132 NATURAL HISTORY. 



933. There be some perfumes prescribed by the 

 writers of natural magic, which procure pleasant 

 dreams; and some others (as they say) that procure 

 prophetical dreams ; as the seeds of flax, fleawort, 

 &c. 



934. It is certain that odours do, in a small degree, 

 nourish ; especially the odour of wine : and we see 

 men a hungered do love to smell hot bread. It is 

 related that Democritus, when he lay a dying, heard a 

 woman in the house complain that she should be kept 

 from being at a feast and solemnity, (which she much 

 desired to see,) because there would be a corpse in the 

 house ; whereupon he caused loaves of new bread to be 

 sent for, and opened them, and poured a little wine into 

 them ; and so kept himself alive with the odour of them, 

 till the feast was past. 1 I knew a gentleman that would 

 fast (sometimes) three or four, yea five days, without 

 meat, bread, or drink ; but the same man used to have 

 continually a great wisp of herbs that he smelled on : 

 and amongst those herbs, some esculent herbs of strong 

 scent; as onions, garlic, leeks, and the like. 



935. They do use, for the accident of the mother, 2 

 to burn feathers and other things of ill odour ; and 

 by those ill smells the rising of the mother is put 

 down. 



936. There be airs which the physicians advise 

 their patients to remove unto, in consumptions or upon 

 recovery of long sicknesses : which (commonly) aro 

 plain champaigns, but grazing, and not overgrown 



1 See for this story Diogenes Laertius, ix. 343. 



2 Id est, hysteria. The use of the word mother in this sense appears to 

 have arisen from a mistranslation of the Italian or Spanish madre. which 

 represents the Latin matrix, as well as mater. Mother of pearl has prob 

 ably a similar origin. 



