of Plinies Naturall Hiftorie. we 
A *Cinnabaris. Vnto itthey attribute ftrange and admirable effets: For whofoever (fay they)carie * 4 kind of 
itabourthem, fhall be gracious with princes and great potentats,yea,and at their hands obtaine F772 
a graunt of all their petitions: they thall find favour with the gods above, and {pecd in all their <n. 
praicrs.: remediethey fhall have of all difcafes:: and no forcerie or witchcraft thal] take hold of 
them.Andfome of them therebewhocallitthebloud of Saturne, 3 
As for Dragons,they have no venome in them, Andif itbe true that our Magicians fay, if a 
Dragons head bee laid under thethrefhold of ‘adore, after due worfhip and adoration of the 
geds,with praiersand fupplications unto them fortheir favourable grace,that houle fhalliurely 
befortunat. The eyes of a Dragon preferved drie,pulverized and incorporat with honey into a 
liniment,caufe (by-their faying). thofe who bee annointed all over therewith,to fleepe fecurely, 
B without any dread ofnight-fpirits,though otherwife they were fearefull and timorous by nature. 
Moreover, if we may beleevethem,the fat growing about the heart of a Dragon, lapped within 
a peece of a Buckes‘ox Does skin, and fotied faft to the arme with the nerves or finewes ofa ted 
Deere;is very availeable,and affureth aman good fuccefle in all fuits of law. The firft foondyle 
‘or turning jointin the chine of aDragon doth promife an eafieand favourable accefle unto the 
prefence of princesand great {tates, The teeth of a Dragon lapped within the skin of a Roebuck 
or wild Goat,and fobound faft with the finewes of a Stag or Hind,doe mitigacthe rigor of great 
Jords and potentats,caufing them toencline unto their petitions & requefts, who prefentthem- 
felves before them. But above all other receits, one compofition there is which bewraieth the 
_ impudentand lying humor of thefe Magicians,who promile undoubted and infallible victorie, 
© untothofe that haveicaboutthem,and thisitis:Take(fay they)the taile and head both of a Dra- 
gon, thehaire growing upon the forehead of aLion, with a littlealfo of hismarrow , the froth 
moreover that an Horfe fometh at the mouth, who hath woon the victoric and prife in running 
arace,and the nailes befides of a dogs feet: bind all theferogether witha peece of leathermade 
of ared Deere skin,with the finewes partly of a Stag and partly of a fallow Deere,one with ano- 
therinalternative courfe: carrie this about you,and it will worke wonders. Impoftures all, and 
Joudlies. And verely, it isas gracious a deed todifcover and lay abroad thefe impudencies of 
theirs,as to {hew the remedies for the {ting of ferpents,confidering how thefe devifes be no bet- 
terthan meere mifcheefes and forceries which hurt and bewitch poor patients, and fuch as truft 
in them, True itis, that all venomous beafts flie from thofe that bee anointed with Dragons 
D greafe. Likewife they cannot abide the ftrongand virulent favour of the rat of India called Ich- 
neumen : infomuch as they ftand in dread of them who are annointed witha liniment made of 
theathes of their skin incorporat invinegre,’Moreover, lay the head of a Viper unto the place 
where fhe hath wounded one, it isa foveraignremedie;yea,though it were the head of any othet 
Viper than it which infli@ed the wound, itis infinitly good, Likewife, if aman doc hold up the 
fame Viper chat infliGted the fting,at a ftaves end over the {moake of wood burning or the vapor 
of feething water(and yer, fay they,warie ynough they bee thereof, and willavoidit) or annoint 
the place with a liniment made of her afhesburat,it is fufficientro heale the fore. Nrg/d'vs mine 
Author affirmeth, That ferpents after they have ftung one,are forced by a certaine neceffitie and 
inftintof Nature to recurne untothe partie whom they have hurt. The Scythians verely ufe to 
& 4lita Vipershead betweene the eares for to take forth alittle tone, which fheis wont to {wallow © 
when the is affrighted. Others make ufe of the whole head as it is. Certaine trochisks there bee, 
made of a Viper,called by the Greekes Theriaci : for whicli purpofe they cut away at both ends 
as well toward the head as the taile the breadth of foure fingers,they rip her bellic alfo,and take 
out the garbage within : but efpecially they rid away the blew ftring or veine that fticketh clofe 
tothe ridgebone, Which done, thereft of the bodie they feeth in a pan, with water and dill 
feed, untill fuch time as all the flefh is gone from the chine: which being taken away,and all the — 
prickie bones theretobelonging,the fleth remaining they incorporat with fine flower, & reduce 
into tcofches, which being dried inthe fhade, are referved for diverfe ufes,and eater into manie ee i 
foveraigne antidots and confeétions. But heres to bee noted, that although thefe trofches bee pimicve. oe 
& called * Theriaci;yet are they madeof Vipers fle(h onely, Some therebe, who after a Viper is natural figni- 
cleanfedas is abovefaid, take out the fat, and'feeth it with a fextar of oile untill the onehalfe bee ica yeas 
confamed: which ferveth to drive away all venomous beafts,if three drops of this ointmentbe ae, ree 
put into oile,and therewith the bodie be annointed all over. Moreover,this is held for certaine, i any wild or 
tharthere is no fting or bite of ferpents fo mortall and incurable otherwife, buttheentrailes of pan 
the 
