Chapter V (3)

A learned Interpreter[236] of our own, without alteration of accents or words, endeavours to salve all, by another interpretation of the same, +Hou gar kairos sykon+, _For it was not a good or seasonable year for Figgs_.

[236] D. Hammond.

But, because men part not easily with old beliefs, or the received construction of words, we shall briefly set down what may be alledged for it.

And, first, for the better comprehension of all deductions hereupon, we may consider the several differences and distinctions both of Figg Trees and their Fruits. _Suidas_ upon the word +Ischas+ makes four divisions of Figgs, +Olynthos, Phelex, Sykon+ and +Ischas+. But because +Phelex+ makes no considerable distinction, learned men do chiefly insist upon the three others; that is, +Olynthos+, or _Grossus_, which are the Buttons, or small sort of Figgs, either not ripe, or not ordinarily proceeding to ripeness, but fall away at least in the greatest part, and especially in sharp Winters; which are also named +Sykades+, and distinguished from the Fruit of the wild Figg, or _Caprificus_, which is named +Erineos+, and never cometh unto ripeness. The second is called +Sykon+, or _Ficus_, which commonly proceedeth unto ripeness in its due season. A third the ripe Figg dried, which maketh the +Ischades+, or _Carrier_.

Of Figg Trees there are also many divisions; For some are _prodromi_, or precocious, which bear Fruit very early, whether they bear once, or oftner in the year; some are _protericae_, which are the most early of the precocious Trees, and bear soonest of any; some are _aestivae_, which bear in the common season of the Summer, and some _serotinae_ which bear very late.

Some are _biferous_ and _triferous_, which bear twice or thrice in the year, and some are of the ordinary standing course, which make up the expected season of Figgs.

Again some Figg Trees, either in their proper kind, or fertility in some single ones, do bear Fruit or rudiments of Fruit all the year long; as is annually observable in some kind of Figg Trees in hot and proper regions; and may also be observed in some Figg Trees of more temperate Countries, in years of no great disadvantage, wherein, when the Summer-ripe Figg is past, others begin to appear, and so, standing in Buttons all the Winter, do either fall away before the Spring, or else proceed to ripeness.

Now, according to these distinctions, we may measure the intent of the Text, and endeavour to make out the expression. For, considering the diversity of these Trees, and their several fructifications, probable or possible it is, that some thereof were implied, and may literally afford a solution.

And first, though it was not the season for Figgs, yet some Fruit might have been expected, even in ordinary bearing Trees. For the _Grossi_ or Buttons appear before the Leaves, especially before the Leaves are well grown. Some might have stood during the Winter, and by this time been of some growth: Though many fall off, yet some might remain on, and proceed towards maturity. And we find that good Husbands had an art to make them hold on, as is delivered by _Theophrastus_.

The +Sykon+ or common Summer Figg was not expected; for that is placed by _Galen_ among the _Fructus Horarii_, or _Horaei_, which ripen in that part of Summer, called +Hora+, and stands commended by him above other Fruits of that season. And of this kind might be the Figgs which were brought unto _Cleopatra_ in a Basket together with an Asp, according to the time of her death on the nineteenth of _August_. And that our Saviour expected not such Figgs, but some other kind, seems to be implied in the indefinite expression, _if haply he might find any thing thereon_; which in that Country, and the variety of such Trees, might not be despaired of, at this season, and very probably hoped for in the first precocious and early bearing Trees. And that there were precocious and early bearing Trees in _Judaea_, may be illustrated from some expressions in Scripture concerning precocious Figgs;[237] _Calathus unus habebat Ficus bonas nimis, sicut solent esse Ficus primi temporis; One Basket had very good Figgs, even like the Figgs that are first ripe_. And the like might be more especially expected in this place, if this remarkable Tree be rightly placed in some Mapps of _Jerusalem_; for it is placed, by _Adrichomius_, in or near _Bethphage_, which some conjectures will have to be the _House of Figgs_: and at this place Figg Trees are still to be found, if we consult the Travels of _Bidulphus_.

[237] Jer. 24. 2.

Again, in this great variety of Figg Trees, as precocious, proterical, biferous, triferous, and always bearing Trees, something might have been expected, though the time of common Figgs was not yet. For some Trees bear in a manner all the year; as may be illustrated from the Epistle of the Emperour _Julian_, concerning his Present of _Damascus_ Figgs, which he commendeth from their successive and continued growing and bearing, after the manner of the Fruits which _Homer_ describeth in the Garden of _Alcinous_. And though it were then but about the eleventh of _March_, yet, in the Latitude of _Jerusalem_, the Sun at that time hath a good power in the day, and might advance the maturity of precocious often-bearing or ever-bearing Figgs. And therefore when it is said that S. _Peter_[238] stood and warmed himself by the Fire in the Judgment Hall, and the reason is added [_for it was cold_[239]] that expression might be interposed either to denote the coolness in the Morning, according to hot Countries, or some extraordinary and unusual coldness, which happened at that time. For the same _Bidulphus_, who was at that time of the year at _Jerusalem_, saith, that it was then as hot as at _Midsummer_ in _England_: and we find in Scripture, that the first Sheaf of Barley was offer'd in _March_.

[238] _S._ Mark 14. 67. _S._ Luke 22. 55, 56.

[239] _S._ John 18. 18.

Our Saviour therefore, seeing a Figg Tree with Leaves well spread, and so as to be distinguished a far off, went unto it, and when he came, found nothing but Leaves; he found it to be no precocious, or always-bearing Tree: And though it were not the time for Summer Figgs, yet he found no rudiments thereof: and though he expected not common Figgs, yet something might happily have been expected of some other kind, according to different fertility, and variety of production; but, discovering nothing, he found a Tree answering the State of the Jewish Rulers, barren unto all expectation.

And this is consonant unto the mystery of the Story, wherein the Figg Tree denoteth the Synagogue and Rulers of the Jews, whom God having peculiarly cultivated, singularly blessed and cherished, he expected from them no ordinary, slow, or customary fructification, but an earliness in good Works, a precocious or continued fructification, and was not content with common after-bearing; and might justly have expostulated with the Jews, as God by the Prophet _Micah_[240] did with their Forefathers; _Praecoquas Ficus desideravit Anima mea, My Soul longed for_, (or desired) _early ripe Fruits, but ye are become as a Vine already gathered, and there is no cluster upon you_.

[240] Micah 7. 1.

Lastly, In this account of the Figg Tree, the mystery and symbolical sense is chiefly to be looked upon. Our Saviour, therefore, taking a hint from his hunger to go unto this specious Tree, and intending, by this Tree, to declare a Judgment upon the Synagogue and people of the Jews, he came unto the Tree, and, after the usual manner, inquired, and looked about for some kind of Fruit, as he had done before in the Jews, but found nothing but Leaves and specious outsides, as he had also found in them; and when it bore no Fruit like them, when he expected it, and came to look for it, though it were not the time of ordinary Fruit, yet failing when he required it, in the mysterious sense, 'twas fruitless longer to expect it. For he had come unto them, and they were nothing fructified by it, his departure approached, and his time of preaching was now at an end.

Now, in this account, besides the Miracle, some things are naturally considerable. For it may be question'd how the Figg Tree, naturally a fruitfull Plant, became barren, for it had no shew or so much as rudiment of Fruit: And it was in old time, a signal Judgment of God, that _the Figg Tree should bear no Fruit_: and therefore this Tree may naturally be conceived to have been under some Disease indisposing it to such fructification. And this, in the Pathology of Plants, may be the Disease of +phyllomania emphyllismos+; or superfolliation mention'd by _Theophrastus_; whereby the fructifying Juice is starved by the excess of Leaves; which in this Tree were already so full spread, that it might be known and distinguished a far off. And this was, also, a sharp resemblance of the hypocrisie of the Rulers, made up of specious outsides, and fruitless ostentation, contrary to the Fruit of the Figg Tree, which, filled with a sweet and pleasant pulp, makes no shew without, not so much as of any Flower.

Some naturals are also considerable from the propriety of this punishment settled upon a Figg Tree: For infertility and barrenness seems more intolerable in this Tree than in any, as being a Vegetable singularly constituted for production; so far from bearing no Fruit that it may be made to bear almost any. And therefore the Ancients singled out this as the fittest Tree whereon to graft and propagate other Fruits, as containing a plentifull and lively Sap, whereby other Cyons would prosper: And, therefore, this Tree was also sacred unto the Deity of Fertility: and the _Statua_ of _Priapus_ was made of the Figg Tree.

_Olim Truncus eram Ficulnus inutile Lignum._

It hath also a peculiar advantage to produce and maintain its Fruit above all other Plants, as not subject to miscarry in Flowers and Blossomes, from accidents of Wind and Weather. For it beareth no Flowers outwardly, and such as it hath, are within the Coat, as the later examination of Naturalists hath discovered.

Lastly, It was a Tree wholly constituted for Fruit, wherein if it faileth, it is in a manner useless, the Wood thereof being of so little use, that it affordeth proverbial expressions,

_Homo Ficulneus, argumentum Ficulneum_,

for things of no validity.

[Sidenote: _The Palm Tree, in_ Cant. 7. 8.]

44. _I said I will go up into the Palm Tree, and take hold of the Boughs thereof._ This expression is more agreeable unto the Palm than is commonly apprehended, for that it is a tall bare Tree bearing its Boughs but at the top and upper part; so that it must be ascended before its Boughs or Fruit can be attained: And the going, getting or climbing up, may be Emphatical in this Tree; for the Trunk or Body thereof is naturally contrived for ascension, and made with advantage for getting up, as having many welts and eminencies, and so as it were a natural Ladder, and Staves, by which it may be climbed, as _Pliny_[241] observeth, _Palmae teretes atque proceres, densis quadratisque pollicibus faciles se ad scandendum praebent_, by this way men are able to get up into it. And the Figures of Indians thus climbing the same are graphically described in the Travels of _Linschoten_. This Tree is often mentioned in Scripture, and was so remarkable in _Judaea_, that in after-times it became the Emblem of that Country, as may be seen in that Medal of the Emperour _Titus_, with a Captive Woman sitting under a Palm, and the Inscription of _Judaea Capta_. And _Pliny_ confirmeth the same when he saith, _Judaea Palmis inclyta_.

[241] Plin. 13. _cap. 4_.

[Sidenote: _Lilies, in_ Cant. 2. 1, 2, 16.]

45. Many things are mention'd in Scripture, which have an Emphasis from this or the neighbour Countries: For besides the Cedars, the Syrian Lilies are taken notice of by Writers. That expression in the _Canticles_,[242] _Thou art fair, thou art fair, thou hast Doves eyes_, receives a particular character, if we look not upon our common Pigeons, but the beauteous and fine ey'd Doves of Syria.

[242] Cant. 4. 1.

When the Rump is so strictly taken notice of in the Sacrifice of the Peace Offering, in these words,[243] _The whole Rump, it shall be taken off hard by the Back-bone_, it becomes the more considerable in reference to this Country, where Sheep had so large Tails; which, according to _Aristotle_,[244] were a Cubit broad; and so they are still, as _Bellonius_ hath delivered.

[243] Levit. 3. 9.

[244] Aristot. _Hist. Animal. lib. 8_.

When 'tis said in the _Canticles_,[245] _Thy Teeth are as a Flock of Sheep, which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth Twins, and there is not one barren among them_; it may seem hard unto us of these parts to find whole Flocks bearing Twins, and not one barren among them; yet may this be better conceived in the fertile Flocks of those Countries, where Sheep have so often two, sometimes three, and sometimes four, and which is so frequently observed by Writers of the neighbour Country of _AEgypt_. And this fecundity, and fruitfulness of their Flocks, is answerable unto the expression of the Psalmist,[246] _That our Sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our Streets_. And hereby, besides what was spent at their Tables, a good supply was made for the great consumption of Sheep in their several kinds of Sacrifices; and of so many thousand Male unblemished yearling Lambs, which were required at their Passeovers.

[245] Cant. 4. 2.

[246] Psal. 144. 13.

Nor need we wonder to find so frequent mention both of Garden and Field Plants; since _Syria_ was notable of old for this curiosity and variety, according to _Pliny_, _Syria hortis operosissima_; and since _Bellonius_ hath so lately observed of _Jerusalem_, that its hilly parts did so abound with Plants, that they might be compared unto Mount _Ida_ in _Crete_ or _Candia_: which is the most noted place for noble Simples yet known.

[Sidenote: _Trees and Herbs not expresly nam'd in Scripture._]

46. Though so many Plants have their express Names in Scripture, yet others are implied in some Texts which are not explicitly mention'd. In the Feast of _Tabernacles_ or _Booths_, the Law was this,[247] _Thou shalt take unto thee Boughs of goodly Trees, Branches of the Palm, and the Boughs of thick Trees, and Willows of the Brook_. Now though the Text descendeth not unto particulars of the _goodly Trees_, and _thick Trees_; yet _Maimonides_ will tell us that for a _goodly Tree_ they made use of the Citron Tree, which is fair and goodly to the eye, and well prospering in that Country: And that for the _thick Trees_ they used the Myrtle, which was no rare or infrequent Plant among them. And though it groweth but low in our Gardens, was not a little Tree in those parts; in which Plant also the Leaves grew thick, and almost covered the Stalk. And _Curtius[248] Symphorianus_ in his description of the _Exotick_ Myrtle, makes it, _Folio densissimo senis in ordinem versibus_. The Paschal Lamb was to be eaten with bitterness or bitter Herbs, not particularly set down in Scripture: but the Jewish Writers declare, that they made use of Succory, and wild Lettuce, which Herbs while some conceive they could not get down, as being very bitter, rough and prickly, they may consider that the time of the Passeover was in the Spring, when these Herbs are young and tender, and consequently less unpleasant: besides, according to the Jewish custom, these Herbs were dipped in the _Charoseth_ or Sawce made of Raisins stamped with Vinegar, and were also eaten with Bread; and they had four Cups of Wine allowed unto them; and it was sufficient to take but a pittance of Herbs, or the quantity of an Olive.

[247] Levit. 23. 40.

[248] Curtius _de Hortis._

[Sidenote: _Reeds in Scripture._]

47. Though the famous paper Reed of _AEgypt_, be onely particularly named in Scripture; yet when Reeds are so often mention'd, without special name or distinction, we may conceive their differences may be comprehended, and that they were not all of one kind, or that the common Reed was onely implied. For mention is made in _Ezekiel_[249] of _a measuring Reed of six Cubits_: we find that they smote our Saviour on the Head with a Reed,[250] and put a Sponge with Vinegar on a Reed, which was long enough to reach to his mouth, while he was upon the Cross; And with such differences of Reeds, _Vallatory_, _Sagittary_, _Scriptory_, and others, they might be furnished in _Judaea_: For we find in the portion of _Ephraim_,[251] _Vallis arundineti_; and so set down in the Mapps of _Adricomius_, and in our Translation the River _Kana_, or Brook of _Canes_. And _Bellonius_ tells us that the River _Jordan_ affordeth plenty and variety of Reeds; out of some whereof the Arabs make Darts, and light Lances, and out of others, Arrows; and withall that there plentifully groweth the fine _Calamus, arundo Scriptoria_, or writing Reed, which they gather with the greatest care, as being of singular use and commodity at home and abroad; a hard Reed about the compass of a Goose or Swans Quill, whereof I have seen some polished and cut with a Webb; which is in common use for writing throughout the Turkish Dominions, they using not the Quills of Birds.

[249] Ezek. 40. 5.

[250] _S._ Matt 27. 30, 48.

[251] Josh. 16. 17.

And whereas the same Authour with other describers of these parts affirmeth, that the River _Jordan_ not far from _Jerico_, is but such a Stream as a youth may throw a Stone over it, or about eight fathoms broad, it doth not diminish the account and solemnity of the miraculous passage of the Israelites under _Joshua_; For it must be considered, that they passed it in the time of Harvest, when the River was high, and the Grounds about it under Water, according to that pertinent parenthesis, _As the Feet of the Priests, which carried the Ark, were dipped in the brim of the Water, (for Jordan[252] overfloweth all its Banks at the time of Harvest.)_ In this consideration it was well joined with the great River _Euphrates_, in that expression in _Ecclesiasticus_,[253] _God maketh the understanding to abound like Euphrates, and as Jordan in the time of Harvest_.

[252] Josh. 3. 13.

[253] Ecclus. 24. 26.

[Sidenote: _Zizania, in S._ Matt. 13. 24, 25, etc.]

48. _The Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good Seed in his Field, but while men slept, his Enemy came and sowed Tares_ (or, as the Greek, _Zizania_) _among the Wheat._

Now, how to render _Zizania_, and to what species of Plants to confine it, there is no slender doubt; for the word is not mention'd in other parts of Scripture, nor in any ancient Greek Writer: it is not to be found in _Aristotle_, _Theophrastus_, or _Dioscorides_. Some Greek and Latin Fathers have made use of the same, as also _Suidas_ and _Phavorinus_; but probably they have all derived it from this Text.

And therefore this obscurity might easily occasion such variety in Translations and Expositions. For some retain the word _Zizania_, as the Vulgar, that of _Beza_, of _Junius_, and also the Italian and Spanish. The Low Dutch renders it _Oncruidt_, the German _Oncraut_, or _Herba Mala_, the French _Turoye_ or _Lolium_, and the English _Tares_.

Besides, this being conceived to be a Syriack word, it may still add unto the uncertainty of the sense. For though this Gospel were first written in Hebrew, or Syriack, yet it is not unquestionable whether the true Original be any where extant: And that Syriack Copy which we now have, is conceived to be of far later time than S. _Matthew_.

Expositours and Annotatours are also various. _Hugo Grotius_ hath passed the word _Zizania_ without a Note. _Diodati_, retaining the word _Zizania_, conceives that it was some peculiar Herb growing among the Corn of those Countries, and not known in our Fields. But _Emanuel de Sa_ interprets it, _Plantas semini noxias_, and so accordingly some others.

_Buxtorfius_, in his Rabbinical Lexicon, gives divers interpretations, sometimes for degenerated Corn, sometimes for the black Seeds in Wheat, but withall concludes, _an haec sit eadem vox aut species, cum Zizania apud Evangelistam, quaerant alii_. But Lexicons and Dictionaries by _Zizania_ do almost generally understand _Lolium_, which we call _Darnel_, and commonly confine the signification to that Plant: Notwithstanding, since _Lolium_ had a known and received Name in Greek, some may be apt to doubt, why, if that Plant were particularly intended, the proper Greek word was not used in the Text. For _Theophrastus_[254] named _Lolium_ +Aira+, and hath often mentioned that Plant; and in one place saith that Corn doth sometimes _Loliescere_ degenerate into _Darnel_. _Dioscorides_, who travelled over _Judaea_, gives it the same name, which is also to be found in _Galen_, _AEtius_ and _AEgineta_; and _Pliny_ hath sometimes latinized that word into _AEra_.

[254] +exairesthai+. Theophrast. _Hist. Plant. l. 8_.

Besides, _Lolium_ or Darnel shews it self in the Winter, growing up with the Wheat; and _Theophrastus_ observed that it was no Vernal Plant, but came up in the Winter; which will not well answer the expression of the Text, _And when the Blade came up, and brought forth Fruit_, or gave evidence of its Fruit, _the Zizania_ appeared. And if the Husbandry of the Ancients were agreeable unto ours, they would not have been so earnest to weed away the Darnel; for our Husbandmen do not commonly weed it in the Field, but separate the Seeds after Thrashing. And therefore _Galen_ delivereth, that in an unseasonable year, and great scarcity of Corn, when they neglected to separate the Darnel, the Bread proved generally unwholsome, and had evil effects on the Head.

Our old and later Translation render _Zizania_, _Tares_, which name our English Botanists give unto _Aracus_, _Cracca_, _Vicia sylvestris_, calling them Tares, and strangling Tares. And our Husbandmen by Tares understand some sorts of wild Fitches, which grow amongst Corn, and clasp upon it, according to the Latin Etymology, _Vicia a Vinciendo_. Now in this uncertainty of the Original, Tares as well as some others, may make out the sense, and be also more agreeable unto the circumstances of the Parable. For they come up and appear what they are, when the Blade of the Corn is come up, and also the Stalk and Fruit discoverable. They have likewise little spreading Roots, which may intangle or rob the good Roots, and they have also tendrils and claspers, which lay hold of what grows near them, and so can hardly be weeded without endangering the neighbour Corn.

However, if by _Zizania_ we understand _Herbas segeti noxias_, or _vitia segetum_, as some Expositours have done, and take the word in a more general sense, comprehending several Weeds and Vegetables offensive unto Corn, according as the Greek word in the plural Number may imply, and as the learned _Laurenbergius_[255] hath expressed, _Runcare quod apud nostrates Weden dicitur, Zizanias inutiles est evellere_. If, I say, it be thus taken, we shall not need to be definitive, or confine unto one particular Plant, from a word which may comprehend divers: And this may also prove a safer sense, in such obscurity of the Original.

[255] De Horticultura.

And therefore since in this Parable the sower of the _Zizania_ is the Devil, and the _Zizania_ wicked persons; if any from this larger acception, will take in Thistles, Darnel, Cockle, wild strangling Fitches, Bindweed, _Tribulus_, Restharrow and other _Vitia Segetum_; he may, both from the natural and symbolical qualities of those Vegetables, have plenty of matter to illustrate the variety of his mischiefs, and of the wicked of this world.

[Sidenote: _Cockle, in_ Job 31. 40.]

49. When 'tis said in _Job_, _Let Thistles grow up instead of Wheat, and Cockle instead of Barley_, the words are intelligible, the sense allowable and significant to this purpose: but whether the word _Cockle_ doth strictly conform unto the Original, some doubt may be made from the different Translations of it; For the Vulgar renders it _Spina_, _Tremelius Vitia Frugum_, and the _Geneva Turoye_ or Darnel. Besides, whether Cockle were common in the ancient Agriculture of those parts, or what word they used for it, is of great uncertainty. For the Elder Botanical Writers have made no mention thereof, and the Moderns have given it the Name of _Pseudomelanthium_, _Nigellastrum_, _Lychnoeides Segetum_, names not known unto Antiquity: And therefore our Translation hath warily set down [_noisome Weeds_] in the Margin.

OF GARLANDS
and Coronary or Garden-plants.

TRACT II

SIR,

The use of flowry Crowns and Garlands is of no slender Antiquity, and higher than I conceive you apprehend it. For, besides the old Greeks and Romans, the AEgyptians made use hereof; who, beside the bravery of their Garlands, had little Birds upon them to peck their Heads and Brows, and so to keep them sleeping at their Festival compotations. This practice also extended as far as _India_: for at the Feast with the Indian King, it is peculiarly observed by _Philostratus_ that their custom was to wear Garlands, and come crowned with them unto their Feast.

The Crowns and Garlands of the Ancients were either Gestatory, such as they wore about their Heads or Necks; Portatory, such as they carried at solemn Festivals; Pensile or Suspensory, such as they hanged about the Posts of their Houses in honour of their Gods, as of _Jupiter Thyraeus_ or _Limeneus_; or else they were Depository, such as they laid upon the Graves and Monuments of the dead. And these were made up after all ways of Art, Compactile, Sutile, Plectile; for which Work there were +stephanoplokoi+ or expert Persons to contrive them after the best grace and property.

Though we yield not unto them in the beauty of flowry Garlands, yet some of those of Antiquity were larger than any we lately meet with: for we find in _Athenaeus_ that a Myrtle Crown of one and twenty foot in compass was solemnly carried about at the Hellotian Feast in _Corinth_, together with the Bones of _Europa_.

And Garlands were surely of frequent use among them; for we reade in _Galen_[256] that when _Hippocrates_ cured the great Plague of _Athens_ by Fires kindled in and about the City; the fuel thereof consisted much of their Garlands. And they must needs be very frequent and of common use, the ends thereof being many. For they were convivial, festival, sacrificial, nuptial, honorary, funebrial. We who propose unto our selves the pleasure of two Senses, and onely single out such as are of Beauty and good Odour, cannot strictly confine our selves unto imitation of them.

[256] _De Theriaca ad Pisonem._

For, in their convivial Garlands, they had respect unto Plants preventing drunkenness, or discussing the exhalations from Wine; wherein, beside Roses, taking in Ivy, Vervain, Melilote, _etc._ they made use of divers of small Beauty or good Odour. The solemn festival Garlands were made properly unto their Gods, and accordingly contrived from Plants sacred unto such Deities; and their sacrificial ones were selected under such considerations. Their honorary Crowns triumphal, ovary, civical, obsidional, had little of Flowers in them: and their funebrial Garlands had little of beauty in them beside Roses, while they made them of Myrtle, Rosemary, Apium, _etc._ under symbolical intimations: but our florid and purely ornamental Garlands, delightfull unto sight and smell, nor framed according to mystical and symbolical considerations, are of more free election, and so may be made to excell those of the Ancients; we having _China_, _India_, and a new world to supply us, beside the great distinction of Flowers unknown unto Antiquity, and the varieties thereof arising from Art and Nature.

But, beside Vernal, AEstival and Autumnal made of Flowers, the Ancients had also Hyemal Garlands; contenting themselves at first with such as were made of Horn died into several Colours, and shaped into the Figures of Flowers, and also of _AEs Coronarium_ or _Clincquant_ or Brass thinly wrought out into Leaves commonly known among us. But the curiosity of some Emperours for such intents had Roses brought from _AEgypt_ untill they had found the art to produce late Roses in _Rome_, and to make them grow in the Winter, as is delivered in that handsome Epigramme of _Martial_,

_At tu Romanae jussus jam cedere Brumae
Mitte tuas messes, Accipe, Nile, Rosas._

Some American Nations, who do much excell in Garlands, content not themselves onely with Flowers, but make elegant Crowns of Feathers, whereof they have some of greater radiancy and lustre than their Flowers: and since there is an Art to set into shapes, and curiously to work in choicest Feathers, there could nothing answer the Crowns made of the choicest Feathers of some _Tomineios_ and Sun Birds.

* * * * *

The Catalogue of Coronary Plants is not large in _Theophrastus_, _Pliny_, _Pollux_, or _Athenaeus_: but we may find a good enlargement in the Accounts of Modern Botanists; and additions may still be made by successive acquists of fair and specious Plants, not yet translated from foreign Regions or little known unto our Gardens: he that would be complete may take notice of these following,

_Flos Tigridis._
_Flos Lyncis._
_Pinea Indica Recchi, Talama Ouiedi._
_Herba Paradisea._
_Volubilis Mexicanus._
_Narcissus Indicus Serpentarius._
_Helichrysum Mexicanum._
_Xicama._
_Aquilegia novae Hispaniae Cacoxochitli Recchi._
_Aristochaea Mexicana._
_Camaratinga sive Caragunta quarta Pisonis._
_Maracuia Granadilla._
_Cambay sive Myrtus Americana._
_Flos Auriculae Flor de la Oreia._
_Floripendio novae Hispaniae._
_Rosa Indica._
_Zilium Indicum._
_Fula Magori Garciae._
_Champe Garciae Champacca Bontii._
_Daullontas frutex odoratus seu Chamaemelum arborescens Bontii._
_Beidelsar Alpini._
_Sambuc._
_Amberboi Turcarum._
_Nuphar AEgyptium._
_Lilionarcissus Indicus._
_Bamma AEgyptiacum._
_Hiucca Canadensis horti Farnesiani._
_Bupthalmum novae Hispaniae Alepocapath._
_Valeriana seu Chrysanthemum Americanum Acocotlis._
_Flos Corvinus Coronarius Americanus._
_Capolin Cerasus dulcis Indicus Floribus racemosis._
_Asphodelus Americanus._
_Syringa Lutea Americana._
_Bulbus unifolius._
_Moly latifolium Flore luteo._
_Conyza Americana purpurea._
_Salvia Cretica pomifera Bellonii._
_Lausus Serrata Odora._
_Ornithogalus Promontorii Bonae Spei._
_Fritallaria crassa Soldanica Promontorii Bonae Spei._
_Sigillum Solomonis Indicum._
_Tulipa Promontorii Bonae Spei._
_Iris Uvaria._
_Nopolxoch sedum elegans novae Hispaniae._

More might be added unto this List; and I have onely taken the pains to give you a short Specimen of those many more which you may find in respective Authours, and which time and future industry may make no great strangers in _England_. The Inhabitants of _Nova Hispania_, and a great part of _America_, Mahometans, Indians, Chineses, are eminent promoters of these coronary and specious Plants: and the annual tribute of the King of _Bisnaguer_ in _India_, arising out of Odours and Flowers, amounts unto many thousands of Crowns.

Thus, in brief, of this matter. I am, _etc._

OF THE FISHES EATEN BY OUR SAVIOUR
with His Disciples after His Resurrection
from the Dead.

TRACT III

SIR,

I have thought, a little, upon the Question proposed by you [viz. _What kind of Fishes those were of which our Saviour ate with his Disciples after his Resurrection?_[257]] and I return you such an Answer, as, in so short time for study, and in the midst of my occasions, occurs to me.

[257] _S._ Joh. 21. 9, 10, 11, 13.

The Books of Scripture (as also those which are Apocryphal) are often silent, or very sparing, in the particular Names of Fishes; or in setting them down in such manner as to leave the kinds of them without all doubt and reason for farther inquiry. For, when it declareth what Fishes were allowed the Israelites for their Food, they are onely set down in general which have Finns and Scales; whereas, in the account of _Quadrupeds_ and Birds, there is particular mention made of divers of them. In the Book of _Tobit_ that Fish which he took out of the River is onely named a great Fish, and so there remains much uncertainty to determine the Species thereof. And even the Fish which swallowed _Jonah_, and is called a _great Fish_, and commonly thought to be a great Whale, is not received without all doubt; while some learned men conceive it to have been none of our Whales, but a large kind of _Lamia_.

And, in this narration of S. _John_, the Fishes are onely expressed by their Bigness and Number, not their Names, and therefore it may seem undeterminable what they were: notwithstanding, these Fishes being taken in the great Lake or Sea of _Tiberias_, something may be probably stated therein. For since _Bellonius_, that diligent and learned Traveller, informeth us, that the Fishes of this Lake were Trouts, Pikes, Chevins and Tenches; it may well be conceived that either all or some thereof are to be understood in this Scripture. And these kind of Fishes become large and of great growth, answerable unto the expression of Scripture, _One hundred and fifty-three great Fishes_; that is, large in their own kinds, and the largest kinds in this Lake and fresh Water, wherein no great variety, and of the larger sort of Fishes, could be expected. For the River _Jordan_, running through this Lake, falls into the Lake of _Asphaltus_, and hath no mouth into the Sea, which might admit of great Fishes or greater variety to come up into it.

And out of the mouth of some of these forementioned Fishes might the _Tribute money_ be taken, when our Saviour, at _Capernaum_, seated upon the same Lake, said unto _Peter_, _Go thou to the Sea, and cast an Hook, and take up the Fish that first cometh; and when thou hast opened his mouth thou shalt find a piece of money; that take and give them for thee and me_.

And this makes void that common conceit and tradition of the Fish called _Fabermarinus_, by some, a _Peter_ or _Penny Fish_; which having two remarkable round spots upon either side, these are conceived to be the marks of S. _Peter's_ Fingers or signatures of the Money: for though it hath these marks, yet is there no probability that such a kind of Fish was to be found in the Lake of _Tiberias_, _Geneserah_ or _Galilee_, which is but sixteen miles long and six broad, and hath no communication with the Sea; for this is a mere Fish of the Sea and salt Water, and (though we meet with some thereof on our Coast) is not to be found in many Seas.

Thus having returned no improbable Answer unto your Question, I shall crave leave to ask another of your self concerning that Fish mentioned by _Procopius_,[258] which brought the famous King _Theodorick_ to his end: his words are to this effect: 'The manner of his Death was this, _Symmachus_ and his Son-in-law _Boethius_, just men and great relievers of the poor, Senatours and Consuls, had many enemies, by whose false accusations _Theodorick_ being perswaded that they plotted against him, put them to death and confiscated their Estates. Not long after his Waiters set before him at Supper a great Head of a Fish, which seemed to him to be the Head of _Symmachus_ lately murthered; and with his Teeth sticking out, and fierce glaring eyes to threaten him: being frighted, he grew chill, went to Bed, lamenting what he had done to _Symmachus_ and _Boethius_; and soon after died.' What Fish do you apprehend this to have been? I would learn of you; give me your thoughts about it.

[258] _De Bello Gothico, lib. 1._

_I am_, etc.

AN ANSWER TO CERTAIN QUERIES
relating to Fishes, Birds, Insects.

TRACT IV

SIR,

I return the following Answers to your Queries which were these,

[1. What Fishes are meant by the Names, _Halec_ and _Mugil_?

2. What is the Bird which you will receive from the Bearer? and
what Birds are meant by the Names _Halcyon_, _Nysus_, _Ciris_,
_Nycticorax_?

3. What Insect is meant by the word _Cicada_?]

[Sidenote: _Answer to Query 1._]

The word _Halec_ we are taught to render an _Herring_, which, being an ancient word, is not strictly appropriable unto a Fish not known or not described by the Ancients; and which the modern Naturalists are fain to name _Harengus_; the word _Halecula_ being applied unto such little Fish out of which they were fain to make Pickle; and _Halec_ or _Alec_, taken for the Liquamen or Liquor itself, according to that of the Poet,

----_Ego faecem primus et Alec
Primus et inveni piper album_----

And was a conditure and Sawce much affected by Antiquity, as was also _Muria_ and _Garum_.

* * * * *

In common constructions, _Mugil_ is rendred a _Mullet_, which, notwithstanding, is a different Fish from the _Mugil_ described by Authours; wherein, if we mistake, we cannot so closely apprehend the expression of _Juvenal_,

----_Quosdam ventres et Mugilis intrat._

And misconceive the Fish, whereby Fornicatours were so opprobriously and irksomely punished; for the _Mugil_ being somewhat rough and hard skinned, did more exasperate the gutts of such offenders: whereas the Mullet was a smooth Fish, and of too high esteem to be imployed in such offices.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: _Answer to Query 2._]

I cannot but wonder that this Bird you sent should be a stranger unto you, and unto those who had a sight thereof: for, though it be not seen every day, yet we often meet with it in this Country. It is an elegant Bird, which he that once beholdeth can hardly mistake any other for it. From the proper Note it is called an _Hoopebird_ with us; in Greek _Epops_, in Latin _Upupa_. We are little obliged unto our School instruction, wherein we are taught to render _Upupa_, a _Lapwing_, which Bird our natural Writers name _Vannellus_; for thereby we mistake this remarkable Bird, and apprehend not rightly what is delivered of it.

We apprehend not the Hieroglyphical considerations which the old AEgyptians made of this observable Bird; who considering therein the order and variety of Colours, the twenty six or twenty eight Feathers in its Crest, his latitancy, and mewing this handsome outside in the Winter; they made it an Emblem of the varieties of the World, the succession of Times and Seasons, and signal mutations in them. And therefore _Orus_, the Hieroglyphick of the World, had the Head of an Hoopebird upon the top of his Staff.

Hereby we may also mistake the _Duchiphath_, or Bird forbidden for Food in _Leviticus_ [SN: Levit. 11. 19.]; and, not knowing the Bird, may the less apprehend some reasons of that prohibition; that is, the magical virtues ascribed unto it by the AEgyptians, and the superstitious apprehensions which that Nation held of it, whilst they precisely numbred the Feathers and Colours thereof, while they placed it on the Heads of their Gods, and near their Mercurial Crosses, and so highly magnified this Bird in their sacred Symbols.

Again, not knowing or mistaking this Bird, we may misapprehend, or not closely apprehend, that handsome expression of _Ovid_, when _Tereus_ was turned into an _Upupa_, or Hoopebird.

_Vertitur in volucrem cui sunt pro vertice Cristae,
Protinus immodicum surgit pro cuspide rostrum
Nomen Epops volucri, facies armata videtur._

For, in this military shape, he is aptly phancied even still revengefully to pursue his hated Wife _Progne_: in the propriety of his Note crying out, _Pou, pou, ubi, ubi_, or _Where are you?_

Nor are we singly deceived in the nominal translation of this Bird: in many other Animals we commit the like mistake. So _Gracculus_ is rendred a _Jay_, which Bird notwithstanding must be of a dark colour according to that of _Martial_,

_Sed quandam volo nocte nigriorem Formica, pice, Gracculo, cicada._

_Halcyon_[259] is rendred a _King-fisher_, a Bird commonly known among us, and by Zoographers and Naturals the same is named _Ispida_, a well coloured Bird frequenting Streams and Rivers, building in holes of Pits, like some Martins, about the end of the Spring; in whose Nests we have found little else than innumerable small Fish Bones, and white round Eggs of a smooth and polished surface, whereas the true _Alcyon_ is a Sea Bird, makes an handsome Nest floating upon the Water, and breedeth in the Winter.

[259] _See Vulg. Err. B. 3. c. 10._

That _Nysus_ should be rendred either an _Hobby_ or a _Sparrow Hawk_, in the Fable of _Nysus_ and _Scylla_ in _Ovid_, because we are much to seek in the distinction of Hawks according to their old denominations, we shall not much contend, and may allow a favourable latitude therein: but that the _Ciris_ or Bird into which _Scylla_ was turned should be translated a _Lark_, it can hardly be made out agreeable unto the description of _Virgil_ in his Poem of that name,

_Inde alias volucres mimoque infecta rubenti
Crura_----

But seems more agreeable unto some kind of _Haemantopus_ or Redshank; and so the _Nysus_ to have been some kind of Hawk, which delighteth about the Sea and Marishes, where such prey most aboundeth, which sort of Hawk while _Scaliger_ determineth to be a Merlin, the French Translatour warily expoundeth it to be some kind of Hawk.

_Nycticorax_ we may leave unto the common and verbal translation of a _Night Raven_, but we know no proper kind of Raven unto which to confine the same, and therefore some take the liberty to ascribe it unto some sort of Owls, and others unto the Bittern; which Bird in its common Note, which he useth out of the time of coupling and upon the Wing, so well resembleth the croaking of a Raven that I have been deceived by it.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: _Answer to Query 3._]

While _Cicada_ is rendred a _Grashopper_, we commonly think that which is so called among us to be the true _Cicada_; wherein, as we have elsewhere declared,[260] there is a great mistake: for we have not the _Cicada_ in _England_, and indeed no proper word for that Animal, which the French nameth _Cigale_. That which we commonly call a Grashopper, and the French _Saulterelle_ being one kind of Locust, so rendred in the Plague of _AEgypt_, and, in old Saxon named _Gersthop_.

[260] _Vulg. Err. B. 5. c. 3._

* * * * *

I have been the less accurate in these Answers, because the Queries are not of difficult Resolution, or of great moment: however, I would not wholly neglect them or your satisfaction, as being, Sir,

_Yours_, etc.

OF HAWKS AND FALCONRY

Ancient and Modern.

TRACT V

SIR,

In vain you expect much information, _de Re Accipitraria_, of Falconry, Hawks or Hawking, from very ancient Greek or Latin Authours; that Art being either unknown or so little advanced among them, that it seems to have proceeded no higher than the daring of Birds: which makes so little thereof to be found in _Aristotle_, who onely mentions some rude practice thereof in _Thracia_; as also in _AElian_, who speaks something of Hawks and Crows among the Indians; little or nothing of true Falconry being mention'd before _Julius Firmicus_, in the days of _Constantius_, Son to _Constantine_ the Great.

Yet if you consult the accounts of later Antiquity left by _Demetrius_ the Greek, by _Symmachus_ and _Theodosius_, and by _Albertus Magnus_, about five hundred years ago, you, who have been so long acquainted with this noble Recreation, may better compare the ancient and modern practice, and rightly observe how many things in that Art are added, varied, disused or retained in the practice of these days.

In the Diet of Hawks, they allowed of divers Meats which we should hardly commend. For beside the Flesh of Beef, they admitted of Goat, Hog, Deer, Whelp and Bear. And how you will approve the quantity and measure thereof, I make some doubt; while by weight they allowed half a pound of Beef, seven ounces of Swines Flesh, five of Hare, eight ounces of Whelp, as much of Deer, and ten ounces of He-Goats Flesh.

In the time of _Demetrius_ they were not without the practice of Phlebotomy or Bleeding, which they used in the Thigh and Pounces; they plucked away the Feathers on the Thigh, and rubbed the part, but if the Vein appeared not in that part, they opened the Vein of the fore Talon.

In the days of _Albertus_, they made use of Cauteries in divers places: to advantage their sight they seared them under the inward angle of the eye; above the eye in distillations and diseases of the Head; in upward pains they seared above the Joint of the Wing, and at the bottom of the Foot, against the Gout; and the chief time for these cauteries they made to be the month of _March_.

In great coldness of Hawks they made use of Fomentations, some of the steam or vapour of artificial and natural Baths, some wrapt them up in hot Blankets, giving them Nettle Seeds and Butter.

No Clysters are mention'd, nor can they be so profitably used; but they made use of many purging Medicines. They purged with Aloe, which, unto larger Hawks, they gave in the bigness of a Great Bean; unto less, in the quantity of a _Cicer_, which notwithstanding I should rather give washed, and with a few drops of Oil of Almonds: for the Guts of flying Fowls are tender and easily scratched by it; and upon the use of Aloe both in Hawks and Cormorants I have sometimes observed bloody excretions.

In phlegmatick causes they seldom omitted _Stave-saker_, but they purged sometimes with a Mouse, and the Food of boiled Chickens, sometimes with good Oil and Honey.

They used also the Ink of Cuttle Fishes, with Smallage, Betony, Wine and Honey. They made use of stronger Medicines than present practice doth allow. For they were not afraid to give _Coccus Baphicus_; beating up eleven of its Grains unto a Lentor, which they made up into five Pills wrapt up with Honey and Pepper: and, in some of their old Medicines, we meet with Scammony and _Euphorbium_. Whether, in the tender Bowels of Birds, infusions of Rhubarb, Agaric and Mechoachan be not of safer use, as to take of Agary two Drachms, of Cinnamon half a Drachm, of Liquorish a Scruple, and, infusing them in Wine, to express a part into the mouth of the Hawk, may be considered by present practice.

Few Mineral Medicines were of inward use among them: yet sometimes we observe they gave filings of Iron in the straitness of the Chest, as also Lime in some of their pectoral Medicines.

But they commended Unguents of Quick-silver against the Scab: and I have safely given six or eight Grains of _Mercurius Dulcis_ unto Kestrils and Owls, as also crude and current Quick-silver, giving the next day small Pellets of Silver or Lead till they came away uncoloured: and this, if any, may probably destroy that obstinate Disease of the _Filander_ or Back-worm.

A peculiar remedy they had against the Consumption of Hawks. For, filling a Chicken with Vinegar, they closed up the Bill, and hanging it up untill the Flesh grew tender, they fed the Hawk therewith: and to restore and well Flesh them, they commonly gave them Hogs Flesh, with Oil, Butter and Honey; and a decoction of Cumfory to bouze.

They disallowed of salt Meats and Fat; but highly esteemed of Mice in most indispositions; and in the falling Sickness had great esteem of boiled Batts: and in many Diseases, of the Flesh of Owls which feed upon those Animals. In Epilepsies they also gave the Brain of a Kid drawn thorough a gold Ring; and, in Convulsions, made use of a mixture of Musk and _Stercus humanum aridum_.

For the better preservation of their Health they strowed Mint and Sage about them; and for the speedier mewing of their Feathers, they gave them the Slough of a Snake, or a Tortoise out of the Shell, or a green Lizard cut in pieces.

If a Hawk were unquiet, they hooded him, and placed him in a Smith's Shop for some time, where, accustomed to the continual noise of hammering, he became more gentle and tractable.

They used few terms of Art, plainly and intelligibly expressing the parts affected, their Diseases and Remedies. This heap of artificial terms first entring with the French Artists: who seem to have been the first and noblest Falconers in the Western part of _Europe_; although, in their Language, they have no word which in general expresseth an Hawk.

They carried their Hawks in the left hand, and let them flie from the right. They used a Bell, and took great care that their Jesses should not be red, lest Eagles should flie at them. Though they used Hoods, we have no clear description of them, and little account of their Lures.

The ancient Writers left no account of the swiftness of Hawks or measure of their flight: but _Heresbachius_[261] delivers that _William_ Duke of _Cleve_ had an Hawk which, in one day, made a flight out of _Westphalia_ into _Prussia_. And, upon good account, an Hawk in this Country of _Norfolk_, made a flight at a Woodcock near thirty miles in one hour. How far the Hawks, Merlins and wild Fowl which come unto us with a North-west wind in the Autumn, flie in a day, there is no clear account; but coming over Sea their flight hath been long, or very speedy. For I have known them to light so weary on the coast, that many have been taken with Dogs, and some knock'd down with Staves and Stones.

[261] _De Re Accipitraria, in 3 Books._

Their Perches seem not so large as ours; for they made them of such a bigness that their Talons might almost meet: and they chose to make them of Sallow, Poplar or Lime Tree.

They used great clamours and hollowing in their flight, which they made by these words, _ou loi, la, la, la_; and to raise the Fowls, made use of the sound of a Cymbal.

Their recreation seemed more sober and solemn than ours at present, so improperly attended with Oaths and Imprecations. For they called on God at their setting out, according to the account of _Demetrius_, +ton Theon epikalesantes+, _in the first place calling upon God_.

The learned _Rigaltius_ thinketh, that if the Romans had well known this airy Chase, they would have left or less regarded their Circensial Recreations. The Greeks understood Hunting early, but little or nothing of our Falconry. If _Alexander_ had known it, we might have found something of it and more of Hawks in _Aristotle_; who was so unacquainted with that way, that he thought that Hawks would not feed upon the Heart of Birds. Though he hath mention'd divers Hawks, yet _Julius Scaliger_, an expert Falconer, despaired to reconcile them unto ours. And 'tis well if, among them, you can clearly make out a Lanner, a Sparrow Hawk and a Kestril, but must not hope to find your Gier Falcon there, which is the noble Hawk; and I wish you one no worse than that of _Henry_ King of _Navarre_; which, _Scaliger_ saith, he saw strike down a Buzzard, two wild Geese, divers Kites, a Crane and a Swan.

Nor must you expect from high Antiquity the distinctions of Eyess and Ramage Hawks, of Sores and Entermewers, of Hawks of the Lure and the Fist; nor that material distinction into short and long winged Hawks; from whence arise such differences in their taking down of Stones; in their flight, their striking down or seizing of their Prey, in the strength of their Talons, either in the Heel and fore-Talon, or the middle and the Heel: nor yet what Eggs produce the different Hawks, or when they lay three Eggs, that the first produceth a Female and large Hawk, the second of a midler sort, and the third a smaller Bird Tercellene or Tassel of the Masle Sex; which Hawks being onely observed abroad by the Ancients, were looked upon as Hawks of different kinds and not of the same Eyrie or Nest. As for what _Aristotle_ affirmeth that Hawks and Birds of prey drink not; although you know that it will not strictly hold, yet I kept an Eagle two years, which fed upon Kats, Kittlings, Whelps and Ratts, without one drop of Water.

If any thing may add unto your knowledge in this noble Art, you must pick it out of later Writers than those you enquire of. You may peruse the two Books of Falconry writ by that renowned Emperour _Frederick_ the Second; as also the Works of the noble Duke _Belisarius_, of _Tardiffe_, _Francherius_, of _Francisco Sforzino_ of _Vicensa_; and may not a little inform or recreate your self with that elegant Poem of _Thuanus_.[262] I leave you to divert your self by the perusal of it, having, at present, no more to say but that I am, _etc._

[262] _De Re Rustica._

OF CYMBALS, Etc.

TRACT VI

SIR,

With what difficulty, if possibility, you may expect satisfaction concerning the Musick, or Musical Instruments of the Hebrews, you will easily discover if you consult the attempts of learned men upon that Subject: but for Cymbals, of whose Figure you enquire, you may find some described in _Bayfius_, in the Comment of _Rhodius_ upon _Scribonius Largus_, and others.