Happy the man! alone thrice happy he,
Who can thro' grofs effects their caufes fee;
Whole courage from the deeps of knowledge
fprings,

Nor vainly fears inevitable things:
But does his walk of virtue calmly go,
Thro' th' alarms and troubles here below.
He tho' from heav'n remote, to heav'n can
move,

With ftrength of mind, and pierce the fpheres above;

Boldly he penetrates, with his interior light,
Thote upper regions nature hides from fight;

And what he has obferv'd, and learn'd from
thence,
Delights to teach, and fecrets to difpenfe.
DRYDEN' OVID.

WISDOM.

destroys it; fet no value Habit weakens that power, time upon fo precarious a gift; cherish not an hope fo deceitful.

FORTUNE.

She is to draw mens hearts into the

fnares of refined coquetry, and to laugh at their vain efforts to be released.

WISDOM.

By her being decoyed into the fame fnares, all her captives will recover their liberty; for the deceiver is doomed to a juft retaliation.

FORTUNE.

IT is neceffary, before any attempt be made to reduce to practice what has been delivered, to be perfectly acquainted with the natural properties of things; whether they be hot, or cold; whether of a timid or dauntless dif pofition; barren, or fruitful; because every being affimilates to itself whatever is united with it. For instance, the lion, being an animal of natural intrepidity, whofoever carries about him that creature's heart, eyes, or the kin that lies between them, is fuppofed to inherit a portion of his courage. The fame may be faid of a Cock. In like manner, if the animal be barren or impotent by nature, or rendered fo by any accident, whatever is affeciated with him partakes of his defects, and vice verfa if of a prolific nature. Thus to excite love, care must be taken to diftinguish what creatures are most amorous, and the particular times at which they are molt ftimulated to the propagation of their fpecies, because the virtue thereby communicated will be proportionably greater. The fwallow is found by obfervation to be much addicted to copulation; little, if at all inferior to the dove and the fparrow, whofe carnal appetite is no

torious: for which reason they have been often been reforted to as provocatives. Let it be remarked, that many things are obvious to the fenfes, which the power of human reason has not been able to account for. Amongst these is the property of the magnet, to attract iron, which daily experience evinces. Though we know not to what is owing this extraordinary property, it would be ridiculous to deny it; as abfurd would it be to fuppofe that Nature does not abound with many other marvellous fecrets, because they have hitherto mocked the refearches of man. The genders in trees is another curious particular, not lefs deferving notice, and above human capacity to account for. This difference of gender is exprefsly afcribed to palm-trees; and what must be reckoned amongst the phænomena of nature is, that the female unruffling its leaves, in dumb expreffion of blandishment, inclines to the male, fecming to court its protection. A rope being faftened to both, the female immediately refumes its former ercet pofture, as though the gratification it fought were fecretly conveyed to it from the male, by means of this conductor. Why,

therefore,

160

therefore, may not the like hidden wonders belong to other parts of Nature's works, and why fhould the idea that they do, be ridiculed, before experiments have afcertained a contrary opinion? Many of the ancients' have related as íurprising appearances, what are no longer confidered as fuch, being univerfally known and verified. Several operations that have happened within our own remembrance, would have ftaggered the belief of our anceftors. The fon of Mefue relates in his treatise on animals, that if a pregnant woman put on the garment of a man, and it be worn by him immediately after fhe has taken it off, it removes the quartan. In another place he fays, that a leopard will flee from a hunian fkull. Galen afirms, that the fight or hifs of a cockatrice caufes death, and to eat of it when dead is equally fatal. Some countries, fays another author, produce vipers, whofe nature is fuch, that on feeing their own like-y nefs they die immediately; nay, fome have gone fo far as to fay, that the fame effect attends their feeing a refemblance of themfelves reflected by a mirror, which thofe who entertained fuch an opinion carried about them for that purpofe. A dead man's bones being fufpended over perfons who fuffered from a pain in the bowels, have been faid to remove the complaint; and to prevent pregnancy in women, it was not unufual to hold over them the teeth first shed of a maie child, before they had fallen to the ground. The herb forsel, according to the opi, nion of Galen, is of a laxative nature, and has been recommended to thofe who labour under fer phulous diforders. To make a beaft return to his ftall, let his forchead be feared with hog's lard. Greafe the tongue of an ox with any kind of fuet, and he will not feed, but abflain from provender till death, unless it be cleanfed with falt and vinegar. The crowing of a cock may be prevented by annointing his head with oil. It is faid that the following method will enable you to discover whether water be mixed with

wine: take a fpunge, and dip it in a veffel containing what is given you for genuine wine; fqueeze the fpunge, and it will emit water if the wine has been adulterated, if otherwife it will emit nothing. Ariftotle fays, that to cure the piles, the ftanding on a lion's fkin is an effectual remedy. A moufe applied to the puncture made by the bite of a fcorpion, is fuppofed to extraft the virus. The fponge ftone being fufpended from the neck of a child who is afflicted with a cough, gives relief in the most violent fits. The hairs growing about the priapus, or an afs being pulverifed, and given in any liquid to be drunk, causes in the perfon who has fwallowed the infufion an irrefiftible neceffity of breaking wird; the fame purpofe may be effected by the eggs of ants. Some philofophers have afferted, that the feathers of an eagle being in contact with thofe of any other bird, confumes them. The fmelling to an extinguished lamp will, it is faid, caufe an abortion in pregnant women. Fumigating with aft's lungs, was a method fucceffally practifed by thofe who had a mind to purge their houses of venomous creatures. To ecover the alienated affection of a wife, 'tis recommended to extract the marrow from the left leg of a wolf and carry it about. Hair is prevented from growing by rubbing the roots with a compofition made of the left thigh of a male oftrich, boiled down with oil. To make perfons betray themfelves in their fleep, let the heart of a dove and the head of a frog be dried and reduced to a powder, which laid on the breaft of him or her whofe fecrets you wish to difcover, will make them divulge their most hidden thoughts. A mare's tooth appended to the neck of a child, removes the pain that commonly attends the cutting of the teeth. Birds are caught by throwing in their way any kind of grain previoufly fteeped in lees of wine and the juice of wolf's bane, which fo intoxicates them, t hat they become an caly prey.