Natural history in Shakespeare's time : being extracts illustrative of the subject as he knew it / Made by H. W. Seager, M. B., &c. Also pictures thereunto belonging.

  • Seager, H. W. (Herbert West), 1848-
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Natural history in Shakespeare's time : being extracts illustrative of the subject as he knew it / Made by H. W. Seager, M. B., &c. Also pictures thereunto belonging. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

    363/376 (page 351)
    she presently dieth. The sea-onion of all other things is hateful to a Wolf, and by treading on it his leg falleth into a cramp ; the Wolf is an enemy to the fox and turtle, and in their absence from their nests, they leave this onion in the mouth thereof, as a sure guard to keep their young ones from the Wolf A she-Wolf the first year littereth one whelp, the second year two, the third year three, and so observeth the same proportion unto nine, after which she groweth barren ; and when she bringeth her young ones to the water, if any of them lap water like a dog, him she rejecteth as unworthy of her parentage, but those which suck their water like a swine, or bite at it like a bear, them she taketh to her, and nourisheth very carefully. Ot dogs and Wolves cometh the panther, of the hyasna and the Wolf come the Thces, and the hyaena itself seemeth to be compounded of a Wolf and a fox. The skin of a Wolf being tasted of those which are bit of a mad or ravenous dog doth preserve them from the fear or hazard of falling into water. If any labouring or travelling man doth wear the skin of a Wolf about his feet, his shoes shall never pain or trouble him. He which doth eat the skin of a Wolf well tempered and sodden will keep him from all evil dreams, and cause him to take his rest quietly. The teeth of a Wolf being rubbed upon the gums of young infants doth open them whereby the teeth may the easier come forth. Ihpse//, Four-footed Beasts, pp. 568-8+. If any man bind the right eye of a Wolf on his right sleeve, neither men nor dogs can hurt him. Albertus Magnus, Of the Virtues of Animals. Woodbine. Much Ado about Nothing, iii. i, 30. [Honeysuckle ; but in Midsummer Night's Dream, iv. i, 47, Nares thinks it is used for bindweed or convolvulus.] Woodcock. O this woodcock ! what an ass it is ! Taming of the Shrew, i. 2. The Woodcock strives to hide his long bill, and then thinks nobody sees him. Dean Szvift, Polite Conversation, dialogue i. [Jonston, Natural History of Birds, ch. iv. (1657), says that it was popularly supposed to be without gall.