360 The nine and twentieth Booke 
countercharme againft all forceries and witchcrafts: andmote particularly, if a'Bat bee borne 
thrice round about a {heepe*coat,and then hanged upon the lintell of the dore, with thelheeles 
upward it will ferve for a fingular prefervative to defendthe {heepe from all fiich harmies, ‘As for 
the bloud of a Bat,they commendit highly for healing the {ting of ferpents: if together withthe . 
\ leaves ot {eeds of a thiftle itbe applied totheplace, (5 21. © ert aninyzn03 woh 
* Yet Manbi- Touching the venomous {pider called * Phalangia, they know not in Italie whatiris, forall 
olus upon Di’ there be many kinds thereof: For fome are like unto Pifmires,but thaetheybee far ah 
neth Taranulz heads be reddifh,the reft of theirbodieblacke, howbeit here & there marked with whitefpots, 
ae akind of The fting of this {pider ismore keene and fharpe than that of thewefpe.It'liveth ordinarily 
whetect thee About ovens and mils, Thebeftremedie againftthe pricke of their fting,istoprefentbefarethe _ 
_ isgreatftore gyesof the patient, another {pider of the fame kind: for which purpofe folke ufe tokeepethem 
in Apulia. in {tore when they find any of them dead, Their cafes or skins brought into pouder andtaken in 
drinke have the like effe& to young weazils orkitlings, as I have declared before, A fecond fort} 
there is of thefe venomous {piders Phalangia, which the Greekes diftinguifh from others bythe 
name of Lupus. Thofe that be ofa third kind,and yet named Phalangia, are the {piders which be 
covered all over with a certain down,and of all the reft have the biggeft heads.Cut one ofthem 
and rip the bellie,you hall find within two little wormes or grubs,which (ir it bee true that Cecé- 
divs hath left in writing)hinder women for conception, in cafethey be knit within a peece of lea- 
ther of ared deere skin, and tied to their armes or other parts‘of their bodie before the funne- 
rifing: but this vertue continueth not above one yeare. Thus have I fhewed one receit only,ofall 
¥called -dtocia thofe that *keep women from conceiving; which I may be allowed to do in regard offomewives, -] 
who being too fruitfull and overcharged with child bearing, have fome reafon to play them a 
while andteft from teeming : and therefore may bee pardoned, if they ufe fome fuch meanes - 
therefore. | : 
There is another kind of fpiders,which the Greekes call Rhagion,for that itrefembleth a black 
grape kernill: chefe havea very little mouth under their bellie,and as fhort legges,as if they were 
uoperfedt and not fully made.Looke where they bite, the paine that enfueth is much like to that 
which is occafioned by the fting of a {corpion : and their urine who are hurt by them,feemeth to 
fhew unto the eye,cobwebs floting aloft. I would fay, that this{pider were the fame that Afteri- 
on, another kind of them,butthat thefe havecertaine raies or ftreakes of white. Their fting or 
pricke caufeth loofeneffc and feebleneffe in theknees. As for the blew fpider, which carrieth a 
blacke downe or cotton, itis worfe than both the former, caufing trouble and dimneffe cf the 
eyes by their pricking, yea and vomiting of matter refembling cobwebs. And yet there is ano- 
ther Phalangium worfe chan it,;which commeth neare in fhape unto the Hornet, but that ithath 
no wings at all, and looke whomfoever it biteth, they are fureto become leane and pine away. 
The venomous {pider, called by the Greekes Myrmecion, is headed like untoan Emmet : the 
Dats bellie is blacke, howbeit marked with certaine white {pots : their {ting is as painefull as that of © 
orale four Weipes.But as touching thatkind of Phalangium which is called *Tetragnathium, there bee 
two forts thereof: The one, which is the worft of the twaine, hath the head devided dire@ly in 
the middeft with a white line; whereas in the other, the faid line or feame runneth crofle over- 
thwart. Thefe make their mouths to {well whom they havebitten, But thofe that be ofa deadafh - 
colour, and yet whitith behind, are not fo quicke with their pricke as the reft : Of which colour 
there is another fort that be alrogether harmelefle,and thefe be our common fpiders or fpinners 
which againit wals ufe to ftretch out their large webs as nets to catch poore flies. Now concer- ° 
ning the rensedies appropriarto any prick or biting of the forefaid Phalangia,there is nota bet- 
ter thing than todrinke in oxycrat,.wine and vinegre mingled together, the braines ofa Cock 
or Hen with alittle pepper. Alfo to take in drinke five Pifmires,is thought to bee a fingular medi- 
cine :and withall co make a liniment of fheeps muckeafhes,tempered in vinegre,and therwithto 
annoint the grieved place. Moreover, the faid fpiders themfelves (of any kind whatfoever) refol- 
ved and putrified in oile,ferve for thefaid purpofe. ‘ 
Asfor the mifcheevous moute called the Hardifhrew, the rennet found in a lambes maw ta- 
ken in wine, healeth the hurt thatcommeth by her biting : alfothe application of a falve made 
wich the afhes of aRams cley incorporat with honey,worketh the fame effe& :fodoth a young 
weazill or kidling, prepared and ufed in manner aforefaid in the Treatife of ferpents. If one of 
thefe {hrewes nave bitten a horfe or other beaft, itis good to lay unto the place a moufe or rat 
new 
