CONTENTS OF VOL. II. PSEUDODOXIA EPIDEMICA, Books V. TO VII. THE FIFTH BOOK; the particular part continued. Of many things questionable as they are commonly described in pictures. Of many popular customs, &c. Chap. 10. Of the scutcheons of the twelve tribes of Israel Chap. 11. Of the pictures of the sibyls Chap. 12. Of the picture describing the death of Cleopatra Chap. 13. Of the pictures of the nine worthies Chap. 14. Of the picture of Jephthah sacrificing his daughter Chap. 15. Of the picture of John the Baptist in a camel's skin Chap. 19. Of the pictures of mermaids, unicorns, and some others Chap. 22. Of the picture of God the Father; of the sun, moon, and winds, Chap. 23. Compendiously of many popular customs, opinions, &c. : viz. of an hare crossing the high-way; of the ominous appearing of owls and ravens; of the falling of salt; of breaking the egg-shell; of the true lovers' knot; of the cheek burning or ear tingling; of speaking under the rose; of smoke following the fair; of sitting cross- legged; of hair upon moles; of the set time of paring of nails; of lions' heads upon spouts and cisterns; of the saying, ungirt, unblest; of the sun dancing on Easter-day; of the silly-how; of being drunk once a month; of the appearing of the devil with a Chap. 24. Of popular customs, opinions, &c.; of the prediction of the year en- suing from the insects in oak apples; that children would naturally speak Hebrew; of refraining to kill swallows; of lights burning dim at the apparition of spirits; of the wearing of coral; of Moses' rod in the discovery of mines; of discovering doubtful matters by book Of men's enquiries in what season or point of the Zodiack it began, that, as they are generally made, they are in vain, and as Chap. 3. Of the divisions of the seasons and four quarters of the year, according unto astronomers and physicians; that the common compute of the ancients, and which is still retained by some, is very Of some computation of days, and deductions of one part of the year A digression of the wisdom of God in the site and motion of the sun 130 Concerning the vulgar opinion, that the earth was slenderly peopled THE SEVENTH Воok; the particular part concluded. Of popular and received tenets, chiefly historical and some deduced from the Holy Scriptures. .. 216 .. 219 Chap. 9. Of the food of John Baptist, locusts and wild honey Chap. 10. That John the Evangelist should not die Chap. 14. Of the wish of Philoxenus to have the neck of a crane Chap. 15. Of the lake Asphaltites Chap. 16. Of divers other relations: viz. of the woman that conceived in a bath; of Crassus that never laughed but once; that our Saviour never laughed; of Sergius the Second, or Bocca di Porco; that Tamerlane was a Scythian shepherd Chap. 17. Of some others: viz. of the poverty of Belisarius; of fluctus decu- manus, or the tenth wave; of Parisatis that poisoned Statira by one side of a knife; of the woman fed with poison, that should have poisoned Alexander; of the wandering Jew; of pope Joan; of friar Bacon's brazen head that spoke; of Epicurus Chap. 18. More briefly of some others: viz. that the army of Xerxes drank whole rivers dry; that Hannibal eat through the Alps with vinegar; of Archimedes his burning the ships of Marcellus; of the Fabii that were all slain; of the death of Eschylus; of the cities of Tarsus and Anchiale built in one day; of the great ship Syracusia PSEUDODOXIA EPIDEMICA. THE FIFTH BOOK: THE PARTICULAR PART CONTINUED. OF MANY THINGS QUESTIONABLE AS THEY ARE COMMONLY DESCRIBED IN PICTURES; OF MANY POPULAR CUSTOMS, ETC. CHAPTER I. Of the Picture of the Pelican. AND first, in every place we meet with the picture of the pelican, opening her breast with her bill, and feeding her young ones with the blood distilled from her. Thus is it set forth not only in common signs, but in the crest and scutcheon of many noble families; hath been asserted by many holy writers, and was an hieroglyphick of piety and pity among the Egyptians; on which consideration they spared them at their tables.1 1 And first, &c.] These singular birds are said to fish in companies; they form a circle on the water, and having by the flapping of their huge wings, driven the terrified fish towards the centre, they suddenly dive all at once as by consent, and soon fill their immense pouches with their prey. In order subsequently to disgorge the contents, in feeding their young, they have only to press the pouch on their breast. This operation may very probably have given rise to the fable, that the pelican opens her breast to nourish her young. As to its hieroglyphical import, Horapollo says that it was used among the Egyptians as an emblem of folly; on account of the little care it takes to deposit its eggs in a safe place. He relates that it buries them in a hole; that the natives, observing the place, cover it with dry cow's dung, to which they set fire. The old birds immediately endeavouring to extinguish the fire with their wings, get them burnt, and so are easily caught.-Horap. Hicrogl. cura Pauw, 4to. Traj. ad Rh. 1727, pp. 67, 68. Notwithstanding, upon enquiry we find no mention hereof in ancient zoographers, and such as have particularly discoursed upon animals, as Aristotle, Elian, Pliny, Solinus, and many more; who seldom forget proprieties of such a nature, and have been very punctual in less considerable records. Some ground hereof I confess we may allow, nor need we deny a remarkable affection in pelicans toward their young; for Elian, discoursing of storks, and their affection toward their brood, whom they instruct to fly, and unto whom they redeliver up the provision of their bellies, concludeth at last, that herons and pelicans do the like. As for the testimonies of ancient fathers, and ecclesiastical writers, we may more safely conceive therein some emblematical, than any real story: so doth Eucherius confess it to be the emblem of Christ. And we are unwilling literally to receive that account of Jerom, that perceiving her young ones destroyed by serpents, she openeth her side with her bill, by the blood whereof they revive and return unto life again. By which relation they might indeed illustrate the destruction of man by the old serpent, and his restorement by the blood of Christ: and in this sense we shall not dispute the like relations of Austin, Isidore, Albertus, and many more; and under an emblematical intention, we accept it in coat-armour. As for the hieroglyphick of the Egyptians, they erected the same upon another consideration, which was parental affection; manifested in the protection of her young ones, when her nest was set on fire. For as for letting out her blood, it was not the assertion of the Egyptians, but seems translated unto the pelican from the vulture, as Pierius hath plainly delivered. Sed quòd pelicanum (ut etiam aliis plerisque persuasum est) rostro pectus dissecantem pingunt, ita ut suo sanguine filios alat, ab Egyptiorum historia valde alienum est, illi enim vulturem tantùm id facere tradiderunt. And lastly, as concerning the picture, if naturally examined, and not hieroglyphically conceived, it containeth many improprieties, disagreeing almost in all things from the true and proper description. For, whereas it is commonly set forth green or yellow, in its proper colour it is inclining to white, excepting the extremities or tops of the wing feathers, which are brown. It is described in the bigness of a hen, |