_Of Hermaphrodites._

Q. How are hermaphrodites begotten? A. Nature doth always tend to that

which is best, and always intendeth to beget the male and not the

female, because the female is only for the male's mate. Therefore the

male is sometimes begotten in all its principal parts; and, yet, through

the indisposition of the womb and object, and inequality of the seeds,

when nature cannot perfect the male, she brings forth the female too.

And therefore natural philosophers say, that an hermaphrodite is

impotent in the privy parts of a man, as appears by experience.

Q. Is an hermaphrodite accounted a man or a woman? A. It is to be

considered in which member he is fittest for copulation; if he be

fittest in the woman's, then he is a woman; if in a man's, then he is a

man.

Q. Should he be baptized in the name of a man or a woman? A. In the

name of a man, because names are given _ad placitum_, and therefore he

should be baptized, according to the worthiest name, because every agent

is worthier than its patient.

_Of Monsters._

Q. Doth nature make any monsters? A. She doth; if she did not, then

would she be deprived of her end. For of things possible, she doth

always propose to bring forth that which is most perfect and best; but

in the end, through the evil disposition of the matter, not being able

to bring forth that which she intended, she brings forth that which she

can. As it happened in Albertus's time, when in a certain village, a cow

brought forth a calf, half a man; then the countrymen suspecting a

shepherd, would have burnt him with the cow; but Albertus, being skilled

in astronomy, said that this did proceed from a certain constellation,

and so delivered the shepherd from their hands.

Q. Are they one or two? A. To find out, you must look into the heart, if

there be two hearts, there be two men.

Q. Why are some children like their father, some like their mother, some

to both and some to neither? A. If the seed of the father wholly

overcome that of the mother the child doth resemble the father; but if

the mother's predominate, then it is like the mother; but if he be like

neither, that doth sometimes happen through the four qualities,

sometimes through the influence of some heavenly constellation.

Q. Why are children oftener like the father than the mother? A. It

proceeds from the imagination of the mother in the act of copulation, as

appeared in a queen who had her imagination on a blackamoor; and in the

Ethiopian queen who brought forth a white child, because her imagination

was upon a white colour; as is seen in Jacob's skill in casting rods of

divers colours into the water, when his sheep went to ram.

Q. Why do children born in the eighth month for the most part die

quickly, and why are they called the children of the moon? A. Because

the moon is a cold planet, which has dominion over the child, and

therefore doth bind it with coldness, which is the cause of its death.

Q. Why doth a child cry as soon as it is born? A. Because of the sudden

change from heat to cold: which cold doth affect its tenderness. Another

reason is, because the child's soft and tender body is wringed and put

together coming out of the narrow and strait passage of the matrix, and

especially, the brain being moist, and the head being pressed and

wrinkled together, is the cause that some humours distil by the eyes,

which are the cause of tears and weeping.

Q. Why doth the child put its fingers into its mouth as soon as it

cometh into the world? A. Because that coming out of the womb it cometh

out of a hot bath, and entering into the cold, puts them into its mouth

for want of heat.

_Of the Child in the Womb._

Q. How is the child engendered in the womb? A. The first six days the

seed hath this colour of milk, but in the six following a red colour,

which is near unto the disposition of the flesh; and then it is changed

into a thick substance of blood. But in the twelve days following, this

substance becomes so thick and round that it is capable of receiving

shape and form.

Q. Doth the child in the womb void excrements or make water? No. Because

it hath not the first digestion which is in the stomach. It receives no

food by the mouth, but by the navel; therefore, makes no urine but

sweats, which is but little, and is received in a skin in the matrix,

which at the birth is cast out.

_Of Abortion and Untimely Birth._

Q. Why do women that eat unwholesome meats, easily miscarry? A. Because

they breed putrefied seed, which the mind abhorring doth cast it out of

the womb as unfit for the shape which is adapted to receive the soul.

Q. Why doth wrestling and leaping cause the casting of the child, as

some subtle women do on purpose? A. The vapour is burning, and doth

easily hurt the tender substance of the child, entering in at the pores

of the matrix.

Q. Why doth much joy cause a woman to miscarry? A. Because in the time

of joy, a woman is destitute of heat, and so a miscarriage doth follow.

Q. Why do women easily miscarry when they are first with child, viz.,

the first, second or third month? A. As apples and pears easily fall at

first, because the knots and ligaments are weak, so it is with a child

in the womb.

Q. Why is it hard to miscarry in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth

month? A. Because the ligaments are stronger and well fortified.

_Of Divers Matters._

Q. Why has not a man a tail like a beast? A. Because man is a noble

creature, whose property is to sit; which a beast, having a tail,

cannot.

Q. Why does hot water freeze sooner than cold? A. Hot water is thinner,

and gives better entrance to the frost.

Q. Why is every living creature dull after copulation? A. By reason that

the act is filthy and unclean; and so every living creature abhors it.

When men do think upon it, they are ashamed and sad.

Q. Why cannot drunken men judge of taste as well as sober men? A.

Because the tongue, being full of pores and spongy, receives more

moisture into it, and more in drunken men than in sober; therefore, the

tongue, through often drinking, is full of bad humours, and so the

faculty of tasting is rendered out of order; also, through the

thickening of the taste itself, drink taken by drunkards is not

presently felt. And by this may also be understood why drunkards have

not a perfect speech.

Q. Why have melancholy beasts long ears? A. The ears proceed from a dry

and cold substance, called gristle, which is apt to become bone; and

because melancholy beasts do abound with this kind of substance, they

have long ears.

Q. Why do hares sleep with their eyes open? A. 1. They have their eyes

standing out, and their eyelids short, therefore, never quite shut. 2.

They are timorous, and as a safe-guard to themselves, sleep with their

eyes open.

Q. Why do not crows feed their young till they be nine days old? A.

Because seeing them of another colour, they think they are of another

kind.

Q. Why are sheep and pigeons mild? A. They want galls, the cause of

anger.

Q. Why have birds their stones inward? A. Because if outward, they would

hinder their flying and lightness.

Q. How comes it that birds do not piss? A. Because that superfluity

which would be converted into urine, is turned into feathers.

Q. Why do we hear better in the night than by day? A. Because there is a

greater quietness in the night than in the day, for the sun doth not

exhale the vapours by night, but it doth in the day, therefore the moon

is more fit than in the day; and the moon being fit, the motion is

better received, which is said to be caused by a sound.

Q. For what reason doth a man laugh sooner when touched in the armpits

than in any other part of the body? A. Because there is in that place a

meeting of many sinews, and the mean we touch, which is the flesh, is

more subtle than in other parts, and therefore of finer feeling. When a

man is moderately and gently touched there the spirits that are

dispersed run into the face and causes laughter.

Q. Why do some women love white men and some black men? A. 1. Some have

weak sight, and such delight in black, because white doth hurt the sight

more than black. 2. Because like delight in like; but some women are of

a hot nature, and such are delighted with black, because blackness

followeth heat; and others are of a cold nature, and those are delighted

with white, because cold produces white.

Q. Why do men incline to sleep after labour? A. Because, through

continual moving, the heat is dispersed to the external parts of the

body, which, after labour, is gathered together in the internal parts,

there to digest; and from digestion, vapours arise from the heart to the

brain, which stop the passage by which the natural heat should be

dispersed to the external part; and then, the external parts being cold

and thick, by reason of the coldness of the brain sleep is easily

procured. By this it appeareth that such as eat and drink too much, do

sleep much and long, because there are great store of humours and

vapours bred in such persons which cannot be consumed and digested by

the natural heat.

Q. Why are such as sleep much, evil disposed and ill-coloured? A.

Because in too much sleep moisture is gathered together, which cannot be

consumed, and so it doth covet to go out through the superficial parts

of the body, and especially it resorts to the face, and therefore is the

cause of bad colours, as appeareth in such as are phlegmatic and who

desire more sleep than others.

Q. Why do some imagine in their sleep that they eat and drink sweet

things? A. Because the phlegm drawn up by the jaws doth distil and drop

to the throat; and this phlegm is sweet after a sore sweat, and that

seemeth so to them.

Q. Why do some dream in their sleep that they are in the water and

drowned, and some that they were in the water and not drowned;

especially such as are phlegmatic? A. Because when the phlegmatic

substance doth turn to the high parts of the body, then many think they

are in the water and drowned; but when that substance draweth into the

internal parts, then they think they escape. Another reason may be,

overmuch repletion and drunkenness: and therefore, when men are overmuch

filled with meat, the fumes and vapours ascend and gather together, and

they think they are drowned and strangled; but if they cannot ascend so

high then they seem to escape.

Q. May a man procure a dream by an external cause? A. It may be done. If

a man speak softly in another man's ear and awake him not, then of his

stirring of the spirits there are thunderings and buzzings in the head,

which cause dreamings.

Q. How many humours are there in a man's body? A. Four, whereof every

one hath its proper place. The first is choler, called by physicians

_flava bilis_, which is placed in the liver. The second is melancholy,

called _atra bilis_, whose seat is in the spleen. The third is phlegm,

whose place is in the head. The fourth is blood, whose place is in the

heart.

Q. What condition and quality hath a man of a sanguine complexion? A. It

is fair and beautiful; hath his hair for the most part smooth; is bold;

retaineth that which he hath conceived; is shame-faced, given to music,

a lover of sciences, liberal, courteous, and not desirous of revenge.

Q. What properties do follow those of a phlegmatic complexion? A. They

are dull of wit, their hair never curls, they are seldom very thirsty,

much given to sleep, dream of things belonging to water, are fearful,

covetous, given to heap up riches, and are weak in the act of venery.

Q. What are the properties of a choleric man? A. He is brown in

complexion, unquiet, his veins hidden, eateth little and digesteth less,

dreameth of dark and confused things, is sad, fearful, exceedingly

covetous, and incontinent.

Q. What dreams do follow these complexions? A. Pleasant, merry dreams do

follow the sanguine; fearful dreams, the melancholic; the choleric dream

of children fighting and fire; the phlegmatic dream of water. This is

the reason why a man's complexion is said to be known by his dreams.

Q. What is the reason that if you cover an egg over with salt, and let

it lie in it a few days, all the meat within is consumed? A. A great

dryness of the salt consumes the substance of the egg.

Q. Why is the melancholic complexion the worst? A. Because it proceeds

from the dregs of the blood, is an enemy to mirth and bringeth on aged

appearance and death, being cold and dry.

Q. What is the cause that some men die joyful, and some in extreme

grief? A. Over-great joy doth overmuch heat the internal parts of the

body; and overmuch grief doth drown and suffocate the heart, which

failing, a man dieth.

Q. Why hath a man so much hair on his head? A. The hair on his head

proceeds from the vapours which arise from the stomach, and ascend to

the head, and also of the superfluities which are in the brain; and

those two passing through the pores of the head are converted into hair,

by reason of the heat and dryness of the head. And because man's body is

full of humours, and he hath more brains than any other living

creatures.

Q. How many ways is the brain purged and other hidden places of the

body? A. Four; the watery and gross humours are purged by the eyes,

melancholy by the ears, choler by the nose, and phlegm by the hair.

Q. What is the reason that such as are very fat in their youth, are in

danger of dying on a sudden? A. Such have very small and close veins, by

reason of their fatness, so that the air and the breath can hardly have

free course in them; and thereupon the natural heat wanting the

refreshment of air, is put out, and as it were, quenched.

Q. Why do garlic and onions grow after they are gathered? A. It

proceedeth from the humidity that is in them.

Q. Why do men feel cold sooner than women? A. Because men, being more

hot than women, have their pores more open, and therefore it doth sooner

enter into them than women.

Q. Why are not old men so subject to the plague as young men and

children? A. They are cold, and their pores are not so open as in youth;

and therefore the infecting air doth not penetrate so soon by reason of

their coldness.

Q. Why do we cast water in a man's face when he swooneth? A. Because

through the coldness of water the heat may run to the heart, and so give

strength.

Q. Why are those waters best and most delicate which run towards the

rising sun? A. Because they are soonest stricken with the sunbeams, and

made pure and subtle, the sun having them under it, and by that means

taking off the coldness and gross vapours which they gather from the

ground they run through.

Q. Why have women such weak and small voices? A. Because their

instruments and organs of speaking, by reason of their coldness, are

small and narrow; and therefore, receiving but little air, cause the

voice to be effeminate.

Q. Whereof doth it proceed that want of sleep doth weaken the brain and

body? A. Much watching doth engender choler, the which being hot both

dry up and lessen the humours which serve the brain, the head, and other

parts of the body.

Q. Wherefore doth vinegar so readily staunch blood? A. From its cold

virtue, for all cold is naturally binding, and vinegar being cold, hath

the like property.

Q. Why is sea-water salter in summer than in winter? A. From the heat of

the sun, seeing by experiment that a salt thing being heated becometh

more salt.

Q. Why do men live longer in hot regions than in cold? A. Because they

may be more dry, and by that means the natural heat is better preserved

in them than in cold countries.

Q. Why is well-water seldom or ever good? A. All water which standeth

still in the spring and is never heated by the sunbeams, is very heavy,

and hath much matter in it, and therefore wanting the heat of the sun,

is naught.

Q. Why do men sleep better and more at ease on the right side than on

the left? A. Because when they be on the left side, the lungs do lie

upon and cover the heart, which is on that side under the pap; now the

heart, the fountain of life, being thus occupied and hindered with the

lungs, cannot exercise its own proper operation, as being overmuch

heated with the lungs lying upon it, and therefore wanting the

refreshment of the air which the lungs do give it, like the blowing of a

pair of bellows, is choked and suffocated, but by lying on the right

side, those inconveniences are avoided.

Q. What is the reason that old men sneeze with great difficulty? A.

Because that through their coldness their arteries are very narrow and

close, and therefore the heat is not of force to expel the cold.

Q. Why doth a drunken man think that all things about him do turn round?

A. Because the spirits which serve the sight are mingled with vapours

and fumes, arising from the liquors he has drunk; the overmuch heat

causeth the eye to be in continual motion, and the eye being round,

causeth all things about it to seem to go round.

Q. Wherefore doth it proceed, that bread which is made with salt is

lighter than that which is made without it, considering that salt is

very heavy of itself? A. Although bread is very heavy of itself, yet the

salt dries it and makes it light, by reason of the heat which it hath;

and the more heat there is in it, the better the bread is, and the

lighter and more wholesome for the body.

Q. Why is not new bread good for the stomach? A. Because it is full of

moistness, and thick, hot vapours, which do corrupt the blood, and hot

bread is blacker than cold, because heat is the mother of blackness, and

because the vapours are not gone out of it.

Q. Why do lettuces make a man sleep? A. Because they engender gross

vapours.

Q. Why do the dregs of wine and oil go to the bottom, and those of honey

swim uppermost? A. Because the dregs of wine and oil are earthly, and

therefore go to the bottom; but honey is a liquid that cometh from the

stomach and belly of the bee; and is there in some sort putrefied and

made subtle; on which account the dregs are most light and hot, and

therefore go uppermost.

Q. Why do cats' and wolves' eyes shine in the night, and not in the day?

A. The eyes of these beasts are by nature more crystalline than the eyes

of other beasts, and therefore do so shine in darkness; but the

brightness of the sun doth hinder them from being seen in the day-time.

Q. What is the reason that some men, if they see others dance, do the

like with their hands and feet, or by other gestures of the body? A.

Because the sight having carried and represented unto the mind that

action, and judging the same to be pleasant and delightful, and

therefore the imagination draweth the like of it in conceit and stirs up

the body by the gestures.

Q. Why does much sleep cause some to grow fat and some lean? A. Those

who are of ill complexion, when they sleep, do consume and digest the

superfluities of what they have eaten, and therefore become fat. But

such as are of good complexion, when they sleep are more cold, and

digest less.

Q. How much, and from what cause do we suffer hunger better than thirst?

A. When the stomach hath nothing else to consume, it consumeth the

phlegm and humours which it findeth most ready and most at hand; and

therefore we suffer hunger better than thirst, because the heat hath

nothing to refresh itself with.

Q. Why doth the hair fall after a great sickness? A. Where the sickness

is long, as in the ague, the humours of the head are dried up through

overmuch heat, and, therefore, wanting nourishment, the hair falls.

Q. Why doth the hair of the eyebrows grow long in old men? A. Because

through their age the bones are thin through want of heat, and therefore

the hair doth grow there, by reason of the rheum of the eye.

Q. Whereof proceedeth gaping? A. Of gross vapours, which occupy the

vital spirits of the head, and of the coldness of the senses causing

sleepiness.

Q. What is the reason that some flowers do open with the sun rising, and

shut with the sun setting? A. Cold doth close and shut, as hath been

said, but the heat of the sun doth open and enlarge. Some compare the

sun to the soul of the body; for as the soul giveth life, so the sun

doth give life, and vivificate all things; but cold bringeth death,

withering and decaying all things.

Q. Why doth grief cause men to grow old and grey? A. Age is nothing else

but dryness and want of humours in the body; grief then causeth

alteration, and heat dryness; age and greyness follow immediately.

Q. Why are gelded beasts weaker than such as are not gelded? A. Because

they have less heat, and by that means less force and strength.

* * * * *

THE PROBLEMS OF

MARCUS ANTONINUS SANCTIPERTIAS

Q. Why is it esteemed, in the judgment of the most wise, the hardest

thing to know a man's self? A. Because nothing can be known that is of

so great importance to man for the regulation of his conduct in life.

Without this knowledge, man is like the ship without either compass or

rudder to conduct her to port, and is tossed by every passion and

prejudice to which his natural constitution is subjected. To know the

form and perfection of man's self, according to the philosophers, is a

task too hard; and a man, says Plato, is nothing, or if he be anything,

he is nothing, but his soul.

Q. Why is a man, though endowed with reason, the most unjust of all

living creatures? A. Because only man is desirous of honour; and so it

happens that every one covets to seem good, and yet naturally shuns

labour, though he attain no virtue by it.

Q. Why doth immoderate copulation do more hurt than immoderate letting

of blood? A. The seed is full of nutriment, and better prepared for the

nurture of the body, than the blood; for the blood is nourished by the

seed.

Q. What is the reason that those that have long yards cannot beget

children? A. The seed, in going a long distance, doth lose the spirit,

and therefore becomes cold and unfit.

Q. Why do such as are corpulent cast forth but little seed in the act of

copulation, and are often barren? A. Because the seed of such goeth to

nourish the body. For the same reason corpulent women have but few

menses.

Q. How come women to be prone to venery in the summer time and men in

the winter? A. In summer the man's testicles hang down and are feebler

than in winter, or because hot natures become more lively in the cold

season; for a man is hot and dry, and a woman cold and moist; and

therefore in summer the strength of men decays, and that of women

increases, and they grow livelier by the benefit of the contrary

quality.

Q. Why is man the proudest of all living creatures? A. By reason of his

great knowledge; or, as philosophers say, all intelligent beings having

understanding, nothing remains that escapes man's knowledge in

particular; or it is because he hath rule over all earthly creatures,

and all things seem to be brought under his dominion.

Q. Why have beasts their hearts in the middle of their breasts, and man

his inclining to the left? A. To moderate the cold on that side.

Q. Why doth the woman love the man best who has got her maidenhead? A.

By reason of shame-facedness; Plato saith, shame-facedness doth follow

love, or, because it is the beginning of great pleasure, which doth

bring a great alteration in the whole body, whereby the powers of the

mind are much delighted, and stick and rest immoveable in the same.

Q. How come hairy people to be more lustful than any other? A. Because

they are said to have greater store of excrements and seed as

philosophers assert.

Q. What is the cause that the suffocation of the matrix, which happens

to women through strife and contention, is more dangerous than the

detaining of the flowers? A. Because the more perfect an excrement is in

its natural disposition, the worse it is when it is altered from that

disposition, and drawn to the contrary quality; as is seen in vinegar,

which is sharpest when it is made of the best wine. And so it happens

that the more men love one another the more they fall into variance and

discord.

Q. How come women's bodies to be looser, softer and less than man's; and

why do they want hair? A. By reason of their menses; for with them their

superfluities go away, which would produce hair; and thereby the flesh

is filled, consequently the veins are more hid in women than in men.

Q. What is the reason that when we think upon a horrible thing, we are

stricken with fear? A. Because the conceit or imagination of things has

force and virtue. For Plato saith, the fancy of things has some affinity

with things themselves; for the image and representation of cold and

heat is such as the nature of things are. Or it is this, because when we

comprehend any dreadful matter, the blood runneth to the internal parts;

and therefore the external parts are cold and shake with fear.

Q. Why doth a radish root help digestion and yet itself remaineth

undigested? A. Because the substance consisteth of divers parts; for

there are some thin parts in it, which are fit to digest meat, the which

being dissolved, there doth remain some thick and close substance in it,

which the heat cannot digest.

Q. Why do such as cleave wood, cleave it easier in the length than

athwart? A. Because in the wood there is a grain, whereby, if it be cut

in length, in the very cutting, one part naturally separateth from

another.

Q. What is the reason, that if a spear be stricken on the end, the sound

cometh sooner to one who standeth near, than to him who striketh? A.

Because, as hath been said, there is a certain long grain in wood,

directly forward, filled with air, but on the other side there is none,

and therefore a beam or spear being stricken on the end, the air which

is hidden receiveth a sound in the aforesaid grain which serveth for its

passage; and, seeing the sound cannot go easily out of it is carried

into the ear of him who is opposite; as those passages do not go from

side to side, a sound cannot be distinctly heard there.

Q. Why are the thighs and calves of the legs of men flesh, seeing the

legs of beasts are not so? A. Because men only go upright; and therefore

nature hath given the lower parts corpulency, and taken it away from the

upper; and thus she hath made the buttocks, the thighs, and calves of

the legs fleshy.

Q. Why are the sensible powers in the heart; yet if the hinder part of

the brain be hurt, the memory suffereth by it; if the forepart, the

imagination; if the middle, the cogitative part? A. It is because the

brain is appointed by nature to cool the blood of the heart; whereof it

is, that in divers of its parts it serveth the powers and instruments

with their heart, for every action of the soul doth not proceed from one

measure of heat.

* * * * *

THE PROBLEMS OF

ALEXANDER APHRODISEUS

Q. Why doth the sun make a man black and dirt white, wax soft and dirt

hard? A. By reason of the disposition of the substance that doth suffer.

All humours, phlegm excepted, when heated above measure, do seem black

about the skin; and dirt, being full either of saltpetre, or salt

liquor, when the sun hath consumed its dregs and filth, doth become

white again. When the sun hath stirred up and drawn the humidity of the

wax, it is softened; but in the dirt, the sun doth consume the humidity,

which is very much and makes it hard.

Q. Why are round ulcers hard to be cured? A. Because they are bred of a

sharp choler, which eats and gnaws; and because it doth run, dropping

and gnawing, it makes a round ulcer; for which reason it requires dry

medicines, as physicians assert.

Q. Why is honey sweet to all men, but to such as have jaundice? A.

Because they have much bitter choler all over their bodies, which

abounds in the tongue; whence it happens when they eat honey the humours

are stirred, and the taste itself, by the bitterness of choler, causes

an imagination that the honey is bitter.

Q. Why doth water cast on serpents, cause them to fly? A. Because they

are dry and cold by nature, having but little blood, and therefore fly

from excessive coldness.

Q. Why doth an egg break if roasted, and not if boiled? A. When moisture

comes near the fire, it is heated very much, and so breeds wind, which

being put up in little room, forces its way out, and breaks the shell:

the like happens in tubs or earthen vessels when new wine is put into

them; too much phlegm breaks the shell of an egg in roasting; it is the

same with earthen pots too much heated; wherefore some people wet an egg

when they intend to roast it. Hot water, by its softness, doth dissipate

its humidity by little and little, and dissolves it through the thinness

and passages of the shell.

Q. Why do men wink in the act of copulation, and find a little

alteration in all other senses? A. Because, being overcome by the effect

of that pleasure, they do comprehend it the better.

Q. Why have children gravel breeding in their bladders, and old men in

their kidneys and veins? A. Because children have straight passages in

their kidneys, and an earthly thick humour is thrust with violence by

the urine to the bladder, which hath wide conduits or passages, that

give room for the urine and humour whereof gravel is engendered, which

waxes thick, and seats itself, as the manner of it is. In old men it is

the reverse, for they have wide passages of the veins, back and kidneys,

that the urine may pass away, and the earthly humour congeal and sink

down; the colour of the gravel shows the humour whereof the stone comes.

Q. Why is it, if the stone do congeal and wax hard through heat, we use

not contrary things to dissolve it by coldness, but light things, as

parsley, fennel and the like? A. It is thought, to fall out by an

excessive scorching heat, by which the stones do crumble into sand, as

in the manner of earthen vessels, which, when they are overheated or

roasted, turn to sand. And by this means it happens that small stones

are avoided, together with sand, in making water. Sometimes cold drink

thrusts out the stone, the kidneys being stretched and casting it out by

a great effort; thus easing the belly of its burden. Besides, it often

happens that immoderate heat of the kidneys, or of the veins of the back

(through which the stone doth grow) is quenched with coldness.

Q. Why is the curing of an ulcer or bile in the kidneys or bladder very

hard? A. Because the urine being sharp, doth ulcerate the sore. Ulcers

are worse to cure in the bladder than in the kidneys, because urine

stays in the former, but runs away from the latter.

Q. Why do chaff and straw keep water hot, but make snow cold? A. Because

the nature of chaff wants a manifest quantity; seeing, therefore that of

its own nature, it can easily be mingled, and consumed by that which it

is annexed onto, it easily assumes the same nature, and being put into

hot things, it is easily hot, heats again, and keeps hot; and on the

contrary, being made cold by the snow, and making the snow cold it keeps

in its coldness.

Q. Why have we oftentimes a pain in making water? A. Because sharp

choler issuing out, and pricking the bladder of the urine, doth provoke

and stir up the whole body to ease the part offended, and to expel the

humour moderately. This doth happen most of all unto children, because

they have moist excrements by reason of their often drinking.

Q. Why have some medicines of one kind contrary effects, as experience

proves; for mastich doth expel, dissolve and also knit; and vinegar

cools and heats? A. Because there are some small invisible bodies in

them, not in confusion, but by interposition; as sand moistened doth

clog together and seem to be but one body, though indeed there are many

small bodies in sand. And since this is so, it is not absurd that the

contrary qualities and virtues should be hidden in mastich, and that

nature hath given that virtue to these bodies.

Q. Why do nurses rock and move their children when they would rock them

to sleep? A. To the end that the humours being scattered by moving, may

move the brains; but those of more years cannot endure this.

Q. Why doth oil, being drunk, cause one to vomit, and especially yellow

choler? A. Because being light, and ascending upwards it provoketh the

nutriment in the stomach, and lifteth it up; and so, the stomach being

grieved, summoneth the ejective virtue to vomit, and especially choler,

because that is light and consisteth of subtle parts, and therefore the

sooner carried upward; for when it is mingled with any moist thing, it

runneth into the highest room.

Q. Why doth not oil mingle with moist things? A. Because, being pliant,

soft and thick in itself, it cannot be divided into parts, and so cannot

be mingled; neither if it be put on the earth can it enter into it.

Q. Why are water and oil frozen in cold weather, and wine and vinegar

not? A. Because that oil being without quality, and fit to be compounded

with anything, is cold quickly and so extremely that it is most cold.

Water being cold of nature, doth easily freeze when it is made colder

than its own nature. Wine being hot, and of subtle parts, suffereth no

freezing.

Q. Why do contrary things in quality bring forth the same effect? A.

That which is moist is hardened and bound alike by heat and cold. Snow

and liquid do freeze with cold; a plaster and gravel in the bladder are

made dry with heat. The effect indeed is the same, but by two divers

actions; the heat doth consume and eat the abundance of moisture; but

the cold stopping and shutting with its over much thickness, doth wring

out the filthy humidity, like as a sponge wrung with the hand doth cast

out the water which it hath in the pores and small passages.

Q. Why doth a shaking or quivering seize us oftentimes when any fearful

matter doth happen, as a great noise or a crack made, the sudden

downfall of water, or the fall of a large tree? A. Because that

oftentimes the humours being digested and consumed by time and made thin

and weak, all the heat vehemently, suddenly and sharply flying into the

inward part of the body, consumeth the humours which cause the disease.

So treacle hath this effect, and many such like, which are hot and dry

when taken after connexion.

Q. Why do steel glasses shine so clearly? A. Because they are lined in

the inside with white lead, whose nature is shining, and being put to

glass, which is lucid and transparent, doth shine much more; and casts

its beams through its passages, and without the body of the glass; and

by that means the glass is very shining and clear.

Q. Why do we see ourselves in glasses and clear water? A. Because the

quality of the sight, passing into the bright bodies by reflection, doth

return again on the beam of the eyes, as the image of him who looketh on

it.

Q. What is the reason that if you cast a stone in standing water which

is near the surface of the earth, it causes many circles, and not if the

water be deep in the earth? A. Because the stone, with the vehemence of

the cast, doth agitate the water in every part of it, until it come to

the bottom; and if there be a very great vehemence in the throw, the

circle is still greater, the stone going down to the bottom causing many

circles. For, first of all, it doth divide the outermost and superficial

parts of the water in many parts, and so, always going down to the

bottom, again dividing the water, it maketh another circle, and this is

done successively until the stone resteth; and because the vehemence of

the stone is slackened, still as it goes down, of necessity the last

circle is less than the first, because by that and also by its force the

water is divided.

Q. Why are such as are deaf by nature, dumb? A. Because they cannot

speak and express that which they never hear. Some physicians do say,

that there is one knitting and uniting of sinews belonging to the like

disposition. But such as are dumb by accident are not deaf at all, for

then there ariseth a local passion.

Q. Why doth itching arise when an ulcer doth wax whole and phlegm

ceases? A. Because the part which is healed and made sound doth pursue

the relic of the humours which remained there against nature, and which

was the cause of the bile, and so going out through the skin, and

dissolving itself, doth originally cause the itch.

Q. How comes a man to sneeze oftener and more vehemently than a beast?

A. Because he uses more meats and drinks, and of more different sorts,

and that more than is requisite; the which, when he cannot digest as he

would, he doth gather together much air and spirit, by reason of much

humidity; the spirits then very subtle, ascending into the head, often

force a man to void them, and so provoke sneezing. The noise caused

thereby proceeds from a vehement spirit or breath passing through the

conduit of the nostrils, as belching doth from the stomach or farting by

the fundament, the voice by the throat, and a sound by the ear.

Q. How come the hair and nails of dead people to grow? A. Because the

flesh rotting, withering and falling away, that which was hidden about

the root of the hair doth now appear as growing. Some say that it grows

indeed, because carcasses are dissolved in the beginning to many

excrements and superfluities by putrefaction. These going out at the

uppermost parts of the body by some passages, do increase the growth of

the hair.

Q. Why does not the hair of the feet soon grow grey? A. For this reason,

because that through great motion they disperse and dissolve the

superfluous phlegm that breeds greyness. The hair of the secrets grows

very late, because of the place, and because that in carnal copulation

it dissolves the phlegm also.

Q. Why, if you put hot burnt barley upon a horse's sore, is the hair

which grows upon the sore not white, but like the other hair? A. Because

it hath the force of expelling; and doth drive away and dissolve the

phlegm, as well as all other unprofitable matter that is gathered

together through the weakness of the parts, or condity of the sore.

Q. Why doth the hair never grow on an ulcer or bile? A. Because man hath

a thick skin, as is seen by the thickness of his hair; and if the scar

be thicker than the skin itself, it stops the passages from whence the

hair should grow. Horses have thinner skins, as is plain by their hair;

therefore all passages are not stopped in their wounds and sores; and

after the excrements which were gathered together have broken a passage

through those small pores the hair doth grow.

Q. Why is Fortune painted with a double forehead, the one side bald and

the other hairy? A. The baldness signifies adversity, and hairiness

prosperity, which we enjoy when it pleaseth her.

Q. Why have some commended flattery? A. Because flattery setteth forth

before our eyes what we ought to be, though not what we are.

Q. Wherefore should virtue be painted girded? A. To show that virtuous

men should not be slothful, but diligent and always in action.

Q. Why did the ancients say it was better to fall into the hands of a

raven than a flatterer? A. Because ravens do not eat us till we be dead,

but flatterers devour us alive.

Q. Why have choleric men beards before others? A. Because they are hot,

and their pores large.

Q. How comes it that such as have the hiccups do ease themselves by

holding their breath? A. The breath retained doth heat the interior

parts of the body, and the hiccups proceeds from cold.

Q. How comes it that old men remember well what they have seen and done

in their youth, and forget such things as they see and do in their old

age? A. Things learned in youth take deep root and habitude in a person,

but those learned in age are forgotten because the senses are then

weakened.

Q. What kind of covetousness is best? A. That of time when employed as

it ought to be.

Q. Why is our life compared to a play? A. Because the dishonest do

occupy the place of the honest, and the worst sort the room of the good.

Q. Why do dolphins, when they appear above the water, denote a storm or

tempest approaching? A. Because at the beginning of a tempest there do

arise from the bottom of the sea, certain hot exhalations and vapours

which heat the dolphins, causing them to rise up for cold air.

Q. Why did the Romans call Fabius Maximus the target of the people, and

Marcellus the sword? A. Because the one adapted himself to the service

of the commonwealth, and the other was very eager to revenge the

injuries of his country; and yet they were in the senate joined

together, because the gravity of the one would moderate the courage and

boldness of the other.

Q. Why doth the shining of the moon hurt the head? A. Because it moves

the humours of the brain, and cannot afterwards dissolve them.

Q. If water do not nourish, why do men drink it? A. Because water

causeth the nutriment to spread through the body.

Q. Why is sneezing good? A. Because it purgeth the brain as milk is

purged by the cough.

Q. Why is hot water lighter than cold? A. Because boiling water has less

ventosity and is more light and subtle, the earthly and heavy substance

being separated from it.

Q. How comes marsh and pond water to be bad? A. By reason they are

phlegmatic, and do corrupt in summer; the fineness of water is turned

into vapours, and the earthiness doth remain.

Q. Why are studious and learned men soonest bald? A. It proceeds from a

weakness of the spirits, or because warmth of digestion cause phlegm to

abound in them.

Q. Why doth much watching make the brain feeble? A. Because it increases

choler, which dries and extenuates the body.

Q. Why are boys apt to change their voices about fourteen years of age?

A. Because that then nature doth cause a great and sudden change of

voice; experience proves this to be true; for at that time we may see

that women's paps do grow great, do hold and gather milk, and also those

places that are above their hips, in which the young fruit would remain.

Likewise men's breasts and shoulders, which then can bear great and

heavy burdens; also their stones in which their seed may increase and

abide, and in their privy members, to let out the seed with ease.

Further all the body is made bigger and dilated, as the alteration and

change of every part doth testify, and the harshness of the voice and

hoarseness; for the rough artery, the wind pipe, being made wide in the

beginning, and the exterior and outward part being unequal to the

throat, the air going out the rough, unequal and uneven pipe doth then

become unequal and sharp, and after, hoarse, something like unto the

voice of a goat, wherefore it has its name called Bronchus. The same

doth also happen to them unto whose rough artery distillation doth

follow; it happens by reason of the drooping humidity that a slight

small skin filled unequally causes the uneven going forth of the spirit

and air. Understand, that the windpipe of goats is such by reason of the

abundance of humidity. The like doth happen unto all such as nature hath

given a rough artery, as unto cranes. After the age of fourteen they

leave off that voice, because the artery is made wider and reacheth its

natural evenness and quality.

Q. Why do hard dens, hollow and high places, send back the likeness and

sound of the voice? A. Because that in such places also by reflection do

return back the image of a sound, for the voice doth beat the air, and

the air the place, which the more it is beaten the more it doth bear,

and therefore doth cause the more vehement sound of the voice; moist

places, and as it were, soft, yielding to the stroke, and dissolving it,

give no sound again; for according to the quantity of the stroke, the

quality and quantity of the voice is given, which is called an echo.

Some do idly fable that she is a goddess; some say that Pan was in love

with her, which without doubt is false. He was some wise man, who did

first desire to search out the cause of the voice, and as they who love,

and cannot enjoy that love, are grieved, so in like manner was he very

sorry until he found out the solution of that cause; as Endymion also,

who first found out the course of the moon, watching all night, and

observing her course, and searching her motion, did sleep in the

daytime, and that she came to him when he was asleep, because she did

give the philosopher the solution of the course herself. They say also

that he was a shepherd, because that in the desert and high places, he

did mark the course of the moon. And they gave him also the pipe because

that the high places are blown with wind, or else because he sought out

the consonancy of figures. Prometheus also, being a wise man, sought the

course of the star, which is called the eagle in the firmament, his

nature and place; and when he was, as it were, wasted with the desire of

learning, then at last he rested, when Hercules did resolve unto him all

doubts with his wisdom.

Q. Why do not swine cry when they are carried with their snouts upwards?

A. Because that of all other beasts they bend more to the earth. They

delight in filth, and that they seek, and therefore in the sudden change

of their face, they be as it were strangers, and being amazed with so

much light do keep that silence; some say the windpipe doth close

together by reason of the straitness of it.

Q. Why do swine delight in dirt? A. As physicians do say, they are

naturally delighted with it, because they have a great liver, in which

desire it, as Aristotle saith, the wideness of their snout is the case,

for he that hath smelling which doth dissolve itself, and as it were

strive with stench.

Q. Why do many beasts when they see their friends, and a lion and a

bull beat their sides when they are angry? A. Because they have the

marrow of their backs reaching to the tail, which hath the force of

motion in it, the imagination acknowledging that which is known to them,

as it were with the hand, as happens to men, doth force them to move

their tails. This doth manifestly show some secret force to be within

them, which doth acknowledge what they ought. In the anger of lions and

bulls, nature doth consent to the mind, and causeth it to be greatly

moved, as men do sometimes when they are angry, beating their hands on

other parts; when the mind cannot be revenged on that which doth hurt,

it presently seeks out some other source, and cures the malady with a

stroke or blow.

Q. How come steel glasses to be better for the sight than any other

kind? A. Because steel is hard, and doth present unto us more

substantially the air that receiveth the light.

Q. How doth love show its greater force by making the fool to become

wise, or the wise to become a fool? A. In attributing wisdom to him that

has it not; for it is harder to build than to pull down; and ordinarily

love and folly are but an alteration of the mind.

Q. How comes much labour and fatigue to be bad for the sight? A.

Because it dries the blood too much.

Q. Why is goat's milk reckoned best for the stomach? A. Because it is

thick, not slimy, and they feed on wood and boughs rather than on grass.

Q. Why do grief and vexation bring grey hairs? A. Because they dry,

which bringeth on greyness.

Q. How come those to have most mercy who have the thickest blood? A.

Because the blood which is fat and thick makes the spirits firm and

constant, wherein consists the force of all creatures.

Q. Whether it is hardest, to obtain a person's love, or to keep it when

obtained? A. It is hardest to keep it, by reason of the inconstancy of

man, who is quickly angry, and soon weary of a thing; hard to be gained

and slippery to keep.

Q. Why do serpents shun the herb rue? A. Because they are cold, dry and

full of sinews, and that herb is of a contrary nature.

Q. Why is a capon better to eat than a cock? A. Because a capon loses

not his moisture by treading of the hens.

Q. Why is our smell less in winter than in summer? A. Because the air is

thick, and less moveable.

Q. Why does hair burn so quickly? A. Because it is dry and cold.

Q. Why is love compared to a labyrinth? A. Because the entry and coming

in is easy, and the going out almost impossible or hard.

* * * * *

PART IV

DISPLAYING THE SECRETS OF

NATURE

RELATING TO

PHYSIOGNOMY

* * * * *

CHAPTER I

SECTION 1.--_Of Physiognomy, showing what it is, and whence it is

derived._

Physiognomy is an ingenious science, or knowledge of nature, by which

the inclinations and dispositions of every creature are understood, and

because some of the members are uncompounded, and entire of themselves,

as the tongue, the heart, etc., and some are of a mixed nature, as the

eyes, the nose and others, we therefore say that there are signs which

agree and live together, which inform a wise man how to make his

judgment before he be too rash to deliver it to the world.

Nor is it to be esteemed a foolish or idle art, seeing it is derived

from the superior bodies; for there is no part of the face of man but

what is under the peculiar influence or government, not only of the

seven planets but also of the twelve signs of Zodiac; and the

dispositions, vices, virtues and fatality, either of a man or woman are

plainly foretold, if the person pretending to the knowledge thereof be

an artist, which, that my readers may hereby attain it I shall set these

things in a clearer light.

The reader should remember that the forehead is governed by Mars; the

right eye is under the domination of Sol; the left is ruled by the Moon;

the right ear is under Jupiter; the left, Saturn, the rule of the nose

is claimed by Venus, which, by the way, is one reason that in all

unlawful venereal encounters, the nose is too subject to bear the scars

that are gotten in those wars; and nimble Mercury, the significator of

eloquence claims the dominion of the mouth, and that very justly.

Thus have the seven planets divided the face among them, but not with so

absolute a way but that the twelve signs of the Zodiac do also come in

with a part (see the engraving) and therefore the sign Cancer presides

in the upper part of the forehead, and Leo attends upon the right

eyebrow, as Saggittarius does upon the right eye, and Libra upon the

right ear, upon the left eyebrow you will find Aquarius; and Gemini and

Aries taking care of the left ear; Taurus rules in the middle of the

forehead, and Capricorn the chin; Scorpio takes upon him the protection

of the nose; Virgo claims the precedence of the right cheek, Pisces the

left. And thus the face of man is cantoned out amongst the signs and

planets; which being carefully attended to, will sufficiently inform

the artist how to pass a judgment. For according to the sign or planet

ruling so also is the judgment to be of the part ruled, which all those

that have understanding know easily how to apply.

[Illustration]

In the judgment that is to be made from physiognomy, there is a great

difference betwixt a man and a woman; the reason is, because in respect

of the whole composition men more fully comprehend it than women do, as

may evidently appear by the manner and method we shall give. Wherefore

the judgments which we shall pass in every chapter do properly concern a

man, as comprehending the whole species, and but improperly the woman,

as being but a part thereof, and derived from the man, and therefore,

whoever is called to give judgment on such a face, ought to be wary

about all the lines and marks that belong to it, respect being also had

to the sex, for when we behold a man whose face is like unto a woman's

and we pass a judgment upon it, having diligently observed it, and not

on the face only, but on other parts of the body, as hands, etc., in

like manner we also behold the face of a woman, who in respect to her

flesh and blood is like unto a man, and in the disposure also of the

greatest part of the body. But does physiognomy give the same judgment

on her, as it does of a man that is like unto her? By no means, but far

otherwise, in regard that the conception of the woman is much different

from that of a man, even in those respects which are said to be common.

Now in those common respects two parts are attributed to a man, and a

third part to a woman.

Wherefore it being our intention to give you an exact account, according

to the rule of physiognomy of all and every part of the members of the

body, we will begin with the head, as it hath relation only to man and

woman, and not to any other creature, that the work may be more obvious

to every reader.

* * * * *

CHAPTER II

_Of the Judgment of Physiognomy._

Hair that hangs down without curling, if it be of a fair complexion,

thin and soft withal, signifies a man to be naturally faint-hearted, and

of a weak body, but of a quiet and harmless disposition. Hair that is

big, and thick and short withal, denotes a man to be of a strong

constitution, secure, bold, deceitful and for the most part, unquiet and

vain, lusting after beauty, and more foolish than wise, though fortune

may favour him. He whose hair is partly curled and partly hanging down,

is commonly wise or a very great fool, or else as very a knave as he is

a fool. He whose hair grows thick on his temples and his brow, one may

certainly at first sight conclude that such a man is by nature simple,

vain, luxurious, lustful, credulous, clownish in his speech and

conversation and dull in his apprehension. He whose hair not only curls

very much, but bushes out, and stands on end, if the hair be white or of

a yellowish colour, he is by nature proud and bold, dull of

apprehension, soon angry, and a lover of venery, and given to lying,

malicious and ready to do any mischief. He whose hair arises in the

corners of the temples, and is gross and rough withal, is a man highly

conceited of himself, inclined to malice, but cunningly conceals it, is

very courtly and a lover of new fashions. He who hath much hair, that is

to say, whose hair is thick all over his head, is naturally vain and

very luxurious, of a good digestion, easy of belief, and slow of

performance, of a weak memory and for the most part unfortunate. He

whose hair is of a reddish complexion, is for the most part, if not

always, proud, deceitful, detracting and full of envy. He whose hair is

extraordinarily fair, is for the most part a man fit for the most

praiseworthy enterprises, a lover of honour, and much more inclined to

do good than evil; laborious and careful to perform whatsoever is

committed to his care, secret in carrying on any business, and

fortunate. Hair of a yellowish colour shows a man to be good

conditioned, and willing to do anything, fearful, shamefaced and weak of

body, but strong in the abilities of the mind, and more apt to remember,

than to avenge an injury. He whose hair is of a brownish colour, and

curled not too much nor too little, is a well-disposed man, inclined to

that which is good, a lover of peace, cleanliness and good manners. He

whose hair turns grey or hoary in the time of his youth, is generally

given to women, vain, false, unstable, and talkative. [Note. That

whatever signification the hair has in men, it has the same in women

also.]

The forehead that riseth in a round, signifies a man liberally merry, of

a good understanding, and generally inclined to virtue. He whose

forehead is fleshy, and the bone of the brow jutting out, and without

wrinkles, is a man much inclined to suits of law, contentious, vain,

deceitful, and addicted to follow ill courses. He whose forehead is

very low and little, is of a good understanding, magnanimous, but

extremely bold and confident, and a great pretender to love and honour.

He whose forehead seems sharp, and pointed up in the corners of his

temples, so that the bone seems to jut forth a little, is a man

naturally weak and fickle, and weak in the intellectuals. He whose brow

upon the temples is full of flesh, is a man of a great spirit, proud,

watchful and of a gross understanding. He whose brow is full of

wrinkles, and has as it were a seam coming down the middle of the

forehead, so that a man may think he has two foreheads, is one that is

of a great spirit, a great wit, void of deceit, and yet of a hard

fortune. He who has a full, large forehead, and a little round withal,

destitute of hair, or at least that has little on it is bold, malicious,

full of choler and apt to transgress beyond all bounds, and yet of a

good wit and very apprehensive. He whose forehead is long and high and

jutting forth, and whose face is figured, almost sharp and peaked

towards the chin, is one reasonably honest, but weak and simple, and of

a hard fortune.

Those eyebrows that are much arched, whether in man or woman, and which

by frequent motion elevate themselves, show the person to be proud,

high-spirited, vain-glorious, bold and threatening, a lover of beauty,

and indifferently inclined to either good or evil. He whose eyelids bend

down when he speaks to another or when he looks upon him, and who has a

kind of skulking look, is by nature a penurious wretch, close in all his

actions, of a very few words, but full of malice in his heart. He whose

eyebrows are thick, and have but little hair upon them, is but weak in

his intellectuals, and too credulous, very sincere, sociable, and

desirous of good company. He whose eyebrows are folded, and the hair

thick and bending downwards, is one that is clownish and unlearned,

heavy, suspicious, miserable, envious, and one that will cheat and cozen

you if he can. He whose eyebrows have but short hair and of a whitish

colour is fearful and very easy of belief, and apt to undertake

anything. Those, on the other side, whose eyebrows are black, and the

hair of them thin, will do nothing without great consideration, and are

bold and confident of the performance of what they undertake; neither

are they apt to believe anything without reason for so doing.

If the space between the eyebrows be of more than the ordinary distance,

it shows the person to be hard-hearted, envious, close, cunning,

apprehensive, greedy of novelties, of a vain fortune, addicted to

cruelty more than love. But those men whose eyebrows are at a lesser

distance from each other, are for the most part of a dull understanding;

yet subtle enough in their dealings, and of an uncommon boldness, which

is often attended with great felicity; but that which is most

commendable in them is, that they are most sure and constant in their

friendship.

Great and full eyes in either man or woman, show the person to be for

the most part slothful, bold, envious, a bad concealer of secrets,

miserable, vain, given to lying, and yet a bad memory, slow in

invention, weak in his intellectuals, and yet very much conceited of

that little knack of wisdom he thinks himself master of. He whose eyes

are hollow in his head, and therefore discerns well at a great distance,

is one that is suspicious, malicious, furious, perverse in his

conversation, of an extraordinary memory, bold, cruel, and false, both

in words and deeds, threatening, vicious, luxurious, proud, envious and

treacherous; but he whose eyes are, as it were, starting out of his

head, is a simple, foolish person, shameless, very fertile and easy to

be persuaded either to vice or virtue. He who looks studiously and

acutely, with his eyes and eyelids downwards, denotes thereby to be of a

malicious nature, very treacherous, false, unfaithful, envious,

miserable, impious towards God, and dishonest towards men. He whose

eyes are small and conveniently round, is bashful and weak, very

credulous, liberal to others, and even in his conversation. He whose

eyes look asquint, is thereby denoted to be a deceitful person, unjust,

envious, furious, a great liar, and as the effect of all that is

miserable. He who hath a wandering eye and which is rolling up and down,

is for the most part a vain, simple, deceitful, lustful, treacherous, or

high-minded man, an admirer of the fair sex, and one easy to be

persuaded to virtue or vice. He or she whose eyes are twinkling, and

which move forward or backward, show the person to be luxurious,

unfaithful and treacherous, presumptuous, and hard to believe anything

that is spoken. If a person has any greenness mingled with the white of

his eye, such is commonly silly, and often very false, vain and

deceitful, unkind to his friends, a great concealer of his own secrets,

and very choleric. Those whose eyes are every way rolling up and down,

or they who seldom move their eyes, and when they do, as it were, draw

their eyes inwardly and accurately fasten them upon some object, such

are by their inclinations very malicious, vain-glorious, slothful,

unfaithful, envious, false and contentious. They whose eyes are addicted

to blood-shot, are naturally proud, disdainful, cruel, without shame,

perfidious and much inclined to superstition. But he whose eyes are

neither too little nor too big, and inclined to black, do signify a man

mild, peaceable, honest, witty, and of a good understanding; and one

that, when need requires, will be serviceable to his friends.

A long and thin nose, denotes a man bold, furious, angry, vain, easy to

be persuaded either to good or evil, weak and credulous. A long nose

extended, the tip of it bending downwards, shows the person to be wise,

discreet, secret and officious, honest, faithful and one that will not

be over-reached in bargaining.

A bottle-nose is what denotes a man to be impetuous in the obtaining of

his desires, also a vain, false, luxurious, weak and uncertain man; apt

to believe and easy to be persuaded. A broad nose in the middle, and

less towards the end, denotes a vain, talkative person, a liar, and one

of hard fortune. He who hath a long and great nose is an admirer of the

fair sex, and well accomplished for the wars of Venus, but ignorant of

the knowledge of anything that is good, extremely addicted to vice;

assiduous in the obtaining what he desires, and very secret in the

prosecution of it; and though very ignorant, would fain be thought very

knowing.

A nose very sharp on the tip of it, and neither too long nor too short,

too thick nor too thin, denotes the person, if a man, to be of a fretful

disposition, always pining and peevish; and if a woman, a scold, or

contentious, wedded to her own humours, of a morose and dogged carriage,

and if married, a plague to her husband. A nose very round at the end of

it, and having but little nostrils, shows the person to be munificent

and liberal, true to his trust, but withal, very proud, credulous and

vain. A nose very long and thin at the end of it, and something round,

withal, signifies one bold in his discourse, honest in his dealings,

patient in receiving, and slow in offering injuries, but yet privately

malicious. He whose nose is naturally more red than any other part of

his face, is thereby denoted to be covetous, impious, luxurious, and an

enemy to goodness. A nose that turns up again, and is long and full at

the tip of it, shows the person that has it to be bold, proud, covetous,

envious, luxurious, a liar and deceiver, vain, glorious, unfortunate and

contentious. He whose nose riseth high in the middle, is prudent and

polite, and of great courage, honourable in his actions, and true to his

word. A nose big at the end shows a person to be of a peaceable

disposition, industrious and faithful, and of a good understanding. A

very wide nose, with wide nostrils, denotes a man dull of apprehension,

and inclined more to simplicity than wisdom, and withal vain,

contentious and a liar.

When the nostrils are close and thin, they denote a man to have but

little testicles, and to be very desirous of the enjoyment of women, but

modest in his conversation. But he whose nostrils are great and wide, is

usually well hung and lustful; but withal of an envious, bold and

treacherous disposition and though dull of understanding, yet confident

enough.

A great and wide mouth shows a man to be bold, warlike, shameless and

stout, a great liar and as great a talker, also a great eater, but as to

his intellectuals, he is very dull, being for the most part very simple.

A little mouth shows the person to be of a quiet and pacific temper,

somewhat reticent, but faithful, secret, modest, bountiful, and but a

little eater.

He whose mouth smells of a bad breath, is one of a corrupted liver and

lungs, is oftentimes vain, wanton, deceitful, of indifferent intellect,

envious, covetous, and a promise-breaker. He that has a sweet breath, is

the contrary.

The lips, when they are very big and blubbering, show a person to be

credulous, foolish, dull and stupid, and apt to be enticed to anything.

Lips of a different size denote a person to be discreet, secret in all

things, judicious and of a good wit, but somewhat hasty. To have lips,

well coloured and more thin than thick, shows a person to be

good-humoured in all things and more easily persuaded to good than evil.

To have one lip bigger than the other, shows a variety of fortunes, and

denotes the party to be of a dull, sluggish temper, but of a very

indifferent understanding, as being much addicted to folly.

When the teeth are small, and but weak in performing their office, and

especially if they are short and few, though they show the person to be

of a weak constitution, yet they denote him to be of a meek disposition,

honest, faithful and secret in whatsoever he is intrusted with. To have

some teeth longer and shorter than others, denotes a person to be of a

good apprehension, but bold, disdainful, envious and proud. To have the

teeth very long, and growing sharp towards the end, if they are long in

chewing, and thin, denotes the person to be envious, gluttonous, bold,

shameless, unfaithful and suspicious. When the teeth look very brown or

yellowish, whether they be long or short, it shows the person to be of a

suspicious temper, envious, deceitful and turbulent. To have teeth

strong and close together, shows the person to be of a long life, a

desirer of novelties, and things that are fair and beautiful, but of a

high spirit, and one that will have his humour in all things; he loves

to hear news, and to repeat it afterwards, and is apt to entertain

anything on his behalf. To have teeth thin and weak, shows a weak,

feeble man, and one of a short life, and of a weak apprehension; but

chaste, shame-faced, tractable and honest.

A tongue to be too swift of speech shows a man to be downright foolish,

or at best but a very vain wit. A stammering tongue, or one that

stumbles in the mouth, signifies a man of a weak understanding, and of a

wavering mind, quickly in a rage, and soon pacified. A very thick and

rough tongue denotes a man to be apprehensive, subtle and full of

compliments, yet vain and deceitful, treacherous, and prone to impiety.

A thin tongue shows a man of wisdom and sound judgment, very ingenious

and of an affable disposition, yet somewhat timorous and too credulous.

A great and full voice in either sex shows them to be of a great spirit,

confident, proud and wilful. A faint and weak voice, attended with but

little breath, shows a person to be of good understanding, a nimble

fancy, a little eater, but weak of body, and of a timorous disposition.

A loud and shrill voice, which sounds clearly denotes a person

provident, sagacious, true and ingenious, but withal capricious, vain,

glorious and too credulous. A strong voice when a man sings denotes him

to be of a strong constitution, and of a good understanding, a nimble

fancy, a little eater, but weak of body, and of a timorous disposition.

A strong voice when a man sings, denotes him to be of a strong

constitution, and of a good understanding, neither too penurious nor too

prodigal, also ingenious and an admirer of the fair sex. A weak and

trembling voice shows the owner of it to be envious, suspicious, slow in

business, feeble and fearful. A loud, shrill and unpleasant voice,

signifies one bold and valiant, but quarrelsome and injurious and

altogether wedded to his own humours, and governed by his own counsels.

A rough and hoarse voice, whether in speaking or singing, declares one

to be a dull and heavy person, of much guts and little brains. A full

and yet mild voice, and pleasing to the hearer, shows the person to be

of a quiet and peaceable disposition (which is a great virtue and rare

to be found in a woman), and also very thrifty and secret, not prone to

anger, but of a yielding temper. A voice beginning low or in the bass,

and ending high in the treble, denotes a person to be violent, angry,

bold and secure.

A thick and full chin abounding with too much flesh, shows a man

inclined to peace, honest and true to his trust, but slow in invention,

and easy to be drawn either to good or evil. A peaked chin and

reasonably full of flesh, shows a person to be of a good understanding,

a high spirit and laudable conversation. A double chin shows a peaceable

disposition, but dull of apprehension, vain, credulous, a great

supplanter, and secret in all his actions. A crooked chin, bending

upwards, and peaked for want of flesh, is by the rules of physiognomy,

according to nature, a very bad man, being proud, imprudent, envious,

threatening, deceitful, prone to anger and treachery, and a great thief.

The hair of young men usually begins to grow down upon their chins at

fifteen years of age, and sometimes sooner. These hairs proceed from the

superfluity of heat, the fumes whereof ascend to their chin, like smoke

to the funnel of a chimney; and because it cannot find an open passage

by which it may ascend higher, it vents itself forth in the hairs which

are called the beard. There are very few, or almost no women at all,

that have hairs on their cheeks; and the reason is, that those humours

which cause hair to grow on the cheeks of a man are by a woman

evacuated in the monthly courses, which they have more or less,

according to the heat or coldness of their constitution, and the age and

motion of the moon, of which we have spoken at large in the first part

of this book. Yet sometimes women of a hot constitution have hair to be

seen on their cheeks, but more commonly on their lips, or near their

mouths, where the heat most aboundeth. And where this happens, such

women are much addicted to the company of men, and of a strong and manly

constitution. A woman who hath little hair on her cheeks, or about her

mouth and lips, is of a good complexion, weak constitution, shamefaced,

mild and obedient, whereas a woman of a more hot constitution is quite

otherwise. But in a man, a beard well composed and thick of hair,

signifies a man of good nature, honest, loving, sociable and full of

humanity; on the contrary, he that hath but a little beard, is for the

most part proud, pining, peevish and unsociable. They who have no

beards, have always shrill and a strange kind of squeaking voices, and

are of a weak constitution, which is apparent in the case of eunuchs,

who, after they are deprived of their virility are transformed from the

nature of men into the condition of women.

Great and thick ears are a certain sign of a foolish person, or a bad

memory and worse understanding. But small and thin ears show a person to

be of a good wit, grave, sweet, thrifty, modest, resolute, of a good

memory, and one willing to serve his friend. He whose ears are longer

than ordinary, is thereby signified to be a bold man, uncivil, vain,

foolish, serviceable to another more than to himself, and a man of small

industry, but of a great stomach.

A face apt to sweat on every motion, shows a person to be of a very hot

constitution, vain and luxurious, of a good stomach, but of a bad

understanding, and a worse conversation. A very fleshy face shows the

person to be of a fearful disposition, but a merry heart, and withal

bountiful and discreet, easy to be entreated, and apt to believe

everything. A lean face, by the rules of physiognomy, denotes the person

to be of a good understanding, but somewhat capricious and disdainful in

his conversation. A little and round face, shows a person to be simple,

very fearful, of a bad memory, and a clownish disposition. A plump face,

full of carbuncles, shows a man to be a great drinker of wine, vain,

daring, and soon intoxicated. A face red or high coloured, shows a man

much inclined to choler, and one that will be soon angry and not easily

pacified. A long and lean face, shows a man to be both bold, injurious

and deceitful. A face every way of a due proportion, denotes an

ingenious person, one fit for anything and very much inclined to what is

good. One of a broad, full, fat face is, by the rules of physiognomy, of

a dull, lumpish, heavy constitution, and that for one virtue has three

vices. A plain, flat face, without any rising shows a person to be very

wise, loving and courtly in his carriage, faithful to his friend and

patient in adversity. A face sinking down a little, with crosses in it,

inclining to leanness, denotes a person to be very laborious, but

envious, deceitful, false, quarrelsome, vain and silly, and of a dull

and clownish behaviour. A face of a handsome proportion, and more

inclining to fat than lean, shows a person just in his actions, true to

his word, civil, and respectful in his behaviour, of an indifferent

understanding, and of an extraordinary memory. A crooked face, long and

lean, denotes a man endued with as bad qualities as the face is with ill

features. A face broad about the brows, and sharper and less as it grows

towards the chin, shows a man simple and foolish in managing his

affairs, vain in his discourse, envious in his nature, deceitful,

quarrelsome and rude in his conversation. A face well-coloured, full of

good features, and of an exact symmetry, and a just proportion in all

its parts, and which is delightful to look upon, is commonly the index

of a fairer mind and shows a person to be well disposed; but withal

declares that virtue is not so impregnably seated there, but that by

strong temptations (especially by the fair sex) it may be supplanted and

overcome by vice. A pale complexion, shows the person not only to be

fickle, but very malicious, treacherous, false, proud, presumptuous, and

extremely unfaithful. A face well-coloured, shows the person to be of a

praiseworthy disposition and a sound complexion, easy of belief, and

respectful to his friend, ready to do a courtesy, and very easy to be

drawn to anything.

A great head, and round, withal, denotes the person to be secret, and of

great application in carrying on business, and also ingenious and of a

large imaginative faculty and invention; and likewise laborious,

constant and honest. The head whose gullet stands forth and inclines

towards the earth, signifies a person thrifty, wise, peaceable, secret,

of a retired temper, and constant in the management of his affairs. A

long head and face, and great, withal, denotes a vain, foolish, idle and

weak person, credulous and very envious. To have one's head always

shaking and moving from side to side, denotes a shallow, weak person,

unstable in all his actions, given to lying, a great deceiver, a great

talker, and prodigal in all his fortunes. A big head and broad face,

shows a man to be very courageous, a great hunter after women, very

suspicious, bold and shameless. He who hath a very big head, but not so

proportionate as it ought to be to the body, if he hath a short neck and

crooked gullet is generally a man of apprehension, wise, secret,

ingenious, of sound judgment, faithful, true and courteous to all. He

who hath a little head, and long, slender throat, is for the most part a

man very weak, yet apt to learn, but unfortunate in his actions. And so

much shall suffice with respect to judgment from the head and face.

* * * * *

CHAPTER III

_Of Judgments drawn from several other parts of Man's Body._

In the body of man the head and feet are the principal parts, being the

index which heaven has laid open to every one's view to make a judgment

therefrom, therefore I have been the larger in my judgment from the

several parts thereof. But as to the other parts, I shall be much more

brief as not being so obvious to the eyes of men; yet I would proceed in

order.

The throat, if it be white, whether it be fat or lean, shows a man to be

vain-glorious, timorous, wanton, and very much subject to choler. If the

throat be so thin and lean that the veins appear, it shows a man to be

weak, slow, and a dull and heavy constitution.

A long neck shows one to have a long and slender foot, and that the

person is stiff and inflexible either to good or evil. A short neck

shows one to be witty and ingenious, but deceitful and inconstant, well

skilled in the use of arms, and yet cares not to use them, but is a

great lover of peace and quietness.

A lean shoulder bone, signifies a man to be weak, timorous, peaceful,

not laborious, and yet fit for any employment. He whose shoulder bones

are of a great bigness is commonly, by the rule of physiognomy, a strong

man, faithful but unfortunate; somewhat dull of understanding, very

laborious, a great eater and drinker, and one equally contented in all

conditions. He whose shoulder bone seems to be smooth, is by the rule of

nature, modest in his look, and temperate in all his actions, both at

bed and board. He whose shoulder bone bends, and is crooked inwardly, is

commonly a dull person and deceitful.

Long arms, hanging down and touching the knees, though such arms are

rarely seen, denotes a man liberal, but withal vain-glorious, proud and

inconstant. He whose arms are very short in respect to the stature of

his body, is thereby signified to be a man of high and gallant spirit,

of a graceful temper, bold and warlike. He whose arms are full of bones,

sinews and flesh, is a great desirer of novelties and beauties, and one

that is very credulous and apt to believe anything. He whose arms are

very hairy, whether they be lean or fat, is for the most part a

luxurious person, weak in body and mind, very suspicious and malicious

withal. He whose arms have no hair on them at all, is of a weak

judgment, very angry, vain, wanton, credulous, easily deceived himself,

yet a great deceiver of others, no fighter, and very apt to betray his

dearest friends.

* * * * *

CHAPTER IV

_Of Palmistry, showing the various Judgments drawn from the Hand._

Being engaged in this fourth part to show what judgment may be drawn,

according to physiognomy, from the several parts of the body, and coming

in order to speak of the hands, it has put me under the necessity of

saying something about palmistry, which is a judgment made of the

conditions, inclinations, and fortunes of men and women, from the

various lines and characters nature has imprinted in their hands, which

are almost as serious as the hands that have them.

The reader should remember that one of the lines of the hand, and which

indeed is reckoned the principal, is called the line of life; this line

encloses the thumb, separating it from the hollow of the hand. The next

to it, which is called the natural line, takes its beginning from the

rising of the forefinger, near the line of life, and reaches to the

table line, and generally makes a triangle. The table line, commonly

called the line of fortune, begins under the little finger, and ends

near the middle finger. The girdle of Venus, which is another line so

called begins near the first joint of the little finger, and ends

between the fore-finger and the middle finger. The line of death is that

which plainly appears in a counter line to that of life, and is called

the sister line, ending usually as the other ends; for when the line of

life is ended, death comes, and it can go no farther. There are lines in

the fleshy parts, as in the ball of the thumb, which is called the mount

of Venus; under each of the fingers are also mounts, which are governed

by several planets; and the hollow of the hand is called the plain of

Mars.

I proceed to give judgment from these several lines:--In palmistry, the

left hand is chiefly to be regarded, because therein the lines are most

visible, and have the strictest communication with the heart and brain.

In the next place, observe the line of life, and if it be fair, extended

to its full length, and not broken with an intermixture of cross lines,

it shows long life and health, and it is the same if a double line

appears, as there sometimes does. When the stars appear in this line, it

is a signification of great losses and calamities; if on it there be the

figures of two O's or a Q, it threatens the person with blindness; if it

wraps itself about the table line, then does it promise wealth and

honour to be attended by prudence and industry. If the line be cut and

jagged at the upper end, it denotes much sickness; if this line be cut

by any lines coming from the mount of Venus, it declares the person to

be unfortunate in love and business also, and threatens him with sudden

death. A cross below the line of life and the table line, shows the

person to be very liberal and charitable, one of a noble spirit. Let us

now see the signification of the table line.

The table line, when broad and of a lively colour, shows a healthful

constitution, and a quiet contented mind, and a courageous spirit, but

if it has crosses towards the little finger, it threatens the party with

much affliction by sickness. If the line be double, or divided into

three parts at any of the extremities, it shows the person to be of a

generous temper, and of a good fortune to support it; but if this line

be forked at the end, it threatens the person shall suffer by jealousies

and doubts, and loss of riches gotten by deceit. If three points such as

these

* *

*

are found in it, they denote the person prudent and liberal, a lover of

learning, and of a good temper, if it spreads towards the fore and

middle finger and ends blunt, it denotes preferment. Let us now see what

is signified by the middle line. This line has in it oftentimes (for

there is scarce a hand in which it varies not) divers very significant

characters. Many small lines between this and the table line threaten

the party with sickness, and also gives him hopes of recovery. A half

cross branching into this line, declares the person shall have honour,

riches, and good success in all his undertakings. A half moon denotes

cold and watery distempers; but a sun or star upon this line, denotes

prosperity and riches; this line, double in a woman, shows she will have

several husbands, but no children.

[Illustration]

The line of Venus, if it happens to be cut or divided near the

forefinger, threatens ruin to the party, and that it shall befall him by

means of lascivious women and bad company. Two crosses upon the line,

one being on the forefinger and the other bending towards the little

finger, show the party to be weak, and inclined to modesty and virtue,

indeed it generally denotes modesty in women; and therefore those who

desire such, usually choose them by this standard.

The liver line, if it be straight and crossed by other lines, shows the

person to be of a sound judgment, and a piercing understanding, but if

it be winding, crooked and bending outward, it draws deceit and

flattery, and the party is not to be trusted. If it makes a triangle or

quadrangle, it shows the person to be of a noble descent, and ambitious

of honour and promotion. If it happens that this line and the middle

line begin near each other, it denotes a person to be weak in his

judgment, if a man; but if a woman, in danger by hard labour.

The plain of Mars being in the hollow of the hand, most of the lines

pass through it, which renders it very significant. This plain being

crooked and distorted, threatens the party to fall by his enemies. When

the lines beginning at the wrist are long within the plain, reaching to

the brawn of the hand, that shows the person to be much given to

quarrelling, often in broils and of a hot and fiery spirit, by which he

suffers much damage. If deep and long crosses be in the middle of the

plain, it shows the party shall obtain honour by martial exploits; but

if it be a woman, she shall have several husbands and easy labour with

her children.

The line of Death is fatal, when crosses or broken lines appear in it;

for they threaten the person with sickness and a short life. A clouded

moon appearing therein, threatens a child-bed woman with death. A bloody

spot in the line, denotes a violent death. A star like a comet,

threatens ruin by war, and death by pestilence. But if a bright sun

appears therein, it promises long life and prosperity.

As for the lines of the wrist being fair, they denote good fortune; but

if crossed and broken, the contrary.

* * * * *

CHAPTER V

_Judgments according to Physiognomy, drawn from the several parts

of the Body, from the Hands to the Feet._

A large and full breast, shows a man valiant and courageous, but withal

proud and hard to deal with, quickly angry, and very apprehensive of an

injury; he whose breast is narrow, and which riseth a little in the

middle of it, is, by the best rule of physiognomy, of a clear spirit, of

a great understanding, good in counsel, very faithful, clean both in

mind and body, yet as an enemy to this, he is soon angry, and inclined

long to keep it. He whose breast is somewhat hairy, is very luxurious,

and serviceable to another. He who hath no hair upon his breast, is a

man weak by nature, of a slender capacity and very timorous, but of a

laudable life and conversation, inclined to peace, and much retired to

himself.

The back of the chin bone, if the flesh be anything hairy and lean, and

higher than any other part that is behind, signifies a man shameless,

beastly and withal malicious. He whose back is large, big and fat, is

thereby denoted to be a strong and stout man, but of a heavy

disposition, vain, slow and full of deceit.

He or she whose belly is soft over all the body, is weak, lustful, and

fearful upon little or no occasion, of a good understanding, and an

excellent invention, but little eaters, faithful, but of various

fortune, and meet with more adversity than prosperity. He whose flesh is

rough and hard, is a man of strong constitution and very bold, but vain,

proud and of a cruel temper. A person whose skin is smooth, fat and

white, is a person, curious, vain-glorious, timorous, shame-faced,

malicious, false, and too wise to believe all he hears.

A thigh, full of strong, bristly hair, and the hair inclined to curl,

signifies one lustful, licentious, and fit for copulation. Thighs with

but little hair, and those soft and slender, show the person to be

reasonably chaste, and one that has no great desire to coition, and who

will have but few children.

The legs of both men and women have a fleshy substance behind, which are

called calves, which nature hath given them (as in our book of living

creatures we have observed), in lieu of those long tails which other

creatures have pendant behind. Now a great calf, and he whose legs are

of great bone, and hair withal, denotes the person to be strong, bold,

secure, dull in understanding and slow in business, inclined to

procreation, and for the most part fortunate in his undertakings.

Little legs, and but little hair on them, show the person to be weak,

fearful, of a quick understanding, and neither luxurious at bed nor

board. He whose legs do much abound with hair, shows he has great store

in another place, and that he is lustful and luxurious, strong, but

unstable in his resolution, and abounding with ill humours.

The feet of either men or women, if broad and thick with flesh, and long

in figure, especially if the skin feels hard, they are by nature of a

strong constitution, and gross nutriment, but of weak intellect, which

renders the understanding vain. But feet that are thin and lean, and of

a soft skin, show the person to be but weak of body, but of a strong

understanding and an excellent wit.

The soles of the feet do administer plain and evident signs, whereby the

disposition and constitution of men and women may be known, as do the

palms of their hands, as being full of lines, by which lines all the

fortunes and misfortunes of men and women may be known, and their

manners and inclinations made plainly to appear. But this in general we

may take notice, as that many long lines and strokes do presage great

affliction, and a very troublesome life, attended with much grief and

toil, care, poverty, and misery; but short lines, if they are thick and

full of cross lines, are yet worse in every degree. Those, the skin of

whose soles is very thick and gross, are, for the most part, able,

strong and venturous. Whereas, on the contrary, those the skin of whose

soles of their feet is thin, are generally weak and timorous.

I shall now, before I conclude (having given an account of what

judgments may be made by observing the several parts of the body, from

the crown of the head to the soles of the feet), give an account of what

judgments may be drawn by the rule of physiognomy from things extraneous

which are found upon many, and which indeed to them are parts of the

body, but are so far from being necessary parts that they are the

deformity and burden of it, and speak of the habits of the body, as they

distinguish persons.

_Of Crooked and Deformed Persons._

A crooked breast and shoulder, or the exuberance of flesh in the body

either of man or woman, signifies the person to be extremely

parsimonious and ingenious, and of a great understanding, but very

covetous and scraping after the things of the world, attended also with

a very bad memory, being also very deceitful and malicious; they are

seldom in a medium, but either virtuous or extremely vicious. But if

the person deformed hath an excrescence on his breast instead of on the

back, he is for the most part of a double heart, and very mischievous.

_Of the divers Manners of going, and particular Posture both of Men and

Women._

He or she that goes slowly, making great steps as they go, are generally

persons of bad memory, and dull of apprehension, given to loitering, and

not apt to believe what is told them. He who goes apace, and makes short

steps, is most successful in all his undertakings, swift in his

imagination, and humble in the disposition of his affairs. He who makes

wide and uneven steps, and sidelong withal, is one of a greedy, sordid

nature, subtle, malicious, and willing to do evil.

_Of the Gait or Motion in Men and Women._

Every man hath a certain gait or motion, and so in like manner hath

every woman; for a man to be shaking his head, or using any light motion

with his hands or feet, whether he stands or sits, or speaks, is always

accompanied with an extravagant motion, unnecessary, superfluous and

unhandsome. Such a man, by the rule of physiognomy is vain, unwise,

unchaste, a detractor, unstable and unfaithful. He or she whose motion

is not much when discoursing with any one, is for the most part wise and

well bred, and fit for any employment, ingenious and apprehensive,

frugal, faithful and industrious in business. He whose posture is

forwards and backwards, or, as it were, whisking up and down, mimical,

is thereby denoted to be a vain, silly person, of a heavy and dull wit,

and very malicious. He whose motion is lame and limping, or otherwise

imperfect, or that counterfeits an imperfection is denoted to be

envious, malicious, false and detracting.

_Judgment drawn from the Stature of Man._

Physiognomy draws several judgments also from the stature of man, which

take as followeth; if a man be upright and straight, inclined rather to

leanness than fat, it shows him to be bold, cruel, proud, clamorous,

hard to please, and harder to be reconciled when displeased, very

frugal, deceitful, and in many things malicious. To be of tall stature

and corpulent with it, denotes him to be not only handsome but valiant

also, but of no extraordinary understanding, and which is worst of all,

ungrateful and trepanning. He who is extremely tall and very lean and

thin is a projecting man, that designs no good to himself, and suspects

every one to be as bad as himself, importunate to obtain what he

desires, and extremely wedded to his own humour. He who is thick and

short, is vain, envious, suspicious, and very shallow of apprehension,

easy of belief, but very long before he will forget an injury. He who is

lean and short but upright withal, is, by the rules of physiognomy, wise

and ingenious, bold and confident, and of a good understanding, but of a

deceitful heart. He who stoops as he goes, not so much by age as custom,

is very laborious, a retainer of secrets, but very incredulous and not

easy to believe every vain report he hears. He that goes with his belly

stretching forth, is sociable, merry, and easy to be persuaded.

* * * * *

CHAPTER VI

_Of the Power of the Celestial Bodies over Men and Women._

Having spoken thus largely of Physiognomy, and the judgment given

thereby concerning the dispositions and inclinations of men and women,

it will be convenient here to show how all these things come to pass;

and how it is that the secret inclinations and future fate of men and

women may be known from the consideration of the several parts of the

bodies. They arise from the power and dominion of superior powers to

understand the twelve signs of the Zodiac, whose signs, characters and

significations are as follows:--

[Illustration]

_Aries_, the Ram, which governs the head and face.

_Taurus_, the Bull, which governs the neck.

_Gemini_, the Twins, which governs the hands and arms.

_Cancer_, the Crab, governs the breast and stomach.

_Leo_, the Lion, governs the back and heart

_Virgo_, the Virgin, governs the belly and bowels.

_Libra_, the Balance, governs the veins and loins.

_Scorpio_, the Scorpion, governs the secret parts.

_Sagittary_, the Centaur, governs the thighs.

_Capricorn_, the Goat, governs the knees.

_Aquarius_, the Water-Bearer, governs the legs and ankles.

_Pisces_, the Fish, governs the feet.

It is here furthermore necessary to let the reader know, that the

ancients have divided the celestial sphere into twelve parts, according

to the number of these signs, which are termed houses; as in the first

house, Aries, in the second Taurus, in the third Gemini, etc. And

besides their assigning the twelve signs of the twelve houses, they

allot to each house its proper business.

To the first house they give the signification of life.

The second house has the signification of wealth, substances, or riches.

The third is the mansion of brethren.

The fourth, the house of parentage.

The fifth is the house of children.

The sixth is the house of sickness or disease.

The seventh is the house of wedlock, and also of enemies, because

oftentimes a wife or husband proves the worst enemy.

The eighth is the house of death.

The ninth is the house of religion.

The tenth is the signification of honours.

The eleventh of friendship.

The twelfth is the house of affliction and woe.

Now, astrologically speaking, a house is a certain place in the heaven

or firmament, divided by certain degrees, through which the planets have

their motion, and in which they have their residence and are situated.

And these houses are divided by thirty degrees, for every sign has so

many degrees. And these signs or houses are called the houses of such

and such planets as make their residence therein, and are such as

delight in them, and as they are deposited in such and such houses are

said to be either dignified or debilitated. For though the planets in

their several revolutions go through all the houses, yet there are some

houses which they are more properly said to delight in. As for instance,

Aries and Scorpio are the houses of Mars; Taurus and Libra of Venus;

Gemini and Virgo of Mercury; Sagittarius and Pisces are the houses of

Jupiter; Capricorn and Aquarius are the houses of Saturn; Leo is the

house of the Sun; and Cancer is the house of the Moon.

Now to sum up the whole, and show how this concerns Physiognomy, is

this:--as the body of man, as we have shown, is not only governed by the

signs and planets, but every part is appropriated to one or another of

them, so according to the particular influence of each sign and planet,

so governing is the disposition, inclination, and nature of the person

governed. For such and such tokens and marks do show a person to be born

under such and such a planet; so according to the nature, power and

influences of the planets, is the judgment to be made of that person. By

which the reader may see that the judgments drawn from physiognomy are

grounded upon a certain verity.