Pli'mcs Naturall Hiftorie. 



A pounds.Ncxt tothefein goodncsjbethbfe thatarc madeneere unto the citie of Rome aBont 

 Veflinum : but from out of the Saeditian territorie and the plains thereabout, there come cheefe 

 that pafle all the reft. As for cheefes made of Goats milkCj they are tiot to be defrauded of their 

 duepraife, efpecially when they are frefh and new made j and if befides^they may have a littk 

 drincfle in firjokcj which giveth both a good luftre & alfb a pretic taft unto them i for fuch chee- 

 fes be made within the very cicic of Rome, and goe beyond all others* Asforthe#,e€fes rnade 

 in FrauncCjtheytaftlikea medicinCj and have an atomaticall rellilli with them. For outlaa- 

 difhcheeies beyond- fca, the Bithyniari carry the beft name. That there is a certain tartar or hit, 

 (if by nothing els) may well be knownc by the taft of the chcele made thereof ; for tberc is none 

 but the older they arcjthc more faltifbthey bee : and yetfuchare well knowne to recover theic 

 frefh taftagaine, if they bee foked in thyme -vinegrc. Some report, that Zoroaflresliy^din the 

 defert wildernes iwcntie yeeres with cheefe : the which vvas fb well tempered., that jffccmcd no- 

 thing oldj for neither it mouldedjnor yet bred vermin; ^ : I- , 



Chap, xliii; 



^ Thediference betweetie the members of dfaf/ and other creatures . 



OF living creatures upon theland, Man alone is tvvo-footed. He only haih a canncll bone: 

 andfhouldcrs; armesalfo to embrace: whereas others have ihoulders onely and fore- 

 legs to refl: upon. In all creatures th at have hands, they be flefhiewithinfotth onely: foe- 

 _ the back-part confifteth of skin and finewes. Some men there be, with fix fingers to one hand. 

 We have heard,that UMiCuriatius^'Si nobleman of Rome, had two daughters lb handed : wher- 

 upon they were furnamed Sedigiu, Alfo there was a man named Vokmm^ho was an excellent 

 Poetjand had fix fingers to anhand, whereupon he was furnamed Sedigitm, Every finger of a 

 mans hai>d hath three joints j the thumb twaine, and it bcndeih and boweth full oppofite to all 

 the reft of the fingers : and yet by it fclfe he ftretcheth awrie from the others^and is thicker than " 

 the reft of the fingers.Tlie little finger is equall in length to the thumbe : the fore- finger and the 

 fifth (orring-fiuger) arejuft of onefize.-betweenc whieh jthe middle finger is the longeft.Thofe 

 foure-footed beafts thatliye of ravine and prey, have five toes in their fore- feet, whereas others 

 have but foure. L ions,VVolves,and Dogs, and fome few others, have iikewife five toes or pawes 

 in their hin-feet, and one like a fpurre, which beareth foorth behind and hangcth downc from 

 thepafterne boneof the foot. Allother fmaller beafts have five toafoot.Thearmesof all 

 men be not of a juft andeven meafure : for it is wellknowne. That there was a Thracian fword- 

 fencer named cS'/a^/^/«if,bclongingto the fence fchoole of C, Caligula the Emperorjwhofe right 

 arme was longer than the left. Certain beafts without reafon, ufe the minifteiie of their fore- fcec 

 in ftead of hands, and as they fit upon their rumpe, reach meat therewith to their mouth 5 as th$ 

 Squirrils. 



Chap, xlihi. 



^ TherefimbUtiCcthat jipeshaveiomw, 



? - 



E A ^ the race and kind of Apes, they refemble the proportion of men perfidy in the 

 /A face, noie,eares, and ey-lids: which eye-lids, thefe creatures alone ("of all foure-footed) 

 have under their eyes as well as above ; nay, they have paps and nipples in their breafts,as 

 women: amies alfo and legs bending contrary wayes, even as ours do, Nailes they have Iikewife 

 and fingers like to us; with the middle finger longer than the reft,as ours be. A little they differ 

 from us in the teet : for fomwhat longthey arc,like as their hands be : and the fole of their fopt 

 is anfvoerable to the palme of their hand. Thumbs and great toes they have moreover, with 

 joints like (in all the world) to a man. And fetting afide the member of generation,and that only 

 in the hee Ape^all inward parts are the very fame that ours, as if they were made juft by one 

 patternc. 



« Chap, xlv, 



"^OfNades. 



Ailes are taken and reputed for the extremities and utmofl ends of the finewes : and yee 

 rtiall find them in as many as have fingers or toes. But in Aues they arc channelled 



H h * halfe 



n9 



N 



