ee 
\ 
The nine and twentieth Rooke 
the nature of all things,whereof we have fo much fpoken, As wee may {ee for example in thefe 
' punies o1 wall-lice(the moft illfavored and filthie vermine of all other,and which we loth and ab- 
horre at the very naming of them)for naturally they are faid to bee adverfative to the fting of all 
ferpents, and principally of the Afpis: nay they are thoughtto bea countepoyfon againft any 
venomous thing whatfoever : and folke ground theif reafon hereupon, becaufelooke what day 
that Hens doe eatawall-louce,the fame day there {hall no Afpis have power to kill them.And it 
is {aid moreover, That the very flefhof fuch hens as have eaten fuch punies,is fingular good for 
thofe thar be flung alreadie by the faid ferpents:Other receits there be fet down by our great ma- 
fters in Phyficke,as touching this foule vermine: but thofe which carie moft modeftie witbthenr 
and have greateft refpect unto manhood and humanitie,are thefe;namely,totub or pati 
place which is {tung with the {aid wall-lice and the blond of a Tortoifetogether :alfo to chafe‘a- 
_ way ferpents,with the fmoake or perfume of them : likewife, if any beaft which hath fwallowed 
down horfe-leeches,doe take them in drinke,they will either kill them or drive them out,yea,and 
*in’what part foever they are fettied and fticke faft,they will remoove them and make themto fall 
__ Off, And yet fome there be who ule this naftie and ftinking creature in eye-falves, for they incor- 
». poracthem in falt and womans milke,and therewith annoint their eyes: yéa,and drop them in- 
to the eares with honey and oilerofat mingled together.Others there be who ufe to burne thefe 
punaifes or wall-lice,fuch efpecially as be of a wild kind,and breed upon Mallowes,and incorpo- 
rat their afhes in oile of rofes,and inttill them into the cares, Touching other medicinable pro- 
perties which they attribute unto them, namely, for impoftumes & botches that are broken and 
run,for the Quartane ague and many more maladies ; although they give direCtion to {wallow 
them downe in an egge,or elfe enclofed within wax or a beane, | hold them for lies,and therefore 
not worthie to be related in fadnefle, Marie I will not fay but there is fome probabilitie and appa- 
rence of reafon why they fhould put them in thofe medicines which are ordained for the lechar- 
gic: for furcly they are knowne to bee very proper againft that drowfinefle, which is occafioned 
by thevenome of the Afpis : to which effect feven of them bee ordinarily given in a cyath of 
water,or but foure,if the patient be a child. In cafe of ftrangurie alfo,when a man pifleth drop- 
meale,they ufe to put wall- lice into a {yringe,and fo conveigh them into the paflage of the yard. 
See the goodneffe and induftric of dame Nature,the mother of all, how fhe hath produced no 
thing in the world butto good purpofe and with great reafon, And yet here is not all that they 
report of thefe lice called punaifes : For they fay that whofoever carie two of them in a bracelet 
about his left arme, within a lock of wooll(but the fame forfvoth muft be ftollen from fome fhep- 
heard) he thall bee fecured againft thofe agues that come ordinatily in the night{eafon : but fay 
their firs ufe to returne by day time, then the faid punices ought to dee lapped in a reddith clout 
of acarnation colour. Conirariwife,the worme called Scolopendra is an enemie unto thele wall 
Jice,andkilleth them. * 
As forthe Afpides,looke whomfoever they have ftung, they die upon it with a kind of deadly 
fleepinefle and benummedneffe in all their lims: and to fay atcuth,ot all ferpents that creep up- 
on the ground, they are moft mortall, and their wounds leaft curable. The venome, if it enter 
once fo fare that it come to bloud,or doe burtouch a greene wound, there isno remedie but 
prefent death: marie if itlight upon an old fore, the daunger is not fo fpeedie, nor the force fo 
quicke. Ocherwife let the {ame bee raken in drinke to what quantitie foever, it is harmelefie and 
doth no hurt at all : for fetting afide that fencelefle drowfinefle which itinficeth, putifaction 
and infe@tion it caufeth none : which is the reafon,that the flefh of thofe beatts which die of their 
fting,is meat good ynough.1 would paufe and make fome ftay in reporting a remedie that thefe 
Afpides doe yeeld,but thar] have my warrantfrom MVarre,whom I know to have delivered the 
* At which fame,even when he was *fourefcore yeares old andeight: namely, That there is not in the world 
yearshewould fo gooda thing to cure the biting of the Afpides, as to give the partie whois wounded thereby, 
shared fome of their urine to drinke. : peait 
tell alic. ~ To comenowunto theBafiliske, whom all other ferpents doe flie from and are afraid of: al- 
beit he killeth chem with his very breath and finell that paffeth from him ; yea,and (by report) if 
he do but fet his eye ona man, it is enough to take away his life: yetthe Magicians {et grescftore. 
_ by hisbloud,and tell wonders thereof: and namely,that being of itfelfeas blacke avd as thicke 
congealed as pitch, yee when itis wafhed and diflolved, itlooketh more cleare and pure than 
*Cinaa- 
_confidering that all our medicines proceed from that convenience and repugnancie which isin G 
. 
2 ~ 
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