Book XX, chapters 6–10: The chaos: experiments without order

CHAP. VI.

How by some Impostures we may augment weight.

I Have set down some Impostures here, that such as handle with wicked men, may take heed that they be not deceived. As

To augment the weight of Oyl,

water is mingled with the Oyl, that the fraud may not be known, let it be done with troubled waters, as with the decoction of Wood, Rapes, Asphodills, that it may the harder be discerned from it. Or else they put the choisest Gumtragant into water for two days: then they bray it in a Mortar, always putting water to it, to melt the Gum: adde these to the Oyl dropping forth, and they will be turn'd to Oyl. By the like fraud almost,

Silk is made to weigh more,

They put it upon the vapour that riseth from boiling water, and this makes it swell with moisture, and grow heavier. Others bray one ounce of Gum Arabick, and being well passed through a sieve, they mingle it with the decoction of Honey; they dissolve this mixture into water, and wet the Silk with it, and then let it dry. Others keep it in the green leaves of Walnut-tree. If you will

Increase the quantity of Honey,

Adde to it the Meal of Chestnuts of Millet, and that augments it, and it cannot be known. So you may

Increase the weight of Wax:

Adde to the Wax Bean-meal, excellent well beaten; and this will burn in Candles without any excrement; for it increaseth the weight and bigness, and the fra[…]d is scarce discerned. So you may

Augment Sope.

If you mingle the Ashes of Oxens shank-bones, well burnt it Potters ovens, or white Brimstone. For you shall augment the weight and quantity, without and distinction of it. If you would

Counterfeit Pepper,

You may gather green Juniper-berries, and let them dry till they shrivel; then mix them with grains of Pepper. Others gather great black Vetches, and first they boil them with wilde Pepper; for swelling in the water, when they come to be dried, they become wrinkled. I did sophisticate them so, that I deceived in sport the best Apothecaries; and afterwards, I did in mirth discover the fraud. Take the Berries of the ripe red Sanguinaria; these when they are dried, will be so shriveled, and like to Pepper, that any man almost may be deceived by it, unless he tasts of it. So we may

Increase the weight of Wheat,

By setting a vessel of Wood within it, full of water or vinegar. For as Pliny saith, It will drink it in.

CHAP. VII.

Of the Harp and many wonderful properties thereof.

THe Harp hath some properties in it, and things worthy to be observed, which I shall propound here. First, I shall mention some wonderful effects, that the Antients speak of: then how they may be done, or how the Antients did then. Since Musick is now more Adorned and Noble, than it was amongst the Antients (for then it was more rude and imperfect) and yet in our days it doth not perform those operations. It is certain that Musical Tunes can do much with men, and there is no heart so hard and cruel, but convenient and sweet harmony will make it yield, and on the otherside, harsh Musick will vex and harden a mans minde. Musaeus discovers, that Verse and Songs are a most delightful thing to Mortal man: and the Platonists say, That all things living are charmed by Musick; and there are many effects observed of it. Drums sound in the wars to provoke those that are slow to fight; and we read that the Antients did such like things. One Timotheus a Musician, as oft he he pleased would play a Phrygian Tune, and so enrage the mind of Alexander, that he r[…]n presently to the wars; and when he would do otherwise, he changed his tune, and took off all his courage making him lasie, and would then draw him being grown effeminate, to Banquets and Feasts: And Plutarch saith, That when he heard Antigenida playing Melodies with a Pipe, that they called Harmatii, he was so inflamed, that he rose in his Arms, and laid hold of him that sat next to him. Cicero reports, That Pythagoras made a yong man more calm by a slower tune, who was a Tancomonite, and was whitled with wine, and mad for a whore, and spurred forward by a Phrygian tune; for being a corrival, he sought to set the house on fire where the whore was. And the same Author saith, If yong men are provoked by the sound of Flutes to commit any wickedness, if the Piper play but a slower tune they are called off again; for by the gravity of the Musick their petulant fury is alayed. Empedocles, when one set upon his Host, that provoked him with reproaches and ill language turned the burden of his Song, and so asswaged the fury of his anger. Theophrastus is reported to have used Musical Tunes to repress the passions of the minde. And Agamemnon departing from his Country to go to Troy, doubting of the chastity of Clitemnestra, left a Harper, who with Musick did so incite her to continency and chastity, that Egystus could not enjoy her till he had killed the Harper. The Thracian Orpheus by the playing on his Harp, made barborous Nations civil who were as hard as stones to be softned. Musick charms the tender ears of children, and Rattles will make them quiet, and hold their peace when they cry. Wherefore Chrysippus is reported to have written a peculiar Song for Nurses. Also wilde Beasts are tamed with Musical Tunes. Arion the Harper made friends of the Dolphins that want reason, and they carried him safe to the shore, when he was cast into the Sea. Strabo saith, That Elephants are allured with drums. Stags are held with sounds, and catched with sweet Musick. The Swans under the North-winde are conquered by the Harp and Musical Tunes: Little birds are enticed to the Net with Pipes; and the Shepherds Pipe commands the Sheep, when they wander too far to field, to stand still. In Mysia, when Horses back Mares, a man sings to them as it were a marriage Song, and the Mares are so taken with the Musick, that they become great with Fole, and they bring forth most gallant Colts. Pythocaris a Musician, when he sang earnestly swift Notes to his Pipe, is said to have made Wolves become more tame; and which is far more wonderful, Antiquity cured Wounds, Diseases, and Poysons by Melody, as Histories related. Terpander and Aaron of Methymna, cured the men of Lesbos and Jonia of great Diseases. Asclepiades a Physitian cured deaf people by a Trumpet, and by singing he stilled the sedicious people. In time past there was great store of Spiders in Aquilia, which they commonly call Tarantulae, when the Sun is extreme hot they bite most pestilently, and venemously; for this danger this healthful remedy is onely found out, that he that is bit must be charmed with much singing of Musicians, and many musical Instruments. The sick though he want all sense, so soon as he hears the Flute play, as if he rose from a dead sleep, ariseth from the earth, and danceth after the Musick; and if the Musician cease to play, he presently faints, & grows stupedt and as the Musick strikes up, so he doth dance the more. So to several Diseases the Antients appointed several Musick; for the Dorick Melody caused Prudence, Chastity, and Learning; the Phrygians made men fight, and grow furious, which the flute will do also. Therefore Aristoxenus in his Plays, when he could not prevail with Dorick Musick, he changed to Phrygian melody that agreed with them. The Lydian Harmony sharpens wit to those that are dull, and brings in a desire of heavenly things, upon those that are oppressed with a love of earthly things. Aristotle in his Politicks, Do we not reade that the Lacedemonians rejected that kinde of Musick called Chromaticum, because it made those that heard it too effeminate? Whence I think it is not against reason, that the same may be done by the Lute or Harp alone, but what is done by art or cunning, is more to be wondred at, which none can deny. But if we would seek out the cause of this, we shall not ascribe it to the Musick, but to the Instrument, and the wood they are made of, and to the skins; since the properties of dead beasts are preserved in their parts, and of Trees cut up in their wood, as I said elsewhere in this Book. And to take the most noted examples, if we will

Fright Sheep,

There is Antipathy between Sheep and Wolves, as I said often, and it remains in all their parts; so that an Instrument strung with Sheep strings, mingled with strings made of a Wolfs guts, will make no Musick, but jar, and make all discords. Pythagoras. If you will

Drive away Horses,

Horses are frighted in battle by Elephants, and a Camel Naturally hates a Horse, as Aristotle and Pliny say, and some report that Horses will burst if they tread upon the Wolfs footing, when the Horsemen rides them. So that if drums be made of an Elephant, Camel, or Wolves skin, and one beat them, the Horses will run away and dare not stand. By the same reason, if you will

Drive away Bears,

A Horse, that is a Creature made obedient to man, hath a Capital hatred with a Bear, that is a Beast hurtful to man; he will know his enemy that he never saw before, and presently provide himself to fight with him, and he useth art rather than strength for it; and I have heard that Bears have been driven away in the Wilderness by the sound of a Drum, when it was made of a Horse skin. Again, if we would

Make Horses gentle,

Aelian writes that by the playing on a Flute, the Lybian Horses are so allured, that by this means they will become gentle for mans use, and will not be so furious; they will follow the Groom that feeds them, whithersoever he please to lead them with his Musick; when he plays and stands, they stand still, and if he play eagerly on the Flute, they are so ravished with it, that they cannot hold crying, and let tears fall. Those that keep Horses make a hollow pipe of the Tree called Rose-Laurel, and they go amongst the herd with this, and playing on it they charm them all. Theophrastus hath told us that the Herb Oenothera will […]ame wilde Beasts, and make them drunk; and as I said elsewhere, Theophrastus his Oenothera is our Rose-Laurel, against Dioscorides. It is reported, that

Women will miscarry,

if Fiddle-strings be made of Serpents, especially of Vipers, for being put on a Harp and play'd on, if women with childe be present, they suffer abortion, and Vipers are wont to do as much by meeting them, as many write. Hermenias, a Theban, endeavoured

To cure many of the Sciatica

in Beotia, by Musick; and it may be his Instrument was made of Poplar, for Dioscorides saith, That the juyce of the Poplar-tree-bark will cure them, or of Willow. Also Hellebore is good

For mad men

And Xenocrates cured mad men with Musical tunes, which Instruments might be easily made of Horses Shank-bones, or the hollow stalks of Hellebore. Thales Milerius used a Harp

Against the Plague,

which could be of no other Wood than the Vine-tree; since Wine and Vinegar are wonderful good against the Pestilence, or else of the Bay-tree, whose leaves bruised and smelled to, will presently drive away Pestilent contagion. Theophrastus writes that some are excellent

Against the bitings of Vipers,

with Harps, Flutes, or other Instruments, which Instruments might be made of Juniper, Ash, Bays, the Stags-bones, Ferula, Elder, Vine, and such like many more. Pythagoras

Against Dru[…]enness

used Musick also: for he withheld a yong man that was drunk from burning the house of his corrival, may be with an Instrument of Ivy, or Almond-tree-wood, especially that as it is of the wilde Tree, for these afford great remedy for drunkenness. Timotheus did so enflame the minde of Alexander the Great, that he was mad to fight, and when he would he changed his minde, and drew out all his courage; and he endeavoured

To draw his sluggish and yielding thoughts from Battle to Banquets,

and so carried him which way he pleased, which could not be done, but by Vine-wood, or Wood-Laurel. The Instrument of the Harper, who when Agamemnon went from Greece to Troy, did keep Clilemnestra chaste by, his Musick was made of Willow, called Agnus Castus; for the women in the Feasts of Ceres, amongst the Athenians, put Willow-Park-leaves under them, to keep them chaste when they lay in bed, for so they extinguished the desire of venery. The Pythagoreans used some Tunes

For sleep and waking;

For when they would by sleep overcome divers cares, they play'd certain Tunes, that easie and quiet sleep might come upon them; and when they arose, so soon as they went out of their Chambers, with some Musick they would dispel all confusion and dulness of sleep, that they might set to their work. It is said that the Aeolian Musick doth still the tempests of the minde, and rocks men a sleep: they provoked men to sleep with Almond-tree, or Vine-tree-wood, and they drove sleep off with Hellebore. Take this experiment that is common,

A Harp that is play'd on, will move another Harpstrung to the same height.

Let the strings be stretched alike, that both may come to the same melody perfectly; if you shall strike one of the base strings, the other will answer it, and so it is in the trebles, yet they must be at a moderate distance; and if this be not very clear, lay straw upon it, and you shall see it move. But Suetonius Tranquillas, in his Book, De Ludicra Historia saith, That in Winter some strings are struck, and others sound. Thus any ignorant man may tune a Htrp, if one Harp be rightly tuned for Musick, and lye still, he by stretching the strings of the other, and by slackning them, and striking as the string of the Harp that lyes still guides him; so of the rest, But if you will

That a deaf person may hear the sound of the Harp,

or else stop your ears with your hands, that you may not hear the sound. Then take fast hold of the Instrument by the handle with your teeth, and let another strike on it, and it will make a Musical noise in the brain, and may be a sweeter noise. And not onely taking hold of the handle with your teeth, but the long neck, neer the Harp, and by that you shall hear the sound perfectly, that you may say that you did not hear the Musick, but taste it. Now remains what I think is very pleasant

To make a Harp or other Instrument be play'd on by winde,

Do thus: When the windes are very tempestuous set your Instruments just against it, as Harps, Flutes, Dulcimers, Pipes the wind will run violently into them, and play low upon them, and will run into the holes of the reeds; whence if you stand neer and listen, you will hear most pleasant Musick by consent of them all, and will rejoyce.

CHAP. VIII.

To discover Frauds whereby Impostors working by Natural means, pretend that they do them by conjuration.

NOw will I open Cheats and Impostors, whereby Jugglers and Impostors, who fain themselves to be Cujurers, and thereby delude fools, knaves, and simple women. I, to cast down their fraud, by a admonishing simple people not to be deceived by them, shall open the causes thereof. And first,

By what means they fain, that they can discover Treasures,

The greater part of Cozners, when they are themselves very poor and most miserable of all men, they profess themselves able to finde out Treasures, and they promise to other men what they want themselves; and they use four Rods that are double forked, the tops whereof sticking close together crossways, they hold the lower parts of them with their hands open, neer their belly, they seem to mumble some Verses, and the Rods fall down, and where they fall, they bid those men to dig that would find Treasures. The cause is, for that the Rods seem to stand fast in their hands, and yet have no hold at all, and they seem always ready to fall; and if they remove never so little from their place, they presently fall down. Also, there are in mens arms and hands pulsations of Arteries, which although they seem immovable, yet they do move the hands unseen, and make them to tremble: Yet some Metal-Masters who report that these forked Rods are a great help to them in finding out of Mines: For with a Knife they cut the Hazel-tree, which they say is the fittest of all to finde out Veins, especially if the Hazel come upon any Mineral Vein. Others use divers Trees, as the Metals are divers; for they use wands of Hazel for Veins of Silver, Ash for Brass, Wilde Pilch-tree for Lead, chiefly white-Lead, or Brass, or Gold: then they take the Rod by both ends, and clinch their fists, but they must hold their fingers clinched upwards toward heaven; and that the Rod may be lifted up there where the ends meet, thus they wander here and there through Mountainous places, and when they set their foot upon a Vein, the Rod will presently turn about, and discover a Vein in any place; when they come off from it, the Rod will be quiet, and they say the Veins have so great force, that they will bend the Boughs of Trees that grew neer, towards them, as Agricola writes more largely.

Another merry conceit remains, that three Schroles of Paper not touched, shall change their places.

This cannot be done but an ignorant man will admire it. Make three long Schroles of Paper, or of linen, and let them be one longer then another, equally; for all of them being made equal at the lower end, and turn'd about equally, they take one the others place, and change their situation; put the longest in the middle or in the first place, they change their situation; if the longest be put last, they hold as they were. No man but will think this to be done by the Divel, yet this proceeds from no other cause, but because in the end of the revolution, the longer remains, and the last from whence it riseth stays behinde. Aristotle in his Problems seems to mean this, why the Section of a Paper, if any man cut it off straight from the plain basis in measuring, it will be straight when it is turned about; but if it be bended, it will be twisted? whether this falls out, that when the rounds of another Section are placed on the same plain, that Section declining, is not equally opposite, but somewhat less: wherefore when you part them, those rounds that are contain'd in the same plain, will make a line, that belong to their own order, &c. Some were deceived, who thought this proceeded from the force of words, and they answered all questions by it as from an Oracle: for if they changed their places, all should go well and prosper, otherwise they should have ill success; and they would not change their superstitious belief, with reason and experience, because they had so believed many years. If you will have

Money to turn about upon a point,

I oft have seen Impostors that to cheat women used this fraud, that two Schroles of Paper, or some other light matter upon a plain, should lift up themselves, and move alone. If you search in Barley, you shall finde a small ear of wilde Oates, that is black and wrested, like the foot of a Locust; and if you binde this with wax to the top of a Knife, or point of a Stile, and shall sprinkle softly some drops of water upon them, when it feels the wet, it will twist like a Harp string, and the Paper will rise, and so will Money turn on the point of a Stile. If we will

Discover theft,

we may do it thus, and recover what is lost. There are many superstitions for theft, that stand by Natural reasons, and Cheaters ascribe them to the vertue of Words. There is the Eagle stone, so called, it is as one great with childe; for shake the stone, and it rings in the belly: If then any one powder this, and put it into good bread baked upon the Embers, and give it to a Thief, the Thief cannot swallow it, when he hath chewed it, but he must either be choked, or discovered for a Thief; for he cannot swallow it being baked with that, as Dioscorides saith. The Natural cause for this is, because the powder that is mingled with the bread is so dry, that it makes the bread extream dry, and like a pumish, that it cannot be swallowed, when it comes into the throat. Adde to this, that he who seeks to finde a Thief, must say to the franders by, whom he suspects that he will work wonders; whereupon he that is the Thief, hath his throat very dry, by reason of the fear and terrour he is in; so that he cannot swallow this bread with the powder in it, for it will stick to his throat; for if he were void of fear he could scarce swallow it. There is another cunning invention: they write the names of those that are suspected upon Schroles of Paper, and make them fast in clay bullets, and put them under the water, the pellets being well wet, open, and the light schroles of Paper rise above the water. And this causeth the spectators to admire, and to suppose it is some diabolical art. The clay pellets are made as many as the standers by are, and the names writ in the schroles, are wrapt up in the pellets: for the schroles that are not very fast wrapt in the pellets, are not very fast bound in; but if you will have them never to open, you shall work it well with the schrole, and so it will never come forth. If you will have

Flowers to fall from a Tree:

When I saw this first I was amazed, but I asked the reason, and he shewed me it. It is a property of Mullens, that when in the morning it opens the Flowers, if the Plant be shaken gently, the Flowers drying by degrees will fall all to the ground; and one that sees it will think it comes from Magical Art, if he that shakes them off shall mumble some idle words. Also,

Women are made to cast off their clothes and go naked:

To let nothing pass that Jugglers and Impostors counterfeit, They set a Lamp with Characters graved upon it, and filled with Hares fat; then they mumble forth some words, and light it; when it burns in the middle of womens company, it constrains them all to cast off their clothes, and voluntarily to shew themselves naked unto men; they behold all their privities, that otherwise would be covered, and the women will never leave dancing so long as the Lamp burns: and this was related to me by men of credit. I believe this effect can come from nothing but the Hares fat, the force whereof perhaps is venemous, and penetrating the brain, moves them to this madness. Homer saith, The Massagerae did the like, and that there are Trees whose fruit cast into the fire, will make all that are neer to be drunk and foolish; for they will presently rise from their seats, and fall to leaping and dancing. There are Thieves also

Who bore through the head of a Pullet with an Aule, and yet maintain that she is alive.

And they say it is done by conjuration, and they promise to make a man hard by this, that he cannot be wounded; for with some Characters fraudulently invented and bound under the wings, they thrust through the head of the Cock with a Bodkin, and staying awhile, they pull it forth again, and the Pullet flies away without any wound, or loss of blood. When I considered of this, and opened the Pullets head, I found it to be parted in the middle, and the Knife or Bodkin passing through that place, hurts not the brain, and I have often tried it, and found it true. There is also

A remedy for the Sciatica,

Great Cato, the chief man for all commodity, and the Master of all good Arts, as Pliny saith, In his Books of Husbandry he used some charms against the pains of the Sciatica; saying, that if any thing be dislocated, you may charm it whole again by this means. Take a green Reed four or five foot long, cut it in the middle, and let two men hold them to the huclebones. Begin to play with another, S. F. motas vaeta daries dardaries astataries dissunapiter, until such time as they joyn together, and shake about your sword, when they come together, and one toucheth the other, take that in your right hand, and cut it asunder with your left; bind it to the place dislocated or broken, and it will be whole. See how so worthy a learned man brake forth into such madness; nor did he know by his great learning, that without the force of Words, green Reeds cut long-ways, will turn round of themselves and meet, if they be pendulous, as the wands of Willows, and brambles will do. Theophrastus gives the reason why they turn round, in his Books De Causis Plantarum. Moreover we reade in Dioscorides, that a Reed with Vinegar applied to the hucklebones will cure the Luxation of the loins, without words or superstition.

CHAP. IX.

Of some Experiments of a Lamp.

I Much rejoyced when I found amongst the Ancients, that Anaxilaus the Philosopher, was wont to make sport with the Snuff of a Candle and the Wick, and by such delusions would make mens heads shew like Monsters, if we may believe Pliny: By taking the venomous matter comes from Mares newly having taken Horse, and burning in new Lamps, for it will make mens heads seem like Horsheads, and such like: but because I gave no credit to these things, I never cared to try them. But take these for truth.

To make men seem like to Blackmores,

Take Ink, but the best comes from Cutles: mingle this with your Lamps, and the flame will be black. Anaxilaus is reported to have done this, for oft-times by mingling Cutles Ink, he made the standers by as black as Ethiopians. Simeon Sethi saith, That if any man shall dip a Wick in Cutles Ink, and Verdigrease, those that stand by will seem partly Brass-colour, partly Black, by reason of the mixture. And we may imitate this in all colours; for setting aside all other lights that might hinder it, for else the other lights will spoil the sport, and if you do it by day, shut the windows lest the light come in there and destroy the delusion. If the Lamp be green Glass and transparent, that the rays coming through may be dyed by the colour of the medium (which is of great consequence in this) and green Coppras be mingled with the Oyl, or what moysture it burns with, and they be well ground together, that the liquor may be green; make your Cotten of some linnen of the same colour, or bombast; this being smeered with it, must burn in that Lamp: the light that is opposite against you, will shew all faces of the beholders and other things to be green.

To make the face seem extream pale and lean,

This is easie; pour into a large Glass very old Wine, or Greek Wine, and cast a handful of Salt into it: set the Glass upon burning coles without flame, lest the Glass should break, it will presently boil; put a Candle to it, and light it; then put out all other lights, and it will make the faces of the standers by to be such, that they will be one afraid of another. The same falls out in shops, where Bells and Metals are melted, for they seem so strangely coloured in the dark, that you would wonder at it, their lips look pale, wan, and black, and blew: Also let Brimstone, when it burns, be set in the middle of the company, and it will do the same more powerfully. Anaxilaus the Philosopher was wont to work by such delusions. For Brimstone put into a new cup, and set on fire, and carried about, by the repercussion of it when it burns, makes the company look pale and terrible. That oft-times happened to me when at Naples I walked in the night in the Leucogean Mountains; for the Brimstone burning of it self, made me look so.

CHAP. X.

Of some mechanical Experiments.

THere are some Experiments that are witty and not to be despised, and are done by Simples without mixture, which I thought not unfit to communicate to ingenuous Men, and Artificers. There is an Art, called

The flying Dragon,

or the Comet: It is made thus; Make a quadrangle of the small pieces of Reeds, that the length may be to the breadth, one and half inproportion; put in two Diameters on the opposite parts, or Angles, where they cut one the other, bind it with a small cord, and of the same bigness, let it be joyned with two others that proceed from the heads of the Engine. Then cover it with paper or thin linnen, that there be no burden to weigh upon it: then from the top of a Tower, or some high place, send it out where the wind is equal and uniform, not in to great winds, lest they break the workmanship, nor yet to small, for if the wind be still, it will not carry it up, and the weak wind makes it less labour. Let it not flye right forth, but obliquely, which is effected by a cord that comes from one end to the other, and by the long tale which you shall make of cords of equal distance, and papers tied unto them: so being gently let forth, it is to be guided by the Artificers hand, who must not move it idly or sluggishly, but forcibly; so this flying Sayle flies into the air. When it is raised a little (for here the wind is broken by the windings of the houses) you can hardly guide it, or hold it with your hands. Some place a Lanthorn upon it, that it may shew like a Comet: others put a Cracker of paper, wherein Gun-power is roled, and when it is in the air, by the cord there is sent in a light match, by a ring or some thing that will abide; this presently flies to the Sayle, and gives fire to the mouth of it, and the Engine with a thundring noise, flies into many parts, and falls to the ground. Others bind a Cat or Whelp, and so they hear cries in the air. Hence may an ingenuous Man take occasion, to consider how to make a man flye, by huge wings bound to his elbows and breast; but he must from his childhood, by degrees, use to move them, always in a higher place. If any man think this a wonder, let him consider what is reported, that Archytas the Pythagorean did. For many of the Noble Greeks, and Favorinus the Philosopher, the greatest searcher out of Antiquities, have Written affirmatively, that the frame of a Pigeon made in wood, was formed by Archytas, by some art, and made to flie; it was so balanced in the air by weights, and moved by an aireal Spirit shut within it.

Soli Deo Gloria.

FINIS.