NOTE-BOOK OF A NATURALIST. 33 



the bird never comes to these islands regularly; and but 

 a few instances of its presence here in a free state are 

 recorded, though it is so frequent on the Continent, and 

 much farther north — Russia for example. 



In the old Pharmacopoeia, which it must be owned 

 contained many a rich prescription, the white stork 

 made a great show. He who ate the flesh, roasted or 

 boiled, might safely go to the wars as far as his nerves 

 and joints were concerned ; and it was considered 

 equally potent against the more cruel domestic enemies 

 — gout and sciatica. A diet on the young was equally 

 efficient in disorders of the eyes ; and their ashes made 

 an infallible collyrium. To cure paralysis, you had only 

 to catch a young stork, clap its bill under its wing, 

 suffocate it under a pillow, chop it up, put the pieces 

 into an alembic, save the distilled liquor, and after 

 having bathed the disabled limb with a decoction of 

 crabs — without salt, mind you — anoint it with the afore- 

 said essence of stork, and follow this course alternately, 

 when, if the patient was not cured, 'twas a wonder. 

 If you should have some misgivings concerning the 

 efficacy of the nestling, consult Leonellus Faventinus, 

 and he Avill tell you that an old stork, plucked and 

 simmered in oil, till the flesh separates from the bones, 

 is just as good against the same disease as oil of vipers. 

 Take one ounce of camphor, with a drachm of the best 

 amber, place it in the belly of an exenterated young 

 stork caught before he can fly, distil it, and Andreas 

 Furnerius will assure you that you have an infallible 

 cosmetic, which we venture to state will mend com- 

 plexions as effectually as the Circassian Bloom, or 

 Rowland's Kalydor. Pliny will convince you that the 

 stomach of the bird was a specific against all poisons, 

 and Belon corroborates him. In short, not to weary you, 

 dear reader, the stork, according to these wise men, was 

 a universal medicine chest. 



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