358 _ Thenineandtwentieth Booke 
the fame which gave the wound, applied thereto,will healeir:asalfo;that as many ashaveatany G 
time {upped the broth wherein a Vipers liver was boiled, fhall never afterwards bee{miteen.or 
ftung by ferpents. : rove beitifed) yod2 :2nonmg@aiec: [slo IBBIe 
As for Snakes, venomous they arenot butatfometimes ofthe monthwhen theyfeelthem- 
{elves moved by the inftigation of the Mooné: but contratiwile they bee:poodfor thofe which 
chaunce to be {tung by them, ifthey be taken alive,ftamped,or brated withwwater, and therewith 
the affected place fomented, Certes they are thoughtto be medicinable inimanyrefpedts, as 1 
will hereafter declare : which is the cafe thata Snake is dedicated untothegod:of Phyficke, ARF . 
culapins. And Democritus verely talketh of many ftraunge and.wonderfull compofitionsimadeof ' 
fnakes, by meanes whereof aman may underftand the language of birds;!and) know whaethey : 
prattle onetoanother. Butto fay no,more, was not /E/calapms brought ftom Epidaucus to 
Rome in the forme of a Snake? Andkeepe we nor {till many of shat race commonly in ourliou- 
fes tame and gentle,feeding them by the hand? Surely if theiregges and young frie werenoreit- 
foones deftroied with firing them in their holes, the:worldwouldibee pefteted with them;they 
multiplic fo faft. The goodlieft and faireft {nakes to fee too, areithofe which live inthe water, and 
are called Hydra,¢.water-{nakes: but a more felland venomous ferpent, there lives not upon the 
face of the earth. Howbeit,the liver of thefe water: fnakesjif is be kept in fale. or otherwife prefer- 
ved,isa foveraigne remedie for thofe that beftung by thefamekind, » g hanebrol 
Now for the {potted Lizards, called Stellions, a {corpiori ftampedis fingular good againfk 
their poyfon. For this you muft thinke,thatof them there is made.a venomous drinke: for Jet 
him be f{trangled or drowned in wine, whofoever drinke thereof fhall find themfelves empoyfo- _ Yi 
ned,infomuch as their faces will breake forth into certaine {pots & pimplesand foulemorphew. 
And this is the reafon that our jealous dames when they would avert the affection & love of their 
husbands from thofe concubines, upon whom they fufpeét them to be enamoured, will af they 
can poffible, ftifflea ftellion in the complexion or ointment wherewith fuch harlots ufeto paint 
their vifage; by meanes whereof they Rune disfigured,and grow both foule and ill-favoured. 
Butwhatis the remedie to cleanfe the skin from fuch deformities? The yolke of an egg incorpo- 
rat with honey and falnitre,doth the feat. The gall of thefe Lizardsor Stellions punned anddif- 
folved in water, is {aid to have an attractive facultie to draw altthe WVealels about the placeto 
refort thither in companies, : } pe Metre sb ae 
Of all venomous beafts, there are not any fo-hurtfull and daungerous asisthe Salamanders, 
As for other ferpents,they can hurt but one at once,neither killthey many together : tofayno- 
thing, how when they have {tung orbitten aman, they die for very greefe and forrow thatithey 
have done fuch a mifcheefe, as if they had fome pricke and remorfe of confcience afterwards: ; 
and never enter they againe into earth, as'unworthie to be received there: butthe Salamanderis 
able to deftroy whole nations at one time, if they take not heed and provide to preventthem: 
For if he getonce toa tree, and eitherclafpe aboutit or creepe upon it, all the fruit chatitbears 
is infeCted with his venome ; and fure they are to die,whofoever ear of that fruit,and tharbythe 
meanes of an extreame cold qualitie that his poyfon hath,which dooth mortifteno lefle than if 
they had taken the Libard-baine called Aconitum. Moreoyer, fay that fhee doe but touch any 
peece of wood, billet, or hedge ftake, wherewith either a loafeisbaked,or afhive of bread tofted, 
as many as eat thereof,(hall catch their bane by it: or if one of them chauince to fall intoawell 
or pit of water,looke whofoever drike thereof, fhall bee fure to die upon ir :and that whichis 
more, if there happen never fo litcle of the fpittle or moifture which thee yeeldeth, to light 
upon any part of the bodie, though it touched no more but the fole of the foot, it isynough to 
caufe all the haire of the bodie to fall off. And yet as great and daungerous.as the poyfon of 
thefe beafts is, there bee fome creatures, and namely Swine, that eat them fafely ; focfleGue 
all istheircontrarietie and repugnancie in Nature, that it conquereth and fubduerh the faid 
poyfon: And to mortifie this venome, it foundethto good reafon, that thofe beafts fhould have 
power, which feed upon them and findnoharmehereby. Butwriterstherebeewhofay,thacthe 
flies called Cantharides,taken in drinke,or the Lizard in meat;are good forthat purpofe: befides M 
_ other things which are adverfe and contrarie therero,wherof k have alreadie fpoken & will {peake 
more in time and place convenient. As for that which the Magicians do report of the Salaman- t 
der, againft skarefires(for that thereis no other beaft butit that fcorneth the violence of the fire 
and quencheth it) furely it had bcene putin practifelong fince at Rome, in cafe their words 
ny ' | a Ae had 
