should they now desist and leave it all to him, who, if he may have this liberty, will at the last suck them all to nothing? These men may well imagine (as they do) mountains in the Moon, with woods and groves, seas and rivers; and make every planet another world: but yet 'twere good they knew that God made all but one, althoûgh the parts be two; and that Adam being cast out of Paradise was sent to till the ground and labour the earth, which he sought, not with the man in the Moon; for he knew that that was not to bud forth with fruit, bear trees, and the like, because it had another office. For Let the earth (saith the Almighty) bring forth grass, herb, fruit, trees, etc. but let there be lights in the Firmament, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night.  
Also, if the Sun should work thus among the stars, and that there should be vapours exhaled from their bodies, how comes it to pass that we perceive no clouds in the Ethereal vault, and that we cannot see them glide between star and star, flying upon the wings of such winds as must necessarily upon the admittance of this tenant be generated there? Perhaps they will answer that these things may be, and we not see them, by reason of the great distance between us and them. Well, be it so; yet know, that although we could not see them, we should sometimes feel them, and perceive our mother earth to be watered with showers of rain, when we see nothing but a clear sky over us. But it may be they again will answer, that the stars do not frequently afford such Vapours and Exhalations, but sometimes only: and then if they be not copious enough to make such a cloud as may shine like a Comet or blazing star, they are rather dispersed into nothing, then turned into rain: for their matter is too hot and dry to make a rainy cloud. In good time. The stars do not frequently afford such Exhalations; and why so I pray? surely the sun is never so far distant from some one Planet or other, but that he would make this his operation appear, if he had at all any such working, or power of exhaling matter from them; and, if not a watery, yet a dry cloud might be visible. The stars surely are of such a nature that they be rather fed and nourished by vapours, then compelled to suffer an unwilling wasting caused by an exhaling virtue, which is improperly given only to the Sun, because only to him: and from whence these Vapours come, which upon all likelihood do continually nourish the stars, shall be showed in the fourth day's work.  
Neither do some exempt the Sun from these evaporations, but affirm that day and night he also expireth vapours from him: which others again deny, because they imagine that this public lamp of the world ought to be more immortal, lest being extinct, he should be quite without light, and afford the world nothing but black and dismal darkness.  
That therefore which before I affirmed, joining in part with Tycho, who fetcheth matter from the Galaxia, seems to me far more probable concerning the generation of these appearances. For first, the Galaxia doth sensibly appear as if it were an ample storehouse, and had large portions of matter, reserved only for such purposes; which, when there is a working in nature apt and convenient to produce it, is liberally afforded, and sent thither where the most power is to attract it. And secondly, that an earthy Exhalation may sometimes be admitted to join with the abovesaid matter, this seems to me a reason, because, like other low and ordinary Meteors, these also show themselves or first begin to shine in the Autumnal season, and not in the Spring, Summer, or Winter Quarter.    

Article 3. Of Thunder and Lightnings.  
NOw it followeth that I speak of such fiery mixed Meteors as are of less continuance than Comets or blazing stars: and by their general names they are called Thunder, and Lightnings.  
Concerning the first, which is Thunder, it is not properly any kind of Meteor, but rather an adjunct or depending effect.  
For Thunder is nothing else but a sound heard out of a 
What thunder is.  thick or close compacted cloud: which sound is 
* Io●…nnes Bodinus putat a geniis aeris & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fulmma jaci, & 〈◊〉 ill●…m coeli cieri.  procured by reason of hot and dry Exhalations shut within the cloud, which, seeking to get out, with great violence do knock and rend the cloud; from whence proceeds that rumbling noise which we call thunder. For when an Exhalation which is more hot than ordinary, meets with cold and moist vapours in the middle Region of the air, and are enclosed all together in an hollow cloud, it cannot but be that they fall at variance; and by this strife being driven together, the Exhalation is made stronger: and either by the motion, or by an Antiperistasis, it is set on fire; which violently breaking the clouds whilst it seeks for liberty, gives an horrid sound. A similitude may be taken from a chest-nut, apple, or egg breaking in the fire; or from the cracking of moist wood, or any such like thing: for this is apparent, that when any enclosed hot wind is holden and withholden so as it can have no vent, it will then seek itself a way by breaking the skin, shell, or case; and in the breaking, seeing it is with violence, it must of necessity make a noise. And thus it is in thunder.  
But observe that in thunder the noise made is not always of a like sound: for in respect of the hollowness, thickness, or thinness of the cloud, and small or great force of the Exhalation, the sound is altered.  
A great crack is caused when the cloud is very hollow, 
Great cracks.  his sides thick, and the Exhalation very dry and copious: which if it break the cloud all at once, than it maketh a short and terrible crack, much like the sound of a gun. If it rend the cloud all along, breaking out by leisure, than it makes a noise like to the rending of broad cloth, or the rattling of stones out of a cart.  
A small crack is caused when either the cloud or Exhalation 
Small cracks.  is but weak; or the cloud strong, and the Exhalation of some little quantity. And in small thunders it sometimes falleth out that when the sides of the cloud are stronger than the force of the Exhalation is able to break, that then it runneth up and down within, and sticking against the cold and moist sides, maketh a noise much like to the quenching of an hot iron in cold water, or of a squib made of wet powder: in which regard 
r Lib. 2. cap. 43.  Pliny seemeth to aver that thunder is but the quenching of fire in a wet cloud. Also if the Exhalation be meanly strong, and the cloud of unequal thickness, than it breaketh out at the thinnest places, and makes a kind of buzzing noise like to a wind blowing out of narrow holes.  
And so sometimes it happeneth that there may be a 
Sometimes 〈◊〉 and ●…o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ligh●…ning and n●… 〈◊〉.  thunder-crack and yet no lightning; and sometimes lightning without thunder.  
The first is caused thus; either when the cloud is so thin that it cannot keep in the Exhalation till it be kindled, but suffereth it to go presently forth, making a noise like to the wind out of a pair of Smith's bellows: or else when the cloud is so thick, and the Exhalation so slender and thin, that although it stir up and down within the cloud, yet it fireth not, but wastes itself within that prison, as not being able to get out. And thus may thunder be without lightning.  
The second is caused, when either the Exhalation and 
How there may be lightning without thunder.  Vapour are both thin, and the cloud also as thin: or else thus, namely when many thin, light, and hot Exhalations by immoderate heat are drawn up from the earth, and by the absence of the sun are destitute of that force by which they should be drawn up higher; yet somewhat ascending by their own nature, (in that they be light and hot) they meet with the cold, either of the night in the lowest Region, or else of the air in the middle Region; and so by an Antiperistasis or resistance of contraries, they are beaten back, and with the force of their motion set on fire, as in summer nights and evenings we often see after an hot parching day. Now this kind of lightning some call Fulgetrum. 
The kinds of lightning.   
Another sort they call Coruscatio; which indeed is nothing else but the shining of the lightning; the shining or glittering of it rather than the lightning itself: for in this regard we can perceive a flashing when there be no clouds above our Horizon; or if there be clouds, we see the flashing when our backs are turned from them; or else we often perceive even through a thick cloud that it lightened, when the lightning came not so low, but only issued out of a thinner cloud which was above that thicker one, and shined through it.  
A third kind is called Fulgur: and this is accompanied with thunder, caused by the strife and reluctation which the Exhalation maketh in the cloud, showing itself in 
Why we see the lightning before we hear the thunder.  the breaking of the said cloud: and although the crack be heard long after we have seen the fire, yet they come together; the seeming difference being, because the quickness of our sight preventeth our hearing; which is so much the sooner done, either when the thunder is far off and not near unto us, or when the wind is contrary; which is also seen in the cleaving of wood, or any the like knocking: for let us be but in some sort distant from the party making the noise or striking the blow, and we shall see the axe heaved up again before we hear the sound.  
The next is Fulmen; and between this and the other 
The worst ●…inde of lightning.  is a great difference: For Fulmen is an Exhalation which in respect of its quantity is so copious, and in respect of its quality is so hot and dry, and mixed with so many other vapours of a contrary nature, that when it breaketh the cloud wherein it is enclosed, it comes with such a violence, and continues burning so long, that it falleth even to the very ground, making a more fearful fragor or crack then ordinary: And oftentimes a great stone is blown out of the cloud with it; whose cause is also natural. For when the Exhalation is drawn up with more 
The making of the thunder-stone.  than an ordinary violence; or is so drawn up, or from such a place as it may carry much earthy matter with it, then is the stone procured. The matter causing it at the first is thin, and like unto the finest sand that can be imagined; yet nevertheless through the moisture which it getteth in the Air, and by the meeting with wet vapours in the ascent, it clottereth together, and being also itself of a kind of clammy natu●…e, it disjoineth not, but sticketh fast: and then by the 〈◊〉 heat which it findeth in the general matter of the Exhalation when it is fired, it is throughly hardened, even as a brick which is burned in the fire: and being 
a Or thus; Gene●… ex exhalation●… 〈◊〉 v●…scosa, & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, quos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ce●… 〈◊〉, mutatione 〈◊〉 so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 s●… 〈◊〉 cu●… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mi●… 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉. lib. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 7. cap. 3.  thus hardened and burnt, it breaketh forth with the Exhalation, and they both come tumbling down together. For the force of the Exhalation shoots it out, and look whatsoever is in the way, it overthroweth, burneth and dasheth in pieces. Howbeit, when it striketh the earth, it is reported to go never above five foot deep.  
All this is pertinent to that which is called Fulmen. But for that other, which is Fulgur, the case is far otherwise. For in regard of the little plenty of the matter it never falleth to the ground, but is wasted and consumed by the way.  
Moreover, Philosophers make three kinds of Fulmen; 
Three kinds of Fulmen.  viz. Terebrans, Discutiens, and Urens: or (as some call them) Scindentia, Infuscantia, and Urentia.  
1. The first is said not to burn, but rather to pierce, 
The first kind is dry of quality.  cleave, and extirpate such things as are obvious to it. For seeing it is more subtle and pure then gross, as also wondrous dry, and carrieth with it great plenty of spirits, wind, or breathe, it must needs produce strange effects, and pass through the pores of any thing be they never so small; striking through with such wonderful swiftness, as that it cannot possibly hurt, but where it is resisted and hindered by the close composure of that matter against which it striketh. And hereupon it comes to pass that money is sometimes melted in the purse, & the purse not hurt at all; the bones broke, and the skin sound: yea and sometimes the whole man burnt to ashes when his clothes are not consumed, with many the like strange accidents. And why it should cleave a wine vessel and the wine be so dull as not to run out until some 2 or 3 days after, this may be a reason; viz. in regard of the swift alteration and change, whereby also all the clamminess of the wine is drawn to the outwardmost part, which keepeth in the wine as in a skin, not suffering it suddenly to disperse itself.  
2. The second kind burneth not to ashes, but blasteth 
The second kind is something moist.  or scorcheth, leaving the tincture of fire, and as it were of smoke behind it; for the things which it striketh do use to look black, or of a footie colour, like unto a chimneys stock. And this is caused in regard that this kind of lightning is far more full of moisture than the other; and yet in a manner as subtle, swift and pure: otherwise it would not blast but burn.  
3. The third kind is Fulmen Urens; and this is magis 
The third kind is most gross of the three.  igneum quam flammeum, more fiery than flamie; being of a gross and earthy substance, having much slimy matter in it: which makes it therefore set such things on fire as are combustible, whensoever it meeteth with them.  
And yet there are some things which (as 
* Plin. lib. 2. cap. 55.  it is said) the lightning hurteth not. As for example, The 
The Poets therefore write that she carries Jupiter's armour▪ which is lightning.  Eagle, Jove's bird, is free. The laurel is not hurt: neither can the earth be wounded any more than 5 foot deep. Such places also as are covered with the skins of Seals, or Sea-calves, are secure: wherefore of old time the tents of the Emperors were covered with them for their better safety. Suetonius telleth us a story of the Emperor Caligula how he was scared with Thunder; who, although he bragged and boasted of himself that he was a god, and threatened war with jupiter for a shower of rain that fell against his mind, was nevertheless by and by so terrified with thunder and lightning, that he thereupon runs and hides his head under a bed.  
Moreover it is said, that if lightning kill one in his sleep, it openeth his eyes: if it kill one whilst he is awake▪ it shutteth them. The reason being because it waketh him that sleepeth, and killeth him before he can shut his eyes again: and him that waketh it so amazeth, that winking he dieth before he can open those eyes of his which the sudden flash of the lightning caused him to close.  
And know that it is not good to stand gazing upon the 
Not wholesome to gaze on the lightning.  lightning at any time▪ for when it doth no other hurt, if it be any thing near us, it may dry up, or so waste the crystalline humour of the eyes that it perish the sight: or it may swell the face, making it to break out with scabs or leprosy, caused by a kind of poison in the Exhalation which the pores of the face and eyes admit and receive. For this is certain that the matter of lightning, seeing it cometh from sulfurous and other poisonous metallic substances, is much infected, and therefore hurteth where it entereth.     

Sect. 2.  

Parag. 5▪ Of such Meteors as are fiery only in appearance.  

Artic. 1. The Galaxia is no Meteor.  
ANd thus have I done with all those kind of Meteors which are fiery in very deed, whether pure or mixed.  
Now it followeth that I speak of such as are fiery only in appearance; not being such as they seem to be, but rather seeming more than they are.  
Some account eight of them, and make the Galaxia or milky way to be one. But that last may rather be left out: For although Aristotle would have the Galaxia to be a Meteor, yet his opinion is worthily misliked of most men, and that not without good reason.  
For if it were a Meteor, and of the nature of the Elements, as Exhalations are, it would be at the length consumed like to other Meteors: but this circle never corrupteth nor decreaseth; and therefore it is no sublunary concretion attracted and form out of the stars which are above it, and placed by their power in the highest part of the air. Moreover, if this his tenant were true, why hath it continued (the Galaxia I mean) in the same form, place, and magnitude always from the beginning of the world until now? And beside, other stars might also attain to the like luminous concretion as well as those which he imagineth to be over it.  
And moreover, this milky way of Aristotle would admit of a Parallax, were it so as he persuadeth; and according to the optical consideration (saith noble Tycho) by the shining of the fixed stars through it▪ it would beget a strange refraction, differing far from that which is occasioned by the vapours that are seen about the Horizon. For they seldom rise to the twentieth degree of altitude; whereas this, proceeding from the Via lactea, would reach to the greatest height.  
Wherefore we may say that it is rather of the nature 
What the Galaxia is.  of the heaven, or a certain heavenly substance, but somewhat thicker than the other parts of heaven: or (if you will) much like to the matter of the stars, or to the substance of the moon; but diffused and spread abroad, and not conglobated into one body as the stars are. For although all be filled with air from the earth to the fixed stars, yet there the matter may begin to be more thick, firm, and solid; and so the waters above the heavens are the better upheld.  
For conclusion therefore, not reckoning this amongst any of these Meteors fiery only in appearance, I may account them in number seven.  
As thus: 

1. The colours of clouds.  
2. Many Suns.  
3. Many Moons.  
4. Beams of light.  
5. Crowns or circles about the Sun or Moon.  
6. The Rainbow.  
7. Chaps or openings in the sky.   Concerning all which in general, although they seem to burn, yet they do not, but are caused by refraction and reflection of light, either from the Sun or Moon, or brightest Planets.   

Artic. 2. Of colours in the clouds.  
ANd particularly for the appearance of colour in the clouds, it ariseth not from the mixture of the four qualities, as it doth in bodies perfectly mixed, as herbs, stones, etc. but only from the falling of light upon shadow or darkness; the light being in stead of white, and the shadow or darkness in stead of black. Not that they are always perfectly white and black; for they differ according to the quality and composure of the cloud: wherefore some be very white, and that is when the vapour whereof the cloud consisteth is very subtle and thin; some yellowish, when the vapour is thicker; some ruddy and duskish, when it is meanly thick; some black, when it is very thick; and some greenish, when it is more watery than ordinary, being best discerned when it is far from the Zenith, and obvious by an oblique aspect.  
The red and ruddy colours are seen only in the 
Why red clouds are seen only in the morning and evening.  morning and evening, when the light of the sun is not in his full force; for at other times his light is too vehement, clear, strong and piercing. And by a diligent observation of these colours, I think a man may as easily judge of fair or foul weather and the like, as a physician may of the temperature of the body by inspection of the urine. But of colours you may see more 
* Viz. Parag. 6. Artic. 1.  afterwards.   

Artic. 3. Of many Suns and Moons.  
ANd now concerning many Suns; they are called Parahelii, from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; which is as if one should say, apud solemn: because they are as it were with the sun in place, as also not absent from him in splendour and fashion.  
Their generation is after this manner; viz. when a smooth watery cloud which is of equal thickness, quiet and still, is placed on the side of the sun: not under the sun, for then there would be a circle; nor opposite to the sun, for then there would be the appearance of a Rainbow: but on the side; which must not be too far off, nor yet too near: for if it be too far off, than reason telleth us that the beams will be too weak to reflect in a convenient manner: or if it be too near, than the sun will disperse it without any image at all.  
Now if such a cloud as this we speak of shall happen to be on both sides of the sun, than the appearance will be as if there were three suns; whereas there is indeed but one: the other two being the images of the true Sun, seen only by reflection or refraction upon the cloud on either side. Or be there more pieces of such a cloud then one, set at a convenient distance; then there may be many suns: even as in a broken lookingglass, every part will show the shadow of that face which is obvious to it.  
Moreover, these many suns may be said to have a 
What is signified by many suns.  double signification; the one natural, the other supernatural.  
According to their natural signification, they betoken rain and moist weather; because they cannot appear but in a moist disposition of the air.  
And as for their supernatural signification, experience hath witnessed, that they have appeared as the portenders of change in states and kingdoms; or as the foretokens of God's wrath upon sinners. For this is a rule, that 
A rule and in observation concerning strange sights.  such things as are strange may be derived both from natural causes, and also include God the chief and best cause of all things; by whose admired providence each thing is ordered, & by whose unspeakable wisdom each particular change hath been decreed: yea even in the course of nature (before ever nature was) he both foresaw and appointed how things should happen; although in respect of our weakness and want of skill, the searching of them out be too abstruse and hard. For as I verily believe, that not so much as one poor sparrow falleth to the ground without God's providence; so I do also acknowledge, that by his providence likewise he bringeth to pass these and the like things, for such ends, as he in his secret counsel hath determined; using his creatures (whose courses in each particular he both set and foresaw) as instruments and means to effect them.  
But I proceed. And as for the supernatural signification of these suns, experience (I say) hath witnessed that some strange thing or other usually followeth after them. As not long before the contention of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, for the Empire of Rome, there appeared three suns, as it were pointing out the strife which followed soon after between them three 
a Fulks Meteors.  for the imperial diadem.  
Also in the year 
b Stow's Abridg. of chron.  1233, upon the 7 day of April, four suns were seen besides the natural sun: in which year (as Lanquets chronicle testifieth) there was great debate kindled, and much variance stirred up between Henry the third, K. of England, and the Lords of his kingdom: and in the very 
c Stow▪ ibid.  next year, England was wasted with fire and sword from Wales to Salisbury; which said town was also burned: and at the same time was a great drought and pestilence.  
Also in the year 
d Idem.  1460, three suns again showed forth their orient faces, which was but the day before the three Earls, viz. Edward Earl of March, with the Earl of Pembroke, and Earl of Wilt-shire, fought their great battles in Wales at Mortimer's cross (as Stow in his Abridgement affirmeth;) where the Earl of March put the other two to flight, and slew many of their people. And again, in the year 1526, towards the slaughter of Lewis the second, King of Hungary, 
e Fulks Meteors.  three suns marched out, 
f In the year 1619 were 3 also seen at Lovan in the month of May, at the rising of the Sun. Fromond. Met. lib. 6.  betokening the three Princes which strove for the kingdom after him: which three were these, viz. Ferdinand, who was afterwards Emperor, and john Sepusio Vaivode governor of Transilvania; as also Solyman the Magnificent, or Great Turk, being one of the hardiest captains in all his time.  
And now after the consideration of many Suns, it followeth that I speak of many Moons, of which it is no hard matter to know the natural cause, seeing their generation is, as before hath been showed concerning many Suns.  
For if a watery Cloud shall side-long sit, 
Du Batt.   
And not beneath or justly opposite  
To Sun or Moon; then either of them makes,  
With strong Aspect, double or treble shapes  
Upon the same. The vulgar than's affrighted  
To see at once three sparkling Chariots lighted;  
And in the Welkin, on night's gloomy throne,  
To see at once more shining Moons then one.   

Artic. 4. Of Beams or Streams of light.  
NExt unto these I mentioned Beams or Streams of light, and they are generated after this manner; namely when the light of the Sun falleth into a watery cloud of unequal thickness, or rather of unequal thinness; or into such a cloud whose parts are some of them of a spongy nature, and some of them more closely compacted: For the thinner and more spongy parts receiving the light do represent certain clear and white streaks or beams, whilst the thicker parts and more full of humour are not pierced at all, but look of another hue; from whence it comes to pass that these streams are often of differing and many colours.   

Artic. 5. Of Circles or Crowns.  
CRowns, Garlands, or Circles, are seen sometimes about the Sun, sometimes about the Moon, and sometimes about the brightest Planets, as jupiter & Venus. This appearance is commonly called 
a Halo, Graecis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  Halo; and the matter or subject of it is a cloud, which must be endued 
nominatur, hoc est, Area: quoniam (ut Seneca testatu●…) apud veteres terendis frugibus loca destinata fere rotunda suerunt.  with three properties: First, that it be thin and not thick; Secondly, that it be equal and uniform, not in one part more thin then in another; And thirdly, that it be directly under the Sun, Moon, or any such star whose 
Latini Coronam vocant, quia rotundâ plerumque constat figurâ, & sidera cingere atque coronare videtur.  beams cause the circle: Unto which add this last, namely that it be not disquieted by any wind. And being thus placed and composed, look how a stone cast into the water makes a circle until the force of the blow be wasted; So this watery cloud being struck with the force of the Suns, Moons, or stars beams, doth retain their light in form and manner of a circle. Or rather thus; the beams of the star, etc. equally dispersing themselves so far as they can, do at their utmost extent make a refraction in the cloud, which must of necessity be round, because the body of the star itself is round, and cannot possibly send out his beams further in one place then in another. This therefore made Du Bartas say,  
Sometimes a fiery circle doth appear,  
Proceeding from the beauteous beams and clear  
Of Sun and Moon and other stars aspect,  
Down-looking on a thick-round cloud direct;  
When, not of force to thrust their rays throughout it,  
In a round crown they cast it round about it.  
And note that sometimes it appeareth greater, sometimes lesser: which is in regard of the quality of the matter whereof the cloud consisteth. For if it be gross, the beams piercing it can spread or dilate it but a little way. If it be thin, they then are able to dilate it further.  
And as for their significations, they sometimes signify 
The signification of Circles.  rain, sometimes wind, sometimes fair, clear, and calm weather, sometimes frost, sometimes tempest, and sometimes snow.  

1. Rain, if the circle wax altogether thicker and darker.  
2. Wind, when the circle breaketh on the one side: The reason whereof is, because the circle is broken by the wind which is above and not yet come down to us here below: But by this effect above, we may gather both that it will come, and also from what quarter; namely from that quarter where the circle breaketh first.  
3. But if it vanish away and be dissolved altogether, or in all parts alike, than it is a token of fair weather:  
4. Or of frost, in winter, when it is great about the 
f They are very seldom seen about the Sun, because of wind in the day time; or because the Sun either draweth the vapours too high, or else disperseth them too much. In the year 1104 there was a blazing star and 4 circles about the Sun, which was a sign of the new kindling malice again between Henry the first, King of England, and his brother Duke of Normandy. Stow in his chron.  Moon:  
5. Of snow, when at the same time of the year it seemeth to be craggy and rocky:  
6. Or of tempestuous weather, when it looketh ruddy, and is gross, and broken in many parts.   
And thus much concerning Circles.   

Artic. 6. Of the Rainbow.  
THe Rainbow is to be spoken of next: And this is nothing else but the apparition of certain colours in an hollow, watery, distilling, or dropping cloud directly opposite to the Sun, representing in its fashion half a circle.  
Or thus; It is a bow of many colours, appearing in a dewy, dark, droppie, and hollow cloud, by reflection of the Sunne-beams opposite to it. For this is certain, that lightsome or luminous bodies do cause images, colours, or appearances upon slender, clean, and thin objects: Now of all bodies the Sun is most lightsome; but the air and water are clean, thin, and slender.  
Here than it appeareth that the Efficient cause of the 
The efficient cause of the Rainbow.  Rainbow is the light or beams of the Sun; which falling into fit, apt, or convenient matter, opposite to them, are refracted and reflected to our sight.  
The Material cause is not water in act, nor yet 
The material cause.  thick air, but a dewy vapour; which is not continuus, sed potius corpusculis guttularum discretus; not absolutely of one body, but rather severed into many bodies, or little drops. 
The formal cause.   
The Form of it is to be gathered out of the Figure and Colours.  
And for the Figure, we see it is circular: But yet it never representeth to us any more than a Semicircle; and not always so great an arch: The reason of which is, because the centre or middle point of the Rainbow, which is diametrally opposite to the centre of the Sun, is always either in the Horizon, or under it: So that seeing our sight of the heavens is cut off by the earth in such a manner as that we can never see above half of them, it must needs be, that the appearance of this circle be either more or less to us, according to the Sun's great or little distance from the Horizon. 
The colours in the Rainbow.   
And as for the colours, they are commonly accounted three, viz. Ruddie, Green, and Azure. To which some add a fourth. The first is in the thickest and darkest part of the cloud: For where a bright shining falleth upon a darkish place, there it representeth a ruddy colour, being somewhat like a Flame. The second is caused by a more weak inf●…action, being in a remoter and more watery part of the cloud: whereupon it looketh greenish.  
The third, which is further into the cloud, proceeds from the weakest infraction, and is therefore of a more dark and obscure colour, tending to a blue or an azure hue. And sometimes a fourth colour is also perceived, being very like a yellow or orenge-tawnie, proceeding from a commixture of the red and green, according to Aristotle's judgement: of which the learned may see jul. Scaliger, exer●…. 80. sect. 4.  
Now these colours in some rain-bows are more vehement or apparent, in others more remiss or obscure; which is according to the aptness of the cloud, etc.  
And in rain-bows caused by the moon (for sometimes, 
Moon-bows.  though seldom, they have been seen in the night) the colours are weaker, whiter, and less conspicuous; being in a manner as white as milk: which is, because the moon having a borrowed light, is nothing so strong in the projecting her rays, but far more feeble than the sun.  
But come to the final cause, and you will find it twofold; 
The final cause.  partly Natural, partly Supernatural.  
As it is Natural, we take it either as a sign of rain, because it cannot appear but in a watery cloud, which is so prepared that it is ready to fall in very drops: or as a 
How to judge of the weather by the rainbow▪  sign of fair weather; namely then when the beams of the sun are strong, and the heat of it so great that the moisture of the cloud is dried up, and the drops attenuated into thin air. All which may be discerned after this manner, viz. when the colours grow either darker and darker, or clearer and clearer. For if the colours appear dark, thick, or obscure by little and little, till at the last they bury themselves in a black cloud, than rain followeth. But if the colours by degrees grow clearer and clearer till at the last they vanish away, than we may expect fair and bright weather. And this as it is a natural sign.  
But now as it is Supernatural: and then we behold it as a sign or symbol of God's mercy towards the world, betokening that it shall never be destroyed again through any Deluge or universal Flood. For it shall be a sign of the covenant (saith God) between me and the earth, viz. that there shall be no more a Flood of waters to destroy the earth, Gen. 9 
The derivation of Iris, signifying the rainbow▪   
From both which significations or ends, it may well be called Iris; for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek is as much as dico in the Latin, signifying I say, I publish, I tell, or I declare. Iris therefore comes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, dico; First, because this bow publisheth or telleth to us the constitution of the air. Secondly, because it declareth the covenant of God made with the world after the Flood; showing that his wrath is so far forth appeased, that he will never drown the world again; which appeareth even in the order observed in placing the bow: for we see it with the bended ends downwards, and as one that holdeth a bow in peace; insomuch that had it a shaft in it, the earth should not be shot; neither ought man to fear that the Lord will shoot any more such arrows of displeasure as before.  
Some have thought that there was no rainbow before the Flood, but that it appeared since; because God saith, When I make the heaven thick with clouds, I will put my bow in the clouds, Gen. 9  
To which it may be answered, that God saith, not 
The rainbow was before the Flood.  that he will of new create a bow, but that he will then put it into the clouds so as it never was before; namely to be a sign, etc. So that although it were not as a sign of any covenant before the Flood, yet without doubt it was as a Meteor then as well as now; and therefore was: otherwise we might deny both bread, and wine, and water to be before the institution of the Sacraments: for it is the same reason. Wherefore, as there was water before ever it was used for the water of regeneration in the Sacrament of Baptism; and as there was bread and wine before ever they were used as signs at the holy Communion: so also the rainbow was before ever it had that office to be a sign of God's covenant between him and mankind, just as at this day it appeareth even to such as are not of the Church; very Heathens and Pagans beholding it as well as we.  
Besides, there were from the beginning the same causes in nature to produce it: for there wanted neither a sun to draw vapours from watery places, nor yet a convenient place in the air to thicken them into clouds; neither was the sun destitute of sparkling rays to make reflection and infraction: but as it is caused now, so also then; and to think otherwise were to think amiss.  
Some again have been persuaded that this bow was before, but was not in a cloud before. And thus thought certain amongst the Hebrews.  
But this is a reasonless assertion, and against all Philosophy, and not at all approved by Divinity. For how could that appear in a clear air, which can have no existence or being, but in a dewing or distilling cloud? Verily of both absurdities the former was the better, namely that it was not at all: and yet that also wanted grounds to uphold it, as hath been showed, and is yet further manifest. For seeing the Lord God in six days finished the creation, and set the perfect order of all his creatures; it followeth that the rainbow had then his place either in being or in power. And thus from two absurdities 
A gross absurdity of some who think that there shall be no rain nor rainbow 40 years before the world's end.  I bring you to a third. For further more, it hath been the opinion of some idle doting brains to think that there shall be no rain, nor rainbow, 40 years before the end or destruction of the world by fire; because the very air (say they) must be prepared a long time before by a continual dryness, and each thing made fit for combustion.  
Which surely is a brainsick fancy. For what do they in this but show their extreme folly; derogating, not only from reason, but also from the power of God? For is not God able to destroy the work of his own hands without such a supposed preparation, and make the world combustible in an instant, if need be? Or should there be no rain, and consequently no bow (because it appeareth in a watery cloud) then how should the fruits of the earth be preserved? Great famine and misery must needs follow in the world if this be true. For when the clouds drop no fatness, than the ground pines away through barrenness; and when the heavens are iron, than the earth is brass: whereas it is manifest, that at the coming of Christ there shall be pleasant and fruitful times; times full of mirth, wherein they shall eat and drink, marry and be given in marriage, even as it was in the days of Noah. Who therefore will think that these men are in their right minds, whilst they affirm that no rain shall fall by the space of 40 years before the world endeth?  
The Jews as soon as they behold this bow (not daring 
What the Jews do at the sight of the rainbow.  to gaze upon it) do presently go forth and confess their sins, acknowledging that they are worthy to be destroyed with a Flood as the old world was; and in being spared they celebrate the mercy and ●…lemencie of God for sparing them. But, saith 
a On Gen. chap. 9 pag. 898.  Pareus, although they mingle this religion with much superstition, because they dream that the name of jehovah is as it were engraven on the bow, and because they turn their eyes away as from the majesty of God appearing there, not daring to look upon it, lest (as may be said) beholding the face of God they die: Yet it is meet even for us upon the sight of it to be so far forth touched with a reverence towards God, that we pass not away the symbol of the covenant with a brutish dulness, lest thereupon we grow unmindful of God's severity and goodness.  
There is also another thing observable concerning this bow which I may not forget; namely this, The mystery which (according to some men's fancies) is involved in the colours. For in a mystery they would have it betoken both the baptism of Christ, by water and fire; and also the two judgements of the world, the one already past, the other yet to come: that which is passed appeareth in the watery colours, showing that the world hath been drowned: that which is yet to come appeareth in the fiery colours, showing that the world shall be destroyed by fire, or burned up at the day of judgement. But (saith 
b Dr. Willet on Gen.  one) these and the like applications are witty and pretty, rather than wise and pithy: I leave them therefore, and proceed:   

Artic. 7. Of chaps or gapings in the sky.  
THe Philosophers call this Meteor Chasma, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, quod est hio, vel dehisco, to gape or open: and in Latin it is Hiatus, a word of the same signification. There are two kinds of these gapings or openings: the one wide, the other round. And although I reckon these amongst such fiery Meteors, as are fiery only in appearance; yet it may be that they sometimes burn, and sometimes only seem to burn.  
They seem to burn when the Exhalation by reason o●… the 
a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉▪ na●…▪ ●…hilosoph.  want of viscuous matter is not inflamed, but enlightened rather on the outward parts, having much rarity or thinness in them: at which time the middle part receiving no light, in regard that it is black and thick, there appeareth as it were a gulf in the sky. The reason whereof is, because the black is compassed about with white; which white presenting itself 
b Qu●… clara sunt, alboque apparent colore, 〈◊〉 visum movent: qu●… vero nigra & obscura sunt, minus cum afficiunt.  sooner to the sight then the black, makes the black seem to be far off, and the white near hand: and the black being far off, seems like a gaping deep: which (as hath been said) is sometimes 
c Si magna fuerit, vorago; si non it a magna, hiatus non●…natur. Titclman.  greater, sometimes less, according to the fashion or quantity of the Exhalation, or cloud represented by it. And after this manner do cunning painters deceive the eye in shadowing their pictures. For when a bright, clear, and airy colour is laid circularly, and a thick, dark, and obscure colour in the middle of it, than the appearance is like some gulf, hole, deep or pit: which they fashion diversely according to their skill in fancying the laying of their colours.  
All this is when it burneth not.  
But note that sometimes this Meteor burneth in very deed. Which is when the Exhalation hath much viscosity or clammy matter in it; the thick and dark not burning, but remaining in the midst; and the thinner-parts on fire, deceiving the sight with a seeming gaping, as before when there was only light in those thin parts in stead of fire.  
And thus have I showed you the natural cause of all fiery Meteors.     

Sect. 2.  

Parag. 6. Of watery Meteors and their several kinds.  
NOw it followeth that I speak something of watery Meteors, and show after what manner they are generated. They be called watery because they consist most of water; their substance being that kind of Exhalation which we call Vapour, and not Fumus.  
And that which in the first place offereth itself, is Nubes, a Cloud.  

Artic. I. Of Clouds.  
I Begin therefore with clouds. And a cloud is a vapour or Exhalation cold and moist, drawn from the earth out of wet or watery places, by heat of the Sun, into the middle Region of the air; where by cold it is so thickened and knit together, that it hangeth, until either 
a It is said that clouds have sometimes fallen down to the earth with great noise, to the te●…rour & damage of such as had them in their Zenith, which clouds came but from the highest part of the lowest region: yet nevertheless they were generated in the middle Region, but waxing very heavy have sunk down by little and little, till at last they seem to fall no further than the lowest Region: But this is seldom. They may also fall by drops through their own weight.  the own weight, or some resolution, causeth it to fall. If it be a great cloud, it is Nubes; if it be but a little one, it is called Nubecula. The name comes ab obnubendo, id est, operiendo coelum, from hiding or covering the heavens: because a cloud (through the thickness that the vapour is condensed into) hindereth, that a less portion of the heavens is conspicuous, then otherwise would be.  
It is also twofold; either fertile, or barren.  
A fertile or fruitful cloud affordeth rain: but a barren cloud doth not; because it is at length by the blasts of wind, and virtue of the heavenly bodies, turned into thin air.  
And to either of these clouds belong motion & colour.  
Their motion is caused by the wind most commonly, through whose force they are driven to and fro: But if the winds blow not, than they are drawn along by the Sun, and made a companion with him in his travels, always moving that way which the Sun goeth.  
Concerning their colours I spoke before in Paragraph 5. Article 2. And therefore here you may expect the less: yet let me say that they are either simple or mixed.  
Black or white are simple; because they consist of no other colours. But red, green, and the rest, are mixed.  
They appear white when the vapour is thin; for than it is easily pierced by the light, which disperseth itself into it.  
But when they appear of a 
b Nigredo in nubibus ob vaporum densitatem oritur, qu●… lumen collustrans non admittit. Et sic é contrá ●…it Albor; viz. è vapore subtiliore & parùm conspissato, quem radius facillimé pe●…etrat, & ●…quabiliter in illum spa●…gitur. Goclen. Dis●…us. Phys.  black colour, than the vapour is thick, and more closely condensed: insomuch that the beams of light cannot be admitted▪  
As for their redness, it may be caused two ways, according to Goclenius: either through the adustion of the air, magno aestu incensum, as he saith: Or propter retusum radium Solis, by reason of the beams of the Sun beat back again; which, falling upon a watery cloud that is thickly condensed, pierceth not; but being doubled causeth redness, as in the morning: and this is a sign of rain: but the other is not. For the other redness is in such a cloud as showeth the dryness and adustion of the air; the cloud itself consisting of a smoky humid substance, unto which is joined a kind of dry and adust matter. This therefore is a sign of 
c 〈◊〉 rubedo 〈◊〉 significat, quia▪ rubedo nubem rara●…t est●… solis 〈◊〉, ejúsque 〈◊〉 ab●… esse ●…tat. Sed 〈◊〉 rubedo plu●…ias 〈◊〉 ventos promi●…tit, quia vapores humidarum & sub densarum 〈◊〉 absumi non 〈◊〉. Ibid.  fair weather, being seen in the evening towards the place of Sunsetting; according as it hath been said of old, Serò rubens coelum, mané indicat esse serenum.  
Concerning green clouds they are altogether watery, and as it were already resolved into water; which receiving into them the light appear green, like unto water in a great vessel, or in the sea and deep rivers.  
Blue clouds come something near to the nature of black, excepting that the black are thicker.  
And note, If when the Sun sets, there appear or arise black dark clouds, it portendeth rain. Also observe the place opposite to the Sun at his setting, viz. the East, and see if that be clear: for if it be pestered with black clouds, there is but small hope of fair weather that night, or the next day.  
The common opinion is, that the height of the clouds 
The height of the clouds.  is not above nine miles. But it is agreeable to no reason at all why any certain height should be determined: for they are of unequal heights, differing both according to the matter of their composure, and also according to the time of the year; being lower in winter then in summer: for when the sun hath the greatest force they then ascend the higher; and in his smaller force they hang the lower. By which it appeareth that the sun helpeth to uphold them, and keepeth them (although heavier than the air) even in the air: for they▪ sometimes also follow his motion.  
But note that it is not the sun alone which upholds 
How the clouds naturally hang in the air.  them; for the air itself is also a cause of their not falling; and that both within the clouds, and also without them: within the clouds; for the clouds are of a spongy nature, and full of pores, which are filled with air le●…t there should be vacuum; and this air heaveth them up, causing them to aspire: without the clouds also, because they do as it were float up and down in the air, as some heavy things do in the water, and yet not sink, unless their substance be too earthy and heavy.   

Artic. 2. Of Rain.  

FRom clouds I proceed to speak of rain. And rain is nothing else but as it were the melting of a cloud turned into water. Or, according to Aristotle, it is the flux of a fertile cloud resolved by the heat of the sun into distilling drops of water, which being depressed with their own weight, fall down to the earth. For when the matter of the cloud, being a cold vapour, and earthly humour, is drawn from the earth and waters, into the middle Region of the air, and there thickened through the cold, dwelling in the confines of that place, it is at the last dissolved, and cannot therefore but fall down in drops: which drops, if they be great, are caused, either by the quick resolution of the cloud, or else by the little distance of it from the earth. But if they be smaller, then either the 
a This may be seen if any will but assay to pour water from an high place.  great distance or slow resolution maketh them of no ample quantity.  
The first of these is named nimbus; the other is called imber.  
And note that the dissolution (as hath been said) proceedeth out of heat; which is not only of the sun, but of winds also of an hot temper: as is seen in the southern wind, which bloweth up rain sooner than any other wind. And as for rains which come from cold coasts, and at cold times of the year, if the cloud be not at such times (as some may think) dissolved through the heat of any wind, it dissolveth itself through its own weight, (being a little holpen by the sun) for it continueth in the air even whilst it can stay no longer. And at these times also, if we consider all aright, we shall find that the wind somewhat helpeth, although not so speedily as from hotter coasts: for naturally there is a kind of heat in every wind, (because it is an Exhalation hot and dry) although by accident (as from the nature of the place over which it passeth) it may be altered: of which I shall speak more afterwards. And besides all this, the secret influence of the Planets worketh greatly towards the dissolution of the foresaid vapours.  
But I proceed. And now it followeth that I divide all sorts of rain into two kinds: First, such as are ordinary; 
Ordinary and extraordinary rains.  secondly, such as be extraordinary.  
I call those ordinary when nothing but water falleth. And I call those extraordinary which others call prodigious rains: as when worms, frogs, fish, wheat, milk, 
Prodigious rain.  flesh, blood, wool, stones, iron, earth, etc. fall from the clouds. Pliny makes mention of many such prodigies as these, in the 56 chapter of his second book; setting down the times when they happened.  
Concerning all which, next under God (the causer of the causes causing them) these or the like reasons may be urged to show how it is possible they should be procured, and upon what causes they naturally depend.  
1. And first for the raining of worms; it may be thought 
Worms.  that the putrefaction of some dead carcases or other hath been drawn up into the air as fumes and vapours are, where it breedeth such worms as use to breed out of the like matter here below.  
2. The like may be said of frogs, when the vapour is 
Frogs▪  exhaled out of marish grounds at such times as they engender.  
3. So also of fishes; excepting that (as is supposed) the 
Fishes▪  force of winds may suddenly sweep away little frey out of ponds upon montanous places: and so also little young frogs, with many the like things, may be taken up. Some write of a whole calf falling from the clouds; and have been thereupon persuaded that it is possible, of Vapours and Exhalations, with the power of heavenly bodies concurring, a calf may be made in the air. But this is idle. It was therefore (as others write) taken up in some storm of whirl wind, and so let fall again.  
4. As for wheat and other grain, it hath been observed 
Wheat.  that their raining down hath often come in case of extremity, to the great preservation and refreshment of the distressed: in which regard it may be supposed that it was an immediate work of God, wrought without the rule of nature: so, that were all the wits in the world pressed into one, yet were they all too weak to show a true cause of such a prodigy. Which made Du Bartas write concerning such;  
Let them declare what cause could yerst beget  
Amid the air those drizzling showers of wheat,  
Which in Carinthia twice were seen to shed;  
Whereof that people made them store of bread.  
To speak therefore as I think, I will not boldly affirm how this was caused, but only touch at the possibility of it; namely, that it might be effected like unto other strange rains, first drawn from the earth into the air, and then sent down again. For (as I have 
b Paragraph ●…. art. 3. and elsewhere.  already said) in showing probable reasons for such things as are strange, we do also include God the chief and best cause of all things. And so also we read, that when the Red sea was bayed up with a double wall, to give the children of Israel safe and free passage through it, God sent a strong east-wind all that night, etc. by which the waters were divided. Exod. 14. 21. And again, when the Quails came and filled their tents, being as it were reigned round about them; they were brought from the sea with a wind, and let fall a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey on that side, even round about their camp. Numb. 11. 31.  
He that hath seen (saith 
c Fulk, in his Meteors.  one) an eggshell full of dew drawn up by the sun into the air, in a May morning, will not think it incredible, that wheat and other grain should be drawn up in much hotter countries than ours is, much rather the meal or flower which is lighter.  
5. By the like reason also it sometimes raineth milk: 
Milk▪  for when the intensissimus solis calor, the vehement heat of the sun, shall either draw milk from the udders 
* Which may the sooner be done in summer, and in hot countries.  of cattle, and shall mix it with the other parts of the cloud; or shall so throughly try, purify, digest or concoct the vapour, that it may look something white, then will the drops look as if it reigned milk.  
6. As for the raining of flesh, it is supposed to be after 
Flesh.  this manner, namely through the drawing up of blood from places where much blood hath been shed, which being clottered together seemeth as if it were flesh.  
7. And so also it may rain blood; namely when it is 
Blood.  not clottered together, but thinner, etc. In the year of Christ 480 was such a rain. As also in the year 864, near unto Brixia in Italy, was the like. Yea and before either of these times, our own 
d Lanquet▪ ●…tow, etc.  chronicles tell us that in the days of Rivallo King of the Britain's, we also had blood reigned; upon which ensued great mortality of people. Histories make mention of the like wonders at other times.  

But, say some, there is often great store of blood spilt, 
Object.  and yet no prodigy appeareth.  
To which is answered, that it is not the ordinary exhaling 
Answ.  virtue which resteth in the stars and Planets that can draw up such bloody vapours, although much blood be spilt; but then only when there is a more unusual concurrence of causes: for sometimes they are disposed to one thing, sometimes to another. And for the working of any strange thing, it must be when there is a strange kind of combination amongst them. To which purpose we know (although we cannot always directly see and demonstrate how they are mixed and combined) that they principally intent and cause at the same time other changes, of which the visible prodigy is but the proclaimer or forerunner: as, if you look but a little before concerning Comets, you may see, and so rest satisfied.  
And unto this also add, that there may be drops like unto blood, and yet no blood drawn up: And this may be, either when the Sun draweth vapours out of putrified watery places, in which (as I have often seen) in a drought resteth much slimy and red-coloured corrupted water; or else when the Sun's immensive heat doth so boil the water in the cloud, that like unto the urine which a man maketh in a burning fever, it looketh red when it falleth. The like cause I gave before unto the water of a white colour: but know that it must then be of another quality, the matter of the vapour I mean: for there are some kind of waters, as is well known, which being boiled turn to white salt, etc. And as for a red colour, the ordinary rain showeth that it is possible: for we see that ordinary rain-water looketh always more brown than spring or river-water, being as if a more powerful operation would turn it into red.    

8. The raining of wool or hair, is when a certain 
Wool.  mossiness like wool, such as is upon quinces, willows, and other young fruits and trees, is drawn up by the Sun among Vapours and Exhalations, which being clottered together falleth down like locks of wool, or hair.  
9 Concerning stones, they proceed from earthly 
Stones.  matter gathered into the clouds, as before was showed concerning the Thunder-stone, etc.  
Pliny, in the 58 chapter of his second book, writeth of a strange stone which fell out of the heavens; the fall whereof was foretold by Anaxagoras in the second year of the 78 Olympiad.  
10. Iron may also drop out of the clouds, when the general 
Iron.  matter of all metals, which is quicksilver and brimstone, with the special matter of mixtion making iron, are all drawn up together, and there concocted into metal: Or (as one saith) Quando vapores metallici aut sulphurei in aëre indurantur, vehementi siderum caliditate; When metallic vapours, or vapours of a sulfurous nature, are hardened in the air by the vehement heat of the stars.  
11. And as for earth, chalk, dirt, and the like, it is 
Earth.  drawn up in thin dust at the first with the vapour: Or else, by force of some wind blowing from caverns, or holes of the ground, it is carried up; and being conglomerated, or as it were glued together, falleth down again.  
12. But beside all these, there have sometimes been 
Red crosses.  red drops, which falling upon men's garments have made a stain like unto a cross. Such drops as these fell upon the 
e Ru●…finus, Histor. Eccles. lib. 1. cap. 39  clothes of the Jews, when in the days of the Apostata julian they went about to restore their city and temple. For when the said julian raged with impiety and devilish fury against the Christians, he gave the Jews licence to build their temple, that they might restore again their ancient sacrifices, and the like things that they longed for: at which time Cyril was Bishop of jerusalem; and he (to animate the Christians) showed that it was impossible for the Jews to finish that work which they had begun: alleging the prophet Daniel in his ninth chap. at the 27 verse; and also that saying of our Saviour in the 24 of Matthew: by both which places it did appear, that their house was left unto them desolate, and that there must not be one stone upon another; but that their desolations must be perpetual.  
Thus it happened to the Jews. But this surely was a thing altogether miraculous. For their red crosses came not alone, but were accompanied with other prodigies. As first of all an Earthquake, which overthrew and tumbled down their building which they had raised upon the old foundation. Then came forth a fire which consumed all their engines and instruments. And last of all fell these drops, imprinting upon their clothes, crosses with so deep a stain, as they were not able to wash them out: And both the 
f Theod. Histor. Eccles. lib. 3. cap. 20.▪  same night, and night after, was also a bright sign of the cross seen in't he sky, as Theodoret in his Ecclesiastical history reporteth: adding herewithal, that when the Jews saw this, they fled and returned home, being perplexed through fear of a divine scourge; confessing that he, whom their forefathers had nailed to a cross, was God indeed.  
This was both the prodigy, and the issue of it: of which, being so plainly miraculous, I know not what to say.  
But I find that other times have in a manner afforded 
Reason's concerning Red crosses at other times.  the like. Wherefore (although I speak nothing at all of these at this time thus miraculous) concerning them some reasons may be given.  
And not to go far, Magirus, in the 
g Lib. 4. cap. 6.  Comment upon his Physics, telleth us, that in Suevia a Province in Germany, in the year of our Lord 
* So also in Westphalia, ann. 1543. at Lovane, 1568. ipso Pentecostes die. And in the year 1571 in duione Embdensi, in Frisus Orientalibus. See Fromond. Meteor. Lib. 5. cap. 6. art. 3.  1534, the air distilled certain red drops, which falling upon linen garments, made such an impression or slain as was like unto a cross. Which impression (as he allegeth out of Cardan his sixteenth book De subtilitate) might be procured thus; viz. because a certain kind of extraordinary dry dust sticked to those garments; which, by the piercing or through-washing drops falling upon it, was so miraculously divided into parts, that there seemed a figure as of a cross. Or thus, because the woven threads in themselves had such a form. Or else (which is most probable) because the humour in the middle part lay on high, whereas the sides were but thin, and fashioned according to the dashing of the drop. For when a drop falleth upon any thing with a kind of force, we see that most of the humour resteth in the midst, whilst certain sparkling rays are dashed about the sides: And thus he thinketh it might be then, in the fall of those staining drops; which why they slain, hath relation to that which I said before concerning the raining of blood.  
I will therefore now conclude; adding in the last 
The devil many times worketh in the Air.  place, that the devil, by God's permission, both often hath and also doth produce many such prodigies as these that I have spoken of, with sundry other like unto them; especially amongst the 
* Psal. 78. 49.  Heathen, Pagan, and superstitious nations. For he is quovis homine scientior, more subtle than any man; his knowledge and skill whereby he worketh wonders, arising, First, from his spiritual 
How it comes to pass that the devi●…s knowledge is far beyond man's.  nature, which proclaimeth a large measure of cunning and wisdom in him: for we know that there is a greater measure of knowledge in man, then is in a brute beast, by reason of that nature which God hath given unto man above beasts: and where there is a nature and a substance beyond either, there must also be knowledge above either. Secondly, God created him a good Angel; and although, like man, he lost much by his fall, yet thirdly by his long observations, and continual experience, he hath as it were made up the breach, or want of his created knowledge, by acquired skill: and therefore, when he hath 
* Matth. 8. 31. Job 1. 12.  commission, he can upon occasion work strange wonders. As for example, nothing more familiar or common in 
h Saxon Grammat. Olaus magnus.  Lapland, Lituania, and all over Scandia, as also in Tartary, then to sell winds to mariners, and cause tempests; which the witches and sorcerers there procure by the help and power of the devil: wherein he showeth himself, according to his 
* Ephes. 2. 2.  title, Prince of the air.  
Wherefore (as I said) I do not doubt, but that many such as the former strange prodigies, especially long ago in heathen times, and amongst heathen people, were procured by his power. For what did the magicians in the sight of Pharaoh, but as it were rain frogs, and turn 
Exod. cap. 7▪ & 8.  the waters into blood, although Moses and Aaron were by?  
Besides, it is apparent that in the little world, I mean when parties are possessed, the devil can cause them to vomit strange things out of their mouths and stomaches; as crooked pins, iron, coals, nails, brimstone, needles, lead, wax, hair, straw, live eels, and the like; of which many have been eye-witnesses, confirming the same for truth. All which, he can as well and easily perform in the greater world; causing the air to spit, and the clouds to vomit (for his own advantage) most strange and prodigious things.  
Zanchius his opinion was not much differing: for, speaking of strange rains, 
i Sentio (inquit) tales 〈◊〉 is ver●… prodigio●…as esse, & fieri 〈◊〉 solâ Dei potentiâ, eoque iram Dei portendere; qualis fuit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pluit sulphur & igne supra Sodomam, & alias urbes: aut etiam 〈◊〉 praestigi●…, Deo permit ten●…e fieri. Zanch. Tom. 3. lib. 3. cap. 5. qu●…st. 6. Thes. 3.  he confessed (concerning some of them) that they were produced by such causes, or the like, as I before alleged; concluding for the rest which were more occult, that they were truly prodigious; and caused, either by the power of God, as portenders of his wrath; or else by the sleights of the devil, through God's permission.    

Artic. 3. Of Dew.  
Due offers itself in the next place, as being a near kinsman to rain. For it consisteth of a cold moist vapour which the sun draweth into the air: from whence, when it is somewhat thickened and condensed through cold of the night, and also of the place whither the sun exhaled it, it falleth down in very small and indiscernible drops, to the great refreshment of the earth.  
And this is certain, that the morning and the evening are the only times when it falleth; the reason being in 
Why dew is but in the morning, and at evening.  regard of the sun, which both positively & privatively causeth it. Dew at night is caused privatively; dew in the morning, positively. At night or in the evening privatively, because when the sun setteth, the lowest part of the vapour, not being high enough to hang in the air, falleth down through absence of the sun. And in the morning positively, because at the return of the sun the residue of the vapour, together with the augmentation of it (haply by some condensed air caused by cold of the night) is dissolved by his approaching beams, and so made fit to fall, rather than hang any longer. For look what vapours are about the Horizon at the rising of the sun, are dispersed by his first approach; and so it comes to pass that the morning as well as the evening affordeth dew. But know that if the vapour be not conveniently 
Why no dew is a sign of rain.  placed, that is, if it be very high above the Horizon, or in a lofty station of the air, than the sun's approaching beam neither dissolveth nor disperseth it; whereupon we have no dew, but rather look for rain, because the matter of dew is still in the air, staying there till it be turned into a cloud, and so into rain.  
And now by this you may see what is the material, what the efficient, what the formal, and lastly what the final cause of dew.  
The material cause is a subtle and moist vapour, being the thinnest of all vapours.  
The efficient cause is the temperate cold of the night, together with the absence and approach of the sun.  
The formal cause is the sprinkling of most thin drops, which the hand can scarcely perceive.  
And the final cause, that (without rain) the earth may have some refreshment.  
Yet nevertheless, this I find concerning dew, as it is of a calorificall nature, that 
a Tit●…lm. 〈◊〉. lib. 6. cap. 6.  rorilentas segetes collectas putrefacit, because every external heat is putrefactive.  
Also dew is a great enemy to sheep, begetting a 
How sheep may●… get a deadly flux.  deadly rot in them, or a dangerous flux of the belly; which cometh to pass in regard of the humour being of much viscosity, and not throughly refined or purged. Wherefore your careful and skilful shepherds will never drive out their sheep to feed, until the sun or the wind have licked the tops of the grass and flowers. Also know that a windy night hindereth the falling of dew. Some say three things hinder it; viz. wind, great 
〈◊〉 of dew.  heat, and cold: for the most temperate and calm times afford it; when other times want it.  
As for the kinds of dew, I cannot but join with them who divide them into three.  
For there is, first, common dew; secondly, sweet 
Three kinds of dew.  dew; and thirdly, bitter blasting dew.  
The common dew is ordinary. Sweet dew is threefold. 1. Manna. 2. Mel. 3. Laudanum.  
Manna is said to be white like sugar: by some it is 
Manna.  called Coeli sudor. The matter of it is a fat and pure vapour, not tainted with any putrid or corrupt Exhalations. Or, according to some, it is roris melliti genus, sed concreti, a kind of honey-sweet dew, but concrete or compact more close together: it falleth in the East parts, Arabia, Syria, etc.  
As for that Manna which God reigned to the Israelites 
Of the Israelites Manna.  in the wilderness, some think that it was altogether miraculous; others that it was ejusdem speciei cum Manna vulgari, of the same kind with common Manna: which I also think; because josephus, in his third book and first chapter, writeth, that in his days there was great store of it in that part of Arabia wherein Moses was 40 years with the Israelites. What should hinder this opinion, I see not, unless because the common Manna is of a purging quality, and therefore to be taken for a medicine rather than for food. To which I 
b 〈◊〉 o●… 〈◊〉.  find an answer, that haply at the first it might work the like effect on their bodies also, till it expelled the humours proceeding from the onions and leeks that they eat in Egypt; but afterwards through custom it might not work at all upon them: or else God, for their good, that they might be fed, might allay that quality in it by his mighty power: for God resting from all his works on the seventh day, created no new species of anything afterwards. Fuohsius a learned Physician, testifieth that there falleth great store of Manna upon the mountain of Libanus, which is eaten without harm, although they take it in plentiful abundance. Yet nevertheless it cannot be denied but that the Israelites had many things miraculous in theirs: 
The Israelites Manna was not without miracle in many respects.  as that they could not find it on the Sabbath day: that he which gathered little, and he which gathered much, had always sufficient for his eating; and the like: All which proclaimed the power of God: In which regard he saith that he fed them with 
* Psal. 78. 25, 26. How Manna is said to be Angels food.  Angel's food. Not that the Angels eat of it; but because it was cibus excellentissimus, a most excellent kind of meat; insomuch that were the Angels to be fed with bread, they might be fed with this. In which sense, we also call that which is dainty meat, meat for a King, or a Prince, intimating the goodness of it: So also the poets called their 
c Myrrhina is a wine mixed with Myr●…he and other sweet ●…pices.  Myrrhina or their Nectar, the drink of the Gods, because it was a liquor of such excellency. But besides this, the Scripture in like manner saith that it was bread from heaven, as 
How Manna is said to come from heaven.  well as Angel's food. Not that it came from heaven, if heaven be taken in a strict sense; but because it was a symbol of Christ's descending from heaven, as it is John the 6. Moses gave you not that bread (saith our Saviour) but I am that bread of life come down from heaven. Or else it is said to come from heaven, because it came out of the air: for so the word signifying heaven is often used; as the fowls of the air are said to fly in the open firmament of heaven, Gen. 1. 20. The clouds are called the clouds of heaven: and the winds the winds of heaven, although they be but in the air, Dan. 7. And thus much concerning Manna.  
The other kind of sweet dew is Mel, or an Honeydew. 
Honeydew.  Now this falleth, not only in other countries, but also here in England; and we cannot give it a more significant name then a Mildew, being both as sweet, and also of the same substance that honey is. Some suppose that it is drawn out of sweet herbs and flowers, which I also believe, acknowledging that there is a kind of resudation of juice proceeding from them at a certain convenient time of their growth: which juice is either drawn up as a vapour, and so sweeteneth the dew in the air by such time as it falleth; or else, issuing of itself from the said flowers and plants, but not ascending, it sweeteneth the dew after it is come down or fallen on them, although the said dew be but ordinary: for when ordinary dew falleth upon any of those leaves which yield such a resudation or sweat, it cannot but be sweetened, although none of the sweet liquor be drawn into the air as a vapour with it. Now of these two choose which in your judgement is the most probable.  

d Lib. 11. cap. 12.  Pliny witnesseth that these dews are most common at the shining of Syrius, or the great 
e It riseth with Sol about the end of July.  Dogstar; and that before the rising of Virgiliae or the 
f Which is about the 17 day of April.  Seven stars in the morning with the Sun, they cannot at all be.  
Laudanum is another kind of sweet dew. Arabia hath 
Laudanum, the third kind of sweet dew.  great plenty of it, and no other country (as Pliny writeth) unless it be 
g Plin. lib. 12. cap. 17.  Nabathaea, bordering on the Arabic coast of Syria.  
It is called Laudanum, because it is a vapour falling upon the herb Ladon or Ledum; and is sweetened by the juice issuing from the leaves of the said herb, mixing itself with the vapour. Goat's hairs are often found amongst it; because the Goat feeding upon that herb, scattereth some of his hairs, which are incorporated with the vapour and the juice of Ladon, whilst like gum it is hardened by the Sun.  
And thus much of sweet dews.  
Now followeth that which I called bitter blasting 
Blasting dew.  dew. The Germans say it is 
h Magir. Phys. Com. lib. 4. cap. 6.  Mildaw; which is an improper name if it hath relation to that which we call Mildew. For Mildew (as before I showed) is an honey-sweet dew, and not a bitter dew. This therefore may be rather named Ros noxius, or bitter blasting dew, because it hurteth and killeth such herbs and plants as it falleth on, and sticketh or cleaveth to. This vapour hath much earthly matter in it, and therefore it remaineth white when the moisture is gone. It is also corrupted: which comes to pass (as 'tis conjectured) through the often change of the Air, which being tainted or infected through variety of differing Exhalations, sendeth down noisome and unwholesome dews, falling sometimes even in the day time itself. And here an end concerning dew.   

Artic. 4. Of white hoar-frosts.  
I Come now to speak of Frosts: for as due claimed kindred of rain, so white hoar-frost is of the house and lineage of dew: As for example thus. When a vapour drawn into the air is congealed before it can be turned into dew, than we have Pruina in stead thereof, or a white hoar-frost: so that such a frost is nothing else but dew congealed by overmuch cold. 
a Lib. 1. de Mete●… c●…p. 10.  Aristotle affirmeth the like, showing among other things, that both in respect of matter, and place of generation, they do well agree; to which is also pertinent the calmness, clearness, and quietness of the time wherein either of them falleth. For both of them consist of subtle thin vapours, and are generated in the lowest region of the air, because upon some high hills there is neither hoar-frost nor dew to be seen; the vapour (as it seemeth) ascendeth not so high: And as for a windy obscure time, it is an enemy to them both. The difference being, that hoar-frost is congealed in the vapour before it can be turned into water: The one caused in a season that is temperately warm; the other when it is cold. The material cause therefore of hoar-frost is a subtle thin vapour. The formal, is the congealing of it; by which it differeth from dew. The efficient is the autumnal or winter cold: for those are the most common and ordinary times peculiar to it, although sometimes it comes as an unwelcome guest in the spring and summer, when the air through cold is forward to send it. And last of all the end, or principal effects (when it cometh not out of season) or the final cause, is the contraction, or shutting up of the pores or breathing holes of the earth, and about the roots of plants; that thereby their spirits, being the chariots of heat, may be contained in their own bowels for the good of such things as they give life unto. And thus much concerning frost.   

Artic. 5. Of Snow.  
THere is no great difference between the matter of snow, and matter of rain and hail; excepting (as some think) that the vapour for snow is of an hotter quality than the vapour for rain, and yet not so hot as that which is the material cause of hail. For it is a tenant amongst Philosophers, that hot things being cooled are 
Hot things cooled are soon congealed.  apt for congelation then cold: as is seen in warm water taken from the fire, which will more suddenly and throughly be frozen then that which never felt the heat. And this comes to pass in regard of the pores or passages made into the water through heat: into which the cold entering, it both cooleth it the sooner, and congealeth it the more.  
Neither is there any difference between white frost and snow; excepting that frost is made of a vapour before 
Arist. Met. lib. 1. cap. 11.  it be turned into a cloud; and snow of a cloud before it can be turned into water. 
The matter of snow.   
Snow therefore is a cloud congealed by great cold, before it be perfectly resolved from vapours into water. For if it should come to the density of water before the congelation, than it could not fall so like locks of wool as it doth; but would be more closely compacted or joined together, having little or no spunginess in it.  
As for the whiteness, it proceedeth not from its own 
Why snow is white.  proper colour, but rather in respect of those parts which are more airy than the rest: whereupon I find some 
a Fulks Meteors.  authors who determine the case thus; namely, that the white is by receiving the light into it at those many small parts; even as in froth and foam is seen. For, say some, 
b Havenreut. come. In Arist. de Met. lib. 1.  Nix est spuma quaedam, Snow is a kind of froth: and when it loseth part of its frothy nature, and begins to melt; it loseth also part of that whiteness which at the first it retained. To this also may be added the coldness that is infused into it when it is congealed, as being a cause of whiteness; even as in phlegmatic bodies and cold countries may be seen: For such people are always whiter of complexion than others; cold being the cause of that their whiteness.  
Such winters as are void of snow, are not so good for 
Warm winters hurtful.  the fruits of the ground, as more snowy winters. Whereupon 
c Lib. 17. cap. 2.  Pliny affirmeth, that he which saith clear winters are to be wished, wisheth no good for the trees and plants: and in that regard your experienced husband man desireth that the winter may be cold and snowy, rather than clear and warm: For besides this they also say, that a hot Christmas makes a fat Churchyard.  
Wherefore, to see the earth do penance in a cold white sheet, and the woods hang periwigd with wool, bending their boughs in token of thankfulness to gray-haired Hiems for their safety from the cold, is a sight both wished and welcome: the good whereof will show itself, when liberal Nature, out of her bounteous wardrobe, bestows more beauteous raiment on them.  
And note it is found by experience, that it may snow on the mountains, and rain in the valleys, and yet both 
One and the same cloud may give the mountains snow, and the valleys rain.  come out of one and the same cloud; which comes to pass for this reason, because the snow coming from the middle Region melteth after it comes into the lowest Region: for here is always more heat than above where the snow is generated; yet not always heat enough to melt the snow as it falleth; neither will the congelation be always so weak as to suffer it. And thus also it comes 
The reason of sleet.  to pass that we have sometimes sleet, which is snow and rain together.  
Moreover (as some affirm) Crystal is made of snow: 
Crystal.  for 
d Fulk. Met.  when the snow melteth upon the tops of high hills, and is afterwards frozen again, it than becometh so hard that it is a stone, and no other than that which we call Crystal.   

Artic. 6. Of Hail.  
HAil is said to be engendered of rain being congealed into ice, the drops freezing presently after the dissolving of the cloud.  
Or (as some say) a cloud resolved into water, in the fall congealed, maketh hail.  
Aristotle assenteth to the same, affirming that the material near cause is rain; the remote a cloud; the efficient an Antiperistasis, or a mutual adverse strife between cold and heat; as in the first book of his Meteors, at the 12 chapter, may be seen: affirming moreover that the precedent heat of the water whereof it is made, helpeth to the speedy concretion of it: being agreeable to that which I said before concerning snow; namely that it consisted of a warmer vapour than rain, and yet not of one so warm as that from whence hail proceedeth.  
Whereupon I think we may make this a conclusion concerning hail, and say that it is an hot vapour drawn 
What hail is.  into the middle Region of the air; where, by cold of that Region, it is made thick into a cloud, which falling down in drops like rain, is presently met withal and encountered by the sudden cold of the lowest Region, and so congealed into a kind of ice. Now this sudden cold thus meeting with it, is in the highest part of the lowest Region, and caused by an Antiperistasis of heat from below, which forceth up the cold to the greater augmentation of it; and so (because the vapour itself at the first was also warm) it doth very speedily turn it into ice: for seeing (as hath been said) it was formerly warm, it is the sooner cooled; because heat having made it thin and full of passages, gives leave to the cold, both to pierce it more suddenly, and also more sound. And this most commonly is the manner of generating hail.  
But know that hail may sometimes also be made in 
Winter-hail how and where it is made.  the middle Region; and than it is without an Antiperistasis: of which sort for the most part is that small and spongy hail falling in winter, when there is no such heat in any part of the air, by whose Antiperistasis it may be congealed. For seeing the drops are scarcely come to the density of water before their congelation, as also seeing they are something swollen through the spirit of the Exhalation, they appear not only round, but also light, and hollow, or of a spongy substance, little differing from the matter of snow, being generated in the middle Region as well as this kind of hail. And thus comes hail in winter.  
But at other times of the year, the hail being more stony, or better hardened, it may well be caused by an Antiperistasis proceeding from the heat of this lowest Region, which sendeth up, imprisons, and augments the cold above it.  
And know that hailstones are not always of one and the same bigness, but are variable according to the 
The sundry fashions of hailstones  quantity of the drops whereof they be made; the cause whereof is their propinquity or remoteness from the earth, as was showed before concerning the different drops of rain. And for the most part, know that they be also round, because the drop is so. Yet nevertheless they be sometimes knotted and piked with many corners; or else fashioned like a Pyramid: the last of which shapes proceedeth from the spirit of the vapour which ascendeth to the top of the drop so soon as the lowest part of it toucheth the congealing cold; and so ascending, it makes it smaller above than below. And as for the triangled, knotty, or many-cornered shapes, they are caused thus, viz. when many are suddenly congealed and frozen into one.  
Note also, that sometimes little straws, or light chaffy stuff, is found within the stones; coming thus to pass, because they were at the first blown up from the earth by the wind, and mixed with the vapour.  
And again know that sometimes you may see hailstones all icy and clear without, having within them (as their centre) little white round spongy parts. The reason of which is, because those white ones within were generated in the middle Region: but in their fall justling themselves against the drops of rain which uncongealed came from the same cloud, they got a watery substance on their outsides, which being frozen to them looketh clear like ice; and so makes the whole conglomeration appear in the shape and fashion before mentioned.  
Moreover, it hath not seldom been that hail hath 
Hail doth many times much hurt.  done much hurt. Yet evermore the greatest fear is whilst the ripe corn standeth in the ear. For a violent storm of hail thresheth it so throughly, that turning the words a little, we may truly say, Illa seges demum votis non respondet avari agricolae. Such a storm was felt in many parts of this kingdom not long ago, namely in the year 1631; which, about the beginning of harvest (beside the harm it did to other things) untimely beat out much corn in the fields to the great damage of many people. And at sundry other times also heretofore the like sad accidents have been. Wherefore the ancient husbandmen amongst 
How the heathen used to secure their fields from hail and other harms.  the heathen (as Cato and Pliny mention) had certain charming verses to keep hail and other dreadful calamities from their fields: in which they showed themselves of a like mind unto those devilish enchanting hags, who made the Poet sing, Carmina vel coelo possunt deducere Lunam, Charms can pull even the very Moon out of heaven. But this was not all: For beside these, Palladius also makes mention of others who would take the skins of Crocodiles, Hyena's, or Sea-calves, and lay them here and there about their grounds; or else have a bloody Axe lifted up in threatening manner against the heavens; or an Owl set staring up, with her feathers spread abroad. All which are but magical, devilish, and absurd practices; such, as even an old doting woman (whose confidence is the shears & the sieve) cannot but acknowledge to be void of any the least show of reason: fit therefore for heathens only, and not for Christians. For let Christians know that there is a God above, who can better secure their seed sown, than all those magic spells and foolish fopperies. For, 
* Psal. 107. 34, 35  A fruitful land he maketh barren because of the wickedness of those who dwell therein. Or, as it is in the 28 of Deuteronomie, If thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments, etc. then shalt thou be blessed in the city, and in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body and the fruit of thy ground. But if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. Yea and cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land.  
Beside, add unto this the danger of devilish practices, 
Charms unlawful.  with the unlawfulness of charms and incantations. For thus again the Scripture speaketh, There shall none such be found among you. For all that do these things are an abomination to the Lord; as it is Deuteronomie 18. at the 10, 11, and 12 verses.  
Here than I end this discourse concerning hail, and now proceed to speak of mists.   

Artic. 7. Of Mists.  
COncerning which, I like their division best who make two kinds of mist; the one ascending, the other descending.  
That which ascendeth (saith Dr. Fulk) goeth up out of the water or earth as smoke, but seldom spreads itself any thing far; being most of all seen about rivers and moist places.  
The other (saith he) namely that which goeth down towards the earth, is when any vapour is lifted up into the air by heat of the Sun, which, not being strong enough to draw it so high that the cold may knit it, suffereth it to fall down again after it is a little made thick; and so it filleth all the air with gross vapours, obscuring the Sun from shining on us.  
Now this last kind of mist may be twofold; either 
The descending mist is twofold.  congealed, or incongealed. That which is congealed comes near to the nature of that matter whereof white frosts consist; and is never but in a very cold time: it often also stinketh; which perhaps 
Why mists and fogs stink.  comes to pass in that the matter whereof it is made was drawn out of lakes, or other muddy and stinking places. Or thus; the matter of this mist hath much earthy substance in it, which the hindering cold suffereth not to be consumed: and from this comes an unpleasant and an unwholesome smell. This water, 
A rot for cattle, and an harm to men.  as also the water of dissolved frost, is very bad for cattle to drink: for it will quickly rot them. Neither can it be good for any one to walk abroad in such a misty time: For, by breathing, we draw this unwholesome vapour into our bodies, and so corrupt our lungs extremely.  
But for incongealed mists, they are in warmer and more temperate seasons, coming near the nature of that matter which is the matter of dew. Some call it a sterile vapour hanging near the earth, being neither moist enough to drop like rain, nor yet hot enough to be carried up on high into the air. Yet as sterile as it is, sometimes we find that it is but the forerunner of rain: For when it departeth, if it ascendeth, 
How, by a mist, to judge of the weather.  than rain followeth; if it descendeth, then expect a hot and fair day. And here an end concerning mists.   

Artic. 8. Of our Lady's threads, or those things which fly up and down the air like spider's webs.  
FOr mine own part I must confess I have not seen many who have writ any thing concerning this cobweb-like kind of Meteor: and therefore at the first I rested doubtful, not knowing whether it were best for me to speak any thing of it or no. But at the last finding that some false tenants were engrafted amongst the ignorant, as if they perfectly knew what thing it was, I thought good to add something whereby their fond opinion might be taken away, who, as in a dream, suppose it to be spun from out the spider's bowels: which cannot but be a strange absurdity. For it is evident that some one of these threads containeth more matter than many spiders; their bodies not being big enough to afford a thing so copious: neither are their webs at any time of such a length, or their threads of such a thickness, as these thus flying about the air.  
This Meteor therefore (since it is a Meteor) may rightly be supposed to proceed out of a through-boyled or digested vapour, being mixed with earthy and slimy Exhalations: and, although it be no spider's web, yet the temperature of it little differeth from that viscuous humour and slimy 
* And that's the reason why (when it hangs on the stubble, or the like places) we see so many little spiders busy in it: for the matter doth as it were feed them, and (perhaps) through the Sunbeams, generate them.  excrement which they in their spinning send out from them.  
As for the time, it appeareth neither in Summer nor in Winter, but in the Spring and Autumn; because it requireth a temperate heat and temperate dryness. Yet the chief time is Autumn, because the Air hath then some dry relics of the late Summer's Exhalations left, and they are very necessary towards the tempering and generation of this Meteor.  
And thus I end, not only this Article, but the whole Paragraph also; coming at length to speak of that third kind of Meteor which in the beginning I propounded to be handled last.     

Sect. 2.  

Parag. 7. Of Airy Meteors; wherein is showed the natural cause of winds.  

Artic. 1. Of the diverse opinions concerning wind.  
IN the former Paragraphs and Articles pertinent to the second Section of this chapter, I spoke at large (as is apparent) of every sort, both of fiery and watery Meteors: now therefore (if you please) you may go along with me to those which are called airy; wherein I purpose to speak concerning the generation of winds, showing upon what causes they depend. And by the way I would have you observe a packet of opinions which have been posted to and fro as if they were pertinent to the purpose.  
1. For some in the first place may be found, who immediately 
The first opinion.  refer the motion and generation of winds unto God, because the winds are said to be brought out of his treasures, as you may read, Psal. 135. 7. And in the 4. of Amos, at the 13 verse, He formeth the mountains, and createth the winds.  
To which I make this answer, that they who send us, 
Answer.  concerning these and the like things, to God and to his decree in nature, or to the might of his power, have said indeed that which is primarily true, but not showed how it is secondarily effected. For although concerning some things extraordinary, the cause be hid; yet such as be ordinary are not wrought by the first cause without an administration of the second. As for example, God is not only said to bring the winds out of his 
a D●… dicit, Deum producere ventos de thesauris suis, hoc tantùm innuit, ventorum materiam & exhalati●…nen; in terra tanquam thesauro inclusam esse, unde De●…s ventos producit per causas intermedias & naturales, quae sunt calor solis & terr●…. Havenreut.  treasures, but also to send forth the lightnings with the rain; as it is in the forenamed Psalm: yet nevertheless the Prophet Jeremy showeth that these are wrought, not immediately, but mediately, by the help of secondary causes; as in Jer. 10. 13. He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth. By which it appeareth that he maketh not the rain without them, but of them; those ascending vapours being the matter of rain. And again; * The day is 
Psal. 74. 17. 18.  thine, and the night is thine: thou hast made summer and winter; as in the Psalmist. Yet nevertheless we know that the day and the night, together with the seasons of the year, are not made but by the motion of the sun and stars; as it is in Genesis 1. 14.  
2. Wherefore in the second place, seeing God worketh 
A soc●…nd opinion.  these things by means, the motion of the winds is attributed to the Angels, it being supposed that instrumentally they perform Gods will in this, causing the winds to blow, etc. Whereupon the Psalmist is again alleged, showing that the 
* Psal. 104. 3.  clouds are Gods divine chariot; the horses carrying it are the 
† Ibid.  winds; the coachmen are the 
* Psal. 18. 10.  Angels, whom God calleth Cherubims; and his darts are hot 
† Ibid. vers. 14.  thunderbolts, which he casteth from the clouds. And furthermore, that Angels cause the winds, S. John declares it also, Revel. 7. 1. affirming that he saw four Angels standing upon the four corners of the earth, holding the winds that they should not blow. The Angels therefore move the winds.  
To which again it is answered, that neither is this 
Answer.  opinion sound.  
For first, concerning the Psalmist, what doth that Prophet but in a figurative speech express God's swiftness in coming to succour him?  
And secondly, for the four Angels standing upon the four corners of the earth to keep the winds from blowing, I marvel that it can be taken so near a literal sense.  
Napeir, in his Comment upon the Revelation, confesseth that the Jews indeed have certain books of antiquity, dividing the government of the earth among four great Angels, and under them they imagine to be many inferior ones. But he withal acknowledgeth that they are assertions more curious than certain. And therefore he understandeth by these four Angels, the good Angels of God; and the four winds he expoundeth to be the spirits of Satan, and executours of vengeance. For in a figurative sense, these and the like things are to be taken.  
Besides, the irregularity of the winds, turning sometimes three or four times in a day, doth sufficiently show (as it is elsewhere witnessed by another author) that they are not immediately governed by any intellectual substance; for in their actions you may observe a greater constancy, and more certain law.  
3. Wherefore leaving this opinion also, I come to a 
●… third opinion.  third; wherein I find that wind is nothing else but the flowing and reflowing, or motion of the air, having no other material substance than the very thin air itself.  
To which it may be answered, that this opinion, although 
Answer.  better than the former, cannot float far before it sink, and will therefore drown him in an error who sticketh to it. For, as 
b Met●…r. lib. 1. cap. 13.  Aristotle testifieth, we fall into other absurdities upon the admittance of this tenant; (or else we descent from them who maintained it of old) imagining thus, that when the air is compelled to move, we have wind; when it standeth still, it is thickened into a cloud; when it raineth, it is condensed into water: all which is very idle.  
For furthermore, if the wind were nothing else but 
Wind is more than the motion of the air.  the motion of the air, than it would necessarily follow that all and every air moved should be wind: but all and every moved air is not wind: therefore wind is more than the moved air.  
Havenreuter, in his Comment upon Aristotle's Meteors, proveth the assumption by this similitude. Even as every flowing water (saith he) although there be great plenty of it, cannot be called a river, but that only which ariseth from a fountain, or hath some certain beginning of fluxion: so also, not all and every air, moved by one kind of means or other, can be called wind, but that only which is as it were derived from some beginning or fountain. As for example, the air which is turned about by the heavens, is moved, yet it was never called wind. And again, in a bloody bulleting fight, the air is forced and stirred by the thundering sound of guns, and yet no wind is raised by it.  
Besides, make wind to be nothing else but the moving of the air, and then there can be no sufficient reason given why we should have greater plenty of winds at one time then at another; nor yet why they should blow from this point or corner, rather than from that. In which regard they also are confuted who suppose that the motion of the heavens moveth the winds: for if they were moved by the heavens, than the wind must blow always one way, and never turn into a differing corner. But it followeth.  
Another opinion (and this is the last that I mean to 
Another opinion.  mention) maintaineth that the winds do actually reside somewhere, and are shut up as in a prison, from whence they have sometimes liberty for a while, but at length they retire, & betake themselves to their dens or cave again. This the Poets aimed at, when they 
* The reason of which fiction was, because the clouds and mists rising about the s●…en Aeolian Islands, of which he was king, did always portend great store of winds.  made Aeolus the God of the winds, affirming that he kept them close, or let them lose at his pleasure. Whereupon Homer may be remembered, who brings in Ulysses speaking of the said Aeolus thus:— But he gave me (saith he) an bollow bottle or leather bag, made of the skin of a nine-year●…old ox, in which he bound the blasts of the stormic tempestuo●… winds. Or as 
c Metamor. lib. 1.  Ovid speaks of jupiter, who had a commanding power over all the other Gods;  
Protinus Aeoliis Aquilonem claudit in antnis,  
Emittitnque Notum; madidis Notus evolat alis.  
He forthwith shut the Northern wind within Aeolus' den;  
And lose he lets the Southern wind,  
which flies with moistened pen.  
Now this last opinion, although the Poets have turned it into a fiction, is not so bad as it seems to be. For take all cum grano salis, as is said, and then it will appear that the wind is in some sort shut as within a den; and although not loosed by Aeolus, yet by Helios: for Helios (which is the Sun) doth indeed help to let it lose from out the bowels of the earth; drawing it into the air, and above the ground; where we may feel it fan our faces: sometimes churlishly, as if it were angry; sometimes gently, as if it were pleased. But of the several kinds of blasts I shall speak afterwards; and therefore let them now rest until I meet them.   

Artic. 2. What wind is; upon what causes it dependeth; and how it is moved.  
FRom the falsehood of the former opinions I come to declare the truth concerning the generation of winds; affirming that winds are generated by virtue of the Sun, which causeth an hot and dry Exhalation to be evaporated, or aspired out of the earth. Unto which 
a L●…d. de orig●… font. cap. 3.  some add the power and operation of certain subterranean fires, which are as an antecedent cause, or causa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the said windy exhalations: yet so, as being come near to the superficies of the earth, the Sun provokes or stirs them up to come abroad, being therein causa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or the moving cause▪ for the Sun, as a porter, rarefies the superficies of the earth, and thereby openeth the pores and passages of it, through which the matter of wind comes forth, and flieth sidelong over the face of the earth. And if at any time it 
The cause and effects of an earthquake.  happen that these exhalations can have no way made them, but are kept close prisoners; they then (by striving to get out) shake the earth: which makes sad mortals always fear, sometimes suffer, and not seldom wonder.  
Wherefore, wind may be thus defined; namely that it is a certain plenty of hot and dry exhalations void of 
The definition of wind.  pinguid matter; which being partly aspired, and partly exhaled out of the earth, are driven about it, lest the air should be corrupted.  
The matter then, we see, must be an exhalation. The quantity of it must be copious: and so 
b Met. lib. 2. cap. 4.  Aristotle also witnesseth; affirming that in the generation of winds, there is a concourse of many exhalations, by little and little begetting a large mass of matter. The quality of which matter must be hot and dry, not mixed with any fatty substance: for if it were of a pinguid nature, than it would be inflamed like lightning; seeing lightning is an hot and dry exhalation and like unto this, save only that it containeth great plenty of fatty matter, such as is not amongst the matter of wind.  
Unto which add this observation, that a mere earthy exhalation is never the whole matter of wind. For it draweth up many mixed vapours with it, as may be seen if we call to mind the storms and showers which 
Why it useth to rain when the wind is down.  often happen upon the allaying of a wind. For that part of the exhalation which is more moist and vaporous than the rest, is thickened and condensed into a rainy cloud, whilst the other is either drawn high into the upper Region, or else quite wasted, dispersed and consumed.  
Also know that the air may increase and augment 
The air moved augments the wind.  the exhalation after the motion is begun, and so the blast seemeth the greater. For the exhalation cannot but drive some part of the air before it; then followeth other some after it, lest there should be vacuum.  
And furthermore, in that I assent to a twofold efficient cause of wind, viz. the beams of the sun attracting, and also some certain subterranean fires expelling, it is not without reason: for it evidently appeareth, when the sun hath either little or no force to draw up an exhalation, that then we have often great blasts; as those Northern winds in winter, and boisterous blasts, which happen in the night above our Horizon, when the sun is under it. And unto this may be also added the secret influence of the Planets, who being in such or such a position do powerfully cause the earth to afford the air great store of windy exhalations. As for example: the aspect of jupiter (especially his conjunction) with the sun, causeth great winds; producing also (as they may be placed) thunder and hail, as well as fair weather. And as for Mercury, if he be aspected either with the sun, moon, or jupiter, in Gemini, Libra, or Aquarius, it is evermore an infallible sign of wind; unless there be some other particular and more powerful influence to cross it: for, as some have found it, general influences may hinder those which are particular.  
But come now to the motion of winds. I said before 
How the winds are moved, and by what.  in their definition, that they were driven about the earth: and now it may be demanded how that motion is, and from whence it proceedeth.  
Their motion is a lateral or sidelong motion, caused through the aspiring of the exhalation and detrusion of the air. For the exhalation is hot and dry, and drawn up by the attractive power of the sun & other stars; whereupon, whilst it tendeth towards the middle Region of the air, it is beaten down again through the coldness and density of that place: and so, with a refracted and disjointed force, it is driven hither and thither, and not suffered to fly up, nor willing to fall down in respect of the great levity in it: and having as it were divided the contention between both (viz. the cold of the air, and heat of the exhalation) neither overcoming other; it flieth, not directly up, nor directly down, but laterally or obliquely: for it is 
c Haven●●us. de Mes. lib. 2. cap. 4.  held to be a kind of Axiom, that those things which are moved partly by force, and partly naturally, move themselves obliquely. By which reason lightning also, shooting stars, and the like Meteors, fly not directly down, nor up; but sidelong, as the wind: unless it be, that when they consist of Heterogenean parts, or parts of a diverse kind (which some also attribute to the matter of winds) they then, through the strife of those their elevating and depressing parts, have a transverse motion as before.  
The place from whence this motion of the winds 
Where 〈◊〉 motion of the wind beginneth.  beginneth, is from above.  
First, because the motion must necessarily begin from that place whither the exhalation is carried, as is seen in a vapour turned to rain.  
Secondly, because all those things which have great force, there, where they have their greatest force, are not far from their head or beginning of motion: but the winds have their greatest force in places up on high: therefore there they begin their motion, as Havenreuter proveth.  
Thirdly, know that the redness of the sky, and all other visible signs of wind, do declare that some spirits or windy breathe are above, which in short time will be turned into blasts. For redness is a token of the adustion of exhalations in the air: and the breaking of a circle about the moon from some one side or other, doth also show the wind that is above, but not as yet come down unto us. The like also doth the swift motion of a single cloud in a clear sky when we feel no blasts below.  
Besides, the hot and dry exhalation we know is carried first upright, and cannot therefore move obliquely until it be encountered: wherefore the motion beginneth in the air above, and not in places here below.  
And yet some imagine that certain particular winds, 
Particular winds.  which are known but only in some country's, have their immediate motion from out the caverns of the earth, without any ascent into the sky: and this they prove, because the blast bloweth not far, but is like the wind that cometh out of a pair of bellows, strong near the coming forth; but far off, is not perceived.  
Upon thought of which let it also be known, that the 
Why the wind bloweth not always one way.  blowing of the wind sometimes one way and sometimes another way, dependeth upon no other cause then upon the situation of the place from whence the exhalation ariseth: and that it is sometimes stirred up one where, sometimes another where, proceedeth from the operation of the heavens.  
Also know, that winds diametrally opposite cannot 
Opposite 〈◊〉.  blow together under one and the same Horizon with a continued blast. For if they be of equal strength, the one will be as powerful as the other, and so not one give place to either. Or if their forces be unequal, than the one will overcome the other, and so the conquered must upon necessity give place to the conqueror, and rather join unwilling forces with him, then be against him.  
Yet nevertheless, if they be obliquely contrary, they 
Oblique winds.  may blow together: and by how much they are the more oblique, by so much they stir up the greater strive and tempestuous blasts.  
But if the exhalation be little, tenuous or thin, than 
Whis●…ing winds.  we have only a pleasant whisking wind, such as may be called aura, by which the air is gently moved.  
Also know, that it is as possible to see the wind as 
The matter of winde not obvious to the sight.  the air, their substances being too tenuous to be perceived; unless in a storm-winde, whose matter is an exhalation so thick that it darkens the air: of which more shall be spoken afterwards; as also of whi●…lwindes, and the like.  
Last of all (as it is observed, and found by experience) the 
d Fulk.  general profit of wind, by the unspeakable wisdom of the eternal God, is wonderful great unto his creatures. For besides the alteration of the weather and change of seasons, from dryness to rain, from rain to dryness, from cold to heat, from heat to cold with frost and snow, which all are necessary; there is yet an universal commodity that riseth by the only moving of the air: which were it not continually moved and stirred, would soon putrify, and being putrified would be a deadly poison and infection to all that breathe upon the earth. Wherefore, although we know not the particular place from whence it is raised, or where it is laid down, as 
e Iste locus vult, qu●…d ventus sensibus deprehendi nequeat; & certus locus, ubi ventus flar●… incipias & desi●…at, notari non possit: vis enim ejus tantùm sentiat●…▪ Havenreut.  Christ meaneth, John the third: yet it teacheth the admired providence of the Almighty; insomuch that we may worthily cry out with the 
* Psal. 104. 24.  Psalmist, and say, Oh Lord how manifold are thy works! in wisdom thou hast made them all.   

Artic. 3. Of the division of winds, and of their names and number.  
THe Ancients (as 
a Plin. Lib. 2. cap. 47.  Pliny witnesseth) observed only four winds, East, West, North, and South: but the following ages added eight; making the whole number to be twelve: Four whereof were principal, and called Cardinal winds; because they blew à quatuor mundi cardinibus, from the four quarters of the world: The other eight they called Lateral; because they were (as it were) side companions with the former four. The Cardinal were called by these names  

1. Solanus, Subsolanus, or the East wind.  
2. Notus, Auster, or the South wind.  
3. Zephyrus, Favonius, or the West wind.  
4. Aquilo, Septentrio, or the North wind.   
And again, the lateral were called by these names that follow, and thus placed from the Cardinal.  
As first, the East hath on the Southern side Eurus, or Vulturnus: and on the Northern side Coecias, or Hellespontus.  
Secondly, the South wind hath on the East side Phoenix or Euronotus: and on the West side Lybonotus, or Austro-Africus; so called because it declineth from the South something towards Africa.  
Thirdly, the West hath on the South side Lybs, or Africus; so called from Lybia and Africa, the Regions from whence they proceed: and on the North side there is Corus or Caurus, called also 
b Origan. de effect. cap. 5.  japix, and Olympias; because it bloweth from the mountain Olympus.  
Fourthly, the North hath on the West side Cyrcius, called also Thraschias, from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, converto, because it useth to overturn many things with it. The Spaniards call it 
c Ibid.  Gallicus, because it is observed to blow from the coasts of new Gallicia, a Mexicanian province. And 〈◊〉 the East side of the North point there is blustering Boreas, which is a bellowing wind, blowing with a loud hollow sound; and is therefore derived by Aulus Gellius in his 
d Lib. 2. cap. 22.  Attic nights, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. This division Aristotle also assenteth unto, making three winds in every quarter; as in the second book of his Meteors, at the sixth chapter, may be seen.  
But the mariners make 20 more besides these: insomuch 
The mariners reckon 32 winds  that the whole circumference of the Horizon is divided into two and thirty equal parts, which they call and distinguish by several names. And now observe in this division, that there be four Cardinal winds, as before: four middle winds, which are just in the midst between each Cardine: eight lateral, already mentioned: and sixteen collateral: making, in the whole sum, the aforesaid number of two and thirty.  
Know therefore that the Cardinal, and middle winds, are properly the principal: the other being less principal and subordinate: divided therefore into lateral and collateral; as hath been mentioned.  
And as for those middle ones, they be such as we call South-west, Southeast, Northwest, and North-east winds. Notolybicus is the South-west wind; and Notapeliotes the Southeast. Borrholybicus is the Northwest wind; and Borrhapeliotes the North-east.  
The rest, being sixteen in number, and collateral, have their places, one between each of the other: and so the circumference is divided into 32 parts, as before I showed. Now the names of these sixteen are borrowed from those lateralls with whom they have the greatest neighbourhood, by 
f Orig. Ephes. lib. de effect, cap. 6.  adding Meso and Upon to them. For Meso comes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, medius; because it is in the middle between a principal and a lateral wind: and Upon comes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, sub; because it is as it were subject to that lateral wind next unto which it is placed, and from whence it taketh the name. As for example: Eurus is a lateral wind, a little from the East towards the South: and this hath on each side of it one collateral. That which is between Notapeliotes, or the Southeast wind and it, is called Mes'eurus, being middle between a principal and a lateral. But that which is between the East and it, is called Up'eurus, as being subject unto Eurus. And by observing this order you may give names unto all the rest: for Meso and Upon will compound them.  
Yet nevertheless ordinarily the mariners name them thus. As North, North and by West, North North West, North West and by North, North West, North West and by West, West North West, West and by North, West. West and by South, West South West, South West and by West, South West, South West and by South, South South West, South and by West, South. South and by East, South South East, South East and by South, South East, South East and by East, East South East, East and by South, East. East and by North, East North East, North East and by East, North East, North East and by North, North North East, North and by East. And then North again, as in the beginning.   

Artic. 4. The nature and quality of the winds.  
IT may well appear by that which already hath been written concerning the generation of winds, that every wind in itself, or in respect of the matter causing it, is of an hot and dry quality. If therefore, blowing from any quarter, we find it other, it is by accident, and not through any inherent property: for winds do evermore participate of the nature of that place by which they pass: If by snowy mountains, then bring they with them the cold of those mountains; if by marshes, contagion; if by woods, their blast is broken; if by sandy plains, they are warm; if by moist watery places, they are wet.  
And therefore for particular winds, the 
a Winds blowing into the haven and famous city of Panormus, or Palermo in S●…cilie.  Panormi in Sicil are extreme hot; for before they pierce thither, they scour through the plains of Sicil; and taking heat from the sands, they carry it into the city. The South wind at Genua is cold, because it passeth the sea, and taketh coldness thereof without touching the land before it arrive. But the North wind which bloweth through France (saith 
b In a book called a general description of the world.  one) cometh from the sea, and taking some measure of heat by the saltness thereof, and finding no mountains covered with ice or snow in his passage, augmenteth his heat by passing over the fields of Normandy, Champagne, the isle of France, and other provinces, even to the hills of Auvergne: which being moderately heated by the South wind on the one side, and the North wind on the other, bringeth forth every where excellent pastures, and feedings for cattle and sheep, besides diverse sorts of medicinable plants and most perfect simples. Also in 
c Origan. Ephem. de effect. cap. 5.  some places it is found that the Eastern wind moisteneth, and the Western wind bringeth drought: and in other some the Western moisteneth, and the other drieth. So that it is possible for one and the same wind to have a diverse quality; although not in itself, yet by accident; as at the first was mentioned.  
Yet nevertheless generally, and in most places, the North, with his associates, is cold and dry: the South, 
Their qualities according as they commonly blow.  with his companions, is warm and moist: and the East, with his adherents, is far more dry than the Western and his near neighbour winds.  
The reasons whereof may be. First, for the North, 
Norths' quality.  because it bloweth over many snowy mountains, and ariseth from a climate which hath little neighbourhood with the sun, where the vapours be few, and the exhalations many that arise out of sundry islands by the way. Unto which also add, because the exhalation passeth not far before it come at us, that therefore it seldom bringeth rain: for the exhalation hath not time enough to spend the driest portion of it, so as the South wind doth; who passeth both over more watery places, and also cometh further before we feel it.  
Secondly, for the South wind, it cometh over the 
Souths' quality.  Mediterranean sea, out of which the sun begets abundance of watery vapours, which mix themselves with the winds, causing them thereupon to be the blowers in of rain. And as for their heat, it is because they blow from the Equator where heat is most predominant. Also know that a long and gentle South wind may sometimes cause clearness and fair weather, most commonly in the summer season, because it is by nature hot; and therefore blowing for a certain space, it so warmeth the air, that the vapours which otherwise would produce rain, are not suffered to be knit, but are attenuated and made so thin that they come to nothing; or being any thing, they prove only barren clouds, affording little rain.  
Thirdly, the East wind is found to be the driest, because 
Easts quality.  it cometh over a great continent of land lying towards the East, out of which many dry and earthy exhalations are drawn. In winter these winds are very cold and freezing; but in summer they are pleasantly warm, but healthful: and if at any time they blow up rain (which is not ordinary) they then continue it by the space of a whole day; even as the like also sometimes happeneth from the North. The reason of which 
Why the East and North winds sometimes bring rain for a whole day.  I take to be, because (perhaps) their lateralls, not being absolutely of the same quality, may arise together with them, and so bring rain; especially, if at the same time there be any other working in nature apt to moisten the sky with vapours. For it is affirmed that Eurus on the one side, and Coecias on the other side, being two lateral winds pertinent to the East, do naturally raise clouds, and often turn them into rain; as do also Upocoecias, and Mes'eurus, their colaterals. And so also Cyrcius may do, and Borrholybicus, being on the West side of the North, if either of them happen to arise and join, although but weakly, with the Northern blast. For in their own sole blowings they beget both snow and hail; either of which may fall down in drops of rain, when the mixture of qualities is found to be diverse.  
Fourthly, the Western wind is far more moist 
West winds quality.  than the East, because it passeth over the great ocean of the Atlantic sea, which must needs cast out many watery and moist vapours, and they cannot but beget rain and showers. It is said also to be of a cold temper; but surely not of an absolute coldness: for it is found by experience that a direct Zephyrus or Favonius, with their colaterals, Mesocorus, and Up'africus, are warm and pleasant, bringing sometimes hot showers, sometimes warm and clear weather. And therefore it is determined by certain authors, that this wind may blow from a cold place, and yet bring heat. For although (in regard of the place over which it cometh) it be cold; yet in respect of the time when it usually bloweth, it is hot. Which 
d Lib. 1. carm. od. 4.  Horace also pointed at, saying,  Solvitur acris hiems great â vice veris & Favonî. 
The winter sharp is loosed by the kind  
Return of Spring, and of the Western wind.  
Or will you hear what others say? Lemnius (as Origanus relateth) affirmeth that this Western wind and his colaterals are of a changing temper. For although in the beginning of the Spring they be pleasing and gentle, and are found to recreate and cherish all things, seeing they are warmed by the moderate heat of the sun, which makes them bring out the beauty of trees, and flowers, to the view of the world; and also causeth the blood and good humours to appear, which in winter lay hid, as if they were not; casting away also the clouds of the mind, and begetting jocundnesse in the heart: yet nevertheless, Autumn ending, and the circuit of the year inclining to Winter, the foresaid winds do blow unkindly, striking the sea and land with many a tempestuous blast, and unwished breathe.  
Moreover, this also may be observed, that the long 
The effects of a long-continuing wind, at certain seasons.  continuance of the winds in any of these quarters, produceth these and the like effects.  
As first, the East wind breedeth in choleric bodies sharp fevers, raging madness, and perilous apostumations.  
Secondly, the South wind breedeth corrupt humours, and in hot bodies cramps, giddiness in the head, or the falling sickness, pestilence and cruel fevers, viz. when they blow long in the winter. This is held to be the most unwholesome wind.  
Thirdly, the West wind breedeth phlegm in moist bodies; it procureth sleep, causeth apoplexies, and the like; and is never so churlish as when winter begins to approach.  
And last of all, the North wind is good against the pestilence; and yet in cold bodies it breedeth plurifies, coughs, gouts, and (in some) squincies and sore throats: but yet of all winds it is held to be the wholesomest, although it be sharp in our winter months.  
And this also note, that a continual still summer is a 
A sign of plague and earthquake.  sign of plague or earthquake: for a standing air putrifieth, and an enclosed wind shaketh the ground.   

Artic. 5. Of whirlwinds, storm-windes, and fired whirlwinds.  
A Whirlwind, is a wind breaking out of a cloud, rolling or winding round about: which may be caused two manner of ways.  
First, when two or more contrary winds, blowing from diverse places, meet together.  
Secondly, when the matter of wind, being an hot and dry exhalation, breaketh out of a cloud in diverse parts of it, coming through the said holes with more than an ordinary violence. Or rather thus; Imagine a windy exhalation bursting out of a cloud, to be so driven, that by the way it happeneth to be penned between two clouds on either side of it; against which, beating itself, and finding a repercussion, it is forced to turn and whirl about; even as we see in the streets of cities when the wind is beaten from two walls, and meeteth in the midst of the street: for then there is made a little whirl-puffe, which whisking round about taketh up the dust or straws and bloweth them about, as doth the great and fearful whirlwind itself; which hath brought not only amazement and terror to mortals, but also much harm and mischief. 
a Lib. 2. cap. 48.  Pliny is persuaded that vinegar thrown into one of these blasts will break it, because vinegar is of a cold quality, and the exhalation hot: and therefore the one is as it were quelled and quenched by 
Typhon.  the other. The Greeks call a whirlwind 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, quod est verberare.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; the Latinists turbo, or vortex.  
Also a sudden storm-winde is called by the Greeks, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; and by the Latins, procella: and this happeneth, 
〈◊〉.  either when a windy exhalation is thrown down, and encompassed in a thin course of clouds newly overcast, or else when a windy exhalation is come to an extraordinary thickness, and violently moved out of a cloud, to the darkening of the air, without inflammation or burning: for when it burneth they call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 
Prester.  incendo, to burn, or set on fire. And this last is that which we call a fired whirlwind, being an exhaled blast set on fire either by an Antiperistasis, by repercussion, or violent detrusion from the cloud wherein it was enclosed; for it is made apt to be fired in regard that it consisteth of an exhalation which hath more fatty substance in it then other winds which burn not: And know that it differeth from lightning chiefly in these respects: first, because lightning consisteth of a more subtle and thin matter: for although a fired whirlwind have a more thin spirit or blast then a whirlwind, or a stormy wind; yet it is not so tenuous as the spirit of fulmen, or lightning. Secondly, because lightning is more flamie and less breathy; the one having more windy spirits in it then the other.     

The conclusion of this day's work.  
ANd thus at the last I have let you take a view with 
A conclusion repeating the sum ne of this day's work.  me of what is pertinent to this day's work. We have seen (good reader) the framing of the out-spread Firmament, with the lifting up of the waters over it▪ we have examined the nature of the heavens, and scarce found them of a quint-essence: we have searched what heavens they were which Moses meant when he said, God called the firmament Heavens. From thence we proceeded to the several regions of the air, examining their temperatures and qualities; and thereupon we fell into an ample consideration of such appearances as are usually seen in any of those Regions; discoursing at large both of fiery, watery, and airy Meteors.  
And this being all which this day affordeth, I may here make and end, and say  
That eve and morn conclude the second day,  
And in his work God findeth no decay.    

CHAP. VI Wherein is contained a survey of the third day's work; together with such things as are pertinent to it.  

Sect. 1. Showing into how many main parts the business of this day may be distinguished.  
BEing come from the second to the third day's work, I cannot say with 
a Aeneid. lib. 1.  Virgil now, Ille ego qui quondam gracili modulatus avenâ: But rather on the contrary,  
Ille ego qui superis volitabam nuper in oris,  
Nunc humilis sequor arva soli, nunc tenuia presso  
o'er loquor—  
Because in the former day, the work belonging to it, compelled my winged pen to soar aloft, not suffering her to come unto the ground till now. For she was to walk above the Firmament, and view the out-spread buildings laid in the flowing waters: then through the Regions of the liquid air she was to trace a path; which finished, she must be content to frame herself unto a lower pitch, before any leave be granted to ascend again. And indeed I think it is what both she and I desired; for we were long detained there.  
And now, having both of us obtained our wishes, we find that Gods inspired penman, holy Moses, so setteth down the admired work of his Almighty maker, done on this third day of the world, that into three main parts it may be severed: for by viewing the words which he hath written of it, the same will be apparent. And God (saith he) said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the drie-land appear: and it was so.  
And God called the drie-land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.  
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.  
And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind; and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.  
And the evening and the morning were the third day.  
This is the sum of all; which (as before was said) consisteth of three several parts.  
The first whereof concerneth the gathering together of the waters, in these words, And God said, Let the waters under heaven be gathered together unto one place.  
The second concerneth the drying of the ground, in these words, And let the drie-land appear.  
The third is pertinent to the sprouting and springing of the earth, in these words, And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind, etc.  
All which in their orders are severally to be discussed, together with such other things as are pertinent to the said division.  
And concerning the two first, observe that God bestows as it were surnames on them; calling the gathering together of the waters, Seas: and the drie-land he calleth Earth.   

Sect. 2. Of the gathering together of the waters, which God called Seas.  
Water and earth are the two lowest elements; and this was that day which brought them to perfection: for until now they were confused; because their matter, although not quite void of form, received at this time a better form of due distinction and more comely ornament. The informity was expressed before, when Moses said that the earth was void and invisible, because covered with waters: but the formitie is then expected and declared when the waters are gathered, and the drie-land made apparent.  
It is a wonder (sure) to think what a confused tyranny the waters made by their effusion; for they did rather tyrannize then orderly subdue or govern this inferior miry mass: wherefore it seemed good to the Almighty maker, first to divorce one from the other, before he gave them leave so to be joined each to other, that both together might make one globie body; which (according to the best approved writers) is one and twenty thousand and six hundred miles in compass.  
But concerning this gathering together of the waters, there arise certain questions, which may not altogether be forgotten.  
As first, it is enquired, How the waters were gathered 
Questions concerning the waters which are said to be gathered together.  together.  
Secondly, How it can be said that they were gathered to one place; seeing there be many seas, lakes, rivers, and fountains that are far asunder.  
Thirdly, Whether they be higher than the earth.  
Fourthly, Whether there be more water than earth.  
Fifthly, Whether the earth be founded upon the waters.  
Sixthly, Why the seas be salt, and rivers fresh.  
Seventhly and lastly, What causeth an ebbing and flowing in the sea, rather than in rivers.  

Concerning the first of these questions, those who 
Quest. 1. Which showeth how the waters were gathered together.  think that there be no Antipodes, supposed that the waters did run together and cover the other part of the earth which is opposite to this where we dwell. But the experience of skilful navigatours and famous travellers, yea and reason itself, doth cry against it.  
Others imagine that it was some mighty wind which dried them up; or that the fervent heat of the sun effected it. But both think amiss; because the drie-land (saith one) appearing all at once, was so prepared by a greater power then either of the wind or sun, which could not work it at once, nor scarcely in a long continuance of time: neither was the sun made until the next day after. Dixit igitur & factum est; he spoke the word only, and by the power of that word it was done. For the efficient cause of the sea was the only word of God; the material was the waters; the formal was their gathering together; and the final partly was, that the drie-land might appear. Ezekiels' 
* Ezek. 1. 16.  wheels were one within the compass of another: and so was the earth, water, and air, before the powerful word of God commanded this their gathering: the earth within the water; the water within the air; and the air within the concave of the Firmament. Which if they had all for ever so remained, and man made as he is, the world had been no house for him to dwell in, neither had it been a work so full of never ended admiration as now it is.  
Perhaps the pores and holes of the ground were full before this gathering; yet nevertheless their bodies must be willing to be made the beds for more. That they were full, it proceedeth from the nature of the water, falling downwards and filling them. That being full, they are yet made capable of more, might proceed both from a more close composure of the not hollow parts of the earth, and also by making these waters thicker than they were before. For whilst the not hollow parts were made more solid, the hollow could not choose but be 
* Job 38. 10.  enlarged: and whilst the thin and vapourie waters were better thickened and condensed, the outface of the ground could not be obscured, but show itself as one released from out a watery prison. Some add unto this their heaping together in the high and wide seas, whereby it cometh to pass that they flow to and fro at floods and ebbs, and do often force out water-springs from out the highest mountains: which last, whether it be so or no, shall be examined afterwards.   

The next question was, how it can be said that they 
Quest. 2. Showing how they were gathered to one place.  were gathered to one place; seeing there be many seas, lakes, rivers and fountains that are far asunder.  
It was a strange conceit of him who thought that this one place unto which the waters were gathered, was separate so from the earth that the waters by themselves should make a globe, and have their proper centre; for leaving to descend towards the centre of the earth, they were gathered to a centre of their own, and so the drie-land appeared.  
But this opinion is very false, and worthy to be reckoned amongst absurdities: for (as the 
* Esay 40. 22.  Prophet Esay writeth) the Lord is said to sit upon the circle of the earth. Now experience showeth that it is not the earth alone, but the earth and sea together that make one globe or circle.  
This one place then whither the waters were gathered, was not a place separated from the earth, being in the air or elsewhere, but was in the very body of the earth itself. Neither was it one place strictly taken, as it meant one point or angle of the earth: or, as if there were no Antipodes, half the earth under us was to be covered with water.  
But rather it is called one place, because in the whole globe of the earth, every place is either water or land: or (if not so) because there is but one body of all the waters that are: for every part of the water is joined unto the whole as it were with arms and legs, and veins diversely dilated and stretched out. So that either under the earth, or above the earth, all the waters are joined together: which also the wise man witnesseth, Eccles. 1. 7.  
But haply some may think, because this gathering together of the waters is called Seas, that therefore the one place, unto which they were gathered, is not to be understood of every collection or gathering of water, but only of the sea.  
Well, be it so. And if this rather than the other be the meaning of Moses his words, it may be answered, that although the sea be diverse in name, yet all seas are so continued together, that one sea is perpetually joined with another: and thereupon the name given, is not Sea, but Seas; as in the text is manifest.  
Yea and hereupon it also is, that Geographers make these waters come under a fourfold division. For they either call this gathered water, Oceanus, Mare, Fretum, or Sinus.  

1. Oceanus, the ocean, is that general collection of all waters, which environeth the world on every side.  
2. Mare, the sea, is a part of the ocean, to which we cannot come but through some strait.  
3. Fretum, a straight, is a part of the ocean restrained within narrow bounds, and opening a way to the sea.  
4. Sinus, a creek, or bay, is a sea contained within a crooked shore, thrusting out (as it were) two arms to embrace the lovely presence of it.   

Object. But perhaps you will say that the Caspian sea is a sea by itself, and therefore all seas join not the one unto the other.  
Answ. To which it is answered, that this sea is either as a 
* Dr. Fulk in his Met. lib. 4. saith that some lakes are so great that they bear the names of seas: among which he reckoneth this Caspian sea.  lake in respect of the contiguous or joining seas; or else it was no sea in the beginning of the world, but began only at the ceasing of the Flood, & was caused by the waters coming down from the Caspian hills, settling themselves in those declive and bottomie places where the said sea is. Pliny and Solinus are persuaded that it joineth itself unto other seas by running into the Scythian or Northern ocean through some occult passages under ground; which is not improbable. But howsoever, this we are sure of, that the river Volga is joined to it, being as another sea, and having no less than seventy mouths to empty itself: which river is also joined to the river Don, and that hath great acquaintance with the Euxine sea. Besides, Volga is not a stranger to 
a As Duina major, and Duina minor called also Onega. Look into the maps of Russia or Moscovia.  other waters which fall either into the Scythian or Baltic ocean: insomuch that it may be said, this Caspian sea is tied (as it were) with certain strings to 
b Viz. the Euxine, Baltic, and Scythian or Northern seas.  three other seas: and so, not only all waters are made one body, like as before I showed, but (if this gathering must needs be referred to the seas) even all seas also shake hands, and by one means or other mutually embrace one the other.    

A third question is, Whether the waters be 
Quest. 3. Showing whether the waters be higher than the earth.  higher than the earth. Concerning which there be authors on both sides; some affirming, some denying.  
That they be higher than the earth, it is thus affirmed.  
First, because water is a body not so heavy as earth.  
Secondly, it is observed by sailors, that their ships fly faster to the shore then from it; whereof no reason can be given, but the height of the water above the land.  
Thirdly, to such as stand on the shore, the sea seemeth to swell into the form of an hill, till it put a bound to their sight.  
Fourthly, it is 
c Herodot. in ●…terpe, & in lib. sequent. Plin. lib. 6. cap. 39  written of Sesostris King of Egypt, and after him of Darius' King of Persia, that they would have cut the earth and joined Nilus and the Red sea together; but finding the Red sea higher than the land of Egypt, they gave over their enterprise, lest the whole country should be drowned.  
Fifthly, the arising of springs out of the highest mountains doth declare it, because the water cannot be forced higher than the head of the fountain opposite to it. As for example. Like as we see a spring that riseth in an hill, conveyed in lead unto a lower ground, will force his waters to ascend unto the height it beareth at the fountain: even so the waters which stand above the mountains, do force out springs of water, by necessary and natural cause, out of the highest mountains.  
Sixthly, the 
* Psal. 104.  Psalmist doth witness the same, affirming moreover that God Almighty hath made the waters to stand on an heap, and hath set them a bound which they shall not pass, nor turn again to cover the earth. And Jer. 5. 22. Fear ye not me, saith the Lord? will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree that it cannot pass it; and though the waves thereof rage, yet can they not prevail? Thus on the one side.  
But notwithstanding all this, methinks the other part (yet choose which you will) is most probable.  
For first the water indeed is a body not so heavy an earth, yet heavy enough to descend, not being of an aspiring nature, but presseth eagerly towards the same centre that a stone or any part of the earth coveteth: It cannot therefore possibly be above the earth, although not so heavy as earth, unless there were no hollow places in the ground to receive it. But God Almighty, in gathering them, provided lodgings for them, lest they should turn again and cover the earth: which also is insinuated by the Hebrew word Kava, signifying to congregate or gather together; from whence the Latin word Cavus, hollow, may seem to be derived. Besides, should it be alleged that the hollow places could not be deep enough to receive them, what were this but to curtail the earth's Diameter or thickness? for suppose the waters stood above the hills before they were gathered to one place; yet know that even the Semidiameter of the earth is deeper by no few miles than the highest hill. Suppose you could imagine an hill to be above a thousand miles high (which is impossible) yet the earth's Semidiameter would be two thousand, four hundred, and above 36 miles deeper than that height. As for example; if the earth be 21600 miles in compass, than the Diameter will be 6872 8/11 miles; and if the Diameter be 6872 8/11 miles, than the Semidiameter must be half so much, viz. 3436 4/11 miles.  
Secondly, suppose it be observed by sailors that their ships fly faster to the shore then from it: this proveth not the sea higher than the land. For know that it is no wonder to see a ship sail more speedily homewards then outwards; because when it approacheth to the shore, it cometh with a continued motion which makes it the swifter: but when it goeth from the shore, it doth but begin its motion, and is therefore slower than before. This (if need were) might be proved by many plain and familiar examples.  
Thirdly, suppose that the sea seemeth, to such as stand on the shore, to swell higher and higher, till it put a bound to the sight; this rather proveth the spherical roundness of the earth and sea, than any thing else; showing that both together make one globie body. Which, why it is perceived rather in the water then the land, this may be a reason; namely because the sea, being a plain and liquid element, and spacious enough, doth better show it then the earth, which hindereth our full view by reason of many woods, trees, and other fixed obstacles which the sight meeteth and encountreth by the way.  
Fourthly, although Sesostris K. of Egypt, and after him Darius K. of Persia, dared not to make a cut out of the Red sea into Nilus, for fear of drowning the country, because they supposed that the sea lay three cubits higher than the land of Egypt: yet (as some report; how truly, I cannot tell) the Ptolemy's, kings of Egypt, effected the work without any danger of inundation. But suppose they had not done it, or suppose it were granted that the Red sea were higher than the plains of Egypt; yet it followeth not (unless one swallow can make a summer) that the sea in general is every where higher than the earth. As for the height of the Red sea above the land near adjoining to it, 
d Met. lib. 1. cap. 14.  Aristotle seemeth to give a reason, persuading himself that there is such a change in the universe, as that that which hath been sea is sometimes land, and that which hath been land is sometimes sea: and so he thinketh of those low grounds near the Red sea, that they have been gained from the sea. The like we may also think of many places in the Netherlands, and of that small part of sea which is between Dover and Calais; as Verstegan proveth in his restitution of decayed antiquities, cap. 4. pag. 97.  
Fifthly, suppose that certain springs arise out of the highest mountains, must the sea therefore needs be higher than those mountains? surely I think not. For albeit I be not of Aristotle's mind, nor of their opinions who do not derive the rivers from the seas, nor make subscription unto them who give a sucking and an attractive power to the veins of the earth; yet I find it as a thing possible, although that part of the sea which lieth opposite to the head of the fountain, or to the place where the water first breaketh out, be lower than the ground, that the said water may nevertheless easily ascend, and not break forth until it find a place convenient. Now this ascent is caused by the sea, which, seeing it is a vast body, is very ponderous and heavy, and cannot be thrust back by the water at the head of the fountain opposite to it, but rather it doth potently and strenuously crowd on the said water through the hollow ports and passages of the earth, until at the last it springeth forth.  
Were it so indeed that there were an equal weight of both waters, (I mean of the sea-water driving, and of the spring-water arising) then the ascent of the one could not be higher than the superficies of the other: but seeing the weights are unequal (which 
e De subtle lib. 3. pag. 123.  Cardan did not well consider) the stronger and heavier must needs drive on the weaker and lighter, causing it sometimes to ascend even above itself.  
Sixthly and lastly, that which the Psalmist witnesseth concerning the standing of the waters on an heap, I take to be nothing else but the gathering of them to one place, so and in such a manner, that their coming together may be called Seas, and their forsaking the land be called Earth: for if one place of Scripture be expounded by another, it will appear to be even so. First, because it is said, Ecclesiastes 1. 7. All the rivers go into the sea: but the water hath his natural course downwards, and cannot be forced up, but by the heavier weight; as hath been showed. Secondly, because it is said Psal. 107. 23. They go down to the sea in ships: down, as to the lower place; and not up, as to the higher. And for that alleged out of Jeremy, viz. Fear ye not me? etc. The Prophet speaks there of no miraculous work against nature, but of the ordinary providence of God by natural means, keeping back and bounding the sea; as at the 24. verse is manifest. For there he gives the like instance of the rain; which we know is not wrought by miracle, and yet it showeth the watchful providence of God, preserving the world by the natural course of the creatures.  
Judge then if they be not mistaken, who would have the sea higher than the earth.   

The fourth question is, Whether there be more water 
Quest. 4. Showing whether there be more water than earth.  than earth.  
Now here I am persuaded that the answer may be either double or doubtful. For if we have respect to the known parts of the world, than I think there may be more sea than land. But if we have respect to all, both known and unknown, then perhaps there may be as much land as sea: For we see that in the maps of the world, the Southern parts are not known, and therefore they write Terra Australis nondum cognita: which whether it be sea or land, is uncertain. Pareus, upon Genesis, is persuaded that the land is more than the sea, alleging a proof out of 
* 2. Esdr. 6. 42.  Esdras, where it is said that when God commanded the waters to be gathered, he gathered them into the seventh part of the earth, and dried up the six other parts: which although it be Apocryphal in respect of the authority of the book, yet (saith he) it serves to show that the waters are not more than the earth.   

The next question is, Whether the earth be founded 
Quest. 5▪ Showing upon what the earth is founded.  upon the waters.  
The Psalmist seemeth to affirm it, Psal. 24. verse 2. For (according to the common reading) it is, He hath founded it upon the seas, and prepared it upon the floods.  
To which it is answered, that if the earth (as it is) be the receptacle for the waters, or holdeth the waters in the concavities of it, how can it be that the waters are in stead of a foundation? Job saith, He hangeth the earth upon nothing, chap. 26. 7. If upon nothing, than not upon the waters, for they are something. And again, even the Psalmist also saith, The foundation of the earth cannot be moved, Psal. 104. 5. If not moved, than not founded upon the waters, for they are movable; flitting to and fro, sometimes this way, sometimes that way, and never standing still.  
Wherefore when the Psalmist saith, The earth is founded upon the seas, he meaneth that it is so placed above them, as that it is made fit to be a place for habitation: And so Expositors understand the Hebrew word Gnal; viz. in such a sense that it doth signify above, and not upon: In which sense, the waters that it sustaineth do not hold it, but are holden by it: for they are in it tanquam in utre, as in a certain vessel; and do always strive to come as near the centre as is possible.  
For conclusion then of this question, thus much must be known; namely, that when God made the world, he made 
* Wisd. 11. 22.  all things in number, weight, and measure: insomuch that the earth (although it be hanged upon 
* Job 26. 7.  nothing) is so equally poised on every side, that it cannot but be firmly upheld; and no more fall than the sun out of the firmament, or the stars out of heaven. For hath not man sometimes showed an admired portion of skill in this or that rare work which he hath wrought, and effected by nothing else but only the deep and profound rules of art? yes surely hath he. And if man be so potent as to make his skill admired, yea and by those who are men as well as he; what may we think of the Maker of men, but that his art is much more than commendable, and his wisdom much more than matchless; so that the world, and all the parts thereof, afford nothing but matter of wonder? It is therefore an acclamation which deserves impression in the hearts of us mortal men; Oh God, how manifold are thy works▪ in wisdom thou hast made them all: And being made, his providence doth sustain them.   

The sixth question is concerning the saltness of the 
Quest 6. Showing why the sea is salt▪ and rivers fresh.  sea, and freshness of rivers.  
Aristotle, in his second book of Meteors, at the 3. chapter, setteth down (besides his own) three opinions concerning this saltness. One whereof is, that the waters overflowing the earth in the beginning of the world, were so dried up by the heat of the sun, that not only the drie-land appeared, but all those waters which remained (being the sea) were so sucked and robbed of their sweet savour, that they could not but be salt.  
Another opinion agreeing to that of Plato, who generating the sea ex tartaro, or from great and deep gulfs in the earth, or (with others) drawing it through the bowels of the earth, gave occasion to think that the water in itself was sweet, and yet became salt by reason of the diverse savours that it met withal in the ground or veins of the earth. Which cause, by the 
i 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉 Arist. de Met. lib. 2. cap. 1.  interpreters of Aristotle, is also attributed to Anaxagoras & Metrodorus, as being pleasing to them. For as water strained through ashes is endued with a certain tart and salt kind of acrimony; so the sea is made salt by some such kind of earth through which it passeth: which is as others have also thought, who suppose that the saltness of Minerals doth much conduce to this purpose.  
A third was the opinion of Empedocles, who affirmed that the sea was but the sweat of the earth, being (as it were) roasted by the heat of the sun; and was therefore salt, because all sweat is of such a savour.  
Now these three opinions Aristotle endeavoured to confute by several reasons, showing other causes of the seas saltness. And indeed had it been so with him that he could have repaired unto Moses, then had the first opinion been struck dead more easily than it was; because Moses would have told him that the drying of the earth, and gathering of the waters, were one day elder than either sun or stars.  
And for the second, if it be taken in a qualified sense, it is not much amiss: for although Aristotle saith that if it be a true opinion, than rivers would be salt as well as seas, because they run in the veins of the earth; yet know that all and every vein is not of one and the same temper; as is apparent by the differing quality of springing waters.  
As for the third, it seemeth rather a ridiculous then philosophical opinion: for sweat is but a small part of that humour contained in any body that yieldeth sweat; but the sea is not the smallest part of humour in the body of the earth: therefore it neither causeth the sea, nor saltness of it.  
But beside all these, there are other opinions also. Wherefore some again have attributed the cause to adust vapours, partly let fall on the sea, and partly raised from it to the brinks and face thereof; Others to the motion of the sea; Some to underearth, or rather 
k Lyd. d●…●…ig. fo●…. cap. 8, & 9  under-sea fires, of a bituminous nature, causing both the motion and saltness also; Others to an hot and dry aspiration exhaled out of the 
l viae. under the water.  earth, and mixed with the water of the sea.  
But that which followeth seemeth absolutely the best, namely that it is effected by the working of the sun, which draweth out the purer and finer parts, leaving the grosser and more base behind; even as in this little world of our bodies, the purest part of our nourishment being employed in and on the body, the urine and other excrements remaining do retain a perfect saltness. Unto which opinion they also assent, who affirm that the saltness is radically or originally in the matter of the water; which must be so understood as the water hath in it an earthy kind of substance of a drying nature: which (as I suppose) was not first in the matter of the waters before they were gathered unto this one place where now they are; because, as is reported and written, there be salt mines in sundry places, as in a certain hill in Barbary, out of which perfect salt is digged, and used for salt after it is made clean and beaten small. All which doth greatly commend the providence and wisdom of God: For it is not unlike but that the 
The sea made salt by the substance of the ground: that is my opinion.  sea was by his wisdom and providence gathered into such salt valleys of the earth, as were otherwise barren and unfruitful: with which substance, the gathered water being mixed, must needs partake both of an earthy matter, and also of a salt savour; yet so, as this salt savour cannot be drawn out, and sensibly perceived in the mixture of many sweet humours joined with it, without a separation first made by the heat of the sun, of the thinner parts from the thicker: And so the sun is a disponent, though not a productive cause of this saltness.  
Now this opinion may be strengthened by many reasons.  
First, because sea-water, when it is boiled, doth evaporate a dewy or watery humour, which being collected and kept together, hath a sweet taste or savour.  
Secondly, because vapours drawn from the sea and turned into rain, are void of saltness.  
Thirdly, because the sea in summer, and towards the South (as Aristotle affirmeth) is more salt than elsewhere; which cometh to pass in that the sun, at that time and place, draweth away more of the sweet humours then at other times.  
Fourthly, because the sea is fresher towards the bottom, then at the top; as some have found by using practices to experience it.  
Fifthly, because (as Aristotle again testifieth) if an empty vessel sealed up with wax, be by some means or other caused to sink into the sea, and there let lie for a certain space, it will at the last be filled with very fresh and sweet water, issuing in through the insensible small pores of the wax: for by this manner of passing into the vessel, the thin is strained from the thick: yea by this means, the earthy and adust part, which carrieth the saltness in it, is excluded, whilst the other is admitted. For in every salt savour, two things are required; viz. an adustion, and an earthy kind of substance of a drying nature: both which are found in the sea. For (according to the testimony of Physicians) sea-water doth heat and dry more than other waters, and is also more ponderous or heavy; yea and it doth more easily sustain a heavy burden, giving it less leave to sink then the fresh silver-seeming streams.  
And thus we see how the sea comes to be salt. It followeth to show why rivers be not salt, as well as seas. 
Of rivers; and from whence they proceed.   
Now for the better explaining of this, the first thing considerable will be concerning the original of fountains and rivers.  
Aristotle handled them amongst Meteors of a watery 
Arist. de Met. lib. 1. cap. 13.  kind, because he supposed that there was the same original of rivers within the earth, which was of watery Meteors in the air above the earth. For if this air (saith he) coming near to the nature of a vapour, is by cold turned into water; then the air which is in the caverns of the earth, may be, by the same cause, condensed into water also. According to which grounds, we cannot but make this the original of fountains and rivers; namely, that they are engendered in the hollow concavities of the earth, and derive both their birth and continual sustenance from the air; which piercing the open chinks or chasmas of the earth, and congealed by the cold of those places, dissolveth into water (as we see the air in winter nights to be melted into a pearlie dew, sticking on our glass windows) and being grown to some quantity, it will either find a way, or make a way to vent its superfluity. All which agreeth very well to the nature of the air, which seeing it is hot and moist, the heat being gone it is thickened, and so easily turned into water.  
And as for a continual running of rivers caused by this water, it is (saith Aristotle) by a perpetual succession of new air.  
But to this opinion we may not absolutely make subscription; for although air may be thus converted into water, yet the sole matter of rivers cannot come from hence: it may haply be an helping cause, but not a prime, or principal cause. For first, sith the air is a thin subtle body, there is necessarily required an abundance of air to make but a little quantity of water; insomuch that it is not doubted by some without cause, whether the dens and hollow places of the earth be vast enough to receive so much air as can make water enough to run along, until it break out into a river or spring. Secondly, there be many fountains which have (as it were) a kind of ebbing and flowing at certain direct and set times, which they keep as constantly as the very sea itself. As for example, among other strange rivers, 
n Lib. 2. cap. 103.  Pliny makes mention of Dodon, Jupiter's fountain, which evermore decreaseth from midnight until noon; thence it increaseth until midnight again. And in the island Delos, the fountain of Inopus (as he also affirmeth) keeps his course with Nilus. Also he makes mention of a little island in the sea over against the river Timavus or Brenta in Italy, having certain fountains in it which increase and decrease, according to the ebbing and flowing of the vast body of Amphitrite or the sea.  
Wherefore the wise man Siracides thought more truly (Ecclus. 40. 11.) concerning these things; affirming that all things which are of the earth shall turn to the earth again: and that which is of the waters doth turn again into the sea. Which saying of his I do not say is much strengthened, but absolutely confirmed by one more authentic than itself; namely by that of Solomon, Eccles. 1. 7. where it is witnessed that all rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full: unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. Which testimony makes it plain that the sea is the principal cause of all rivers: and if therefore Aristotle's 
† Aerial vapours are partly a cause of springs.  aerial vapours have any thing to do in this generation, it is as much as nothing: yet that which they are able to do, I imagine they perform, joining themselves with the currents which come from the sea; and so they run together in the veins of the earth, either until free leave be given them to come abroad, or that (like Hannibal in the Alps) they work themselves a way.  
Now in this there is little or no difference between Solomon and Plato, together with the ancient Philosophers before him, although Aristotle dissenteth. For that which Solomon calleth the sea, 
o Goclen. Disput. Phys. cap. 39 ex Plat. in Phaed.  Plato calleth the great 
* Plato did but express Moses meaning, Gen. 7. 11. in other words.  gulf of the earth; saying, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id est, Ad illum hiatum & omnes fluvii confluunt, & ex hoc vicissim omnes effluunt: that is, Into this gulf all rivers do both flow or assemble themselves, and also by their courses come or flow out again.  
But what need more words? It is without controversy 
How springs come to be fresh, seeing the sea is salt.  that rivers have their first original from the sea: that is the fountainhead from whence all fountains have their heads. Neither can the saltness of the sea, and freshness of rivers, stop this current.  
For concerning springs, it is true indeed that they are fresh; and this freshness, notwithstanding their salt original, may be ascribed to percolation and straining through the narrow spongy passages of the earth, which makes them leave behind (as an exacted toll) the colour, thickness, and saltness. So that you see, sea water (though in itself of a salt and brackish savour) by passing through diverse windings and turnings of the earth, is deprived of all unpleasantness: and by how much the spring-heads of rivers are 
p Putei prope mare, falsi; longiùs, minùs; procul, nihil. jal. Scal. exercitat. 50.  remote from the sea, by so much are their waters affected with a delightful relish: yea and why they ascend up to the highest mountains, already hath been declared. Unto which may be added, that they come not with a direct course from the sea unto those hills; neither do they ascend directly upwards on the sudden, but by degrees: and so, winding themselves through many crooked passages and turnings, they do (as it were) screw themselves up to the convenientest place of breaking out; and cannot go back, because the sea is a far heavier body than the vein that cometh from it; even as the blood in our veins is nothing in proportion to the liver, from whence each vein of blood hath its first beginning.  
But I draw towards a conclusion, adding in the last 
The benefit and use of waters.  place, that of waters (be they seas, or rivers) we have a threefold use and benefit.  
First, that out of them, drink may be afforded to man and beast; as it is Psal. 104. 11. They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst, etc.  
Secondly, that running through the earth, as blood through the body, by interlacing it, and sometimes overwhelming it, they make the earth able to produce those fruits which are necessary for the life of man: which benefit of overflowing, so fattens the whole land of Egypt, that the priests of that country did thereupon ascribe the beginning of time, or of every thing that now is, to that time of the year when their Nilus overflowed, or when it first began to lift up itself above the banks, and diffuse an ample portion of manuring bounty into the lap of the land: which is as good to them as if jupiter should descend in a golden shower. And for other places, where there be no such lucky floods, there it is found that these bounteous watery bodies yielding vapours, do purchase for them such dropping showers of rain, that the valleys stand so thick with corn, that they laugh and sing: and therefore these are great benefits challenging most humble thanks; as it is Psal. 107.  
The third is, that they can quell the rage of the hottest element, and keep our mansions from cinders, or a flamie conversion into ashes.  
The fourth is, that they yield us an easiness and speediness of conduct and traffic, by which each place partaketh of the blessings of every place.  
Yea these, and many more, are the benefits of water, without which the life of man could not be sustained. But here I contract my sails, and end this question: for by coming on the shore, I shall the better view that which remaineth concerning this liquid element. Wherefore it followeth.   

The next and last question propounded, was concerning 
Quest. 7. Wherein is showed the cause of the ebbing and flowing of the sea.  the fluxion and refluxion of the sea; wherein I purpose (as near as I can) to show, both why seas have that alternate motion, as also why such murmuring brooks and rivers, as do not ebb and flow, are destitute of the foresaid courses.  
The motion of the sea is either natural, or violent. The first is performeth on its own accord: the other it doth not, but by some external force compelling it.  
The first, being a natural motion, is such as is in every other water; namely that all waters do evermore flow into the lowest place, because they have an heaviness or ponderosity in them. And thus the ocean naturally floweth from the North, where it is highest, unto the South as the lower place: for 
q Zanch. Tom. 3. lib. 4 cap. 1. quest. ●…. thes. 1.  there, in regard of the great cold, the waters are not only kept from drying up, but also increased, whilst much air is turned into water: whereas in the South, by reason of great heat, they are always sucked up and diminished. Now this motion is called a motion of Equation; because it is for this end, namely that the superficies of the water may be made equal, and distant alike on every side from the centre of gravity.  
The other, being that which dependeth upon some external cause, is such as may be distinguished into a threefold motion. One is rapt, and caused by force of the heavens, whereby it floweth from 
* Note that this is pertinent to the openest seas, as the Atlantic and Southseas, and especially between the Tropics, where is a constant Easterly breath caused by the superior motions which draw together with them, not only the element of fire, but of the air and water also.  East to West. The second is a motion of Libration, in which the sea striving to poise itself equally, doth (as it were) wave from one opposite shore to another. And note that this is only in such as are but straight and narrow seas, being a kind of trepidation in them, or (as I said before) a motion of Libration; just like a rising and falling of the beam of an equall-poised balance, which will not stand still, but be continually waving to and fro. The third and last is Reciprocatio, or Aestus maris, called the ebbing and flowing of the sea.  
The cause of which hath added no little trouble, nor small perplexity, to the brains of the best and greatest Philosophers. Aristotle, that master of knowledge, helps us little or nothing in this question. And yet 
r De placi●…. ●…los. lib. 3. cap. 17.  Plutarch affirmeth that he attributed the cause to the motion of the sun. 
Dr. Fulk. 〈◊〉. li●…. 4.  Others have gathered from him that he seemed to teach, it was by certain exhalations which be under the water, causing it to be driven to and fro according to contrary bounds and limits. But howsoever he taught, or whatsoever he thought, this we find, that nothing troubled him more. For (as 
t Antiquarum lecti▪ 〈◊〉 lib. 29. cap. ●….  Coelius Rhodiginus writeth) when he had studied long about it, and at the last being weary, he died through the tediousness of such an intricate doubt. 
u Iu●…. Mart. Greg. Naz. Aesc●…ines orat. contra ●…tes. L. Valla Dialog. de lib. arbitri●…, etc.  Some say he drowned himself in Negropont, or Euripus, because he could find no reason why it had so various a fluxion and refluxion, ebbing and flowing seven times a day at the 
x Livy saith that it is not seven times a day; but ●…emere in modum venti nunc huc, nun●… il●…c rapitur. lib. 8. dec. 3.  least; adding, before that his untimely and disastrous precipitation, these words, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉▪ Quandoquidem Aristoteles non cepit Euripum, Euripus capiat Aristotelem; That is, Although Aristotle hath not taken Euripus, yet Euripus shall take Aristotle: meaning that that should end him, whose cause could not be comprehended by him.  
But leaving Aristotle, we shall find as little help from his master Plato, who (as did also the Stoics) attributed the cause to the breath of the world. Such also have been the fancies of others; among whom, Kepler may not be forgotten, who in good earnest affirmeth and believeth that the earth is a great living creature, which with the mighty bellows of her lungs first draweth in the waters into her hollow bowels, then by breathing respires them out again. A pretty fiction this; and well worthy the pen of some fabling poet, rather than to be spoken in good sober sadness, and affirmed as a truth.  
Others would have the cause to be by reason of waters in the holes of the earth forced out by spirits; which comes something near to that before concerning the breath of the world.  
A third sort attribute the cause to the circular motion of the earth; affirming that there is a daily motion of the earth round about the heavens, which it performeth in 24 hours: the heavens in the mean time only seeming to move, and not moving in very deed. This opinion came first from the Pythagoreans, and is defended by the Copernicanians as an effect of the foresaid motion. As for example; the earth moving swiftly round, the water not able to follow the motion, is left behind, and caused to flow to and fro; like as in a broad shallow vessel may be seen: for put water in such a vessel, and let it be swiftly pulled forward, and then you shall see that by being left behind, it will beat itself against the one side, before the other can at all partake of its company: and so it is also in the earth, leaving the waters behind whilst it moveth.  
But if this opinion be true; first tell me how it comes 
The earth hath no circular motion.  to pass that the sea doth not ebb and flow always at one and the same time, but altereth his course, and is every day about one hour later than other. Secondly, show me why the tides are at one time of the month higher than at another. Thirdly, let me be informed why broad lakes and large rivers do not flow as well as seas. Fourthly, let me be rightly instructed how it comes to pass that things tend to the earth as their centre, if the sun (as Copernicus and his followers imagine) be the centre of the world. Fifthly, show me why the air in the middle Region is not rather hot then cold: for surely if the earth should move round with a diurnal motion, as they maintain, than the middle Region must be either far higher than it is, or else the air would be so heated by going round, that the coldness in it would be either little or none at all; for it is a ruled case, that Remotio à motu circulari dat quietem, frigiditatem, et gravitatem; sicut propinquitas dat motum, calorem, et levitatem: and thereupon it comes to pass that we have coldness in the middle Region, the cause first beginning it being in respect of the hills which hinder the air from following the motion of the heavens; as in 
* Viz. chap. 4. sect. 2. and chap. 5. sect. 2. Paragraph 1.  two several places of the second day's work I have declared. Sixthly, I would also know why an arrow being shot upright should fall near upon the same place where the shooter standeth, and not rather fall beyond him, seeing the earth must needs carry him far away whilst the arrow flieth up and falleth down again: or why should a stone, being perpendicularly let fall on the West side of a tower, fall just at the foot of it; or on the East side, fall at all, and not rather be forced to knock against it? We see that a man in a ship at sea, throwing a stone upright, is carried away before the stone falleth; and if it be mounted up in any reasonable height, not only he which cast it, but the ship also is gone. Now why it should be otherwise in the motion of the earth, I do not well perceive. If you say that the earth equally carries the shooter, air, arrow, tower, and stone; then methinks you are plainly convinced by the former instance of the ship: or if not by that, then by the various flying of clouds, and of birds; nay, of the smallest grasshopper, fly, flea, or gnat, whose motion is not tied to any one quarter of the world, but thither only whither their own strength shall carry them: some flying one way, some another way, at one and the same time. We see that the wind sometimes hindereth the flight of those pretty creatures; but we could never yet perceive that they were hindered by the air; which must needs hinder them if it were carried always one way by the motion of the earth: for from that effect of the earth's motion, this effect must needs also be produced.  
Armed with these reasons, 'twere superfluous  
To join our forces with Copernicus.  
But perhaps you will say it is a thing impossible for so vast a body as the heavens to move daily about the earth, and be no longer than 24 hours before one revolution be accomplished: for if the compass were no 
y L●…sberg▪ 〈◊〉▪ i●… 〈◊〉 terra di●…r. pag. 7.  more than such a distance would make as is from hence to Satur's sphere, the motion must extend, in one first scruple or minute of time, to 55804 miles; and in a moment, to 930 miles: which is a thing impossible for any Physical body to perform.  
Unto which I must first answer, that in these mensurations we must not think to come so near the truth, as in those things which are subject to sense, and under our hands: For we oft times fail, yea even in them, much more therefore in those which are remote, and (as it were) quite absent, by reason of their manifold distance.  
Secondly, I also answer, that the wonder is not more in the swiftness of the motion, then in the largeness of the circumference: for that which is but a slow motion in a little circuit (although it be one and the same motion still) must needs be an extraordinary motion in a greater circle; and so, I say, the wonder is not more in the motion then in the largeness of the circumference. Wherefore, he that was able, by the power of his word, to make such a large-compassed body, was also able so to make it, that it should endure to undergo the swiftest motion that the quickest thought can keep pace with, or possibly be forged in imagination: For his works are wonderful, and in wisdom he hath made them all.  
Besides, do but go on a while, and adhere a little to the sect of Copernicus, and then you shall find so large a space between the convexity of Satur's sphere, and the concavity of the eighth sphere (being more than 20 times the distance of Saturn from us, and yet void of bodies, and serving to no other purpose but to salve the annual motion of the earth) so great a distance, I say, that thereby that proportion is quite taken away which God the Creator hath observed in all other things; making them all 
* Wi●…d. 11. 22.  in number, weight and measure, in an excellent portion and harmony.  
Last of all, let me demand how the earth's motion and heaven's rest can agree with holy Scripture. It is true indeed (as they allege) that the grounds of Astronomy are not taught us in God's book: yet when I hear the voice of the everlasting and sacred Spirit say thus, 
* Jo●…h. 10. 12, 13.  Sun stand thou still, and thou Moon in the valley of Ajalon, I cannot be persuaded either to think, teach, or write, that the earth stood still: but the sun stood, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves on their enemies. Neither do I think after this that it was the earth which went back, but the sun upon Ahaz 
Esay 38. 8.  his dial in the days of Ezekias. For when God had made the earth, what said he? did he bid it move round about the heavens, that thereby days, weeks, months and years might be produced? No. What then? This was its office, and this that which it should do; namely 
z Motus terra is nothing but Germinatio terr●….  bud and bring forth fruit for the use of man. And for motion, it was absolutely and directly bestowed upon the heavens and stars: witness those very words appointing to the sun and moon their courses; setting them in the heavens so as they should never rest, but be for signs, and for seasons, for days and for years. And 
Gen. 1.  so also the wise 
* Ecclus. 46. 4.  Siracides understood it, saying, Did not the sun go back by his means, and was not one day as long as two?  
I conclude therefore, and concluding cannot forget that sweet meditation of a religious and learned 
* Bish. Hall.  Prelate, saying, Heaven ever moves, yet is that the place of our rest: Earth ever rests, yet is that the place of our travel and unrest.  
And now, laying all together, if the cause be taken away, the effect perisheth. My meaning is no more but thus; that seeing the earth is void of motion, the ebbing and flowing of the sea cannot be caused by it, but dependeth upon some other thing.  
Or again, were it so that the earth had such a motion, I should scarce believe that this ebbing and flowing depended on it. For (as I said before) if this were the cause, it could never be that the course of ebbs and floods should keep such a regular alteration as they do day by day: Neither could it produce a cause why the tides should be more at one time of the month then at another: Nor yet (as some suppose) could the waters be suffered to flow back again, but always must be going on as fast as they can, toward the Eastern part of the world. But I leave this and come to another.  
It was a mad fancy of him who attributed the cause to an Angel, which should stand in a certain place of the world, and sometimes heave up the earth above the waters, sometimes constraining it to sink below them. In an ebb, he heaves it up; and in a flood he lets it sink.  
As improbable also is that of some others who imagine one Angel to be an Angel of the water, whose office is (as in the pool of Bethesda) to move the waters to and fro: and for proof of this, that place is alleged in the 
* Revel. 16. 5.  Revelation, where when the vials were poured out upon the kingdom of the beast, one of the Angels is called an Angel of the waters. But know that the same answer made before concerning the moving of the winds, will serve to stop this gap. Or were it so that we must be tied to a literal sense, the compulsion overthrows the assertion; because he is called an Angel of the waters, not for that he causeth them to ebb and flow, but because it was his office to corrupt them and turn them into blood.  
More probable was their opinion who attribute the cause to certain subterranean or under-sea fires, whose matter is of near akin to the matter of the Moon; and therefore, according to her motion, they continue their times of burning: and burning, they make the sea so to boil as that it is a tide or high-water; but going out, the sea sinks again.  
But now if this opinion were true, than the water in a tide would be thinner, through the heat which causeth it to ascend, thinner than at other times: and so a ship carrying one and the same weight, would sink deeper in a flood then in an ebb; which experience shows to be otherwise. Yea were it so that there were such supposed fires in the bottom of the sea, causing it to swell up like boiled water, than it would also follow that the sea-water would be so hot that it might not be touched: For if the heat of the supposed fire be sufficient to make it ascend, it is sufficient also to make it hot: which would appear lesser in an ebb then in a flood.  
Wherefore, omitting these and the like opinions, the 
This is the most probable cause why the Sea ebbs and flows.  most allowable is to attribute this flux and reflux, to the effects of the diverse appearances of the Moon: For we see by experience, that according to the courses of the Moon, the tides are both ordered and altered. By which it is not improbable that the waters are drawn by the power of the Moon, following her daily motion, even as she is carried with the Primum Mobile. Yea were it not so that the sea were hindered by some accident, some have supposed that these waters would go round from East to West in 24 hours; and so round again, even day by day. The accident hindering this circular motion, is in regard that the West ocean sea is shot in between the firm land of America on the West part, and the main land of Africa and Europe on the East part. But were it so that there were no such accidental let in the sea, to be hindered by the land, it would orderly follow the Moon, and go daily round: And seeing also it is hindered by such an impediment, it is a probable conjecture to think, that it cannot but be forced to retire; for the firm land beats it back again. Thus Mr William Bourn, in the 5 book of his treasure for travellers, chap. 6. determineth.  
Others there be who attributing the cause to the moon, do demonstrate it after another manner; namely that through her influence she causeth these alternate motions: and this influence of hers worketh according to the quadrate and opposite aspects of her position in the heavens; or according to the quadrate and opposite configurations from that place where she was at the beginning. For the seas, 
z Sir Christopher Heydon, in his defence of Judicial Astron. chap. 21. pag. 432.  saith a well learned writer, begin to flow when the moon by her diurn rapt motion from East to West, cometh to the nine a clock point in the morning, or is Southeast: then they will continue flowing until she come to a quadrate aspect, or to 90 degrees, which will be about 3 of the clock in the afternoon, or be South-west when they cease from flowing and begin to ebb, continuing so until she come to 180 degrees, or the opposite place, which will be somewhat after nine of the clock at night, being the opposite place to that from which she began her flowing. Then again they begin to flow, and so continue until she attain to 270 degrees from her first place, which will be after three in the morning. And then lastly they begin to ebb, and so continue still, until the moon come to that place where she was at the beginning: for there the flood begins again. Thus it is ordinarily; yet her illumination, the sun and other stars may hasten, hinder, or something alter the moons influence, as we see in springtides, at the change and full; and neap-tides, at quarters and half quarters of the moon: confessed by 
a Idem, pag▪ 433. cap▪ 21.  those who have been great masters in Astrology.  
And let this also be known, that though the moon have dominion over all moist bodies, yet not alike, because of other causes concurring; as the indisposition or unfitness of the subject, or for want of matter, and the like considerations. As for example, though it be probable that there be tides in mari Atlantico, yet they are 
Why all seas do not ebb and flow  not to be perceived, by reason of the vast wideness and profundity thereof: in other places also of the sea are no tides, being hindered by the strength of some current, 
Why fresh waters do not ebb and flow.  which prevaileth: and in fresh water there is no tide, because of the rarity, thinness, and subtlety thereof, which cannot retain the influence of the moon.  
And note also that in such havens and rivers as ebb and flow, there may be great diversity; which cometh to pass both according to the indraught, as also by reason of the crooked and narrow points and turnings of the banks, which do let and stay the tide from that which is the common and ordinary course in the main body of the sea: but afterwards, when it is in, and hath taken his sway, than it cannot so soon reverse back, but must continue until the water behind it be descended or ebbed into the sea. The river Thames may serve as an instance in this: for it is not a full sea in all places of it at one instant, being three parts of a flood at the lands end, before it can be any flood at London. But were it so that there were no creeks, islands, straits, turnings, or other accidental hindrances, than there should be no difference found in any sea, but the whole body should be swayed up and down with a constant course: whereas since it is otherwise, the times for every such place must be once found out, that thereby they may be known for ever.  
Wherefore the cavils of some men are nothing worth, who by bringing particular and rare (perhaps vain) examples, do think to take away this power from the moon. For sith this lunar regiment is pertinent to most seas, and that all our ocean doth follow her; the exceptions taken from certain straits, creeks, bays, or such like places, aught to be referred to accidental hindrances; as to the unaptness of the places, rocks, qualities of the regions, differing nature of the waters▪ or other secret and unknown impediments; such as manifest themselves in Cambaia. For it is reported, that there, although the tides keep their course with the moon, yet it is contrary to the course they hold in these parts; for they are said to increase, not with the full of the moon, but with the wane; and so the sea-crabs do likewise: amongst other things the nature of the water and quality of the region may much avail to this, if it be true. And in the island of Socotora (saith Mr Purchas) Don John of Castro observed many days, and found (contrary both to the Indian and our wont) that when the moon riseth, it is full sea, and as the moon ascends, the tide descends and ebbeth, being dead low water when the moon is in the meridian. These things are thus reported, and if they should be true, yet we must know that they are but in particular seas, as I said before, where a general and universal cause may be much hindered, and in a manner seem as if it were altered.  
They that descend the briny waves  
Of liquid Thetis floods,  
And in their ships of brittle staves 
Psal. 107. 23▪ 24.   
Trade to augment their goods;  
These men behold, and in the deeps they see  
How great Gods wonders of the waters be.  
I conclude therefore, and cannot but say, that this is as great a secret, to be in every point discussed and unfolded, as any nature can afford: Arcanum enim naturae magnum est, It is a great secret of nature, and gives us therefore principal occasion to magnify the power of God, whose name only is excellent, and whose power above heaven and earth.  
Last of all, this is the final cause of the seas motion: God hath ordained it for the purging and preserving of the waters. For as the air is purged by winds, and as it were renewed by moving to and fro; so this motion keeps the waters of the sea from putrefaction.    

An Appendix to the former Section, wherein the properties and virtues of certain strange rivers, wells, and fountains, are declared.  
I Do not well know how to end this discourse of waters, before I have spoken something of the strange properties that are in certain rivers, wells, and fountains. Some are hot, because they are generated and flow out of veins of brimstone, or receive heat from those places where subterranean fires are nourished. For this is a general rule, that all waters differ according to the quality of the place from whence they arise. Some again are sour or sharp like vinegar; and these run through veins of allome, copperess, or such minerals. Some may be bitter, that flow out of such earth as is bitter by adustion or otherwise. Some may be salt, whose current is through a salt vein. And some may be sweet; these are such that be well strained through good earth, or run through such minerals as be of a sweet taste.  
Our baths in the West country, and S. Anne of Buckstones well in the North part of England, and many other elsewhere, are hot. Aristotle writeth of a well in Sicily, 
Water used in stead of vinegar.  whose water the inhabitants used for vinegar: and in diverse places of Germany be springs which harbour much sharpness. In Bohemia, near to the city called 
Water used in stead of burnt wine.  Bilen, is a well (saith Dr Fulk) that the people use to drink of in the morning, in stead of burnt wine. And some (saith he) have the taste of wine; as in Paphlagonia 
Water which makes men drunk▪  is a well, that maketh men drunk which drink of it: now this is, because that water receiveth the fumosity of brimstone, and other minerals, through which it runneth: and retaining their virtue, it filleth and entoxicateth the brain, as wine doth. For it is possible that fountains may draw such efficacy from the mines of brimstone, that they may fill their brains with fume that drink thereof, who also become drunk therewith. To which purpose Ovid speaketh thus,  
Quam quicunque parùm moderato gutture traxit,  
Haud aliter titubat, quam si mer a vina bibisset.  
Which whoso draws with an immoderate throat,  
Trips, as his brains in mere good wine did float.  
And Du Bartas also,  
Salonian fountain, and thou Andrian spring,  
Out of what cellars do you daily bring  
The oil and wine that you abound with so?  
O earth, do these within thine entralls grow?  
What? be there vines and orchards under ground?  
Is Bacchus' trade and Pallas art there found?  
Ortelius, in his Theatre of the world, makes mention 
A water which is deadly to beasts, but not to men.  of a fountain in Ireland, whose water killeth all those beasts that drink thereof, but not the people, although they use it ordinarily.  
It is also reported, that near to the isle Ormus, there 
A purging kill water.  is a great fountain found, the water whereof is as green as the field in spring-time, and salt as the sea. He which drinketh but a little of it, is incontinently taken with a violent scouring; and he that drinketh very much thereof, dieth without remedy.  
Aelianus makes mention of a fountain in Boeotia near 
A water which makes horses mad.  to Thebes, which causeth horses to run mad, if they drink of it.  
Pliny speaketh of a water in Sclavonia which 
A cold burning water.  is extremely cold; yet if a man cast his cloth cloak upon it, it is incontinently set on fire. 
A water which will both ros●… and bake.   
Ortelius again speaketh of a boiling fountain, which will presently seethe all kind of meat put into it: it will also bake paste into bread, as in an oven well heated. This is said to be in the isle of Grontland.  
The river Hypanis in Scythia every day brings forth 
A river which breedeth flies.  little bladders, out of which come certain flies. They are bred in the morning, fledge at noon, and dead at night: wherein mankind is also like them. For his birth is as his morning; his strongest time, or his middle time (be his time long or short) is as his noon; and his night is that, when he takes leave of the world, and is laid in the grave to sleep with his fathers: For this hath been the state of every one, since first the world had any one. The day breaking, the Sun ariseth; the Sun arising continues moving; the Sun moving, noontime maketh; noontime made, the Sun declines; the Sun declining threatens setting; the Sun setting, night cometh; and night coming our life is ended. Thus runs away our time. If he that made the heaven's Sun, hath set our lives Sun but a small circumference, it will the sooner climb into the noon, the sooner fall into the night. The morning, noon, and evening (as to those flies) these three conclude our living.  
Clitumnus, saith Propertius, lib. 3. is a river or spring 
A water which maketh oxen white.  in Italy which maketh oxen that drink of it, white. Dr. Fulk yieldeth this reason, namely because the quality of the water is very phlegmatic, Fulk. Met. lib. 4.  
Pliny speaketh of the river Melas in Boeotia, which 
Water which maketh sheep black or white.  maketh sheep black: But Cephisus, another stream which flows out of the same lake, makes them white. See Plin. in the 103. chap. of his 2 book.  
Pliny also, in the former book and chapter, makes 
Water which makes them red.  mention of the river Xanthus, which will make the flocks turn red, if they drink the water. Solinus affirmeth the like of a fountain in Arabia near to the Red-sea, saying, in littore maris istius fontem esse, quem si oves biberint, mutent vellerum qualitatem, at fulvo postmodum nigrescant colore. To which purpose we may hear Duke Bartas descant thus,  

b Plin. lib. 31. cap 2. See also 〈◊〉. 2▪ cap. 103.  Cerona, Xanth, and Cephisus, do make  
The thirsty flocks, that of their waters take,  
Black, red, and white: And near the crimson deep,  
Th' Arabian fountain maketh crimson sheep.  
Seneca speaketh of a river which maketh horses red. 
A water like to the former.  Now these things may be, as Dr. Fulk yields probable conjecture, in that the quality of the water may alter the complexion; and the complexion being altered, the colour of their wool and hairs may be changed. Aristotle, in his 3 book, chap. 12, the histor. animal. maketh mention of such like waters also: as there is a river in Assyria, called Psychrus, of that coldness, which causeth the sheep that drink thereof to yean black lambs: in Antandria there are two rivers, the one maketh the sheep white, the other black: the river Scamander doth die them yellow. Dr. Will. in his Hexap. on Gen. ex Aristot.  
Pliny makes mention of the Hammonian fountain, 
A water cold in the day, and hot in the ●…ight.  saying, jovis Hammonis fons interdiu frigidus, noctibus fervet; The fountain of Jupiter Hammon is cold in the day time, and hot in the night. Like unto which is that which he calleth the fountain of the Sun; excepting that the water is sweet at noon, and bitter at midnight: but for the times of cold and heat, it is like to the other fountain. lib. 2. cap. 103. Some seem to think that this may be the reason, namely, that the cold humidity of the night nourisheth the heat, and by an Antiperistasis causeth it to reinforce itself inward: But by day (the Sunne-beams sucking up that heat which is in the surface, that is to say, above) the water remaineth cold. Others determine thus, saying that this may be by the same reason that wellwater is colder in summer than it is in winter.  
We have in England, wells which make wood and all 
A water turning wood into stone.  things else that be cast into them, stones: the cause whereof is great cold. 
A river which rests every seventh day.   
josephus, de Bello judaic. lib. 7. cap. 24. writeth that there is a river in Palestine, which passeth between two cities, called by these names, viz. Arcen, and Raphane●…, which river is admirable for an extraordinary singularity: namely, that having entertained his violent and swift course for the space of six days, on the seventh it remaineth dry: which being passed, it runneth as before; and therefore is called the river of the Sabbath: 
c In his 3 day.  Du Bartas calleth it the Jews religious river,  
Keeping his waves from working on that day  
Which God ordained a sacred rest for ay.  
In Idumea was a well, which one quarter of the year 
A strange well in Id●…mea.  was troubled and muddy, the next quarter bloody, the third green, and the fourth clear. Isiodore makes mention of this, and it is called the fountain of Job.  
Seneca and others affirm that there be rivers whose 
Poisoning waters.  waters are poison: now this may be, in regard that they run through poisonous minerals, and receive infection from their fume, and the like. Such is the water Nonacrinis in Arcadia: of which it is recorded, that no vessel of silver, brass, or iron, can hold it, but it breaketh in pieces; only a mules hoof and nothing else can contain it. 
d Plutarch. See also Just. lib. 12. and Curt. lib. 10.  Some write that Alexander the great, through the treachery and plots of Antipater, was poisoned with this water. Curtius calleth it the water of Styx, lib. 10. juxta finem.  
In an isle of Pontus, the river Astaces overfloweth the 
A water which makes cattle give black milk.  fields; in which whatsoever sheep or other milch cattle be fed, they always give black milk. This river Pliny forgetteth not, lib. 2. cap. 103.  
It is reported that in Poland is a fountain so pestilent, 
Poisoning waters.  that the very vapour thereof killeth beasts when they approach unto it.  
There be some waters which make men mad who 
Water which makes men m●…d.  drink of them. Which is, in a manner, by the same reason that other fountains have made men drunk.  
Some again spoil the memory, and make men very 
A water that spoils the memory.  forgetful: which may very well be, by procuring obstructions in the brain. Fulk.  
Seneca speaketh of a water, that being drunk provoketh 
A water which procureth lust.  unto lust. Pliny, in the second chapter of his 31 book, speaketh of certain waters in the Region of Campania, which will take away barrenness from women, and madness from men. And in Sicilia are two springs: one maketh a woman fruitful; the other, barren.  
The foresaid Pliny, in the same book and chapter, 
A water which causeth barren nesse, and another which causeth the teeth to fall, etc.  saith that the river Amphrysus or Aphrodisium, causeth barrenness.  
And again, in his 25 book and 3 chapter, he speaketh of a strange water in Germany, which being drunk, causeth the teeth to fall out within two years, and the joints of the knees to be loosed.  
Lechnus, a spring of Arcadia, is said to be good against abortions.  
In Sardinia be hot wells that heal sore eyes: and in Italy is a well which healeth wounds of the eyes. In the isle of Chios is said to be a well which makes men abhor lust: and in the same country, another whose property is to make men 
e For this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 2 where 〈◊〉 you may 〈◊〉 of ●…nother that sharpe●…eth the senses.  dull-witted. Now these and the like qualities may as well be in waters which are mixed with diverse minerals and kinds of earth, as in herbs, roots, fruits, and the like.  
The lake Pentasium (as Solinus saith) is deadly to serpents, and wholesome to men. And in Italy, the lake Clitorie causeth those that drink of it, to abhor wine. Fulk. Met. lib. 4.  
Ortelius, in the description of Scotland, maketh mention 
Fountains of oil.  of diverse fountains, that yield forth oil in great quantity: which cometh to pass by reason of the viscosity or fatness of the earth where they pass, and from whence they arise. The like may be also said concerning pitchy streams, etc.  
Some waters are of that temper, that men sink not in 
Waters of a strange temper.  them, although they know not how to swim. The like lake is said to be in Syria, in which (as Seneca relateth) no heavy thing will sink.  
That which Pliny writeth of the fountain Dodone, 
Of the fountain Dodone.  lib. 2. cap. 103. is very strange: whereupon Du Bartas makes this descant,  
What should I of th' Illyrian fountain tell?  
What shall I say of the Dodonean well?  
Whereof the first sets any clothes on fire;  
Th' other doth quench (who but will this admire?)  
A burning torch; and when the same is quenched,  
Lights it again, if it again be drenched.  
There be some wells, whose waters rise and fall, according to the ebbing and flowing of the sea, or of some great river unto which they are near adjoined. The reason therefore of this is plain.  
But strange is that which Dr Fulk mentioneth of the 
Waters which work miracles.  river Rhine in Germany, which will drown 
* In which he was deceived: it was rather to try their strength, and make them hardy; as Verstegan well declareth, Restit●…. cap. 2. pag. 45.  bastard children that be cast into it, but drive to land them that be lawfully begotten. Or is not this strange which he also mentioneth of a certain well in Sicilia, whereof if thiefs drink, they are made blind by the efficacy of the water? The like I find in other authors concerning certain fountains in Sardinia: for it is said that they have this marvellous property; namely, that if there be a cause to draw any one to his oath, he that is perjured and drinketh thereof, becometh blind, and the true witness seeth more clearly than he did before. Solinus and Isiodore report it.  
Solinus also and 
f D●… 〈◊〉 cap. 51, & 52.  Aristotle make mention of a water called the Eleusinian or Halesinian spring, which, through the noise of singing or music, is moved as if it danced or capered up and down: whereas at other times it is still and quiet. But I conclude, and (as that 
g D●… 〈◊〉. 3 day.  honoured Poet) cannot but say,  
Sure in the legend of absurdest fables  
I should enrol most of these admirables,  
Save for the reverence of th' unstained credit  
Of many a witness, where I yerst have read it;  
And saving that our gain-spurred Pilots find,  
In our days, waters of more wondrous kind.  
Unto which (in things that are strange, and not fabulous) 
We ought to make the best uses of the strangest things.  let this also be added, that God Almighty hath proposed infinite secrets to men, under the key of his wisdom, that he might thereby humble them; and that, seeing what mere nothings they are, they might acknowledge that all are ignorant of more than they know: for indeed this is a rule, Maxima pars eorum quae scimus, est minima pars eorum quae nescimus; The greatest part of those things which we know, is the least part of those things which we know not.   

Sect. 3. Of the drie-land appearing after the gathering of the waters.  
THe waters were no sooner gathered, but the drie-land than appeared: and this may be called the second part of the third day's work. For the end of the gathering of the waters was, that the earth might show itself; and not only so, but that also it might appear solid and dry.  
Two things therefore (saith Pareus) did the earth in this act principally receive: one was that it might be conspicuous; the other, that it might be solid and dry: and both depended upon the law of great necessity.  
For first, had it been continually covered with waters, how could it have been a place for habitation? either man must have been otherwise then he is, or else the earth must, as it was, be uncovered.  
Secondly, were it uncovered, and not also dry and solid, it could not conveniently have boar up those living creatures, weights, and other things, which tread and press upon it. Whereupon Expositors well witness, that earth is so named from the Hebrew Erets: which (say they) implieth a thing trod and run upon by the creatures on it, and heavenly orbs about it. The same word spoken of particular places, is englished land; as the land or earth of Canaan, and the like.  
Here than it appeareth, that this was that time when the earth received her proper elementary quality: which it had potentially before, but not actually till now. Now therefore, it being not only uncovered, but also made dry, it might easily be distinguished from the other three elements of fire, air, and water. For the proper quality of the fire is heat; of the air, is 
i H●…iditas non est ●…stimanda ex irrigatione, sed ex propria de●…nitione, quod scilic et difficulter alieno termino cl●…uditur. jam vide●…us ●…quam includi faciliùs certis limitibus quam a●…rem, ergo etc. Quod autem aqua magis ●…ectat, id fit propter crassiorem substantiam. cum e●…im humiditas aqua in den●…ore materia h●…reat, ideo est magìs unita▪ & proinde efficacio●… ad humectand●…m. Aeris verò humi●…tas tam cr●…ssam substantiam, si●…ut ●…qua, non habet, & prop●…erea tantum madorem corporibus 〈◊〉 ●…equit: & quod quandoque exicc●…re videatur, id non est per se, sed per accidens, 〈◊〉 per exhalationes, etc.  moisture; of the water, is coldness; and of the earth, is dryness. These qualities, I say, are most proper and peculiar to them: yet so, as the air is not only moist, but of a moderate heat, as being nearest to the element of fire; the water not only cold, but also moist, as coming nearest to the nature of air; and the earth, not only dry, but something cold, as being host or landlord to the water: and upon these terms the elements are combined together; there being in all an harmonious order; pointing to him, who, in number, weight, and measure, hath constituted all things.  
I will not go about to prove that the earth is the centre of the world, for fear I should be like to him, who disputed whether snow were white: only I will add, that even as an infant is potentially rational by nature, but is made rational in act, by youth or years; so it was with the earth, both before and after the drying of it. Unto which let this also be joined, that the earth is not so arid or dry that it is void of all moisture: for than it would be dissolved and fall into dust. But it is arid and dry, that it might be solid and firm; retaining in the mean time, even in the solid parts of it, such a conveniency of humour, that all parts may both be glued together, and also have sufficient nutriment for the things, which, like to a teeming mother, she either bringeth forth, or nourisheth in her womb.  
Thus was the earth prepared: and thus was it made a fit habitation for man to dwell on. But, as if man were not always worthy to tread upon such a solid foundation, we see it often shakes, and quakes, and rocks, and rends itself: as if it showed that he which made it, threatened, by this trembling, the impiety of the world, and ruins of those which dwell upon the earth. For though the 
k Efficiens est calor solis, & simul ignis subterraneus, quibus suppeditant tres superiores planetae.  efficient, 
l Causa materialis est spiritus seu vapour, in terrae visceribus conclusus, exire contendens.  material, and 
m Forma est ipsa concussio terrae & agitatio exhalationum terrae inclusatum.  formal causes of an earthquake be natural; yet the final is the signification of an angry God, moved by the execrable crimes of a wicked people: according to that of David in the 18 Psalm at the 7 verse, The earth trembled and quaked: the very foundations of the hills also shaken and were removed, because he was wroth.  
Fear chills our hearts. What heart can fear dissemble  
When steeples stagger, and huge mountains tremble?  
The Romans, in times past, commanded by public edict, that prayers and supplications should be made in time of an earthquake: but they must call upon no god by name, as on their other holy-days, for fear they mistook that god unto whom it belonged.  
And the most ancient of the Grecians called Neptune the shaker and mover of the earth; because they supposed that the cause proceeded from the fluctuations and flow of waters up and down in the hollow places under ground.  
Others thought that the shaking proceeded from the downfalls of subterranean dens or caves; and that sometimes whole mountains sunk in, and they caused the trembling.  
But by that which I said before in the generation of 
The cause of earthquakes.  winds, it appeareth, that what it is, which is the cause of winds above the earth, is also the cause of trembling and shaking in the earth. For when it happeneth that air and windy spirits or Exhalations be shut up within the caverns of the earth, or have such passage as is too narrow for them, they then striving to break their prisons, shake the earth, and make it tremble. Now this imprisonment is said to be caused thus; namely, when the earth, which is dry by nature, happeneth to be watered by continual rains; then, not only the pores and caverns thereof are stopped and closed up, but even the air and Exhalations within the earth, are increased. To which purpose, Dr. Fulk, in the third book of his Meteors, writeth, saying▪ The great caves and dens of the earth must needs be full of air continually (for there is no vacuum in nature:) but when by the heat of the Sun, the moisture of the earth is resolved, many Exhalations are generated, as well within the earth, as without; and whereas the places were full before, so that they could hold or receive no more except part of that which is in them be let out, it must needs follow that in such countries where the earth hath few pores, or else where they be stopped with moisture, that there, I say, these Exhalations striving to get out, do either rend the earth, or lift it up; that thereby either a free passage may be had, or else room enough to abide within. I am persuaded, that as in other winds, there be also in this, subterranean fires, which help to move and stir the Vapours and Exhalations. Neither do I think that the Sun is the only cause of shutting the pores of the ground: for then, earthquakes would in a manner be as frequent and common, as dryings after a rain: Some of the other Planets therefore have their operation in this effect. Which (as Astrologers witness) is Saturn, being of an astringent nature: and chiefly in earthy signs, must this be produced. For (say they) 
n Origa●… de effect. cap. 9 ex Holy. etc.  if Saturn have the sole dominion either in the revolution of the world, or in any great conjunction, or in the ecliptic place, and be strong in earthy signs (such as be Taurus▪ Virgo, and Capricorn) and shall behold the Moon, when she is impedite, with a quadrate or opposite aspect, than he foreshoweth that there will be an earthquake. And questionless this is not altogether idle: For the influence of the Planets is diverse, and may as well (according to their places and positions) work these effects, as have any power at all in the changes and alterations of the air, in the producing of Meteors, cherishing of plants, and the like. And happily it is not Saturn only, nor the bright beams of the Sun, but other of the Planets also being conveniently placed and disposed, which helpeth forward this sad effect.  
Authors vary about the kinds of earthquakes; some making more, some fewer kinds.  
Aristotle, De Meteoris lib. 2. cap. 8. maketh only 
The kinds of earthquakes.  two; Tremor, and Pulsus; a Trembling, and a Beating. Some add a third, which they call Hiatus. Others make seven. And some add only four: to which may be joined a fifth.  
The first is, when the whole force of the wind driveth to one place, there being no contrary motion to let or hinder it. Many hills and buildings have been rushed down by this kind of earthquake, especially when the wind causing it, was strong: For if it be a feeble wind, it only looseth or unfasteneth foundations: if less feeble, then without further harm, the earth only shakes, like one sick of an ague. This is called a lateral, or side-long shaking.  
The second is not so much lateral as perpendicular or upright; which is when the earth with great violence is so lifted up, that the buildings are like to fall, and by and by sinketh down again: For after the wind, that caused the earth to swell, is broke out of prison, the earth returneth to his old place even as it was before.  
The third kind is Hiatus, a gaping, rending or cleaving of the earth, one part being driven so far from another, that whole towns, cities, hills, rocks, rivers, seas, and the like, are swallowed up and never seen again.  
The fourth is a shaking that causeth sinking; and is far differing from the former: For now the earth splitteth not, but sinketh; this being in such places, where, though the surface of the ground be solid, yet it hath but a salt foundation; which being moistened with water driven through it by the force of the shaking Exhalation, is turned into water also. Thus was the Atlantic Ocean caused to be a sea, whereas before it was an island; according to the 
n Pl●…t. 〈◊〉 Ti●….  testimony of famous Plato, who lived in his flourishing fame about 366 years before Christ was born: and before his time it was that this island sunk.  
Where, by the way, in a word or two may be discussed, 
A digression touching the new found world.  not so much how the late discovered parts of the world came to be peopled, as how at the first to be unknown.  
Concerning which, this I think may be supposed, that America was sometimes part of that great land which Plato calleth the Atlantic island, and that the Kings of that island had some intercourse between the people of Europe and Africa. Some have related that they were the sons of Neptune, and did govern part of Europe and Africa, as well as of the said island: in which regard there was knowledge of the late known parts long ago. But when it happened that this island became a sea, time wore out the remembrance of remote country's: and that upon this occasion, namely by reason of the mud and dirt, and other rubbish of the island. For when it sunk, it became a sea, which at the first was full of mud; and thereupon could not be sailed, until a long ●…me after: yea so long, that such as were the seamen in those days, were either dead before the sea came to be clear again, or else sunk with the island: the residue, being little expert in the art of navigation, might, as necessity taught them, sail in some certain boats from island to island; but not venturing further, their memory perished. And not only so, but also thus: this island sinking, might so damp up the sea, that neither those that were in these parts, did ever attempt to seek any land that ways to the Westwards; nor yet those who were remaining upon that part of the island that did not sink, would ever attempt to seek any land unto the Eastwards: and so the one forgot the other.  
More I might say touching this thing: but this (perhaps) is more then enough. Yet that such an island was, and swallowed by an earthquake, I am verily persuaded: and if America joined not to the West part of it, yet surely it could not be far distant, because Plato deseribes it as a great island: neither do I think that there was much sea between Africa and the said island. But I leave this digression and proceed.  
The fifth kind of earthquake is contrary to the former: for as before the ground sinks down, so now it is cast up, like as in the second kind already mentioned: only this is the difference, that now it returneth not to its place again, but remaineth a great mountain: an emblem whereof may be seen in the busy mole casting up hills in a plain ground. And note that if such a rising be in the sea, it not only causeth overflowings, but produceth likewise many islands, such as were never seen before. And thus there may be five several kinds of earthquakes.  
Know also that an earthquake hath both his Antecedentia, 
The attendants of an earthquake  and Subsequentia.  
The Antecedentia are the signs which go before it, and show that it will be.  
The Consequentia or Subsequentia, are the effects which follow after it, and show that it hath been.  
As for the Antecedentia, or signs, they be of these 
Signs of an earthquake.  sorts chiefly.  
First, a great tranquillity or calmness of the air, mixed with some cold: the reason of which is, because the exhalation which should be blowing abroad, is within the earth.  
Secondly, the sun is observed to look very dim certain days before, although there be no clouds: the reason of which is, because the wind which should have purged and dissolved the gross air, is taken prisoner and enclosed within the bowels of the earth.  
Thirdly, the birds fly not, but sit still beyond their ordinary wont, and seem as if they were not fearful to let any one come near them: the reason of which is, because either the penned exhalation sendeth some strange alteration into the air, which slenderly breatheth out of some insensible pores of the earth; which it may do though the exhalation comes not out: or else it is that they are scarce able to fly for want of some gentle gales for their wings to strike upon; it being a thing well known, that birds fly more willingly, and cheerfully, when the air is of such a temper.  
Fourthly, the weather is calm, and yet the water of the sea is troubled and rageth mightily: the reason of which is, because the great plenty of spirits or wind in the bottom of the sea beginneth to labour for passage that way, and finding none, is sent back again; whereupon soon after it shaketh the land. This is evermore a certain sign.  
Fifthly, the water in the bottom of pits and deep wells is troubled, ascending and moving as if it boiled, stinking, and is infected: the reason of which is, because the exhalation being penned, and striving to get forth, moveth some stinking minerals and other poisonous stuff to the springs of those waters; and they, with the struggling exhalation, stir and attaint them.  
Sixthly, there is a long thin cloud seen in a clear sky, either a little before sunne-setting, or soon after: now this is caused by reason of the calmness of the air; even as Aristotle observeth, that in a quiet sea, the waves float to the shore, long and strait. I do not think that this alone can be any more than a very remote sign, unless it be joined with some of the other signs already mentioned: for although such a cloud may be seen, yet every calm brings not an earthquake, neither are all places alike subject to them.  
The last sign, and that which cannot but be infallible, is the great noise and sound which is heard under the earth, like to a groaning, or very thundering. And yet some say, that this is not always attended with an earthquake: for if the wind find any way large enough to get out, it shaketh not the earth. Now this noise is made by the struggling of the wind under the earth.  
Next after the Antecedentia, the Consequentia of earthquakes would be considered; and these (as I said) 
Effects of earthquakes.  be their effects: which indeed be not so much the effects of the earthquake, as of the exhalation causing the earthquake.  
The first whereof may be the ruin of buildings, and such like things, together with the death of many people. About the 29 year before the birth of Christ, was an 
p Lanquet in his chron.  earthquake in jury, whereby thirty thousand people perished. In the fifth year of Tiberius' Emperor of Rome, 
q Tacit. lib. 2. an●…al. ●…seb. chron.  thirteen cities of Asia were destroyed in one night by an earthquake. Some say but twelve. Lanq. chron. In the 66 year of Christ, 
r E●…eb. ibid.  three cities of Asia were also, by the like accident, overthrown; namely, Laodicea, Hieropoli●…, and Colossus. Again, in the year of Christ 79, three 
s Idem.  cities of Cyprus came to the like ruin: and in the year following was a great death of people at Rome. And in the year 114, 
t Lanquet in his chron.  Antioch was much hurt by an earthquake: at which time, the Emperor Tr●…jan being in those parts, escaped the danger very difficultly. Eusebius placeth it in the second year of the 223 Olympiad: and Bucholcerus setteth it in the year of Christ one hundred and eleven. Eusebius makes mention of another before this, in the 7 year of Trajan: & this was that, which in Asia, Greece, & Calabria, overthrew nine several cities. About the year of Christ 
u Eus●….  180, or 182, the city Smyrna came to the like ruin: for the restauration whereof, the Emperor remitted ten years' tribute. About the year of Christ 369, Eusebius again telleth of an earthquake, which was in a manner all over the world, to the great damage of many towns and people. The like was in the year 551: at which time, a quave of the earth swallowed a middle part of the city Misia, with many of the inhabitants, where the voice of them that were swallowed, was heard crying for help and succour. He also, in the year 562, mentions another, wherewith the city Berintho was overthrown; and the isles, called C●…y, grievously shaken. Again, he writeth of a great tempest and earthquake in the year 1456, wherein (as he hath it out of Chronica chronicorum) there perished about Puell and Naples, 40 thousand people. Also, 
x Fromond. M●…t. lib. 4. but Lanquet nameth the year 1508.  in the year 1509, the city of Constantinople was sorely shaken, innumerable houses and towers were cast to the ground, and chiefly the palace of the great Turk; insomuch that he was forced to fly to another place. Thirteen thousand perished in this calamity. Again, in 
z Idem.  the year 1531, in the city Lisbon, a thousand four hundred houses were overthrown (or, as some say, one thousand five hundred) and above six hundred so shaken that they were ready to fall, and their churches cast unto the ground, lying like heaps of stones. This earthquake was attended with a terrible plague and pestilence. And thus do these examples confirm the first effect.  
A second is the turning of plain ground into mountains, and raising up of islands in the sea, as Thia, in the time of Pliny; and Therasia, which (as Seneca witnesseth) was made an island even in the sight of the mariners, or whilst they were looking on. Thus also Delos, Rhodos, and sundry others, came to be islands.  
A third effect is the throwing down of mountains, and sinking of islands, and such like. Thus perished the Atlantic island, as I showed before: yea thus also perished, by the breach of the earth, those famous cities of Achaia, viz. Helice and Buris: of which Ovid writeth thus,  
Si quaras Helicen & Burin, Achaeidas urbes,  
Invenies sub aquis: Et adhuc ostendere nautae  
Inclinata solent cum moenibus oppida mersis.  
If thou wouldst Helice and wished Buris find,  
Th'Achaean cities, (never lost in mind)  
The water hides them: and the shipmen show  
Those ruined towns and drowned walls as they row.  
A fourth effect is the cutting the neck of some Isthmus from the continent: and thus Britain was 
a Verstegan, in his restitution, cap. 4.  severed from France; Africa from Spain; and Sicily from Italy, with the like.  
A fifth is the translation of mountains, buildings, trees etc. unto some other places: of which we may find testimony in good authors of credit. Albertus calls this motion, a vection or a carrying.  
A sixth is the breaking out of rivers and fountains in some new places: which happeneth by the breaches made in the earth amongst water-springs, through the violence of the Exhalation.  
A seventh is plague and pestilence, caused by the poisonous fume of the Exhalation: such as was in the year 1531, before mentioned, when Lisbon was so strangely shaken: For putrid Exhalations infect the Air; and the Air, us.  
An eighth effect is famine; which may be by reason of the shocks and shake of the earth, making it thereby become as it were sick and sterile. Or else it may be by reason that the long penned vapour carries with it a blasting hurtful fume.  
A ninth is sometimes the discovering of new burning hills; which may happen when the abundance of Brimstone and sulphurous matter that is under ground, is set on fire through the violent motion of the Exhalation: and so it breaketh forth.  
A tenth is (or else should be) the fear of a Deity. For if it be the Lords will by this work of his, in his handmaid nature, to shake it, no land can be sure, no place so strong that can defend us. Nay, the more strong, the more dangerous: For the higher, the greater fall. With the wi●…e man therefore I will say, I know that whatsoever God doth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: And God doth it, that men should fear before him, Ecclesiastes 3. 14.  
Last of all, this I will add: and it is a saying of one, well worthy to be remembered. The whole earth (saith he) is nothing but the centre or point of the world. This is all the matter of our glory; this our seat. Here we bear honours; here we exercise rule; here we desire riches; and here mankind troubleth and turmoileth himself: here we wage war, yea civil war; and make the very earth become soft and fat with the crimson blood of our mutual slaughters. This is that place where we drive away from us our near neighbours, ditch in his grounds to ours, and so measure our demeans by driving others from our coasts, that thereby we may be like to him who can freely triumph in any part of the earth. But what of all this? When time, by ending us, hath put a measure to our covetousness; then, after all, what a small portion shall he obtain, who is dead and gone from all? O amatores mundi, cujus rei gratiâ militatis? Oh ye lovers of the world, for the sake of what thing is it that you strive?  
Let any judge, whether this lower Ball  
(Whose endless greatness we admire so all)  
Seem not a point, compared with th'upper Sphere,  
Whose turning turns the rest in their career.  
Lo than the guerdon of your pinching pain:  
A needle's point, a mote, a mite you gain:  
A nit, a nothing (did you all possess)  
Or, if then nothing any thing be less.  
" Why then should man this nothing thus respect,  
" As he, for it, heavens Kingdom should neglect?  
If thou feedest well, if feet and back be clad,  
What more to thee can Kingly riches add?  
Not house, not land, not heaps of gold and treasure,  
(When sickness of thy body hath took seizure)  
Can thence remove it, neither canst thou find  
A force in them to cure a troubled mind.  
Which if man could well remember, he would cease to spend himself for nothing; and willingly subscribe to the lamentation made by the 
a 〈◊〉 trag.  Poet, under the person of Hecuba, upon the ruin of Troy; saying,  
Quicunque regno fidit, & magnâ potens dominatur aulâ,  
Animúmque rebus credulum laetis dedit,  
Me videat, & te, Troja: non unquam tulit  
Documenta sors majora, quam fragili loco  
Starent superbi—  
Which is (as 
b B●…rkley in his Summ. bonum. edit. 2. lib. 2.  one translates it) thus,  
He that his confidence puts in a Crown,  
Or in his Palace potently doth frown,  
And takes, with prosperous fortunes, all his joy;  
Let him but look on me, and thee, O Troy.  
Chance, by no greater influence, could declare,  
In what a fickle state all proud things are.  
To this purpose also serveth that Epigram of Ausonius, wherein he feigneth Diogenes to see the rich King Croesus among the dead: and there Diogenes himself hath as good an estate as he.  
Effigiem Rex Croese tuam, ditissime Regum,  
Vidit apud manes Diogenes Cynicus.  
Constitit; útque procul solito majore cachinno  
Concussus, dixit, Quid tibi divitiae  
Nunc prosunt, Regum Rex O ditissime, cum sis  
Sicut ego solus, me quoque pauperior?  
Nam quaecunque habui, mecum fero: cum nihil ipse  
Ex tantis tecum, Croese, feras opibus.  
Amongst the ghosts Diogenes beheld  
Thee Croesus, of all kings, with most wealth swelled.  
This 'twas he did conclude; and as one moved  
With greater laughing than his wont behoved,  
He far off said, Thou richest once of kings,  
Speak; (to this place below) what profit brings  
All thy late pomp? for aught that I now spy,  
We are alike; nay thou more poor than I.  
For nought was what I had; I brought that store:  
Thou hadst much wealth; yet now then I no more.  
Like unto which, is that example of him, who lying at length upon the ground, and rising, by chance espied the print that his body at the full length made: he breaks out into this, or the like speech, saying, Lo here, what a small piece of ground will serve us when we die▪ and yet living, we seek to conquer kingdoms. To which we may join that worthy command of famous Saladine, who being ready to depart this life, called for his standard-bearer, giving him in charge that he should go and take his winding sheet, and hanging it on his pike, he should go out with it, and tell to his camp, that of all his triumphs, of all his conquests, and of all his victories, he had nothing left unto him now but only that to wrap up his body for his burial.  
Are all men mortal? are all born to die?  
Can none on earth possess eternity?  
Sure, he that looks upon the world's frail stage,  
And views the actions of this present age,  
He cannot but with eyes indifferent see  
That mortals here would fain immortal be.  
For by the symptoms is the sickness found;  
And by the thoughts that equalise the ground,  
Transcending rarely from that pitch, on high  
Up to the court above the azure sky,  
No hard thing 'tis, a judgement true to give,  
That such descendants here would ever live,  
But souls, inspired with the gales of grace,  
Esteem the witching world no resting place;  
A place of travel, not a place of stay;  
Such well devoted pilgrims count this way:  
For sure the world is but a gaudy ball,  
Whose quilt is vanity, no joy at all.  
Rouse then thy mind (witched mortal) from the ground,  
Think of that place where true joys may be found:  
Choke not thy soul with earth: for thou dost win  
Nought for thy care, but punishment of sin:  
Rouse▪ then (I say) thy thoughts; think what it is  
To be partaker of eternal bliss.  
For when the drie-land God did make appear,  
'Twas not that man should think his heaven here.   

Sect. 4. Concerning the sprouting, springing, and fructification of the earth.  
I Am now come to that which I called the third and last part of this day's work: and it is the budding, and fructification of the earth. For after God had discovered it, and made it dry, he commands it to bring forth every green thing; as grass, herbs, trees, etc. by which he caused it to change a mourning, black, and sad-russet weed, into a green, gallant, rich, enamelled robe; and, ladylike, to paint itself in bravery; having green grassy locks, whose hair doth not more adorn then profit; whose rosy cheeks are not more admired, then, for their virtues, wished: whose frank, free, fragrant, fruitful breasts do so nourish her own children, sprung from her never resting womb, that they again add nourishment to other things; both man and beast gaining by her never ending labours. For God, by saying Let it bring forth, did not only give an ability or power of bringing forth, but brought that power also into act; causing this act to be so begun, that it might be continued from thence to the very end of time. And to this purpose we see it is, that the herb must bring forth seed, and the tree bear fruit. For God would not that either the herb should be sterile, or the tree barren; but with their seeds and fruits, according to their kinds: by which it was, and is, that their kinds both were, and are preserved. For first we see the buds spring up; these at the first are tender, but afterwards, growing a little older, we call them herbs: the herbs, being of convenient growth, bring forth flowers: under the flowers, grow and wax ripe the seeds: the seeds being ripe and cast into the ground, do again bring forth the tender buds; and they herbs in their several kinds; and so on, as before: by which you may see, how God hath constituted a never ending course in nature; being the same in the trees also, as well as in the herbs. For their tender branches do not grow to be woody, but by little and little; then they aspire to the height and name of trees; and being trees, they blossom; from their blossoms arise fruits; and within their fruits be seeds; and in those seeds resteth the power of other sprouts, or tender shoots.  
Now some would observe from hence, that here is mention made of three kind of plants and fruits that the earth bringeth forth; viz. the bud, the herb, and the tree: which by others are distinguished into herbs, shrubs, and trees. But I rather think the bud is to be exempted, and not taken as one peculiar thing proper to a kind of its own. For (as I have already showed) that which is the bud, may be taken, either for the tender shoot of any herb or grass, or else for the tender and unwoodie branches of shrubs and trees: for that which they be in their sprouting, they are not in their perfection: neither are they in their perfection what they be in sprouting.  
And is it not an endless wonder to see the variety, 
The variety and virtue of herbs and trees.  growth, power and virtue of these, the earth's rich liveries? some great, some less; some little, some low; some large, some long; some, whose virtue excels in this; some, whose power appears in that: some hot and moist; some cold and dry: some hot and dry; some cold and moist. Of all which I purpose to give my reader a taste, that thereby he may be driven to admire the rest.  

Herbs hot and moist.  
ANd first of all I begin with Basil: in Greek it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Basil.  or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; in Latin, Ocimum, Basilicum, or R●…gium. This is an herb hot in the second degree, and somewhat moist. 
a Ger. in his Herb. out of Galen●…imp ●…imp. li●…. 8.  Galen would not that this herb should be taken inwardly, because it hath a kind of superfluous moisture joined to it; but being applied outwardly, it is good to digest, distribute, or concoct. We in England seldom or never eat it: yet we greatly esteem it, because it smelleth sweet, and (as some think) comforteth the brain. But know that weak brains are rather hurt then holpen by it; for the say our is strong: and therefore much smelled unto, it proeureth the headaeh: and (as the author of the haven of health affirmeth out of Hollerius) Basil hath a strong property beyond all these. For (saith he) a certain Italian, by often smelling to Basil, had a 
A scorpion bred in the brain by the smell of Basil.  scorpion bred in his brain, and after vehement and long pain he died thereof▪ Moreover, that we shun the eating of it, is also necessary; because, if it be chewed, and laid afterwards into the sun, it engendereth worms. Mr Thomas Hill, in his art of gardening, testifieth that the seeds of Basil▪ put up into the nose, procure sneezing; and being mixed with shoemakers black, do take 
A medicine for warts.  away warts, killing them to the very roots.  
The wild Mallow is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, signifying 
Mallows.  a 〈◊〉 of pain: and in Latin, it is Malva sylvestris. It hath a certain moderate and middle heat in it, together with some moisture. The leaves stamped with a little 
How to 〈◊〉 from ●…inging.  honey, and one anointed with them shall not be stung by bees, wasps, or the like.  
Borage is a common herb, and yet some account a 
Borage.  fourfold difference in it; as thus, Garden Borage, white-flowred Borage, never dying Borage (so called, because fair blue flowers, ripe seeds, and buds for new flowers, may be seen all at once on it) and also another kind of Borage, which is little differing from the former, excepting that the flowers look fair and red. This herb is hot and moist in the first degree.  
Unto this may be joined bugloss, which, according 
bugloss.  to Dioscorides (as Mr. Gerard writeth) is the true Borage: whereupon, 
b Herb. pag. 654.  saith he, many are of an opinion that the one is but a degenerate kind from the other. In the Greek it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; and in the Latin, Lingua bubula. Pliny giveth a reason of this name; which is, because it is like an ox's tongue. Moreover, he likewise 
Good to make one merry.  calleth it Euphrosynum, from the effect; namely, because it maketh a man merry and joyful: For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is Laetitia; and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth some such thing as doth laetitiam adferre, or bring mirth: which he witnesseth of this herb to be true, saying that being put into wine it increaseth the delights of the mind▪ Plin. lib. 25. cap. 8.  
The like is also said of Borage; Ego Borage gaudia semper ago▪ In which regard the distilled water of Borage or 
An excellent 〈◊〉, ter made of ●…orage, etc. being good against melancholy and sadness.  bugloss, with the leaves and flowers, being drunk with wine, cannot but be good, comfortable, and pleasant for the brain and heart: it increaseth wit and memory, engendereth good blood, and putteth away melancholy and madness, as the author of the haven of health affirmeth.   

The herbs following are hot and dry.  
NExt unto bugloss, I mention Balm or Baum, because 
Balm,  the water of it also being drunk in wine, is good to comfort the heart, to drive away all melancholy and sadness: in which regard it is not amiss to have them all distilled together. Moreover I find it recorded that 
〈◊〉 take great delight in ●…alm.  the hives of bees being rubbed with the leaves of this herb, causeth the bees to keep well together, and allureth others to come unto them: For, saith 
c Lib. 21. cap. 20.  Pliny, they delight in no herb or flower more; and therefore they fly not away from such hives as are either rubbed with the leaves, or anointed with the juice of this herb: and hereupon it cometh to be called Apiastrum; which is as much as to say, The bees star, or guide. For when they are strayed far from home, by the help of this herb they find their way again. But the common Latin name is Melissa, or Citrago. It is also called in some authors, Melissophyllum, and Meliphyllon.  
This is an herb which is hot and dry in the second degree; 
A medicine for the Mother.  & good to be either eaten, or smelled unto by them who are subject to the Mother. Gerard.  
Pliny writeth a strange secret in a kind of Balm, 
Balm is good to close up wounds.  which he calleth Iron-wort; viz. that the leaves close up wounds without any peril of inflammation: and also that it is of so great virtue (which you may believe as you list) that though it be but tied to his sword which gave the wound, it stauncheth the blood.  
Sage, called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, is Salvia in the Latin: 
Sage.  and amongst the many kinds which some observe, there are principally two; the greater, and the lesser. Some say it is hot and dry in the third degree: some name not the third so much, as the end of the second: others determine that it is hot in the first degree, and dry in the second.  
This is an herb which hath many and singular properties; insomuch that the Salern school makes this demand,  Cur moriatur homo cui Salvia crescit in horto? 
As if it should be said, such is the virtue of Sage, that if it were possible, it would cause Clotho evermore to hold the distaff, and Lachesis to spin perpetually; yea, Atropos must forbear to cut in two the thread of life: such a desire hath Sage to make a man immortal.  
The Latin and English names speak greatly for the commendation of it. For Salvia takes the name of safety; and Sage is a name of wisdom.  
Sith then the name betokens wise and saving,  
We count it nature's friend, and worth the having.  
Beside these names, some call it the Holy herb, because 
Sage is good for child-bearing women.  women with child, if they be like to come before their time, and are troubled with abortments, do eat thereof to their great good: For it maketh them fruitful, retaineth the birth, and giveth life unto it. Ger. in his Herbal. 
Good for the brain.   
Moreover, Sage is singular good for the brain and head, quickeneth the memory and senses, strengtheneth 
Good against the palsy.  the sinews, is good against the palsy, and stayeth a shaking in any part of the body. The most of which properties are expressed in these two verses following,  
Salvia confortat nervos, manuúmque tremorem  
Tollit, & ejus ope febris acuta fugit.  
Sage makes the sinews strong, the palsy cures;  
And by its help no ague long endures.  
Also, the juice of this herb drunk with honey, is good 
Good against spitting of blood.  for those that spit and vomit blood: for it stoppeth the flux thereof incontinently.  
And last of all, although I omit many virtues in this herb, yet one thing must not be forgotten. The leaves of 
Good against a stitch in the side.  the red Sage put into a wooden dish, wherein are put very quick coals, with some ashes in the bottom of the dish to keep the same from burning, and a little vinegar sprinkled upon the leaves lying upon the coals, and so wrapped in a linen cloth, and holden very hot unto the side of those that are troubled with a grievous stitch, they take away the pain presently, and also greatly help the extremity of a pleurisy. Ger.  
Rue, or Herbgrace, in Latin is called Ruta, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; which is, quòd caliditate svam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, semen quasi congelat. If it be wild Rue, and not such as groweth in gardens, than it is hot and dry in the fourth degree: but garden Rue is a degree cooler and moister. 
d Lib. 19 cap. 8.  Pliny writeth that there is such friendship between it and the figtree, that it prospereth no where so well as under that tree; delighting also (as he affirmeth) to grow in funnie places. It is an enemy to the Toad, as being a 
An antip●…thy between the Toad and Rue.  great enemy to poison: And excellent is that medicine approved by Mithridates, King of Pontus in Asia, 
Good against poison.  who lived in the days of Pompey, viz. that if any do eat fasting two dry walnuts, as many figs, and twenty leaves of Rue, with one grain of salt, nothing which is venomous may that day hurt him; it being also an excellent preservative against the pestilence. Which also the Salern school teacheth, in these words,  
Allia, Ruta, Pyra, & Raphanus, cum Theriaca, Nux,  
Praestant antidotum contra lethale venenum.  
Garlic, Rue, Pears, and Radishes will make,  
With treacle and Nut,  
An antidote, which will fallen poison slake,  
And door of danger shut.  
Moreover, Schola Salerni setteth down some other properties of it, thus;  
Ruta comesta recens, oculos caligine purgat;  
Ruta viris coitum minuit, mulieribus auget.  
Upon which occasion, one once gave it this commendation,  
Rue is a noble herb, to give it right: 
Good for the sight▪   
For, chew it fasting, it will purge the sight.  
One quality thereof yet blame I must: 
Rue makes men chaste, but not women.   
It makes men chaste, and women fills with lust.  
Which last property is caused, in regard that the nature of women is waterish and cold: now Rue (we know) heateth and drieth; whereupon it stirreth them the more to carnal lust: but it diminisheth the nature of men, which is of temperature like to the air, viz. hot and moist; working thereupon a contrary effect from that which it doth in women.  
Also, for those who are feeble in their sight, let them 
A precious wate●… for the eyes.  distil Rue and white roses together, and putting the water thereof into their eyes, it will open their windows and let in more light. To which join also this other experiment, taken out of Schola Salerni;  
Feniculus, Verbena, Rosa, & Chelidonia, Ruta,  
Ex istis fit aqua quae lumina reddit acuta.  
Fennell, Vervine, Rose, Celandine and Rue,  
Do water make which will the sight renew.  
What other properties are pertinent to it, may be seen at large in Pliny, lib. 19 cap. 8. & lib. 20. cap. 13. As also in Gerard, and such others as have set forth herbals.  
I will add therefore but one thing more; namely that 
A note for garden▪ we●…ders.  the weeding of this herb with bare hands whilst the dew hangeth on the leaves, doth cause dangerous blisters and sores; which may again be helped with salad oil or the juice of hemlock, as Mr Thomas Hill in his art of gardening hath declared.  
Dill is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Anethum and 
Dill.  Anetum; and in English, sometimes Anet as well as Dill. It bringeth forth flowers and seeds in August; and, as some write, it is hot and dry in the second degree: but Gerard, out of Galen, affirmeth, that it is hot in the end of the second degree, and dry in the beginning of the same, or in the end of the first degree. The decoction of the tops of this herb dried, together with the seed being 
Dill i●… good to expel ●…inde, provo●… 〈◊〉, engender mi●… i●… nurses breasts.  drunk, provoketh urine, allayeth gripings, hickets, and windiness; engendereth milk in nurse's breasts, with such like other secrets. And of the green herb it is said, that it procureth fleep, sound, and secure; according to which we have an old saying, that  
Whosoever wearetb Vervine or Dill,  
May be bold to sleep on every hill.  
And from hence haply it was, that garlands made of 
An old custom.  this herb were used to be worn at riotous feasts, that thereby they might not only sleep, but sleep without danger.  
Rosemary, which some call the garland rose, or in Latin 
Rosemary.  Rosmarinus coronaria, because, in times past, women have been accustomed to make garlands or crowns of it, is an herb which is hot and dry in the second degree, and of an astringent or binding quality. The Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Thus, or arbour thurifera; and so also 
e Lib. 19 cap. ●…lt.  Pliny nameth it, because it hath a root like to the frankincense tree; or because the flowers smell much like to turpentine, or frankincense: which flowers, if they be distilled, and if a few cloves, mace, 
Good against a stinking breath.  cinnamon, and a little aniseed be steeped in their water for a few days together, and drunk at morning and evening first and last, it taketh away the stench of the mouth and breath, and maketh it very sweet, quickening the senses and memory, strengtheneth the sinewy parts, and is best for those who have a cold moist brain. The same wine that Rosemary and the flowers have been 
To make the face fair.  sodden in, is good to wash the face and hands that they may look fair and clear.  
Also the conserve of Rosemary flowers, taken every 
To prevent the palsy, and strengthen the stomach. To cure melancholy.  morning fasting, is good against tremble, faintings, palsies, etc. helping those who have a trembling at the heart, or are troubled with a dumb palsy, or are subject to vomit up their meat. And for dull melancholy men, take the 
* Note also that the flowers boiled in Goat's milk, are good for the P●…issick. You must keep covered▪ and drink it cold.  flowers and make them into powder, bind them to the right arm in a linen cloth, and this powder (by working upon the veins) shall make a man more merry and lightsome then ordinary. Take also the 
To cure a stuffing in the head.  rind of the Rosemary and make powder thereof, then drink it in a little wine, and it helpeth you of the pose or stuffing in the head, if it proceed from the coldness of your brain. Also the wood of the stalk burnt to coals, and 
To sco●…re th●… teeth, and kill the worms in them.  made into powder, and put into a linen cloth, is excellent to rub the teeth that they may look white, and to kill the worms in them if there be any, or to keep them from breeding if there be none. These, and sundry other, are the properties of Rosemary.  
I could wish that there were a greater plenty of this herb in England then there is. France hath great store; insomuch that at Provence it is used for a common fuel, the unlaboured grounds do so abound with it.  
Of Aconite or Wolf-bane there be many kinds; 
Wolf-bane.  and the forces of them all are extremely pernicious 
An incurable poison.  and poisonsome: for it is reported that if either man or beast be wounded with an arrow, knife, sword, or any other instrument dipped in the juice of this herb, they die incurably within half an hour after.  
And know that it is called Wolf-bane, because men hunting for wolves, used to poison pieces of raw flesh with the juice of this herb, and lay them as baits, on which the wolves eating, die presently.  
It hath a root like a scorpion, shining within like alabaster. Poets feign (because it is such a venomous herb) that Cerberus, the threeheaded dog of hell, being dragged up in a chain of Adamant by Hercules, did cast some of his venom upon it, whereby it became so venomous.  
Yet nevertheless, as great and deadly a poisoner as it 
A str●…ge property in a posso●…g herb.  is, the juice of it cures the burning bite of stinging serpents, if it be taken and applied to the place grieved. Whereupon Du Bartas calleth it  
A valiant venom, and courageous plant,  
Disdainful poison, noble combatant,  
That scorneth aid, and loves alone to fight,  
That none partake the glory of his might.  
For if he find our bodies 'fore-possest  
With other poison, th●…n he lets us rest,  
And with his rival entereth secret strife,  
By both whose deaths man keeps his wished life.  
Mullet, or Flea-bane, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Conyza, 
Flea-bane.  is hot and dry in the third degree.  
This herb burned, and smoked where flies, gnats, 
Good to drive away gnats and 〈◊〉, etc.  fleas, or any venomous things are, doth drive them away.  
Lady's mantle, or great Sanicle, is an herb of a drying 
Lady's mantle.  nature. It is good to keep down maiden's paps or dugs; and when they be great and flaggie, it maketh them lesser 
An herb for maids.  and harder. Ger. Herb. pag. 803.  
Butterwort is a kind of Sanicle; and it is hot and 
Butterwort.  dry in the third degree. It is reported that when sheep eat of this herb (which is but when the want of other 
How sheep may▪ catch a rot.  meat compels them) they then catch a rot.  
Yet nevertheless, if it be bruised, the juice makes a good ointment for the dugs of cattle or kine, when they be either bitten by any venomous worm, chapped, rifted, or hurt by other means. It is requisite that farmers and 
An excellent herb for farmers.  husbandmen's wives should be well acquainted with this herb; as also that shepherds should know what ground aboundeth with it, that thereby they may prevent a mischief in their flock.  
Horehound, called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Marrubium, 
Horehound  is an herb hot in the second degree, and dry in the third.  
The syrup of this herb doth wonderfully and above 
A co●…e for a cough of the 〈◊〉.  credit ease such as have lain sick very long of a cough or consumption of the lungs: the like doth Saffron, bringing 
Saffron.  breath again, when one is even at death's door, if ten or twenty grains at the most (for too much is hurtful) be given in new or sweet wine. Saffron is hot in the second degree, and dry in the first. And of it thus writeth the Salern 
f Trans. by 〈◊〉 John Harington▪  school,  
Take Saffron, if your heart make glad you will;  
But not too much, for that the heart may kill.  
Hyssop, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and in Latin Hyssopus, is an 
Hyssop.  herb hot and dry in the third degree; whose chief virtues are briefly comprehended in these few verses of Schola Salerni, 
Hyssop purgeth the breast, and puts a good colour in the face.   
Hyssopúsque herba est, purgans è pectore phlegma:  
Ad pulmonis opus cum melle coquenda jugata.  
Vultibus eximium fertur praestare colorem.  
The Hyssop is an herb to purge and cleanse  
Raw flegmes and hurtful humours from the breast:  
The same unto the lungs great comfort lends,  
With honey boiled: but far above the rest,  
It gives good colour, and complexion mends,  
And is therefore with women in request.  
Mr. Gerard setteth down the virtues of it thus;  

1. A decoction of Hyssop made with figs, and gargled 
Good for the throat.  in the mouth and throat, ripeneth and breaketh the tumors and impostumes of the mouth and throat, and also easeth the difficulty of swallowing, coming by cold rheums.  
2. The same made with figs, honey, water, and Rue, and 
Good for the lungs and breath▪  drunk, helpeth the inflammation of the lungs, the old cough, shortness of breath, and the obstructions or stops of the breast.  
3. The syrup or juice taken with the syrup of vinegar, 
Good against worms.  purgeth tough and clammy phlegm by stool, and driveth forth worms, if it be eaten with figs.  
4. And the water (saith he) is also good for the forenamed diseases; but nothing so speedy and forcible.   
Water-Cresses, which the Latins call Nasturtium 
Water-Cresses.  aquaticum, or Sisymbrium aquaticum, and the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, are of nature hot and dry. They help maidens of 
Good against the green sickness.  the green sickness, and send their accustomed lively colour again into their faces, if they take them thus, viz. chop them and boil them in the broth of flesh, and use to eat such broth for a month together at morning, noon, and night.  
Also being taken in the same manner they provoke 
Good against the stone.  urine, waste the stone and drive it out. Ger. pag. 201.  
Sothornwood, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which name it also 
Sothernwood.  retaineth in the Latin, is hot and dry in the end of the third degree.  
It is said that the ashes of burnt Sothernwood brought to 
Good to make the beard grow.  a powder, & tempered with the oil of radish or some other thin oil, cure the pilling of the hair from the head, and cause the beard to grow quickly. The same doth also the juice of this herb mixed with the oil of Dill.  
Pliny writeth (which you may believe as you list) 
A strange 〈◊〉.  that a branch of this herb laid under the pillow of the bed, doth greatly move a desire to the venereal act; & is of force against all charms that have been to hinder it. Plin. lib. 21. cap. 21.  
There is an herb called Herba Paris, One Berrie, or 
One Berrie  Herb-Truelove; so called because at the top of the stalk 
Good against peevishness.  it beareth four leaves like unto a true-lovers knot. This herb is good for such as are peevish & childishly foolish for they know not what; let them drink half a spoonful of the powder, or of the berries at morn & even. Ger.  
Dittanie, called of the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and in Latin 
Dittanie.  Dictamnum, is an herb hot and dry. There are two kinds of it; Dittanie of Crete, and Bastard Dittanie.  
That which is the true Dittanie, is of wonderful operation. 
g Lib. 25. cap. ●….  Pliny saith that it groweth only in Crete or Candie; and is beneficial to the wounded Deer: For 
An herb for the wounded Deer▪  the wild Goats and Dear in Candie, when they be wounded with arrows or darts, do shake them out by eating of this herb; and it also healeth their wounds.  
The Bastard Dittanie hath virtues somewhat like to the first, but not of such great force. And of the first, Du Bartas writeth thus,  
But I suppose not that the earth doth yield  
In hill or dale, in forest or in field,  
A rarer plant than Candian Dittanie,  
Which wounded Dear eating, immediately  
Not only cure their wounds exceeding well,  
But against the shooter do the shaft repel.  
Cummin, in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and in Latin Cuminum, 
Cummin.  is hot and dry in the third degree.  
The seeds of this herb sodden in water, if the face be 
To make the face fair.  washed with the same, do cause it to be clear and fair: yet use it not too often; for than it breedeth paleness: it is good therefore for such as be high-coloured, or have too much blood in their cheeks.  
Moreover, chew this seed in your mouth after the eating of onions, garlic, or leeks, and it taketh away their smell.  
Also, it stoppeth a bleeding at the nose, being tempered 
For bleeding at the nose.  with vinegar and smelled unto.  
Mint is in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sweet, and from 
Mint.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Smell: and this, saith 
h Lib. 19 cap. 8. & lib. 20. cap. 14.  Pliny, is the reason why it is not rather called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Moreover, as he also affirmeth, 
Good for students.  the smell of it stirreth up the mind, and must therefore be good for students; good also against the biting of Scorpions.  
But let the good huswife never use to rub her milkbowls 
A note for good huswives.  with Mints: For Mints put into milk will not suffer the milk to cured, although the rennet or running (as they call it) be put unto it. This herb is hot and dry in the third degree; and, as Schola Salerni witnesseth, is 
Good to kill worms.  good against worms.  
The worms that gnaw the womb and never stint,  
Are killed, purged, and driven away by Mint.  
Mustard, or Senvie, called in Greek by some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, by 
Mustard.  others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and in Latin Sinapi or Sinapium, is hot and dry in the fourth degree, and is marvellous good against a voice that's hoarse: wherefore if any be given to music, 
To make one sing clear.  and would fain have a clear voice to sing, let him make mustard seeds into powder, and work the same with honey into little balls, of the which let him swallow one or two down every morning fastin●…▪ and in short time his voice will be clear.  
Moreover, Mustard hath another good property, which must not be forgotten; and this it is,  

i 〈◊〉▪ John Haringtons' trans. of Schola Salerni. How a woman may save her credit.  She that hath hap a husband bad to bury,  
And is therefore in heart not sad, but merry,  
Yet if in show good manners she would keep,  
Onions and Mustardseed will make her weep.  
Peniryall, or Pudding-grasse, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and 
Peniryall.  in Latin Pulegium, or Pulegium regale (for difference between it and wild Thyme, which some call Pulegium montanum) is an herb hot and dry in the third degree, 
Good against drowsiness.  and good for such as are daily moved to sleep: For let them but take the fresh Peniryall and hold it in their mouth, under their tongue; and by often applying the fresh herb, they shall drive away the desire of sleep.  
Moreover, according to Schola Salerni,  
Let them that unto choler much incline, 
Good against choler and the gout.   
Drink Peniryall steeped in their wine:  
And some affirm that they have found by trial,  
That Gouts great pain is eased by Peniryall.  
bryony, or the White vine, as it is commonly called, 
Brionie.  is of two kinds: the one white, the other black; besides the wild one, which is Brionia sylvestris. This plant is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Vitis alba: but according to Pliny, it is Brionia, or Madon.  
White bryony is in all parts hot and dry, exceeding the third degree.  
It scoureth the skin, taketh away wrinkles, freckles, 
Good against scars, spots, freckles, etc.  sunne-burning, black marks, spots, and scars of the face, if the juice be tempered with the meal of vetches, or tares, or of fenugreek: or boil●…d in oil till it be consumed, it taketh away black and blue spots which come of stripes.  
And, as Galen affirmeth, it is a plant profitable for tanner's, 
An herb for tanner's.  to thicken their leather hides with. Ger. ex Galen.  
Madwort, or Moon-wort, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin 
Madwort.  Alyssum, or Lunaria, is an herb of a temperature meanly dry, and very like to Horehound, but rougher and more full of prickles about the flowers; the colour of which flowers are tending to blue: the leaves are small and fashioned something like an heart, with a crooked line along the same, diverse tufts depending on a long tail, on both sides: somewhat long, flat, and divided on the one side by crooked flittings, which seem to be round holes; the entry whereof is raised both on the one part, and on the other. The stalks thereof are made with hollow angles, garnished with gross branches▪ and the grain in the cod, is made like a crescent with two horns; from whence it is called Moon-wort, or Lunaria. Thus I find it described: and note also that the root is slender, and about some four fingers long.  
I meet sometimes with many strange reports concerning 
This is an herb of a strange property. For it is an herb that unshoeth horses, and the like.  this herb: and who more highly esteem it then the Alchemists? because it seemeth to be a thing very proper to them, and peculiar for their use in making of silver. The Italians call it, Unshoe-the-horse; because, if they tread upon it, they lose their shoes, and are freed from their locks and fetters.  
Oh Moon-wort tell us where thou hidest the smith, 
Du 〈◊〉.   
Hammer and pincers thou unshoo'st them with.  
Alas! what look or iron engine is't  
That can thy subtle secret strength resist,  
Sith the best Farrier cannot set a shoe  
So sure, but thou with speed canst it undo?  
These secrets are strange, and somewhat are they strengthened by that which Pliny writeth of the wood-pecker, who, by the means of a certain herb, draweth the wedges out of the holes in trees, which shepherds have driven in: yea nails, or any other such like wedges, are fetched out by the virtue of this herb. Thus Pliny relateth, and he allegeth one Trebias for his witness. See Plin. lib. 10. cap. 18.  
Mr Gerard saith that it is sown now and then in gardens, especially for the rareness of it; but the seed (saith he) is brought over either from Spain or Italy. But why may it not grow in other places? I remember what a friend of mine, of good credit, once told me, that his grandfather had a close, wherein it was a common thing to find their horses unfettered in the morning, although they were fast shackled over night: he named also the place; but I have now forgotten it. Here do I suppose might grow some of this herb, if there be any such to work these feats.  
But to omit these strange narrations, let me acquaint 
Good against the biting of a mad dog.  you with that excellent property which Galen mentioneth; namely, that if it be given to such as are enraged by the biting of a mad dog, it doth perfectly cure them. Ger. Herb. pag. 380. It is therefore also called Madwort.  
Parsley is an herb hot and dry; hot in the second degree, 
Parsley.  and dry almost in the third. There be many kinds of Parsley; and every one of them, according to the Greek, are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; and in Latin, Apium, Petrapium, and the like. But know that there is Apium hortense, garden Parsley; and Apium palustre, water Parsley (which is Smallage) and Apium montanum, mountain Parsley; and Petrapium, or Petroselinum Macedonicum, which we in England call stone Parsley. Moreover, some say that Alisanders' are called the great Parsley: and again, there is Apium sylvestre, wild Parsley.  
Elianus reporteth, in the 13 book of his variable 
How sick Hearts cure themselves.  history, that when the Hearts stand in need of a remedy against any dangerous disease, they then use to eat wild Parsley.  
There be generally two sorts of Thyme; the wild and 
Thyme.  the garden Thyme: and both are hot and dry in the third degree.  
The wild is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Serpillum, à serpendo, from creeping: for so it grows, and creeps upon the ground from place to place.  
The garden Thyme is called Thymum durius, and in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which is a general name for all kind of Thyme.  
Bees are greatly delighted with this herb: and for 
Good against the falling sickness, and troubled minds.  such as are subject to the falling sickness, let them use to smell unto it. Also, it being made into powder, is good for such as be fearful, melancholy, and troubled in mind, if it be taken in Mead, or a honeyed vinegar which is called Oximel. Ger.  
Arsmart, or water Pepper, groweth almost in every waterish 
Water Pepper.  plash, or near unto the brims of rivers, ditches, and running brooks. In Greek it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Hydropiper, or Piper aquaticum. It is hot and dry of temper.  
The leaves of this herb rubbed upon a tired jades 
An herb which will help the tiring of a jade.  back, and a good handful or two laid under the saddle, doth wonderfully refresh the wearied horse, and causeth him to travel much the better: and note that this is to be done as soon as he beginneth to tyre.  
Peionie, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Paeonia, and Dulcifida, 
Peionie.  is an herb meanly hot and dry.  
The black grains or seeds of the male Peionie bruised, and given to drink in mead or wine, help melancholy dreams, cure the disease called Ephialtes, or Night 
A medicine for the Mare, melancholy dreams, falling sickness, etc.  mare. A syrup made of the flowers doth greatly help the falling sickness. And, as Galen hath found by sure and evident experience, (saith Mr Gerard) the fresh root tied about the necks of children, doth the like cure: but unto those that are grown, the said root must be administered in some syrup or decoction, and taken inwardly, or else it helpeth not.  
Spear-wort or Bane-wort, is an herb which if it be taken 
Spearwort.  in wardly, is deadly. It groweth by ditches and rivers sides, and waterish places.  
Cunning beggars do use to stamp the leaves of this 
An herb which beggars use to blister their arms and legs withal.  herb and lay them to their legs and arms, which cause such filthy ulcers as we daily see among such wicked vagabonds (for they will raise blains and blisters) and by this practice they hope to move the people to the more pity. But let not the abuse extirpate the right use: for the learned affirm that it prevaileth much towards the drawing of a plague-sore from the heart and inward parts. In Greek it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and in Latin Ranunculus longifolius. Moreover, it hath also the name of Bane-wort, because when sheep feed on it, they have their livers inflamed, their guts and entrails fretted and blistered by it. It is hot and dry in the fourth degree.  
Sulphur-wort or Hog's fennel, in Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in 
Sulphur-wort.  Latin Peucedanus, or Feniculum porcinum. It is hot in the second, and dry in the beginning of the third deg●…ee; and is used with good success against the ruptures and 
Good for young children.  burstning of young children; being very good to be applied to their navels, if they start out over much.  
Feverfew, called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or else 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Feverfew.  and in Latin Parthenium, is hot in the third degree, and dry in the second.  
This herb dried and made into powder, is good 
Good against a Vertig●….  against a swimming and turning in the head, if some two dams of it be taken with honey or sweet wine. 
Good to drive away sadness.   
Also it is good for such as be melancholy, sad, pensive, and not desiring to speak.  
Mouseare, or Pilosella, is hot and dry. The decoction 
Mouseare.  or the juice of this herb is of such excellency, that if 
Good ●…o harden edge tools.  steel-edged tools glowing hot be often cooled therein, it maketh them so hard that they will cut stone or iron, be it never so hard, without turning the edge or waxing dull.  
Celandine, or Swallow-wort, in Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in 
Celandine.  Latin Chelidonium. This herb is hot and dry in the third degree. Some say that it was thus named because (as 
k Lib. 25. cap. 8.  Pliny writeth) it springeth at the coming of the swallows, and withereth at their departure: which, I suppose, is false, seeing it may be found all the year. That therefore which he writeth in his 8 book, the 27 chapter, did rather occasion the name: For (saith he) the swallows have demonstrated unto us, that Celandine is good for the sight, because when the eyes of their young ones be out, they cure them again with this herb. Whereupon one writes out of Schola Salerni, thus,  
An herb there is takes of the Swallows name,  
And by the Swallows gets no little fame;  
For Pliny writes (though some thereof make doubt)  
It helps young Swallows eyes when they are out.  
Also, the root being chewed is reported to be good for 
Good for the tooth ach.  the toothache.  
Angelica is hot and dry in the third degree. It is an enemy 
Angelica.  to poisons, and cureth pestilent diseases, if it be used in time: yea the very root chewed in the mouth is good against infection.  
Contagious air, engendering pestilence, 
Du Bart.   
Infects not those who in their mouths have ta'en  
Angelica, that happy counter-bane.  
Dragon is an herb much like to Angelica in operation, 
Dragon.  if the distilled water be drunk: only observe that the 
Ill for women with child.  smell of Dragon flowers are hurtful to women newly conceived with child. Ger.  
Showbread, or Swines-bread, is an herb hot and dry in 
Showbread.  the third degree. In Greek it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and in Latin Tuber terrae.  
This herb is also dangerous for women with child 
A dangerous herb for women with child.  either to touch, take, come near, or stride over it: For, without controversy (as Mr Gerard affirmeth) it maketh them be delivered before their times. He therefore, having it growing in his garden, used to set sticks or bars, that such a danger might be shunned. And this effect he attributeth to the extraordinary natural attractive virtue in it. Dioscorides and Matthiolus do not deny the said marvellous operation: and Du Bartas remembers it thus,  
If over it a childe-great woman stride,  
Instant abortion often doth betide.  
Lavender (as is supposed) is but the female plant of 
Lavender.  that which we call Spike: and being sweet in smell, it is used in baths and waters to wash the hands: in which regard it is called Lavender or Lavender, from the Latin word Lavo, to wash.  
Leek is hot and dry: the Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the 
Leeks.  Latins Porrum; according to which name, Nero the Emperor was called. For, because he took great pleasure in this root, he was named in scorn, and called Porrophagus. 
The discommodity of Leeks.   
Leeks are not good for hot and choleric bodies; because if they be eaten often, they engender naughty blood, hurt the head, dull the sight, and make one to be troubled and affrighted with terrible dreams.  
The like may be said of Onions. 
Onions.  And yet (according 
Good against barrenness and bleeding.  to some) the water of the distilled roots, being done in June, and drunk often by women that are barren, helpeth them: As also the same water helpeth the bleeding at the nose, if fine cotton be dipped in it, and put up into the nostrils.  
And of Onions it is likewise written, that if they be 
Good against warts.  bruised, and mixed with salt and honey, they will then destroy warts, and make them fall off by the very roots.  
Also there is another property in Onions, which (when I had little else to do) I observed in this following Epigram,  
He that a bad wife follows to the grave, 
A medicine to be used at the death of a shrew.   
And knows not how, for joy, a tear to crave,  
May Onions use to make him weep in show;  
For who can weep indeed to lose a shrew?  
Garlic, called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and in Latin Allium, 
Garlic.  is hot and dry (as Galen writeth) even unto the fourth degree. It is called the country man's treacle, and hath many good properties: And amongst other things, one thing very strange I find recorded of it; viz. that though the often eating of it do harm the whole and perfect sight, yet the moisture or juice infused into 
Good for the eyes.  the eyes, doth comfort a dull sight. It is said that the strong smell of Garlic is put away by chewing of Cummin-seed, or by eating a green bean or two after it.  
Also I find that if a woman doubt of her being with 
How, when a woman doubteth, she may know whether she be with child.  child, let there be set all night by her bed side some Garlic, and if she smell it not, than she may conclude that she hath conceived, or is with child.  
Sleep not presently after the eating of Radish, for that will cause a stinking breath. 
Parsnep.   
And withal let this be noted, that the Parsnep and 
Carret.  Carret are hot and dry about the third degree. The 
Turnip.  Turnip is hot and moist: This is a root which is eaten 
Swine eat no Turnept.  of men, but loathed of swine. The Skirret is moderately 
Skirret.  hot and moist. The Artichoke is hot and dry unto the second 
Artichoke.  degree. The Elocampane is hot in the third, but dry 
Elecampane.  in the second degree: and the chief virtues of it are to open the breast, or to help shortness of wind caused by tough fle●…, me, which stoppeth the lungs. Also it openeth oppilations of the liver and spleen, and comforteth the stomach, as saith Schola Salerni,  Enula campana, haec reddit praecordia sana, etc. 
Elecampane strengthens each inward part, 
The virtues of Elecampane.   
Assuageth grief of mind, and cheers the heart.  
A little looseness is thereby provoken;  
It quelleth wrath, and makes a man fair-spoken.  
The Rape is also of an hot temper. And Tarragon is 
Rape.  hot and dry to the third degree. The Red Darnell is hot 
Tarragon.  also, and good to be drunk for pissing the bed. 
Red Darnell.   
Of Tabaco, or (as it is commonly called) Tobacco, there be principally two kinds, saith Mr Gerard: one 
Tobacco.  greater, the other less. The greater was first found in 
The kinds of Tobacco, and where it was first found.  those provinces of America which we call the West Indies. The lesser comes from Trinidada, an island near unto the continent of the said Indies. To which some have added a third sort. And since the first discovery, there have been plantations made in other places.  
The people of America call it Petum: Others, Sacra 
The names of Tobacco.  herba, Sancta herba, and Sanasancta Indorum. The reason being (as I take it) because when the Moors and Indians have ●…ainted, either for want of food or rest, this hath been a present remedy unto them to supply the one, and help them to the other. And some have called it Hyosoyamus Peruvianus, or Henbane of Peru; which also Mr Gerard assenteth unto, verily thinking that it is a Species Hyoscyami, (for there be more kinds of Henbane than one) chiefly in regard of the quality; because it bringeth drow●…inesse, troubleth the senses, and maketh a man, as it were, drunk, by taking of the fume only. Of some it is named Nic●…tiana exotica: and by Nicholas Monardis it is named Tabaco. Which said Monardis witnesseth that it is hot and dry in the second degree. 
The quality of Tobacco.   
The Physical & chirurgical uses of it, are not a few; and being taken in a pipe it helpeth aches in any part of 
The virtues of Tobacco.  the body; being good also for the kidneys by expelling wind. But beware of cold after it; neither take it wantonly, nor immoderately. And know that some commend the syrup before the smoke: yet the smoke (say they) physically taken is to be tolerated, and may do some good for rheums, and the forenamed maladies: which, whilst some might cure, they make them 
The use of things is many times turned into an abuse.  worse. For we see that the use is too frequently turned into an abuse, and the remedy is proved a disease; and all through a wanton and immoderate use. For Omne nimium vertitur in vitium.  
To quaff, roar, swear, and drink Tobacco well, 
A lesson for swearing swilling swaggerers.   
Is fit for such as pledge sick healths in hell:  
Where wanting wine, and ale, and beer to drink,  
Their cups are filled with smoke, fire, fume, and stink.  
I remember an excellent salve which I am taught to make of green Tobacco: the receipt whereof is thus. Take the leaves of Tobacco two pounds, hog's grease 
An excellent s●…lve to be made with the green leaves of Tobacco.  one pound: stamp the herb small in a stone mortar, putting thereto a small cup full of red or claret wine: stir them well together, cover the mortar from filth, and so let it rest until the morning: then put it to the fire and let it boil gently, continually stirring it until the wine be consumed; then strain it and set it to the fire again, putting thereto one pound of the juice of the herb, & of Venice turpentine 4 ounces; boil them all together to the consumption of the juice: then add thereto two ounces of round Aristochia, or Birthwort, in most fine powder, with wax sufficient to give it a body: and so thou hast made an accurate salve for wounds, or for old filthy ulcers of the legs, etc.  
The women of America (as Gerard mentions in his 
The Indian women take no Tobacco.  Herbal) do not use to take Tobacco, because they persuade themselves it is too strong for the constitution of their bodies: and yet some women of England use it often, as well as men. And, questionless, those natives amongst whom it groweth, may take more at once then 
When Tobacco came first into England.  any one of us. It is said that Sir Francis Drakes mariners brought the first of this herb into England in the year 1585., which was in the 28 year of Q. Elizabeth, and 3 years before Tilburie camp.  
Betonie, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Betonica and Vetonica, 
Betonie.  is hot and dry in the second degree.  
This herb hath an infinite number of sovereign virtues, being very good for the head; taken by some in a pipe, as Tobacco, and not seldom mixed with Tobacco: it helpeth also the bitings of mad dogs by drinking the juice or powder of it, and by binding the green leaves to the bitten place.  
Pliny relateth a strange property pertinent to this herb: for, 
l Lib. 25. cap. 8.  saith he, if fell serpents be enclosed round about with it, they fall at such odds that they kill each other presently. This herb is also good to help women in their travail.  
And thus hitherto I have spoken of such parcels of dame Tellus store, as are only hot of temper: unto which I might add yet thousands more; whether they be such as are pleasant in show, sweet in smell, delicate in taste, wholesome in operation, and the like: but the earth you know is large: and because I am to see something every where, I cannot stay long any where; lest the fourth day dawn, before the third be finished.   

These herbs following are cold and moist.  
IN the next place therefore I must bring to your admirations some other parcels of another temper, wherein you may likewise see God's wisdom flourishing: for at which soever we look, there is a secret virtue that he hath infused into every one. In which regard, divine Du Bartas thus,  
Good Lord! how many gasping souls have 'scaped  
By th'aid of herbs, for whom the grave hath gaped;  
Who even about to touch the Stygian strand,  
Have yet beguiled grim Pluto's greedy hand!  
Oh sacred simples that our life sustain,  
And when it flies can call it back again!  
'Tis not alone your liquor, inly ta'en,  
That oft defends us from so many a bane;  
But even your savour, yea, your neighbourhood  
For some diseases is exceeding good.  
As for example, Yarrow (as most men say) when the 
Yarrow.  leaves are green and chewed, doth help the toothache. 
For the toothache, head●…ach, etc.  Also the leaves being put into the nose, do make it bleed, and is a remedy for the megrim, a pain in the head. It is an herb meanly cold in temper, and called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Achillea, because it was first found out by Achilles the disciple of Chiron, and with it he cured his wounds. Vide Plin. lib. 25. cap. 5.  
Sowthistle is cold: the Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; the Latins, 
Sowthistle.  Sonchi. If it be given in broth, it increaseth milk 
An herb for n●…r, se●….  in nurse's breasts, causing the children nursed by them, to have a good colour and clear complexion.  
groundsel is said to have mixed faculties: for it cooleth, 
Groundsell.  and withal digesteth. The Latins call it Senecio, because it quickly waxeth old: some also call it Herbutum.  
The leaves of this herb stamped and strained into 
Good against the f●…et, etc.  milk, and drunk, are good against the Red-gum and frets in children.  
Comfrey is somewhat cold of quality, and of a clammy 
Comfrey.  and gluing moisture. It is highly commended of the learned for curing of wounds, especially of the intrals and inward parts, and for burstings and ruptures; insomuch that they affirm the slimy substance of the root 
Good for to ●…ure any wrinch in the back, and the like grief.  made in a posset of ale, and given to be drunk, cureth the pain in the back gotten by any violent motion, as wrestling, and the like; to which some add the overmuch use of Venus: for in four or five days they are perfectly healed, although there be an involuntary fluxus seminis gotten thereby. In Greek it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Symphytum, and Solidago, or Consolida major. 
Lilies.   
The Water-lilies are also highly esteemed for their 
Good against the same infirmities.  virtues in curing some of the like infirmities: for those which are skilful do affirm that a decoction of the white or yellow Water-lilie made of the seeds, roots, or leaves, is singular good against nocturnal pollutions, caused by dreams, or otherwise. The same cure is also wrought by the green leaves laid upon the region of the back in the small, and two or three times a day removed, and fresh applied. Ger.  
The Greeks call this Water-lilie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; the Latins Nymph●…a: because it takes such delight to grow in the water.  
Lactuoa, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and in English Lettuce, is 
Lettuce.  temperately hot and moist in the second degree.  
It cooleth a hot stomach called heartburning: and, in nurses that are hot and dry, it procureth milk; otherwise 
Harm in too much 〈◊〉.  not. But it must never be eaten immoderately: for ancient authors affirm, that generally it hindereth conception by wasting of sperm; and if it be not eschewed of women with child, it is a great means to make them bring forth children either raging in mind, or foolish in wit.  
Also, the use of Lettuce is to be avoided of all that be 
Another hurt in Lettuce.  shortwinded, and spit blood, or be ●…legmatick; they may not eat it often. Yet he that would live honestly unmarried, let him not refuse this medicine set forth by Dioscorides and Galen (as the author of the haven of 
Good to proc●…re chastity.  health affirmeth) viz. let him bruise Lettuce seeds, and often put them in his drink, etc.  
Purslain is cold in the third degree, and moist in 
Purslain.  the second. The Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Latins Portulaca.  
The juice of this herb is good against fluxes; for it 
Good against fluxes and thirst.  greatly stoppeth them. And note that the very herb holden under the tongue, putteth away thirst and dryness.  
Violet, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin Viola, is cold and moist; 
Violets.  being cold in the first degree, and moist in the second. The leaves inwardly taken do greatly cool, moisten, and 
Good for costive bodies.  make the body loose or soluble: or outwardly applied, do ●…itigate all kind of hot inflammations.   

These herbs following are cold and dry.  
MAdder is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in Latin 
Madder.  Rubia; and of its temperature the learned are not fully agreed: yet Mr Gerard saith it is cold and dry. It is good to give the decoction of the roots to bursten and 
Good against bru●…les.  bruised folks; which roots do also plentifully provoke urine: and (as some affirm) the very holding of the root or handling of it, dieth the handlers' urine into a perfect 
A strange property in Madder.  red colour, appearing as if he pissed blood. Whereupon saith Du Bartas,  
O wondrous Woad, which touching but the skin,  
Imparts his colour to the parts within▪  
But note that this must be understood of the root held long in the hand, and freshly gathered: for being kept and transported, it hath not this virtue. Pliny attributeth more unto it: for, saith he, the only sight of this herb healeth the Jaundice. But in this last property, let the reader use his liberty.  
Willow-wort, or Loose-strife, is an herb cold and dry, 
Willow-wort.  whose first virtues were found out by Lysimachus the son of Agathocles, and one of Alexander's captains, from whom it is called Lysimachium, or Lysimachia. Pliny writeth of this herb that it is of such strange virtue, that when 
m Pli●…. lib. 25. cap. 7.  Oxen at the plough are striving and unruly, let it be put into their yokes, and presently they are appeased and quieted. This herb is contrary to betony; which, in these two verses, you may remember,  
As Betonie breaks friendships ancient bands, 
Du 〈◊〉.   
So Willow-wort makes wont hate shake hands.  
Shepherd's purse, or Bursa pastoris, is cold and dry: 
Shepherd's purse.  the leaves bruised are good to heal green bleeding wounds: And also the decoction of it doth stop the 
Good against green wounds, fluxes of blood, etc.  lask, the spitting and pissing of blood, and all other bloody fluxes.  
Sen-green or Housleek, is always green, both in 
Housleek.  summer and winter: Whereupon it is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which is as much as Semper vivens, or always living. It is cold in the third degree, and somewhat drying. 
Good against corns.  The juice hereof taketh away corns from the toes and feet, better than any thing that you can easily get: Let them be washed and bathed therewith, and as it were day and night emplastred with the skin of the said Housleek, and you shall find remedy.  
Sorrell or souredock, in Latin Acida, in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Sorrell.  is cold and dry; being cold in the third degree, and dry in the second.  
The seeds of Sorrell drunk in gross red wine, stop the lask and bloody flux. Also if one fasting do chew 
Good against the l●…sk, and infection.  some of the leaves, and suck down the juice, it marvellously preserveth from infections. Eliots' castle of Health.  
Plantain, called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which is Lambestongue, 
Plantain.  and in Latin Plantago, is cold and dry in the third degree.  
The juice of Plantain drunk (like unto Housleek) stoppeth the bloody flux, or spitting or pissing of blood. And the leaves stamped and made into a tansy, with the 
To stay fluxes.  yolks of eggs, stay the inordinate flux of terms, although it hath continued many years. Ger. pag. 341. But 
To provolte fluxes.  on the contrary, the decoction of Camomile or Germander, made in wine, and drunk, voideth wind, and procureth them to flow.  
And thus also I have given you a taste of some cool as well as hot herbs. And in most of these, as in such other things of the same nature, I must confess, that as I have seen a description of the world set forth by such whose reading was their furthest travel; so, out of good Authors, and skilful Herbalists, I have both learned and taught these secrets. Unto which I have yet a few more that I intent to add; and because these are the most strange, I have reserved them unto the last place.   

These herbs which follow, are herbs of more than ordinary properties.  
AS first the noble 
n Pli●…. lib. 2●…. cap. 2.  Nepenthe, an herb which being steeped and drunk in wine, expelleth sadness.  
2. Then is there the herb Hippurin, or Hippice, of which Pliny 
o Lib. 26. cap. 13.  writeth that it is admirable in staunching blood, insomuch that the cure is performed by the very touch of it; being also very good to keep one from hunger and thirst, while it is kept in the mouth.  
3. Also, there is Nyctilops or Nyctegretum, an herb which in the night 
p Idem lib. 21. cap. 11.  shineth a far off: and, above all other creatures, at the first sight it scareth Geese.  
4. Pythagoras telleth of the herb 
q 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉. 24. cap. 17.  Callicia, which will turn water into ice.  
5. Ophiusta is an herb growing in Ethiopia: it is of a wannish colour, dangerous to be looked on: and being drunk, it doth so terrify the mind with a fight of angry and dreadful serpents, that through the fear of them men have 
r Idem ibid.  sometimes killed themselves.  
6. H●…mlock (as some relate out of Gal●…n, in his book De temperamentis) is meat to storks, and poison to men.  
7. Sardonia, or Crowfoot (as some write out of Solinus) is an herb which moveth laughter.  
8. Upon a mountain of Cypress called Arcadi●…, is an 
A bleeding herb.  herb or plant growing, which if a man cut, there issueth a liquor like warm blood: if with this blood, thus warm, one man should touch another, he would love him affectionately whom he toucheth. chose, if the blood be cold, the touch will engender hatred. My author calleth this plant, Flabia. See Du Bart. Summarie.  
9 Moreover, in the same author I find (as he hath it from one Rhamnusius, in his Navigations) that in the island called Australle, there is an herb found, upon which whosoever lieth down, he is first taken with an heaviness of the head, then wi●…h sleeping, and consequently with death.  
10. Magicians make use of the herb Anacrampseros, which (as I find in 
s Li●…. 24. cap. 17.  Pliny) by the very touch thereof causeth love to grow between man and man, abolishing all former hatred.  
11. The like is reported in a manner of the herb Showbread, which being made into little flat cakes, and taken inwardly, is a good amorous medicine, and will make one in love. Ger.  
12. Also they report, saith Dioscorides, that the herb Snap-draggon or Calves-snout being hanged about one, preserveth a man from being bewitched, & maketh him gracious in the sight of the people. Gerard. ex Dioscor.  
13. Enchanters also make great brags of the herb Ethiopis (which, I think, some call by the name of Moly)  
14. And of the herb Achimedis: the first whereof being cast into rivers, will dry them up; or being applied to any thing locked or shut, will presently open it: the other being cast into an army in the time of battle, causeth the soldiers to be in fear, and run away. Thus say some. Neither hath Pliny forgotten these two last herbs: but he mentions them with a kind of derision, as in the 26 book and 4 chapter of his natural history is apparent; where he wondereth why enchanters would not make use of them in time of danger and extremity. And for mine own part, this I cannot but say, that it is 
It is pity that nature's secrets should be so●…led by magic.  great pity the secrets of nature should be soiled by infamous magic, and by the superstitious ignorance of sorcerers.  
15. Unto these, Apollodorus hath added the herb Aeschynomen, which draweth in the leaves when the hand of any one approacheth to touch it.  
16. Like unto which is the herb Sentida, growing in 
t Purcha●… Pilgrim. part. 1. lib. 5. cap. 12.  India: for if any one come near and touch it, or throw sand, or any thing else upon it, presently it becometh as if it were withered, and closeth up the leaves; so continuing as long as the man standeth by: but so soon as he is gone, it openeth fresh and fair: and touching it again, it withereth as before.  
These, you see, are rarities: and being now ready to 
Here the author beginneth to speak of trees.  pass away from them, I should come to speak something of grain; as wheat, rye, barley, lintels, oats, peas, beans, rice, with such other like; and gladly would I do it, but that (me thinks) I am called another way: for lo I have discovered the tops of yonder trees; and one by one, I mean to view them.  
Vitex, or the chaste tree (which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
Ag●…s ●…stus.  and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, because, saith 
a Lib. 24. cap. 9  Pliny, certain matrons among the Athenians, desirous to live chaste, did lay the leaves of it in their beds under them) is called in the Latin Salix marina, or Salix amerina, or Piper agreste, or Agnus 
Ibid.  castus. And, as Pliny writeth, it is of two kinds; the greater, and the lesser. The first groweth up much like a willow tree: but the other brancheth out and spreadeth more, having whiter and downier leaves then the former. Our 
b Mr Gerard.  countryman, and an excellent Herbalist, saith that it groweth up after the manner of a bushy shrub or hedge tree, having many twiggie branches, very pliant and easy to be bend like unto the willow: the flowers are of a light blue colour, and very sweet in smell; the leaves long and narrow; and the fruit small and round like unto the grains of pepper. And note that the flowers grow at the uppermost end of the branches, ●…lustering close together.  
Some say that it is a plant hot and dry in the second degree; others name the third.  
It is a singular medicine for such as would live chaste, in what sort soever it be taken, whether in powder, or decoction, or the leaves worn about the body.  
Also it driveth away windiness of the stomach, openeth and cureth the stops of the liver and spleen, with sundry such other needful cures.  
Willow is of a much like nature; and therefore it is yet 
Willow.  
From whence came the first use of willow garlands.  a custom, that he which is deprived of his love, must wear a willow garland. Also the green boughs with their leaves may well be brought into chambers, and set about the beds of those who are sick of agues: for they do mightily cool the heat of the air; which thing cannot but be a wonderful refreshing to the sick patient.  
Tamarisk is a little tree well known; the decoction 
Tamarisk.  of whose branches being drunk in wine, and a little 
Good for the spleen or milt.  vinegar, is of great virtue against the hardness or stopping of the spleen or milt: for this tree doth by nature so waste the milt, that swine which have been daily fed out of a vessel made thereof, have been found to have no milt at all.  
Rose is cold in the first degree and dry in the second, 
Rose.  somewhat binding, especially the white Rose. The red 
The temper and virtue of Roses.  is less cold, more dry, etc. As for the damask and musk Rose, it is hot, and moist withal. The damask water is sweetest; but the red is wholesomest. And of the red Rose leaves a conserve may be made, which is good, not 
Conserve of Roses, what it is good for.  only to cool, but also to comfort the principal parts of the body, viz. the head, heart, stomach, liver, spleen, and reins. Thus you may make it. Take the buds of red 
How to make the conserve.  Roses somewhat before they be ready to spread; cut the red part of the leaves from the white, shake out the yellow seeds: then take the red leaves and beat them very small in a stone mortar with a pestle of wood; and unto every ounce of Roses put three ounces of sugar, by little and little, in the time of the beating, and beat them all together until they be perfectly incorporated: then put it in a glass or gallipot; stop it close, and set it in the sun for a season, and it is made. And know that it will remain in full virtue for a year or two, but than it decayeth.  
Myrtle is a little low tree growing in some hot countries, 
Myrtle.  having small dark leaves, bearing berries which 
Good against, fluxes.  are of a binding nature, and good to stop any issue of blood. This is a tender plant, not able to endure any cold; and (as authors affirm) it was wont to be worn of the 
Myrtle garlands.  Roman captains garland-wise in triumph; namely then, when they had obtained any victory without slaughter of men. Also in times past this tree was consecrated to Venus: and thereupon I find in Pliny, that amongst the Romans there was an altar belonging to Venus, which they call by the name of Murtia. The said author also affirmeth, that before pepper was found out, the myrtle 
Myrtle berries used for pepper.  berries served in stead thereof. See Plin. lib. 15. cap. 29.  
Ebony is a tree growing in India and Ethiopia, in taste 
Ebony.  
A smoke good for the eyes.  being sharp and biting. If it be burnt, it yields a sweet smell, the smoke whereof is not offensive, but good against many diseases of the eyes: as also the green wood is so full of sap, and withal so fatty, that it will flame like a candle. Some have said that it bears neither fruit nor leaves; but this is a false opinion, as they have witnessed who have seen the tree, and taken the true picture of it. The outward parts are white, but within it is black. That which groweth in India, is not in such estimation as the Ethiopian Ebony; for it is spotted with white and yellow.  
Sethim is a kind of tree something like a White-thorn; 
Sethim.  the timber whereof never rotteth. Of this tree, Noah, according to God's command, made the ark; as we read in Genesis.  
Palm, or Date trees, are both one. This tree groweth 
Palm.  plentifully in Egypt, and other parts of Africa; but those which are in Palestine and Syria are the best: they grow likewise in most places of the East and West Indies.  
The branches of this tree were wont to be carried as 
A token of victory.  a token of victory, because they are of this nature, viz. that they will shoot upward, though oppressed with never so great▪ weight: neither do the leaves of it ever fall. Elianus remembreth another property; for (saith he) the report runneth thus, that in Delos the Olive tree and 
Laton●… delivered by the Date.  the Date three flourish most fruitfully, which when Latona had touched, she was suddenly disburdened of childbirth, whereas before she could not be delivered. Elian. lib. 5. Also they grow by couples, male and female: but the female is only fruitful.  
The Plane tree, called Platanus, is a spreading tree 
Plane.  with broad leaves: in times past it was greatly esteemed in Italy for the shadow thereof; insomuch that (as Pliny reporteth) they often bedewed it with wine to make it grow. The old Romans were wont to banquet much 
A banqueting tree.  under these trees. And there is, saith Pliny, no greater commendation of this tree, then that it keepeth away the sun in summer, and entertaineth it in winter.  
We read of Xerxes' King of Persia, that he was strangely enamoured on this tree, having it in such singular admiration that he became a servant to it. For in Lydia (as Elianus 
c Va●…ish. 〈◊〉. lib. 2.  writeth) when Xerxes happened to see a tall and lofty fair Plane tree, he made a whole day's tarriance by it; and, no necessity constraining him so to do, he pitched his pavilions and tents in the void and empty places round about the same. He also hanged precious jewels of great value upon it, adorning and beautifying the boughs and branches with chains of gold, with bracelets and tablets, with spangles and such like costly things, yielding thereunto great worship and reverence; appointing also an overseer to keep, preserve, and defend the same from all casualties. This was a strange crotchet; and little or nothing the better was the poor tree for all this love and bravery.  
Pepper (whereof there are diverse sorts) groweth at 
Pepper.  the foot of other trees, climbing upon them like to ivy, and is in bunches like grapes.  
Ginger groweth like young reeds, with a root like a 
Ginger.  lily: it is plentiful in Malabar, or Malavar, a province in India intra Gangem.  
Cinnamon is the inner bark of a tree as big as an olive; 
Cinnamon.  with leaves like bay leaves, and fruit like an olive: the drying of the bark maketh it roll together. Within three years the tree yieldeth another bark, as before. They of Ormuz call it Darchini, that is, wood of China: and selling it at Alexandria, they call it Cinnamonium, which is, quasi Amomum ex Sina delatum. Purch. ex Garcia ab horto.  
The Nutmegge-tree is like a peach or pear-tree, and 
Nutmeg and Mace.  groweth most in Banda an island in Asia, and in java. The fruit is like a peach, the inner part whereof is the Nutmeg, which is covered and interlaced with the Mace. For when the fruit is ripe, the first and outermost part openeth, as it is with our walnuts; then the Mace flourisheth in a fair red colour, which in the ripening becometh yellow.  
Cloves grow in the Moluccoes on trees, like bay-trees, 
Cloves.  yielding blossoms, first white, then green, afterwards red, then hard; and this hard thing is the Clove. When they be green they yield the pleasantest smell in the world. And (as it is reported) being ripe they are of such an extraordinary heat and dryness, that in two days they will suck out and dry up such vessels of water, as shall happen to stand in the same room where they are. These spices and drugs, with many other, are the fruits of India.  
The Cypress is a tree growing on dry mountains, and 
Cypress.  most commonly in hot countries. It is very tall, and the timber thereof is yellowish and of a pleasant smell, especially being set near to the fire; and of such durable nature, that it doth neither rot nor wax old, nor yet cleaveth or chappeth itself. See Plin. lib. 16. cap. 33, & 42.  
The Pine is a tree of the same nature, not subject to 
Pine.  worms or rottenness, and therefore much used, where it groweth, to make ships. The leaves are hard-pointed, sharp and narrow, continuing green all the year; and the shadow thereof 
d Phin. lib. ●…7. cap. 12.  will not suffer any plant to grow under it.  
Cedar is a tall great tree which groweth in Africa, 
Cedar.  and Syria; many of them upon mount Libanus. They be strait and upright like the Fir-tree: their leaves are small, thick, and of a sweet smell. This tree hath fruit on it all times of the year, which fruit is like to that of the Fir & Pinetree, but greater and harder: and at this day (as some affirm) there are found upon mount Libanus, Cedars planted by King Solomon: the truth of which I will not stand to justify.  
Terebinth is a tree from whence Turpentine issueth. 
Terebinth.   
Picea is a tree that droppeth pitch; it groweth in 
Picea.  Greece, Italy, France, Germany, and all the cold regions even unto Russia. It remaineth always green like unto the Pine; and, by some, is supposed to be a wild kind of Pine: especially seeing the Pine affordeth Rosin, Pitch and Tar. Yet some attribute Pitch to the great Cedar, Rosin to the wild Pines chiefly, and Tar to the Pine called the Torch-Pine.  
There is a tree in India, called the Indian Coquo, or 
Cocus.  Cocus, being the most strange and profitable tree in the world; of which in the islands of Maldiva they make and furnish whole ships: so that (save the men themselves, 
e Mr 〈◊〉 pilgrim. part 1. lib. 5. cap. 12.  saith one) there is nothing of the ship or in the ship, neither tackling, merchandise, or aught else, but what this tree yieldeth. It groweth high and slender, the wood is of a spongy substance, easy to be sewed, when they make vessels thereof, with cords made of Cocus. It hath a continual succession of fruits, and is never without some: they grow like a kind of nut, which is of a very large size, having two sorts of husks as our walnuts; the uppermost whereof is hairy like hemp, and of this they make cordage; and of the next they make drinking-cups. When the fruit within these shells is almost ripe, it is full of water, which, as it ripeneth, changeth into a white harder substance: at the first this liquor is sweet, but with the ripening groweth sour. The tree affords a very medicinable juice; and, if it stand one hour in the sun, it is good vinegar; but distilled, it may be used in stead of wine or Aquavitae. There be ways also to make sugar of it, and of the meat in the nut dried they make oil: Of the pith or heart of the tree they make paper: of the leaves they make cover for their houses, tents, mats, and the like. Nay, their apparel, firing, and other necessary commodities, they gather from this tree. Thus some. Or, according to others, it is thus described. In the isle of Zebus there is a fruit which they call Cocos, form like a Melon, but more long then thick: It is enclosed with diverse little skins, so strong and good as those that environ a Date stone. The islanders make thread of the skins, as strong and good as that which is of hemp. The fruit hath a rind like a dry Gourd, but far more hard: which, being burned and beaten to powder, serveth for medicine. The inward nut is like unto butter; being both as white, and as soft, and besides that, very savoury and cordial. They make use of this fruit also in diverse other things. For if they would have oil, they turn and toss it up and down diverse times: then they let it settle some few days, at which time the meat will be converted into a liquor like oil, very sweet and wholesome, wherewith they oftentimes anoint themselves. If they put it into water, the kernel is converted into sugar; if they leave it in the sun, it is turned into vinegar. Towards the bottom of the tree they use to make a hole and gather diligently into a great cane the liquor that distilleth, which amongst them is of as much esteem as the best wine in these parts: for it is a very pleasant and wholesome drink.  
There is also among the Indians a tree called Arbore 
Arbore de rais.  de rais, or the tree of roots, called also the Indian figtree, and by some affirmed (with more confidence than reason, saith one) to be the tree of Adam's transgression. It groweth out of the ground, as other trees, and yieldeth many boughs, which yield certain threads of the colour of gold, which growing downwards to the earth do there take root again, making as it were new trees, or a wood of trees, covering sometimes the best part of a mile.  
There is also another tree which some call the Indian 
Arbore triste.  mourner, or Arbore triste, the sad and sorrowful tree. It hath this property, that in the day time and at sunne-setting you shall not see a flower on it: but within half an hour after, it is full of flowers, which at the sunrising fall off, the leaves shutting themselves from the sun's presence, and the tree seeming as if it were dead. The Indians have a fable of one Parisatico, who had a daughter, with whom the sun was in love; but lightly forsaking her, he grew amorous of another: whereupon this damosel slew herself, and of the ashes of her burned carcase came this tree. A pretty fiction this: Ovid himself hath not a better.  
In the island of Hierro (being one of the seven islands 
A weeping tree.  of the Canaries) is a tree which distilleth water incessantly from the leaves thereof, in so great abundance, that not only it sufficeth those of the island (for there is no other water in the island) but also might furnish the necessary uses of a far greater number of people. This strange tree is always covered with a little mist, which vanisheth by degrees, according as the sun showeth himself.  
When the Spaniards (saith my author) took upon them to conquer this isle, they found themselves almost discomfited, because they saw neither fountains, springs, nor rivers: and enquiring of the islanders where they had their water, they answered that they used none but rain-water, & in the mean time kept their trees covered, hoping by this subtlety to drive the Spaniards out of the isle again. But it was not long before one of their women, entertained by a Spaniard, discovered the tree with the properties of it; which he at the first held for a fable, until his own witness saw it was true; whereupon he was almost ravished with the miracle: but the woman was put to death by the islanders, for her treachery.  
In the north parts of Scotland and in the islands adjacent 
Barnacle tree.  called Orchades, are certain trees found whereon there groweth a certain kind of shellfish, of a white colour, but somewhat tending to a ruffet; wherein are contained little living creatures: For in time of maturity the shells do open, and out of them by little and little grow those living creatures; which falling into the water when they drop out of their shells, do become fowls, such as we call Barnacles or Brant Geese: but the other that fall upon the land, perish and come to nothing. Mr Gerard affirmeth that he hath seen as much in Lancashire, in a small island which is called the Pile of Foulders: for there be certain boughs of old trees, and other such like rubbish cast up by the sea, whereon hangeth a certain spume or froth, which in time breedeth unto a shell: out of which by degrees cometh forth a creature in shape like a bird; sending out first a string or lace, as it were, of silk finely woven, and of a whitish colour; then follow the legs, and afterwards more and more, till at the last it hangeth by the bill: soon after it cometh to maturity and falleth into the sea, where it gathereth feathers, and groweth to a fowl bigger than a mallard, and something less than a goose, being somewhat coloured like to our magpies. This Mr Gerard testifieth to be true upon his own knowledge; as in his Herbal is apparent.  
And thus (gentle reader) I would here end, not only this Chapter and Section, but also the first part of my book, were it not that I have a desire to speak a word or two of things growing under ground, and within the earth: which, as briefly as I can, shall be handled in the following Appendix.    

An Appendix to the two former Sections; discoursing somewhat concerning Metals, and such like things as are under ground.  
IN the second day's work I had occasion to speak of Fiery, Aierie, and Watery Meteors: all which by the Philosophers are named bodies imperfectly mixed, being but a little durable. And now, being to speak of things under ground, I am come to bodies more perfectly mixed, and of a longer continuance, because they consist of a more solid and constant concretion of Elements.  
Their names in general, are either Mineralia, Minerals; Fossilia; or Metalla.  
They are Mineralia, because they are generated in Mines; that is, in the veins, pores, and bowels of the earth.  
They are Fossilia, from Fodio, to dig, because they are digged out of the earth.  
And they are Metalla, Metals, from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which is to search, or find out; because, with much labour and cost, they are sought out of the veins and bowels of the earth.  
That name which I insist upon, is this last: And that the kinds of Metals may the better be remembered, this short table would be observed.  
Metals are either 

Principal 

which are of themselves; as Sulphur and Mercury, being (as it were) the father and mother of all metals.    
Less principal 

derived from the principal, 

more pliable 

pure 

more 

Gold.  
Silver.    
less; having either more 

Brimstone, or  
Quicksilver.        
less pliable 

Hard 

stones 

common 

solid 

shining.  
not shining.    
full of pores, as the Pumex and Tophus.    
precious 

more noble, shining more.  
less noble, shining less.        
Brittle, or of a friable nature; easy to be brought into crumbs: And these are all kinds of precious earths, and sucks of the earth: as Terra Lemnia, Samos, Bitumen, Sal, etc.          
Of these kinds I purpose to speak a word or two, which shall be as it were to explain the table to such as know it not.  
The first, or principal metals, are Sulphur, and Mercury: These are of themselves, because other metals do not help to make them, but they help to make other metals.  
Sulphur or Brimstone, is said by some to be the fat of 
Brimstone.  the earth with fiery heat decocted unto his hardness; which is the cause that it so speedily is inflamed, and burneth even in water.  
Or thus. Sulphur is a metallic substance or matter, consisting of a more subtle Exhalation, fat and unctuous, shut up within the veins of the earth. It will burn sooner than the fat of beasts: for although it be fatter than Brimstone, yet it is far colder.  
Mercury or Quicksilver is a slimy water, mixed with 
Quicksilver.  a pure white earth; which metal, for the matter whereof it doth consist, is thin, cold and heavy.  
Or thus. Quicksilver is a metallic matter, consisting of a watery vapour, more subtle than ordinary, which is mixed with earth to conglutinate or knit it together; and, by the heat of Sulphur, it is digested into what it is. It pierceth metals, because of the extreme thinness; which, together with the heat of it, makes it be in continual motion: and the motion, by a Metaphor, causeth it to be called Quicksilver. Moreover, it is also called Mercury, because as Mercury is joined to all the Planets, so this to all metals: or as Mercury is moved many ways, so this is apt for any motion.  
The less principal metals are derived from these 
Metals derived from the two first.  first. I call them less principal because they are not of themselves, but produced by the help of the other two.  
These I divide into two sorts; the pliable, and the less pliable.  
Pliable metals are pure: and that, either more or less. 
Pliable metals of the purest kind.  The more pure, are Gold and Silver.  
Gold is the only purest of all metals, and is composed 
Gold.  of a most pure red Sulphur, and of the like Quicksilver: they are red, but not burning. This metal is only perfect; all other be corruptible. It is perfect, because it is concocted with sufficient heat, and mixture of Sulphur: whereas all other metals, either are not so well concocted, or else they have not the due quantity of brimstone: and (as it is affirmed by the Alchemists) because nature in all her works seeketh the best end, she intendeth of all metals to make gold: but being hindered, either for want of good mixture, or good concoction, she bringeth forth other metals; although not so precious, yet in their several uses, every way as profitable, if not more: for it is scarce a question ᶠ whether there be more 
Moor's iliopia  use to the necessity of man's life, in Iron and Lead, then is in Gold and Silver. Gold never rusteth, both because of the pureness of its parents, free from poisonous infection; and also because it is so solidly composed that no air (which causeth all things to corrupt) can be received into it.  
This perfection, together with the rareness, and beauty of it, hath caused fond mortals to dote so much upon it as they do. Nay, will not one pound or ounce of this go further than ten, either ounces or pounds of honesty? The Poets saying agreeth to it,  Aurea nunc verè sunt secula, plurimus auro Venit honos. 
This is the golden age, not that of old:  
For now all honour's to be bought with gold.  
And hereupon I think it is, that most men dispraise this metal, and yet but few who would not have it.  
Diversas hominum videam cum sparsa per arts  
Ingenia, est cunctis ars tamen una viris.  
Omnibus idem animus gratos sibi quaerere nummos:  
Omnis inexhaustas undique poscit opes.  
When I behold the wits of men inclined  
To diverse arts, I all of them do find  
In this one art to meet; they shun no pain  
Wished wealth to heap up, and augment their gain.  
Nay, they are not common fetches and plots, but strange and bloody damned practices which are often used to get and obtain the riches of the world. Which Ovid could discern a long while since; and therefore he saith,  
Effodiuntur opes irritamenta malorum: 
Metamorph. lib. 1.   
Iámque nocens ferrum, ferróque nocentius aurum.  
Riches (those fond enticements unto ill)  
Are digged up; and iron which doth kill.  
But Gold it is which doth more harm to men  
Then iron blades, though steeled, though sharp, though keen.  
Or, as another saith,  
Aurum, de●…tructor vitae, princépsque malorum,  
O quam difficiles nectis ubique dolos!  
O utinam natum nunquam mortalibus esses,  
Dulcia suppeditas quae nocumenta viris!  
Gold, life's destroyer, and of mischiefs chief,  
Oh what straight wiles dost thou knit, past belief!  
Would thou hadst ne'er been born to mortal wights,  
Sith harm to men rests in thy false delights!  
These are the complaints. But it is neither in Gold nor Iron or the like, that these evils rest; the causes of ill aught rather to be imputed to the devil and wicked men. For true it is,  
All goods are good to good men that well use them,  
But they are bad to fools who do abuse them.  
And thereupon saith Du Bartas,  
I know to man the earth seems (altogether)  
No more a mother, but a stepdame rather;  
Because (alas) unto our loss she bears  
Blood-shedding Steel, and Gold, the ground of cares:  
As if these metals, and not man's amiss,  
Had made sin mount unto the height it is:  
To pick a lock, to take his neighbour's purse,  
To break a house, or to do something worse;  
To cut his parent's throat, to kill his prince,  
To spoil his country, murder innocence.  
For, as a cask, through want of use grown fusty,  
Makes with his stink the best Greek malmsey musty:  
So God's best gifts, usurped by wicked ones,  
To poison turn through their contagions.  
What pains do not men take to win gold? every man hath one way or other to hunt after it: but the Alchemist, despising all other ways, as slow, unnatural, and unprofitable, laboureth, either to help nature in her work, as of unperfect metals to make perfect, or else to force nature to his purpose, by his quintessences and Elixirs; so that what by purging, what by concocting, what by mixing of Sulphur and Quicksilver, and much other like stuff, at length he turneth the wrong side of his gown outward, all the teeth out of his head, and his body from health to a palsy, and then he is a Philosopher, and so he must, nay, will be called.  
It is said of Gold that it waxeth cold towards daylight: insomuch that they who wear rings of it, may perceive when the day is ready to dawn.  
Silver is the most pure metal next unto Gold: it hath 
Silver.  an indifferent good concoction, but it wanteth sufficient heat in the mixture, and thereupon it looketh pale. It is a metal begotten of pure white Mercury, and of clear white Brimstone or Sulphur.  
The less pure pliable metals, consist some of them of 
Pliable metals less pure.  more Brimstone; some, of more Quicksilver: neither are any of these two so pure, as those in the mixture of Gold and Silver.  
Brass is an impure metal, consisting most of a red and 
Brass and Copper.  thick Sulphur, and of a little Quicksilver something impure: that which cometh from Cyprus is called Copper, and is the purest, as being of best digestion, and nearest unto Gold; 
* Some say Brass is not naturally, but artificially made.  Brass, Latin, and such like, being no other than diverse kinds of Copper. In ancient time, this metal was in greater esteem than Iron: for they did not only make their armour of it, but their bucklers also and their lances; because they would not be worn, either with age or use.  
Copperas is a mineral of a near nature unto Brass or 
Copperas.  Copper: it is said by some to be mixed of humours strained by drops into small holes. And perhaps it is nothing else but the more raw and impure substance of that which is the matter of Copper, with less Quicksilver in it, and that also of a base quality. It is hot and dry in the fourth degree, vehemently binding, being of great force to season and preserve raw flesh, (as some affirm) and is also good to beget sound flesh in festered sores, and to stench blood. It is of a green, yellow, and a sky colour: but the best hath white spots in it. See more afterwards in Vitriol.  
Iron is a common metal, necessary for the use of 
Iron.  man's life, engendered of a most impure Quicksilver mixed with a thick Sulphur impure and adust. Or thus; It is an impure metal consisting of much crude, earthy, adust Sulphur, and a modicum of filthy and bad Mercury. This (saith the Philosopher) although it be hard, yet by daily use it is worn and wasted: the reason being in regard that it hath in it least of Mercury, and most of an earthy Sulphur. The quenching it in water makes it harder and harder: but if it be quenched in the juice of 
How to soften Iron.  bean-shells or mallows, it becometh soft: and so also doth the often heating it, and cooling it without quenching. 
Lib. 54. cap. 14.  Pliny calleth it optimum pessimúmque vitae instrumentum, the best and worst instrument of life.  
Steel is a kind of Iron, but the purest and the hardest; 
Steel.  or Iron refined. Natural steel, which we call Chalybs, in times past was gotten out of a place in Thracia, where the people called Chalybes inhabited: their use was to go naked, and dig this metal out of the earth.  
Metals consisting most of Mercury, are these; Led, and Tin.  
Lead is a raw and indigested metal, but of better digestion 
Lead.  than commixtion: for it is mixed with a gross earthy substance, which causeth it to be in colour so black, and so ready to foul. It is begotten of much unpure, thick, and drossy Mercury; and by refining is made whiter. The kinds of this are varied by reason of the matter whereof it consisteth, and by reason of the heat by which it is deco●…ted: and thereupon it comes to pass that we have one sort which we call Black-lead; another far whiter and clearer, as being better concocted, and more purely composed. It is of a cold and binding nature; and if it lie in the wet, moisture will increase the weight. England hath store of it.  
Tin, whereof great plenty also groweth in the 
Tin.  West parts of England, in beauty and colour cometh nearest unto Silver; and of Silver wanteth nothing but solidity and hardness. Some think that it is composed of Silver and Lead: but the more common opinion is, that the greatest part of it is Mercury, white without, and red within, having a portion also of Brimstone or Sulphur not well mixed, being as it were Led whited with Silver: for it is a raw and undigested metal, very porous and uncompact, which causeth it to crash when it is either broken or bitten. And thus far of metals pliable. 
Metals 〈◊〉 pliable which are ●…ard.   
The less pliable (as I showed in the table) are either hard, or brittle; & cannot be easily hammered, wrought, or melted to a desired form.  
The hard ones, are all kind of stones. And of stones, 
Stones.  together with bodies friable or brittle, it is doubted whether they be in the number of metals or no; because there is great difference in the matter of their composure, etc.  
To which it is answered, that although they be not in the number of such kind of metals as are pliable, and will melt; nor yet abound with that matter of mixture which they do: nevertheless they may bear the name of metals, according to that general name specified in the derivation of the word Metalla. And in that regard I made a difference of metals, and drew them out in the former table. Wherefore I proceed: and following them who derive stones after this manner, I say that stones are bodies perfectly mixed, without life, hard, of 
What stones are, and whereof they 〈◊〉.  a dry and an earthy exhalation, mixed with a certain unctuositie; and by the durance of time, together with the force of heat and cold, and a mineral virtue, conglutinated or knit together. Or thus; they be engendered of a watery moisture, and fat earth mixed hard together. By which it appeareth that the matter of stones is a watery humour, and a thick unctuous earth: which is not so to be understood as if the other two elements were separated from their mixture; but because they have not such precedency as the former. And for their efficient causes besides the mineral virtue, it is said to be heat and cold. Heat bringeth the slow humid unctuous matter through the thin parts of the earth (as the Philosophers affirm) and cold condenseth it, and makes it thick. They live not with a vegetative life, as plants and 
Stones live not a vegetative life.  trees which have their nourishment from within; but their augmentation proceeds from an outward accretion by the 〈◊〉 of particulars adhering to them, when they lie in place convenient: and, in time, their virtues may be abated, by being long out of their right Ubi; in which regard some supposed that they had life, and died.  
The common stones are of a more impure and gross 
Common stones.  matter then the other. Some whereof are solid; some more full of pores.  
In the solid, the parts are more continued, and better compacted: yet so, as some have a kind of shining in them; others are dark and dull. The shining solid stones, are chiefly all kind of marbles: of which I find three sorts. 1. Alabaster; which is of colour very clear and 
Alabaster.  white. The Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and about Thebes in Egypt it is especially found; there being the greatest plenty of it. 2. Ophites, which is a kind of marble having 
Ophites. Porphyrites.  spots like a serpent. 3. Porphyrites, which is the red marble, mixed or interlaced with white spots. The not shining solid stones are these, and the like: 1. The Flint. 2. The Marchasite, or that whereof they make 
Flint. Marchasite. Cos. Corticula.  millstones; which being struck with Steel, procures fire, like to the Flint. 3. Cos, which is of power to sharpen edgetools; wherefore we commonly call it a whetstone. 4. Corticula, or Lydius lapis; which is of force to try the truth in metals: we therefore call it a touchstone. 5. Smiris, which is an hard stone wherewith glasiers cut 
Smiris.  their glass: some call this an Emery. 6. Those which 
Saxum.  we name wheaten stones, or any kind of rocky stone; or such as may be comprehended under the word Saxum.  
Common stones less solid, are the Pumex and Tophus. 
Pumex.  1. The Pumex is of a spongy nature, and is apt to swim by reason of the light matter whereof it consisteth. 
Tophus.  2. The Tophus is a sand or gravel stone that may easily be rubbed to crumbs. 
Precious stones.   
But come now to precious stones: and amongst them we have the noble, and the less noble: both which sorts are begotten of a more subtle and thin matter then common stones, and fostered with a more singular influence of the heavens. My task were (in a manner) endless to reckon 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. lib. 37.  all sorts: yet some must be remembered.  
The more noble precious stones, are, 1. The Adamant 
Adamant.  or Diamond, the most precious of all stones, and the hardest; insomuch as it cutteth glass, and yieldeth not either to struck of hammer or fire: notwithstanding it is softened with 
h Some say that the blood of a Deer or Lion will also molli●…ie ●…t, and make it ●…it to be broken: melted Led also mixed therewith in a burning furnace, doth the like.  Goat's blood being warm, soon after she hath eaten pa●…sley or drunken wine.  
Pliny maketh 6 kinds of Adamant: The 1. is Adamas Indicus, being near akin to crystal; for in colour and clearness it is much like it: and in quantity it is in bigness as a filbert or hazel nut. The 2. is Adamas Arabicus, like to the other, excepting that it is something less. The 3. is called Cenchros, answering in bigness to the grain of Millet. The 4. kind is Adamas Macedonicus; and this is like to the seed of a Cucumber. The 5. is Adamas Cypricus; this is found in Cyprus, and tendeth somewhat to the colour of brass. The 6. is called the 
* Some say, that it hath power to set variance between men.  Siderite; which, although it be heavier than the other, yet it is of less virtue and esteem; the colour whereof is like to the colour of iron: And this, as also that of Cyprus, are termed by 
i Lib. 37. cap. 4.  Pliny, degenerate kinds; because they will be broken by the hammer, or otherwise with blows; and may also be cut or razed by other Adamants. All these kinds, the two first only excepted, are said to have their place of generation amongst the Gold, and in golden Mines.  
2. The Saphire is a very clear gem, very hard and of 
Saphire.  a sky colour, growing in the East, and specially in India: the best sort hath in it as it were cloves inclining to a certain redness. This stone is said to be of a cold nature: and being drunk it preserveth chastity, corroborateth the heart, helpeth against the stinging of serpents, poison and pestilence.  
3. The 
* Pliny maketh 12 sorts of this stone, lib. 37. cap. 5.  smaragd is of a green transparent colour, 
Smaradge.  making the air green near about it. The quality of this stone, in physic, is much like to the former, or of more virtue: for it is said to defend the wearer from the falling sickness. And so greatly doth it favour chastity, that if it be worn whilst the man and the woman accompany themselves together, it breaketh in the very act. 
Hyacinth.   
4. The Hyacinth is of a waterish colour, or rather something 
What false friends are like unto.  blew like a violet. It is exceeding hard, and cloudy in the dark, but pure and clear by day: like unto a false flattering friend, whose blithe looks are only seen in time of prosperity; but gone when the cloudy night of dark adversity beginneth to approach: For where true friends are knit in love, there sorrows are shared equally; and best are they perceived in a doubtful matter.  
Si fueris felix, multos numerabis amicos:  
Tempora si fuerint nubila, solus eris.  
Whilst thou art happy, many friends thou hast:  
But cloudy times those many friends do waste. Moreover, this stone is of a cold quality, moderating the spirits of the heart and of the other parts; also it causeth mirth, and being worn obtaineth favour, as some report.  
5. The Amethyst is a gem or precious stone, which 
Amethyst.  in colour resembleth a deep claret-wine; and (as 
Aristotle affirmeth no less.  some suppose) it hath power to resist drunkenness.  
6. The Carbuncle (of which Pliny writeth in his 37 
Carbuncle  book and 7 chapter) is a gem shining with a light like fire, representing a flame. Some say it is the noblest, and hath most virtues of any precious stone.  
7. The Chalcedon is of near nature to the Carbuncle: 
Chalcedon.  it is of a purple colour, and shineth like a star: it is said to expel sadness and fear, by purging and cheering the spirits: it also hindereth ill and fearful visions or dreams in a man's sleep.  
8. The Ruby is a red gem, shining in dark like a spark 
Ruby.  of fire: it cleareth the sight, and expelleth sad and fearful dreams.  
9 The Chrysolite is a stone of a golden colour, 
Chrysolite.  and shining, but brightest in the morning. It is good against melancholy; and fire is much hurtful unto it.  
10. The Astarite is a clear shining Crystalline stone, 
Astarite.  having in the midst the image of a full moon: or being turned about, the sun or the moon may be seen shining within it. Plin. lib. 37. cap. 9 
Selenite.  
A stone which follows the course of the Moon.   
11. The Selenite is a transparent gem like glass: it hath a kind of spot in it which bears the image of the moon, increasing and decreasing as the moon; and therefore it is called the Moon-stone. Ibid. cap. 10. It is of a white, black, and yellow colour: and the scrape of it heal the falling sickness.  
12. The Sard●…nix is a clear gem, in colour representing the nail of a man's hand: it preserveth 
* The Indians therefore used to hang it about their necks.  chasteness, and healeth ulcers about the nails. Albertus Magnus witnesseth that if it be hanged about the neck, it doth greatly corroborate the strength of the body.  
13. Achates is a stone of diverse colours, insomuch 
Achates.  that the colours of other gems are not sufficient for it: sometime it is black with white veins and yellow: sometime it is as it were sprinkled with blood; & (like a Prot●…us) is of so many colours that one would scarce believe it were one and the same stone. Eagles (as is said) lay it 
How Eagles keep their young from poison.  in their nests to preserve their young from poison. And Pyrrhus, K. of Epirus, had one of these gems in a ring, in which were the nine Muses to be seen, and Apollo with his harp; not engraven by art (saith 
l Plin. lib. 37. cap. 1.  Pliny) sed sponte naturae it à discurrentibus maculis, but on natures own accord the spots being so disposed. Pliny also showeth the diverse kinds of this stone in the 10 chapter of his 37 book, affirming that it is good against poison, and stinging of scorpions; and is supposed to procure eloquence, and make men wise and fair-spoken. See more in Scal. Exerc. 117.  
14. Sardius is a kind of Onyx, of a blackish or deep 
Sardius.  yellow colour. 
m Ibid. cap. 7.  Pliny saith it is a common stone, and was found first about Sardis, but the best are near Babylon. Some call it a 
* It helpeth to stop fluxes; and is g●…od ag●…st piles in the fundament.  Corneoll. It stoppeth bleedings at the nose, sharpens the wit, and makes men cheerful and merry, and set in a ring it restraineth anger.  
15. jasper is a green stone, pointed with spots like 
jasper.  drops of blood. 
Topaz.   
16 The 
n Ibid. cap. 8.  Topaz is a precious stone whereof there be two kinds; one of gold colour casting beams in the sun; the other of a saffron colour, not so good as the other. This stone being put into boiling water doth so presently 
A stone that will suddenly cool seething water.  cool it, that one may forthwith pull it out with his hand, and feel no scalding heat: or being laid to a wound, it stencheth blood. 
Emerald.   
17. The Emerald is a precious stone of a green colour, something like unto the smaragd.  
18. The Opal is a precious stone of diverse colours, 
Opal.  wherein appeareth the fiery shining of the Carbuncle, the purple colour of the Amethyst, and the green show of the Emerald, very strangely mixed together.  
19 Turcois is dark, of a sky colour, and greenish. It 
Turcois.  helpeth weak eyes and spirits, refresheth the heart; and, 
A compassionate stone; the reason whereof is showed in Coral.  if the wearer of it be not well, it changeth colour and looketh pale and dim, but increaseth to his perfectness as the wearer recovereth to his health.  
The sympathising Turcois true doth tell,  
By looking pale, the wearer is not well.  
Now follow some such as are less noble gems.  
1. Crystal is a kind of Ice made of waters which 
Crystal.  congeal themselves by a vehement and very long cold, as for the space of 10 or 12 continual years. There is some quantity thereof found in the Alps, and other cold mountains: and being polished, men make thereof works of diverse fashions; as Vessels, Glasses, Mirrors or Looking-glasses, and other common things. His quality is 
Good against Laxes.  said to be binding; and therefore his powder is helpful in Laxes, and increaseth milk in women's breasts. Also another kind is sometimes found in the earth; as in some places of Germany.  
2. Coral is a stone growing in the sea like a slimy 
Coral.  shrub, which by the air presently is made hard and turned into a stone. The Greeks call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; which is as much as if you should say, Astonie shrub. It is taken up full of moss, but being unbarked, it appeareth clear in its proper colour.  
The red and branchy Coral cometh something near in nature to the Turcois; for when it is worn by those who are shortly to fall sick, it waxeth pale and wan: the reason whereof may be, in that his tender substance 
How it comes to pass that there seems to be compassion in a stone.  is affected by the bad vapour, which is not so soon perceived in the body, because at the first it is not strong enough to afflict it. This stone, they say, is good against the falling sickness, sore eyes, and the stone. Also know that there be 3 kinds of Coral; white, black, and red.  
Haematites, or the Bloudstone, is a stone outwardly of a 
Bloudstone  bloody colour, inwardly like iron; and of such hardness that the file can scarcely bite it. The quality of this stone is to stench blood, either in a wound, or at the nose: also, it will eat proud flesh out of a sore. It is to be found either in Ethiopia or Arabia.  
4. Magnes, or the Loadstone, is coloured like iron, 
Loadstone.  but blewer, and tending to a sky colour: it hath virtue not only to draw iron to itself, but also to make any iron on which it is rubbed, to draw iron also. It respecteth the North and South pole; and loseth not this secret virtue, unless it be rubbed with onions or garlic: which is certainly true, as may be proved by cutting any of the foresaid roots with a knife touched by the Loadstone. Some affirm, that physically used, it purgeth the dropsy, and helpeth the flux.  
Also, it is supposed that there are certain magnetical hills, or mountains of Loadstone under the arctic pole, and they are the causes why things touched with this stone, tend always that way. But learned 
* In his exercises against Cardan.  Scaliger (as well he might) laugheth at this conceit. Again, others (with better probability) are persuaded that the Loadstone inclineth towards the stars of the pole by a secret sympathy; even as certain flowers and plants turn themselves with the sun. And for the attractive virtue which it also hath in drawing iron, it is supposed to be also by a kind of sympathy and likeness of substance; there being two causes of attraction: one is Similitudo; and the other is Fuga vacui. Heat draweth in Fuga vacui; and in the similitude of substance, every part is supposed to draw its own proper nourishment. Whereupon (saith 
o Magir. Phys. where, by experience he contradicteth Scaliger.  one) sith iron is as it were the aliment or nourishment of the Loadstone, it therefore draweth iron to it. And, that iron is a kind of nourishment to the said stone, appeareth in that the filled dust of iron covering it doth long preserve it; and in tract of time the dust will be consumed; augmenting thereby the accretion of the stone. Not that it eateth, or is nourished by it as a thing having life: but even as the elements are moved to their places, as being their end and perfection; so it is in the attraction between this stone and iron, and the accretion which is caused by their real contaction.  
This I think may be supposed. But I leave it to the readers further enquiry, and abler examination.  
5. Asbestos is a stone of an iron colour, which being 
Asbestos.  once fired can hardly be ever quenched. Pliny saith that it is to be found in the mountains of Arcadia. Lib. 37. cap. 10.  
6. Dendritis is a white precious stone, which being 
Dendritis.  put under a tree, keepeth the axe that cutteth it, from dulling. Idem, lib. 37. cap. 11.  
7. Galactites is of an ash-colour; it seemeth to sweat 
Galactites.  out a kind of liquor like unto milk. 
p Lib. 37. cap. 10.  Pliny saith it increaseth milk in nurses, and keeps the mouth of the child moist if it be hanged about the neck, etc. some also say that it helpeth running of the eyes, and ulcers.  
8. Amphitane is a precious stone of gold colour, 
Amphitane.  square, and of the nature of the Loadstone almost, excepting that it is said to draw gold unto it. Pliny saith 
A stone which hath po●…er to draw gold to it.  that this stone is also called Chrysocolla, and is found in a part of India where the ants cast up gold from their hills. Lib. 37. cap. 10.  
9 Androdamas is a stone hard, and heavy; bright 
Androdamas.  like silver, and in form like diverse little squares. It putteth away rage of lechery: and (as the magicians think, 
Pli●…. Ibid.  saith Pliny) it stoppeth the force of fury and anger.  
10. Pansebastos is a precious stone taking away barrenness. 
Pansebastos.   
11. There is also in Pliny, mention made of the stone 
Lapis Thracius.  Thracius, which being steeped in water burneth and sprinkles, but it is quenched with oil.  
12. Amiantus is a stone like unto alum: this, being 
Amiantus.  put into the fire, is not hurt nor slurried, but rather more bright and clear. Unto which, one patient in troubles 
One patient in trouble, what he may be likened unto.  and adversities, may be likened: for his afflictions harm him not, but better him; making him look in the midst of a fiery trial, not like one slurried with repining, but clear and beautiful in the sight of heaven, by refining.  
But I conclude; and with him who writeth thus, cannot but say,  
Oh much is the powerful good that lies  
In herbs, trees, stones, and their true qualities:  
For nought so vile that on the earth doth live,  
But to the earth some secret good doth give.  
And nought so rich on either rock or shelf,  
But, if unknown, lies useless to itself.  
Therefore who thus doth make their secrets known,  
Doth profit others, and not hurt his own.  
Now follow metals of a more friable and brittle nature. 
These which follow are called metals of a more brittle nature.  They are more mollified bodies, may be easily brought into crumbs or dust, are called precious earths something clammy, and of a middle nature between stones and the less pliable metals.  
First I begin with Terra 
* In Constantinople the Apothecaries and Druggist's ●…ell of this ●…rth in cakes, on which are stamped certain Arabian characters. On the sixth of August it is digged forth at Lemnos with many ceremonies.  Lemnia, which is an exceeding 
Earth of Lemnos.  red earth of Lemnos isle, digged in a red hill. In old time this had Diana's seal upon it, printed by her priests, who were only wont to wash this earth: and now, in Silesia and Hassia, there is almost as good earth found. It is of force to resist poison, and to heal old putrified or festered wounds.  
2. Cinoper is a soft red stone, found in mines; otherwise called Vermilion: of which Pliny speaketh in his 33 book at the 7 chapter, saying, that in times past it 
Vermilion.  was not only of great, but of sacred esteem among the Romans: for they painted their gods with it; as he tells us of Jupiter's image, whose face was coloured with Vermilion. So Virgil also, speaking of the shepherd's god Pan, saith that he was seen,  Sanguineis Ebuli baccis, Minió que rubentem, 
〈◊〉. 10.  
With bloody Walwort berries stained,  
And with Vermilion red.  
Neither were their gods alone thus beautified, but their own bodies also, in public feasts and triumphing solemnities; as we read again in Pliny, that Camillus, when he triumphed in Rome, was painted with this Vermilion.  
3. Bo●… Armenian, or Bole Armoniac, is of a pale red 
Bole Armoniac.  colour, as easy to break as chalk; being of a very binding 
Good against the plague.  nature, and of great virtue against the plague: and seeing it drieth, it profiteth against all fluxes.  
4. Ochre is a light clayie earth, of a red or yellow colour. 
Ochre.   
5. That which the Grecians call Arsenic, the Latins 
Arsenic.  call Auripigmentum: but I had rather that Arsenic should be the general name, and that it be divided into 3 kinds; namely, into white, red, and yellow Orpment. The white is that which is the common ratsbane. Red Arsenic is called Sandaracha; of a bright red colour, used of painters, and found in mines of gold and silver. Yellow Orpment is the right Auripigmentum; it is like unto Brimstone. This (if it be our common Arsenic) is a very dangerous drug: for it is hot and burning, so as it gnaweth the stomach, & pierceth the bowels, producing a fever with an intolerable and an unquenchable thirst.  
6. Red lead comes something near to the nature of 
Red lead.  Vermilion: and (as 
* Plin. lib. 33. cap. 7.  Pliny writeth out of Homer) was used by the Trojans, and honoured before they knew Vermilion. For (as Theophrastus in Pliny witnesseth) Callias of Athens first found out Vermilion, thinking indeed to draw gold out of it. Howbeit, Red lead is no mineral, but made artificially.  
7. Terra Samia is a white, stiff, and tough earth 
Earth of Samos.  coming from the isle Samos. Pliny makes two kinds of it: the one more glutinous than the other; the other more ●…loddie, less glutinous, and whiter. He saith there be those who prefer the first as best. They 
Good against spitting of blood.  are either of them good against spitting of blood. Lib. 35. cap. 16.  
8. Chalk is a white earth, which was first found in 
Chalk.  Crect, and therefore in Latin it is called Creta: But now we find of it in many other places. Pliny makes many kinds of Chalk; all which are not white: as in his 34 book at the 17 chapter is apparent; Fuller's earth being 
Fuller's earth. Brown Umber. Lime-Chalk.  a chief kind among them: and that, by others, is called Creta Tasconia. Brown Umber cometh also near to the nature of the said earth.  
Calx is Lime-Chalk, which after it is burnt will be fired with water, but quenched with oil; as authors write. It is called Calx viva, because it contains a kind of hid fire in it.  
10 Ampelite is a pitchy earth, cleaving and black; being 
Black▪ earth like our coals.  much like to that which we call Pit or Sea-coal, as some imagine: and (haply) the diversity of climate causeth the difference. There is also found another earth, which 
* Lib. 35. cap. 16.  Pliny calls Pignitis, and some others Pnigitis, and it is as black as this.  
11. Bitumen is a fat and tough moisture, like Pitch; 
Bitumen.  and is called Earthy Pitch. Or thus: It is a kind of clay or natural Lime, clammy like Pitch; and is to be found in many countries of Asia. They who builded the tower of Babel, used this in stead of Mortar, as appeareth in Gen. chapter the 11. And so did others also in old time, making it in like manner burn in lamps in stead of oil.  
This pitchy earth is of two kinds: For it is either 
Two kinds of Bitumen.  Hard, or Liquid.  
The Hard is more strongly concreted then the other; 
Hard Bitumen.  being like unto clods of the earth, or coals. Or (as some affirm) it is tough and moist at the first, swimming on the water, but being taken forth it waxeth 
Three kinds of hard Bitumen.  hard. Of this kind is 1 Asphaltus, 2 Pissasphaltus, 3 Succinum.  
Asphaltus is a black Bitumen, hard like stone-pitch, 
Asphaltus.  clear, and smelling scarce so ill as Pitch. It is found throughout Babylon, and especially in the lake Asphaltites; near unto which stood those cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, that were consumed with fire and 
Worldly vanities like to Sodom apples.  brimstone: and where also do as yet grow apples, which (according to Solinus) are fair and fresh without, but within are full of Sulphur; and being handled they fall all to ashes: In which they are Emblems of the vanities of this world, always seeming more than they are.  
Pissasphaltus is said to be Mummy, or a kind of Bitumen 
Pissasphaltus.  somewhat 
As having more pitch in it according to Pli●…. lib 35. cap. 15.  differing from Asphaltus, and is not seldom found in clods rolling from mount Ceravine to 
Mummy.  the Sea; as authors witness. In stead of this, it is supposed that we have counterfeit Mummy often out of Syria, Egypt and some other places, which is taken from poor men's bodies that die there: For in stead of Myrrh, Aloes, Cassia, etc. (which the rich men have 
P●…ore folk are gl●…d of any thing.  in their burials and embalmings) the poor are dressed and stuffed up with Bitumen. This therefore which is but counterfeit, is nothing else but a corrupted humour taken out of old tombs, which there droppeth from embalmed bodies: and most ridiculously (in my opinion) do they err who say it is made of man's flesh boiled in Pitch. It is hot 
Good against bruistes, etc.  in the second degree, and good against all bruisings, spitting of blood, and diverse other diseases.  
Succinum is a Bituminous suck or juice of the earth, 
Succinum.  being hard as if it were a kind of stone. It is of three colours; White, Yellow, and Black. The White and 
Amber. jet.  Yellow are called Amber: and the Black is jet.  
They make beads of Amber. And some would have this Amber to be rather a gum growing on a tree, then to be a suck of the earth. The tree, by some, is called Ibex Romana. But (as others report out of Dioscorides) it falleth in manner of a liquor from Poplar trees into the river Po in Italy, where it congealeth and becometh hard, in that form as we see it.  
jet hath more plenty of fatness in it then Amber; and therefore it will burn like a candle, and smelleth like the Pinetree. It hath an attractive virtue in it to draw chaff, straws, and such other light stuff unto it, especially if it be rubbed till it be hot. And these are the kinds of Hard Bitumen. 
Soft Bitumen, and his kinds.   
The Liquid and soft, is like an oily moisture flowing, and is of diverse colours according to the variety of the place: but the white is said to be most precious. And for the kinds, the chief are these; Naphtha, and Amber of Arabia.  
Naphtha, is a liquid Bitume like unto chalky 
Naphtha.  clay, or (as it were) the fat of Bitume; whereunto if fire be put, it kindleth in such wise, that if a little water 
Water cannot quench this liquor.  be cast thereon, it burneth more vehemently: And indeed it hath in it such a fiery force, that it will draw fire unto it, although it be far off. When it is found to flow out of rocks, than it is called Naphtha Petreolum; and by some, taken for oil. In the island Sicily are fountains, from whence great store of this liquor floweth, which they frequently burn in Lamps.  
Amber of Arabia, is Bitume of an ash colour, and of a 
Amber of Arabia.  fragrant sweet smell, desired and sought after as a most precious merchandise. It is found in Arabia felix, near unto a town which is called Sichris. Howbeit Olaus Magnus calleth that Amber, which is Sperma Ce●…: but than it is Ambergreese, and rather the spawn then the seed.  
12. From Bitume, I come to Alum: which is 
Alum.  said to be a salt sweat of the earth, according to Pliny; 
Lib. 35. cap. ●…5.  congealing itself with a glutinous earth and water.  
It is either white or black.  
The white is either clear or thick.  
The clear is softer and fatter than the other: 
Roch-Alume.  This is Roch-Alume; and if paper be washed with this, it will bear ink very well, although it be bad.  
The thick is more hard, and of a grayer colour. 
Harder Alum.  Black Alum is found in Cyprus: and with this, gold is 
Black Alum.  purified and purged. They that desire more, may read Pliny in his 35 book at the 15 chapter.  
13. Vitriol is a suck of the earth concreted, obtaining 
Vitriol.  the perspicuity of glass: some call it Cha●…canthum, which word may signify either Copperas or Vitriol. This suck is very poisonous.  
14. Salt is called Sal, à saliendo; because when it is 
Salt.  put into the fire, it skippeth and dan●…eth. It is a friable metal, begotten of a waterish and earthy moisture, mixed and decocted together: the efficient cause whereof is the heat of the sun and other stars; who, out of a salt matter, drawing away the thinner and the sweeter parts, leave the earthy still behind, which being throughly roasted by heat, become salt. For there be two things requisite in a salt savour: The first, are dry and earthy parts; The other, is an adustion of the said parts, as Philosopher's witness. Salt hath force to bind, to scour and purge, to disperse, make thin, and the like: which thing Physicians can best declare.  
There be 2 kinds; Natural and Artificial. The Natural, 
Salt is either Natural, or Artificial▪  is digged Salt. The Artificial, is made or boiled Salt.  
Digged Salts are gotten either from the earth, or from the waters; as some distinguish.  
Salts digged out of the earth, be principally of four kinds.  
The first is Salt Ammonaick. This is found in Africa 
Salt Ammonaick.  under sand, and is something like unto alum. It is said to be hot and dry in the fourth degree, and serveth to purge slimy humours. Some affirm that that which Apothecaries sell in black clods, is made of Camels stale; and because store of Camels be in Armenia, it is called Arm●…niack.  
The second is Salt of Indie, of which you may read 
Salt of Indie.  in Pliny, lib. 31. cap. 7. that it is digged out of mount Oramene; and that the King hath there a greater yearly pension or custom, than out of gold and precious stones.  
The third is called Saltgem, which is a kind of glittering 
Saltgem.  Salt; white, and shining after the manner of Crystal. Sometimes it is also called stony, marblie Salt; Salt Dacian, or Sarmatick Salt.  
The fourth is called Salt-nitre: and this is that which we call Saltpetre, found in dry places under ground, and in hollow rocks.  
Of this is made that fatal dust, called Pulvis Bombardicus, 
Gunpowder and guns how invented, and when.  or Gunpowder: the invention whereof was after this manner. A German Monk or Friar, of the order of S. Francis, whose name was Bertholdus Swart, being very studious in Alchemy, was one evening (for the finding out of some 
* 〈◊〉 Vi●…gil saith he was making a medicine. Lib. 2. cap. 7. de Invent.  experiment) very busy in tempering brimstone, sulphureous powder of dried earth, and certain other ingredients, in a mortar, which he covered with a stone: and growing dark, he took a tinderbox to light him a candle; into which whilst he assayed to strike some fire, a spark by chance flew into the mortar, where catching hold of the brimstone and salt-peter, it fired with a sudden flash, and violently blew up the stone. The cunning Chemist, guessing which of his ingredients it was that produced this effect, never left till he found it out: then taking an iron pipe he crammed it full of the said ingredient, together with some stones; and putting fire to it, he saw that with great fury and noise it discharged itself. Soon after, he communicated this his invention to the Venetians, who having been often vanquished by the Genoese, did, by help of these bombards or guns, give them a notable discomfiture: which was in the year●… of our Lord 1380, as Bucholcerus writeth in his chronology, saying, Hoc tempore BOMBARD A ad hominum perniciem inventae sunt & excogitat●… à Bertholdo Nigro Chymista, & (ut quidam volunt) Monacho Germano. Wherein we see that he calls them bombards invented for the ruin of men. For by these (saith he) it comes to pass, that now (in a manner) all the force of the footmen, all the splendour of the horse, and all right warlike power, doth shamefully cease, lie dead, faint, and dull. Polydore also saith, 
Polyd. Virg. lib. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  that of all other instruments which ever were devised to the destruction of man, the guns be most devilish. In which regard (sith he was not well instructed concerning the Almains name that invented them) he addeth yet thus much more, saying, For the invention he received this benefit, that his name was never known, lest he might for this abominable device be cursed, and evil spoken of as long as the world remaineth. And in the continuation of Carrions chronicle, by 
q Lib. 5. pag. ●…17.  Caspar Peucer, it is also said, that about the beginning of Wanceslaus his reign That raging kind of engine and tormenting torture (which from the sound we call a 
r Bombarda voca●… a bombo, id est, 〈◊〉, qui 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. B●…ch. in 〈◊〉.  bombard) was found out by a Monk, the devil being the chiefest engineer or master-workman. For it was their care, that seeing the authority of idle superstitions should decline and fade by little and little, (which through these authors had bewitched the minds of mortals, and cast them into eternal destruction) this might therefore succeed, by them, the same authors, as another kind of mischief, which should rage against their bodies, as that other had done against their souls. To this purpose Peucer. And indeed an experiment of his speech we then beheld, when the upholders of that tottering kingdom would have traitorously tried to have 
* In the powder treason, Anno Dom. 1605.  sent at once, even all the peers of this our land piecemeal into the air. But he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord himself was our keeper, so that their sulphureous fire could neither burn us by day, nor s●…are us by night: although Faux were taken the night before, among the barrels, and wished that then (sith he had done so much, and could do no more) his match with fire had touched the powder.  
Oh never let the memory of that day  
Fly from our hearts, or dully slide away.  
God thought on us, that we remembering this,  
Might think on him whose hand defendeth his.  
But whither am I transported now? These four, although they be the principal kinds of salt digged from the ground, yet there be other also: amongst which, 
Salt of Spain.  those Spanish mountains would be remembered, where there is a salt cut out, and drawn as stones are out of a quarry; in which place it afterwards increaseth, and filleth up the gap with more salt again. Du Bartas calls this the brine-quar-hill in Arragon.  
And as for Salt digged out of waters or watery places, 
Salt not digged from under ground.  or not digged from under ground, it is thus caused; namely, by the heat of the sun percocting those waters which are extremely salt. For when salt waters are throughly concocted by the sun, they are so dried, congealed, and thickened, that in their shores, by their banks, and often upon their very surfaces or superficies, they render liberally good store of Salt. Thus in the summer time is the Tarentine lake (of which Pliny 
〈◊〉. lib. 31. cap. 7.  speaketh) turned into ●…alt: the salt being in the surface of the waters, to the depth of a man's knee. So also in Sicily, in the lake Coranicus. And in some rivers, the water is known to run underneath in its ordinary course, whilst the uppermost part is turned into salt: as about the Caspian 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 about the ●…an se●…. 〈◊〉 the breadth of a wain.  straits, which are called the rivers of salt; and also near the Mardi and Armenians, whose countries are in Asia.  
But leaving these, I come to the second kind of Salt, 
Boiled Salt.  which is artificial and made, or boiled salt. For although the matter be natural, yet the making is by art. From whence it comes to pass, that of one and the same salt water, this man will boil better Salt than that man; and he then another. Yea, some, out of water less salt, will boil and make better Salt, than others out of fountains more salt.  
Many be the places where they make Salt after this manner, by boiling of salt water: neither is this kingdom of ours destitute of such fountains or wells. For at the towns called the Witches in Cheshire, there is a briny water, which by boiling is turned into white Salt. And the same water is said to be as good to powder any kind of flesh, as brine: for within 24 hours it will powder beef sufficiently. A great blessing of God to raise up such springs for our use so far within the land: as also an evident argument, that the Sea is made salt by the substance of the ground; of which I have spoken my mind already.  
And here unto all this, I could add the necessity of 
Salts necessity.  Salt; which is such, that we cannot well live without it: and therefore it is the first thing that is set on the table, and aught to be the last taken away; according as one translateth out of Schola Salerni, saying,  
Salt should be last removed, and first set down  
At table of a Knight, or country clown.  
This, I confess (as pertinent) might be added; but it is now high time to put a period to the discourse of this day's work. Take the rest therefore, all in one word; and than it is thus,  
The eve and morn conclude the third of days,  
And God gives to his work deserved praise.    

CHAP. VII. Concerning the fourth day; together with such things as are pertinent to the work done in it.  

Sect. 1. Being as it were a kind of entrance into this day's work, which treateth of the stars and lights.  
THe structure of the earth being adorned with herbs, trees, and plants, in the third or former day; Moses now returns to show both how & when God beautified the heavens; bedecking that vaulted roof with shining lights and beauteous stars: which like glittering saphires, or golden spangles in a well wrought canopy, do show the admired work of the world's brave palace.  
And seeing this was not done before the sprouting of the earth, it may well be granted that they are but foolish naturalists who will presume to bind Gods mighty hand in nature's bands, and tie him so to second causes, as if he were no free or voluntary agent, but must be always bound to work by means.  
And again, the Text declareth that the sun, moon, and stars, were all unmade before this present day: and yet it saith there was light before. But it was then a dispersed shining, and now united to these bright lamps of heaven: that that riding, and they running like fiery chariots, might not only rule the day and night, but also distinguish the better, and more harmoniously, the days from nights, seasons, weeks, months, and years; and not only so, but be also for signs of something else.  
Also, God made them, saith the Text. See then the folly of those who make them gods▪ and vainly do adore them. For let it be observed, that although the sun and moon be called the greatest lights, yet if they be worshipped, they are abused to the greatest darkness: and they that deify them, may damnify themselves by being as blind as the heathen Gentiles, and as superstitiously addicted as some (of old) amongst the Jews; whose answer to the Prophet Jeremy was, that they would not do according to his teaching, but follow rather the desperate bent of their own bows, in worshipping the moon as Queen of heaven. As for the word that thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth cut of our own mouth to burn incense to the 
* The moon, as in Job, chap. 31. 26.  Queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of judah, and in the streets of jerusalem. Of which they give this reason: For then (say they) we had plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil, Jer. 44. 16, 17. By which last words it well appeareth, that it was fear, as much as any thing else, which made them thus advance this practice. And truly fear is an effect proceeding from the nature of superstition, and so far prevailing, that it will there make gods, where it doubteth most of danger: as the Egyptians did, in making fortune a goddess. For they kept an annual feast in honour of her deity; giving thanks for the year which was past, and earnestly imploring her favour for the year to come. It was Plu●…archs observation, that the superstitious always think the gods ready to do hurt. By means whereof he accounteth them in worse case than malefactors or fugitives, who if they once recover the Altar, are there secured from fear, where nevertheless the superstitious are in greatest thraldom: And from hence arose that ancient saying, Primus in orbe deos fecit timor: And hence it also was that the heathen, in institution of their sacrifices, did offer as well to all their gods that they should not hurt them, as for any help they expected from them. An example whereof we have again among the poor silly Indians, who sacrifice their children unto the devil at this very day, because they be mainly afraid of him. And of old (as it is storied) we have the example of Alexander Magnus, who sacrificed to the sun, moon, and earth, that thereby he might divert the evil luck, which (as he feared) was portended by an Eclipse but a little before. And the Jews did not only burn incense to the Queen of heaven, but offer up cakes unto her also, as in Jer. 7. 18. From which kind of idolatry Job did thus acquit himself, saying, If I have beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon when it walked in brightness: or if my heart hath secretly enticed my mouth to kiss my hand unto it, or by way of worshipping it: then this were iniquity that ought to be punished, chap. 31. verse 26. It ought indeed to be punished, because God Almighty had forbidden it; as in Deut. 4. 19 Beware lest thou lift up thine eyes to heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. And in Jerem. chap. 10. vers. 2. Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven: for the heathen are dismayed at them: Which is, as if it should be said, The way of the heathen is to worship their gods with a servile fear, and attribute divine honour to the creature. But you which are my people, do not you so: for God willeth not that the works of his hands should be worshipped. Or thus, He there teacheth them to have their trust so firmly fixed on him, that what disaster soever the heavens in the course of nature should threaten unto them, they ought not to fear it. For, Astra regunt homines, sed Deus astra regit.  
And again, Moses in the text calls the sun and moon two great lights: the greatest of which (even the sun itself) seemeth to our eyes but little, and yet by rules of art is found 
* Greater than 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; and ●…gger than the 〈◊〉 140 times, according to 〈◊〉.  far greater than the earth; that thereby we may learn not to trust our senses too much in heavenly things.  
Last of all, let me prevent a question. The moon is less than any star: For Tycho makes Mercury but 19 times less than the earth; whereas the moon is less by 42 times: how then can the moon be called a great light, seeing her body is no bigger? Take this 
* Or this; Di●… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 magna, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉. Quia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stell●… sunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 magis sentitur i●… istis 〈◊〉, & ●…tiam 〈◊〉 sens●… major apparet.  answer; The sun and moon are called great lights, partly from their nature & effects; because they give more light than other stars. The sun appeareth alone in the day, not because he is alone, but because through his exceeding brightness the other stars cannot be seen. The moon also in her brightness obscureth many stars; and being more beautiful than any other, hath worthily the chief 
Aquin. ex Chrys. Hom. 6.  pre-eminence in ruling the night, as the Scripture speaketh. Or thus, They be called great lights (say some) according to the custom of the Scripture, speaking according to the capacity of the simple: for in outward appearance they are the greatest. And yet as great as the greatest is, if one should go about to persuade the vulgar that the earth is of a far less circuit, they would scarce believe it; making the sun of the bigness of some wheel, and the moon as much in compass as the breadth of a bushel: howbeit 
* In his He ●…met.  S. Ambrose gives sensible and apparent reasons of greatness in the sun and moon, even by daily experience. For first, they appear of like quantity to all the world, whereas herds of cattle being espied far off seem as ants, and a ship discerned far in the seas, seemeth no bigger than a flying dove. They show of the same greatness in India, & in England. They enlighten all parts of the earth alike, and appear the same indifferently to all; and therefore must needs be of an extraordinary bigness. And secondly, as soon as the sun ariseth, all the stars are hid; which shows his greatness. And further, if the sun were not of such greatness as Artists give unto it, how could all the world be enlightened by it?   

Sect. 2. Of the Matter, Place, and Motion of the Stars; with other like things which are also pertinent.  


Artic. 1. That they consist most of a fiery matter, and are cherished by the waters above the heavens.  
BY Heaven and Earth, which Moses saith were created in the beginning, we are to understand all and every part of the whole Universe: whose matter was created at once, and made as it were the store-house for all things else; as already in the first day's work I have declared. Howbeit some contend, that the stars and lights of heaven were not made out of any matter either of the earth, or the waters, or of heaven, or any thing beside; but immediately out of nothing. Which certainly is scarce agreeable to the whole scope of creation: For, in the beginning, the matter of all was made. And perhaps, as it was proper to the earth to bring forth herbs, grass, and trees, at the command of God in the third day's work; so also (perhaps) it was as proper to the heavens, in some sort, to afford the matter of the luminaries and otherstarres, as soon as God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven. And herein those Philosophers were not much amiss, who defined the stars to be the thicker part of their orbs. Yet nevertheless not so to be followed, as if the heavens afforded any solid orbs; unto which, as the knots in a tree, or the nails in a wheel, or the gem in a ring, the stars are joined. For besides that which I have already spoken of the whole space within the concavitle of the firmament, viz. that it is but air; yet purer and purer the higher we climb: which I proved in the second day, both by optical demonstration, height, consumption, and motion of Comets, with the like; besides that (I say) there be other reasons also to declare it. For not only certain Poets have confessed as much, calling the Sky Spirabile coeli numen, as we read in Virgil; or a Liquid heaven, as Ovid tells us▪ saying, Et liquidum spisso secrevit ab aëre coelum: nor yet is it confirmed by the testimony of Pliny alone, who followed herein the opinion of ancient Philosophers; but even reason also and exquisite modern observations have made it plain. For suppose there were solid orbs, or that this concave were not filled with liquid air, would it not follow that there should be as it were penetratio corporum, or that one Sphere should cut another in sunder? Questionless it would. For the Planets move so up and down that they often enterfeir and cut one another's orbs, now higher, and then lower; as Mars amongst the rest, which sometimes (as 
* Epit. Astron. lib. 4.  Kepler confirms by his own and Tycho's accurate observations) comes nearer the earth than the Sun, and is again eftsoons aloft in jupiters' sphere. And doth not Tycho's Hypothesis and Systema of the world make it also plain, that the sphere of the Sun must be interfected by the orbs of Venus, Mars, and Mercury? which could not be if the heavens were impenetrable, or differed toto genere from this soft air wherein we live and move. And now see this figure, framed according to Tycho's demonstration.  
Thus Tycho describeth the ways and situations of the Planets. The stars therefore move in the heavens as birds in the air, or fishes in the sea, and the like: yet so, as their bounds are set; which with great regularity, to the admiration of their Maker, they constantly come unto, & depart away from, in their appointed times and determined orders; and therefore said to be set in the firmament of heaven, vers. 17. those of the fixed ones being as equally distant one from another, now, and at this very day, as at the first, when God Almighty made them: and those of the wand'ring ones as constant in their courses, as ever yet from the first time they began to move. Whereupon saith Tycho, Semper judicavi naturalem motûs 
Ty●…h. in Epist▪ add 〈◊〉.  scientiam, singulis Planetis congenitam, vel potius à Deo inditam esse, quâ in liquidissimo & tenuissimo ●…there cursûs sui normam regularissimè & constantissimè observare coguntur. Yet nevertheless we may not think that therefore they are living creatures, animated with a soul, and endued with life and reason; but rather, and in very deed (as even now I said) let this be an argument to show and declare the admired wisdom of their Make●…: according to that of David in the 19 Psalm, Coeli enarrant gloriam Dei, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handy work. For, The sun cometh forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber, and rejoycath as a giant to run his course. And yet again it is a thing very probable, that those amongst the jews who made cakes for the Queen of heaven, who burned incense to the Sun, Moon, Planets, and host of heaven, who dedicated horses and chariots to the Sun, did not only do it because they worshipped them as gods, but also because (like 
* Plat●… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, with other his followers. see also Cic. de 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉. lib. 2.  some amongst the Philosophers, and others amongst the 
* Orig●… and his followers.  Fathers) they thought them to be living creatures. Sure we are that Moses puts them not into his catalogue amongst such creatures as he reckoneth to have life: and therefore who will say they live?  
They may move, and yet be inanimate; as fire, which is of power to move, waste and consume: air enclosed is able to shake the earth: water carrieth ships, boats, and barges; flows this way, and that way, yet is no living creature, hath no soul, mind, or reason.  
Also, it may be granted that they are daily nourished by vapourie humours, and are (as it were) fed by such kind of food; yet no living creatures. For no man will deny a transmutation of the elements, but rather easily grant that they one nourish another for conservation of the Universe: And in such a kind, or not far differing, it is that the stars may be nourished by watery humours, and have their beams made wholesome to the world, although they be no living creatures. All which may be 
cap. 4. & cap. 1.  seen more largely proved in Lydiats Praelectio Astronomica: where having discoursed of the matter of the heavens and stars, as also of the portions and transmutation of the elements, he proveth that there is such a penury of water here below, that it cannot be supplied (ad mundi, non dicit aeternitatem, sed diuturnitatem, propter inaequales elementorum transmutationes) not supplied without the consumption of the air, were not the waters divided. The one part whereof is circa mundi medium; from whence may be had in readiness always that which is sufficient to water and fructify the earth, and leave a place for habitation. The other circa mundi extremum, as in a great treasure and plentiful store-house, from whence (per mediam aëris naturam) both the stars are cherished, their beams made wholesome to the world, and also the expense of these lower waters salved in what is needful: for the earth, as a bad debtor, either sends back none, or little of that which it borrowed, not being easily turned into any other element. From whence (saith he) we may answer that question amongst the ancient Ethnic Philosophers, mentioned by Plutarch, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Unde nutriatur mundus.  
And indeed for mine own part I also think, that the stars are of such a nature or substance, that (in their kind) they stand in need of daily sustentation, like a lamp which can burn no longer than the oil lasteth which ever feeds it. For the heavens are subject to change and alteration; neither is there any necessity compelling us to attribute a quintessence to either of them (especially seeing we are certain that the world is not eternal) but that we may as well and as probably grant them to be of the same nature with the elements; as formerly I have related. Which being granted, I suppose them to be chiefly of a fiery nature: and this (perhaps) they took from the 
* Or, A luce primava, which was made in the first day: in which see more.  highest part of the air, in the supreme height of heaven, which reacheth to the utmost extent of the out-spread firmament. For there is that which we call the Elementary fire; there, I say, and not in a lower place: although Aristotle would have it in concavo lunae, or next under the orb of the moon; of which see more in the second day's work.  
And herein I do willingly also embrace the opinion of Plato, that the stars for the most part are fiery: yet so, as they in some sort participate also of the other elements; that thereby their bodies may be (as it were) glued together, and firmly concreted into a durable lump: differing no otherwise from a Comet then ice doth from crystal, or a clear solid gem from bright brittle glass. An experiment whereof we have in that new star of Cassiopea's chair; which, because it was of a more solid composition then ordinary comets, and of a nearer nature to the matter of the continuing stars, did therefore appear like one of them, & lasted a long while with them before it was extinguished: for had it not been exalted to a great perfection and solid composition of the parts, it had been gone, extinct, and vanished, a long while sooner. And in granting to them something of every element (although their greatest portion, especially in the sun, be fiery) it comes to pass that they have differing qualities: of which see more afterwards in the Astrological part of this day's work. Neither shall I need to stand upon it as a thing necessary for me to prove, whether they make warm the air and us by any heat which is formally in them, or by the attrition made with their beams. Only know, that it is hotter in summer then in winter, because when the beams of the sun come nearest to a perpendicular trajection, their heat is the greater, because their reflection is the stronger.  
But leaving this, give me leave to proceed, and to prosecute more fully the matter in hand, that thereby I may show my meaning now more clearly concerning the daily nourishment of these bright heavenly lamps. For (as hath been said) seeing their chiefest matter is of that nature of which it appeareth to be, they must of necessity be nourished out of some store-house or other; otherwise the world comes to decay, & impavidum ferient ruinae, and the very ruins will strike him who fears it not. For satisfaction therefore in this, it cannot be amiss to remember the opinion amongst sundry of the ancient Philosophers, who said the truth, and yet erred in declaring it: as Cleanthes, who allowed the matter of the sun to be fiery, and that it was nourished by humours attracted from the ocean. Also Anaximander and Diogenes, after whom Epicurus, and the Stoics, thought in like manner, that the sun was nourished by waters: and lest it should perish through any defect of aliment, they fond supposed that the oblique motion which it had from one Tropic to another, was to find out moist humours, that thereby it might live perpetually. Now these things very worthily were held by Aristotle to be ridiculous and absurd; as in the second book of his Meteors, at the second chapter, is apparent. Yet nevertheless succeeding times did in a manner pitch still upon the same tenants, and would not only have the sun and rest of the Planets, but even all the other stars nourished by vapours and watery humours, as well as they. For amongst others, it was Cicero's opinion in his second book De natura deorum; making the sea, and waters of the earth, their daily store-house. See also Seneca in his 6 book and 16 chapter of Natural questions; and Plutarch in libello de Iside; and Pliny in his Natural history, lib 2. cap. 9 whose words are these, Sydera verò haud dubiè humore terreno pasci, etc. These indeed spoke the truth, but (as I said before) they erred in declaring it. For it is nothing probable, neither may it be granted, that all the seas, or waters in the world, are able to afford moisture enough for such a purpose.  
And therefore smile I at those fable-forgers, 
Du Bart.   
Whose busie-idle style so stiffly urges  
The heaven's bright Saphires to be living creatures  
Ranging for food, and hungry fodder-eaters;  
Still sucking up (in their eternal motion)  
The earth for meat, and for their drink the ocean.  
Nor can I see how th'earth and sea should feed  
So many stars, whose greatness doth exceed  
So many times (if starre-divines say troth)  
The greatness of the earth and ocean both:  
For here our cattle in a month will eat  
Sev'n times the bulk of their own bulk in meat.  
Wherefore be pleased to call to mind what was formerly mentioned in the second day, concerning the waters above the heavens, set apart from these below by the out-spread Firmament: but how it is that there they are, and that the out-spread Firmament is able to uphold them, let the alleged reasons in the foresaid day be again remembered. And then observe, that these waters were certainly separated for some purpose: for Deus & Natura nihil faciunt frustra; God and Nature make nothing in vain. He made all things in number, weight, and measure, 
* Wisd. 11. 22.  saith Solomon; so that there is nothing which was not made for something. I do therefore consent again to those who 
† Lydiat. Praelect. Astron. & lib. d●… Orig. Font. cap. 10.  suppose that these waters do daily nourish and cherish the stars; thereby also so tempering and ordering their beams, that they may remain wholesome to the world; turning also and attenuating those drops, with which they are cherished, into thin air: and so doing, nature is kept from perishing before her time.  
Neither let it seem strange although the stars be granted to consist most of a 
* Igneae sunt, sive à ●…uce primaevae facta: & sic, lux est esseutia stel l●…rum. Ign●… 〈◊〉 non al●…ud qu●…m calor densatus, sive 〈◊〉 compacta. Pa●…ric.  fiery temper, that therefore they cannot be cherished by watery humours: for it is certain that fires are endued with sundry qualities or forces, according to the diverse mixtion of matter, or diverse disposition of the subject. From whence it comes to pass that a bituminous flame is not quenched, but nourished in water; and the fire of lightning is said to burn the fiercer when we strive to quench it. These waters therefore, sweeting (in the likeness of thin vapours) through the utmost extent, or roof of the out-spread Firmament (which was made strong by stretching out, and by which they are upholden) do both supply that decay of air which otherwise would be, and also do so temper and cherish the diuturnity of the stars, that thereby they shall continue until the end of the world. Elementorum transmutationes (saith 
* 〈◊〉.  one) sunt inaequales, ergò & proportiones; ac majores quidem eorum, quae faciliùs transmutentur in alia: & hoc ex necessitate, non dico ad mundi aeternitatem, sed diuturnitatem. Aqua autem multò magìs mutatur in terram, quam terra in ipsam: & aër hoc aquae damnum, sine maximo sui dispendio, resarcire nullo modo potest nisi ab aquis supercoelestibus. And (perhaps) the daily wasting of these waters may be the cause that the world is perceived to have a successive declination, and to grow old as doth a garment; until at the last, age (for want of matter to keep an harmonious transmutation in the conservation of it) shall (according to the determined purpose of Almighty God) suffer it to end, as being worn out, and little able to continue any longer. Which, when it shall be, or how he intendeth to shorten it, rests only in the secret counsel of the holy Trinity: the divine word nevertheless testifying, that (as tokens before it) there shall be signs in the 
Matth. 24. 29. Mark 13. 25. Luke 21. 26.  sun and the moon, in the heavens and stars. For the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken. Cadent de coelo stellae (saith 
* Ger●…rd. loc. 〈◊〉. ●…. pag. 〈◊〉.  one) non ratione substantiae, sed lucis; quia lumen suum retrahent; & obscurè reddent. Which saying agrees directly to my meaning, when I speak of the waters wasting. For as the elements before, from time to time, have suffered a transmutation, and shall now begin to devour one another: so the stars shall fade, and (perhaps) be weakened in their qualities, by having the less powerful elementary part in them turned by the more powerful; or if not so, yet much altered by that sensible decay in the waters above the heavens.  
And thus, though I differ from Aristotle and the Peripatetics, yet I have not much declined from the paths of other ancient Philosophers, or from the steps of Plato: in which, how far (in my judgement) we may follow the Academical sect, the Stoics, and those of Epicurus, hath been related. Howbeit I leave all free to the more judicious; though for mine own part I think thus of the worlds Systema. Let therefore those of the adverse part pitch their censure with the more favour: and so I proceed to the following articles.   

Artic. 2. Of their order and place in the sky: and how it comes to pass that one star is higher than another.  
HAving already showed that the whole concave of the heavens is filled with no firmer matter then soft and penetrable air, and that the stars have no solid orbs to uphold and move them, it may not unfitly be questioned how they should hang in such a weak yielding place, and yet (according to their times) keep such several certain distances one from another, as we see they do.  
To which, perhaps, some would answer, that every star, in respect of his either more or less fiery quality, doth either more or less ascend from the centre; and so, according to his gravity or levity, rest naturally higher or lower as in his proper place: the air having a like power in the upholding of fiery bodies, which the water hath in carrying of airy bodies. For as a piece of Brasill, or Lignum vitae, will sink lower into the water then some lighter kind of wood wherein there is more air: In like manner that star which hath most of his matter from the more gross elements, takes his place in the lowest room; whereas the lighter ones are naturally seated higher. And indeed this is an answer which would serve the turn and bear out the matter well enough, if there were no stars but those which we call the fixed stars; for they are never observed to be higher or lower, but always of one and the same distance from the centre. But seeing there be Planets likewise whose distances are unconstant, and whose places are at some one time far more absent from the earth then at some other; nay, Mars is sometimes nearer than the sun: seeing it is so (I say) their gravity or levity cannot absolutely be the cause: but rather aught this to be referred to that infused force which his hand first gave them who placed them there. For as the Sea being stirred by the moon to a lofty flux, and having lifted up his rolling waves above the neighbouring banks, would in all probability overflow the earth, if the Almighty had not infused it with some occult quality, saying, Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further; as we read in Job: So likewise the stars would not keep their high and low places at certain infallible times so as they do, and be so orderly in their motions as they are, were it not from the power first put into them when they were placed in the firmament: of which I spoke but a little before, when I showed they were no living creatures. For conclusion therefore, I like well of the former reason if it be referred to the fixed stars; but as concerning the Planets, we see that it holdeth not in all and every part, nor yet is absolutely found sufficient. And yet for further satisfaction of the curious, let it be supposed that the air is ever thinnest in that place whereunto the sun is nearest: so that though the Planets naturally have but one place, yet accidentally they may be found either higher or lower▪ according to their approaching to or from the place of the sun; like as may be seen in one and the same weight, if it be proved how unequally it will sink in diverse waters, and in waters of a differing thickness. Of which read more in Mr Lydiat his Praelectio Astronomica, in the fourth and eighth chapters. But in the mean time, & ever after, admire the wisdom of thy Maker, and praise his holy name: For he hath so done his marvellous works, that they ought to be had in perpetual remembrance.  
O never let these works forgotten be:  
Their art is more than humane eyes can see.     

Sect. 3. Of the offices given to the Sun, Moon, and Stars, in the day of their creation.  

Paragr. 1. Showing that their first office is to shine upon the earth, to rule over the day and night, etc.  

Artic. 1. Of light, what it is: and whether the Sun be the only fountain of light.  
THe former part of my discourse hitherto in this day's work, was chiefly founded upon these words, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven; and upon these, And God made the stars also. But now I come to speak of their offices: The first whereof is that exquisite one above the rest; I mean their bright and radiant shining, by which the dismal clouds of foggy darkness are daintily devoured, and the sweet comeliness of the world's ornament made apparent. For without light all things would appear like the face of hell or horror, and each parcel of the world's fabric lie buried in black obscurity, & dismal squalour. Whereupon one speaketh worthily, saying, that amongst those 
* But how it is a quality see afterwards.  qualities subject to sense, there is none more fit to show the due decorum and comely beauty of the world's brave structure, none more fit than light. For where it spreads itself (either above us, or below us) all things are then encompassed with such a splendour, as if a golden garment were dilated over them, or curiously put upon them. Let it not then be ashamed to shine & show itself to the praise of him who made it; For, Praise him sun and moon: praise him oh ye stars and light, was David's song. But to proceed.  
Authors make a difference between Lux and Lumen. It is called Lux as it is in the fountain, that is, in a body which is lucid of itself; as in the sun: so saith Zanchius. But it is Lumen as it is in some Medium, that is, in corpore diaphano, as is the air, or water. Lumen enim nihil aliud est quam lux, lucisve imago, in corpore diaphano. From whence may be gathered, that that primary light, which we comprehend under the name of Lux, is no other thing then the more noble part of that essence which is either in the sun, moon, or stars: and so far as a corporeal substance may be given to fire, it may be also attributed to that which is properly called light; being in and of those lamps of heaven which were made ex primava luce chiefly, and so came to appear of a fiery colour. Whereupon Patricius, writing against the Peripatetics, saith, Lux est essentia stellarum. Nihil enim aliud flamma quam lumen densius; & lumen, non aliud quam flamma rarior. Calor quoque, non aliud quam ignis rarefactus atque diffusus; & ignis, non aliud quam calor densatus, sive lux compacta. Take therefore my meaning rightly, lest I be supposed to be much mistaken.  
And again, concerning Radius, which is a Beam or Ray, it is no primary light neither: but rather (as Patricius also writeth) it is Fulgor à Luce exiliens in rectam & acutam figuram, seu in modum Pyramidis & Coni promicans. To which, Scaliger is affirming; saying, Lux est alia in corpore lucido, ab eo non exiens; & alia à corpore lucis exiens, ut Lumen & Radius. And Zaharel also saith, Lux, alia est propriè dicta in astris ipsis; alia, à luce producta in perspicuo. Whereupon I cannot but be persuaded, that light in itself, properly & primarily taken, must be an essential property; as formerly I have related: but to the air, or other things enlightened by it, it is an 
* Observe this difference: because light commonly taken is said to be a quality.  accidental quality approved of God as good, both to himself & the future creatures. For although it be commonly said of compound things, that they are such as we may distinguish of them in ipsam essentiam susceptricem, & in eam quae ipsi accidit qualitatem: yet here the case proves otherwise; because the sun and stars have susceptam semel, secúmque immixtam lucem. And again (as saith Theodoret) Lucem quidem condidit ut voluit. Quemadmodum verò firmamento aquas divisit, ità lucem illam dividens ut voluit, luminaria magna ac parva in coelo collocavit.  
And as touching the brightness of the stars, the sun may well be called Oculus mundi, The eye of the world. For he is indeed the chief fountain from whence the whole world receiveth lustre; shining alone, and enlightening our whole hemisphere, when all the other stars are hid. From whence some Philosophers and Astronomers have been of opinion that the fixed stars shine not but with a borrowed light from the sun. Plutarch, in his 2 book and 17 chap. of the opinions of Philosophers, saith that Metrodorus, and his disciples the Epicures, have been of this mind. But according to the minds of the best authors, and nearest equipage to truth, the stars are called lights, as well as the sun and moon; although there be a difference between them, either of more or less. For Paul distinguisheth between 
1. Cor. 15. 41.  the stars and sun, non privatione lucis, sed tantùm gradu. And when God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven, he made not the sun alone, but the sun, moon, and stars: the light in the stars being in very deed darkened by that in the sun; which doth but differ in degree from that in them: Whereupon it is that the stars show themselves by night only when the sun is hid, or in some deep pit whither the sunne-beams cannot pierce. If therefore we cannot see them, Id non solis, non stellarum culpâ fit, sed oculorum nostrorum hic est defectus: ob solaris enim luminis copiam ac vigorem debilitantur.  
Also, some add their influences; as that of the Little dog, the Pl●…iadas, and others, being plain testimonies of their native light: For if they had not their proper and p●…culiar light (being foe far distant from the inferior bodies) it is thought they could not alter them in such sort as they sometimes do: and evermore the further they be from the sun, the better and brighter we see them.  
And as for the diversity of their influence, the differing quality of the subject causeth this diversity. So that though this light, for the first three days, was but one in quality, it came to have diverse effects as soon as it was taken and bestowed upon the stars and lights. And (perhaps) as there is in them the more of this fire, the ●…otter is their quality: but little fire, and more water, the moister and cooler; and so also, the more earthy substance, the darker.  
Neither do I think that we may altogether exempt 
The ☽  the moon from her native light. For although she shineth to us with a borrowed light, yet it is no consequence to say, she hath therefore no own proper light. There is (saith Goclenius) a double light of the moon; Proper, and Strange. The Proper is that which is Homogeneal to itself, or lux congenita, a light begotten together with the moon, and essential to it, although it be but weak. The other is that which it borroweth from the sun; as is seen in eclipses & monthly revolutions: For she is one while full, another while hid; one while horned, another while half lightened; which is but in respect of us, who cannot see what light she borroweth, but as she approacheth from the sun: for otherwise she is half lightened always. Or (if you please) consider it thus, that as a well polished Mirror transporteth the light of the fire, or the sun, against a wall or a floor; so the moon receiveth her light from the sun, and reflecteth it in the night upon the earth: for the sun, being then absent, gives an abundant and free leave to see it. And again, as in a Mirror, which hath behind it his foil of lead scratched and torn, a man may perceive certain spots; So in the moon, because her body 
The Macul●… l●….  is in some places rare and transparent, and in other places massy, thick, and solid, there appear certain Maculae or blemishes: for those places and parts are not of a fit temper to reflect the light of the sun.  
But if it be so in the moon, why may not the other stars shine likewise with a borrowed light as well as she?  
I answer, Because we have not the like reasons to declare it. Neither is it like (saith Patricius) that that unmeasurable company of fixed stars in the highest part of heaven (which is so much more noble than the place of the sun, by how much it comes nearer to the Heaven of heavens) should shine but by the light of the sun: For neither in them, nor in any other of the Planets, doth any man see a waxing and waning of light; nor yet are they ever eclipsed, but show always of one and the same brightness: and therefore it is not the same reason between the moon and them. Perhaps, if their bodies were composed in the same manner with the body of the moon, or had the like proportions and temperaments that she hath, it might be so▪ but her lowness shows her gravity; and her gravity her solidity; and her solidity shows, not only her own light to be weak through a want of that fiery matter, or lux primaeva, which is in the other stars in a differing degree, but also her aptness for reflection is declared to be such, as she may well shine by a borrowed light.  
Howbeit I do also think that the stars have aliquid lucis alienae, which they receive from the sun. To which Patricius also assenteth (as he is mentioned by 
* Cap. 10. quest. 7.  Casman in the first part of his Astrology) saying, Tribuit quidem omnibus, sed lucere nequaquam facit. Name & ipsa flammae sunt, & suâ essentiâ lux sunt, non minùs & suis viribus lucere possunt, & lucent. Sed lumen suum eis sol addit, lucémque eorum reddit lucidiorem. Lucem ergò eis non indit, sed insitam adauget: meaning that the sun's light inereaseth the light of the stars, making it the brighter and the clearer: which must be understood of them, so long as they are at a convenient distance from the sun. For if they be too near, either the lesser light is obscured by the greater (as is seen in the Planets, being often hid by the beams of the sun) or else such a dark star as Mercury, will with the loss of his light show us his dark body, which sometimes happeneth, being then seen as a spot in the sun: For if you take Mercury in his best hue, he hath but a cloudy countenance, and a leaden look; which therefore argueth that he hath a thick body and little light: of which I shall need to say no more.   

Artic. 2. Of the twinkling of stars, or vibration of their light.  
THe twinkling of the stars is the vibration or trembling of their light. Or rather thus; It is when the light of any star seemeth to tremble. For indeed, to speak properly, the stars themselves do not twinkle, as we think they do; but either from the trembling of the eye, or motion of the air, this appearance proceedeth. For when the eye looks long at a sensible object whose brightness excelleth the sense, it than beginneth to faint, and being weak and weary, is possessed with a kind of trembling; and thereupon we think that the star itself twinkleth. Also the Optic Masters confess and prove, that the forms of the stars are comprehended of the sight reflectly, and not rightly: that is, a right line drawn from the eye falleth not into the centre of the star, but into the form of it reflected and refracted in the air to the sight. Now it is manifest, that as the air hath one motion proper to it, which is upwards; so hath it another motion improper, caused by the revolution of the heavens every 24 hours, which draweth all the airy region about therewith: by which means the apparent form of the stars is distracted, seeming to cast forth sparkles, called twinkling. For if the body move wherein the form of the star appeareth, it must be so: which we may well prove by a piece of silver in the bottom of a swift running brook, or by the reflection of the stars seen in the same: for by the running of the water the reflected form is distracted, and as it were broken: and so it is likewise in the air with the stars.  
But may not this twinkling be seen in the Planets as well as in the other stars? I answer, that not always, yet sometimes it may: and this is but when a watery vapour is near unto them, which is carried and tossed of the winds with a various motion: for then the forms of the Planets also being refracted in the said vapour, appear to the sight as if they twinkled. Now this is most of all perceived in the East at the time of their rising: whereupon it comes to pass that the common people 
A reason of the Sun's dancing.  have supposed they have sometimes seen the sun dance, and as it were hop up and down; which, why some have attributed it to such and such days, is 
* See Seal. Exer. 63. & Goclenius Disput. Phys.  fabulous: For this may be upon any day when the sun meets with a fit portion of vapours at the time of his rising; and the other Planets may also in some sort sometimes show it, when they have climbed to an indifferent height above the Horizon: which because it is not ordinary, some have falsely supposed that the Planets twinkle not at all. And again, let this be remembered, that (if there be fit vapours rightly placed) Mars and Venus twinkle more than Saturn, Jupiter, and Mercury: but otherwise this appearance is neither in Mars nor Venus, nor any of the rest.    

Parag. 2. Of that other office which was given to the stars; viz. that they should be for signs, etc.  

Artic. 1. That the stars are signs of future events; and that by their natural qualities, they work upon the inferior world, and all the parts of the same.  
IF I should expound the words of Moses so nicely as some have done, the stars must then either signify nothing in the course of nature, or else be for signs only of seasons (as Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter) and of days and years. Which exposition doth certainly tie up the sense in too straight bands: For it is plain enough that Moses very positively setteth down as a distinct office by itself, that they were made for signs: And then he proceedeth, adding therewithal, And let them be for seasons, and for days, and for years.  
In consideration whereof, the sentence certainly must be divided.  
And first let us observe out of it, that the stars, by a divine ordination, were set in the heavens to be for signs of future events: wherefore it is said, Let them be for signs.  
Secondly, they were appointed to be (as it were) heavenly clocks, and remarkable measures, by their motions defining and discerning Time and the parts thereof, as days, weeks, months and years: And therefore it is also added, And let them be for seasons, and for days, and for years. Of which two offices I purpose to discourse a while; beginning with the first, as being most pertinent to this Paragraph.  
And lest it may be thought that Moses his meaning is here mistaken by me, besides other things that I purpose to remember, I would have him compared with the Prophet Jeremy, in the 10 chap. at the 2 vers. where, when the Prophet commands the people that they should not learn the way of the Heathen, he calleth the stars (like unto Moses in this very text) The signs of heaven. From whence 
Pr●…fat. in lib. Scho●…eri de juaiciis nativit.  Melancthon gathereth, that the Prophet doth not only name them signs, but also showeth that they were set to be signs of portending something. For, Non ait jeremias, nihil esse signa coeli; sed, A signis nolite timere. Imò cum nominat signa, portendi aliquid affirmat. And Luther also affirmeth, in his commentary upon the words of Moses, Simpliciter lunam cum sole & stellis in firmamento coeli Moses dicit positas, ut essent signa futurorum eventuum, sicut experientia de Eclipsibus, magnis conjunctionibus, & aliis quibusdam Meteoris, docet. Which is, Moses plainly saith, that the moon, with the sun and stars, were placed in the firmament of heaven that they should be for signs of future events, as experience teacheth us in Eclipses, great conjunctions, Meteors, and the like. To which may be also joined the testimony of learned Philo, alleged by Sr Christapher Heidon in his defence of Judicial Astrology. This man (saith he) was familiar with Peter the Apostle, and with Mark: and in diverse places, but specially in his book De Mundi fabricatione, in his exposition of that in the 1 of Genesis, viz. LET THEM BE FOR SIGNS, he thus speaketh, saying, They were created, not only that they might fill the world with their light, but also that they might be for signs of future things. For by their rising, setting, defections, apparitions, occultations, and other differences of motion, they teach men to conjecture of the event of things: as of plenty and dearth; of the growing up or decay of creatures animate; of clear weather and storms; of calms and winds; of overflowings and of droughts; of the quiet motion of the sea, and the boisterous times of waves; of the anniversary changes of times, either when the Summer shall be tossed with tempests, or the Winter scorched with heat; or when the Spring shall be clothed with the nature of Autumn, or Autumn imitate the Spring. Yea (saith he) by these some have foreshowed when there should be a shaking or trembling of the earth, with infinite other things which have certainly come to pass, insomuch that it may be truly said, The stars were appointed for signs and seasons. Thus far Philo: than which what can be plainer?  
Neither are we to take them as bare, naked, and simple 
The Stars are causes as well as signs.  signs only, but as causes also of worldly events: which whilst some have denied, what do they but run mad with reason, and plainly oppose themselves to more than common sense? For it is certain that the same thing may be both a sign and a cause: a cause, as it worketh to an effect; and a sign, as, being presented to the sense, it leadeth us to the knowledge of the effect: And therefore when the stars are called signs, their causality is not excluded. Howbeit, in some things, when they work upon a subject not immediately but by accident, they be then occasions rather than causes.  
But let me enlarge myself upon this discourse a little more: and because some have denied that the stars have any virtue at all, or that we ought to attribute no more power to them then to the signs at an Innkeepers post or tradesman's shop, I purpose to show the vanity of that error as plainly as I can, both by Scripture, and also by daily experience.  
And first for Scripture; Those oracles tell us that great is the force and dominion which the stars have; heaven being the admired instrument of the glorious God, whereby he governeth the frame of this corruptible world. For had the heavens and stars no force at all, the Scriptures would never distinguish between the sweet influences of the Pleyades, and the binding virtues of Orion: but the Scripture makes such a distinction: therefore the stars have their power. The minor is proved out of the book of Job, chap. 38. 31. where the words are these, Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades? or lose the bands of Orion? by which speech the Almighty doth not only show that the stars have their virtues, but also declare that their power and virtue is such as no man on earth is able to restrain, unloose, or bind it: and here S. Austin also teacheth us, that God comprehendeth all the rest of the stars, by the figure Synecdoche, putting the part for the whole; which is an intimation that the rest have their several virtues, as well as these. For further proof whereof see, concerning some of the other, in Deuteronomie, chap. 33. 14. Of joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, and for the precious things brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon: where we see that the sun and moon have power to thrust forth the fruits of the earth. And again, 
* Hoses 2. 21.  I will hear the heavens, and the heavens shall hear the earth: where see last of all, that the vegetation of the fruits of the earth dependeth not upon one or two constellations, but upon the whole heavens.  
Also were the stars and lights without power, the Scriptures would never tell us of their dominion over the earth: but the Scripture speaketh of their dominion: therefore they be not destitute of power and virtue. The minor is proved in Genesis, chap. 2. 1. and in the second book of Kings, chap. 17. 16. and chap. 21. 3. and chap. 23. 5. and in Jeremy, chap. 19 13. and in Zeph. chap. 1. 5. and in the Acts, chap. 7 42. For in all these places the holy Ghost calleth the stars, the host and armies of heaven; thereby amplifying the divine power of God by the force and power of these glorious creatures: and this also is further confirmed by that in the song of Deborah, Judg. 5. 20. where it is expressly testified that The stars fought from heaven, the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. Thus far Scripture.  
And now let experience also speak, that thereby they who will not frame their understandings to be taught by the one, but will seek for strange expositions, may be forced to yield and acknowledge the truth by compulsion of this other: in the front whereof, I cannot but remember the noble 
* Du Ban.  Poets saying,  
Senseless is he, who (without blush) denies  
What to sound senses most apparent lies:  
And 'gainst experience he that spits fallacians,  
Is to be hist from learned disputations:  
And such is he, that doth affirm the stars  
To have no force on these inferiors.  
1. As for example, when the sun shifts his habitation, how diversely are the seasons differing! insomuch that although the frosty beard of winter makes us tremble and shiver through extremity of cold, the warm lustre of the summer's rays causeth us on the contrary to sweat and as it were pant through heat.  
2. Also the terrible accidents that succeed eclipses may not be forgotten nor vilipended: for these testify that the sun, by his heat and light, quickeneth, after an admirable fashion, all earthly creatures, being as it were the source and conserver of vital heat; and that the moon also hath a great power over inferior bodies. For if it were otherwise, such lights coming to be hidden from the earth, where there is a continual revolution of generation and corruption, could not cause after their eclipses the nature of inferior things to be so altered and weakened as they are, both in the elements, and also in bodies composed of them.  
3. And furthermore, who seeth not how orderly the tides keep their course with the moon? of which I have spoken in the third day's work.  
4. Also, it is an observation that seldom faileth, viz. that we have thunder and lightning in the summer time at the meeting of Mars with Jupiter, Sol, or Mercury; and for the most part great winds, when Sol and Jupiter, or Jupiter and Mercury, or Mercury and Sol, are in conjunction.  
5. And again, the increase and decrease of bodies, or of marrow, blood, and humours in the body, according to the increase and decrease of the moon, doth speak for that horned queen, and signify that her virtue is not little. For as she fills with light, the marrow abounds in bones, the blood in veins, the sap in trees, the meat and moisture in the oyster, crab, and creafish.  
6. Moreover, experience also teacheth, that all such wood as is cut for timber, if it be not cut after the full moon, will soon be rotten.  
7. Also those pease which are sown in the increase, never leave blooming. And (as some report) the pomegranate will bear no fruit any longer than just so many years as the moon was days old when it was first set and planted. The Heliotropium, with certain other flowers and plants, we likewise see that they keep their course with the sun. And Pliny reports in his 37 book at the 10 chapter, that the Selenite is a stone which hath the image of the moon in it, increasing and decreasing according to her course in the heavens. And doth not Cardan also report for certain (as Sir Christopher Heydon it may be affirmed that the heavens in some sort do work upon men's minds and dispositions. And hereupon it comes to pass that Mars doth sometimes sow the seeds of war by his working upon adult choler, and the like. Or the air being greatly out of tune, causeth not only many sicknesses, but strange disorders of the mind; and they breaking out into act, do many times disturb states, translate kingdoms, work unlucky disasters and the like: of which I spoke before in the 
* Chap. 5. Sect. 2. Parag. 4. Artic. 1.  second day's work.  
And now know that if the operation of the heavens in this, be but so far forth as the soul depends upon the bodily instruments, all that is done to the soul is but an inclination: for there can be no compulsion where the cause is so remote. And therefore let it be observed that it is one thing to cause, another thing to occasion; or one thing to infer a necessity, another thing to give an inclination: The former we cannot aver to be in the power of the stars, forasmuch as man's will, which is the commandress of his actions, is absolutely free from any compulsion, and not at all subject to any natural necessity or external coaction. Howbeit we cannot deny a certain inclination, because the soul of man is too much 
† How our minds do sympaih●…se with the body, see in the 2 day, Chap. 5. Sect. 2. Parag. 4. Artic. 1. prop●… 〈◊〉.  indulgent to the body, by whose motion (as one worthily observeth) it is rather persuaded then commanded. There is therefore no Chaldean fate to be feared, nor any necessity to be imposed upon the wills of men; but only an inclination: and this inclination is not caused by an immediate working of the stars on the intellectual part or mind of man, but occasioned rather, mediately, or so far forth as the soul depends on the temperaments and material organs of the body. In which regard I hope never to be afraid of the signs of heaven, neither is there cause why I should ever curse my stars, seeing I know in this the utmost of their power. And as it was said to that Apostle, My grace is sufficient for thee; so may every one take it for granted, that there is a second birth which oversways the first. To which purpose one makes this an observation,  
justè age— Sapiens dominabitur astris;  
Et manibus summi stant elementa Dei.  
Do godly deeds, so shalt thou rule the stars:  
For then God holds the elements from wars.  
Or, as another not unfitly also speaketh,  
Qui sapit, ille animum fortunae praeparat omni,  
Praevisumque potest arte levare malum.  
The wise, for every chance doth fit his mind,  
And by his art makes coming evils kind.  
And in a word, that pithy 
† ●hirons. lib. 5.  saying of joannes de Indagine shall close this Article, Quaeris a me quantum in nobis operantur actra? dico, etc. Dost thou demand of me how far the stars work upon us? I say, they do but incline, and that so gently, that if we will be ruled by reason, they have no power over us; but if we follow our own nature and be led by sense, they do as much in us as in brute beasts, and we are no better. For, agunt, non cogunt, is all that may be said.   

Artic. 2. Whether it be not a derogation from the perfection of things created, to grant that the stars have any kind of power over the actions of men.  
AS for the power which the stars can have in this kind, I have, in the end of the former Article, already declared. Howbeit, that I may leave as few scruples behind me as I can, my purpose is to clear this question a little more. For it hath been the serious persuasion of not a few, that (according to the tenant of Basil, in his Hexameron, and some others) the dispositions of men may not be imputed any whit to the stars, without wrong either to God or them. If (say they) vicious inclinations or evil actions be stirred up by the stars, than God should be the cause of humane outrages, wickedness, and the like. Or again, if the moderation of our actions 
Hyparius Method. Theol. lib. 2.  dependeth upon the stars, than many absurdities would follow. For first, those stars whose aspect is said to be evil, should either of themselves be created evil by their maker; or else it must be that in respect of their own wills they made themselves evil afterwards: neither of which may be affirmed. Not the first, because every thing th●… God made was very good, Gen. 1. Not the second, because seeing the stars are inanimate & creatures without life and soul, it were wickedness to attribute a will unto them.  
To all which objections and doubts it may be thus answered, viz. that the stars are no malicious agents, voluntarily striving to do mischief to the world; but rather such as do harmlessly send down their natural influences and powers into the universe: and had it been that man had not fallen, their inclinations in him had been no inclinations, nor their power in occasioning felt any jot at all: The evil proceeds from the nature of man, who lost his purity and strength of will, in yielding to that which was forbidden: it comes not from the stars, but from ourselves. And so 
a Pr●…fat. in lib. joh. Sch●…. de judici●… Nativ.  Melancthon doth in effect answer to that of Basil, saying, that we ought in this to consider what excellency of condition our humane nature hath lost; and thereby observe how grievous and evil sin is, by which our temperatures are become brutish; and not rashly condemn, or without consideration go throw the stars out of heaven. For in this present state of things (Nè nunc quidem stellas scelerum causas esse, they be his own words) we say not, that the stars are causes of our sin; in regard, that though our inclinations rise from them, yet they are not sole or chief causes of our actions, but our will is the principal cause thereof, which was first created in perfect liberty, by which it both had power to withstand, even as still it ought to refrain all inordinate inclinations. Non enim fatalem necessitatem constituimus, nec cogi Neronem à stellis, etc. For we do not constitute fatal necessity, nor affirm that Nero was compelled by the stars unto his so great and monstrous sins: but yielding to his lusts he willingly entertained those rages, which the devil more and more instigated, and so became worse than his nature (though bad enough) had made him. Hitherto Melancthon to that of Basil. Wherefore when we fall into a due consideration of these things, and find that it was the fall of our first parents which hath induced this disproportion between our natures and the influences of the stars, we shall soon see where the fault resteth, namely in ourselves. For (as that worthy 
b Sir Christopher hay don.  Knight observeth) we must consider, that the impression or operation of every agent is always answerable, not to the power of itself, but to the capacity and aptness of the patient: according to which rule, the stars produce their effects, even as the subject or matter is, in which their influence doth work. Which is but as I said before, viz. that if man had not fallen, their inclinations in him had been no inclinations, nor their power in occasioning felt any jot at all. For as the fire hurteth sore eyes, but warmeth cold hands; so the stars are formaliter bona, although effectiuè (according to the unapt quality of the subject) they produce a sad effect. Or, to use again the words of the said author, as we see the wine, which is healthful and comfortable to some, how quickly it hurteth the constitution of another who hath but a weak brain; so the sun doth soften and melt wax, but stiffen and make clay hard: yet no man for this affirmeth either the wine to be drunk, or the sun to be formally soft, or hard. Wherefore (saith he) by this I may boldly conclude, that although it be confessed, that the stars are efficient causes of our inclinations; yet there is no consequence to conclude them such themselves as the effects are that they produce: for where the fault resteth, hath been declared. Furthermore, he also proveth against those who say the stars are tainted in being causes by accident, or occasions many times of ill, he proveth (I say) that every occasion to sin is not to be accounted a provocation to sin, or to be held unlawful: for if this were admitted, we must also pollute God himself with sin, because he hath made fair women, and sweet wine, by means whereof many men fall; yet nevertheless none will deny them to be good: for they have their lawful use and right end. Wherefore he doth here also excellently conclude, that as no man will say, that the Physician or his medicines do sin, though, when they restore a spent and difeased body, accidentally they procure lust: no more are the stars to be accounted bad or to sin, though in constituting the temperature of our bodies, they may be truly confessed causes by accident, or occasions of sin. The question is therefore resolved, that it is no derogation from the perfection of things created although we grant the stars to have a kind of power over the actions of men: which power, both how and what it is, hath been declared.   

Artic. 3. Of predictions, or whether the signs of heaven may be understood or searched into.  
THey be David's words, that The works of the Lord are great, and sought out of those who have pleasure therein. And Moses here, in testifying that God created the stars for signs, doth likewise show that they may be understood; otherwise to us they were no signs at all. Neither do I doubt, but that even Moses himself, and Daniel likewise, who were 
* Act. 7. 22. Dan. 1. 17.  brought up, the one in the learning of the Egyptians, the other in the skill of the Chaldeans, did understand the signification of these signs. And from whence was it that those nations had their knowledge, but from Noah and Abraham; if josephus or Berosus may be credited? For concerning Noah, do not those authors story, that soon after the flood he taught the Armenians and Scythians the secrets of these things? Whereupon they said, that he participated of a divine spirit. So also Abraham, that Father of many nations, did equally instruct the Chaldeans and Egyptians: although indeed afterwards it was their bold adventure to mix magic, and superstitious vain inventions, with this their lawful skill.  
And for us, experience hath traveled in the manifestation 
The natures of the stars may be known.  of the several qualities belonging to the lamps of heaven. For as we know the fire to be hot, the water moist, this herb to be cold, that to be dry: so also by observation, it doth manifestly appear that the sun gives heat and cherisheth, the moon moisteneth, Mars drieth; and so of the rest. Or thus, ♄ Saturn is cold and dry, stirs up and increaseth melancholy. ♃ Jupiter is temperately hot and moist, works most upon sanguine complexions, stirring up and increasing that humour. ♂ Mars, through his heat and immoderate dryness, stirs up and increaseth choler; and so, often proves an accidental cause of brawlings, fightings, wars, and the like, beside such sicknesses as may come by the superabundancy of that humour. ☉ Sol is moderately hot and dry, greatly cherishing all kind of creatures. ♀ Venus is cold and moist, but it is in a temperate manner; and as for her operation it is seen most in phlegmatic complexions. ☿ Mercury is said to be dry in respect of his own nature, but joined to any of the other Planets, he puts upon him their natures, and works as they work. Then followeth (the Moon, and she is well known to be the mistress of moisture. Neither can you truly say that it is impossible to find their natures to be either thus or thus: for it is but 30 years that the longest of these did ever spend in his periodical revolution: and but 72 years (as Tycho teacheth) can run about whilst the fixed stars alter one degree in their longitude. Insomuch that Saturn (whose period is but 30 years) cometh twice to the same point of heaven before the eighth sphere is moved one degree: and Jupiter (whose revolution is 12 years) cometh 6 times to the same place: and Mars (who accomplisheth his period in little less than 2 years) meets 36 times with the same stars in the same place: and as for the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon, their meetings with them be oftener. Also it is certain that the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, is once every 20 years; and Mars and Saturn visit each other in less than every two years: by means whereof it is no hard thing, or as a thing impossible, to find out the simple natures either of the Planets or fixed stars.  
And from these natures thus known, and their mixtures, and places observed, it is that the effect is foreseen and the judgement given: which, if it be modestly, carefully, deeply, and deliberately done, by one well versed or conversant in these things, doth for the most part happen as is foretold: for the most part, I say, and not always. For as the Physician knoweth that the same portion of either single or mixed simples, will not work upon all bodies alike; so neither can the like portion and power of qualities stir up, or work always ad idem, but may sometimes receive either intention or remission, according to the indisposed aptness of the subject, the elements or elementary bodies not always admitting of their powers alike; or when they be overswayed by more potent and prevailing operations. For universal and particular causes do many times differ, and then the one hinders the operation of the other. As for example, particular causes (as the conjunction of Venus and the Moon, or some such like meeting) may promise rain, snow, or sleet, when universal causes (which are not so easily seen) do often turn it into more fair and warm weather. And so also particular influences may seem to work upon such or such humours, and thereupon make the body subject to this or that sickness, and the mind inclined to this or that kind of action, with many such other like things: howbeit it may so happen that nature may be at this time so abstrusely shut up, that what we see not may overpower and work beyond what we see.  
A man had need therefore have Argus his eyes to pierce throughly into these causes, and examine without rashness either what may help or what may hinder; otherwise his judgement may fail him even in things wrought by the course of nature (for of other things he ought not to judge.) And indeed when there is a diverse mixture of qualities, all in a manner of equal portions (as it may sometimes be) how hard a thing is it then to find out (without a sound judgement) the true event! for there be many difficulties proceeding from the weakness of our judgements. And for that again which I said before of nature's abstruse kind of working, although I be no Stoic to tie Gods mighty hand to second causes, yet I verily suppose that all things are not beyond the course of nature which seem to be extraordinary; but even many strange seeming things are wrought by the power of nature: as sometimes in unwonted storms, tempests, droughts, strange appearances, or other like accidents. And this again I also think, that one man may see the cause when another cannot: whereupon it comes to pass that there is such diversity of judgements and thwarting of opinions many times about one and the same thing. Also I might add something (which one or other will be ready to object) concerning the devil's permission in raising unwonted winds, storms, and such like. Or I might speak, not only of God's power, but of his providence likewise in disposing his creatures to manifest their operation rather in one place then in another; which is an act proceeding from his secret purpose and divine wisdom: as when the clouds (according to his decree) do disburden themselves of their weary drops rather here then there, or there then here: For, saith he in the 4 chap. of Amos, at the 7 vers. I have caused it to rain upon one city, and it hath not reigned upon another, and the city where it hath not reigned was barren. But I shall not need to meddle further: For (notwithstanding these difficulties) it is manifest enough that the signs of heaven may be both sought into, and also in some ample measure understood.  
For it is true that God Almighty having both set and foreseen the course of nature long before, doth now uphold it by his providence, instrumentally to perform his will. Neither every day doth he make the windows of heaven to stand open, or the fountains of the great deep to be broken up; nor yet doth he every day make the sun or moon to stand still, or the shadow to go back, or an Eclipse to be at a quite contrary time, or the moon again to arise before her usual course: but hath undoubtedly left his works to be sought out of all those who take pleasure therein; and, according to that portion of sound judgement which he hath given to every one, they may understand either more or less of these signs: For as one star differeth from another in lustre and beauty; so one man's knowledge and better judgement transcends not seldom above the rest. Neither can the devil every day have it in his commission to go and blow down houses upon the heads of Jobs children. Nay (saith one) if these significations are not to be considered, why are they so divinely written and painted in the heavens? Surely it were impiety altogether to pluck or draw away our minds from the observation of these things. For if the heavens (as they do) declare the glory of God, or the firmament show forth his handy work, we may well believe that they express what God effecteth by them: for otherwise every thing which God created, doth declare his handy work as well as they. Eclipses, conjunctions, prodigious sights, flashings, comets, new stars, what are they but the Oracles of God? by which, changes, alterations, and sundry calamities are threatened to the world: And these, if any one contemn them, what doth he but despise the admonitions of God? Also, how much these observations have profited the Commonwealth, let Thales teach us: For they that have Thales his skill, may by these signs judge of cheapness and plenty, of dearth and dearness, with other like things whose knowledge cannot but be profitable to the life of man.  
Only beware that more be not attributed to the heavens, 
The signs of heaven must not be abused.  then to him that made the heavens; not more to the servants then to the Master, as they did who made them gods; or they who trust and rely upon them, not daring to take a journey, or begin a work, or speak with a friend about any business, without a needless consultation.  
Also know that the observing of these signs must not be mixed with magical spells, as charmers do, when in stead of using, they come to abusing of herbs: For as the herbs on the ground were not made to be abused in such damned and forbidden practices; no more were the stars in the sky. Neither ought the observing of these signs to be mixed with charactericall practices, diabolical or superstitious divinations, making of images under such or such a constellation, dangerous elections of times, either to procure good or bring down ill from heaven, as they did who blasphemously maintained, that men are longlived and their souls go to heaven when Saturn is in Leo: or they, who have not quaked to affirm, that when the Moon is joined with Jupiter in the head of the Dragon, whatsoever a man then asketh at the hands of God, he shall receive. Neither ought we to fly unto them for finding of things lost: for where you cannot argue from the cause to the effect, their use is unlawful. Nor may we use them in the contingency of things when the cause is unknown or indeterminate. Nor were they made to decide horary questions, or sortilegious demands. Nor yet may we erect figures, thereby to answer to certain questions: as to know whether a man shall have the thing he hopeth or looketh for; to know what shall become of a man's secret enemies; to know of the speedy or slack return of him that taketh in hand any journey, and of such things as shall happen in the journey; or to know, by the eighth house, whether a man shall enjoy the goods and dowry of his wife; or by the seventh, whether a man shall obtain that woman in marriage which he desireth; or by the sixth, to know whether a man shall keep or leave his servant; with other the like questions, of which can be given or known no cause, why the stars should ever be thought to effect them: in somuch that it is a kind of wonder to think how it should come to pass, that ever any one could forge out such inquiries to be answered from the signs of heaven. For the stars were not made to justify the dangerous practices of wicked impostors, nor to give answer to the causeless curiosities of superstitious demanders; but made to be both signs and causes of such things as already I have mentioned: for when the state of the question is come beyond the course of the four principal qualities of cold, heat, moisture, and dryness, it will find succour neither in sound philosophy, nor in the holy Word of written verity.  
Last of all, let this one thing be remembered, that the constellations (as is well known, and apparently perceived of Astronomers) by reason of a slow motion which the fixed stars hath, sliding from the equinoctial point about one degree in 72 years, are now removed into other signs of the divided Zodiac, causing those signs, by the quality of the stars which are now in them, to be of another nature: as Aries which was hot and dry in the days of Ptolemy, is (by reason that the stars of Pisces are moved thither) cold and moist: and Taurus which was cold and dry, is now of the nature of the stars of Aries, that is, hot and dry: and so of all the residue of the fixed stars, they are removed into new houses, or other mansions. Which if it be not proportionably considered, let any mean capacity judge how gross an error may heedlessely be produced by an unskilful artist.    

Parag. 3. Of that other office given to the stars; viz. that they were appointed to be heavenly clocks, and remarkable measurers of time and the parts thereof. This office is laid down in these words, And let them be for seasons, and for days, and years.  

Artic. 1. Of Seasons.  
IF we take seasons, days, and years together, it is no hard thing to see how the whole and parts are joined. For Tempus is the whole: and Annus is pars temporis: and Dies is pars anni. Not that these are the only parts of time; but because the other do chiefly consist of these. Howbeit, seeing they be laid down severally, it is fit they be explained sunderly. And first of Seasons.  
We need not with the Jews understand here their feasts only, and anniversary days of solemnity; for then this distinction of seasons had not been in use till after the coming out of Egypt: neither is it enough to apply them to the monthly revolution of the moon, or to the sun's changing into a new sign or partition of the Zodiac. But by the name of Seasons, we ought rather to be led unto those Quatuor anni Cardines, or four Quarters of the year, when the reviving sun crosseth the Equinoctial, and again toucheth upon either solstice: which last, is (as it were) solis statio, because the days seem to stand at a stay: and the two other have their names from equal day and night, because the days and nights are then of equal length, Sol cheerfully riding in his goldlike fiery chariot, just in the midst between the Arctic and Antarctic Poles. For these were those seasons which God again established for ever, when he renewed that face upon the decayed world, which by the impartial Flood was blemished: saying, (as it is in Gen. chap 8. 22.) While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter shall not cease.  
And as for us, we commonly call these times by the names of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.  
The Spring is a time never unwelcome, nor unwished: 
Spring.  for the weather begins then to appear like a pitiful and truly kindhearted cherisher; and Sol ascending, disperseth the superfluous humours, stirreth up the blood in our bodies, and sap in herbs and trees; clothing the earth with sweet new liveries, and plants with boughs and beauteous branches: nay the harmless choristers of the rebounding woods and echoing groves, do then begin to tune again their sugared throats, and ravish revived mortals with their melodious airs; bidding good morning to the day, and morrow to the morn. For no sooner can Aurora wake, and peep above the purple verges of the Eastern hills, but cheerfully they chant her out a mirthful cantilene: whilst in the mean time, sweet-breathing Zephyrus plays with the wanton tresses of his late dead, and decayed, but now again revived mistress; and in comely hue doth beauteous Flora prank herself, cheerfully coming forth to meet her kind sweet-causing lover. The pretty lambs are now at play, whilst the watchful shepherd sits piping on an hill to please that queen of his heart, his dearest shepherdess, whom ruthfully he moveth to grant his suit, and pity his complaint.  
Ver praebet flores, saith the Poet; and from 
† Or thus, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉▪ & ●….  viresco it may well be said to take the name. For will you hear?  
The mealy mountains which were late unseen,  
Change now their coats, all into lusty green.  
The gardens prank them with their flowery buds;  
The ●●●ds with grass, with leaves the naked woods.  
Sweet Zephyrus begins to buss his Flora, 
Partly out of Du Bart.   
Swiftwinged fingers to salute Aurora;  
And wanton Cupid, through this universe,  
With pleasing wounds, each creatures heart 'gins pierce.  
" Yea Titans presence doth again revive  
" As well things sensible as vegetive.  
But next after Spring we reckon Summer; which 
Summer.  may well be called the mother of plenty and daughter of bounty. For the earth hath now her lap full of every kind of grain, her belly is big and ready to be delivered, that she might thereby enrich the weary labourer, and feed each hungry soul. Formosa est messibus Aestas, saith Ovid: Summers' beauty consisteth in his fruitful fields of corn.  
— For now he crowns his Ceres  
With gilded ears, as yellow as her hair is;  
Till th'reaper, panting both for heat and pain,  
With crooked razor crops the tufted plain.  
In Latin we call it Aestas; which is, because this season derives the name ab aestu, from the exceeding heat: and so also doth the English word Summer express it. For Summer is a word taken out of the German language; and in the German tongue it is said to be Sunne-mehr, that is, plus solis, or more sun then at other times.  
And now come to Autumn (for Autumn is the next 
Autumn  Quarter) and this is a season which bringeth that to perfection, which the Spring and Summer hath but begun. For now the barns are full, the presses and fat's overflow with an abundance of wine and oil, and men do now eat the late gathered labours of their hands, and joy in the surpassing plenty that the earth hath brought them. This time is indeed the years very barber; or (if you will) it is like unto a kindhearted prodigal, who by little and little gives all away so freely, that in conclusion there is nothing left him. He takes his name therefore from Autumno, which signifieth to make ripe; for as fast as he can see the fruits ripened or brought to perfection, he yields them up to others. Or else it is Autumn, à bonorum anni augmentatione; as some suppose.  
Th' earth by degrees her lovely beauty ba●…es,  
Fills others full with her dear delicates:  
The apron and the osier-basket (both)  
Catch dainty fruits to please each dainty tooth:  
Until at last trees, gardens, meads and all,  
Are naked stripped and robbed quite of all.  
And here in this Quarter was undoubtedly the beginning of the first year: For that it should be so, we have grounds both in reason, Scripture, and other writings; as in the second chapter of this book I have proved at large.  
But leaving Autumn, look now at Winter: it is a 
Winter.  season which can boast of little. For it lies entrenched with gloomy mists of night, and weeps almost as often as it wants the sun, or finds it hid within the compass of a close cloud. Nay see but with what a palsy place it cometh. He that of late was sweeting in the fields, casting off his clothes, & fainting through heat, is now glad to call for more and thicker garments, and not ashamed by the help of fire to mitigate the freezing cold. For Winter is like unto an old man with a grey head and white beard; insomuch that when hoarie-headed Hy●…ms doth but brush or shake his hairs, the trees and herbs, (as I may so say) in stead of leaves, are periwigd with snow: Or if he doth but let his churlish breath blow out upon us, the waters are turned soon into a crystal crust, and without wonder men are seen to walk upon it, Et celsis dependet stiria tectis; yea and the drops hang frozen then at the eaveses of houses.  
That therefore of Ovid must needs be true, Igne levatur Hiems. To which let that 
† A cup of good wine.  Bacchi massicus humour be also added: For these two will now do wondrous well; according to that of the noble Poet,  
All lusks in sloth; and till this quarter's end,  
Bacchus, and Vulcan both, must us befriend.  
This season is called by the Latins Hiems, which seemeth to be derived from the Greek word 
* Which in Latin is Pl●….  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, signifying to make moist or wet: And in Hebrew (as some affirm) it is called Choreph, coming of the root Charaph, which signifieth to reproach or disgrace; because when winter cometh, the earth is as it were disgraced and exposed to reproach, in being spoiled of all its pleasant greenness, beauty and splendour.  
And in a word to shut up all, thus you may remember these seasons, together with their sundry qualities;  
Poma dat Autumnus: Formosa est messibus Aestas:  
Ver praebet Flores: Igne levatur Hiems. Ovid.  
Autumn gives fruit: And corn makes Summer fair: Spring shows us gayes: Fire helps cold Winter's air.   

Artic. 2. Of Days.  
A Day is either artificial or natural.  
1. The artificial is from sunrising to sunne-setting, agreeable to the words of our 
* Joh. 11. 9  Saviour, when he demanded if there were not twelve hours in the day.  
Now this kind of day is not always equal, but varies according to the sun's unequal time of rising and setting: and thereupon the hours likewise are to be reckoned according to the days proportionable difference; being (even as the days) longer in Summer then in Winter.  
Also for this artificial day, joannes de sacro Bosco divides it into four quarters; calling the first rubens, the second splendens, the third urens, and the fourth tepens.  
2. And as for that which is a day natural, it evermore containeth the just number of 24 equal hours; in which space of time the sun is carried by the motion of the Primum Mobile from any one part of heaven until it comes to the same point again.  
This kind of day amongst diverse nations hath diverse beginnings.  
England, the 17 Provinces, some part of Germany, 
Midnight.  the Mysians, and the Romans, account from midnight until midnight; because at that time (as is supposed) our Lord was born: and from hence, as Verstegan thinketh, came the word Seanight, being a week of days and nights, or a Seven-night.  
The Babylonians, Persians, Norimbergians, etc. begin 
Sunrising.  at sunrising, (and so do our 
† Which in them or all within the Parenthesis, though it be here inserted, is meant of the artificial day.  lawyers in England, ending again at sunne-setting: for he who hath a sum of money to pay on a set day by bond, neither before nor after sun need tender his money:) These, I say, begin at one sunrising, accounting until the next; according to that of 
* Lib. 2. cap. 77.  Pliny, Babylonii (saith he) inter duos solis exortus.  
And as for the Umbrians, Arabians, and Astronomers, 
Noon.  they reckon from noon until noon again.  
But the Athenians, Jews, Silesians, Italians, Bohemians, 
Evening.  etc. account always from the evening or setting of the sun; beginning their day when the night approacheth and the sun departeth, being as it were gone to his bed or western rest.  
1. They who begin from midnight may seem to have this warrant, viz. that the sun is then again returning towards our Hemisphere; and (as I said before) midnight is that time when the sun of righteousness arose to the world. For it is supposed that Christ 
† Which is but an uncertain supposition.  was born about the middle of the night, whilst the shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks. The day therefore beginneth from midnight.  
2. Again, they who account from the time of sunrising have this plea, saying that the day is fitly to take beginning, when the cause thereof, viz. the sun, doth first appear and show himself to the inhabitants of the world, calling them out unto their daily labours, and summoning them by his beauteous light to arise, and leave their sleepy beds. Therefore when the sun ariseth, the day beginneth.  
3. Also, they who reckon from noon, suppose that they ought to account from that time when the sun is in the most 
* Which they suppose to be the place it was first let in when it was made.  eminent place of heaven, and hath the greatest number of eyes enlightened by it. And as for Astronomical calculations, this also is the fittest time, because it falleth always at one and the same certainty. The day therefore beginneth from noon.  
4. Last of all, they who begin from the setting of the 
The natural beginning of the day is from sunset. Gen. 1.  sun have the truest and strongest plea. For this beginning is agreeable to the whole progress of the world's creation, and best fitteth the divine institution of natural days; being in very deed a true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of night and day, as of right it ought to be. For darkness was before the diurnal light: and God (saith the Apostle) commanded that light should shine out of darkness. And so the evening, as well as the morning, was pertinent to one and the same day; of which see more in the first day's work.   

Artic. 3. Of Years.  
A Year, being the chief and most usual part of time, whereby the ages of men, of the world, and other things are principally measured, is the periodical revolution of the sun through Mazzaroth, or the twelve signs of the Zodiac, Job 38. 32. For by the sun's uncessant motion, a set number of days are as it were wheeled about to terminate one year, and to give each season his due period of time. And in a true measured year, there is not always a set or certain equality: For there is either the great, or the lesser quantity. In the greatest quantity a year hath 365 days, 5 hours, 56 minutes, and 53 seconds; And in the least quantity, 365 days, 5 hours, 44 minutes, and 38 seconds.  
But if we reckon according to the course of the moon, than a year is that space of time wherein the moon, after some conjunctions with the sun, is again in conjunction with him, not far from that place where she first met him. Or if we reckon by the other stars, it is then that space of time which the sun spendeth after his departure from any star, until he returneth to the said star again.  
And in all these, the sun hath the chiefest pre-eminence, is the only guide, and most remarkable measurer. Whereupon I may not omit what I find observed by Expositors, viz. that a year hath the name in Hebrew from Shanah, signifying a changing or iteration: which is in regard of the sun's returning, after a years end, to the same point of heaven where it began. And as for the circuit of the moon, which we commonly term a month, it is derived from another word signifying to ronew; because in that space the moon is again renewed: neither is it found in any place of Scripture, that these names are perverted, or the one of them taken to signify the other; but by the one (say they) is meant a year, and by the other a month. See Gib. on Gen. chap. 5.▪ quest. 2. and Ainsworth on Gen. 1. 14.  
In Latin the year is called Annus, because we may say of it, revolvitur ut annulus. For as in a ring the parts touch one another, circularly joining each to other; so also the year rolleth itself back again by the same steps that it ever went; whereupon it came to pass that the Egyptians, amongst other their hieroglyphics, used to paint out the year like a snake winding herself as round as a ring, holding her tail in her mouth: Et sic sua per vestigia volvitur annus. The name likewise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which it hath from the Greek, is agreeable to the foresaid derivation. And all this concerning natural years.  
But as for Political years, they be those which are diversely used by diverse nations in their accounting of times: and they differ in lengths according as the computatours fail in skill to regulate them to the motion of the heavens.  
That which we now use is the Julian year, instituted by julius Cesar, who, by the help of Sosigines an Egyptian, an expert Mathematician, amended the old Roman year, and brought it to that form in which we now have it, making it to consist of 365 days, and 6 hours: which 6 hours are not reckoned every year, but once every fourth year, being then increased to the just length of a day, which is always inserted or put in the next before the 6 Calends of March, causing the said Calends to be twice repeated: from whence that year is called Bissextile of bis and sex, twice six; or Leap-yeare, because by this adding of a day, from thenceforth the fixed holidays and the like, do as it were skip or leap one day further into the week than they were the former year.  
Now the mean length of the Tropical year being defined to have no more than 365 days, 5 hours, and 49 minutes, showeth that this Julian year is somewhat greater than it should be, exceeding the exactest measure which can be had, by the quantity of eleven minutes or there about; causing thereby by little and little to be an apparent anticipation of the Equinoctial and Solstitial points: insomuch that the Vernal equinox, whose place at the first Council of Nice, was upon the 21 day of March, is now come to be upon the 10 day of March. The reformation of which error hath been wished for by diverse learned men; and in some sort performed by Pope Gregory the 13 (using likewise in it the help of Christopher Clavius, and some others) who in the year 1582, brought back the Equinoctial day to the same place it was at the said Nicene Council, by cutting off 10 days in the month of October, writing in the Calendar next after the fourth day the fifteenth day: by means whereof all their months begin ten days sooner than ours, as do also all those feasts whose place is fixed and not movable.  
Now in this reformation it was likewise ordered, that the year should consist of 365 days, 5 hours, and 49 minutes. And, that the Equinox might not be subject any more to anticipation in 400 years, they thought it fit to omit three Leap-yeares; The first whereof will fall into the year of Christ 1715; the second into the year 1848; and the third into the year 1982, if God suffer the frame of the world to stand so long.  
Howbeit in thus doing, although the alteration will be very little, yet the reformation is not exactly true, because there is an inequality of anticipation in the Equinoctial, as the great Masters in Astronomy teach us, being (as they say) in some ages more, and in some less. But seeing (as I said) the alteration will be very little, if it ever come to that, it is fit the Leap-year be then omitted.  
And thus am I come now to the end likewise of this fourth day's work, wherein, after my plain manner, I have discoursed upon every such thing as is pertinent to the work done in it. Let me therefore concluding say with Moses.  
The Eve and Morn confine the fourth of days,  
And God gives to his work deserved praise.      

CHAP. VIII. Concerning the creatures created in the Fifth day of the world: and they were Fishes, and Fowls.  

Sect. 1. Of Fishes, their kinds, properties, etc.  
NOw follow the works of the Fifth day: which when I consider, I cannot but admire the harmonious order which the Almighty observeth in the whole progress of his creating. For as yet the world was but like an empty house without inhabitants; a stately structure, having no moving creature with life and sense to be living in it; not so much as a poor fly, a fish, or a bird to taste the goodness of things created and made. But in this and the next day (the building thus framed, and cheer provided) he brought as it were his guests to participate of his delicates, always provided that things inferior should serve things superior: making his best work last, namely Man, unto whom the other works were put in subordination; to show (me thinks) that the end is the perfection of every thing.  
And now see, the first day was for the matter: The second brought it into a better form, stretched out the heavens, and lifted up the waters which are above them. The third did not only show the face of the earth by the gathering together of those waters under heaven, but also adorned it with herbs, trees, and plants. The fourth beautifies the vaulted roof of the sparkling firmament with funne, moon, and stars. In the fifth and sixth he makes all kinds of living creatures; furnishing first of all the waters and air with their inhabitants; and last of all the earth.  
And for those many creatures in the waters and air, their creation was effected in this fifth day's work; so that every kind of fish, and all kind of birds were now produced. God only said it, and it was done; as by viewing the text of Moses will appear: For in all his works he spoke the word and they were made, he commanded and they were created.  
But to proceed. We need divide the whole of this day into no more than two parts: The one of Fishes, the other of Birds.  
That of fishes is the foremost, and therefore the variety of those creatures would be first admired.  
And see how Moses ushers them. The greater ones are placed in the forefront: For God (saith he) made great whales. And then he proceedeth to add something concerning the other species of smaller creatures living and moving in the water; saying, And every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly after their kind.  
Pareus, and other Expositors also, by the word 
The Whale  which is commonly translated great whales, understand the biggest kind of sea-beasts and monstrous fishes of the largest greatness. And indeed the epithet great, is not added to the whale without cause: For the word 
* Dr. Will. on Gen.  tannin signifieth a serpent, dragon, or a great fish: and the whale or great fish is the greatest of all living creatures, as in Job 41. 33. In the earth there is none like him. His jaws are likened to doors, vers. 14. his scales to shields, vers. 15. Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron, vers. 20. he maketh the sea to boil like a pot, vers. 31.  
Munster writeth that near unto Iseland there be 
Munst. Cos●…og.  great whales whose bigness equalizeth the hills and mighty mountains, which are sometimes openly seen; and these (saith he) will drown and overthrow ships except they be affrighted with the sound of trumpets and drums, or except some round and empty vessels be cast unto them, wherewith they may play and sport them, because they are much delighted with such things. But above all, this he affirmeth to be a good remedy against such dangerous whales; to wit, that which the Apothecaries call Castoreum, tempered with water and cast into the sea: for by this as by a poison they are utterly driven and banished to the bottom.  
Other authors mention far greater whales than these: And Olaus Magnus writeth, that there are many 
〈◊〉 Mag. lib. ●…1▪  kinds of whales. For some he affirmeth to be rough-skinned and bristled, and these contain in length 240 feet, and in breadth 120. others are smooth and plain, and these are less, being taken in the North and Western ocean. Some again have jaws with long and terrible teeth of 12 or 14 feet in length: and the two dog-teeths are far longer than the rest, like unto horns, or the tusks of a boar or elephant. This kind of whale hath eyes so ample and large, that sometimes 15, 20, or more men may sit in the compass of one eye: and about either eye there be 250 horns 
* Idem Ibid.  ad rigidam vel placidam, anteriorem vel posteriorem motionem & ventilationem; serving also to defend the eyes, either in a tempestuous season▪ or when this fish is assaulted by any other sea-beast. Physeter or the Whirl-pool-whale hath a large wide mouth, but round: This is a cruel fish to the mariners, and will sometimes lift up his head above the sailyard, casting up so much water through certain pipes in his forehead, that (as the foresaid author witnesseth) great and strong ships are either compelled to sink, or else are exposed to great and manifest danger. Sometimes again by laying his head upon either end of the ship, he drowns it by his over-loading weight.  
Some call the Whirl-pool-whales, Balaenae. But howsoever, Balaena is reckoned amongst the whales, and is differing from the Prister or Physeter which before I called the Whirl-pool-whale. Olaus Magnus speaking of the Balaena, saith that it hath no gills, but certain Fistulae 
The love of the Balaena towards her young ones.  are in stead thereof, placed in the forepart of the head, and that it is a fish which shows great love and affection towards her young ones: For when they are little, being faint and weak, she takes them into her mouth to secure them from tempestuous surges; and when the tempest is over, she spews them again out into the sea. A 
An instruction from the Balaena 〈◊〉 careful parents.  fit emblem this, to teach all sorts of parents either in Church, Commonwealth, or private families, to provide for, and not destroy those under them; as also to secure them from dangers whensoever they arise.  
When this Balaena and her male-whale accompany 
Ambergreese comes from the Whale.  together (for they increase by copulation) they scatter much of their seed in the waters, which being found by the mariners is taken and sold as a precious drug. Some call it Ambra, or Ambergreese, affirming that it is good contra guttas, and against the palsy and resolution 
The virtues of this Amber.  of sinews, if it be used as an ointment: good also to be drunk down against the falling sickness, and swooning; having also great power of strengthening the inward parts. It is commonly white, and sometimes counterfeited with the dust of Lignum aloes, and the sweet gum Storax, sea-mosse, and the like; but that which is 
How to know whether it be without sophistication.  sophisticated may be easily known, because it will soon be dissolved like wax: whereas that which is without sophistication 
How to know whether it be without sophistication▪  is more solid & less easy to be made liquid. Thus affirmeth Olaus magnus: howbeit others write that Ambergreese is the spawn of the whale. But Avioen is persuaded that it grows in the sea: and some again only write, that it is cast up on the shore and found cleaving to stones there; the fume whereof is good against the falling sickness, and comfortable to the brain.  
Munster writeth that many in Iseland, of the bones and ribs of the biggest whales, make posts and spars for the building of their houses: and how great profit proceedeth from the oil of the whale, no man is ignorant.  

* Lib. 9 ca●…. 62. See also 〈◊〉. Hist. de 〈◊〉. lib. 10. cap. ●…. 〈◊〉. de i●…dust. 〈◊〉.  Pliny writeth of a little fish called Musculus, 
The great whale is beholding to the little Musculus.  which is a great friend to the whale: for the whale being big would many times endanger herself between rocks and narrow straits, were it not for this little fish, which swimmeth as a guide before her. Whereupon Du Bartas descants thus,  
A little fish that swimming still before  
Directs him safe from rock, from shelf and shore:  
Much like a child that loving leads about  
His aged father when his eyes be out;  
Still wafting him through every way so right,  
That reft of eyes he seems not reft of sight.  
Which office of that little fish, may serve as a fit emblem 
An emblem drawn from the Whale and Musculus; showing that the me●…nest ought not to be contemned.  to teach great ones & superiors, that they ought not to contemn their inferiors; for they are not always able so to subsist of themselves, that they never stand in need of their helps who are but mean and base in the eyes of greatness: there may come a time when the meanest person may do some good, and therefore there is no time wherein we ought to scorn such a one, how mean soever he be.  
Furthermore, as the whale is befriended by the Musculus, so also he is as much infested by the 
* Pl●…. lib. 9 〈◊〉. 6.  Ork; for 
The Ork dares ●…ght with the whale.  albeit the Ork be less than the whale, yet it is a nimbler fish, and cruel withal, having sharp teeth, with which, as with an admired weapon, she cruelly wounds the whale in the belly, and then floating into a shallow place, endangers the whale to follow after.  
The Swordfish called Xiphia, is little like to any other 
The Swordfish.  fish: he hath an horrid head like an owl; a deep mouth as if it were some immensive pit; ugly eyes, with a back and a bill like a sword.  
There is also another great fish called Serra, or a Saw-fish, having an hard copled head with teeth like a 
The Sawfish.  saw, standing in manner of a comb upon the head of a cock: with which, the said fish when she wants a prey, cutteth the bottom of ships, that the men being cast away, a prey may be provided by feeding on their carcases.  
The Monoceros, or fish with one horn, may fitly be 
The Unicorn of the sea.  called the Sea-unicorn: it is a sea-monster, having a great horn in his forehead wherewith he is able to pierce through a ship. Howbeit his cruelty is much hindered in regard that it hath pleased the Almighty to make him very slow in motion, whereby those who fear him have advantage given them to fly away.  
The Sea-elephant is a fish which often goes on shore 
The Sea-elephant.  and sleeps in the rocks, hanging by his two Elephantlike teeth (but both they and his body are far bigger than the land-elephant) and being espied by men at sea, they call to others on the shore, by whose help, using nets and gins and other instruments for that purpose, they together invelope his body, and then suddenly assaulting and awaking him, he leaps with a violent rush as if he would leap into the sea, but being hampered and entangled by the fisher's engines, he cannot; he is compelled therefore to yield himself to their mercy: who having killed him do first skin him, then take out his fat; and of his skin they make thongs, which are sold for a great price, as being very strong and such as will never rot. Olaus magnus commendeth his teeth above the other parts of his body. Lib. 21. This fish thus sleeping 
An emblem drawn from the Sea-elephant, concerning sleep in sin.  and caught suddenly, may be as a fit emblem of those men who coming out of their right way, do fall asleep in sin; and at last when death awakes them they think to go to heaven, or leap into the ways of godliness, but than it is too late: for they are taken as surely and as suddenly, as was that fool in the Gospel, who thought he had goods laid up for many years.  
The Crocodile, seeing it lives in the waters as well, or 
The Crocodile.  rather than on land, I reckon among the fishes. They be commonly found about the river Nilus in Egypt, and Ganges in India; and (as Munster writeth in his cosmography) it waxeth of a little thing to a very great beast. For his eggs are much like unto goose eggs, but the young which cometh of them taketh increase to 16 or 18 cubits in length. He liveth almost as long as a man, his back is hard and full of scales; he wants a tongue, but hath cruel teeth, two whereof be far more terrible than the other, and much longer: his eyes are said to be very dull in the water, but marvellous quicksighted when he is out of it; his tail extends itself to an ample length, and his bitings are so sharp and cruel that they can never be healed: he hath also short feet and sharp claws or nails, wherewith he helps to catch and dismember either man or beast which he can lay hold on: howbeit, it is said that he flies from those that persecute him, and persecutes those that fly him. Munst.  
When he hath devoured a man and eaten up all but 
A dissembl●… like unto the Crocodile.  the head, he will sit and weep over it, as if he expressed a great portion of sorrow for his cruel fact: but it is nothing so. For when he weeps, it is because his hungry paunch wants such another prey. And from hence the proverb took beginning, viz. Lacrymae Crocodili, Crocodile tears: which is then verified, when one weeps cunningly without sorrow, dissembling heaviness out of craftiness: like unto many rich men's heirs, who mourn in their gowns, when they laugh in their sleeves; or like to other dissemblers of the same nature, who have sorrow 
〈◊〉.  in their eyes, but joy and craftiness in their hearts.  
It is reported by some 
* Aelian. var. hist. lib. 1.  authors, that the dogs in 
An emblem from the dog and Crocodile.  Egypt use to lap their water running, when they come at Nilus, for fear of the Crocodiles there. Which cannot but be a fit pattern for us in the use of pleasures: for 
How we ought to use pleasure.  true it is, we may not stand to take a hearty draught, for then delights be dangerous; howbeit we may refresh ourselves with them as we go on our way, and may take them, but may not be taken by them: for when they detain us and cause us to stand still, than their sweet waters have fierce Crocodiles; or if not so, they have strange Tarantula's, whose sting causeth to die laughing.  
Porcus marinus, or the Sea-hog, is a strange kind of 
The Sea-hog.  fish, headed like an hog, with teeth and tusks like a boar, and a bending back like a creature begotten among swine: only his tail and hinder parts is like to the tail of other fishes, and his four legs are like to the legs of a dragon. Such a fish as this was taken up in the German ocean, in the year of our Lord 1537, as Olaus witnesseth in his 21 book.  
But in Bermuda, or in the sea about the Summer islands, they have Sea-hogs of another kind and fashion, nothing so big nor terrible, without legs, good for food, and like to hogs in their heads.  
Moreover, Olaus again makes mention of another 
The Swam-fisk.  fish, which they of Norvegia call a Swam-fisk: and this is the most greedy and gluttonous of all fishes. For it is continually feeding and filling itself, even up to the very mouth, until he can hold no more; and his prey is upon other the smaller fishes. This likewise is his quality and condition; when he is in fear of any danger, he will so wind up himself and cover his head with the skin and substance of his own body, that he is then but like unto a piece of a dead fish, and nothing like himself. Which feat he seldom doth without hurt or damage: For still fearing that there be those about him who will pray upon him and devour him, he is compelled for lack of meat to feed upon the substance of his own body; choosing rather to be devoured in part, then to be consumed by other more strong and powerful fishes. These and such like are taken for their fat and oil, rather than for any thing else which is useful in them.  
And unto this fish I cannot but liken all greedy cormorants 
Covetous cormorants like to the Swam-fisk.  and covetous devourers of other men, being never satisfied with the measure of their oppressions, but lay house to house, and field to field, until there be no more place; as the prophet Esay speaketh, chap. 5. 8. For they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage, Mich. 2. 2. But at the last, when they must give an account for all the things that they have done, then being oppressed by fear, as they oppressed others with cruelty, they would be glad to hide their heads, and rather consume their own selves than be given up to the tormentors; saying with them in the Revelation, Let the hills fall upon us, and the mountains cover us from the wrath of him who sits upon the throne. But it is madness to run from punishment, and not from sin. And therefore to possess all things, is to possess God the possessor of all things. For omission and commission, are a wicked man's confusion; and oppressors may verily look to feast the devil: for while they devour the poor, the devil devours them.  
Equus marinus, the Sea-horse, is most of all seen between 
The Sea-horse.  Britain and Norway. In the Northern seas he will sometimes sleep upon a piece of ice as it floateth upon the waters: and seldom do the fishermen desire to take them in their voyages to those parts, but when they take few Whales. He hath an head like an horse, and will sometimes neigh; his feet are cloven like to the feet of a cow, and he seeks his repast as well on the land as in the sea: but his hinder parts are like to other fishes, and his tail like theirs. Ola. lib. 21.  
There be also Sea-cows and Calves, so called because 
The Sea-cow and calf.  they do much resemble such kind of creatures living upon land. The Sea-cow is a great, strong, and fierce monster, bringing forth young like herself: she is said to be big ten months, and then delivered; sometimes of two: but oftenest she hath but one, and this follows her up and down whithersoever she goeth. Olaus writeth, that the Sea-calf is a great devourer of herrings, insomuch that coming to the side of a net wherein they are hanged, she will eat them up one by one until few are left. And in the Indies the Spaniards use to catch a mighty fish, having large teats and dugs.  
And those who live at Bermuda or the Summer Islands, 
The Tortoise.  are much beholden to that fish which they call the Turtle or the Tortoise: she will come on the shore and lay her 
* Concerning which fish see Elian also, Var. Histor. lib. 1.  eggs in the sands, a bushel in the belly of some one; which being taken in time are very good and wholesome meat, and sweet: but if they lie long, the sun will hatch them. They have harping irons to catch these fishes; and being taken, one of them will serve to feast about fifty men at a meal. And indeed those seas afford variety of very good fish, pleasant and dainty, as I have heard them say who lived there.  
But above all, the Mermaids and Men-fish seem to 
The Mermaids and Mermen.  me the most strange fish in the waters. Some have supposed them to be devils or spirits, in regard of their whooping noise that they make. For (as if they had power to raise extraordinary storms and tempests) the winds blow, seas rage, and clouds drop, presently after they seem to call. Questionless nature's instinct works in them a quicker insight, and more sudden feeling and foresight of these things, then is in man; which we see even in other creatures upon earth, as in fowls, who feeling the alteration of the air in their feathers and quills, do plainly prognosticate a change of weather before it appeareth to us. And of these, not only the poets, but 
* Plin. lib. 9 cap. 5.  others also have written. The Poets feign there were three 
Olaus Mag. lib. 21. cap. 1. Hist. Nether. lib. 2. pag. 116. Alex. ●…b Alexand. lib. 3. cap. 8. Genial. Dier●…m.  Mermaids or Sirens; in their upper parts like maidens, and in their lower part fishes: which dwelling in the sea of Sicily would allure sailors to them, and afterwards devour them; being first brought asleep with harkening to their sweet singing. Their names (they say) were Parthenope, Lygia, and Leucasia; wherefore sometime alluring women are said to be Siren's.  
Neither can I but admire what I find recorded in 
A story of a Seawoman.  the history of the Netherlands, of a Seawoman who was taken up in the straits of a broken dike near to the towns of Campen and Edam, brought thither by a sea-tempest and high tide, where floating up and down and not finding a passage out again (by reason that the breach was stopped after the flood) was espied by certain women and their servants as they went to milk their kine in the neighbouring pastures, who at the first were afraid of her, but seeing her often they resolved to take her, which they did; and bringing her home, she suffered herself to be clothed, fed with bread, milk, and other meats, and would often strive to steal again into the sea, but being carefully watched she could not: moreover she learned to spin, and perform other petty offices of women; but at the first they cleansed her of the sea-mosse which did stick about her. She was brought from Edam and kept at Harlem, where she would obey her mistress, and (as she was taught) kneel down with her before the crucifix, never spoke, but lived dumb & continued alive (as some say) fifteen years; then she died. This is credibly reported by the 
* Petit. transl. by ●…d. Grimston.  author of that history, by the writer of the chronicles of Holland, and in a book called the Theatre of cities. They took her in the year of our Lord 1403.  
Moreover 
* Lib. 9 cap. 5.  Pliny telleth us of Tritons, and Nereïdes, which were Mermen, or Men-fish of the sea. And in the year 1526 (as the author of Du Bartas his summary reporteth) there was taken in Norway, near to a seaport called Elpoch, a certain fish resembling a mitred Bishop, who was kept alive some few days after his taking. And (as the said author writeth) there was one Ferdinand Alvares, secretary to the store-house of the Indians, who faithfully witnesseth that he had seen not far off from the Promontory of the Moon, a young Seaman coming out of the waters, who stole fishes from the fishermen, and eat them raw. Neither is Olaus Magnus' silent in these things: For in his 21 book, and first chapter, having mentioned fishes like to dogs, cows, calves, horses, asses, lions, eagles, dragons, and what not? he also saith, Sunt & belluae in mari quasi hominis figuram imitantes, lugubres in cantu, ut Nereïdes: etiam marini homines, toto corpore absolutâ similitudine, etc. that is, There be monsters in the sea, as it were imitating the shape of a man, having a doleful kind of sound or singing, as the Nereïdes: There be also Seamen of an absolute proportion in their whole body: these are sometimes seen to climb up the ships in the night times, and suddenly to depress that 〈◊〉 upon which they sit; and if they abide long, the whole ship sinketh. Yea (saith he) this I add from out the faithful assertions of the Norway fishers, that when such are taken, if they be not presently let go again, there ariseth such a fierce tempest, with an horrid noise of those kind of creatures, and other sea-monsters there assembled, that a man would think the very heaven were falling, and the vaulted roof of the world running to ruin; insomuch that the fishermen have much ado to escape with their lives: whereupon they confirmed it as a law amongst them, that if any chanced to hang such a fish upon his hook, he should suddenly cut the line and let him go. But these sudden tempests are very strange, and how they arise with such violent speed, exceeds the bounds of ordinary admiration. Whereupon it is again supposed that these monsters are very devils, and by their power such strange storms are raised. Howbeit for my part I think otherwise, and do much rather affirm that these storms (in my judgement) are thus raised, namely by the thickening and breaking of the air; which the snortling, rushing, and howling of these beasts assembled in an innumerable company, causeth. For it is certain that sounds will break and alter the air (as I have heard it of a city, freed from the plague by the thundering noise of cannons) and also I suppose that the violent rushing of these beasts causeth much water to fly up and thicken the air, and by their howling and snortling under the waters, they do blow up and as it were attenuate the waves, and make them arise in a thinner substance then at other times; so that nature having all these helps, in an instant worketh to the amazement of the mariners, and often to the danger of their lives.  
Besides, shall we think that spirits use to feed, and will be so foolish as go and hang themselves on an hook for a bait? They may have occult qualities (as the Loadstone hath) to work strange feats, and yet be neither spirits nor devils: for experience likewise teacheth, that they die either sooner or later after their taking; neither can a spirit have flesh and bones as they have. But to conclude, Alexander ab Alexandro, in the third book of his genial days, hath written one whole chapter (viz. the 8) concerning these seamen, affirming that it is no fabulous report to say there be such: he describeth them to be fish in their lower parts, and like to men in their upper parts; affirming moreover that they be very venereous and desirous of women, loving them, or lusting after them. Whereupon he relates a story of a certain woman who was taken up and carried to the sea by one of these Mermen, concubitûs causà, that he might couple himself with her. Which monster the inhabitants took soon after; but refusing meat, he died: and they then made this law, that no woman should adventure to come near the sea, except her husband were with her. This happened in Epirus, a country of Greece.  
In the kingdom of Congo, which lieth in the African 
Another Hog-fish.  part of the world, there is in the river Zaire, another kind of hog-fish differing from that already mentioned. It is called Ambize, Angulo, or Hog-fish. It hath as it were two hands, and a tail like a target, which eateth like pork, and whereof they make lard, and hath not the savour or taste of fish. It feedeth on the grass that groweth on the banks of the river, and never goeth out: it hath a mouth like the muzzle of an ox; and there be of them that weigh five hundred pound apiece. Purchas.  
In the West sea there is a fish called the Pontarof, a 
The Pontarof.  cruel monster, that taketh great pleasure to carry away young children, loving to play and sport with them. Du Bart. Summar. ex Oviedo, lib. 13.  
The fishes called Sharks are most ravenous devourers, 
The Shark  and in the waters upon the coasts of Africa, they have been seen with six or seven other smaller fishes, guarded with blue and green, attending like serving-men.  
And omitting many, whether in the newfound 
The Dolphin.  world, in the Norway seas, or elsewhere, I come now to the Dolphin, that king of fishes; than whom there is not any which is swifter, none more charitable to his fellows, and (which is above all the rest) none more loving to man. Pliny hath written much of this fish, in his ninth book, at the eighth chapter; and so have others also: affirming that he is not only sociable and desirous of man's company, but delighted also in sweet and sensecharming music.  
Amongst the fishes that did swiftly throng 
Du 〈◊〉.   
To dance the measures of his mournful song,  
There was a Dolphin did the best afford  
His nimble motions to the trembling chord.  
But whether that in the story of Arion be true, I am not able to say. Perhaps their censure is none of the worst, 
What may be thought of A●…ions story.  who persuade themselves it is a fable which was invented by those who had heard of that famous history of the Prophet Ionas: for diverse stories of the Bible have been in this manner changed by the Pagans; as amongst the rest, that of Sennache●…ib was very counterfeitly told by Herodotus, when he makes mention of a great company of mice (as he had his relation from the priests of Egypt) who came by night and eat off the feathers from his arrows, Herod. lib. 2. And the flood of Deucalion is related by Ovid, as if Noah's flood and that were all one. And the Grecians fable, upon the sun's going back in Hezechiahs' time, that at the 
* 〈◊〉.  birth of Hercules the sun made a longer night then at other times.  
Howbeit this scruple may not take away the love of 
The Dolphin is loving and kind  the Dolphin towards man. For besides those things related in Pliny, of a boy feeding a Dolphin, and carried on his back over the waters to school, with such like things in the said author; others also have in a manner written to the same purpose. And amongst the rest, Elian tells 
A story to the same purpose.  a story of a Dolphin and a boy: this boy being very fair, used with his companions to play by the sea side, and to wash with them in the water, practising likewise to swim: which being perceived by a Dolphin frequenting that coast, the Dolphin fell into a great liking with this boy above the rest, and used very familiarly to swim by him side by side: the boy at the first was fearful of this his unwonted companion; but through custom he and the Dolphin grew so familiar, that they would be friendly antagonists, and contend together in swimming each by other: insomuch that sometimes the boy would get upon the Dolphin's back, and ride through the watery territories of Neptune's kingdom, as upon some proud prancing horse, and the Dolphin at all times would bring him safely to the shore again; of which the people in the adjoining city were eye-witnesses, and that not seldom. At last it chanced that the boy, not careful how he sat upon the fishes back, but unadvisedly laying his belly too close, was by the sharp pricks growing there, wounded to death. And now the Dolphin perceiving by the weight of his body, and by the blood which stained the waters, that the boy was dead, speedily swimmeth with all his force to the land, and there laying him down, for very sorrow died by him. In memory whereof, let these few lines be added,  
The fish would live, but that the boy must die:  
The dying boy the living fish torments.  
The fish tormented hath no time to cry;  
But with his grief his life he sadly vents.  
Oh where is love or grief so firm as this?  
Of such true love and grief most men do miss.  
The Seafox is a fish that hath a long tail, & is subtle in 
The Seafox.  his chase, having a strong sent as the Land-fox hath. He ●…seth to swallow his young into his belly in time of danger (as the Balaena doth) which some also attribute to the Dolphin. This fish and the Amia use to deceive the fisherman, either by leaping at, or by sucking up so much of his line, that they may be sure to bite off the hook. Aelian. var. hist. lib. 1.  
The Cantharus is an admired pattern of chastity. 
The chaste Cantharus  Elian 
* Hist. animal. lib. 1. cap. 26.  speaketh of the ardent love of this Cantharus, and saith that between him and the adulterous Sargon, is great enmity: for he will fight as courageously for his mate, as Paris could fight for Helena; being in this the true emblem of a loyal couple, who hate defiled sheets, loving and living constantly together.  
Like unto which is the Mullet; who albeit she be a 
The Mullet.  fearful fish (as Pliny telleth us, lib. 9 cap. 17.) and will hide her head for fear; yet seeing her male taken, she followeth after him as far as she can, choosing rather to die with him, then to be left herself alone.  
But the Sargon is contrary; for this is an adulterous 
The Sargon.  fish, daily changing mates; and not so content, useth to go on the grassy shore, horning the he-goats who had horns before. For (as 
* Hist. animal. lib. 1. cap. 23.  Elian writeth) his lustful love towards the she-goat is so furious, that the fishermen use to take these fishes by covering themselves with a goat's skin.  
And doth not this fish bear a true emblem against 
An emblem against adultery.  adulterers? Yes surely doth it. For those who make horns on other men's heads, do but make engines to toss themselves to hell.  
Caprae refert scortum, similis fit Sargus amanti, 
Alcia●…. Emb.   
Qui miser obscoeno captus amore perit.  
The goat, a harlot doth resemble well;  
The Sargus like unto the lover is,  
Who (poor wretch▪) taken, is condemned to hell,  
And for his lust deprived of heavenly bliss.  
Howbeit, a Ten in the hundred, or a Fox-furr'd-clouted-pated fornicator, who to his tenant's wife is sometimes a lecherous administrator, cannot see it; neither will such believe that whores are the hackneys which men ride upon into Devils-ditch: for thither do they gallop, like the deceived Sargus, caught by the fisher in the skin of a goat.  
Hoga is said to be a fish as big as a mackerell, or (as 
A fish with wings.  some say) no bigger than a herring. This fish hath 
It affords a 〈◊〉 emblem concerning thriving.  wings, which do not so much help her by flying to escape a far greater fish, as endanger her to the merciless cruelty of another enemy; I mean a certain seafowl, which waits but for such an opportunity to devour her. Neither can it fly high or far, or longer than her moistened wings keep wet; nor yet swim fast, having exchanged fins for wings. So (saith one) have I seen men thrive worse that have two trades, than such as have been skilful or thrifty in one.  
The birds that watch for these fishes, are in feathers as big as crows, but in flesh little bigger than a sparrow, & are wiser to hunt after others then to save themselves; for they be so tame that they will light upon the hatches of ships, and suffer themselves to be taken. So have I 
Harm watch, harm catch.  seen some so eager to hurt others, that in the mean time they have run themselves into as great a danger: and well worthy are they of such a reward. For if a treacherous Haman provide a gallows for an harmless Mordecai, it is no pity to see the preparer give it handsel, or first hanged. Neither will any one mourn to see an Achitophel's craftiness catch himself in his own wiliness.  
He that will others guide to Charybs shelf,  
On Scylla's rock may fearless split himself.  
The Remora is a small fish which cleaveth to the bottom 
The Remora.  of a ship, and doth as strongly as strangely stay it, called therefore by some the Stop-ship. Of which there can be no more reason given, then of the loadstones drawing iron: neither is it possible to show the cause of all secrets in nature.  
The properties of the Cramp-fish are in a manner as 
The Torpedo.  strange. For the nature of it is to make the hands of such as touch it benumbed, albeit they touch it with a long pole. Plin. lib. 32. cap. 1. He is called in latin Torpedo, which is a name proceeding from his benumbing quality. Some attribute the property of this secret to the air which issueth from the body of the Torpedo; supposing it to be so subtle, that passing along by the line and the pole, it affecteth and afflicteth the arms of the fisherman. Many authors have written of this fish, as Plutarch, Pliny, Elian, Aristotle, and sundry others. It is said to be of the form and greatness of a Thornback, and (as I said) of a fell and a baneful breath; wherewith she doth not only benumb the fisher's hand, but also the neighbouring fishes who come near her, that so being as if they were dead, she may the more easily prey upon them: like many a rich man, slain by his heir, in hope to possess his lands.  
The Barble is a fish that will not meddle with the 
The Barble  bait, until with her tail she have unhooked it from the hook. This fish carries a wary jealousy always with it, and will not be deceived by all the baits the fisher can devise. Plutarch, in his book De industria animalium, setteth down the careful circumspection of this creature; affirming moreover that if with the beating of her tail she can do no good, she then opening her mouth a little, doth only touch the bait with the tip of her lips, 
Against ●…nesse.  and gnaw it round about. Which is indeed a fit emblem against the rashness of those who will not look before they leap, but are so foolhardy that without either fear or wit they will undertake strange projects, and believe every fair word; as if the grass had no snakes, or a sugared pill no inward bitterness.  
The Scolopendra is a fish more credulous, but of as 
The Scolopendra.  strange a property: For, as Pliny writeth in his ninth book and 43 chapter (to which 
* De animal. lib. 13. cap. 23.  Elian is not opposite) this is a fish which refuseth not the bait, but feeling himself taken with the hook casteth out his bowels, and then having loosed the hook swalloweth them again.  
Now this is a fit emblem of all such as have swallowed 
An emblem from this fish, of swallowing the baits of sin.  down the deceitful baits of sin; aptly affording this instruction, that if they will be safe and secure, they must search themselves. For if those baits which we have swallowed, through the seeming good of deceitful sin, if they, I say, be not vomited up again, there is a hook which will hold us fast, and hale us headlong into misery.  
The Sturgeon is a fish whose scales turn backwards, 
The Sturgeon.  and therefore he swimmeth against the stream. So have I seen some effect their projects by means and ways, 
An emblem concerning thriving.  contrary to the common course of men. Nay, some have been so happy as to thrive in respect of themselves, when others could not but judge that the world must needs go backwards with them.  
The calamary is sometimes called the Sea-clerk, 
The calamary.  having as it were a knife and a pen. Some call him the Ink-horn-fish, because he hath a black skin like ink, which serveth him in stead of blood. And of these fishes there be more kinds than one: for the Cuttle hath also an inky juice in stead of blood. You may see three figures of this fish in the fourth book of Gesners' history of fishes; and 
* Li●…. 9 cap. 29.  Pliny, speaking of these fishes, affirmeth that both male and female, when they find themselves so far forth discovered, that if they cannot be hid they must be taken, do then cast this their ink into the water; and so by colouring it, they obscure and darken it: and the water being darkened, they escape.  
For through the clouds of this black inky night,  
They dazzling pass the greedy fisher's sight.  
The Purple is a kind of shellfish, from whence is gathered 
The Purple.  a most necessary juice for the dying of silks and such like things. This juice is in the midst of her mouth and jaws, and is to be had in the spring time; for at other times she is barren and wants it. She loseth her life with the loss of this juice, and liveth no longer than this abideth in her: Wherefore Munster in his cosmography giveth this counsel, to take them alive; adding moreover that she is a great devourer of little shellfish. She hath (saith he) a long tongue which is always moving; and by this she getteth her prey. Some say that they differ in colour according to their nearness or farnesse from the sun: whereupon it comes to pass that in Africa they have as it were a violet colour, and at Tyrus a redder colour.  
Polypus is a fish with many feet, and a round head 
The Polypus.  near unto them; it is a great enemy to the Lobster: and (as Elian, and other authors write) they can often change their colour, and by that project devour other fishes. Their use and custom is to he lurking closely by the sides and roots of rocks, changing themselves into the colour of the same thing unto which they cleave; insomuch that they seem as a part of the rock: whither when the foolish fish swim, they fall into danger: for whilst they dread nothing, these Polypodes suddenly pray upon 
〈◊〉 ●…sons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 Polypus.  them and devour them. And indeed this is the constancy and unfeared treachery, which is often found in many men, who will be any thing for their own ends, and nothing without them; sparing none for their own purposes, nor loving any but to effect them. Their heads indeed may well be near their feet: for they prise the trash we trample on, far above the joys of heaven; else would they never work their fond purposes by deceitful means, and damage others to help themselves.  
Amongst the several sorts of shell-fish, the glistering 
The Pearl-fish.  Pearl-fish deserves remembrance; not only in respect of herself, but also in regard of the Prawn, another fish and her companion: for between these two there is a most firm league of friendship, much kindness, and such familiarity as cannot but breed admiration in the reader. They have a subtle kind of hunting, which being ended, they divide their prey in loving manner: for seeing they one help the other in the getting of it, they likewise join in the equal sharing. And in few words, thus it is: (of which ye may read in Pliny, Plutarch, Elian, etc.) When the Pearl-fish gapeth wide, she hath a curious glistering within her shell, by which she allureth the small fry to come swimming into her: which when her companion the Prawn perceiveth, he gives her a secret touch with one of his prickles; whereupon she shuts her gaping shell, and so encloseth her wished prey: then (as I said) they equally share 
The Pearl and the Prawn emblems of cheating.  them out and feed themselves. And thus day by day they get their livings, like a combined knot of cheaters, who have no other trade then the cunning deceit of acquaint cozenage; hooking in the simpler sort with such subtle tricks, that be their purses stuffed with either more or less, they know a way to sound the bottom, and send them lighter home; lighter in purse, though heavier in heart.  
The foresaid authors make mention of the Gilthead 
The Gilthead.  or Golden-eye, which helpeth the one the other out of a snare, or from off an hook: for if the ensnared fish cannot help himself by losing the snare with his tail, then will his companion put to his mouth, and set him free. Or if the one see the other hanged on a hook, it may be easily observed how his free mate will skip at the line, and never leave till he have broke it off. 
An emblem of friendship.  Which may serve well to teach us, that we ought not to leave our friends in danger, but do the best and utmost that we can to set them free. For a friend is never known till such an occasion shall discover him: at other times we have friends enough.  
The Plaice, if it be well grown, and something 
The Plaice  thick, is said to be a passing good fish: It takes the name from Placeo, to please, because it pleaseth the palate.  
That fish which we call the Sole is a very wholesome 
The Sole & Whiteing  fish: And so is the Whiting, often entertained in the court.  
I have heard the Gurnard likewise much commended. 
Gurnard.   
But the Conger is hard of substance, and therefore not 
Conger.  easy to be digested.  
And so also is the Salmon hard of digestion, although it 
Salmon.  be a pleasant fish, and very sweet, especially the belly. Whereupon it comes to pass that we do not eat it hot, or presently after it is boiled.  
The Ray or Thornback is scarce so wholesome as other 
Thornback.  fish; for Physicians write that it makes men subject to the falling evil, by reason that it is a fish full of superfluous juice. Howbeit the pricks which grow without 
A medicine against the stone.  upon the skin, if they be pulled up by the roots, dried, made into powder, and given fasting in White or Rhenish wine, is an excellent medicine to avoid gravel and to break the stone.  
Herring is a fish common and cheap, very dangerous 
Herring.  if they be not moderately eaten fresh; for we often see that want of care in the eating of them, casteth many into fevers. And as for Red Herrings and Red Sprats, they must needs have little wholesomeness or nourishment in them: for, if we may believe the learned, they give as good nourishment to the body, as rusty Bacon.  
We read that in the river Ganges are Eels of an extraordinary 
Eels.  bigness and length. This fish is never better moved from his nest then in a thunder. They be not bred out of spawn as other fishes, but from the slime and dirt of the earth, as the common opinion goeth: and of all fishes which are tooth some, these are the least wholesome. They breed agues, stop and hurt the voice, procure the stone by reason of their great sliminess, and do also dispose a man to the gout by breeding such matter as brings pain in the joints. But know that after Eels and E●…mpreys▪ we should drink good strong wine; and indeed generally with all kinds of fish, wine is very wholesome.  
The Shad is never is season but in the spring; for at 
The Shad.  other times it is full of bones.  
And in the choice of fish this is a rule, that such as have seals and ●…innes are best: for many scales and ●…innes betoken the pureness of their substance, as the physicians tell us.  
The Gogion is a dainty fish, and found aswell in the 
The Gogion or Gudgeon.  sea as in fresh waters; of which there be sundry sorts: but the best live in sandy places, and about rocks.  
The Tench is commonly called the Physician of other 
T●… 〈◊〉  fishes: for when they be hurt, they heal themselves again by touching the Tench, finding the slime of his body to be as a sovereign salve.  
The Perch useth to wound others with his sharp fins, 
The Perch and Pike.  whereupon the Pike or Pickerel dares not devour him. Both these give the body pure nourishment, by reason of their firm and hard substance.  
The Rock, Dace, Chevine, Bream, Smelled, and Carp, are good. But the Trout is admirable: for this is so sound in 
The Trout  nourishment, that when we would speak of one who is sound indeed, we say that he is as sound as a Trout. This is in some kind a foolish fish, and an emblem of one who loves to be flattered: for when he is once in his hold, you may take him with your hands by tickling, rubbing, or clawing him under the belly.  
I will not say who else is like this fish, for fear I should offend some squeamish dame: but let not her anger show her wantonness; and so we are both charmed to hold our peace: she, to salve her own credit; and I, to end this present section: wherein I do confess I might have spoken of sundry other fishes, but I had rather send my reader to Gesner and such other ample authors, then tyre him with my relations.   

Sect. 2. Containing the second part of this fifth day, which is of Birds, or Fowl, flying in the open firmament of heaven.  
FRom fishes I must come to birds, from the water to the air, and teach my pen to fly a while with the feathered fowls, as before it was swimming with the fearful silent fish.  
And now why God hath joined the creation of fish and fowl together, may without curiosity be observed; to wit, because he would in every work and part thereof continue an harmonious order. Great is the likeness between fish and fowl, whether it be that we consider the natural place wherein either of them live, or that we consider their resemblance in parts, or their manner of motion. For first, the place of fishes is the water; the place of fowls the air: both which are diaphanous, clear, moist, and easy yielding elements. Secondly, that which fins be to fishes, wings and feathers are to birds. And thirdly, that which swimming is to fishes in the waters, flying is to birds in the air. The one moves himself by his sins, the other by his wings. The one cuts and glideth through the liquid air, the other shoots and darteth through the humid water. The one makes paths in that subtle concave between heaven and earth, the other draws furrows in the ploughed sea: and both tracts are indiscernible; either place again closing & no longer open then their native dwellers flit through their yielding gates.  
And first of all me thinks I see the lofty Eagle, king 
The Eagle  of birds, towering on high in the heaven-aspiring air.  
And amongst all fowls, the Eagle only can move herself strait upward and downward, perpendicularly, without any collateral declining. Munster. This bird is commended for her faithfulness towards other birds in some kind, though sometimes she show herself cruel. They all stand in awe of her: and when she hath gotten meat she useth to communicate it unto such fowls as do accompany with her; only this some affirm, that when she hath no more to make distribution of, than she will attach some of her guests, and for lack of food, dismember them. Her sight is sharp and quick, insomuch that being in the highest part of the air, she can easily see what falleth on the land, and thereupon the sooner find her prey. It is said that she can gaze upon the sun and not be blind, and will fight eagerly against the Dragon: for the Dragon greedily coveting the Eagles eggs, causeth many conflicts to be between them.  
The Poets have called her Jove's bird, and Jupiter's armourbearer, because she is never hurt with lightning. She is a bird tenderly affected towards her young; insomuch that she will endanger her own body to secure them, bearing her young ones on her back when she perceiveth them to be assaulted with arrows. Hares, Hearts, Geese and Cranes, are such creatures as this bird useth to pray upon. And for her practise in killing the Hart, thus it is: when she laboureth to drive the Hart headlong to ruin, she gathereth (saith Munster) much dust as she flieth, and sitting upon the Heart's horns, shaketh it into his eyes, and with her wings beateth him about the mouth, until at last the poor Hart is glad to fall fainting to the ground.  
The Eagle buildeth her nest in the rocks and high places; and the property of the young Eagle is, when she findeth a dead carcase, first of all to pick out the eye. And so (saith one) do all seducing heretics, first put out the right eye of knowledge, that thereby they may the better lead along their seduced Proselytes.  
And note that although the Eagle be very tender over her young, yet when they be able to fly of themselves, she casteth them out of her nest; because she would have them shift and no longer depend upon their dam. Which is a good example, saith the same author, 
Parents ought not to bring up their children in idleness; by an example taken from the Eagle.  for domestical discipline; namely, that parents should not bring up their children in idleness, but even from their youth exercise them in honest labour, training them up to some vocation.  
Moreover, Aristotle writeth, that when the Eagle waxeth old, the upper part of her bill so groweth over and increaseth, that in the end she dieth of famine. But Augustine observeth further that when the Eagle is thus overgrown, she beateth her bill upon a rock, and so by striking off her cumbersome part, she recovereth her strength and eating; to which the Psalmist alludeth, Psal. 103. 5. Which maketh thee young and lusty as an Eagle.  
The Phoenix, saith Munster, is a noble bird, and is but 
The Phoenix.  one in the world. Cornelius Valerius (whom 
* Lib. 10. cap. 2.  Pliny mentioneth) doth witness that when Quintus Plautius and Sex. Papinius were Consuls, one was seen to fly into Egypt. And Tacitus also writeth, that when Lucius 
〈◊〉. lib. 6.  〈◊〉 and P●…ulus Fabi●…s were Consul●…, another was likewise seen to fly thither▪ and yet not another, but the same rather; for there was not above two years' difference in the time of this appearance; Vitellius and Fabius being Consuls in the year of the city 786, and Plautius with Papinius in the year 788. 
* Lib. 58.  Dion was persuaded that this bird thus showing herself, did betoken the death of Tiberius: but our countryman 
† Lib. de emend. temp. & alio quo●… lib. cap. 22.  Mr Lydiat rather thinketh, that it pointed out the time when Christ, that true Phoenix, did both die and rise again: and so also thinketh Carion, in his chron. lib. 3.  
This bird (if we may believe what is written) is about the bigness of an Eagle, having a glittering brightness in the feathers of her neck, like unto gold; in other parts purple, with an azured tail, but so as in some places it is of a rose colour: her head hath on it a plume or tuft of feathers. Some say she liveth five hundred years; others give her six hundred and sixty: and, as Pliny writeth, this bird hath her settled habitation in Arabia Felix. When she waxeth old, she is said to make her a nest of Cassia, with branches of the frankincense tree, into which she putteth other odours, and so dieth upon them: and then, out of her bones and marrow, there springeth first a little worm, which afterwards comes to be a young Phoenix.  
Howbeit many think that all this is fabulous: for (besides the differing reports which go of this bird) what species or kind of any creature can be rehearsed, whereof there is never but one? and whereas the Lord said to all his creatures, Increase and multiply, this benediction should take no place in the Phoenix which multiplieth not. And again, seeing all creatures which came into the Ark, came by two and two, the male and female, it must needs follow that the Phoenix by this means perished. And so saith one, As for the Phoenix, I (and not I alone) think it a fable, because it agreeth neither to reason nor likelihood, but plainly disagreeth to the history of the creation and of Noah's flood, in both which God made all male and female, and commanded them to increase and multiply.  
The Griffon is a creature (if there be any such; 
The Griffon.  for many doubt it) which whether I may reckon amongst the birds or beasts, I cannot tell. Howbeit as I find him marked by 
* See also 〈◊〉. Cosmog.  Aelianus, he is thus described; namely that he is a kind of beast with four feet, keeping most of all in India, being as mighty in strength as a lion: he hath wings and crooked talons, black on the back, and in the forepart purple. His wings be somewhat white, his bill and mouth like an eagle's bill, his eyes fiery; he is hard to be taken except he be young, he maketh his nest in the high mountains, and fighteth with every kind of beast, saving the lion and elephant: he diggeth up gold in desert places, and giveth repulse to those that come near him. But (as I said) some doubt whether there be any such creature or no: which, for my part, shall be left to every man's liberty.  
The Ostrich is compounded as it were of a bird and 
The Ostrich.  a beast, and is especially found in Africa: he is partly like a camel in his long legs and feet, partly like a sparrow in his head and bill, though much greater. Some say his head is covered with small hairs, his eyes be gross and black, his neck is long, and (as I said) his bill is short and sharp like a sparrows bill, and his feet hath as it were a bipartite hoof. He is said to exceed the height of a man on horseback; and as for his wings they help him little: howbeit we make much use of his feathers, as is well known. And in one thing he is like the woodcock; for hiding his head he never fears his body. Job speaketh that he is forgetful; for when this bird 
Job 39 14, 15.  hath laid her eggs (which she hides in the sand, and are hatched by the sun) she forgetteth them, until the young come forth, and then the males are forced to feed and cherish them. So have I seen many mother's refusing 
The Ostrich like women who will not nurse their children.  to nurse their children; and, if they could, would have others likewise bear them: but putting them forth, I believe many perish for want of care and due attendance: for it is not possible that a nurse should have that tender affection which belongs to a mother; and many times, with the nurse's milk, the children suck the nurse's vices. Necessity therefore, and a prudent choice, should seek out nurses; as we see it Gen. 21. 7. Moreover it is said, that this bird is of such strong digestion that she will eat iron: and when she seeth that she cannot avoid taking, she casteth stones with her claws against her followers, by which she often hurteth them.  
Ibis is a tall strong bird, having a bill of great length; 
Ibis.  he doth exceeding much good in destroying serpents. These birds live in Egypt, and the serpents brought out of Lybia thither, by the Southern wind, are killed by them, Plin. lib. 10. cap. 28. See also afterwards in the Stork.  
The Kite is well known: she is a fowl which flieth 
The Kite.  softly until she espy her prey; she hath quick eyes, will fly high into the air in hot clear weather, and by the turning of her tail she directs her body, even as a great lazy ship is ordered by the helm. Aristotle observes that all such fowls as have talons, cannot devour any meat but flesh: and if any other food be thrust into their mouths, they cannot eat it.  
There is great enmity between the kite and the raven, 
Emblems from the Kite▪ concerning the covetous gripers of this world.  it being an usual thing for the kite to rob the raven, as being better in talons and flying. So have I seen the gripers and catchpoles of this world destroy one another, the less mighty always devoured by the 
Envy shadowed forth.  stronger and more potent. And (me thinks) the kites feeding upon carrion, is a fit emblem of the envious person, who rejoiceth in the fall of others: for there be many in the world who care not what men fall, so they may rise; building their own houses out of the blood and ruin of others.  
Howbeit, it is observed by Aristotle, that the kite being a ravenous bird, bringeth forth but two young ones at a time; wherein nature hath been very provident and careful, to suffer such ravenous fowls to increase no faster. And so (saith one) it is commonly seen in the world, that many rich cormorants (or cornvorants rather) are either childless and have no children, or else they abound not in many; and yet we can see no end of their scraping, pinching, and oppressing. There is one alone (saith Solomon) and there is not a second, which hath neither son nor brother, and yet there is no end of all his travel, Eccles. 4. 8.  
The Raven also is a fowl given to rapacity and devouring 
The Raven  of flesh, great of body, slow in slight, sharp in sight, frequenting much the countries of Italy, Spain, Egypt, and about the Alps. But this (saith Munster) is to be understood of the great kind of ravens.  
This fowl doth greatly above all others covet men's carcases, and (as some think) by a singular instinct and natural gift, it hath understanding of man's death, presaging it a few days before. But whether that be true or not, this is certain, that it haunteth places of battle, with solitary ruins; and like to the young eagles, it picketh out the eye of a dead corpse first of all, because (as some suppose) he seeth his own image in the clearness of the eye; and so like coveteth the like. The fox 
An emblem from the Fox and Raven, concerning compa●…ions in ill, etc.  and this bird are very friendly, but both at enmity with the hawk; that being the chiefest cause of their familiarity. And so have I seen one man love another the better, for hating him whom he abhorreth: or one, like the fox, will sometimes plot another's ruin, that the other, like the raven, may pray upon him.  
Munster telleth us that the skin of a raven well 
Good to help digestion.  tewed and dressed with the feathers on it, is exceeding good to be laid to a weak and sickly stomach; for it greatly helps digestion.  
And again, she is noted for an unkind bird to her young ones, ones expelling them out of their nest before 
Plin. lib. 10. cap. 1●….  their full and complete time, leaving them to their selves before they are able to shift; and so crying for food, God by his providence provideth for them: whereupon it is said, that the young ravens cry unto God: or, which feedeth the young ravens that call upon him, Psal. 147. 9 And in this act, these and the like birds are emblems 
Against such a●… want natural affection.  of such as want natural affection. And indeed the young ones afterwards prove as cruel to their dams: for when they be old, and have their bills overgrown, they die of famine, not sharpening their bills again, by beating them on a stone, as the eagle doth: * neither 
Aelian. de animal. lib. 3. cap. 43.  will their young ones help them, but rather sometimes set upon them, when they are not able to resist. It is not good therefore to use children too harshly in their minority, 
Children should not be used too harshly in their minority.  lest when Senes come to be Pueri again, they find as little favour at their hands as they showed before. And of this, parents, masters, tutors, and guardians should be careful; learning their lesson from these unnatural birds. But more I may spare to add; for the well affected are also well instructed to put a difference between foolish cockering, and cruel handling: knowing with 
* Prov. 13. 24. and chap. 23. 13.  Solomon that Where the rod is spared, the child is spoiled: and with Paul confessing likewise, that they ought not to be bitter to them, lest thereby they provoke them to wrath, Ephes. 6. 4. Moreover, let it be observed that some authors affirm there is also the raven of the sea, which is like in proportion to the other raven, only differing in colour, as being white: Now Aristotle thinketh that this happeneth by reason of some passion or accident in the generation. Neither (as is thought) doth the raven conceive by conjunction of male and female, but rather by a kind of billing at the mouth, which 
† Lib. 10. cap. 12.  Pliny mentioneth as an opinion of the common people; saying, o'er eos parere aut coire vulgus 
The eggs of ravens are naught for big be●…ed women.  arbitratur: ideóque gravidas, si ederint corvinum ovum, per os partum reddere; which is very strange, if it should be true: and therefore Aristotle denieth it; only thinking that their billing or kissing is but like unto that amongst the doves. And as for the English name Raven, given to this bird, it is so called of ravening and devouring: In Greek it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which signifieth Crocitare, to croak; and in Latin, Corvus; under which name we comprehend the crows as well as the ravens.  
The ancient Emperors of Rome, and other heathen Princes, had their Soothsayers, and beholders of birds: now these gave great heed to the ravens, and would diligently look upon their eyes; marking, in time of war, to what part they turned: for they supposed that the raven did presage which side should perish in battle; and would always therefore have her eye fixed or turned that way, or to that party; as it were showing her longing desire to be feeding on their carcases. Which is somewhat confirmed by that which Pliny writeth of the ravens flying out of Athens and Peloponnesus; saying, Nam cum Mediae hospites occisi sunt, omnes è Peloponneso & Attica regione volaverunt. Plin. ibid. Which flocking to the fight was for their fat prey, as though there had been in them some sense of the present action.  
Furthermore, this I find again recorded by Plin. lib. 10. cap. 43. that when Marcus Servilius and C. Cestius were Consuls, there was a solemn funeral of a raven celebrated at Rome, upon the fifth calends of April: and this being so near the time of our Saviour's passion as it was, did (as some observe) not unfitly shadow forth the devil's funeral, and destruction of his kingdom among the Gentiles. For as the raven delighteth in solitary or desert mansions, Isai. 34. 11. so doth the devil walk through desert places, as we see it, Matth. 12. 43. In which resemblance, he is fitly called the devil's bird: and this funeral may as well prove the time of Christ's death and burial, as Dions' Phoenix, appearing about the same time, was used by Carrion, and Mr Lydiat, to show the year of his resurrection.  
The Pelican is that bird which 
† Lib. 10. cap. 47.  Pliny calleth Onocratalus, 
The Pelican.  and is much like the swan in shape and proportion, excepting in the wideness of his gullet and capacity of his maw. Of this fowl there be two sorts; one that liveth by the waters, another which is the Pelican of the desert.  
This is a melancholy bird, and takes the name of Pelican, from the Greek 
* 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, comes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, perforo, to beat or pierce.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, so called of smiting or piercing: which is in regard that by piercing his breast he reviveth his young ones with his own blood, when they are bitten and killed of serpents: or having killed them with his bill, he reviveth them again by his blood after three days. Or else this name belongs unto him from piercing the shelfish and picking out their meat to feed his young. For, according to the testimony of Aristotle, the dams use to catch such fish and swallow them into their stomaches, and when they have there so warmed them that their shells may gape, they do again cast them up; and so pick out their meat in an easy manner. In like sort have I seen those, who have done more 
Policy is better than strength.  by policy, then others or they could do by strength; neither is violence always the readiest way: for sometimes art may be more than arms, and gentle usage have power to charm, when rigour helpeth to enrage.  
The Stork is a famous bird for natural love to his 
The Stork.  parents, whom he feedeth being old and feeble, as they fed him being young: the Egyptians and the Thessalians 
Plin. lib. 10. cap. 23.  so esteemed this bird, that there was a great penalty laid upon any that should kill him. His English name Stork comes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek, which is Amor in Latin; proceeding from his forenamed kindness and natural love to his dam; being also humane and loving to mankind, delighting to build in the tops of houses and chimneys, as is usual to be seen in Germany; whereby it is evident, that he loveth the society of man: 
There aught to be society amongst men.  which (saith one) showeth their disposition to be unnatural, which do shun the company of men, and of a superstitious mind, retire themselves into desert and solitary places, as Hermit's, Anchorites, and such like. Dr Wil on Levit.  
And now the reason why he was in such esteem in Egypt and Thessasie, was for his great service he did them in killing of serpents, and other venomous things. 
From whence men first learned to purge by clyster.  Pliny calls him Ciconia: and from the Stork Ibis, men first learned to purge by clyster; for with his bill he conveyeth salt water up into his body below, and so purgeth himself.  
The Heron or Hernsew is a fowl that liveth about 
The Heron  waters, and yet she doth so abhor rain and tempests, that she seeketh to avoid them by flying on high. She hath her nest in very lofty trees, & showeth as it were a natural hatred against the gossehawk and other kind of hawks: and so likewise doth the hawk seek her destruction continually. When they fight above in the air, they labour both especially for this one thing, that the one might ascend and be above the other: Now if the hawk getteth the upper place, he overthroweth and vanquisheth the heron with a marvellous earnest flight; but if the her on get above the hawk, then with his dung he defileth the hawk and so destroyeth him: for his dung is a poison to the hawk, rotting and putrifying his feathers.  
This bird is Avis furibunda, a furious bird; and so in Latin she is called Ardea, of ardeo, to burn: chiefly because she is an angry creature, or because she is greatly inflamed with lust; or else because the dung of this bird doth as it were burn or consume what it toucheth.  
Of Hawks there be many and several kinds; as the 
The Hawk  Falcon, Merlin, Lannar, tassel, and sundry others. Howbeit the Tassels are supposed to be the males of such birds as live by prey: as the Tassel of the Saker is called a Hobby, or Mongrel hawk▪ that of the Sparrow-hawk, a Musket; that of the Lannar, a Lannaret; and so of the rest. Now some again distinguish these birds, three several ways. First by the form and fashion of their body; some being great, as the Gossehawk, Falcon, Gerfaulcon, etc. some small, as the Merlin, Musket, Sparrow-hawk, Hobby, and such others. Secondly by their game, as some for the pheasant, some for the partridge, some for the hearnshaw, some for the duck and mallard, some for one thing and some for another. Thirdly they are said to differ in the manner of their following the game; as such know better than myself, who use to keep and manage hawks.  
And if hither I may bring other birds of prey, I would join to these the Kite, Ringtail, Buzzard, Bittor, and such like.  
Olaus Magnus makes mention of brave generous falcons 
Olaus Mag. lib. 19  in the more northern parts of the world, which live upon the spoil of fish, and build their nests upon high mountains: and for all kinds of hawks generally, he accounts them the best which are bred thereabouts: adding moreover that an hawk is fearful of nothing more than a Peacock: and as for little infants, he saith that there is none, either bird or beast kept tame at home, which more desireth to hurt them, than the Apes and biggest Hawks. So have I seen some maintain and cherish 
Emblems from the Ape and Hawk, concerning treachery and ruin to a man's house.  those in their own families, perhaps at their own tables, who upon occasion have proved the first to do them mischief; nay, no occasion but fit opportunity is enough for such: as Brutus conspired the death of Cesar. Or again, I have seen those delight in that, which hath been the readiest way to their houses ruin.  
The delicate Partridge is a bird well known: she 
The Partridge.  bringeth forth young, which like chickens will run as soon as they can creep out of the shell. They are supposed to live 16 years. They cover the shell of their eggs with a soft dust sprinkled over them, and never lodge whereabouts they breed, being very lascivious wanton birds; as Pliny tells us, lib. 10. cap. 33. And as Physicians write, the flesh of this bird is admirably good and wholesome, especially for weak persons: for it comforteth the stomach, makes them lusty, and helps the memory. Neither do I marvel (saith one) that gentlemen be at such cost to keep hawks, and take such toil to kill Partridges and Pheasants: for besides the pastime and pleasure in hawking, the flesh of these birds is very pleasant, and every morsel as good as gold.  
Well may we wish that pleasure to succeed,  
Which brings to man such treasure in his need.  
The Pheasants are said to come first of all from about 
The Pheasant.  the river Phasis, which is a famous river in Colchos; where they were found, and from whence they were brought by the Argonauts: 
* Li●…. 1●…. cap. 4●….  Pliny therefore calls them Phasianae; and we, Pheasants. This is a princely dish: but 
The Mallard.  the Mallard is nothing wholesome; according to that of Schola Salerni,  
Good sport it is to see a Mallard killed,  
But with their flesh your flesh should not be filled. 
Scholar Salern●…. translated by Sir John Hir.   
The Capon, Hen, and Chicken, Partridge, Quail,  
The Heath-cock wholesome is, the Dove, the Rail;  
The Pheasant, Woodcock, Lark, and Thrush be good,  
And all that do not much delight in mud.  
But do you not hear sweet Philomela? hark how she 
The Nightingale.  plays the silent world asleep. This is a bird much addicted to watching; for she sitteth all the night singing upon a bough, with the 
* Aelian. 〈◊〉. hist. lib. 12.  sharp end of a thorn against her breast to keep her waking. Her very throat is able to ravish the dullest ear, and so much the more is her music beyond compare, in that from so small a creature such dainty airs are warbled forth. The Latins call her Philomela; that is, a bird loving to sing: and what Stoic but would love to hear her, and give her thanks for her dainty ditty? Should man strive to marry his industrious lays with hers, he could not be so much rapt with his own as with her delicious notes: for sure she seems to have  
So many tunes, whose harmony excels 
Du Bart.   
Our voice, our viols, and all music else.  
The pretty Lark chants with a sugared throat, so doth 
The Lark, Blackbird, Linot, Finch, Mavis, Redbreast, Wren, Thrush, and Starling.  the Blackbird, Linot, the several kinds of Finches, the mirthful Mavis, Redbreast, Wren, Thrush, and Starling.  
But all is nothing to the Nightingale,  
Breathing so sweetly from a breast so small.  
The Owl is another night-bird; her cry is dismal, and 
The Owl.  she herself rightly styled The hate and scorn of all the birds beside. And of Owls there be many kinds.  
The great Owl in Greek is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 clamo▪ 
Bubo.  or from the doleful noise which she maketh: and so in Latin it is Bubo. This Owl keepeth in desert places, is like in shape to another Owl, hath talons like the Eagle, and is very near as great. He is thought to be an ominous bird, as he was to Agrippa, jos. Antiq. lib. 18. 1. which must be understood when he is seen in the day; as again in the Council of Constance one appeared before Pope John the 22. And of all night-birds, those are held to be the most dismal, Qui glutiunt vocem velut strangulati; that is, which throttle out a kind of croaking voice, like one that is strangled, or rattleth in the throat.  
And of this sound is that hoarse bird which is commonly 
The Night-raven.  called the Night-raven, or Night-crow. This also is said to be a kind of owl, and (as authors witness) will take mice like a cat, and many times catch and destroy moles. In Greek, some name him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is clamo, to cry or make a noise: but in Latin he is Nycticorax, from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nox, & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 corvus; which in English is the Night-crow, or Night-raven. And as for his colour, it is black like other crows. See Gesner de avibus, lib. 3.  
Again, there is another kind named the Screech-owl, 
The Screech-owl.  which the Latins understand by the word Strix, and the Greeks by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Some (in old time) have fabled strange things of this bird, namely that it sucked out the blood of infants lying in their cradles, and with the very eyes of it did effascinate children, or change their favours: whereupon some have used the same word for a witch, a fairy, or hag.  
But perhaps that which is most commonly called the 
Noctua.  Screech-owl, is comprehended under one of the kinds of the Noctua: or else it may be another Screech-owl. For there be 4 several Noctuas, as Gesner writeth. One is of a large bigness, and hath feathers growing on her head like ears. A second is less; white on the throat and breast, speckled on her other parts with a white and muddy colour. A third is also less than the former, and spotted with white and ash-colour. And a fourth is also less than this, of the same colour, inhabiting most of all among rocks, and such like places. The Noctua in Latin, in the Greek is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, from the glaring, or colour of her eyes. And as for the Screech-owl, she is known by nothing better than her cry.  
Also there is Ulula; and this is that which we call the 
The Owlet.  Owlet, or the Madge. All the owls are solitary birds, some dwelling in deserts, some in churches and in ruinous buildings: and this delighteth to sit sleeping in a tree, using there likewise to build her nest; frequenting barns and other such like places for the love of mice, young birds, and little chickens. She is of a grey colour in the most of her body.  
Some say that the eggs of an Owl broken and put into 
To make a drunkard loath ●…is liquor.  the cups of a drunkard, or one desirous to follow drinking, will so work with him, that he will suddenly loath his good liquor, and be displeased with drinking.  
The Bat may be next; because she useth to fly abroad 
The Bat.  in the twilight: called therefore vespertilio in the Latin, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek. It is a creature between a bird and a beast, for it hath a mouth, teeth, members of generation like a beast, bringeth forth young ones alive, laying no eggs, etc. Only it flies in the night, and hath wings like a bird. It is therefore called by some a Flittermouse, and is no bird but a winged mouse; for she creeps with her wings, is without feathers, and flieth with a kind of skin, as bees and flies do; excepting that the Bats wing hath a far thicker and stronger skin. And this creature thus mungrell-like, cannot (as you know) look very lovely.  
But not to keep you longer amongst these birds of night, 
The Cuckoo.  for fear some one or other should affright you, let us now go walk and hear the Cuckoo sing. This is a bird so called by reason of his cry; and from thence comes the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and the Latin Cuculus: for the noise which this bird maketh, and the song which she singeth, is nothing but Cuckoo. This is her note; which note she neither varieth nor changeth until she be wearing away.  
Olaus Magnus calleth her the Annunciatrix optatae 
Lib. 19  laetitiae; which is not in respect of her sweet singing, but because when she cometh, then comes that cheerful time of the year, the wished and the welcome spring.  
She loseth her voice commonly about the end of July, or somewhat before; faltering and doubling in her note when summer is wearing out. So have I seen those who in time of prosperity have been very cheerful, 
False friends.  forward, and observant of others, attending them with fair words and great shows of love: but when times change, they also changed; showing themselves dull and backward, and yet showing themselves then no other than they were. For these be friends who will abide no winter, but falter now, even as they flattered before, never remembering their former words, how plain and fair soever they seemed;  
jura, fides, ubi nunc? commissáque dextera dextr●…,  
Quique erat in falso plurimus ore Deus?  
Whereas a true friend indeed, is only known in time of trouble. For it is a certain rule, Amicorum idem affectus, Friends are always like-affected: according to that of the Poet,  
Et flêsti, & nostros vidisti flentis ocellos: 
Ovid. Epist.   
Miscuimus lacrymas moestus uterque suas.  
Thou didst weep, and didst my moist eyes see:  
We mixed grief, and wept for thee and me.  
Furthermore, this is a fowl hated of every other bird, because she spoileth their nests and eats their eggs.  
Neither is she very fruitful; for one at a time is enough for her: neither is this one hatched but by some other of a differing kind; for she doth not build any nest, but layeth her egg in the nest of another, which hatcheth it up as her own. Nay it so falleth out, that the poor, silly, and deceived bird thus beguiled, neglects her nearer brood, as being better pleased with the beauty of the Cuckoos young, until at the last this stranger thus brought forth and being ready to fly, destroy his nurse, and kill her for her kindness. So have I heard of some, no better rewarded for their good entertainment and watchful care. For benefits received are little remembered: and where men sometimes look for love, they are wickedly repaid with hate and harm. 
Adulterous m●…n like the Cuckoo.   
Also there appears from hence another emblem. For in the Cuckoo is deciphered the wicked practice of adulterous men, who are not ashamed filthily to defile their neighbour's bed: From whence we call them cuckolds, who suffer this wrong and yet are innocent; whereas indeed the lustful Goat that acteth all, and performs the villainy, is the very cuckold; and the other (poor honest man) wronged not only in his bed, but in his name, is the harmless patient of what he cannot help. Yet this I will say, that whilst many make Peacocks of their wives, they do also make Woodcocks (although not Cuckoos) of themselves: in which, whom they may thank, it is soon perceived; or whom they may blame, their folly telleth. For signs hanged forth are but the callers in of guests; and baits presented allure▪ fish: and as nothing sooner invites the thief to cut a purse then show of money, so nothing sooner occasions an enticement to disloyalty, than the gaudy vestments of an immodest wife; as in this following Epigram may appear,  
A lusty lad that passed along Cheapside,  
Incontinent a gallant lass espied:  
Whose tempting breasts (as to the sale laid out)  
Invites: and thus this youngster begins to flout.  
Lady (quoth he) is this flesh to be sold?  
No, Lord (quoth she) for silver nor for gold:  
But wherefore ask you? and there made a stop.  
To buy (quoth he) if not, shut up your shop.  
The Swallow is a bird likewise which comes in the 
The Swallow.  Spring, and goeth away again before Winter. Some think that they repair into thòse countries where they may rest upon the sides of such warm mountains as lie open to the heat of the shining sun; and that there they have been found naked, and without their feathers. Plin.  
But Olaus Magnus, in the nineteenth book of his Northern History, writeth otherwise; saying, Although the writers of many natural things have recorded that the Swallows change their stations, going, when winter cometh, into hotter countries: yet in the northern waters, Fishermen often times by chance draw up in their nets an abundance of Swallows, hanging together in manner of a conglomerated mass. Adding moreover, that in the beginning of Autumn they gather themselves together among the canes or reeds; where, providing themselves to sink into the waters, they join bill to bill, wing to wing, and foot to foot. For it is observed (saith he) that at that time having finished their sweet singing, they descend in such a manner; and quietly again, after the beginning of the Spring, they fly out thence and repair their former nests.  
This the said author affirmeth with much confidence; and doth likewise say, that some young men have taken this mass, and by heating of it, the Swallows have been again disjoined, beginning to fly: but they lived not long, because their time should have been a great while more to bring them to perfection. This I confess is strange, but why may it not as 
* And so much the rather, because they are seen in hotter countr●… when they be gone from hence; neither can any one show a cause for every thing in Nature.  well be, as that of the Barnacle or Brant-geeses; of which it is certain that they first grow on trees? See more of them in the third day.  
Elian saith that the Swallow is a watchful bird, and sleepeth but by halves and fits (as we say) which is no sound kind of rest. And again, her swiftness in flying is commendable; and as for her diligence and dexterity in building a nest, it deserveth praise: insomuch that some have said, The Swallow taught men first to build. Plutarch de indust▪ animal.  
Flying she sings, and singing seeketh where 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉   
She'r ●…ouse with ounning, not with cost, may r●…ar.  
Her little beak she loads with brittle straws,  
Her wings with water, and with earth her claws,  
Whereof she mortar makes, and therewithal  
Aptly she builds her semicircle wall.  
Next after the Swallow, I may come to the Turtle. It 
The Turtle  is a bird which singeth not, but hath a kind of groaning in stead of singing; true to her mate, of admired chastity, lives long, is absent from us in winter; and (as some think) being gone, she loseth her feathers; as Pliny likewise writeth of the Swallow.  
She is also a very harmless creature, and without gall. 
Innocence to be learned from the Dove.  Which if man could frame himself to be, the serpent's wisdom would not hurt him, nor leanfaced envy sojourn with him. But being more wise than innocent, he makes others groan more at his wrongs, and under his burdens, than he himself either doth or did for his own sins.  
Columbus, the Dove or Pigeon, may be next, because 
The Pigeon.  it is near of nature to the Turtle. These fowls sit upon their eggs by course, and afterwards when they be changed from egg●…s to young ones, the cock doth feed and foster them. They commonly bring forth two at a brood, the one a cock, the other a hen; and have young about ten times in a year. But some which write of Egypt (saith Aelianus) declare that the Pigeons in that country breed twelve times in a year.  
Neither doth the cock tread the hen, before he hath courteously saluted her with a kiss. For the hen will not have company with him, until that first debt be duly paid. Some (who write of India) report that there be Pigeons in that country of a yellow colour. And as for Stock-doves, they differ from Pigeons, because the Pigeon is somewhat bigger, and not altogether so wild. But the Ring-dove is much greater than any of them, and is thought to live about thirty or forty years.  
Furthermore, Pigeons take great delight to sit by the banks of waters and crystal streams: which some think to be, in regard that (like women) they love to behold themselves, as in a mirror or glass. And if nature hath taught them that piece of pride, it brings them no small profit: for whilst they thus sit by the water side, they can soon perceive when the Hawk is coming towards them, because his shadow or image will appear in the water; and so being forewarned, they cannot but be fore-armed, and prepared against such mischief as that devouring bird intendeth to them.  
These fowls be naturally very hot and moist, wherefore they be not good for those that be choleric or inclined to any fevers: but to them which be phlegmatic and pure melancholy, they are very wholesome, and be easily digested.  
The Sparrow dieth quickly, is very lascivious, and if 
The Sparrow.  it be a cock, lives not above a 
* 〈◊〉▪ hinketh so: but I suppose, that although their time be short, yet it may be more than a year.  year; if a hen, it hath a longer time. Plin.  
They be of a very hot nature; and (as Geminianus writeth) will, without harm, sometimes feed on the seeds of henbane. Their flesh is hard to digest, they stir up Venus, especially the cock sparrows. But being boiled in broth, they are restorative, and good for weak or aged persons.  
Elian, in the 13 book of his variable history, speaking 
A story of a Sparrow.  of Xeno●…rates how he was much inclined to pity, tells a story of a Sparrow which flew into his bosom. As this man (saith he) on a time was sitting in a sunny place, a little chirping Sparrow pursued by an Hawk by whom she was almost wearied to death, and fainting in flight, fled into the bosom of Xenocrates; which when he saw, he entertained her with delight, and harboured her very tenderly till all dangers were passed, and then he gave her free passage to fly whither she would; uttering these words when he cast her up into the air, Hosti supplicem non prodidi, I have not given one craving succour, into the hands of his enemy. And (indeed) to help the helpless, harbour the houselesse, deliver the distressed, and defend the wronged, ad astra usque ●…ollit, nay supra astra rather; and is a divine practice worth recording, and not unworthy imitation.  
The Peacock is a bird well known, and much admired 
The Peacock.  for his dainty coloured feathers, which, when he spreads them against the sun, have a curious lustre, and look like gems. Howbeit his black feet make him ashamed of his fair tail; and therefore when he seeth them (as angry with nature, or grieved for that deformity) he hangeth down his starry plumes, and walketh slowly in a discontented fit of solitary sadness; like one deeply possessed with dull melancholy: from whence it is said, that he hath a thievish pace, and a hellish voice.  
Neither is he other than a perfect emblem of deep 
An example of envy.  envy. For 
* 〈◊〉 lib 4. cap. 43.  some write that his dung is very medicinable and useful to man in many things; which he therefore striveth to hide, and conceal: being indeed the right trick of devilish envy, which is best pleased when she can but exclude the communication of such things as would do good, if they might be had.  
The flesh of these fowls, if they be old, is hard of digestion; and so do physicians likewise write of the Turkey-cocks: but yet the chickens of either of them about half a year old, are good and wholesome.  
But I leave this bird, and come to the Cock. He it is 
The Cock.  who is a constant herald to the newborn day, and a diligent watch to the silent night, altering in his note as the day approacheth: for in the deadest time he crows more deeply then when the night is wearing out; showing thereby as it were the differing hours, and changing watches.  
It is said that the shrill voice of this commanding 
The Cock ●…eth the Lion.  fowl, will ●…ep in awe the grim and fierce Lion: so Pliny writeth; but others have said the contrary, because it hath been found that Lions have sometimes strangled Cocks and Hens without fear: and yet perhaps this might be through the antipathy which is between them. For in this it is free for every one to think what he pleaseth.  
Neither is it now any other than a common sport to 
Cock-fights.  see such creatures enter battle with their weaponedwounding heels, and cruel pecking beaks. The original of which (as 
* Var. hist. lib. 2.  Aelianus writeth) was after this manner.  
When the Athenians had vanquished the Persians in 
A story concerning cockfighting  a battle, they made a law, that upon one day in every year, there should, upon the open theatre, be a cockfighting kept to be seen of all; that observing how they fought and endangered themselves for nothing, others might learn not to be daunted when their country lay at the stake, but fight with courage unresistable; because they then fought for something. To which purpose it is recorded, that when Themistocles was captain, and 
Ibid.  spectator of such a Cock-contention, he spoke thus to his soldiers: These two Cocks (saith he) endanger themselves, as we see, to the death, not for their country's cause, not for the household gods, not for the privileges of their ho●…able ancestors, not for renown, not for liberty, not for ●…fe and children: but only for this, that the one might not 〈◊〉- crow or beat the other. And therefore the hearts of ●…he Athenians ought rather to be stored with stoutness and audacity, that thereby they may purchase perpetual remembrance.  
Close by his side stands the courageous Cock, 
Du ●…art.   
Crest-creatures king, the peasants trusty clock,  
True morning watch, Aurora's trumpeter,  
The lion's terror, true Astronomer,  
Who leaves his bed when Sol begins to rise,  
And when sun sets, then to his roost he flies.  
The Crane is said to be a shifting bird: it hath high 
The Crane  legs, a long beak and neck; which finding no food in winter in the northern regions, by reason of the great cold, retire themselves into more temperate countries, and in summer return to the north again.  
They fly by companies, feed together, love their own kind, and appoint one to be king over them: and if at any time they fight among themselves, presently they be again reconciled, and keep their society as before. They have a watch, and watch by course; there being in the claw of that Crane whose turn it is to wake, a little stone, that so if by chance this watching bird should fall asleep, the stone falling down might again awake him. Gemin. ex Aristot.  
Moreover it is said, that when they do alight upon the ground, their king is first, and he also first raiseth himself from the earth and looketh round about him, to see whether any one be coming, that thereby giving warning, they might defend themselves. Which is (indeed) a fit emblem of careful pastors, good magistrates, 
Care aught to be in Pasto●…rs, Magistrates, and Governors; taught by an example from the Crane.  and honest governor's, whose part it is to be at all times vigilant for the good of those over whom they are. Nay, their captain and their watching, doth not only show the care which ought to be in governor's, but also the necessity of government is deciphered by it.  
And again it is reported, that when these birds fly out of Cilicia, over the mountains Taurus, each of them carrieth in his mouth a pebble stone, lest by their chattering they should be seized upon by the Eagles. So have I seen 
The tongue hath brought many to mischief.  those whose unbridled tongues have but brought them to mischief, and roused the Eagles about their ears: whereas in little meddling is much rest; and nothing said is soon amended. The wise man therefore will wear discretion as a stone upon the tip of his tongue, lest chattering such words as he knows not what, he meet with that which he looks not for.  
And now I could speak of the wars which the Cranes have against the Pigmies, whom Du Bartas calleth Dwarves of the North: but I had rather refer you concerning this to Pliny, in the second chapter of his seventh book. Physicians tell us that the Crane is hard of digestion, and maketh ill juice; but being hanged up a day or two before he be eaten, he is the more tender, and less unwholesome.  
The silver Swan is a white bird, living in marshes and 
The Swan.  calm rivers; very loving unto his fellow, the male to the female, whom when he draweth to him, with his long neck he doth as it were embrace her: wherefore in greek he is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to embrace or kiss; whence also is derived the Latin Cygnus. They do one defend the other, and sit upon their nest by turns, and equally have care of their young ones when they be hatched: neither can the he-Swan endure that the she should company with another; in which they be a perfect pattern of 
A pattern of matrimonial love.  chaste, mutual, and matrimonial love. Howbeit they will sometimes fight very fiercely with their own kind: and against the Eagles they have cruel battles, striving not so much to obtain rule, as to revenge their injuries.  
It is likewise said that they sometimes sing, but never more sweetly then when they be dying and exchanging life for death: of which some doubt, and approve it as a thing only spoken in a poetical manner; yet Aristotle is against them, affirming that many have heard them sing in the Assyrian sea. To which purpose, Martial hath this epigram,  
Dulcia defectâ modulatur carmina linguà  
Cantator cygnus funeris ipse sui.  
Sweet strains he chaunteth out with's dying tongue,  
And is the singer of his funeral song.  
Wherein he is a perfect emblem and pattern to us, that 
Death ought to be cheerful.  our death ought to be cheerful, and life not so dear unto us as it is. And from hence came the proverb, Cygnea cantio, which is but a lightning against death.  
I formerly made mention of the Raven: but beside 
The Sea-crow.  the Raven there described, there is also a Sea-raven or Sea-crow, which is a bird very black unless it be on the breast and belly, upon which they be of an ash-colour. They hunt after fish, and have toothed bills like unto the reapers sickle, with which they can hold even an eel, as slippery as it is. The dung of this bird is of an evil nature: for it will rot both the boughs and barks of such trees as it falleth upon; and so it is also said that the dung of the Heron doth. Olaus, lib. 19  
The said author speaketh of another Sea-crow, which in seven days builds her nest, and in the next seven lays her eggs and brings forth young: and of another which he calleth Morfex, or Humusculus, so called because she must beat the water with her tail before she can fly. She is black all over, and with the residue of her company useth to build her nest upon the tops of high trees, growing near to such places where be store of fish, which they catch and devour very greedily: and of these birds there be great store in the more Northern parts of the world. But they have especially two enemies: 
A bird called Platea.  the one is a bird which Olaus calleth Platea; the other is a fish which is called Raia.  
The Platea lies in wait for these crows, and flies at them when they have gotten their prey, and never leaves biting them upon their heads, until she cause them to 
Policy is better than strength.  leave it. This bird useth to swallow down an abundance of whole cockles into her belly, and there having warmed them, she casts them up, and then their shells gaping like unto the roasted oyster, give her leave to take out their meat and eat it: which showeth (as I said once before, in the description of another bird) that policy is better than strength, and in the hardest matters prevaileth best. 
The Ray kills the Sea-crows.   
The other enemy is not a bird, but that fish which we call the Ray. For whilst the devouring Crows be diving under water to catch their prey, they themselves are caught by this fish and devoured suddenly, lest otherwise they might want a revenger of their rapacity even where and whilst they do the wrong. Howbeit this Ray is a loving fish to man: for swimming in the waters, and being greedily pursued by the devouring Seadogs, the Ray defends him, and will not leave him until he be out of danger.  
There be also an abundance of other birds in those parts of strange properties, and names scarce known: of which, they who have a desire, may read more in Olaus Magnus, the nineteenth book of his Northern history.  
The Plover is Avis pluvialis, and a fowl well known: 
The Plover.  howbeit some have thought that they live only by the wind, and eat nothing at all; but they deceive themselves in this opinion, as experience teacheth. For they have not only been seen to feed, but taken also with meat in their crops. And that which first occasioned this error, was their quick digestion; for they commonly eat things that are easily digested, and soon consumed. Plover, 
* See the haven of health, pag. 136.  saith one, is thought to be a dainty dish and right wholesome, yet it is slow of digestion, nourisheth little, and increaseth melancholy. The like he affirmeth of the Lapwing: but the Teal he yieldeth to be somewhat better.  
Moreover, the Plover flying high doth signify rain: which bird Olaus describeth after this manner: There is, saith he, a bird which we call Avis Pluvialis, about the bigness of a Partridge, supposed to live by nothing but air, because her belly useth to be empty of meat, and yet she is very fat: her feathers are diversely coloured, some with white, some with black, and some with saffron colour: and this bird the fowlers thus hunt; by throwing up into the air short heavy clubs: for by so doing they cause her to descend, and being descended, they catch her in their nets, laid ready for the same purpose.  
Upupa or the▪ Lapwing is a bastard-plover. This is a 
The Lapwing.  querulous bird, flying up and down lapping and clapping with her wings; from whence she is called a Lapwing: and in Latin she is named Up●…a, from pu, pu, which is the cry that she maketh; there y securing her nest and young ones from our finding. F●… by this practice she will draw us away from them 〈◊〉 far as she can. The comb or crest upon her head, g●…ve Ovid a fit occasion to feign a tale of a 
* Tere●…s ●…ex Thra●…. Meta. lib. 6.  king turned into a Lapwing, whose crown doth yet appear upon the head of this bird.  
The Lapwings fight often with the Swallows, Jackdaws, and Pies, and by their much crying do signify rain. And as for their young, being as it were half hatched, they will run from their nests with the shells on their heads.  
The Osprey is a ravenous bird which hovereth over 
The Osprey.  pools to take fish; having one claw foot, and another flat. 
The Charadrion.   
Galgulus-Icterus or the Charadrion, is a bird unto which some ascribe this strange property, viz. that if any who hath the Jaundice look upon him, and the bird on him, the bird than taketh the disease and dieth, but the 
An emblem●… from the cure done by this bird, concerning our cure wrought by Christ.  man is cured, made sound, and liveth. Such are we, by nature sick unto death, but by Christ (who died for our sins and rose again for our justification) we are cured, made sound, and live.  
Porphyrio is a bird drinking as though he did bite the 
Porphyrio.  water; his bill and legs are red and long.  
Haleyon or the King-fisher is a bird which maketh her 
The King-fisher.  nest in winter upon the sea, during which time there is a calm and quiet season: whereupon we call those day's Halcyon days, wherein we have peace, rest, and quietness. They live also about rivers, lay five eggs, and (as 
* Lib. 10. cap. 3●….  Pliny witnesseth) are seven days in preparing their nests, and in the other seven they bring forth their young.  
The Poets have a fiction of Alcyone and Ceyx, who 
Ovid. Met. lib. 11.  were turned into these birds: For when Alcyone heard that her husband Ceyx was drowned in his way home from a certain voyage, she cast herself into the sea, and then for the pity which the gods had of them, they were both transformed into haltions. But without any fiction, this we are sure of, that it is a strange bird, and as it were nature's dearest darling; seeing that in favour of her nests and young, the waters leave their raging, the winds their blowing, tempests have forgot to rise, and days appear with quiet calms.  
The Pirate (dwelling always in his bark) 
D●… 〈◊〉.   
Her building days desiredly doth mark:  
And the rich merchant resolutely venter's,  
So soon as th' Halcyon in her brood-bed enters.  
For so long as her quiet couch she keeps,  
The 
* He names only the ●…icilian sea.  boiling sea exceeding calmly sleeps.  
This is a bird which feedeth upon fish, and by diving after them, catcheth them; as is not seldom seen.  
In the Summer islands, amongst other things, we hear 
Bermuda birds.  of variety of fowls. For upon the discovery of those parts by Sr. George Summer, and Sr. Thomas Gates, an abundance of fowl were taken. They took a thousand of one sort in two or three hours, being as big as a Pigeon, and laying speckled eggs upon the sand, as big as hens eggs; which they would daily come and lay, although men sat down amongst them. Purch.  
There also is another fowl that liveth in holes like cony-holes; their eggs like to hen-eggs, both in quantity and quality. And other birds were there found so tame and gentle, that whistling to them, they would come and gaze on you, while with your stick you might kill them. Idem.  
But in Asia, in one of the Molucco islands named Tidore, 
Birds of Paradise.  is a strange bird which they call Mamucos, or birds of Paradise: they have less flesh than the body maketh show of; their legs be in length about an hand-breadth, their head small, their bill long, their feathers fair & of a singular beauteous colour: Authors write that they have no wings, neither do they fly, but are born up in the air by the subtlety of their plumes, & lightness of their bodies. They are never seen (saith my author) upon the ground but dead, neither do they corrupt or rot in any ●…ort. There is no man knoweth from whence they issue, neither where they breed up their young ones, nor whereupon they nourish themselves. The islanders believe that they make their nests in Paradise, and tell many fables thereupon: which persuasion the Moors first put into their heads. They call them Manucodiata, or holy birds, and have them in religious account; insomuch that some of them have believed that souls are immortal, by the consideration of such a bird. And as for the sustenance which keeps this fowl alive, although it be hard to say upon what it is maintained, I do easily think that we may listen to them, who suppose that they nourish themselves, and maintain their lives by the dew that falleth, and the flowers of the spices. See Gesner de Avibus, lib. 3.  
Some have written that it is a bird without legs: but Mr. Purchas in two several places allegeth the testimony of one 
* Who also writeth that he saw a tree in the East-Indies, the leaves of which changed themselves into birds, who lived but 8 hours. Du Bart. Sum. And of birds in the Moluccoes as big as hens, with horns in stead of crests: They lay their eggs in the s●…nd, and there they be hatched.  Pigafetta, who witnesseth that it is a bird having two feet as well as other birds; but as soon as they be taken, they are cut off, with a great part of their body, where of a little is left with the head and neck, which being hardened and dried in the sun, seem to be so bred. And other authors witness that there was one of them sold to the Emperor in the year 1605, which had legs on it.  
Cardan likewise mentions this bird; but seeing his report is differing from our modern writers and travellers, I forbear to rehearse it: Howbeit they who read Gesner shall see it in his third book of birds, together with a figure of this fowl.  
But out of Asia look yet once again into America: and 
The Cucuios.  then you shall see as strange a winged creature, as any we have heard of yet; I mean the New Spain's Cucuios, which whether I may call it bird, or beetle, I cannot tell. He is very little, and of the thickness of a man's thumb or there about; but amongst the works of God, he is a most admirable wonder. For he carrieth four lights with him, which 
* Like unto which are those birds mentioned by Pliny and Solinus, Plin. lib. 10. cap 47.  shine in the night; two in the seat of his eyes, and two which he showeth when he openeth his wings. And as for his wings, he hath two very strong and hard, under which he hath two other little wings very thin, which appear not but when he extendeth his other to fly. The Indians use them in stead of candles, and (saith my 
* See Purch. and Du Bart. summary, pag. 240.  author) if a man tie five or six of them together, they yield as much light as a torch.  
And lo, just now, as if it were by the light of this 
Bees.  creature, me thinks I see the painful and industrious Bees fly flocking to their hives.  
These be those winged workmen, which whether their profit or admiration be greater, I am scarce able to say. For they do not only busily bestir themselves to gather honey, which is very useful in the life of man; but they do work it up in most strange manner, and keep it in their waxen cells so rarely built, that all the men which the world affords are not able to do the like. Neither is this all; for they live so, as they may be true patterns of needful government, keeping themselves under the subjection of a king, and order of laws. They may well be likewise said to have the sovereignty and preeminence above all others of this kind, because the rest come far short of their perfections.  
It is a creature having four wings, and bloodless, the only crafts-master of honey. Their eyes are somewhat of a horny substance, hid deep in their bodies, as is also their sting; which when they lose they die: — Vitam in vulnere ponunt; because their sting and entrails come away together. They want neither tongue nor teeth; and out of their short feet or stumps, there grow forth as it were two fingers, wherein they carry a littlestone, for the poising their bodies in stormy, windy, tempestuous weather; it being a great means to keep them from blowing away and losing their home.  
Neither can it be denied, but that by nature they are much different: for some (saith 
* Topsel in his Hist. of Serpents.  one) are more domestical and tam●…, and others again are altogether wild, uplandish and agrestiall. Those former are much delighted with the familiar friendship, custom, & company of men; but the other can in no wise brook or endure them, & therefore they keep their trade of hony-making in old trees, caves, and such like other holes.  
As for their breathing, I do not believe it; howbeit they may pant, move, or stir (as the heart or brain doth) and by transpiration be comforted and made lively: for they be much refreshed by the air which passeth through their divided places, insomuch that they always use great diligence and care to preserve them from being stopped: for as soon as they be stopped in those passages, they die; as we see if at any time they chance to fall into oil, or the like liquor which may stop their pores.  
Some make three kings amongst them, differing in colour, as black, red, and diverse-coloured; but perhaps there is rather one king in a company, the other like kings may be esteemed as viceroys. In their breeding they actually couple together, after which they lay eggs, sitting upon them for the space of five and forty days; then do they hatch their young ones, which at the first come forth much like to white worms, except the king, who only is said to be hatched with wings. And sometimes there is a kind of Bee bred out of putrefaction, as authors write. A rotten horse breedeth Wasps; a dead calf Bees, if the West winde blow; from an ass proceed Humble-bees; of a mule, Hornets, etc. And whether the Bees, in Sampsons' dead Lion, were bred any where else, no man knoweth.  
They have a Commonweal, and are governed by a king, as before was mentioned: and him they reverence and honour, being always ready to do according to his pleasure. He is of body far bigger than the honey Bees, hath shorter wings, but a brighter and more goodly head than they. There is always excellent discipline, and very good government among them: for at the mouths of the hives there be some which stand like warders placed at the gates of a castle, to see who goes in and out. And having rested quietly all night, there is one which with a humming noise doth call them up, whereupon they prepare to fly abroad about their business: but if they make no haste to look out, or go not far from home, it is a certain sign of no good weather. When they be busy at their work, the Bees which go abroad return home with laden thighs, full of the substance of the flowers; and this especially is said to be an office of the younger Bees: for some of the other do only earrie water; and the elder ones remaining at home, do busily lay up, carefully dispose, and curiously dress what the other bring in. Such as be sluggish among them, are diligently observed, and bitterly punished: and as for the drones, they are supposed by some to be the female Bees, which they drive out of their hives when breeding time is past; and therefore they do ill who use to kill the drones before. Others again think that the female Bee is no drone, but rather bred among the Bees, and being idle, and unapt for work, is driven away either in the busiest time, or time of dearth. And yet perhaps it may be the female, which having done as much as can be naturally required from her, must not think much to be driven away, but leave her room to a succeeding generation.  
I said before, that in the morning there is one among them which calls them up, and so in like manner at night they leave their buzzing by degrees, at last hearing as it were a proclamation through their hive to go to rest: and so the watch being appointed, and all things set in order, they all make themselves ready to go to bed. So long as the king liveth, so long the whole swarm enjoyeth the benefit of peace; but he being dead, there is great disorder. The king keepeth his court by himself, in the highest room and largest part of the whole palace, his lodging being very curiously made. And if at any time any of them chance to die, they be carried out of the hive, as it were upon the shoulders of the other Bees, who will suffer nothing in their houses which may pollute them: but if they be only sick, then have they a medicinal aliment of honey, drawn from anise, saffron, and Hyacinths, by which they are cured. Topsell.  
And when they be ready to swarm, they dare not take their flight until their king lead the way; unto whose side they strive to fly, as near as they can. Some 
Tops. bist. S●…rp.  say, if their king be such as tenders the good of the other Bees, he goes but seldom abroad: and straggling often from home, they will rid themselves of him. But when he dies through age, they carry him forth in solemn manner, and behave themselves as at some sad funeral. Neither is he so tied to his home but that he may sometimes go abroad to refresh his aged body, whom they accompany in a sweet obediential manner; and if it chance that he grow weary and faint by the way, they bear him back again upon their wings, and with great commiseration pity his decayed estate. Moreover they will not suffer a dead Bee to be in their hives, but carry him forth as to his burial, lest he should corrupt their pure and cleanly decked dwellings.  
Vespa, the Wasp, is an angry creature: they make them 
Wasps.  nests most 
* But sometimes in tha●…ched houses.  commonly in the ground; their combs be round, much after the fashion of a broad toadstool; and their cells are diversely fashioned. They be very tenderly affected to their females when they are with young, and will not suffer them to take any pains, but lay the whole burden upon themselves. Like unto the Bees, they affect a kingly government; and in case they have no leader, they make their nests in holes of clay, walls, and the like; where they live like vagabonds and gather nothing. They do often times rob the Bees, and (as I said) be very angry creatures, implacable, and very noxious to those who disturb their nests. Aristophanes calleth all those maids which are fine, slender, and pretty small in the waste, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, resembling them to Wasps; which by Topsell is interpreted, as if he should name them Wasp-wasted-wenches: the reason whereof is, because the body of a Wasp seemeth to be fastened together to the midst of the breast, with a certain thin fine thread as it were; and to be as if they had no loins at all. And as your finest bodied wenches are like them in their waste, so sometimes too like them in their sting; by which their best beauty is eclipsed: and better were it to endure the continual droppings and thunderings of a rainy day, than the waspish harms of wicked women, whether it be that they carry their stings either in tongue or tail.  
The Hornet is called by the Grecians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, because 
Hornets.  with their sting they raise an Anthrax or carbuncle, with a vehement inflammation of the whole part about it: & in Latin it is called Crabro. These creatures do not gather their meat from flowers, but for the most part they live upon flesh and stinking carrion, which makes them delight so much in dunghills. They use likewise to catch flies, and hunt after small birds, which if they can but sting, they kill. Mr Topsell makes mention of a 
A fight between a Sparrow and a Hornet.  strange combat between an Hornet and a Sparrow, which he himself saw, at a town called Duckworth in Huntingtonshire; and the Sparrow lost the day: for being wounded by the Hornets sting, the bird fell to the ground, and the Hornet greedily sucked her blood. The said author writeth that their life is but short, never above two years: and as for their combs, they be wrought with greater cunning, more exquisite art, and curious conceit, than those either of Wasps or Bees; neither need we doubt (saith he) but that they bring forth young by the sides of their cells, and perform such other offices in their breeding as the Bees and Wasps do.  
The Grey or Badger is their greatest enemy; for in the 
The Badger on enemy to the Hornet.  full of the moon he useth to make forcible entrance into their holes, and without fear he is able to spoil their nests. And albeit they most commonly feed upon flesh, yet they do greatly love all kind of sweet things, and oil, with other matter of a greasy substance.  
And for to make a medicine against the sting of bees, 
A good medicine against stinging.  hornets, or wasps, do thus. Take of opium, of the seed of henbane and camphire, of each a like quantity, and incorporate them with rose-water or juice of willows, and lay it upon the wounded place, applying on the top of it a linen cloth, which must be first throughly wetted in wine, and this is good to assuage the pain. Vinegar and camphire are also excellent to wash any such place.  
Cantharideses are flies whose juice is poison: they shine 
Cantharideses.  like gold, and must be carefully used in any experiment, otherwise they do much harm; as the unskilful and adventurous have sometimes proved to their own cost.  
Pyrausta is a fly so called from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ignis; because it 
Pyrausta.  lives in the fire, and dieth without it. Plin. lib. 11. cap. 36.  
Tarantula is a little fly, frequent in Italie●… it will many 
Tarantula.  times sting the people, whereupon they presently fall a laughing; and if music be not forthwith brought them, they cannot choose but in a mortal merry fit take leave of the world and 
† Like unto which is an herb in Sardinia, of which if any ●…at much, they perish and die laughing. It is like to Balm gentle. 〈◊〉.  die. Neither can they at all be cured, unless by hearing music: and (as it is reported) if the cure be not throughly done, they dance ever after at the sound of music's pleasing strains: showing thereby, that this is a creature, an admired creature, and of a strange property.  
Bombyx is commonly called the Silkworm: but whether 
Bombyx.  I may name it a worm or a fly, I cannot tell. For sometimes it is a worm, sometimes a fly, and sometimes neither worm nor fly, but a little seed, which the dying flies leave behind them.  
As for example; when these dainty creatures have made them little husken houses, and spun out the just length of their silken webs, they eat out themselves from those prisons; and (although they were worms before) yet than they appear with their pretty wings, and fly about a while: in which space the male accompanying with the female, doth as it were tread her; and then, laying some certain eggs, like little seeds, they cease to live any longer: from which seeds proceed more young ones (at the first like maggots) and they do as their dams before them, and then die.  
And let this creature end my discourse concerning the things done in this fifth day; wherein, not able to mention all, I have touched at some; and those so excellent, as I could have spent more time in their better view, were it not that the succeeding day hastens his dawning. In the phrase of Moses I will therefore conclude, and concluding say,  
The Eve and Morn confine the fifth of days,  
And God gives to his work deserved praise.    

CHAP. IX. This ninth chapter concerneth the creatures made in the sixth and last day; namely creatures living neither in the air, nor water, but upon the earth: and these be of two sorts, the brute beasts, and Man.  
This chapter hath two Sections.  

Sect. 1. Wherein is both a division and entrance into this day's work; as also a discourse of the first part of it, concerning the brute beasts, whose creation was in the first part of the day.  
THe just period of the fifth day being come to an end, the sixth approacheth; wherein God Almighty shutteth up the creation of every species: and after all, he resteth from his works, & watcheth by his providence over each part and parcel of the world which he had made.  
And in this day he first produced the brute beasts living upon the face of the earth: then he comes to the creation of man, and makes him the Colophon, or conclusion of all things else; in whose nature he placed the greatest dignity of any creature that is visible: for man is of a middle between the beasts and Angels, transcending the one, and yet not worthy to equalise the other; as afterwards, when I come to that particular, shall be declared, with other things pertinent to his creation.  
And now, that the terrestrial beasts and he should be made both in one day, is worth observing: for had he been to live in the air, he might have seen the sun with the flying fowls, and have been created when they were made: or had his habitation been in the waters, the fish and he might both at once have been produced. But being made, neither to swim with the fishes, nor fly with the birds, but live upon the earth, it was most harmonious that the terrestrial beasts, and his creation, should in the same day the one succeed the other. And that the end might show the perfection of the work, the priority of time is given to the beasts; but the excellency and priority of all appears in man, who was made Lord of the creatures, and in whom God had placed a surpassing condition, and (by far) a more noble nature. For whereas they are led by sense, he hath reason; whereas they look downwards and grovelling from the sky, his countenance is erect, and his looks are mixed with majesty; whereas they are animate without an immortal soul, he liveth when he dieth, and hath a soul which death itself knows not how to kill: and whereas their bodies fall and never rise again, his riseth when it is fallen, and is like seed sown, which sprouteth up when the time is come.  
If this than be both the order and cause of such an 
The creation of beasts.  order in this day's work, I must leave the most excellent piece until the last, and begin first to look and observe how the beasts, in their several kinds and dainty squadrons, march up and down, and walk from out the shop of their Creator; being brought to perfection even as soon as that powerful word who spoke it, did only say it, Let them be.  
It would (I confess) require no small volume to discourse of all. Howbeit even in a few, the glory of their Maker will well appear: and with that thought let us name some, by which we may admire the rest.  
And first consider what a strong vast creature the 
The Elephant.  mighty Elephant is known to be. There is no creature (saith 
a Topsel.  one) among all the beasts of the world which hath so great and ample demonstration of the power and wisdom of Almighty God, as the Elephant; both for proportion of body, and disposition of spirit: and it is admirable to behold the industry of our ancient forefathers, and noble desire to benefit us their posterity, by searching into the qualities of every beast, to discover what benefits or harms may come by them to mankind: having never been afraid of the wildest, but they tamed them; and the greatest, but they also set upon them: witness this beast of which we now speak, being like a living mountain in quantity and outward appearance, yet by them so handled, as no little dog could be made more serviceable, tame, or tractable.  
They are usually bred in the 
b Plin. lib. 8. cap. 11  hot eastern countries; for by reason they cannot well endure the cold, they delight most in the East and South; as in India, and some places of Africa. And before the days of Alexander Magnus, there were never any in Europe: but when he fought against 
c 〈◊〉. lib. 8.  Porus King of India, he became master of many: and how bravely they fought at the first for their masters, and received many wounds, Curtius hath related.  
These Indian Elephants are most commonly 
d Topsel.  nine cubits high, and five cubits broad; and in Africa they be about eleven foot high, and of bigness proportionable to their height.  
Their colour is for the most part mouse-coloured, or black; and yet there was 
* And in Pegu the King hath many; it being part of his royal title, King of the White Elephants. See Mr. Purch. in his Pilgr. of Asia, lib. 5.  once one in Ethiopia, all white, as Mr. Topsell relateth. They have a skin so hard (excepting on their belly) that it is a very hard matter, and in a manner impossible, to pierce it with any sword, spear, or iron. It hath on it very few hairs, and is very full of chaps or crevices, in which there is such a savour as invites the flies to a continual feast: howbeit they pay dear for their cheer; for although the Elephant cannot make use of his tail to drive them away, yet by shrinking of himself close together, he encloseth the flies within the chaps, and so killeth them. He hath a long trunked nose, mighty teeth, four whereof be within his mouth serving to grind his meat, and two hang forth; as afterwards shall be showed. He hath a tail slender and short, and legs of an infinite strength; his head is very great, so that a man's head may as easily be thrust into it, as his finger into the mouth of a dog: but yet his ears and eyes are not equivalent to the residue of his other parts: for his ears are small, and their matter like to the wings of a Bat or Dragon; and some (bred in some places) have no ears at all. Their eyes likewise are like the eyes of swine, but very red. Two of their teeth (as I said) grow far out of their mouths, one of which they always keep sharp to revenge injuries and defend themselves, and the other is less sharp, being often used to root up plants and trees for their meat; and commonly they grow out to the length of ten feet: this is that which we call Ivory, and of which many pretty things are cut by artists.  
Munster reporteth how these beasts are taken; namely, by the cunning cutting down of a tree, against which they use to lean and stay themselves. For this beast, 
e Munst. cosmog.  saith he, having fed till he is full, betaketh himself to rest, and leaning to a tree he sleepeth, for he cannot bend his joints as other beasts do; not because he wanteth joints, but because his sinews are more strong, and closely knit his joints together; or else because there is much flesh between the skin and bones; or because his skin is so crusty, like to armour, and unfit to bend. Now when 
The way to catch Elephants.  the people perceive any such tree as is worn and made foul by the Elephants leaning against it, they come in the absence of the said beast, and cut it almost quite through, close by the ground; insomuch that being ready to fall, it cannot stand when the Elephant cometh to rest against it, but by giving way causeth him to fall together with it; and then he lieth helpless upon the ground all the night with his belly upward, and not being able to bend his legs and arise, he is caught in the morning by those who before had cut the tree with purpose to deceive him.  
The said author also mentions another way whereby they of India sometimes take and tame them. For there be Elephants (saith he) in India which be very wild and fierce, but they are easily made tame; namely thus. The people intending to catch them, compass some clean place with a deep ditch of about four or five furlongs in compass, and in one place only they make a bridge very straight and narrow, being the way to enter in▪ than they set three or four female Elephants which they have already 
* These 〈◊〉 are anoin●…ed with a certain oil, which causeth the wild Elephant to follow them.  tamed, and they themselves lie watching privily till the time that the wild Elephants come and pass over the bridge: then on the sudden do they 
† Some say they are chased in, as is also the tame Elephant trained up on purpose for such hunt. Purch. of Asia, lib. 5.  stop the passage, and afterward bring some of their strongest tame Elephants to fight with these wild ones thus enclosed: besides which, they do likewise punish them with hunger and lack of meat; and when they be wearied with fight, they which are bold hardy fellows (by help of the tame Elephants to shelter them) will privily creep under their bellies and suddenly chain and fetter them. After this they move their tame Elephants again to beat the wild until their fetters cast them to the ground, and then they yoke them to the necks of their tame ones, and lay chains upon them that thereby they may pass on quietly: and at last bringing them home, they fasten their legs and necks to a strong pillar, and so by hunger and society tame them; teaching them at the last when they begin to feed them, to be obedient to their masters in such manner as best pleaseth them: and then they will grow so loving, gentle, mild, serviceable, and docil, as is indeed a wonder. And if by chance any of them shall happen through fury to kill his keeper, he will show so much sorrow, and take it so heavily, that he abstaineth from his meat, and sometimes even pineth to death; like unto that Dolphin, which in the former day I mentioned, who using to carry a boy upon his back, one day by mere accident happened to kill him with one of his prickles, not closely couched, before the lad was mounted on his watery steed.  
The little mouse is sometimes offensive to this beast, 
The mouse is offensive to the Elephant.  and will strive to run into the trunk of his nose; neither can he endure to eat more of his meat if he see but a mouse run over it.  
But above all, he hath two fierce enemies; viz. the Dragon, and the admired great Rhinoceros, who coming to fight with the Elephant, first whetteth his horn growing upon his snout, and then grappling close, he woundeth the Elephant into his belly; for elsewhere the force of his fury cannot enter. Plin. lib. 8. cap. 20.  
And as for the Dragon, he likewise fighteth furiously, because his delight is to suck the blood of the Elephant, which is cooling to his hot nature: but drinking too largely of it, (as he will do if he can) down falls the Elephant for lack of blood, and down likewise falls the Dragon, because he hath sucked too much: and so both die striving together. Ibid. cap. 12. or, as 
Munst.  some say, the Elephant dying falls upon the Dragon, and so kills his foe who killed him.  
And in this fight the Dragon deals most cunningly: for first he sitteth watching upon a tree, and when the Elephant is come near unto that place, he suddenly skips and cleaves round about him: and if then the Elephant begin to beat him off against a rock or tree, he claspeth close about his legs, and seldom doth the combat cease without the death of both the fighters. 
An emblem from the Elephant.  A fit emblem this, of those who fall whilst they suck the blood of others, and perish in such gains as are purchased by the harms of those whom they strive to subvert.  
Moreover, the Elephants have such a kind of modesty 
The marriage bed must not be abused.  and shamefastness, that the male never covereth the female but in secret; and this never but once in two years; and that, when the male is five years old, and the female ten. From whence, 
f Gemin. lib. 5. cap. 60.  Geminianus gathers this instruction. By this example (saith he) men are taught honestly to use the acts belonging to their conjugal or matrimonial estate, both according to the place and time. Arise and let us pray (saith young Tobias to 
Tobit 8. 4, 7, 8.  his wife) that God would have pity on us. And in praying he likewise said, I take her not for lust, but uprightly: therefore mercifully ordain, that we may become aged together. And she said with him, Amen. Of which careful continence, Geminianus gives this reason why it ought to be in us; because we are children of the light, and may 
* Ezek. 8. 6. and 22. 10. Levit. 18. 19  not do as the heathens who know not God. Whereupon 
g See Mr. Perk. in his Aurea 〈◊〉.  S. Augustine saith, that they commit adultery with their wives, who in the use of wedlock have neither regard of seemliness, nor honesty. And Hierome likewise makes this assertion, that nothing is more shameless then to make a strumpet of a wife: meaning when they turn the remedy into a disease, through a lustful, immodest, and immoderate use of the marriage bed.  
Furthermore, the Elephants are longlived, they have great pleasure in good water, are very impatient of cold, and many of them live 
h Munst.  almost 200 years.  
Also there is one singular property yet more to be 
A pattern for great men.  observed in them, viz. that even the wild ones living in deserts will direct and defend strangers and travellers. For if an Elephant shall find a man wandering in his way; first of all, that he may not be affrighted, the Elephant goeth a little wide out of the path and standeth still: then by little and little going before him, he shows him the way; and if a Dragon chance to meet this man thus travelling, the Elephant than opposeth himself to the Dragon, and powerfully defendeth the helpless 
Gemin. lib. 5. cap. 96.  man, who is not able to defend himself. So ought it to be chiefly amongst great men, and those who are mighty; they should not injure strangers and travellers (as many do) when they come into their territories, but rather by themselves, or theirs, they should direct and succour them from the hurts and harms of evil men.  
The Rhinoceros is a beast every way admirable, both 
The Rhinoceros.  for the outward shape, quantity, and greatness, and also for the inward courage, disposition, and mildness. For this beast is next to the Elephant, every way as strange, and in a manner exceeding him, unless it be in his quantity or height of stature: for although he may be as long, or perhaps longer than an Elephant, yet he is not so tall, neither are his legs so long; and for the length, it must be a large Rhinoceros which can measure with the Elephant, for ordinarily the Elephant exceedeth, according to the testimony of Strabo alleged by Mr Topsell.  
In the 
l Purch. 5 book of Asia.  kingdom of Bengala great numbers of these beasts may be found: their colour is like the rind or bark of a boxtree; their skin upon the upper part is all wrinkled, and of such firmnesle and hardness that no dart is able to pierce it; and being wrinkled, it appeareth as if they were armed with shields, or set over with scales, which go also down along their legs to the very hoofs which are parted into four distinct claws. Moreover, upon the nose of this beast there groweth a hard and sharp horn, crooking a little towards the crown of his head, but not so high; it is flat and not round, and so sharp and strong that it will pierce through things of exceeding hardness: and from hence it is that he is called a Rhinoceros in the Greek; by which word is signified a 
k Topsell.  Nose-horned beast. He is headed somewhat like to a wild Boar, and hath again another horn growing upon his withers, but it is a small one. The manner of his fight with the Elephant I have already mentioned: and as for his horn, teeth, flesh, blood, claws, & whatsoever he hath without and within his body, it is good against poison, and (as 
l Purch. ibid. ex 〈◊〉.  authors write) is much accounted of throughout all India. The reason of which virtue is thought to proceed from the sovereign powers which are in those herbs that Bengala yieldeth; for in other places they are nothing so precious. Some have thought this to be the right Unicorn: but of that fancy see more, as followeth.  
Monoceros is a beast with one horn, called therefore by 
The Unicorn.  the name of an Unicorn: and albeit there be many horned beasts which may improperly be called Unicorns, yet that which is the right Unicorn indeed, is like unto a colt of two years & a half old, which hath naturally but one horn, and that a very rich one, which groweth out of the middle of his forehead; being a horn of such virtue as is in no beasts horn beside: which whilst some have gone about to deny, they have secretly blinded the eyes of the world from their full view of the greatness of God's great works. For were it not said that the horn were excellent and of surpassing power, I persuade myself it would never be doubted whether there were an Unicorn or no. But that there is such a peculiar 
Deut. 33. 17. Isai. 34. 7. Job 39 9 Psalm. 92. 10.  beast, the Scripture, both in Deuteronomie, Isaiah, Job, and the book of Psalms, doth bear us witness: In all which places how do Expositors translate the original word, but thus, Unicornis, or Monoceros, which in English is an Unicorn?  
And again, it is the testimony of Ludovicus Vertomannus, alleged by Gesner, Topsell, and others, that he himself saw a couple of the true Unicorns at Mecha in Arabia; one whereof had a horn of three cubits, being of the bigness of a colt two years and an half old; the other was much less, and his horn shorter, about a span long, for he was but young: and both these were sent to the Sultan of Mecha, for a rare present, by the King of Ethiopia, who ever desireth to be in league with the said Sultan, thinking nothing too dear to maintain his amity. And certainly he could not send him a gift more welcome, especially this being a beast so rare and seldom seen; which may be, in regard that it is a creature delighting in nothing more than in a remote and solitary life.  
The colour of these thus sent was like a weasel-coloured Horse; the head like the head of a Hart; the neck not very long, and the mane growing all on one side; their legs slender and lean, like the legs of an hind; the hoofs on the forefeet cloven, and the hinder legs somewhat shaggy. The nearest (of any beast better known) is the Indian Ass, and Indian Horse; excepting that their hoofs are whole and not cloven, and their colour somewhat differing: for there is a horn grows out between their two eyes, like to the true Unicorn. By which it appeareth that of Unicorns there is one principal kind only; the rest are less principal, and subordinate to him whose horn is the strongest, sharpest, and of the greatest virtue. For in granting more kinds than one, I do not understand every beast with one horn; but only such Monocerots' as have in their horns virtue against poison: like unto those horses of India mentioned but even now, and of which Mr Topsell writeth that they have Hearts heads, and one horn, of which their Kings and Princes make cups to drink their drink against poison, finding a great preservative to be in the said horn. Munster saith that the King of Ethiopia hath some store of these beasts; and Mr Topsell nameth two kingdoms in India (the one called Niem, the other Lamber) which be likewise stored with them.  
Moreover concerning the horn, it is neither light nor 
A description of the Unicorns horn.  hollow, nor yet smooth like other horns, but hard as iron, rough as any file, revolved into many plaits, sharper than any dart, strait and not crooked, and every where black, except at the top or point. It hath many sovereign virtues, and with an admirable dexterity expelleth poison: insomuch that being put upon a table furnished with many junkets and banqueting dishes, it will quickly descry whether there be any poison or venom amongst them; for if there be, then presently the horn is covered with a kind of sweat or dew. And (as it is reported) when this beast cometh to drink, he first dippeth his horn in the water, that thereby he may drive away the poison when venomous beasts have drunk before him.  
And again I find it recorded that the Indian and 
How hunters take them.  Ethiopian hunters catch of those Unicorns which be in their country, after this manner. They take a goodly strong and beautiful young man, whom they cloth in the apparel of a woman, besetting him with diverse flowers and odoriferous spices, setting him where the Unicorns use to come; and when they see this young man, whom they take to be a woman, they come very lovingly and lay their heads down in his lap: (for above all creatures they do great reverence to virgins and young maids) and then the hunters having notice given them, suddenly come, and finding him asleep, they will deal so with him, as that before he goeth, he must leave his horn behind him.  
These, and many other things more, concerning this beast may be read in the large writings of Gesner and Topsel, whither I would wish the more inquisitive to have recourse.  
Africa breedeth many Lions, and the colder the place 
The Lion.  is, the gentler they be: and in time of their coupling, eight or ten will follow one female, whereupon arise very terrible and bloody battles among them. They engender backward; and so doth the Camel, Elephant, Rhinoceros, Ounce, and Tiger. They spare women rather than men, and pray not at all on infants, except in case of much hunger: and albeit the Lion be a fierce and cruel beast, yet he is said to show great clemency to the humble and such as prostrate themselves submissively before him; which he will the sooner do when he hath lately filled his belly with a former prey. The male useth not to feed with the female, but either of them apart by themselves. The Lioness or She-lion is the fiercest, and always the most cruel. Their tail is a token of their inward meaning: for if it stirreth not, he is gentle and peaceable; but moving, he is angry. These beasts will keep revenge in mind a long while, either against man or beast that hath hurt them. And in like 
A story of a Lion.  manner they will as long be mindful of a benefit, and do their best to make requital, as is famous by that story of Androdus who was slave to a senator of Rome; and one named Mentor, a man of Syracuse, upon whom a Lion fawned to have him help his diseased foot.  
For, concerning the first; when Androdus fled from his master by reason of some hard usage that he received at his hands, by chance he happened to take up his lodging in a cave; which (unknown to him) was a Lion's den: where when he had been a while, not long before night the Lion came home from hunting, and having gotten an hurt upon his foot, he no sooner espied the trembling man in this fearful place, but he cometh gently unto him, stretching forth his foot, and making moan as though he desired help. The poor slave at the first expected nothing but death, neither did he think of any thing more than to have his sepulchre in the Lion's belly; but at the last perceiving what the matter was, he took the Lion by his paw, searched the wound, pulled out a thorn, bound up his foot, and gave him ease: which kind office being performed, was first of all requited with a daily portion of provision which the Lion would bring in for this his guest; and he poor helpless man would roast it in the sun as well as he could, and then eat it. But being weary of this kind of diet, and as weary of his solitary life, he went away; for whose absence, the Lion (as himself could hear) made great mourning and lamentation. And see how it happened; this man did no sooner depart than he was taken by some whom his master sent to seek him: and then (alas) there is no way for him but one; die he must. Neither shall his death be other than a tearing in pieces by cruel beasts: for the Romans had a custom to sit in their theatres and behold such bloody games, and direful pastimes; and therefore they would catch and keep beasts on purpose. But it fortuned that amongst other beasts taken this Lion was one, who being brought into the theatre, greedily rend in pieces such as were thrown unto him: yet when his old guests turn came, he forgot his fury and turned it into fawning, by which the poor slave perceived what Lion it was, and thereupon gathered up his spirits, renewing again his old acquaintance with his former friend, even to the admiration of all the beholders. And the matter being known and related to them, he had not only pardon for his life, but the Lion also was bestowed on him to wait upon him. Aelianus reports this story, and so doth Aulus Gellius in his Attic nights. Hîc est Leo hospes hominis; hîc est homo medicus Leonis, was that which the people would say when they saw him lead along his Lion through the streets: Here goeth (say they) the Lion which was the man's host; and there is the man who was the Lion's Physician.  
And to show that the Lion delighteth not to kill his prey before he be ready to eat it, appeareth by another story which I find related by Mr Topsell, in his history of fourfooted beasts.  
A certain English man being turned Moor, and living 
Another story of a Lion.  in Barbary, was told of a Lion which lay lurking not far off; and he, to show his valour, being half drunk, would needs undertake to go and kill him in the place where he was: whereupon he armed himself with a sword, dagger, and musket; having also a long large knife about him. And when he came to the place where the Lion was, that he might show himself valorous, he would not kill him as he lay asleep, but toucheth him with the end of his musket that he might awake: which being performed, the beast suddenly mounted up and eagerly sets upon this foolhardy champion, throwing him presently down to the ground: whereupon he could think of no other but a speedy execution. But seeing the Lion's belly was lately filled with a former prey, he forbeareth to kill him; only he standeth over him and keeps him down with his paws, intending so to hold him until he had a stomach to prey upon him. But in the mean time, this champion studying how to acquit himself, between hope and fear, draws out his long barbarian knife (for he had his hands at liberty) and with it he wounds the Lion two or three times: but he, desirous to possess his prey against his need, never regarded from whence the wounds came, and thereupon he falls at the last fainting to the ground, and so dying delivers his prisoner against his will, who now might triumph in a conquest that was altogether beyond either hope or expectation.  
These creatures delight much to feed on Camel's flesh, and on the flesh of Apes: howbeit when they eat Apes, it is more for 
* Aeli●…. 〈◊〉. ●…ist. lib. 1▪  Physic then for food: and sometimes they will catch the young Elephants. Neither do they drink often or overmuch; and having eaten to satiety, they use to fast 
† Munst.  three days before they feed again. Their bones (saith Munster) be sound and not hollow, insomuch that some affirm fire may be struck out of them as from a flint: and sometimes being too fiercely exasperated to anger, they are in such a heat, that it even 
He is truly valiant that can overcome himself.  burns them up, and kills them. So have I seen some very powerful, and exquisite in many things, and yet but slaves to their own passions; ruling others, but not able to command themselves: although there be few but know, that it is a 
* Forti●…r est. qui se, quam qui fortiffu●… vincit 〈◊〉.  greater point of valour to subdue a man's self, then to conquer a strong and mighty city.  
What Pliny hath written of this beast, may be seen at large in the sixteenth chapter of his eighth book; to whom, and others, I refer such as desire more.  
Tigers, like lions, are bred in the East, South, and hot 
The Tiger.  countries, because their generation desireth an abundance of heat. It is a beast of a wonderful swiftness: and in the proportion of his body he is like to the 
* And note tha●… his Mustachios are holden for mortal poisen; causing men to die mad if they be given in meat▪ Purch.  Lioness, footed like a Cat, and spotted like a Panther, excepting that the spots belong and all of a colour. Generally they be cruel, sharp, ravenous, and never so tamed but sometimes they return to their former natures: but above all, in the time of their lust, or when they be robbed of their young, they are most raging and furious. 
m Plin. lib. 8. cap. 18.  Pliny hath described the manner how the hunters get away their whelps very commonly. They come upon horseback, and finding the old Tigers from home, they take up their young ones and post away as fast as they can; and on the sudden they find themselves pursued, wherefore when the old one cometh near them, they let fall one of her whelps on purpose, that whilst she is carrying that to her nest, they may escape securely with the rest. And sometimes they make round spheres of 
n Munster, Topsell.  glass which they cast before her when she cometh, and thinking (by reason of her own shadow) that she seeth her young ones there, she rolleth it to her den, where she breaketh it with her claws, and finding herself deluded runneth after the hunters again, by which time they are gone too far for her to find.  
There is an 
o Topsell.  herb near the river Ganges, growing like bugloss, the juice whereof is such that if it be poured into the mouth of their dens, they dare not come forth, but will lie howling there till they die.  
The Panther is a beast little differing from a Leopard 
The Panther.  or Libbard: 
p Plin. lib. 8. cap. 17.  some think they differ in nothing but in sex. In Greek the general name is Panther; the special names, Pordalis and Pardalis. Pordalis is taken for the male, and Pardalis for the female. And in Latin it is called Pardus and Panthera: where it must be again observed that Pardus signifieth the male Panther, and Panthera the female. Neither is the difference between the Leopard and Panther only in sex, but rather in respect of a 
How the Leopard is begotten.  mixed and simple generation: for there is no Leopard or Libbard, but such as is begotten between the Lion and the Panther, or the Panther and the Lioness.  
This is a beast which hath variety of colours, a sweet breath, and is very fierce and wild, insomuch that some have therefore called him a Dog-wolf; and yet being full, he is gentle enough. He sleepeth three days (saith Munster) and after the third day he washeth himself and cryeth out, and with a sweet savour which cometh from his breath, he gathereth the wild beasts together, being led by the smell: and then (saith Pliny) doth he hide his head very cunningly, lest his looks should affright them; whereupon, whilst they gaze upon him, he catcheth his prey of which he pleaseth. So have I known 
An emblem from the Panther, concerning fair tongues and false hearts.  some hide their ill meanings with fair and sweet-breathed words; having honey in their mouths, but gall in their hearts; and a direful intent cruelly to hurt when they seem most of all to please. For sugared speeches will catch the credulous; neither is all gold that fairly glisters.  
Now the reason why these beasts have such a sweet breath, I take to be in regard that they are so much delighted with all kind of spices and dainty aromatical trees: insomuch that (as 
q Topsell.  some affirm) they will go many hundred miles in time of the year when these things are in season; and all for the love they bear to them. But above all, their chief delight is in the gum of camphorie, watching that tree very carefully, to the end they may preserve it for their own use.  
Of Camels there be chiefly three sorts: the first called 
The Camel.  Hugiun, of great stature and strength, able to carry a 
r Purch.  thousand pound weight: the second less, with two bunches on the back, and sometimes one upon the breast; these are called Becheti, are found only in Asia, & are fit both for carriage, and to ride on. The third sort is meager & small, not used to burdens, yet able to travel above an hundred miles in one day: this kind they call Raguahill.  
The Arabian and Bactrian Camels, although they want horns, yet they have 
s Plin. lib. 8. cap. 18.  teeth but on one side. And of all the sorts, their necks are long & nimble, by which the whole body is much relieved, seeing it can reach to most parts; their heads are small, and feet fleshy, in which regard they use to be shod with leather for fear of gravelling; I mean such as are tame and made serviceable. They love grass, especially the blades of barley; and when they drink, the water must not be clear but muddy. The surname therefore of the Camel, is Trouble-bank; for they will 
t Plin. ibid.  mud the water with their feet, otherwise they take no delight to drink it. So have I seen some, never better pleased then when they trouble the clear fountains of justice and pure doctrine, with the muddy streams of injustice and error. Or some, never better cheered then when they may drink 
An emblem from the Camel, concerning those who prefer earth before heaven.  deeply of the dirty puddles of worldly wealth, little regarding the sweet taste of the water of life, which is a clear river running from the throne of God and the Lamb, Rev. 22. And as for the bunch upon the Camels back, the Scripture doth thereby express the swelling pride and confidence of rich worldly men, who as hardly enter into the kingdom of God, as the Camel with his bunched back can go through the 
* Matth. 19 24.  eye of a needle.  
The Horse and the Camel are great adversaries; and 
The Horse and Camel great enemies.▪  with his very sight and strong smell, the horse is terrified. Cyrus therefore being excelled by the Babylonians in horsemanship, used this stratagem of the Camels.  
And as for our fine stuffs, as grogeram, and chamblet, 
Stuffs made of Camel's hair.  they be made of Camel's hair, as some affirm: as also there is a courser hairy cloth to be made of the worst of this hair, such as was that garment worn by John Baptist in the wilderness.  
And of the Camels this one property more; when their 
A lesson of patience and humility taught by the Camel.  masters load them they will bow themselves, and stoop down to the very ground with their knees, patiently enduring to take up their burden. So have I seen some, as willingly humbled under the cross, and as patiently stooping to take it up, and follow their master Christ who went before them. For it is a true rule, that God can and doth love his children well, although he make no wantoness of them.  
Moreover the Dromedary is a kind of Camel, but less, 
The Dromedary.  and far more swift.  
And as for the Cameleopardus, he is begotten by a 
The Cameleopard.  mixed generation between the Camel, and Leopard or Panther.  
The Hyaena, as it is described by 
u Lib. 8. cap. 30.  Pliny, is a beast 
The Hyaena  whose neck hath no joint, and therefore he stirs not his neck but with bending about his whole body. He will imitate humane voice, and drawing near to the sheep-coats, having heard the name of some of the shepherds, he will call him, and when he comes, devour him. His eyes have many colours; and the touch of his shadow makes a dog not able to bark. And (as the Magicians would make us believe) this beast hath the power of incantation: they therefore tell many strange things which they be able to do.  
Neither is this any other than the 
x Topsell.  common or vulgar Hyaena, which is likewise called Lupus vespertinus, a wolf of the night, being in quantity of body very like a Wolf, but much more rough in his hair, and bristled all along his back like a horse's mane, the middle whereof is somewhat crooked. His colour is yellowish, but speckled on the sides with blue spots.  
The second kind is called 
y Idem, Pag. 439.  Papio or Dabuh, bigger and rougher than the former, with feet something like to a man's hand. They breed much about Caesarea; and their custom is, being gathered together, for one of them to go before his company singing and howling, and all the rest answering him with a kind of correspondent tune; whose voices are so shrill and sounding, that although they be remote and far off, men may hear them as if they were hard by: and when one of them is slain, the residue flock about his carcase, howling as if they should make funeral lamentations for the dead. They sometimes, being compelled by hunger, will search into the silent graves of dead men.  
The third kind is the Corcuta, and this happeneth 
The Corcuta.  when the Lioness and the Hyaena do engender together.  
The fourth is Mantichora; he is bred among the Indians, 
The Mantichora.  having a treble row of teeth beneath and above, with a broad face fashioned like to the face of a man, a beard both on his chin and upper lip; his eyes are grey, and his colour red, and in the shape of his body and legs like to a Lion. His tail is long and slender, armed at the end with sharp quills, with which he woundeth the hunters when they set upon him; and this is strange, that the quills being darted off do presently grow again. And as for his chief delight, it is to eat man's flesh.  
The Zebra is a beast which amongst 
a Purch. lib. of Africa, cap. 1.  all creatures 
Zebra.  both for beauty and comeliness is admirably pleasing. He resembles a horse of exquisite composition, but not altogether so swift, all overlaid with particoloured laces and guards, from head to tail. In Africa they abound, and live in great herds together.  
In the country of Sardinia there is a certain beast 
Muflo.  which they call Muflo, the like whereof (as 
b Munst. Cos. Epit.  some affirm) is not in all Europe. It hath a skin and hairs like unto a Deer or Hart, crooked horns like unto a Ram, which bend backward about the ears. In bigness he may be compared to a Buck: he feedeth only upon grass and herbs, and keepeth most about mountains, is very swift in running, and his flesh is very good to be eaten.  
In Virginia there is a beast called Ovassom, which 
The Ovassom.  hath a head like a Swine, a tail like a Rat, as big as a Cat, and hath under his belly a bag, wherein they carry their young. Purch.  
Moreover I find in the said author, that their Dogs 
Virginia Dogs, Wolves, Foxes, etc.  in that country bark not, their Wolves are not much bigger than our Foxes, and their Foxes like our silver-haired Coneys, and of a differing smell from ours.  
The Wolf is a ravenous and devouring beast, and 
The Wolf.  rightly surnamed Spoil-park; and those of the common sort have grizzled hairs, being white under the belly, a great head, and armed with big and long teeth, sparkling eyes, and short pricked ears; and for his feet, they be something like to the feet of a Lion. He is therefore called Lupus from Leopes; quia pedem quasi pedes Leonis habet.  
Where these creatures live, the people are much infested with them: they will sometimes steal from their folds abroad, and sometimes do them mischief at home. When they come to the sheepfolds, they observe which way the 
c Ge●…in. lib. 5. 6. 39  wind bloweth, and then they come marching against it, that thereby they may the better deceive the shepherd and his dogs. And when they prey upon Goats, they 
d Ibid.  hide themselves under the leaves of 
* Or elsé come with the green leaves and small boughs of Osrers, etc.  trees that they may the more easily obtain their desire. When they catch little children, it is said that they will play with them for a while (as the cat plays with the mouse) and at the last devour them.  
Pliny and Olaus Magnus write, that Egypt and Africa 
Plin. lib. 8. cap. 22.  bring forth but small Wolves in respect of those which are in the Northern parts of the world: and as the Elephant is impatient of cold, so these beasts do as much detest heat. And again there be certain mountains which part the kingdoms of Swetia and Norway, upon which 
Ola. Mag. lib. 18.  live whole herds of white Wolves.  

e Tops.  Some say that if the heart of a Wolf be kept dry, it will render a most fragrant or sweet smell; and in the bladder of a Wolf is a certain stone of a saffron or honey colour, which inwardly containeth as it were certain weak shining stars. But this (me thinks) is strange. The Ravens are in perpetual enmity with Wolves, and the antipathy of their natures is so violent, that if a Raven eat of the carcase of a beast which the Wolf hath either killed or formerly tasted of, she presently 
f Ibid.  dieth: and again it is reported that when a Wolf espieth a single passenger travelling by the way, if he thinks himself not able to set upon him, he will make such a piteous howling that his companions suddenly come to help him.  
Romulus and Remus were said to be nursed by a she-Wolf: 
Romulus & Remus not nursed by a Wolf.  but Lupa, signifying a devouring Harlot, may rather be applied to Laurentia the wife of Faustulus, who had played the harlot with certain shepherds.  
Wolves have no society but with beasts of their own kind: and above all creatures, they and dogs are most subject to madness; the reason of which is, because their bodies are choleric, and their brains increase and decrease with the moon.  
And as for their several kinds, see more in Gesner, Topsell, Olaus Magnus, and such others.  
Vulpes, the Fox, is a subtle crafty creature. They differ 
The Fox.  in colour according to the climate wherein they be bred, and sometimes also in quantity. The urine of this beast falling upon any herb or grass, drieth it up, and causeth it to wither. His fat or grease is good against the cramp or gout: and so also is his skin, if it be wrapped about the grieved place; testified by Olaus Magnus in the eighteenth book of his Northern history.  
Moreover, concerning the subtleties of this beast, they 
The subtleties of the Fox.  be in a manner infinite. By putting his tail into the water he will catch an abundance of crabs and lobsters at his pleasure; for they take great delight to hang and enwrap themselves into such brushie stuff, and he hath as great delight to fish them out.  
And again, when cold, snow, and hunger shall oppress him, coming near some farm or mansion-house, he feigneth a kind of barking like a dog, that thereby the household beasts may more confidently keep themselves without fear, being often used to the barking of a dog: and so having gotten himself near unto his prey, he will lie upon his back with his belly upwards, mouth open, tongue out, and every way seeming as if he were dead; then the hens, or geese, or what else is fit for him, are suddenly surprised and cunningly caught, whilst they little dreamt of such a subtlety.  
Sometimes again he will roll himself in red earth, and besmearing himself with it as if he were bloody, he will again lie on the ground, verily seeming as if he were dead, by means whereof he inviteth the fowls to come and prey upon him: but he deceiveth them in his crafty wiliness; and being deceived, they are taken.  
Also, he sometimes escapeth the danger of dogs by a counterfeit barking, by which he feigneth himself to be one of their kind. And by his subtlety he escapeth from the snares, and that not seldom: for if he be taken by the foot & cannot free himself, he will prostrate himself upon the ground, and show no appearance either of life or breath: insomuch that when he cometh who set the snare, and findeth him in this posture, he will suppose him to be no other than he seemeth; and then losing the snare without any thought that he should escape, he suddenly riseth and runs away. The like was credibly reported to me of a Fox, creeping into a man's house at a little hole, who filling himself too full, knew not how to get out; whereupon in the morning he was found as dead: the man kicks him about the house, and at the last throws him out of doors on the dunghill; where he was no sooner with joy arrived, but up he starts, and finds his legs as ready to carry him as he was willing to escape.  
Moreover, being hunted he will sometimes run among a flock of sheep or goats, and get upon the back of some one or other of them, forcing that sheep or goat to run; the rest follow, insomuch that the hunters are unwillingly compelled to call in their dogs, for fear they should seize upon, or harm the flocks.  
And to rid himself from fleas, he hath this device, 
How the Fox catcheth fleas.  reported by Olaus Magnus. He takes in his mouth a little wisp of soft hay, with which he wrappeth a little hair; and coming to a river, he puts himself in, all but the head: then when the fleas are come up so high as his head, he sinketh lower, even till the hay in his mouth touch the water; by means whereof the fleas are driven thither: and being there, he lets the wisp go, and so clears himself.  
In like sort he 
d Topsell.  deceiveth the Hedgehog; for when the Hedgehog perceiveth the Fox coming to him, he rolleth himself together like a football, and so nothing appeareth outwards but his prickles, which the Fox cannot endure to take into his mouth, and therefore the crafty Fox, to compass his desire, licketh gently the face and snout of the Hedgehog, by that means bringing him to unfold himself again, and to stand upon his legs; which being done, he instantly devoureth him by poisoning him with the urine that he maketh upon the Hedgehogs face.  
He hath a trick likewise to 
† Ge●…in. lib. ●…. cap. 39  revenge himself upon the Brock or Badger; for there is great enmity between them: the Fox therefore finding the Badger gone from home, for the spite he bears him, will come and with his piss defile the Badgers den: whereupon he is forced to forsake it and seek a new.  
But was not that a cunning tame Fox who would stand 
A cunning trick of a tame Fox.  all the day quietly chained according to his master's mind, and when night came would slip his collar, and go out to kill the neighbour's geese; and before morning come again, and put his head within his collar, presenting himself to his master, as if he had never gone out?  
Moreover, the young whelps of the Fox, when they 
An emblem from the Fox and her young, concerning false friends.  can find no more milk in the paps of their dam, will bite them with their teeth, and rend and tear them, reputing them as strangers. So have I seen fraudulent friends, who will love no longer than you feed them. Tam diu stat, quamdiu utilitas durat, saith 
e 〈◊〉.  one; They abide so long as there is profit for them: according to that of Seneca, Qui utilitatis causâ assumptus fuerit, tam diu placebit, quamdiu utilis erit. And indeed it is too true, as common experience beareth witness.  
Lynx is a spotted beast much like a Wolf; it hath a 
The Lynx.  more piercing sight then any creature in the world. And of Lynxes it is said there be two kinds; the one a greater, which hunteth Hearts and great beasts; the other a smaller, which hunteth Wilde-cats and Hares. Of this last kind Olaus Magnus writeth, that there be some of them in the Northern woods of Suetia and Norway: and generally there be many countries both in Europe, Asia, and Africa, which abound with both kinds. But above all, those which are bred in Europe are commended for the best spotted: and in Europe, those of Scotland and Swetia are 
f Tops. ex Bello●….  most beautiful.  
He is a beast as ravening as a Wolf, but more crafty; and, as he finds his opportunity, will pray upon man as well as beast. Howbeit, in the summer time they be very weak, and live faintly among the rocks, never straying far from home, hurting no man until the Autumn. And for the manner of catching their prey, most commonly it is thus; They will get up into trees, and there lie in wait for their booty until they espy it under the boughs, and then suddenly do they leap into the neck of it, whether it be 
g Idem ibid.  a man or great beast; wherein they fix their claws so fast, that no violence can shake them off: and then with the sharpness of their teeth, they first bite into the skull, and eat out the brains.  
The ancient Pagans dedicated this beast to Bacchus, feigning that when he triumphed in his chariot of vine-branches, he was drawn by Tigers and Lynxes.  
They love their young ones very entirely: and that some should think they are bred between a Wolf and a Hind, is utterly without reason, seeing there is such hostility and adverse disposition in their natures.  
It is reported that when they be taken they will shed forth many tears, and weep very pitifully: and their urine congealed, turneth itself into a precious stone, which for brightness resembleth the Amber being a stone of sovereign virtue: and they, knowing their 
An emblem of envy.  urine to be thus beneficial, rather than man should find it, they use to hide it in the earth or sand; and yet they are deceived: for (as 
h Lib. 37. cap. 3.  Pliny writeth) it is there soon of all converted into a stone, and not seldom found. Which, by 
i Lib. 5. cap. 71.  Geminianus, is rightly made an emblem of the envious man, who will not only endeavour to do hurt, but be heartily sorry if by chance it be his hap to do any one good.  
The Beaver is a beast of a very hot nature, living both 
The Beaver.  in the water and on the land, and differeth from an Otter only in the tail. Germany, Spain, France, Italy, and diverse other places abound with these beasts. His stones are much used in physic, the hunters therefore catch him that they may geld him; whereupon he is called Castor: for it is but a fable to say he biteth out his own stones when they come to take him; for indeed they lie too close in his body to be pulled out with his teeth. These stones, and genitals, the Physicians call Castoreum: and as for his skin and hairs, their use is also excellent.  
The Otter is something less than a Beaver, and may 
The Otter.  well be called A dog of the water: and (as Mr Topsell thinketh) is, without all doubt, a kind of Beaver. It is a sharp-biting beast, never letting his hold go until he make the bones to crack between his teeth: and as for the females, they use to give suck to their whelps, until they be almost as big as themselves.  
Olaus Magnus calleth them 
k Lib. 18.  Lutrae, quadrato ore mordaces; and telleth us that some great men in Suetia keep tame Otters in their houses, which are so tractable that the cook of the kitchen can send them into the fishponds to bring him fish for his master's dinner.  
Their skins (besides other uses) if they be worn 
A medicine for the megrim, and palsy.  in caps, or stocking-soles, are good and wholesome against the palsy, megrim, and other pains of the head. Topsell.  
Sciurus, the Squirrel, is a quick nimble creature 
The Squirrel.  which will skip from tree to tree with great facility. When she is out of her nest, her tail serveth to secure her both from sun and rain. Howbeit, it is sometimes a hurt unto her: for the hairs of it be so thick, that striving to swim over a river, her tail is so laden with water, that sinking she drowneth. Wherefore nature hath taught her this pretty piece of policy; namely, to get upon a little piece of wood, which swimming 
Olaus Mag. ibid.  wafts her securely over: and wanting a sail, her bushy tail set up and spread abroad, supplies the room of that defect.  

l Plin. lib. 8. cap. 38.  Pliny saith they have great foresight in the change of weather, and will therefore stop up the hole of their nest on that side from whence the tempest is like to blow, opening a passage in the contrary place, or side opposite to it. The like whereunto is affirmed of the Hedgehog also.  
Their skins are exceeding warm, and their tails profitable to make brushes: their flesh is tender, and in a manner comparable to the flesh of Kids or Coneys; & yet not very wholesome, except the squirrel were a black one  
When this beast is hunted, she cannot be driven to the ground to creep into hedges, unless extremity of faintness cause her so to do through an unwilling compulsion: for such (
m Tops. pag. 658.  saith one) is the stately mind of this little beast, that while her limbs and strength lasteth, she tarrieth and saveth herself in the tops of tall trees, disdaining to come down for every harm or hurt which she feeleth; knowing indeed her greatest danger to rest below, among the dogs and busy hunters. From whence 
An emblem from the hunted Squirrel, concerning the small security in things on earth.  may be gathered a perfect pattern for us, to be secured from all the wiles and hungry chasings of the treacherous devil; namely that we keep above in the lofty palaces of heavenly meditations: for there is small security in things on earth; and greatest ought too be our fear of danger, when we leave to look and think of heaven.  
But I come to another beast; which in Topsells' history 
A strange beast called a Su.  is thus described. There is in the Newfound World far into the South, a strange and terrible beast, which they of the country where it liveth, call a Sum; so named because it liveth near the water, and sum in their language signifieth water. It is a creature of a very deformed shape, monstrous presence, a great ravener, and altogether untameable. She hath a mighty great tail, which is brushie, fierce talons, and a cruel look. Now when hunters (for the desire of her skin) shall set upon her, she flieth very swift, carrying her young ones upon her back, and covereth them with her broad tail. And the hunter, not daring to encounter with her but by treachery, is forced to this project; namely to dig great holes in the ground and cover them over with boughs, sticks, and earth: which he doth so weakly, that if the beast chance at any time to come upon it, she and her young ones fall down into the pit, where they have no way but one, they must be taken. But this cruel, untameable, impatient, violent, ravening, and bloody beast, perceiving that her natural strength cannot deliver her, first of all, to save her young ones (as she supposeth) she destroyeth them all with her own teeth, so that never any of them could be taken and tamed; and then howleth and roareth at the hunters who come about her; but now they need not fear her, she is secure enough: whereupon they use means quickly to dispatch her, and by fatal blows to stop her mouth from bawling. Then they take off her skin, and leave her carcase in the earth: and of what use her skin is, I have not heard.  
The Hedgehog is a beast well known, about the 
The Hedgehog  bigness of a conie, but like to a Swine; having her body beset with and compassed all over with sharp t●…orny hairs, or pricking bristles, which she setteth up or keepeth down at her pleasure: and by these she defendeth herself from those who seek her life; which is attributed to her as a kind of craft and wiliness. Some therefore have likened a deceitful man unto this beast, who turneth and windeth himself for all advantages, and is now this, then that, & sometimes neither this nor that.  
Between him and the 
n Tops. pag. 279.  Serpent there is mortal hatred: for it is said that the serpent will seek out the hedgehogs den, and then falleth upon him with purpose to kill him, but the Hedgehog draweth himself up together round like a football, so that nothing appeareth but his thorny pricks: where at the Serpent biteth in vain, for the more she laboureth to annoy the Hedgehog, the more she is wounded and harmeth herself; howbeit the height of her mind, and hate of her heart be such, that they will not suffer her to let him go, till one or both parties be destroyed: yea it sometimes so happeneth, that the least creature hath the best success, and gets the conquest. So have I seen some provoke others to their 
An emblem from the Serpent and Hedge hog, concerning mean estates.  own ruin: for if proud minds and high spirits could always have their wished ends, the low shrubs should never thrive, nor mean estates enjoy the sun.  
Moreover (as is reported) this beast altereth and 
The Hedgehog changeth his nest. The emblem detecteth Time-servers, and unconstant Professors.  changeth her nest according to the blowing of the North or Southern wind. So have I heard of those, whose care hath been to apply themselves unto the times, apt to turn with every wind, altering their judgements and opinions in time of persecution, from-that which they held in time of peace and quiet: whereas a hardy soldier is never known but in a winter siege, nor a true Christian but in a fiery trial.  
Next after the Hedgehog I may mention the Porcupine, 
The Porcupine, or Mountain Hedgehog.  or Porcuspine, from Porcus and spina; so called, because he is, as it were, a thornie-hog, or another Hedgehog something differing from the former: for the vulgar Hedgehog is Ericius sylvestris, and the Porcupine Ericius montanus. This beast is usually bred in India and Africa, and brought up and down in Europe to be seen for money.  
The general proportion of his body is like a Swine's; and seldom is it that they be bigger than a pig of half a year old. But in the particular members there is some difference, as in his ears which are like to the ears of a Man, his mouth somewhat like to the mouth of a Hare, but with a longer slit, and with three of his foreteeth in his upper jaw hanging out of his mouth: his two hinder feet are something like the feet of a Bear, and those before like the feet of a Badger; and in a word, his body is beset with certain sharp quills or prickles, which, when he is hunted, he can dart off either in the mouths of the dogs, or legs of the hunters. And of these quills men make wholesome toothpicks; for it is said that if we scrape our teeth with these, they will never be loose. Topsell.  
Armadilio is a beast in India like unto a young pig, 
The Armadill.  covered over with small shells like unto armour: it lives like a mole in the ground.  
The Alborach is a fair white beast like an ass, frequent 
The Alborach.  in the Turkish territories, upon which beast Mahomet was carried up to heaven; as the blasphemous Priests of that nation persuade the silly pilgrims of Mecha. Idem.  
The Hare is a fearful creature and well known to 
The Hare.  every one. Gesner describes her amply in his history of beasts, as also Topsell, 
o Lib. 8. cap. 55.  Pliny, 
p North. hist. lib. 1●…▪  Olaus Magnus, and such others. Now the cause of fear in this creature, is in regard that she hath no other arms to defend her from being taken, but her little pretty nimble legs and swift running. It is said that when they watch they shut their eyes, and when they sleep they open them; which how how true it is, I know not: howbeit the Egyptians, when they would signify an open and manifest matter, used to picture an Hare sleeping.  
Moreover, it is easily seen that the Hare hath longer legs behind then before, and so runneth faster up the hill then down; contrary to almost any other beast, for they make more speed downward then up. Whereby (saith 
q Willet on L●…vit.  one) may be signified, that whereas most men in the world go down the way which leadeth to destruction, he which is good, will imitate the watchful Hare, and climb up cheerfully the way to heaven: which was 
An emblem from the Hare, concerning the ways to heaven and hell.  prefigured by ascending up to Zion, the mountain of the Lord, Psal. 24. 3.  
And again, the Hare hath very long ears, is quick in 
Another.  hearing, but dull of sight; which, to apply it as an emblem, may be thus: the 
r Idem ibid.  ear, being the instrument of hearing, is sensus doctrinae, the sense of doctrine, and gate 
How to use our hearing and seeing.  to let in good instruction; but the eye, being the sense of seeing, is the instrument of delight and vanity. Wherefore we should be swift to hear things for our instruction, and shut our eyes from beholding things that tend to vanity.  
The Conie is a beast near of kind to the Hare: in 
The Conie  some countries they 
s Topsell.  begin to breed being but six months old, but in England at a year old, and so continue bearing every month, or at the least seven times in one year. Their young are blind at the first, and (like whelps) see not until they be nine days old; neither hath their dam any suck for them till she hath been six or seven hours with the male, or at least she cannot suckle them for the desire that she hath to accompany the buck, which if she be not presently permitted to do, she will have no propensity any more until 14 days after.  
The males will 
* Markham's Meth.  kill the young ones, if they come at them, as the hecat useth to do; and therefore it is thought that the females use to cover up their nests with earth, and keep them close until they be ready to run. Their flesh is 
t Haven of health, pag. 119.  commendable, light of digestion, wholesome, cleanly, nourisheth temperately and firmly: and what commodity a good warren of coneys bringeth toward the keeping of a good house, men who love hospitality know very well. Howbeit they have sometimes proved dangerous about cities and castles by undermining their walls: for (as Pliny writeth in the 29 chapter of his eighth book) there was a town in Spain overthrown by the digging of coneys; and one again in Thessaly destroyed by the casting of moles. It is not good therefore to let them have a freedom of breeding too near our houses for fear of damage. To conclude, 
u Mark. ibid.  they use not to live very long, and chiefly they take delight in hard and sandy grounds which are dry; for they have no greater enemy than the wet: from whence it proceedeth that their greatest infirmity is rottenness. And therefore for those who keep tame coneys, Markham teacheth that they shall only take the finest, sweetest, and driest hay that they can get, and mix it very well with the herb hare-thistle, and therewith feed their coneys; which medicine will both cure and prevent the foresaid malady. And note, that in India there is a little beast called a Pig-conie, with short round ears, and a body somewhat rounder and fuller than our coneys.  
The Ferret, in Latin is called Viverra, quasi vivens in 
The Ferret  terra, as living in the earth, creeping into, and searching in the holes thereof; by which means they infest no creature more than the conie. This is a bold and audacious beast (though little) and an enemy to all other, except their own kind: and when they take a prey, their custom and manner is, only to suck in the blood as they bite it, and not to eat the flesh; and if at any time their prey shall be taken from them, they fall a squeaking and crying. Such (saith one) are the rich men of this world, 
An emblem from the Ferret, concerning covetous rich men.  who yell, and cry out., when they part with their riches; weeping and wailing for the loss of such things, as they have hunted after, with as much greediness as want of pity: in whose commendation, I think as much may be said, as was once by a preacher at the black funeral of an usurer; of whom there is this story.  
A great rich usurer, having purchased a mighty 
A story of an usurer.  estate, was at the last sent for by death to leave the world: and lying upon his bed, the Doctors and Physicians finding his sickness to be mortal, give him over. Then do his friends about him send for a Divine to come and comfort him; who willingly tells him of many comforts for his souls health, and amongst other things puts him in mind of this, viz. that he had been a great purchaser upon earth, but now he must study for another purchase, which was the kingdom of heaven. Now the usurer turning upon the other side, at the hearing of the word purchase, answered, I will not give more than according to fifteen years for a purchase, and so died. Afterwards, this gentleman preaching at his funeral, in the conclusion of his sermon said only thus; Brethren, it is now expected that I should speak something concerning our brother here deceased: I will end it in few words, namely these: How he lived, you know; how he died, I know; and where his soul now is, God Almighty knows.  
The Poulcat, or Fitch, in Latin is called Putorius, à 
The Poulcat.  Putore, because of his ill smell; for when they are provoked or stirred, they stink grievously. Their delight is to suck eggs, kill and eat Hens and Chickens: and it is worth observing, that their craft in devouring their prey is singular; for to the intent that the silly creatures to be devoured may not betray them to the housekeepers, the first part that they lay hold on with their mouths is the head of the Hen or Chicken, by which means they bite off their heads and so keep them from crying.  
The Weasel in Latin is called Mustela, from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 
The Weasel.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of snatching up of mice: for (though an enemy to pullen) she devoureth and destroyeth mice: and because she hath been often seen to carry her young ones in her mouth, some have thereupon supposed, that she conceived by the ear and brought forth by the mouth: and for this cause Aristeas (mentioned by Gesner and Topsell) writeth that the Jews were forbidden to eat them; for this their action is an emblem (saith he) of folly and foolish men, which can keep no secrets but utter all that they hear: for there be many, who when they have heard tales with their ears, enlarge them with their tongues, and by adding to reports turn molehills into mountains, & sic crescit eundo; because as many have itching ears, so some have scratching and augmenting tongues, desiring to be heard as the reporters of news. But the Egyptians turn it into another sign, and say that their copulation at the ear, and generation at the mouth, are emblems of speech, which is first taught to the ear, and then uttered by the tongue. All which are pretty fancies, although they be founded upon a mistaken ground; as before I showed.  
Howbeit, this is recorded for a truth, that whereas the Basilisk killeth all creatures with her poison that approach unto her, or contend with her, the Weasel only is found to match her; witnessed not only by 
* Lib. 8. cap. 21.  Pliny, but by others also, who besides this Weasel know not of any other beast in the world, which is able to stand in contention against the Cockatrice. But note that Rue is hateful to a Serpent, and good against poison; the Weasel therefore useth to eat of this herb both before and after the battle; so well hath nature taught her to find a preservative against her venomous and hurtful adversary: and on the contrary, so well is nature pleased, that no beast should be without his match. 
An emblem from the Weasel, concerning the use of an enemy.  In a word, seeing the Weasel (as I said before) will destroy mice as well as hurt pullen, it serveth as an emblem to demonstrate, that one sometime may make use of an enemy; and though every thing be not good for one thing, yet it doth not follow that it is therefore good for nothing. But I leave the Weasel, and come to the Mole.  
The Mole is a creature well known; the snout of it is 
The Mole.  like to the nose of a Shrew-mouse; and as for eyes or sight, she wanteth either: only the 
† 〈◊〉▪ 〈◊〉. 11. c. 37.  place where the eyes should stand, have a little black spot like a millet or poppy seed. In Latin she is therefore called Talpa, from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, blind. And yet (
o Topsel.  saith one) by dissection of a Mole great with young, it hath been proved that the young ones before birth have eyes, but after birth living continually in the dark earth without light, these their seeming eyes cease to grow to any perfection.  
And some again have also witnessed, that although the Mole be blind all her life time, yet she 
p Gem●…. ex Arist.  beginneth to open her eyes in dying: which 
q Idem lib. 5. c. 29. and Dr. Will. on Levit. cap. 1●…. An emblem from the Mole. A sinner, though blind in life, sees in death.  I find thus applied, and it is a pretty emblem. This serveth to decipher the state of a worldly man, who neither seeth heaven, nor thinketh of hell, in his life time, until he be dying: and then beginning to feel that which before he either not believed, or not regarded, he looketh up and seeth. For in morte, velit nolit, saith 
† Ibid. cap. 29.  Geminianus, even against his will he is then compelled to open his eyes, and acknowledge his sins, although before he could not see them. It was the case of Dives to live and die in this black misty blindness, for he had no grace to look up till he was in torments, and then (alas) it was too late. Yet herein was that saying of Gregory plainly verified; Oculos, quos culpa claudit, poena aperit.  
The Martins and Ermines be small beasts, as little, or 
The Ermine  less than a Squirrel; the fur of whose skins is precious and of great esteem, worn only by kings and noble personages: & although these beasts be not bred in England, yet there be plenty of them in many places beyond the seas: 
† Meaning the martin's.  they are said to have a sweet smell in their dung or excrement, like the Musk-cat; which proceedeth rather from the nature of the beast then from the meat which she eateth: and for an ease to gouty legs, it is good to apply these Martin's skins.  
The Zibeth or Sivet-cat, is a beast bigger than any Cat, 
The Sivet-cat.  and lesser than a Badger, having a sharp face like a Martin; a short, round, blunt ear, black without, but pale within; the eye of a blue skie-colour, the foot and leg black, and more broad or open then a Cats: It hath black claws, a black nose, and is spotted all over the body, but on the nose, with certain other marks notably described by Gesner and Topsell in their book of beasts.  
This is a beast given much to cleanliness, and from this beast proceedeth that precious drug which we call Sivet. It is an excrement not growing in the cod or secret part only, but in a peculiar receptacle by itself, increasing every day to the weight of a groat: and who they be which keep of these Cats tame, or enclosed, must remember to take away this distilled liquor every second or third day, or else the beast doth rub it forth of his own accord.  
That creature which men call a Muscat, or Musk-cat, 
The Musk-cat.  doth much resemble a Roe, both in greatness, fashion and hair, excepting that it hath thicker and grayer hairs: the feet also are hooved, and in the province of Cathay these Cats are found. This beast is that from whence the Musk proceedeth, which groweth in the navel or in a little bag near unto it; and of itself it comes to be ripe, whereupon the beast itcheth, and is pained: he therefore rubbeth himself upon stones, rocks, and trees till he break the bag; then the liquor runneth forth, and the wound closeth: but soon after, the bag comes to be full again.  
The common or vulgar Cat is a creature well known, 
The Cat.  and being young it is very wanton, and sportful; but waxing older, very sad and melancholy. It is called a Cat, from the Latin word Cautus, signifying wary; for a Cat is a watchful and wary beast, seldom overtaken, and most attendant to her sport and prey: she is also very cleanly and neat, oftentimes licking her own body to keep it smooth and fair, which she can do in every part but her head; she useth therefore to wash her face with her feet, which she licketh and moisteneth with her tongue: and it is observed by some, that if she put her feet beyond the crown of her head in this kind of washing, it is a sign of rain.  
And again, it is ordinary to be known, that the 
Why the male Cat eateth his young.  male Cat will eat up the young kitlings if he can find where they are: the reason of which is, because he is desirous of copulation, and during the time that the females give suck they cannot be drawn unto it.  
Moreover, it hath been usual for many men to play 
Wherein Cats be dangerous.  and sport with these creatures: in which regard, Topsell very fitly calleth a Cat, the idle man's pastime: affirming further that many have paid dearly for their unadvised sporting. Whereupon he tells a story of 
A story showing the danger of making Cats too familiar.  a certain company of Monks much given to nourish and play with Cats, whereby they were so infected, that within a short space none of them were able either to say, read, pray, or sing, in all the monastery: the reason of which is, because the savour and breath of Cats destroy the lungs, and consume the radical humour. Wherefore it is a means to bring any into a consumption, who shall suffer these creatures to lie with them upon their beds, for their breath (especially in a close chamber) infecteth the air: therefore they be also dangerous in time of pestilence, and apt to bring home venomous infection; in which regard it is very expedient to kill them in such perilous times, as they use to do in cities and great towns.  
And note that above all things the Cat abhorreth wet or water; from whence arose that proverb,  Catus vult piscem, sed non vult tangere lympham. 
Fain would the Cat some fishes eat,  
But loath to wet her foot so neat.  
In which she is a fit emblem of those, who will shrink to encounter with that pain which harbours and bringeth forth their wished gain. For be it so that we desire the sweetness of the well relished kernel, then must we likewise crack the hard shell; for Difficilia quae pulchra, Excellent things are hard to come by.  
Olaus Magnus makes mention of an abundance of 
Lib. 18. ●…  wild Cats in Scandivania, and where he speaketh of the Lynxes, he showeth that they devour many of these Cats: affirming moreover that the skins of these creatures are good against the sharp cold of winter; whereupon those of Scythia and Moscovia use them for garments.  
The Mouse is a creat●…re commonly of a done colour; 
The Mouse.  howbeit in differing places they have differing colours: for in some countries they be not done or ashcoloured, but blackish; in some again they be white, in some yellow, and in other some brown. In Greek he is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and in Latin Must, from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, mutire, of the piping noise which he maketh. 
q Gemin. lib. 5. cap. 6.  Some say that mice increase and decrease in the quantity of their bodies, according to the course of the moon, being ever lest when the light of that horned lamp is furthest from the full. The like also I find recorded of Cat's eyes; for (as Mr Topsell writeth) the Egyptians observed in the eyes of a Cat, the increase of the moonlight: and in the male, his eyes do also vary with the sun; for when the sun ariseth, the apple of his eye is long; towards noon it is round; and at the evening it cannot be seen at all, but the whole eye showeth alike.  

r Var. hist. lib. 1.  Aelianus writeth that Mice excel all living creatures in the knowledge and experience of things to come; for when any old house, habitation, tenement, or other dwelling place waxeth ruinous and ready to fall, they perceive it first; and out of that their foresight, they make present avoidance from their holes, and betake themselves to flight even as fast as their little legs will give them leave, and so they seek some other place wherein they may dwell with more security.  
I remember a story of a man eaten up with Mice; by 
A story of a Bishop eaten up with Mice.  which we are taught that no humane device can withstand God's judgements. There was (saith Munster) a certain Bishop of Magunce named Hatto, who formerly had been the Abbot of Fulden, and in his time there was great famine in that country: this Bishop, when he perceived the poor to faint, and to be oppressed with hunger, gathered together a great number of them into a large barn, and setting it on fire he burnt them up; saying, that they little differed from Mice, and were profitable for nothing, for they did but consume and waste the corn. Which damned trick and devilish tyranny, the great God of heaven would not suffer to go away unrevenged, for he commanded the Mice by great flocks to invade this Bishop and set upon him without pity, vexing him both night and day with purpose to devour him. Whereupon he fleeth for refuge into a certain tower compassed by the water of Rhine, thinking himself to be then safe, and free from their greedy gnawing and cruel bitings; but he was much deceived: for the Mice followed him, and like speedy executioners to perform the just judgement of God, came swimming over, and at the last gnawed such holes into his body, that they let in death, who suddenly sendeth out his soul to give an account for this foul deed. Which accident was done in the year of our Lord 914, and the tower ever since called the tower of Mice. Munster Cosmog.  
Moreover, amongst other things which the Mouse taketh great delight to eat, he useth to watch for the gaping oyster, and seeing it open, he thrusts in his head; which when the oyster feeleth, she presently closeth her shell again, and so crusheth the mouse's head in pieces. Whereupon one made this emblem, Captivus ob gulam: 
An emblem from the Mouse, concerning those who destroy themselves to serve their bellies.  whereby he deeiphereth the condition of those men who destroy themselves to serve their bellies. Or (as another speaketh) such are here signified which are altogether given to their belly, and to carnal pleasure; for satisfaction whereof, multa pericula sustinent, they undergo many dangers, and pay dear for their folly.  
The Shrew-mouse is called by the Hollanders, Molmusse, 
The Shrew-mouse.  because it resembleth a mole. For it hath a long and sharp snout like a mole, teeth very small, but so as they stand double in their mouth, for they have four rows, two beneath, and two above; and as for the tail, it is both slender and short. In Latin it is called Must araneus, because it containeth in it poison, or venom like a spider; and if at any time it bite either man or beast, the truth of this will be too apparent. But commonly it is called a Shrew-mouse; and from the venomous biting of this beast, we have an English imprecation, I beshrew thee: in which words we do indeed wish some such evil as the biting of this mouse. And again, because a cursed scold or brawling wife is esteemed none of the least evils, we therefore call such a one a Shrew.  
The Dormouse is a beast which endeth his old age every 
The Dormouse.  winter, and when summer cometh, reviveth again: which 
† Epiphan.  some have therefore made an emblem of the resurrection. They are exceeding sleepy, and fatted with it. Their hair is short, and in colour variable, only their belly is always white: and for mine own part, I ever thought them to be no bigger than an ordinary mouse, but in Gesner and Topsell they are said to be greater in quantity then a squirrel.  
The Alpine Mouse, or Mouse of the Alps, is of near 
The Alpine Mouse.  akin to the dormouse: it is almost as big as a conie, and not much unlike it, saving that their ears be shorter, and their tails longer. Munster doth thus express their natures, saying; they be much given to sleep, and when they are waking, they be either playing and skipping to and fro, or else doing something; as gnawing with their teeth, scraping with their nails, or else carrying in their mouths either straw, rags, or soft hay, or any such thing that may be good for their nests. When they live thus wild upon great hills and mountains, and are minded to go and seek their prey or food, one of them standeth in an high place to give notice to the rest when any enemy or danger approacheth; which when he perceiveth, he barketh, and then all the other catch as much hay as they can, and so come running away.  
But this is strange; 
* Munst. Co●…m.  Sometimes one and sometimes another lieth down upon his back, and as much soft hay as may be laid upon his breast and belly, he claspeth and keepeth fast with his feet, and then another of his fellows getteth him by the tail, and so with his prey draweth him home. About autumn they begin to hide themselves in their nests, the which they make so close that no air or water can hurt them: then do they lie hidden and sleep all the whole winter, yea six or seven months without any meat, rolling themselves round like unto a Hedgehog. Now the inhabitants do oftentimes observe and mark the place of their nests, and then digging away the earth until they come at them, they find them so oppressed with deep sleep that they carry them and their nests to their houses, where they may keep them sleeping until the summer, if they do not heat them at the fire, or the warm sun.  
The Rat is four times so big as the common Mouse, 
The Rat.  being of a blackish dusky colour, and is thought to belong to the kind of Mice: Howbeit you shall sometimes see a Rat exceeding the common stature, and this the Germans call 
† Topsel.  The King of Rats, because of his larger and greater body; adding moreover that the lesser bring him meat, and he lieth idle: and yet this (perhaps) may be in respect of his old age, not being able to hunt for himself. 
Dogs.   
There be of Dogs diverse kinds, neither is there any region in the world where these are not bred. And of these kinds some are for hunting, some for fight and defence, some for the Boar, Bull or Bear, some for the Hare, Cony or Hedgehog, and some for one thing, some for another. They bring forth their young ones blind, which 
An emblem from Dogs, being a caveat against too great haste in any action.  is in regard that they scratch their dams when they stir in their bellies, which makes her therefore bring them to their birth before they be come to their eyes or sight, as is in many other creatures beside: and from hence arose the proverb, Canis festinans caecos parit catulos, The hastening bitch brings forth blind whelps. Which is a fit emblem against all rashness and overhastie speed in any action: for haste makes waste, and sudden projects are seldom ripe.  
But of all Dogs the Greyhound may take the first place; 
The Greyhound.  he exceedeth in swiftness, and is preserved for the chase. This is the Grecian Dog, called therefore a Greyhound.  
The Hound is of a duller temper, whose only glory 
The Hound.  is in his smell: and of Hounds there be sundry sorts, but the least is the Beagle.  
In the next rank we may place the Spaniel, whereof 
The Spaniel.  there is one for the land, and another for the water; and as the Hounds were for beasts, so these are for birds.  
Then there is the Mastiff, whose virtue is only in 
The M●…stive.  his courage, strength, sharpness of teeth, and aptness to encounter with any fierce wild beast; against which they are so cunning, that but seldom or never do they part any other than victors; and how fiercely they will fight with their own kind, is apparent: nay sometimes they have fought in defence of their masters, and either kept them safe from harms, or detected the murderers, or else in some other kind showed their love; as a little after I purpose to declare.  
And these (perhaps) at the first were the chief kinds (unless the Tumbler and Lurcher ought to be reckoned by themselves:) for concerning Mongrels, they came by commixtion of kind; which is thought to be first invented by hunters, for the amendment of some natural defect which they might find in those of a single kind. And then again, these Mongrels mixing likewise diversely, have produced those several seeming kinds which now are.  
And as for your mimic Dogs, it is supposed that they came first from a commixtion of Dogs with Apes, or Apes with Bitch's. Other Curs have had either Wolves, Foxes, or some such like creatures to be their Sires; as many think.  

a Bark. in his Summ. ●…onum. A story of a loving Dog.  Lysimachus had a Dog which waited on him both in the wars and elsewhere: at the last dying and being brought to be burned (according to the custom of the country) the poor Dog leapt into the flames, and was burned with him. And when Titus Sabinius, with his family, was put to death at Rome, one of their Dogs would never be driven from his master, and being offered meat, he took it up and carried it to the mouth of his dead master, endeavouring to have him eat; and when the dead carcase was cast into the river Tiber, the Dog swum after, labouring by all means possible to lift his master out of the waters. Neither is it other than a credible 
Another story.  report out of Plutarch, that as King Pyrrhus marched with his army, he happened to pass by a Dog which guarded the body of his master, who lay dead upon the highway; which when the King had beheld a while as a pitiful spectacle, he was advertised that this was the third day of the poor Dogs fasting and watching there. Whereupon the king commanded the body to be buried, and the Dog for his fidelity and love to be kept and cherished. Not long after the King happened to make a muster of his army, to see how well they were furnished; and the Dog being by, remained sad and mute, until at the last he espied the parties who murdered his late master, and then he flieth upon them with such a wonderful force and fury that they had like to have been torn in pieces by him, turning himself now this way, and then that way, earnestly beholding the King as if he desired justice, howling most pitifully; whereupon the King caused the said men to be committed, examined, and racked: and then not able to conceal it any longer, they confess the fact and are put to death. The like also was once 
Another story.  known to happen in France: for one gentleman having killed another, the murder was discovered by the Dog of the slain man, in like manner as before; only the circumstances did a little differ: for the Dog and the suspected person were put both together in a single combat for clearing of the matter; and when the murderer could not defend himself from the fury of the detecting Dog, he confessed the whole matter: in memory whereof the manner of the fight was painted forth, and kept to be seen many years after.  
Of Apes there be sundry kinds, and many of them in 
Apes.  some thing or other do resemble either men or women; as the common Ape, the 
† Breeding in islands on the further side of Ganges, and in the Eastern mountains of India.  Satire, the Norvegian monsters, the Prasi●…n Apes which are bred in India, the Bearded Ape living in Ethiopia and India likewise, the Cepus or Martin Monkey; all which either in their shape or countenance come near to men: as also the Sphinx, which hath an head, face, and breasts like to a woman. Besides which there is the common Monkey, the Baboon, the Tartarine, not much differing from a Baboon; and the Satyrine monster, bearing the shape of a terrible beast, and fit only to be joined to the story of Satyrs. Then again there is the Simivulpa OF Apish-Fox; and in America a very deformed creature which may be fitly called the Bear-Ape; and another which is called the Sagoin. Unto which (as not impertinent) may be also added the Lamia, which is a beast living in Lybia, with paps, a face, head, and hair like a woman, though in every other part like a terrible beast, full of scales, and a devourer of such passengers as (at unawares) shall happen to come near her. And as for the Fairy tales of the Lamiaes, they nothing belong to this creature: neither be those common reports of Sphinx his 
* Aenigma in the Theban language signifieth an inroad or warlike incursion; wherefore the people complained in this sort: This Gre●…ian Sphinx robbeth us in setting upon us with an ●…nigma, but no man knoweth after what manner she maketh this ●…nigma. Tops. history of beasts, pag. 18.  riddle, any other than fables. Howbeit there is a true story of one, whose name was Sphinx, slain by Oedipus; which he could not do till he had scaled that strong fort which she had firmly builded for her own defence; and unto all but Oedipus, it proved as a thing impregnable. As for aenigma, what it was, the margin showeth.  
But to proceed and leave this digression, the common Apes must be again remembered. They be very nimble and active creatures; and for their greatest delight, it is to imitate man in his actions.  
About the mountains called Emodii, which be certain 
Alexander deceived by Apes.  hills in India, there is (saith Munster) a large wood full of great Apes, which when Alexander and his soldiers saw standing afar off, they supposed them to be enemies, and therefore were purposed to fight and set upon them: but some natives of that country being present, showed to Alexander that it was nothing but an assembly of Apes, whose contention was to imitate such things as they had seen; whereupon the King turns his battle into laughing, and his fight into merry disport and pastime.  
Moreover, I have sometimes read how these Apes are 
How to 〈◊〉▪ wild Apes.  taken. The hunters intending to catch them, use to come and set full dishes of water within sight of the Apes; and then they begin to wash their eyes and face: which done, the water is suddenly taken and conveyed away, and in the stead thereof, pots full of birdlime or such like stuff, are set in their places. Then the hunters depart a little from them; and the Apes, observing how they before had washed their face and eyes, come now presently down from the trees, and thinking to do as the men did, they daub and anoint their eyes and mouths with birdlime, so and in such a manner, that neither knowing or fearing any thing, they are suddenly made a prey, and taken alive.  
And again, there is also another device mentioned by 
* Plin. lib. ●…. cap. 54.  Pliny, and this it is. They who use to catch Apes, take unto themselves buskins, and put them on in the sight of the Apes, and so depart; leaving behind them other buskins inwardly besmeared with some such stuff as was mentioned before, with which they mix some hairs that the deceit may not appear: then do the Apes take them up, and plucking them upon their legs and thighs, they are so besnared and entangled, that thinking to run away they are deceived. Aelianus also writeth that when the Lions be sick, they catch and eat Apes, not for hunger, but for physic.  
And for the Ape, this also is her practice: when she 
An emblem from the Ape and her 〈◊〉.  hath two young ones to be nourished at onc●…, that which she loveth 
* 〈◊〉▪ 〈◊〉 . lib 5▪ cap. 10.  best shall be always held and hugged in her arms; but the other being less regarded, is more roughly used, and glad to sit upon the back of his dam, open to all dangers, little or nothing respected: and yet it so happeneth, that the neglected one commonly fareth best. For whilst the other is hugged too hard, his dam killeth him with kindness; but this rejected one liveth, although he wanteth the taste of foolish cockering. So have I sometimes seen it amongst the fond sort of partial 
Against the fondness of parents.  parents, that with too much love they often hurt some of their children, whilst the other left unto their hardest shifts, thrive and prosper in a harmless course. Non amo nimiùm diligentes, is therefore worth observing; because omne nimium is turned into vitium; and the readiest way to be soon hurt, is to be fostered up in the fondest manner. For as he that flatters an usurer, claws the devil; so he that spareth the rod, spoils the child.  
Geminianus mentions the like custom of the foolish Ape, but he applieth the emblem otherwise, directing it as an example to decipher out the folly of a covetous 
The folly of a covetous man.  man, who bears up and down in the arms of his affection, that fondling which he loveth, namely the world; but leaves and neglects other things wherein his love should show itself, casting them upon his back and as it were behind him, although afterwards it be his hap to suffer for it. For when any necessity shall urge the Ape to run, she casteth down the young one in her arms; but the other behind her, sitteth still and hinders her course; so that being oppressed she is taken. In like manner when he, whose only love and joy was in the world, is compelled by death to fly away, he letteth go that which was his best beloved, and thinking to escape the eager pursuit of his fierce tormentors, he is deceived; because the neglect of things to be regarded, lieth heavy on him, and they help now to make him wretched. It is better therefore to be poor then wicked; for it is not thy poverty, but thy sins, which shut thee ou●… from God: and (fond fool) do not they take pains without gains, labour in vain, and traffic ill, who lose their souls to ●…ll their bags? For (as Isaac showed in blessing 
In them who are blessed, the dew of heaven is before the fatness of the earth.  him who was to be blessed) the dew of heaven must go before the fragrant fatness of the fertile earth; but in him who lost the blessing, the earth's fatness goes before, and takes place of the dew of heaven.  
But do you not see the pawing Bear? he is a creature 
The Bear.  well known, and such a one as is found in diverse places of the world. 
† Lib. ●…. 〈◊〉. 3●….  Pliny describeth this beast at large, not only showing the time and manner of their birth, but also of their retreating to their caves, long time of fasting, and of sleeping there. They bring forth young within the space of thirty days after their time of copulation, which at the first be shapeless and void of form, without eyes, without hair, their nails only appearing and hanging out, each whelp being little bigger than a mouse; and these, by licking, are moulded into fashion, and day by day brought to perfection.  
This beast can fast many days, and, by sucking his foremost feet, assuage or somewhat mitigate his hunger. Some say that they can be without meat 40 days, and then when they come abroad they are filled beyond measure; which voracity, and want of moderation, they help again by vomiting, and are provoked unto it by eating of ants. But above all other things, they love to feed on honey: whereupon they will fearlessly disturb the bees, and search into hollow trees for such repast; not altogether to fill their bellies, but most of all to help a dimness in their dull eyes. Moscovia hath many such breeding bees: and Munster tells a story how a Bear seeking for honey, was the cause of delivering a man out of an hollow tree. There was (saith he) a poor countryman 
A ●…orie of a man saved by a Bear.  who used to search the woods and trees for the gain and profit of honey, and espying at the length a very great hollow tree, he climbed up into the top of it, and leapt down into the trunk or body, sinking and sticking fast in a great heap of honey even to the breast and almost to the throat: and having continued two days in this sweet prison, during which time he fed himself with honey, all hope of deliverance was quite gone; for it was impossible he should climb up and get out, neither could his voice be heard although he cried with an open mouth, especially in such a solitude and vast place of wood and trees: so that now being destitute of all help and consolation, he began utterly to despair; and yet by a marvellous, strange, and (as it were) an incredible chance, he escaped: for it so fell out that he was delivered and drawn forth by the help and benefit of a great Bear, which seeking for honey, chanced to happen upon this tree: the Bear scaleth it, and letteth herself down into the hollowness thereof, with her backparts first, in manner and fashion of man when he climbeth. Now the man in the tree perceiving this, in a great fear and affrightment, he claspeth fast about the reins and loins of the Bear, who being thereupon terrified as much as the man, is forced to climb up again, and violently to quit herself from the tree (the man in the mean time using great noises and many outcries) and so by this accident, a wished, but hopeless liberty was procured: for the Bear being feared, drew up the man and knew not of it.  
And note that in Bears their head is very weak, being contrary to the Lion, whose head is always strong. And therefore when necessity urgeth that the Bear must needs tumble down from some high rock, she tumbleth and rolleth with her head covered between her claws, and oftentimes by dusts and knocks, in gravel and sand, they are almost exanimate and without life.  
Neither is it seldom that their tender heads catch deadly wounds, although they cannot quickly feel them, by reason of their ardent love to honey. For (as 
* N●…rth. 〈◊〉. lib. 1●….  Olaus Magnus mentioneth) in Russia and the neighbour countries they use to catch Bears with a certain engine like the head of a great nail beset round with sharp iron pegs, which they hang upon a bough just before that hole where the Bear fetcheth his honey, who coming according to his wont custom, strives to thrust it away with his head, but the more he puts it from him, the stronger it cometh back upon him; howbeit he being greedy of the honey in the tree, ceaseth not to push against the engine, until at last his many knocks cause him faintingly to fall. So have I seen many perish 
An emblem concerning the end of sins sweetness.  through their own vain and fond delights: for as the sweetness of honey causeth the death of the Bear; so the delight in sin causeth the death of the soul. 
* Gemin. lib. 5. c. 35.  Geminianus applies it thus; saying, that as the hony-seeking Bear destroys herself by her own folly, in beating back the piercing hammer; so man, who seeketh after the pleasures and delights of sin, wounds himself by pushing against the pricks: for the word of God, as a 
† Jer. 23. 29.  hammer breaking the rocks, resisteth both him and his sin; which whilst he 
* Psal. 50. 17.  casteth from him, it doth more strongly impinge upon him, and will at the last 
† Rom. 2. 16.  day judge him to perdition.  
The Bugill is of the same kind with Kine and Oxen, 
The Bugill.  and so is that other beast which we call a Byson.  
The Byson is a kind of wild Bull, never tamed, and 
Wild Bulls.  bred most commonly in the North parts of the world. He is also called Taurus Paeonicus, The Paeonian Bull: of which there be two kinds, the greater and the less. Neither do I think these to be any other than those wild Bulls of Prussia mentioned by Munster, in his book of Cosmography, saying, There be wild Bulls in the woods of Prussia like unto the common sort of Bulls, excepting that they have shorter horns, and a long beard under the chin. They be cruel, and spare neither man nor beast; and when any snares or deceit is prepared and set to take them, or if they be wounded with arrows or the like, they labour most vehemently to revenge their wounds upon him that gave them; which if they cannot do, then through madness, by rushing and stumbling on trees, they kill themselves. 
〈◊〉 hurt themselves because they cannot hurt others.   
A frantic beast, which, when he taketh harm  
And cannot give, dies whilst revenge is warm.  
Such savage beasts there be in humane shape,  
Whose moody madness makes them desperate;  
And 'cause they cannot harm their hurting foe,  
They harm themselves, and show their malice so.  
The Elk cannot live but in a cold country, as in Russia, 
The Elk.  Prussia, Hungaria, Illyria, Swetia, Riga, and such like. Olaus Magnus hath written much of this beast, and so hath Topsell out of Albertus, Gesner, and others; and Pliny describeth it to be a beast much like an Ox, excepting for his hair: but others call it Equi-Cervus, a Horse-Hart, because it hath horns like an Hart, and is used in some countries to draw men in coaches and chariots, through great snows and over ice. They be exceeding swift and strong, and will run more miles in one day, than a horse can in three, as Topsell mentions in his history of fourfooted beasts.  
The Buff hath an head and horns like an Hart, the 
The Buff.  body like a Bull or Cow, as also the feet; and most commonly the colour of an Ass: Howbeit, being hunted he is said to change his colour; which (as 
* 〈◊〉.  some imagine) cometh to pass, like as in a man whose countenance changeth in time of fear. This is that beast of whose skin men make them Buffe-leather jackets; and in Scythia it serveth to make breastplates, of strength able to defend from the sly force of a fierce dart.  
Of Deer there be more kinds than one. Amongst 
Of Deer.  those which be termed Falo-deer, there is the Buck and the Do; the one being the male, the other the female. And concerning the Red Deer, there is the Hart and Hind; the Hart being the he, and the Hind the she.  
Then again there is another sort bearing the names of Roes; of which the male is the Roebuck, and the female the do.  
These creatures are said to be their own Physicians, and (as it were) not needing the help of man, can cure themselves through a secret instinct of nature, and the providence of God their maker: for by feeding on that precious herb Dictamnum, or Dittanie, mentioned before in the third day's work, they cure themselves of their cruel wounds, and so become whole again: and for other ills, they have other herbs. The males are horned, which they cast off once every spring; and being disarmed pollard's, they use to keep themselves close hidden, 
Gemi●…. lib. 5▪ c. 42.  and go not forth to relief but by night; and as they grow bigger and bigger they harden in the sun, they in the mean time making some proof of their strength against hard trees: and when they perceive them to be tough and strong enough, than they dare boldly go abroad, thinking themselves well armed now again. 
* Lib. 8. cap. 32.  Pliny saith, they can endure to swim thirty miles endway: and when they are to pass any great river, to go to Rutilio in some isle or forest, they assemble themselves together in herds; and knowing the strongest and best swimmer, they put him in the forefront, and then he which cometh the second, stayeth up his head upon the back of the first, and all the rest in like manner evenunto the last: but the foremost being weary, the second ever takes his place, and he goes back unto the hindmost.  
The said author also witnesseth, that the right horn of an Hart is of a sovereign and precious virtue: and as a thing confessed of all, the Hart is known to fill up the number of many years; as was proved by the Hearts of Alexander, caught about an hundred years after his death, with rings and collars on them showing no less. Being hunted and ready to be taken by the hounds, they will for their last refuge fly to houses and places of resort, choosing rather to yield unto man then dogs.  
They go to Rutilio about the midst of September, and at the end of eight months they bring forth young, sometimes two calves at once: and these they practise to a nimble using of their legs from the very beginning; leading them up to high rocks, and teaching them to leap, run, and fly away as occasion serveth. A fit emblem of careful parents, who teach their children 
An emblem from the Hart; showing that children should be taught betimes▪  whilst their years be green, instructing them betimes in the right way wherein they ought to walk; according to that of Solomon, Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it, Prov. 22. 6.  
And again, in their flying to man when the hounds oppress 
Another.  them, they be fit emblems of those who fly to that God in the cloudy days of dark affliction, whom before they sought not after: for saith the Lord, In their affliction they will seek me early. And is it not often seen, that Misery can open those 
Our eyes are opened in affliction.  eyes which happiness hath closed, and abate that Tympany which prosperity hath engendered? Yes verily. For as the waters of the sun, which Curtius mentions, are cold at noon when the Air is hottest, and hot at midnight when the Air is coldest; so it is with us: our zeal is coldest in the sunshine of prosperity, but gathers heat when trouble cometh: And if trouble cannot do it, nothing can.  
Moreover, this also is not impertinent. I have read of 
Another emblem concerning those who sorrow to part with earth, although they may gain heaven.  the Hart (saith one) that he weeps every year for the shedding of his head, though it be to make room for a better. So do I see the worldling go away sorrowful at this very saying, Go, sell all that thou hast, though it be for treasure in heaven: the reason of which is, because men do not look at what they are to have, but what they are to part with; and at any time will be for one bird in the hand, rather than five in the bush: yet slight it not, but mark it well; He that consults with his body for the saving of his soul, will never bring it to heaven: neither is it any harm to lose the worse for finding of the better, nor any thing in hand too dear for that happiness which is yet to come. No matter therefore though we sow in tears, so we may reap in joy: for as the difference between time and eternity is unspeakable; so it is also, betwixt heaven and earth.  
Also, this I likewise find, that when the Hart is 
† Gemin. lib. 5. Another emblem.  taken by the hounds, or any other device of the hunters, he will then shed forth tears as well as when he casteth his head. So should a penitent and a watchful sinner, who is careful to avoid the wiles of the devil, he should not cease to weep when he seeth how he is overtaken; 
We should weep for sin, by the example of the Hart.  for there is one on high who marks his tears, and puts them up into his bottle; always pleased to see a sorrowful bespotted soul baptised in the pearled drops of repentant dew. But to proceed.  
Tragelaphus is a kind of Deer-goat, of which Gesner 
Tragelaphus.  maketh two forts; the first whereof hath horns like a Deer; the second like a Goat, but more crooked and bending backward.  
There is likewise another beast, most common in the 
The Rangifer.  Northern parts; Olaus calleth him the Rangifer: he also hath horns like a Deer, and on him men use to ride in stead of horses.  
The common Goats are easily known; but the Syrian 
The Goat.  Goats are differing, having long flapping ears like a deepmouthed hound: and of these there be two kinds, the greater and the less. Then again there is another Goat called the Rock-goat, differing from the rest: and as for the Kid, it is a young Goat, a sucker, or one newly taken from the dam.  
The Badger fighteth upon his back, and so maketh use 
The Badger.  both of his teeth and claws: the Fox makes no den, but driveth away the Badger out of his, by pissing in it.  
Sheep naturally be of a hot disposition, weak, tender, 
Sheep.  harmless, and so far from greediness, that they will live of less food than any other beast of their bigness. They be also pitiful amongst themselves; for when they perceive any one of their fellows to be sick and fainting through heat, they will stand together and keep away the sun. The rams and ewes are fit for generation from two years of age until they be ten: neither do we find any thing, either in them, or without them, which is not of some good use and profit. And note that the ewes bear their young ones in their bodies, an hundred and fifty days, and no longer, according to the common account. I have heard of sheep in some countries which have yellow fleeces; but here with us, they be always either black, white, or of a colour near to a russet. It is strange how in a great flock, every lamb should know his own dam: and pretty sport is it, to see how they will play, and skip up and down. Howbeit the shepherds find much trouble in one property belonging to these dancing creatures; for if one lamb chance to skip into a river or ditch, the rest (if they be by) will suddenly follow and do the like. In which they be emblems 
An emblem from the Lambs, concerning those who often perish by following the steps of the greatest multitude.  of those, who will rather strive to do as the most then as the best▪ and yet goodness goes not by multitude; for the most are commonly the worst: neither is a way always to be chosen for the number or quantity of companions, but for the quality; and better is it to go to heaven with strangers, then to hell with our friends. Dives therefore would have sent from the dead, to have it told his brethren. What? that the way to happiness is to follow goodness, although it be but grex pusillus, a small and little flock.  
Mares are said to have their full increase in five 
The Horse  years, but the Horse not till six. And there be some who write that an Horse should not be broken or tamed until two years of age: and first of all he is to be rubbed and chafed, and used with flattering and gentle words, his stable should be laid with stone, and by little and little he must be used to go upon the stones that his feet might be hardened. At the beginning let not him who shall fit or break him be too rough, nor weary him with running, but prove and turn him gently on both sides, and touch him rather with the stick then spur.  
They are said not only to have knowledge of their riders and keepers, but also of their generation and descent, knowing their sires and dams in such wise, that (as Pliny saith) they will refuse to couple or engender with them: which how true it is, the breeders of Horses be the best witnesses. They be apt to learn, having a greater love to exercise then any other beast. Their courage and valour is infinite, and being once trained unto it, they take an exceeding delight in the wars, and will (as it were) prepare themselves manlike for the same. Neither hath it been but sometimes, and that not seldom known, how they have 
* Pli●…. lib. ●…. cap. 4●….  mourned for the loss or death of their masters: and how apt they be to endure labour, there is none but knoweth.  
But to know a good Horse and his age, these be his 
The marks of a good Horse.  marks. He should be of one colour, excepting some mark or star to grace him; his mane ought to be thick and standing up, his loins strong, his head short, his neck must be erect, his ears small according to the proportion of his head, a broad breast, a mean belly, short hips, a large tail and somewhat curled, strait legs and equal knees, steadfast hoofs and gross, and yet not too big nor too small, and in his legs not so much flesh as bone.  
As for his age, when he is two years old and an half, 
How to know the age of an Horse.  his middle teeth both above and beneath do fall; when he is three years old, he easteth those which be like unto dogs teeth and bringeth forth new; before six, his upper double teeth do fall, and at six he supplieth his want again: at seven likewise he hath all equal, and from thence (some say) his teeth begin to be hollow: at ten his temples are also hollow, his teeth stick out, and his brows sometimes wax grey. But of this enough.  
The Gulon or jerf is a beast in the North parts of Suetia: 
The jerf.  
A fit emblem against g●…uttonie and drunkenness  Olaus Magnus hath largely described it in the eighteenth book of his Northern history, affirming that it is the most insatiable and devouring creature that is: for having killed his prey or found some carcase, he feedeth without giving over, until his belly be so full that it will hold no more, but strouteth out and is puffed up like a bagpipe; then to ease himself, he thrusteth in between two narrow trees, and straineth out backwards that which he hath eaten, and so being made empty, returneth again and filleth himself as before, and then straineth it out between the two trees, and returneth to the carcase to eat again; and thus he continueth until he hath devoured all: which being consumed, he hunteth after more, in this sort continually passing his life. Which beast (as is worthily * observed) is a fit emblem 
By Sir Richard Bark. in his Su●…▪ 〈◊〉.  of those riotous and gluttonous men, who pass whole days and nights in eating and drinking; and when they have filled themselves so full that their bodies will hold no more, they vomit up what they have taken, and then return to their carousing cups and cheer again, as though this only were their felicity, and end for which the mighty God had made them. But let them know, that (although many live as if they came but into this world to make merry and away) ruin will follow riot: and it were well for such men, as they have lived like beasts, if they could likewise die like beasts, never to live again: but (alas) they cannot; here is their misery, that they only leave their pleasures behind them, and not their sins.▪ For when Esau sells his birthright for a mess of pottage, he may wish for a blessing and not find it, although he seek with tears; or when Balthasar spends his time in damned quaffing, in stead of quenching his thirst he may drown his soul: for unless there were weight in vanity, or substance in deceiving pleasure, these men put into the balance are found too light. Wherefore, let not eating and drinking take away our stomaches to spiritual things, but let us eat to live, and live to praise the Lord.  
The flesh of this jerf is nothing wholesome for food, but their skins are precious, and used of great men to be worn in garments: and as for his name, the natives call him jerf; but in Latin he is Gulo, videlicet à gulositate, from his gluttonous feeding.  
And one thing more is yet observable. When the hunters come to catch him, they lay a fresh carcase in the place where he haunteth; that being filled, and as it were wedged in between his trees, they may set upon him and take him with ease. So is it often a wretched 
Another emblem, concerning those who are suddenly taken away in the very act of their sins.  man's case, to perish by means of that wherein he took delight; and suddenly to be taken away, even whilst he follows his wont course. But this is strange: for are men still ignorant, and yet to learn what this life is? It is a jo●…ney unto death, and every day doth make it shorter: and sometimes the nearer it cometh, the further we are from thinking of it. For security is a great enemy to prevention; and upon thought that we shall not die yet, it comes to pass that we seldom prepare to die at all.  
Make not therefore the last first, and first last; lest by being caught in thy sins, neither first nor last thou come at heaven.  
The Gorgon or Catoblepas is for the most part bred in 
The Gorgon.  Lybia and Hesperia. It is a fearful and terrible beast to look upon, it hath eyelids thick and high, eyes not very great, but fiery, and as it were of a bloody colour. He never useth to look directly forward, nor upward, but always down to the earth: and from his crown to his nose he hath a long hanging mane, by reason whereof his looks are fearful. Moreover, his feet be cloven, and his body all over as if it were full of scales. As for his meat, it is deadly and poisonful herbs; and if at any time this strange beast shall see a Bull or other creature whereof he is afraid, he presently causeth his mane to stand upright, and gaping wide he sendeth forth a horrible filthy breath, which infecteth and poisoneth the air over his head and about him, insomuch that such creatures as draw in the breath of that air, are grievously afflicted, and losing both voice and sight, they fall into deadly convulsions. Topsell.  
Next unto which I may mention the Cockatrice or 
The Basilisk.  Basilisk,, and so come to serpents. Now this is the King of serpents; not for his magnitude or greatness, but for his stately pace and magnanimous mind: for the head and half part of his body he always carries upright, and hath a kind of crest like a crown upon his head. This creature is in thickness as big as a man's wrist, and of length proportionable to that thickness: his eyes are red in a kind of cloudy blackness, as if fire were mixed with smoke. His poison is a very hot and venomous poison, drying up and scorching the grass as if it were burned, infecting the air round about him, so as no other creature can live near him: in which he is like to the Gorgon, whom last of all I mentioned.  
And amongst all living creatures, there is none that perisheth sooner by the poison of a Cockatrice, than man; for with his sight he killeth him: which is, 
n Tops. Hist. of serpents, pag. 125  because the beams of the Cockatrice's eyes do corrupt the visible spirit of a man; as is affirmed: which being corrupted, all the other spirits of life coming from the heart and brain, are thereby corrupted also; and so the man dieth. His hissing likewise is said to be as bad, in regard that it blasteth trees, killeth birds, etc. by poisoning of the air. If any thing beslain by it, the same also proveth venomous to such as touch it: only a Weasel kills it; as in the description of that beast I have already showed.  
That they be bred out of an egg, laid by an old cock, is scarce credible: howbeit, 
* Idem ibid.▪  some affirm with great confidence, that when the cock waxeth old, and ceaseth to tread his hens any longer, there groweth in him, of his corrupted seed, a little egg with a thin film in the stead of a shell, and this being hatched by the Toad, or some such like creature, bringeth forth a venomous worm, although not this Basilisk, that King of serpents. Pliny describeth the Cockatrice not to be above twelve inches long, in which regard Mr Topsell thinketh this not to be the main and great Cockatrice, but rather that worm bred out of the former egg: wherein I wish every man's judgement to be his own.  
Yet though this be a nocuous creature, it much magnifieth 
A note concerning nocuous creatures.  the power of God, in being able to make such a one by the power of his word: and as for us, both concerning this and all other hurtful things, to us (I say) is shown the miserable condition which sin hath made us subject to: for before they might have been Adam's play-fellows, all at his beck, at his service and command, none having power to hurt him, because there was no thing in him then for harm to work upon. But 〈◊〉 proceed.  
The Boas is a serpent of an extraordinary bigness; it 
The Boas.  can swallow down a little child whole without breaking any bone: for as Topsell writeth out of Solinus, in the days of Claudius the Emperor, there was such a one taken at Rome with a child in his belly.  
The Lati●…es call it Boam and Bova, from Bos, because it desireth (and so do all Snakes and Adders) to suck the milk of Cows, insomuch that he will never kill them until their milk be dried up: and then he will eat their flesh, as before he had sucked their milk.  
The Dragon is the greatest of all serpents, as some 
The Dragon.  write; and hath sharp teeth set like a saw, but his strength resteth in his tail rather than in his teeth; and therefore when he fights with the Elephant, he claspeth close about his legs: and sometimes he killeth him, but most commonly both die together; the Elephant for want of blood, and the Dragon through too great fill of blood, or else by the weight of the Elephant's body falling on him.  
He is sometimes in the 
† Munst. Epit. cos.  waters, and lieth often in his den; he sleepeth seldom, but watcheth almost continually; he devoureth beasts and fowls; and for his eyesight, it is very sharp, so that in the mountains he seeth his prey afar off. He is bred most commonly in India and Ethiopia, his greatest poison being in his tongue and gall: wherefore the Ethiopians cut away the tongue and eat the flesh. Munst. Cosm.  
Pliny saith that through the strength of poison in his tongue, it is always lift up; and sometimes through the heat of the said poison lurking there, his breath is so hot as if he breathed fire, by which contagious blast he 
* Munst.  sometimes so tainteth the air, that the pestilence proceedeth thereof. His wings will carry him to seek his prey, when and where occasion serveth.  
The Dipsas is another kind of serpent, and those 
The Dipsas.  whom he stingeth die with thirst.  
But those whom the Hypnale stingeth, die with sleep. 
Hypnale.   
Such as are stung by the Prester, die with swelling. 
Prester.   
And the wounds of the Haemorrhois procure unstanchable 
Haemorrhois.  bleeding.  
The Dart taketh name from his swift darting or leaping 
The Dart.  upon a man to wound and kill him. His use and custom is to get up into trees and hedges, and suddenly to dart from thence.  
The Amphisbena or Double-head, goeth both ways, 
The Amphisbena.  or moveth circularly with crooked windings, because he hath two heads and no tail, having a head at both ends: which (saith 
* P●…rch. An emblem concerning government.  one) is a fit emblem of popular sedition; for where the people will rule their Prince, needs must their motion be crooked; and where there be two heads, it is as if there were no head at all. Africa aboundeth with these, and sundry the other serpents.  
Cerastes is a serpent bred also in Africa, having two 
Cerastes.  horns on his head, in manner of a snail; and from thence it is that he taketh his name, being called by the Grecians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, that is to say, horned. He is about a cubit in length, and of a sable colour. His biting, for the most part, is incurable: and with his horns he can fashion out (as it were) a little coronet, whereby he 
† P●…rch.  allureth the birds unto him, and then (lying hidden in the sands, all but the head) he cunningly devoureth them. Solinus, and some others say, he hath not only two, but four horns; as may be seen in Pliny, lib. 8. cap. 23.  
The Viper hath a body long and slender, like an eel 
The Viper.  or snake; a broad head, red and flaming eyes: and as for his teeth, they be enclosed (as it were) in a little bladder, in which he carrieth his poison, from thence infusing it into the wound which he hath bitten. 
* Pli●…. lib. 1●…. cap. 62.  Some authors write, that when the Vipers engender, the male putteth his head into the females mouth, which she (being overcome with the pleasure of copulation) biteth off; affirming moreover, that their young use to gnaw themselves out of their dams bellies, there being thereby an end both of male and female, the one in the time of conception, the other in the time of birth, and are therefore called Vipers, viz. à vi pariendo: but others allege the testimony of one james Grevin, who, in the 7 chapter of his 1 book of venimes, produceth the witness of * Aristotle, saying that the Viper putteth 
† Hist. 〈◊〉. lib. 5. cap. ●…lt.  forth her young ones, enfolded in a membrane, which breaketh about the third day; and also that sometimes those which are within the belly issue forth, having gnawn asunder the foresaid membrane.  
The Slow-worm hath dark eyes and dull ears, and 
The Slow-worm.  can hear or see but little. His skin is thick, his colour is of a pale blue, intermixed on the sides with some few blackish spots: he seldom hurteth, unless by chance he be provoked.  
As for the Snake, Adder, and such like, they be common 
The Adder  amongst us; and so is that other already mentioned; viz. the Slow-worm. Howbeit we find that the Adder is a crafty and a subtle creature, biting suddenly the passers by; whereupon Jacob said that his son Dan should be Coluber in via, Gen. 49.  
This, and other serpents, who change their coats when they cast off their skins, do first of all by fasting make their flesh low and abated, and then by sliding through a narrow passage, they slip them off. Which may be a fit emblem of those, who when they go about 
An Emblem▪ from t●…e Adder▪ casting h●…s skin, concer●…ing the 〈◊〉 of abstinence and ●…asting, if it be rightly used.  to cast off their old and former sins, know that an humbling of themselves before God, in abstinence and fasting, is very good, and a great help to fit them for repentance: for it is certain, that if our belly be our god, then gula doth not only make way for Galen, and Bacchus for Aesculapius, but even for Tophet also. Whereupon we find, that Dives in hell was not upbraided only because he fared deliciously, but because it was every day. And how hard a thing it is for a man to serve any other god than his belly, who is continually used to stuff his paunch, the common practices of careless livers make apparent; for whilst they sleep, and eat, and play, they never think of heaven, nor can be fitted to slip off their old sins: but on the contrary, a retired humbleness will make them both fearful, and careful how they walk. Blame not Paul then if this be part of his b●…asting, that he could outfast, or outwatch the rest of the Apostles: for (saith S. Hierome) Ardentes diaboli sagittae, jejuniorum & vigiliarum frigore restinguendae sunt.  
Mr Purchas writeth that they have Snakes and Adders 
African Snakes and Adders.  in Africa, whereof some are called Imbumas, five and twenty spans long, living in land and water, not venomous but ravenous, whose custom is to lurk in trees, waiting there for their prey; and having taken it, they devour horns, hoofs, and all, although it be a Hart: and then swollen with this so huge a meal, they be as it were drunk and sleepy, and altogether unwieldy for the space of five or six days. Moreover he affirmeth that the Pagan Negro's roast and eat them as great dainties. 
A great serpent.   

* ●…ib. 6 cap. 3.  Aulus Gellius showeth how Attilius Regulus, the Roman Consul, in the first Punic war, encountered with a huge serpent at the river Bagrada, being forced to plant his engines and artillery against him; and killing him, his skin was sent to Rome for a monument, being no less than 120 foot in length.  
In the kingdom of Congo be certain great Dragons 
Dragons in Congo.  with wings, in bigness like to rams, having long tails, and in their chaps diverse jaws of teeth, of blue and green colour; they have two feet, and feed on flesh.  
The Pagan Negroes 
* Purch.  pray to them as gods, for which cause the great lords of the country keep them, that thereby they may make a gain of the people's devotion when they offer their gifts and oblations.  
The Scorpion is a venomous insect, somewhat fashioned 
The Scorpion.  like a crab, lobster, or crayfish; they have many legs, and carry their stings in their tails: sometimes they eat their young ones and are of diverse colours; the female is the biggest, and hath the sharpest sting. And note, that of the Scorpion is made an oil which is good against the stinging of Scorpions: and so are lovesick youngsters cured; for when nothing will help them, they may again be healed by enjoying her who gave the wound.  
The Asp is something like to a land-snake, but with 
The Asp.  a broader back; their eyes are red and flaming, and out of their foreheads grow two pieces of flesh like an hard skin: and for their poison, it is in a manner incurable. Pliny writeth that they go always two and two together, 
Plin. lib. 8. cap. 23.  and if one of them be slain, the other will follow eagerly, and seek up and down after him that slew his mate: but it is the 
* Topsell.  providence of God Almighty to give as many remedies against evil, as there be evils in the world. For the dulness of this serpent's sight, and slowness of her pace, doth keep her from many mischiefs which otherwise would be done. The best way to cure their stings, is presently to cut off the member bitten.  
There be 
† See the author of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Summarie.  they who make three sorts of them; that is to say, the Terrestrial (five handfuls long) the Hirundiner (coloured like a Swallow, and is but a handful long) and last of all the Spitter, greater than the other. Their biting causeth death within few hours: that of the Hirundiner is sudden, of the Spitter somewhat slower, beginning first with a dimness or trouble in the eyes, then with a swelling in the face, after that it proceedeth to a deafness, and last of all it bringeth death.  
Caelius Rhodiginus writeth that the Kings of Egypt did wear the pictures of Asps in their crowns, whereby they signified the invincible power of principality in this creature, whose wounds cannot easily be cured; making it thereby an emblem of the power and wrath of a King: and the priests of Egypt and those of Ethiopia did likewise wear very long caps, having towards their top a thing like a navel, about which were the forms of winding Asps; to signify to the people, that those who resist God and the King, shall perish by unresistable violence. Topsell.  
The Chameleons are admirable for their airy subtance, 
The Chameleon.  and for the changeableness of their colours; 〈◊〉 (if you will) for their airy sustenance, although they sometimes hunt and eat flies. He is of the form and greatness of a Lizzard, but hath higher legs: his ribs join in his belly as in fishes, his muzzle is long, and his tail small towards the end, and turning inwards; his skin is rough, his eyes hollow, and his nails crooked: and when he moves himself, he cra●…leth slowly like a Tortoise. See Plin. in his 8 book, chap 33.  
H●… tongue is almost half a foot long, which he can dart ●…rth as swiftly as an arrow shot from a bow; it hath a big ●…ot on the tip thereof, and is as catching and holding as ●…lue; which when he darteth forth, he can fasten to the Grasshoppers, Caterpillars, and Flies, thereby drawing them down into his throat.  
He changeth into all and every colour, excepting 
Why the Chameleon changeth colour.  white and red; whereof there be diverse opinions: some think that he changeth through fear; but this is not like, for though fear alter the colour, as we, when we are afraid, wax wan and pale, yet it will not change the body into every colour: others think that by reason of his transparency he taketh colour from those things which are near him, as the fish called Polypus taketh the similitude of the rocks & stones, where he lieth to deceive the fish: and some again join both together, for the Chameleon being in fear, swelleth by drawing in the air, and then his skin being thereby penned, is the smother, and the apt to receive the impression of the colours of things objected; agreeing in this to that of Aristotle, saying, that his colour is changed being puffed up with wind. But be the cause from whence it will, it affordeth a fit emblem 
An emblem against flattery.  or lively representation of flatterers, and time-servers who fit themselves for all companies, times, & occasions flattering any one, thereby to make fit use of every one.  
The Lizzard is a little creature much like the Eve, 
The Lizzard.  but without poison, breeding in Italy and in many other countries; the dung of which beast cleareth the sight and taketh away spots in the eye: the head thereof being bruised and applied, will draw out a thorn or any other thing sticking in the flesh.  
The Salamander is a small venomous beast with ●…ure 
The Salamander.  feet, and a short tail; it doth somewhat resemb●… the shape of a Lizzard, according to Pliny, lib. 10. c●…. 67. And as for his constitution, it is so cold, that (like 〈◊〉) if he do but touch the fire, he puts it out. They be common in India, in the isle of Madagascar; as Mr Purchas●…lledgeth ●…lledgeth, where he treateth of the creatures, Plants, and fruits of India.  
But stay; it is time to stop: I know not how to mention 
The conclusion of the first Section.  every thing; and yet there is nothing which is not worthy admiration. I made (I must confess) as much haste as I could, and yet me thinks I see both these, and thousands more, run from me flocking all together, as if they meant to dance attendance now on Man's creation; and not only show to him their due obedience and humble welcome into the world, his stately palace, but also wait to have their names according to their natures. For whatsoever Adam called every living 
Gen. 2. 19  creature, that was (saith Moses) the name thereof.  
Let us now then come to him, for whose sake all things else were made: for God made the world for Man, and Man for himself. It was therefore a dainty fancy of 
* Hug. in didase. lib. 1.  one, who brought in the World speaking to Man after this manner. Vide homo, dicit Mundus, quomodo amavit te, qui propter te fecit me. Servio tibi, quia factus sum propter te, ut servias illi qui fecit & me & te; me propter te, & te propter se. See oh man (saith the World) how he hath loved thee, who made me for thee. I serve thee, because I am made for thee, that thou mayst serve him who made both me and thee; me for thee, and thee for himself. This I will therefore add:  
Herbs cure our flesh: for us the winds do blow,  
The earth doth rest, heaven move, and fountains flow.  
United waters round the world about  
Ship us, new treasures, kingdoms to find out.  
The lower give us drink; the higher meat,  
By dropping on the ground, nigh parched with heat.  
Night curtains draws, the stars have us to bed  
When Phoebus sets, and day doth hide his head.  
One world is Man, another doth attend him;  
He treads on that which oft times doth befriend him.  
Grant therefore (Lord) that as the world serves me,  
I may a servant to thy greatness be.   

Sect. 2. The creation of Man, being created male and female, and made according to the image of God: together with the institution of Marriage, and blessing given to that estate.  
THough Mankind were the last, yet not the least. God only spoke his powerful word, and then the other creatures were produced: but now he calls a council, and doth consult, not out of need, but rather to show the excellency of his work; or indeed, to show himself: he speaks not therefore to the Angels but the Trinity, saying, Let us make man. Wherein the Father, as the first in order, speaketh to the Son and holy Spirit: and the Son and Spirit, speak and decree it with the Father: and the Father, Son, and holy Ghost, all Three in One, and One in Three, create a creature to be the other creatures lord. He was therefore the last, as the end of all the rest; the last in execution, but first in intention; the Map, Epitome, and Compendium of what was made before him.  
Three worlds there are, and Mankind is the fourth: The first is Elementary; the second a Celestial world; the third Angelical; and the fourth is Man, the little world. In the first is ignis urens, a burning fire: and this in the heavens, is ignis fovens, a nourishing and quickening fire: but in those creatures above, seated in the supercelestial world, it is ignis arden's, & amor Seraphicus, an ardent, burning, and Seraphical love: and in the fourth are all these found at once. For first, as man's body is compounded of the Elements, he hath his share of that warm fire in him. The influence of the Planets working on him, doth likewise show the second. And for the third, their hearts who burn within them, do declare it.  
Neither was he made like other creatures, with a grovelling look, or downward countenance, but with an erected visage beholding the heavens, and with lordly looks well mixed with majesty.  
He hath a body whose members are either Principal and Radical, or else Less principal and Official.  
His heart, liver, and brain, contain the vital, natural, 
The spirits, heart, liver, brain, arteries, veins, and nerves.  and animal spirits; and these are carried by the arteries, veins, and nerves. The arteries carry the vital spirits from the heart. The veins carry the natural spirits from the liver, giving nourishment to every part. And the nerves carry the animal spirits from the brain, being spirits for sense and motion, and therefore called animal spirits: howbeit, the motive nerves spring from the marrow in the back; and the sensitive come from the brain. Also know, that under every vein is an artery: for 
The veins and the arteries go together.  wheresoever there goeth a vein to give nutriment, there goeth an artery to bring the spirit of life. Neither is it but that the arteries lie deeper in the flesh than the veins, because they carry and keep in them more precious blood than the veins keep; and are therefore, not only further from outward dangers, but clothed also in two coats, whereas the veins have but one. Whereupon it is no hard thing to distinguish between these two vessels of blood, if we can but remember that the artery is a vessel of blood spiritual or vital; and the vein, a vessel of blood nutrimental: for (as I said before) the veins have their beginning from the liver, bringing from thence nutritive blood to nourish every member of the body.  
Moreover, his heart is the seat of all the passions; as in 
Passions have their seat in the heart.  one instance may suffice: for being transported with fear, we call back the blood to the heart, as to the place where fear prevaileth, the blood going thither (as it were) to comfort and cherish the heart. And whereas it may seem that our anger is seated in the gall, love in the liver, and melancholy in the spleen: it is answered, that those humours placed in the gall, liver, and spleen, are 
The humours stir up the passions.  not the seat of the passions and affections; but they are the occasion whereby the passions are stirred up: as the abundance of blood in the liver, stirreth up the passion of love, which nevertheless is placed and seated in the heart; and so of the rest.  
And again, seeing the vital spirits proceed from the 
The heart liveth first and dieth last  heart, it cannot be denied, but that this member liveth first, and dieth last.  
And as the heart was the seat of all the passions, so 
The head.  the head is a seat and place for all the senses, except the touch; for that is not only in one place, but in all and every place, being spread quite through the whole body or isle of man.  
The eyes are the windows of the body; and albeit a 
The eyes.  man have two eyes in his head, yet he receiveth but one sight at once, because the optic nerves meet both in one.  
The ears be like certain doors, with labyrinthicall 
The ears.  e●…tries, and crooked windings: and here again, although the ears be two, yet a man can hear but one sound at once, because his acoustick nerves (like to the optic nerves) meet both in one.  
His tongue discerneth tastes: and albeit he have two 
The tongue.  eyes, and as many ears, yet his tongue is single and alone. A man should therefore hear and see more than he speaketh; and when he speaketh, not wrong his heart and secret thoughts, by uttering words with a double tongue: for bilinguis is more than God made him; and double tongues shall be rooted out. Besides, the lungs be 
The lungs.  the bellows of the voice, and are seated close to the heart; to teach us, that speech ought to be the interpreter of the heart, and not that a man may speak one thing and think another.  
The nose serveth not only as a gutter for the excrements 
The nose.  of the brain to flow and pass through, but also for a pipe of respiration to give and take our living breath, and to conduct the air, and odoriferous smells, up to the brain, for the conservation and recreation of the animal spirits.  
When the head is in danger, the hand casts itself up 
The hand.  to save it. And in giving hands to man, the special providence of God is to be marked: for he hath made him to take his meat with his hand, and hath not left him to gather and take it up with his lips, as the beasts do; because that would be a means to hinder his speech by thickening his lips: as experience teacheth in those, who either by nature, or by accident, have thick swollen lips, causing them to speak in the mouth, uttering their words very badly, and indistinctly. Neither could there be so many quick conceits of the mind, or curious inventions of sundry artists, brought to perfection, without such an instrumental help as the hand.  
The feet be the bases of the body, carrying man like 
The feet.  a lordly creature, with his face from earth, and eyes to heaven; that he might thither strive to come at last, where he inhabiteth who gave him these, and all his other members else, which now I cannot stand to dilate upon at large. And when he had them all, and was framed out like a curious piece, God breathed in his nostrils 
The soul.  the breath of life, and man became a living soul: he than took his second part, when his first was finished, neither was that second made till then: for in the infusion it was created, and in the creation it was infused, to be the dweller in that house built out of clay, and reared from the dust.  
And in this last piece, God stamped his image; for it 
How man was made according to God's image.  consisted not in the figure of the body any otherwise then as the organ of the soul, and in that regard being a weapon with it unto righteousness, it had some shadow thereof. For, to put all out of doubt, the Apostle showeth how we are to understand the image of God in man; in one place speaking thus, Which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, Ephes. 4. 24. And in another place, Put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him who created him, Coloss. 3. 10. By which it appeareth that this image consisteth, not so much in any resemblance between the substance of the soul and the essence of God (though both be immortal) nor yet in the natural faculties thereof, as of understanding, will, and memory, taken as emblems of the Trinity; but in the knowledge and illumination, holiness and justice of the soul, which are now wrought in man by grace, and then were given by creation. For that image is now lost, and cannot be had till it be renewed: but the substance of the reasonable soul, with the natural faculties and powers thereof are not lost, therefore therein is not expressed this image according to which mankind was made. Mankind, and not man alone: for 
Woman made according to the image of God, as well as man.  Moses addeth, that male and female created he them; to show, that woman as well as man, was partaker of the same image: the last that had it, and yet the first that lost it; for though she were the last in creation, yet the first in transgression, as the Scripture speaketh.  
But perhaps you will think the Apostle denieth this, saying, The man is the image and glory of God, but the woman 
1. Cor. 11. 7.  is the glory of the man. In which it must be considered, that the Apostle denieth not the woman, as she is a 
How woman is the glory of the man.  creature, to be made in the image of God: but speaking as she is a wife, and considering of them by themselves, he than is more honourable and must have the preeminence; in which, the woman is rightly called the glory of the man, because she was made for him, and put in subjection to him.  
A woman's rule should be in such a fashion, 
Quarl. upon Esther, Med. 3.   
Only to guide her household, and her passion:  
And her obedience never's out of season,  
So long as either husband lasts, or reason.  
Ill thrives the hapless family, that shows  
A cock that's silent, and a hen that crows.  
I know not which live more unnatural lives,  
Obeying husbands, or commanding wives.  
But to come more nearly to the creation of Woman; she was made whilst Adam slept: For when he had named the beasts according to their natures, he was cast into a sleep: and, that God might find a help meet for him, he takes a help out of him; performing it rather sleeping then waking, that neither Adam's sight might be offended, in seeing his side to be opened, and a rib taken forth, nor yet his sense of feeling oppressed with the grief thereof: and therefore it is said, God caused, not a sleep, but an heavy sleep to fall upon man, and he slept. Which in a mystery signified that deadly sleep of the second Adam upon the cross, whose stripes were our healing and building up again, whose death was our life, and out of whose bleeding side was by a divine dispensation framed his Spouse the Church.  
It was then from the side of Man that Woman came, builded up out of a rib taken from thence: not made out of any part of his head, which (if we seek the meaning in a mystery) shows that she must not overtop or rule her husband: nor yet made out of any part of his foot, to show that man may not use her as he pleaseth, not trample or contemn her: but made out of a rib, taken from his side, and near his heart, that thereby he might remember to nourish, love, and cherish her, and use her like bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh.  
And being thus made, she is married to Adam by God himself, who brought her unto him, to show (saith 
* 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉. 1. 〈◊〉. 1. cap. 3▪ 〈◊〉  one) the sacred authority of marriage, and of parents in marriage: a mutual consent and gratulation followeth likewise between the parties, lest any one should tyrannically abuse his fatherly power, and force a marriage without either love or liking. And thus are two made one flesh; in regard of one original, equal right, mutual consent, and bodily conjunction.  
Flesh of his flesh, and bone made of his bone 
〈◊〉. 〈◊〉.   
He framed woman, making two of one.  
But broke in two, he did a new ordain  
That these same two should be made one again:  
Till singling death this sacred knot undo,  
And part this newmade one, once more in two.  
Yea since of rib first framed was a wife,  
Let ribs be Hi'roglyphicks of their life.  
Ribs coast the heart, and guard it round about,  
And like a trusty watch keep danger out;  
So tender wives should loyally impart  
Their watchful care to fence their spouses' heart.  
All members else from out their places rove,  
But ribs are firmly fixed, and seldom move:  
Women (like ribs) must keep their wont home,  
And not (like Dinah that was ravished) room.  
If ribs be overbent, or handled rough,  
They break; if let alone, they bend enough:  
Women must (unconstrained) be pliant still,  
And gently bending to their husbands will.  
The sacred Academy of man's life,  
Is holy Wedlock in a happy wife.  
And last of all, being thus made and married, they are blessed with the 〈◊〉 of increase, and multiplication in their own kind. A glorious pair, and a goodly couple sure they were, having neither fault to hide, nor shame: and yet not so much glorious in the ornaments of beauty (which made them each to other amiable) as in the majesty and sovereign power engrafted in them, to cause the creatures with an awful fear and respective dread, come gently to them, submitting like subjects to their King. Or, as one speaketh,  
— Him he made 
Ide●… ibid.   
The sovereign Lord of all; him all obeyed,  
Yielding their lives (as tribute) to their King;  
Both fish, and bird, and beast, and every thing.  
Naked these couple were, but not ashamed: and yet not impudent or shameless creatures; for shame is the fruit of sin: and therefore before sin entered, this nakedness of their bodies showed the nakedness and simplicity of their minds. All which continued, till the sly envies of subtle Satan buzzed in their ears a cunningly deceiving note, and tainted their eyes with curiosity. For the fairness of the apple helped to hatch the foulness of the fault, gave longing to the palate and action to the hand, to reach and convey it to the curious taste; and yet the taste could not then discern, how death and it went down together.  
And (certainly) if this fell not out, or happened in the evening, end, or 
* Gen. 3. ●…▪  cool of this day, it was soon after; as in the second chapter of this book I have declared. Wherefore I will now conclude, and concluding say,  
God 
* Gen. 1. 31.  saw the works which he had made,  
And good he found them all:  
If therefore now they faint or fade,  
'Tis 'cause Man caught a fall.  
For every creature 
† See Rom. 8. 19, 20, 21, 22, 23.  groaneth deep;  
A change they wish to see:  
They travail, seek, they want and weep  
Till sons of God be free.  
For than they likewise freedom have,  
No longer kept in pain:  
Come therefore quickly (Lord) we crave,  
Renew this world again:  
And in its kind (it being free)  
'Twill praise thy name as well as we.    
FINIS.  
SOLI DEO GLORIA.   

A Table of the principal and most remarkable matters contained in this book.  

ABraham: he had skill in the signs of heaven, and taught the same to the Egyptians 347 The second age of the world was from the flood to Abraham 16  
Achates the Eagles stone 295  
Adam: he fell soon after his creation 36, 37  
Adamant or Diamond, the most precious of all stones: and how to soften it 292  
Adder and his properties 490  
Adultery. An emblem against it by an example taken from the Sargon 381. Adulterous men like to the Cuckoo 406  
Aeschynomen, a strange kind of herb 273  
Affliction opens the eyes of security 480. One patient in trouble like to the stone Amiantus 299. False friends fly away in affliction 293. 405. Affliction ought to be taken patiently, by an emblem from the Camel 444  
Ages of the world 15. There be six ages, but not of equal thousands 16  
Agnus castus, and the properties 274  
Air. From the earth to the highest Firmament nothing but air 116. See more in the word Regions.  
Alabaster 291  
Alborach a beast frequent in Turkey, on which they fable Mahomet was carried into heaven 457  
Alexander deceived by Apes 472  
Alpine-mouse, and the strange properties of it 468  
Alum and the several kinds thereof 304  
Amber 303, 304. Ambergreese 368  
America. A conjecture how America came at the first to be unknown 233  
Amethyst, a stone of power to resist drunkenness 294  
Amiantus, a stone which the fire cannot hurt 299  
Amphisbena, a serpent with two heads 489  
Ampelite, a black pitchy earth of the same nature with our coals 301  
Amphitane, a stone of near nature to the loadstone 298  
Anacrampseros, an herb causing love 272. Showbread is of the same quality ibid.  
Androdamas is a stone stopping anger and fury 299  
Angels, when they were created 53. How Manna is said to be Angels food 157. The oath of the 7th Angel in the Revelation 27  
Angelica, and the virtues thereof 261  
Anger restrained by the Sardius 295. as also by the Androdamas 299  
Antiperistasis, what it is 92  
Apes and their kinds 471  
Arbore de Raise, or the tree of roots growing in India, and called the Indian figtree 280  
Arbore triste, or the sad tree 281  
Arguments to prove that the world began and must also end 2, 3  
Arion's story how to be credited 379  
Aristotle 1. he drowned himself in Euripus 210  
Armadill, an Indian beast 457  
Arsmart, or Waterpepper 259  
Arsenic rightly described, and the kinds thereof 300  
Artichoke 264  
Asbestos, a strange stone which being once fired, cannot be quenched 298  
Asp 492  
Asphaltus or black Bitumen 302  
Asterite, a stone bearing in it the image of the sun 294  
Astrologers many times too busy 10. bold and wicked 351, 352, & sequent.  
Atheists kick against the pricks 4  
Atlantic island was once, and had kings reigning in it, but now it is a sea 233  
Autumn described 356. The world was made in Autumn 32▪ 41, 42, 43, etc.   

B  
BAck. Good against strains in the back 268  
Badger 482  
Balaena, a kind of whale. Their love to their young; with an instruction from thence 368  
Barble a wary fish 383  
Barnacles or Geese which grow upon a tree 282  
Barrenness. Good against barrenness 262  
Bartas a divine Poet 4. His opinion of the world's end 9 His description of the world's ages 17. His opinion of the world's beginning 4. His opinion of the Chaos 49. His opinion of the waters above the heavens 63, 64. His opinion of the Regions 85. His opinion of wheat reigned 147. His opinion of strange waters 227. His commendation of the virtues of herbs 267. His opinion opposite to those who make the stars living creatures 322  
Basil and the virtues thereof 244  
Basilisk or Cockatrice 486  
Bat 404  
Baum or Balm 245. It is good to close wounds 246. Bees are much delighted with Baum ibid.  
Beam, a burning Meteor 90  
Beams or streams seeming to burn 133  
Beard. Good to make the beard grow 254  
Bear 475. A story of a man saved by a Bear ibid. Bears love honey 476  
Beasts. Brute beasts not to be renewed in the end of the world 6  
Beaver and his properties 452  
Beauty. The beauty of the heavenly bodies after the world is purged by fire 7  
Bees 420. They lose their life with their sting ibid. Difference of bees ibid. Their king and common-weal 421. They never breathe ibid. The female be supposed to be the drone 422. Their order of going to rest and work ibid. Their physic 423. The manner of their swarming ibid. How to keep them from stinging 244. See more in Thyme and Baum. Good against their stinging 425  
Beggars. How cunning beggars use to blister their arms and legs 260  
Belly. The belly destroyeth many, by an emblem taken from the mouse 467  
Bermuda-birds and their properties 418  
betony and the sundry virtues thereof 266  
Birds of Paradise 418  
Bitumen and the kinds 302  
Blackbird 402  
Blasting Dew 158  
Bleeding. A bleeding herb 272 For bleeding at the nose 255  
Blood. Times when it reigned blood, together with the cause 149  
Bloodstone or the Haematite 297 Spitting of blood, and how to help it 247. 303  
Boas and the properties 488  
Body. Our bodies follow the temper of the air 104. 341. The parts of the body 497, 498, 499  
Boldness. We must not be too bold in things above our reach 9  
Bole-armoniack what it is, and what it is good for 300  
Bombyx, or the Silkworm 425  
Borage 245  
Boy. A story of a Boy and a Dolphin 380  
Brain. Things good for the brain 247. A Scorpion bred in the brain 244. The animal spirits go from the brain 497  
Brass and Copper 288  
Bream 388  
Breath. Good against a stinking breath 250  
bryony and the properties 256  
Brown Umber 301  
Bruises. Good against bruises 269  
Bubo or the great Owl 402. He is thought to be an ominous bird 403  
Buff and his properties 478  
Bugill and Byson described 477  
bugloss. See Borage.  
Bulls and their natures 477, 478  
Burstning: good against them in children 260. Good against them in old folks 269  
Butterwort and the properties thereof 252   

C  
Cajetan confuted, together with Bellarmine, concerning Noah's Flood 75  
Calamarie, being a fish called the Sea-clerk 384  
Chalcedon is a stone which expelleth sadness 294  
Callicia, an herb turning water into ice 272  
Camel 443. The Horse & the Camel great enemies 444. Stuffs made of Camel's hair ibid. The Cameleopard 445  
Cantharus a chaste fish, between whom and the Sargon there is great enmity 381  
Cantharideses, what they are, and how they be dangerous 425  
Captivity. The fourth Age of the world from David to the captivity 16  
Carbuncle and the properties thereof 294  
Carp described and his goodness 388  
Carrot roots and their quality, together with the parsnep and turnip 263  
Castor and Pollux. See Helena.  
Cat. Why the male-cat eateth up the young kitlings 464. A story concerning the danger of cat's ib.  
Cedar. Some are persuaded there be cedars yet in mount Lebanon first planted by King Solomon 278, 279  
Celandine 261  
Cerastes a kind of Serpent 489  
Chalk and the nature thereof 301  
Chameleon described, and why he changeth colour so often 493  
Changing of qualities and not consuming of substance at the end of the world 5  
Chaos, and how we may consider of it 48, 49  
Chaps, or gapings in the sky, how they are caused 141  
Charadrion, a bird that cureth the jaundice 416, 417  
Charms unlawful 166  
Chaste. Rue makes men chaste, and provokes women to lust 248  
Chastity. Medicines to procure chastity 269. 274. 293. Smaradge. See more in Cantharus, as also 295  
Chevin and its virtues 388  
Children. See Parents.  
Chiliasts expect terrene pleasures in the Resurrection, as did also Cerinthus 8  
Choler. A medicine against it 256  
Crystal, what it is 296. 162  
Christ. The fifth Age of the world from the captivity to Christ 16. The last Age and times after Christ 17. An emblem of Christ's curing us, taken from the Charadrion 417  
Christians wiser than Philosophers 4  
Chrysolite, and the virtues of it. It is good against Melancholy 294  
Cinnamon, where and how it groweth 277  
Cinoper and Vermilion 300  
Cypress tree 278  
Circles about the Sun, Moon, and stars. Their causes 134. Their derivation ibid. Their significations 135  
Clouds 143. Colours in the Clouds 130. 143. Their height 144. Why they hang in the Air 145. Why red clouds are seen only in the Morning and Evening 130. Why they be of differing colours 144. What they signify ibid.  
Cloves, how and where they grow 278  
Clyster. From whence men first learned to purge by Clyster 399  
Coals, or black pitchy earth, how it is generated 301, 302  
Cock 410. Cock-fighting 411. The Lion daunted by the Cock ibid.  
Cocus, a very strange tree in India 279, 280.  
Comets, what they are 98. Their colours 99 Their fashions ibid. Their strange effects 100 Why Wars, Famines, Deaths, etc. be the effects of Comets 103. How to guess at the signification of Comets 105. Their several ends 106. They be often above the Moon 80, 81. 99 115, 116  
Comfrey and the virtues of it 268  
Conger and his goodness 387  
Conie. The Conie described 458  
Copper 288. Copperas ibid.  
Corcuta a kind of Hyaena 446  
Corns. How to cure them 270. As also how to take away Warts 244  
Coral and the properties thereof 296, 297  
costiveness, and how to cure it 269  
Covetousness, and Covetous. The covetous like to the Swam-fisk 373. Covetous rich men often slain by their heirs, showed by an emblem from the Torpedo 383. They often destroy one another, showed by an emblem taken from the Kite and Raven 394. They are many times less fruitful in children then the poor 395. The Ferret is an emblem of their weeping and unwillingness to depart with their riches 459. A story of an usurer dying ibid. & 460. The folly of a covetous man is showed by an emblem taken from the Ape 474  
Cow. Sea-cow and Calf 374  
Crane 412. He teacheth Pastors, Magistrates, and Governors, the duty of their places ibid.  
Crocodile and his properties 371  
Crow. See Raven. Sea-crow 414  
Cuckoo and his qualities 404. Who are like unto the Cuckoo 405, 406  
Cucuios, a creature whose wings shine like fire 419   

D  
DAce, or the Dare-fish 388  
Daniel was learned in the learning of the Chaldeans 347  
Darnell. The virtues of red Darnell 264  
Dart, a kind of Serpent 489  
David. The third Age of the World from Abraham to David 16  
Day. The natural beginning of the Day from whence 358, 359. Divers beginning of Days ibid. The kinds of Days 358. The intercourse between Day and Night 58, 59  
Death ought to be cheerful 413. A sinner hath his eyes opened in Death, showed in an emblem taken from the Mole 462  
Deer and their kinds 478, 479  
Dendritis, a stone which being put under a tree, keepeth the axe that cutteth it, from dulling 298  
Derogation. No derogation to the perfection of things created, although the Stars incline some men to ill 343  
Devil. He worketh many times in the Air 153. His knowledge is more excellent than Man's knowledge: and why ibid.  
Dew, what it is, and why it falleth but in the Morning and Evening 154. No Dew a sign of Rain: and why 155. Dew hurteth Sheep ibid. What may hinder Dew from falling 156. Three kinds of Dew: Common, Sweet, and Blasting Dew ibid. In those who are blessed like jacob, the dew of heaven goes before the fatness of the earth: but in those who are blessed like Esau, the earth's fatness goes before the dew of heaven 475  
Digression. A digression touching the newfound World 232, 233  
Dill and the qualities thereof 249. An old custom concerning Dill 250  
Diogenes mocketh Croesus amongst the dead 240  
Dipsas, a serpent so called 489  
Dissembling, and Dissemblers. They be like unto the Crocodile 371. See more in Flattery: as also pag. 455  
Dittanie, and the virtues of it 254  
Dogs and their kinds 469. They have sometimes showed extraordinary love to their masters 470, 471  
Dolphin described: he is very loving to man 379  
Dormouse and the kinds 467  
Dove or Pigeon described 408  
Dragon. The herb Dragon 262. A Meteor of the same name 93. A serpent so called 488. Dragons in Congo 492  
Dromedary, what kind of beast it is 445  
Drowsiness. A medicine to cure it 245. 250. 256  
Drunkard, and Drunkenness. See Gluttony. How to make a Drunkard loath his liquor 404   

E  
EAgle, King of birds 390. The Poets feign that she carrieth Jupiter's armour 127. Where she buildeth her nest: and how the young Eagles deal with a dead carcase 391. The Eagle is a pattern of domestical discipline ibid. Seducing Heretics like to the young Eagle ibid. See more 295  
Earth. The Earth made solid and conspicuous both at once 227. The Earth the World's centre 228. It signifieth a thing trodden on ibid. The earth nothing in respect of the heavens 224. The earth hath no circular motion, with a confutation of the contrary opinion 211, 212. The true Motus terrae is Germinatio terrae 214. How it hath sometimes reigned earth 151. Earth of Lemnos what it is 300. As also earth of Samos 301  
Earthquakes and their causes 229, 230. Signs of Plague & Earthquake 185. 234. The kinds of Earthquakes 231. The attendants of Earthquakes, or the Antecedentia 234. The effects of Earthquakes or the Consequentia 235, 236  
east-wind 183. Why it often bloweth up rain for a whole day. See North.  
Ebbs. See Sea.  
Eels, how they are bred, and to whom they are dangerous meat 388  
Ebony described 276. The smoke of it is good for the eyes ibid.  
Elecampane, or Enulacampana, together with the virtues of it 264  
Elephant. The Sea-Elephant, and how he is taken 370. The Land-Elephant, and how to catch him 429. The Mouse an enemy to the Elephant 432. And so are the Dragon and Rhinoceros ibid. The manner of their fight 432, 433. The Elephant teacheth two very good lessons; the one for married folks, the other for great men 433, 434. As also a third, concerning those who fall in striving to overcome others ibid.  
Elias the Rabbin: he was much deceived in his computation of 6000 years for the time of the World's continuance 11, 12  
Elk and his properties; he cannot live but in a cold country pag. 478  
Emerald, and the virtues of it 296  
Enemy. A man may sometimes make use of an Enemy 461  
Envy shadowed forth 410. The Peacock a pattern of Envy ibid. So also is the Lynx 451, 452. Some hurt themselves because they cannot hurt others, showed by an emblem taken from the wild Bulls of Prussia 478  
Ermine described 462  
Ethnics, and of their most ancient stories 2  
Euripus ebbs and flows seven times in a day 210. Aristotle was drowned there ibid.  
Exhalations and their kinds 87. Earthy Exhalations may sometimes climb into the Starry heaven 115, 116, 117. 121  
Eyes 498. A water good for the eyes 249. Another medicine for the same purpose 248. A smoke good for the eyes 276. A stone good for the same 298. 263.   

F  
FAce. To make the face fair 250. Another for the same 253. Another 255. Another 257  
Falling sickness. A medicine to cure it 259, 260. Fall of man in Autumn 35, 36  
Farmers. An excellent herb for farmers to cure the dugs of their cattle 252  
Fasting. How fasting is good and commendable 491. 467  
Fennel 249  
Ferret 459  
Feverfew 260▪ 261  
Finch 402  
Fire. What place the element of fire possesseth 118. Fire-drakes 93. The heavens seemed to burn 9●…, 93.  
Firmament. The making of the Firmament 60, 61, 64. Waters above the Firmament. See Waters.  
Fishes, their kinds, etc. 365, 366 Fishes reigned, and how 147  
Flashing Streams or Darts, a burning Meteor 91  
Flatterers, etc. 385. 401. 443. 451. 455, 456. 494.  
Flea-bane is an herb good to drive away gnats and fleas 252  
Flesh reigned, and how 148  
Flood of Noah, in what year of the world it came 20, 21. The first Age from the creation to the Flood 16, 17. How far this Flood was natural, and how far supernatural 73, 74  
Flux. How to stop fluxes 268, 269, 270. How to provoke fluxes 271  
Flying sparks a Meteor 91. Flying lances 92  
Foolish fire, or Ignis fatuus, commonly called Will with a wisp 93, 94  
Fountains of oil 225. Of the fountain Dodone 226. The original of fountains and rivers 204.  
Fox and his subtleties 448. How the Fox catcheth fleas 450. A cunning trick of a tame Fox 451. The Seafox 380  
Freckles. A medicine to cure them 257  
Friendship. Friends must not be left in danger, by an example taken from the Gilt-head 386, 387. False friends like to the Cuckoo 404, 405. Like to the Fox 451. Like to the Hyacinth 293  
Fret. Good against the fret in children 267  
Frogs reigned, and how 147  
Frost 159  
Fuller's earth 301  
Fumes and their natures 87   

G  
GAlactites, a stone sweeting out a liquor like milk 298  
Galaxia no Meteor 128. It yieldeth a part of that matter which is in New stars 121. What the Galaxia is 129  
Gardeners. A note for those who weed gardens 249  
Garlands. From whence came the first use of willow garlands 274. Garlands made of myrtle 275  
Garlic and the properties 263  
Goat and his nature 482. Dancing Goats a Meteor 91  
Ginger, and how it groweth 277  
Gluttony and drunkenness made odious by that beastly practice of the Jerf, or Gulon 48●…. 467  
God. How God speaketh to men without the tongues of men 102▪ How his providence worketh in the course of nature 350  
Gogion a dainty fish 388  
Gold the purest of metals, where it grows, and how 285  
Gorgon, a terrible beast 486  
Government. An emblem concerning good government 412. Another concerning bad government 489. The bees have a commonwealth and admirable government 421, 422  
Gout. Good against Choler and the Gout 256. Eels hurtful for those who are subject to the Gout 388  
Groaning of creatures to be delivered 5  
Great. Why great men die (for the most part) sooner than other men 103. A pattern for great men 434  
Green sickness, and what will help it 254  
groundsel, and the virtues of it 267  
Griffon, what kind of creature it is 393  
Gilt-head a pretty fish 386  
Guns and gunpowder when, and by whom invented 306. How some have censured the use and invention of guns ibid. & 307  
Gurnard a good wholesome fish 387   

H  
HAil, what it is 162, 163. Winter hail how and where it is made ibid. The sundry fashions of hailstones 164. Harm by hail ibid. How the heathens used to secure their fields from hail 165  
Hand 499  
Hare and his properties 457  
Harm watch, harm catch; as is showed by a certain example taken from that bird which watcheth to catch the flying fish 382  
Hawks and their kinds 400, 401  
Head 498. The head a seat for all the senses excepting one ibid.  
Hearing. A man should hear more than he speaketh 498  
Heart. The heart is the seat of the passions 497. It liveth first and dieth last 498  
Heavens and their derivation 76, 77. Not of a quint-essence 77▪ & sequent. Heaven's work upon man, and how 341. 104. How to understand the words Heaven and Earth mentioned in the first of Genesis pag. 48. 83. The heavens are not to be consumed according to their substance in the latter day 5. We look for new heavens and a new earth at the world's end, and how 6, 7  
Heaven and the ways thither described; as also the ways to hell 458. They which prefer earth before heaven, are like to the Camel which chooseth muddy water rather than clear 444. An emblem concerning those who sorrow to part with earth although they may gain heaven 481  
Heaviness. There is an herb which first taketh a man with an heaviness, then with sleeping, and last of all with death 272  
Hedgehog and his properties 455. A deceitful man like to the Hedgehog ibid. Other emblems taken from the Hedgehog 456. The Porcupine or mountain Hedgehog ibid. & 457  
Helena, Castor and Pollux, with what the Poets write of them 95, 96  
Hemerois a kind of serpent which procureth unstanchable bleeding 489  
Hemlock and the properties thereof 272  
Herbs of more than ordinary qualities 271  
Heron described, together with the nature of his dung, how it infesteth the Hawk, etc. 399  
Herring and his properties 387. The red herrings and red sprats have little wholesomeness in them 387, 388  
Hills. High hills 68 Hills before the Flood 71. 73  
Hippurin, an herb which is admirable in staunching of blood 271  
Hoga, a fish with wings; with an emblem concerning thriving, taken from the flying and swimming of this fish 382  
Hog. The Sea-hog 372. Another kind of Sea-hog described 378  
Hony. See Bees.  
Honeydew 157. At what time of the year Hony-dews are most common 158  
horehound and his properties 252  
Hornet. A strange fight between a Sparrow and an Hornet 424. The Badger an enemy to the Hornet 425  
Horse. The properties of the Horse and Mare 483. The marks of a good Horse ibid. How to know the age of an Horse 484  
Hot things cooled are soon congealed 160  
Housleek or Sen-green is always green, and therefore called semper vivens. It is good against Corns 270  
Housewives. A note for good housewives 255  
Humours. The Passions are seated in the heart, and stirred up by the Humours 497, 498  
Hyacinth and the virtues of it 293  
Hyaena and his subtleties 445  
Hypanall a serpent so called 489  
Hyssop and the virtues of it 253   

J. I.  
JAde. An herb to refresh a tired jade 259  
Janus. Whom the Poets pointed at in their fiction of janus with two faces 2  
Jasper stone, and the virtues thereof 295  
Ibis, a kind of Stork 394. He doth much good in destroying serpents ibid.  
Jerf or Gulon, a strange beast whose delight is only in feeding 484  
Jet and the properties of it 303  
Jews; their computation of 6000 years confuted 11, 12, 13, etc.  
Ignis fatuus, or foolish fire 93  
Infection. Sorrell good against infection 270  
Innocence taught from the Dove or Pigeon, or Turtle rather 408  
Iron, and how it groweth 289  
Israelites. The Manna of the Israelites 156. The Egyptians did not cause the Israelites to forget their ancient customs 38  
julus, his head on a flame 97  
June. Noah's flood began to cease about the beginning of june, or end of May 33   

K.  
KIng-fisher and his properties 417  
King of Sweden. His Star 108, 109. The time of his birth ibid. His speech to his soldiers 112. His speech three days before his death 113. A Memento of him for aftertimes ibid.  
Kite and his properties 394  
Knowledge in Devils. See Devils.   

L.  
Laudanum a sweet dew 158  
Lady's mantle, an herb so called, the virtues whereof are described 252  
Ladies threads, a Meteor like unto cobwebs 167. Why there be spiders in it 168  
Lamia a beast so called, and described: she hath paps, a face, head, and hair like a woman 472  
Lapis Thracius a strange stone; it sparkles and burns in water, but is quenched in oil 299  
Lapwings and their properties 416  
Lark 402  
Latona delivered by help of the Palmtree 276  
Lavender an herb, and why so called 262  
Lead, and how it is generated 289  
Leeks, and the properties thereof. Nero had a nickname given him for eating of Leeks 262. Leeks are not good for hot choleric bodies ibid.  
Leopard, how he is begotten 442  
Lettuce. Harm in too much Lettuce 268  
Licking lights, or ignis lambens 97  
Lights. Why two lights show fair weather, and one light foul 96  
Light. The creation of Light, from pag. 53 to 58. and pag. 327, 328, 329, etc.  
Lightning. The kinds of Lightning 124. Why we see the Lightning before we hear the thunder ibid. The worst kind of Lightning 125. Three kinds of Fulmen 126. Not wholesome to gaze on the Lightning 127  
Lilies and their virtues▪ 268  
Linot 402  
Lion and his properties 438  
Loadstone and the virtues of it 297, 298  
Locks. An herb which will open any thing locked 273  
Love. A pattern of Matrimonial love, taken from the Swan 413  
Loyalty. The fish called Cantharus is a pattern of true Loyalty 381  
Lungs. The Lungs are the bellows of the voice, and seated next the heart: they teach us to tell the truth 498. Hyssop purgeth the breast 253. A cure for a cough of the Lungs 252. Another for the same 253. Good to make one sing clear 256. Mists are bad for the Lungs 167  
Lynx and his properties 451  
Lyzzard what kind of creature it is 494   

M.  
MAce. See Nutmeg.  
Mad. Good against the biting of a mad dog 266. 258  
Madder is good for bruises, and of a strange property 269  
Maids. An herb for great-breasted maids 252  
Mallard better for sport then food 401, 402  
Mallows and their virtues 244  
Man and his creation 496. The world made to serve Man, and Man made to serve God 495. The fall was soon after the creation 36, 37  
Manna what it is, and whether the Manna of the Israelites were altogether miraculous 156, 157. How it is Angel's food 157  
Mantichora, a very strange kind of beast 446  
Marriage. The Marriage bed must not be abused 433. See also 413  
martin's and Ermines 462  
Mavis 402  
Mean. The meanest ought not to be contemned 369  
Megrim. A medicine for to cure the Megrim or pain in the head 453. 261  
Melancholy. A medicine to cure Melancholy 245. 250▪ 26●…  
Mermaids and Mermen, with strange stories to the same purpose 375  
Merry. Good to make one merry 245  
Metals 284, & sequent.  
Meteors and their kinds 86, 87, 88, etc.  
Milk. Good to engender Milk in nurse's breasts 249. See more in the word Nurses. Milk reigned, and how 148  
Mind. The Mind doth somewhat sympathize with the body 104, 341. Good against a troubled mind 259  
Mint, an wholesome herb 255. It is good to kill worms ibid.  
Mists; they be of two kinds 166. Why they use to stink ibid. They be very bad for the lungs 167. and a speedy rot for cattle ibid. How to judge of the weather by a mist ibid.  
Miracles, or waters of miraculous virtues 220, & sequent.  
Mole and his properties 462  
Month. The Hebrew months had no names (excepting fours of them) until after the captivity 39 The signification of the names belonging to those four 40  
Moon-wort or Mad-wort, and the strange properties thereof 257, 258.  
Moses skilful in the learning of the Egyptians 347  
Mother. A medicine for those who are troubled with the Mother 246  
Mouse described, as also the kinds of mice 465, & sequent.  
Mouseare or Pilosella 261. It is good to harden edgetools ibid.  
Mufloa a Sardinian beast 446  
Mullet and his properties 381  
Multitude. An emblem concerning those who perish by following the multitude 482  
Mummy 302. Counterfeit Mummy 303  
Musculus, a little fish, and a friend to the whale 369  
Musk-cat 463  
Mustard and the properties thereof 256  
Myrrhina what it is 157  
Myrtle 275. The Roman captains made garlands of it for triumph ibid. It was consecrated to Venus ibid. Myrtle berries have been used sometimes in the stead of pepper 276   

N  
NApeir his opinion concerning the time of the world's ending 24, 25, 26  
Naphtha a liquid Bitumen, with the kinds and properties thereof 303, 304  
Nature. The course of nature first set, than followed 35  
Natures of the stars may be known 347  
Nepenthe, an herb which expelleth sadness 271  
Newfound world, how it first grew out of knowledge 232  
Nightingale, and her commendations 402  
Noah had knowledge in the stars and signs of heaven 347  
Northwind 182▪ Why the North and East winds sometimes bring rain for a whole day 183  
Nose. The nose purgeth the brain, and conducteth smells thither 499. Good against bleeding at the nose 255  
Nothing. How the world was made out of Nothing 47, 48  
November. The fifth of November not to be forgotten 307  
Nurses. An herb for Nurses to increase their milk and make their children fair 267. With the Nurse's milk the children sometimes suck the Nurse's vices 394. Women who will not nurse their children, are like unto the Ostrich ibid.  
Nutmeg and Mace, how and where they grow 278  
Nyctilops, an herb that shines 271   

O  
OCtober. The World made in October, about the 26 or 27 day: at which time the sun entered into Libra 40, 41  
Ochre 300  
Olive. The Olive tree is green all the year 30  
One-berrie an herb, called also Herba Paris, or herb True-love 254  
Onions and their qualities 262  
Opal, a precious stone of diverse colours 269  
Ophiusta an herb dangerous to be looked on 272  
Ork. The Ork dares fight with the Whale 370  
Osprey, aravenous bird 416  
Ostrich and his properties 394  
Otter described 453  
Ovassom a Virginia beast 446  
Owl and his kinds 402, & sequent.   

P  
PAlm. The Palm or Date tree described; together with the branches, which are tokens of victory 276  
Palsy. A medicine for the Palsy 256. Other medicines for the same purpose 416. 447  
Panther, what manner of beast it is 442  
Paradise. Birds of Paradise 418  
Paradox maintained by Aristotle 1  
Parents. They ought to love their children, by an emblem from the Balaena 368. They must not use their children too harshly in their minority 396. They ought not to bring up their children in idleness, by an example taken from the Eagle 391. They ought not to be too fond over their children, by an example from the foolish Ape 473, 474. They must teach their children betimes, by an example from the Hart 480  
Parsley and the kinds thereof 258, 259  
Parsnep 263  
Partridge 401  
Passions, where they be seated 497  
Patience and humility may be learned from beasts 444  
Peacock 410. Men who make peacocks of their wives, make woodcocks of themselves ibid.  
Perch and Pike 388  
Pearl and Prawn are emblems of cheating 386  
Peevishness. A medicine against it 254  
Peionie and the virtues thereof 259  
Pelican 398. She teacheth that policy is better than strength ibid.  
Penie-ryall and the virtues of it 256  
Pepper, where and how it groweth 277. Myrtle berries were sometimes used in the stead of pepper 276  
Persons. The persons in the Trinity 45, 46, 47  
Peter. S. Peter explained concerning one day as a thousand years, etc. 13, 14  
Philosophers opinions concerning the beginning & end of the world 1  
Pheasant 401  
Phoenix 391, & sequent.  
Picea, or the Pitch tree 279  
Pigeon or Dove 408  
Pillars, burning Meteors of two kinds, round and pyramidal 90  
Pinetree 278  
Pissasphaltus. See Mummy.  
Pissing of bed. A medicine to help it 264  
Plaice, and from whence it is so called 387  
Plague. Signs of plague and earthquake 185. Good against the plague 270. 300  
Plane, a fair goodly tree. The old Romans used to keep banquets under it 277. Xerxes was strangely enamoured on this tree 278  
Plantain, or Lamb's tongue, together with the virtues of it 271  
Platea a bird which killeth Sea-crows 414, 415  
Plato pag. 1. He calleth the sea a great gulf 206. His opinion partly followed concerning the fiery matter of the stars 320  
Pleasure. How we should use our pleasures 372  
Plover and his wholesomeness 415  
Poets. Whom they pointed at by their two-faced janus' 2  
Policy better than strength, proved by an example taken from the Pelican 398. as also by an example taken from the bird Platea 415  
Polypus a fish with many feet, with an emblem of treacherous persons 385  
Pontarof a monstrous fish 378  
Porcupine. See Hedgehog.  
Porphyrio, a strange bird 417  
Poulcar, together with their cunning 460  
Poison. Things good against poison. 248. An incurable poison 251  
Predictions, and how they are warrantable 346, 347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 352, etc.  
Prester a serpent, etc. 489  
Ptissick. A medicine to cure it; as also for a stuffing in the head 250, 251  
Purple, a fish whose juice is very precious 385  
Purslain and the qualities thereof 269  
Pyrausta, a fly which liveth in the fire 425   

Q  
Quicksilver; what it is, and why so called 285  
Quint-essence. See Heavens   

R  
RAbbin. The Rabbins conceit of six thousand years is very unsound 10, 11, 12  
Rape and his virtues 264  
Rain 145. Ordinary and extraordinary rains 146. The causes of prodigious rains 147, 148, 149, etc. Why it useth to rain when the wind is down 174  
Rainbow 135. His causes 136. His colours & cause of their differences ibid. The final cause of Rain-bows 137. How to prognosticate of weather by the Rainbow ibid. The derivation of Iris, a word signifying the Rainbow 138. There was a Rainbow before the Flood ibid. What the jews used to do upon sight of the Rainbow 140. Witty applications from the colours in the Rainbow 141. A gross opinion concerning the Rainbow 139  
Rangifer a beast to ride on with horns like a Deer 481  
Rashness condemned, by an example from the Barble 383. and by an example from the hastening bitch 469  
Rats and their kinds ibid.  
Raven 395. An emblem from the Fox and Raven concerning companions in ill ibid. The Raven's skin helps digestion 396. The Night-Raven 403  
Ray or Thornback 387. His pricks afford a good medicine against the stone ibid.  
Red-lead what it is, etc. 301  
Redgumme. Good to cure it 267  
Region. No middle Region until the third day 67. The several Regions of the air, and their qualities 84, 85, 86, etc. The cause of those differing Regions 68 86.  
Remora, a little fish called the Stopfish, because he is said to stay a ship under sail 382  
Rhinoceros 434  
Rib. See Woman.  
Rivers, and from whence they proceed 204, 205, etc. A river that breedeth flies 222. A river which resteth every seventh day 224  
Robin-redbreast 402  
Roch 388  
Romulus and Remus not nursed by a Wolf 448  
Rosemary and the many properties thereof 250, 251  
Roses. The temper and virtue of Roses, together with a conserve of Roses, and how to make it 275  
Ruby what it is, and for what it is good; viz. to clear the sight, to expel sadness and fearful dreams 294  
Rue and the virtues thereof 248  
Rupture. See Burstning.   

S  
Sadness. Good against it 294, 295. 261. 271.  
Saffron 252, 253  
Sage 246. It is good for child-bearing women; good for the brain; good against spitting of blood; good for a stitch in the side, and good against the palsy 247  
Sagoin 472  
Salamander 494  
Salmon 387  
Salt and the kinds 304, 305, 306  
Saphir 293  
Sardius a kind of Onyx 295  
Sardonyx healeth ulcers about the nails, and preserveth chastity 295. Some call it a Corneoll ibid.  
Sargon an adulterous fish 381  
Saw-fish and Swordfish 370  
Scolopendra a fish of a strange property; and how we ought to resemble this fish 384  
Scorpion described 492. How to cure his sting ibid. A Scorpion hath sometimes been bred in the brain 244  
Screech-owl 403  
Sea. Why seas be salt and rivers fresh 201. Why Springs be fresh 206. Why the Sea ebbeth and floweth 208, 209, & sequent. Why fresh Waters and all Seas do not ebb 218  
Seasons of the year 354  
Security. Small security on earth, by an example from the Squirrel 454  
Selenite, a stone which follows the course of the Moon 294, 295  
Sentida, an herb of a strange property 273  
Servius Tullius, his head burning as he slept 97  
Sethim. It was that wood whereof Noah made the Ark 276  
Seven a number of rest 21  
Shad 388  
Shark 378  
Sheep and their natures 482. How sheep may catch 〈◊〉 rot 155. 252  
Shepherds purse 270  
Shooting stars a Meteor 92  
Shrew. A medicine to be used at the death of a Shrew 263  
Shrew-mouse and his properties showed 467  
Sight. Sight dulled by Leeks 262. Rue eaten fasting, is very good for the sight 248. See Eyes.  
Signs. Signs of heaven must not be abused 351, & sequent.  
Silver the best mettle next to Gold 288  
Sinne. We should weep for sin, by an example taken from the Hart 481. We should not sleep in sin, by an example taken from the Sea-Elephant 371. When the baits of sin are swallowed they must be vomited up again, by an emblem from the Scolopendra 384. The sweetness of sin in the end is bitter, by an example from the Bear eating honey 477. Those who are taken away in the very act of sin, what they are like unto 485  
Sinner. A sinner, though blind in life, seeth in death, by an example taken from the Mole 462  
Sivet-cat or the Zibeth 463  
Skirret 264  
Sleet and the cause thereof 162  
Slow-worm 490  
smaragd. Pliny makes many kinds of this stone 293  
Snapdragon, an herb of a strange property 272  
Snow 160. The matter of Snow 161. Why Snow is white ibid. Snow in the mountains and rain in the valleys, both out of one cloud; together with the cause thereof 162  
Society ought to be amongst men, by an example taken from the Stork 399  
Sole and Whiteing 387  
Sorrell and the virtues thereof 270  
Sorrow. An emblem concerning those who sorrow to part with earth for heaven 459. 481  
Sothernwood and the qualities thereof 254  
Soul. The Soul breathed into man, infused in the creation, and created in the infusion 499. God stamped his image in the Soul ibid. & 500  
Souls. Souls cannot appear after death 94, 95  
Southwinde 182  
Showbread an herb of a strange property 262. 272  
Sowthistle and the virtues thereof 267  
Sparrow and his nature 409  
Spearewort the beggar's herb 260  
Spheres▪ A figure showing their motion 317  
Sphinx, and the meaning of Aenigma 472  
Spleen. A medicine for the spleen 274  
Spring. The Spring described 355. The creation was not in the Spring 30. 32  
Squirrel described with his properties 453  
Starling 402  
Stars 311, 312, & sequent. The Stars not to be worshipped 312. Their matter and motion 315, 320. They be nourished by the waters above the heavens, and how 321, 322, 323, 324. The reason of their differing heights 324, 325. Their offices 327. 334. 354. Why they seem to twinkle 332. They work upon this inferior world 334, & sequent. New Stars 107. 114, 115. 119. The signification of Cassiopea's Star 108. 114  
Steel, and what it is 289  
Stitch. Good to give ease to one troubled with a stitch in the side 247  
Stomach. Good to strengthen the Stomach 250. Good to help digestion 396  
Stone in the body, with ●… medicine for it 387. 254  
Stones; what they are, their kinds etc. 290, & sequent. They live not a vegetative life 291. Common Stones ibid. Precious Stones 292. A Stone which follows the course of the Moon 294. A Stone which will cool seething water 296. A compassionate Stone and the reason thereof ibid. 297. A Stone of power to draw gold 299. The Loadstone 297. The Bloodstone ibid.  
Stories. A Story of a Seawoman 375. A story of a Boy and a Dolphin 380. A story of a Sparrow 409. A story concerning cockfighting 411. A story of a Lion 438. Another of a Lion 440. A story of a dying Usurer 459. A story of two much familiarity amongst Cats 464. A story of a Bishop eaten up with Mice 466. A story of a loving Dog 470. Another ibid. Another 471. A story showing how Alexander was deceived by Apes 472. A story of a Man saved from death by a Bear 475  
Stork 399. Lessons to be learned from the stork ibid.  
Strange. A rule to be observed in Strange sights 131  
Students. Mint good for students 255  
Sturgeon 384  
Su, a strange beast in the newfound world 454  
Sulphurwort; it is good for young children 260  
Summer described 356  
Sun. Whether the Sun be the fountain of light 329. Why the Sun hath sometimes seemed to dance 333. The appearance of many Suns 130. Their cause 131. What they signify ibid.  
Swallow 406. What strange things some have written of the swallow 407. It is said that she taught men first to build 408. They cure the blind eyes of their young ones with an herb; viz. Celandine 261  
Swam-fisk, a fish so called, being the most greedy of all fishes 372, 373  
Swan. The nature and qualities of the Swan 413, 414  
Swine eat no Turnips 263  
Swordfish 370   

T  
TAmarisk. It is of great virtue for the hardness of the spleen or milt 274  
Tanners. An herb for Tanners in the dressing of Leather 257  
Tarragon 264  
Tarantula and his strange properties 425  
Teeth. Good against the toothache 261. 267. How to scour the Teeth and kill the worms in them 251  
Temper. Waters of a strange temper 220, 221  
Tench 388  
Terebinth or the Turpentine tree 279  
Thirst. An herb very good for the thirsty 269  
Thrive. The thriving of a man that (upon occasion) is of two▪ trades. The emblem is taken from the flying fish 382. Some men thrive in a course which to the vulgar seems contrary, by an example taken from the Sturgeon 384  
Throat. Good for a sore throat 253  
Thrush 402  
Thunder, what it is 122. A difference in Cracks 123. Thunder sometimes without Lightning, and so on the contrary ibid. How this may be 124. The making of the Thunder-stone 125. See more in the word Lightning.  
Thyme, and the virtues thereof 259  
Time, what it is 45. Times when the World should have ended according to some men's foolish fancies 18. 22, 23, 24, etc.  
Tin 290  
Toad. An antipathy between the Toad and Rue 248  
Tobacco and the kinds thereof: Where it was first found, together with the names, qualities and virtues thereof 264, 265. The Indian women take no Tobacco 266. The time when it came first into England, and by whom it was first brought ibid. A precious salve to be made of the green leaves 265. A lesson for quaffers ibid.  
Tongue 498. The Tongue hath brought many to mischief 413. Fair tongues & false hearts 443  
Topaz, a very strange stone which stauncheth blood 295, 296  
Tophus 292  
Torch, a burning Meteor 89  
Torpedo, a benumbing fish 383  
Tortoise 374  
Tragelaphus 481  
Treachery. Treacherous persons like to the Polypus 385. Like to the Ape 401. Like to the Hawk ibid.  
Trees and their properties 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282.  
Trinity 46, 47. The Trinity showed in making of Man 496  
Trouble. One patient in trouble what he is like 299  
Trout. The Trout commended 388. The Trout like one that loves to be flattered 389. Wanton Wenches like to the Trout ibid.  
Troy and the ruins thereof lamented 240  
Turcois, a precious stone good for weak eyes: it will also show whether he that weareth it be well in health 296  
Turnip 263  
Turtle 408  
Tiger and his properties 441   

V  
VAliant. He is truly valiant that can overcome himself 441  
Vapours; their nature, and why they be warm 87  
Veins and Arteries how they differ 497  
Vermilion 300. The Romans used to paint their gods with Vermilion ibid.  
Vertigo. How to cure it 261  
Violets and their virtues 269  
Viper 490  
Virginia Dogs 447  
Vitriol 304  
Unicorn of the sea 370  
Unicorn of the land 435. That there is such a beast 436. A description of the Unicorns horn ibid. How to catch the Unicorns 437  
Urine. Dill is good to provoke Urine 249  
Use of things is often times turned into an abuse 265. We ought to make the best uses of the strangest things 227▪ 131, 132   

W  
WArts and their cure 244. 263  
Wasps 423  
Watery Meteors 142  
Water-cresses and their virtues 253  

Waters. Waters above the heavens 62, 63, 64, 65, & sequent. Their use and profit 322, 323. The Waters gathered together 190. How they were gathered together 191. How to one place, seeing there be many Seas, Lakes and Rivers 192. Whether they be higher than the earth 194. Whether there be more Water than earth 199. The benefit and use of Waters 207. Why fresh Waters do not ebb and flow 218  
Water used in stead of Vinegar 220. Water used in stead of burnt wine ibid. Water making drunk ibid. A Water deadly to beasts, and not to men 221. A killing and a purging Water ibid. A Water making horses m●…d ibid. A cold Water setting cloth on fire ibid. A Water which is hot enough either to boil, roast, ●…r bake ibid. A Water which maketh oxen white 222. A Water which changeth the colours either of sheep or horses ibid. A Water cold in the day and hot in the night 223. A Water which turueth wood into stone 224. Poyso●…ing Waters ibid. A Water which makes cattle give black milk 224. A Water which makes men mad 225. A Water which spoils the memory ibid. A Water procuring lust ibid. A Water causing barrenness ibid.   
Weasel and his properties 460, 461  
Well. A strange w●…ll in Idumea 224  
West-winde●… quality 183  
Whale 366. Their kinds 367, &c  
Wheat reigned 147  
Whirlwinds, Storm-windes, and fired Whirlwinds 185, 186  
Willow and Willow-garlands 274  
Willow-wort and his properties: it is of a contrary nature to the herb Betonie 270  
Wind in the body, how to expel it 249  
Wind. Divers opinions concerning Wind 168, 169. W●…nde is more than the motion of the air 171. Poet's fictions concerning Wind 172. How God bringeth the Winds out of his treasures 169. The Wind not moved by Angels 170. Why it useth to rain when the wind is down 174. What Wind is, upon what causes it dependeth, and how it is moved 173. Why we cannot see the matter of Wind 177. How that place is to be understood in the 3 of John concerning the blowing of the Wind 178. Aire moved augments the Wind 174. How the Winds are moved, and by what 175. In what place the motion the Wind beginneth 176. Particular winds 177. Why the wind bloweth not always one way ibid. Opposit●… ibid. Oblique winds ibid. Whisking winds ibid. The division, names, and number of the Winds 178. Mariners reckon two and thirty Winds 179. The nature and quality of the Winds 181. The effects of a long-continuing Wind 184. Why the East and North winds bring rain sometimes for a whole day together 183  
Windows of heaven opened in the Flood, and what they were 69  
Winter described 357. A warm Winter hurtful 161  
Witches; they sell winds to seamen 153  
Wood-pecker; how she useth to unwedge the hole of her nest 258  
Wolf and his properties 447  
Wolf-bane and the strange properties thereof 251  
Wool reigned, and how 152  
Woman. She was made after the image of God as well as the man 500 How she is said to be the glory of the Man ibid. Why she was made out of a Rib 501. Wherein a woman's rule ought to consist 501, 502. Child-bearing women. Sage is good for them 247. The smell of Dragon very bad for those who are newly conceived with child 262. The herb Showbread is also very hurtful, and causeth instant abortion ibid. How a doubting woman may know whether she be with child 263. How a woman burying her husband may save her credit 256  
World. The World not eternal, and must also end 2. The manner how it must end 4. Impostors concerning the end 18, & sequent. When it was created 28, & sequent. Why it was not made perfect in an instant 50, 51. It decayeth daily 78, 79  
Worms in the belly, with means to cure them 253. 255  
Worms reigned, and how 147  
Wren 402   

Y  
YArrow and the properties thereof 267  
Years. The examination of the name, length, diverse beginning, and kind of Years 360, 361, 362, 363   

Z  
ZAnchie: his opinion of the jewish tradition which they take from the Rabbin Elias 13. His opinion of certain strange and prodigious rains 154  
Zebra, a beast of an excellent comeliness 446  
Zibeth or the Sivet-cat 463   
FINIS.