7 
_ of Plinies Naturall Hiftorie. 
. Cuar Xn 
by Thenature of Spunges, 
N Any forts there be of Spunges, according as I have fhewed alreadie more amply in my 
treatife of water-beafts, andthofe efpecially of the Sea, and their feverall natures: howe 
beit {ome writers diftinguith them after another manner, into male and female: forfome 
ofthem they have thought to be of the male fex,to wit ,thofe which have fmaller pipes or concae | 
vities,and thofe growing thicker and more compact,whereby they fuckeup more moifture ;and 
thefe, our delicat and daintie people, die in colours, and otherwhile give them a purple tincture. 
Others they count of the female fex, namely {uch as have bigger pipes, and the fame running 
throughout one continuitie without interruption.Of the male kind,fomebe harder than others, 
which they call Tragos; the pipes whereof are the fineft, and ftand thickefttogither. There is am 
artificial devile to make{punges looke white ; to wit, ifthe fofteft and tendreft of them be taken 
whiles they be frefh in fummer time, and fo bathed and foked well in the fome of fale: after which 
they ought to be laid abroad in theinoon-fhine,to receive the thicke dew or hoaricfrofts (if any 
fall) with their bellies upward into the aire, I meane that part whereby they cleavefaft torocke or 
fand where they grew; that thereby they may take their whitening. Thatfpunges have life, yea 
_ anda fenfiblelife,I nave prooved heretofore ; for there is found of their bloud fectled within 
them, Some writers report, that they have the fenfe of hearing, which direteth them to drawin 
their bodies at any found or noife made, and therewith to {quize out plentie of water which they 
contained within : neither can they eafily be pulled from theirrocks, and therefore muft be cut 
away 5 wherby they areieeneto {heda deale of bloud,or that which refembleth bloud very neare. 
Many doe preter the {punges growing in places expuied tothe North-wind, before any other: 
neither doe any hold and muiniaine longer in any place their owne breath, as Phyficians doe 
bold; who afarme, that for this regard they be good for our bodies, namely, It wee entermingle 
their breath with ours by application: for which purpofe, the frefhertaken and the moifter they 
be, the better they are thought: but this their operation is lefle perceived, in cafe they be wetin 
hot water, aiid fo applied : likewife if they be foked in any unCiuous liquor, or bee laid upon any 
part of the bodie annointed. This alfo is obferved by them, that the thickeft of them,to wit,fuch 
as have the leaft pipes, fticke not fo hard to a place as others, As touching the fotteft and fineft 
founges,called Penicilli, if they be applied unto the eyes after they have been fokedin honeyed 
wine, they doe allay and bring downe any {welling in them. The fame are abfterfive and fingular 
ood toclarifie and cleanfe the eyes that be given to blecrednefle sbux thofe (Lay) ought to be 
of the fineft and fofteft kind. Forto {tay the violent flux of rheumaticke humors into the eyes, 
there is nothing better thanto apply fpunges ofany fort with oxycrat, thatis to fay, vinegre and 
water: bur with vinegre alone actually hor,they be fingular forthe head-ach: and otherwife, any 
{punge thatis frefh gotten,doth difcufle,mollifie,& mitigat. Old fpunges do conglutinat & fou- 
der any wounds. Ther isa generall uf of all {punges,towipe & mundifie any place,to foment and 
bath withali: to keep off the aire alfo and cover: afer fomentation, untill another medecinebe 
made teadje for to be laid on frefh.Moreover,they be deficcative,and therfore if they be applied 
unto rheumatick and moift ulcers,and namely in old folke, they dric up the {uperfluous humors 
that find a way thither: neither is there any thing {o fit forto fomenta fraCture or greene wound, 
as {puoges.Alfo,when any part of the bodie is cut off or difmembred,what is fo handfomco fuck 
and foke away the bloud quickly, (that the cure may be throughly feen,and the order therof) asa 
{punge?Furthermore,fpunges themfelves ferve to be laid unto wounds, fomtime drie,and fome- 
time dewed or {princkled with vinegre ; one while wet in wine, another while moiftned with cold 
water,and all to defend them from inflammation: but ifthey be bathed in raine water,and {0 ap- 
plied to members new cut, they will not fuffer them to {well & impoftumat. They are befides laid 
ufvally to the found parts, where no skin is broken, if there be any hidden and fecret humor that 
runneth under the place, and putteth it to paine and trouble, fuch as needeth to bee difcufled or 
refolved: alforo impoftumes, if they be firft annointed with boiled honey. In like manner, forthe 
pain of the joyats they are proper to be applied, one while wet in vinegre with falt,another while 
dipped in vinegre and water : and if the goutbe hot, they would be laid too foked in water onely. 
The fame ipunges ought for the diffolving of hard callofities,to be wet with fale water: & againft 
: 0 0 jj the 
