Flinies::Naturaii Hill 



i^Tk infmitiesand imfedmmnmdent to Mmd-hem^ 

 and the remedies^ 



THcbeftcggcsthat canbe pilumder hens w^eri th'iiyfitjaTethoretWweicIai^^ 

 beforeat thciitmoft : for neither old egs^nor.yei veric new laidy begoodforithat pufpofc 

 . After that the hen hath fitten fbure daie!S5take an eg fcom>iindet=her3Jiold i 1 1 » one haiid hj 

 the narrow cnd^and look between you and the lightwitia the oihcrGtec it, ifitbc clearihiough 

 and ofone colour, it is fuppofed to benaught and tvill never proov^^chitke, and therefore put 

 B ^ another in place therof; Another experiment thereis by water:Theaddle cgge will Bote abovej 

 as cmptie;thc found and goodj will finkcto the bottome : andfuch therefore beeing fuliyare tb 

 be fet under the hen.When ye would try whether an eggebe goibd or bad intHis^afejOur coun- 

 trey wives fayj you muft not fhake them in any hand, for if thcvitallveines and parts be broken 

 and blended togither, they Will never praove.Moredvier^this muft alwaies be looked unto, that 

 yee begin to fet an hen after the change of the mpone : for if you fet her in the waine, the egges 

 will be addle and never come to be chickens.The warmer that the weather is, the fooner will fhe 

 hatch : and therefore it fallcth out,that infummer yefhall have her abroad with her brood upon 

 the nineteenth day,in winter many times it wil be 25 daies firftjf it thunder while fbe is broodie, 

 the egges will proove addle ; yea and if the hen chauiice but to Heare an hawke crie^they will be 

 C marred. The remedie againft thunderj isto put aniron naileunder the ftraw of the hens neft^bE 

 ellefome earth newly turned up with the plough. Over and befides^ there be fome cgs that will 

 come to be birds without fitting of the hen, even by; the worke of Nature oncly,as a man may 

 fee the experience in the dunghils of iEgypt. There goeth a pretie jeaft of a notable drunkard of 

 Syracufa, whofe manner was when he. went iritOithetaverne to drinke, for to. lay certaine egges 

 in the earth,and cover them with mould : and hce would not rife nor give over bibbing, u'nali 

 they were hatched. To conclude, a man or womajn may hatch egges with the very heat onely of 

 their bodie. 



Chap* lv. 



^ "^The Auguries and Prcfiges of Egges, 



Llvia JuguBa the Empreflc, wifcfometime of iV^r^?^ when (he was conceived by him^ and 

 went with tliat child [who afterwards prooved to be Tyberiti^ C^far^ beeingA'ery defirous 

 (like a youngfineladie asfhe was) to have a jolly boy, pradifed this girlilli experiment to 

 foreknow what fhe (bould have in the end: Sheetooke an egge, and ever carried it abouther in 

 her warme bofome,and if at any time fhe had occafion to lay it away, fhe would convey it clofe- 

 ly out of her owne warme lap unto her nources,ior feare it rfiould chill. And verily this prefage 

 prooved true: the egge became a cock-chicken, and ibc was delivered of afonne. And hereof 

 (it may well be) came the devife of late, to lay egs in fome warme place, and to make a foft fire 

 E underneath of fmall fl:raw or light chaffe to give a kind of moderate heat 5 but evermore the egs 

 muft be turned with a man or womans hand,both night and dayjand at the fet time, they loo- 

 ked for chickens and had them* Itisreportedbefidesofa certaine poulter, who had a fecret by 

 him(eifc,wherby he could tell furelyand never miffe^which egge would be a cock-chicken,which 

 a hen : alio of many hens that hee kept, which was every hens egge if he did but fee it. We have 

 heard moreover,that when a brood-hen chaunced to die, the cockes that ufed to tread her jwcrc 

 leen to go about witluhe chickens one after another byturnes, and to doe every thing like to 

 the very hen indeed that hatched them : and all that while to forbeare once to crow . But above 

 all it is a fport alone,to fee the manner of an hen that hath fitten upon ducks egges and hatched 

 them, how at the firfl flic will wonder to have a tecme of ducklings about her, and not acknow- 

 F ledge them for her owne : but foone after,lhe will clucke and call this doubtfull brood to her,ve- 

 rie carefully and diligently : but at the laft, when fhee petceiveth them (according to their kind) 

 ^ to take the water and fwim, how fhe will mourne and lament about the fifl>pook , that it would 

 pitie ones heart to fee them whatraone they will make* 



Chap* 



