420 The two and thirtieth Booke 
‘with any Corall,even its thatpart of the world where it growerh naturally. Thebranches of Co- G 
rall hanged about the neckes of infants and young childsenyare thought to bee afufficient pre-__ 
fervative againft all witchcraft and forcerie, Calcined by fire,and fo reducedinto afhes orpous. 
der and given to drinke in water, it helpeth thofe who are troubled with the wringing paines of 
the bellv,the greefe of the bladder,and the difeafe of the ftone. The like effleGtithath ititbe drunk | 
in wine; or ifthe patient have a feaver upon him, in water,for co procure {leep. This would be no- 
ted, that Corall doth withftand the power of fire,and long itis before it be burned and reduced 
into afhes.But furely a fingular medicine it is, fo prepared and ufed, infomuch as(by report) if a 
man keepe to it ftill and continue it long, the fame will con{ume the hardneffe and {chirrofitie of 
the {pleene. The pouder of Corall is foveraign for fuch as reach and caft up bioud at the mouth. 
The afhes enter into many mixtures and medicines for the eyes : for aftringentthey be,&coo- yy 
ling withall.Hollowulcers and fiftulaes they incarnat and fill up againe with new fleth.Skars and 
cicatrices they doc extenuat. : 
_ _ If Ithould {peake of the repugnancie and contrariétie in Nature(which the Greckes call an- 
tipathie) found in many creatures, there is not to be feene ig the whole world any thing more ve- 
nomous and adverfe to plants than the Puffens or Forkefith of thefea, called Paftinaca’: for as 1 
| heretofore noted, it hatha prickin the cail,which is able to killany trees thatbe perced or woun- 
ded withal]. And yet aconcurrentand enemie this hath,which doth perfecuteand plagueit,and 
| namely the Lamprey called Galeos; fo eager is it and greedie of the venome and poyfon of that 
fifth, There be other fithes alfo which it purfueth, butthole Puffinsefpecially:and no Weazill 
| hunteth more after ferpents. In fumme, whofoever be hurt or wounded bythe faidPuffingthis 1 
| Galeos is a prefentremedie ; fo isthe Barble alfo,andthe gum Lafer or Benjoin. | 
Cuap it | 
ee Of certaine creatures which lrve as well upon the land as the fea.Of Cafloreum, 
or the genetoirs of a Bever : the medicinable vertues thereof and 
other properties obferved theresn. agp 
He power arid majeftie of Nature is very confpicuous and vifible, even in thofe creatures 
alfo which live indifferently onland and in the water : and namely in the Bevers, which 
commonly the Phyficians call Caftores,like as their ftonesalfo Caftorea.Somehold,that 
thefe Bevers when they be neare driven and prefled by hunters,and at the point to be taken,bite 
off their owne ftones. But Sextivs, who hath written moftexa@lly in Phyficke, denieth it flatly. 
He faith moreover,thatthefe cods be fimall, knit fhort and trufied up,fo as they fticke clofe unto 
thechine bone,and cannot poffibly be taken from the beaft but the life goes away withall.By his 
faying alfo they are fophifticated; and the kidneies of the Bever which are big,be obtruded and 
~ foifted to us many times in ftead of their tones, which indeed are never found but very littleand — 
flender.F urthermore hee affirmeth, That they bee not the right {tones of a Bever when theyare _ 
feene without a twofold burfe or skin, which no living creature hath befides. In thefetwo bags’ 
there is found (faith he)a certaine oleous liquor,which ordinarily iskeptand preferved with fale: 
And therefore among other markes to know falfe and fophifticat Caftoreum is this, Ifyoufee a p 
paire of cods, hanging(as it were)knit together by one ftring in one bag.And yet the beft maybe 
fallified by the fraud and cunning of fuch as put gum thereto with {alt Ammoniack, becaufethe | 
true Bevers {tones ought to beare the colour of Ammoniacke ;to bee enclofed alfo within their 
feverall tunicles;and to lie in a certaine liquour refemb ling cereous honey, ftanding much upon 
wax ; to have a ftrong and ranke fel], a bitter,hote and fierie caft; and withall,apt to crumble be- 
_ tweene the fingers, ‘I he beft Caftoreum and moft effetuall,isbrought out of Pontus and Gala- 
tia: nextto itisthat of Affricke or Barbarie. The vertue of Caftoreum is to provoke {neefing,ifa 
man holdit to his nofe and {mell thereto.lf the head bee annointed with Caftoreum incorporat 
with oile of rofes and Harftrang, it will procure fleepe: fo will itdoe alone by irfelle given in wa- 
ter to drinke: in which refpe proper itis for the phrenfie, And yet the perfume or vaporther- p4 
* uloawmque Of“will raife thofe that lic ina fleepie lethargic : hke as a {uffumigation*or peffarie put up into the 
exanimationcs naturall partsof women, is foveraigne for the rifing of the mother ;in which fit they lie asit were 
See tes in atcaunce and outof the world, Caftoreum given to the weight of wodrams with Peniroyall 
centraies —_ ita Waterco drinke,moveth womens monthly fickneffe and forceth the afterbirth to come away.It a 
hel- 
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