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A Table Containing the General Heads of Natural Magick
A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z
(note: herbs/plants ref. w/"The English Physitian", Culpeper, Nicholas, 1616-1654. -- where possible.)
or (Botanical.com, A Modern Herbal, Mrs. M. Grieve)
"... Terpander and Aaron of Methymna, cured the men of Lesbos and Jonia of great diseases. Asclepiades, a physitian, cured deaf people by a Trumpet, and by singing he stilled the sedicious people..."
Abbarais
"...were excellent Magicians: as, amongst the Persians,
Zoroastres the son of
Orimafius, whom we spoke of before,
amongst the Romans, Numa Pompilius;
Thespion, amongst
the Gymnosophists;
Zamolxis, amongst the Thracians:
Abbarais, amongst the Hyperboreans;
Hermes, amongst the Egyptians and
Budda among the Babylonians. Besides
these, Apuleius reckons up
Carinondas,
Damigeron,
Hifmoses,
Apollonius, and
Dardanus, who all followed
Zoroastres and
Osthanes. .."
Abortion - The act of giving premature birth; particularly, the expulsion of the human fetus prematurely, or before it is capable of sustaining life; miscarriage.
"...If Fiddle strings be made of Serpents, especially of Vipers, for being put on a Harp and played on, if women with child be present, they suffer Abortion, and Vipers are wont to do as much by meeting them, as many write..."
Abstergent - A substance used in cleansing; a detergent; as, soap is an abstergent.
"...How spots may be taken from the face...Often fair women are disgraced by spots in on their faces. But the remedy for it, is this. To use Abstergents and Detergents in whiting of their faces..."
"... Absyrtus shows, that if you wipe off some Nature or Seed of a Mare, and therewith besmear the nostrils of a Stallion Horse, it will make him very lustful..."
Acacia -- (any of various spiny trees or shrubs of the genus Acacia)
"...if you will curb soft and loose breasts...as are unripe Services, Sloes, Acacia, Pomegranate Pills, Balanstia, unripe Pine nuts, wild Pears, and Plantain, if they all boil in Vinegar, and be laid to the breasts, or some of them..."
"...Or thus may you restrain that part of common Whores, with Galls, Gums, whites of Eggs, Dragon's blood, Acacia, Plantain, Hypocistis, Balanstia, Mastick, Cypress nuts, Grape skins, Acorn cups. Or in that hollow part where the Glans breaks forth, and gaping, shows the Nucleus, with Mastick and Terra Lemnia..."
"...Amphiretus
Acantius, being taken by
Pirates, and carried to Lemnos,
was kept in chains, in hope that his ransom would bring them a great sum
of money..."
Achaica
Book by Pausanias
"...For which cause the shepherds there drive away their flocks at that time, and feed them in that part of the country which lies farthest off from that river, as Pausanias writes in his Achaica..."
Achates
Agate - (The common, widespread Silica Mineral agate often occurs
in bands of varying color and transparency. A semiprecious variety of Chalcedony,
it has long been used as a gem and as an ornamental material. According to
ancient superstition, wearing agate made one agreeable, persuasive, prudent,
and bold. It brought God's favor and bestowed the power to vanquish enemies
and acquire riches. White agate supposedly cured insomnia.)
"... in the stone Achates you may see fruits, trees, fields and meadows, the powder of it cast about the horns or shoulders of oxen as they are at plough, will cause great increase of fruits..."
Acrimonious - Acrid; corrosive; as, acrimonious gall.
"... the root of Wake-robin, when it is not to Acrimonious is eaten and desired in meats. Dioscorides says, the Decoction was drank, as not being over sharp..."
"...Pour out the former water, and pour in fresh,
then boil it again, till the water becomes sweet, and the root when chewed,
has no Acrimony in it..."
Acid
Acid - One of a class of compounds, generally but not always distinguished by their sour taste, solubility in water, and reddening of vegetable blue or violet colors. They are also characterized by the power of destroying the distinctive properties of alkalies or bases, combining with them to form salts, at the same time losing their own peculiar properties. They all contain hydrogen, united with a more negative element or radical, either alone, or more generally with oxygen, and take their names from this negative element or radical. Those which contain no oxygen are sometimes called hydracids in distinction from the others which are called oxygen acids or oxacids. &hand; In certain cases, sulphur, selenium, or tellurium may take the place of oxygen, and the corresponding compounds are called respectively sulphur acids or sulphacids, selenium acids, or tellurium acids. When the hydrogen of an acid is replaced by a positive element or radical, a salt is formed, and hence acids are sometimes named as salts of hydrogen; as hydrogen nitrate for nitric acid, hydrogen sulphate for sulphuric acid, etc. In the old chemistry the name acid was applied to the oxides of the negative or nonmetallic elements, now sometimes called anhydrides.
"...But wherefore Acid should dissolve them, we may thus guess the reason. An Egg laid in any Vinegar some time, will wax soft, and his shell will dissolve..."
"...But always provided that they are not laid near tender and Fugacious fruit, for they will Vitiate them by their Acid vapor, and Putrify Grapes if they are near them..."
See: Aconitum, Aconite, Monkshood, Dogs Bane, Theliphonum, Pardalianches, Myoetonon
The plant is a hardy perennial, with a fleshy, spindle-shaped root, palecoloured when young, but subsequently acquiring a dark brown skin. The stem is about 3 feet high, with dark green, glossy leaves, deeply divided in palmate manner and flowers in erect clusters of a dark blue colour. The shape of the flower is specially designed to attract and utilize bee visitors, especially the humble bee. The sepals are purple - purple being specially attractive to bees - and are fancifully shaped, one of them being in the form of a hood. The petals are only represented by the two very curious nectaries within the hood, somewhat in the form of a hammer; the stamens are numerous and lie depressed in a bunch at the mouth of the flower. They are pendulous at first, but rise in succession and place their anthers forward in such a way that a bee visiting the flower for nectar is dusted with the pollen, which he then carries to the next flower he visits and thereby fertilizes the undeveloped fruits, which are in a tuft in the centre of the stamens, each carpel containing a single seed. Aconitum has spikelike clusters of hood-shaped flowers that are usually blue or purple. (Botanical.com, A Modern Herbal, Mrs. M. Grieve)
"...The panthers, having swallowed up the poisonous herb Aconitum, wherewith the hunters smear pieces of flesh to destroy them, against the poisons thereof seek out mans dung..."
"... I say nothing of Aconitum, called by Dioscorides, Dogs Bane..."
Acorn - The fruit of the oak, being an oval nut growing in a woody cup or cupule.
"...The roots of old Grass, and Raisins, and the leaves of a wild Pear tree bruised, and the root of the Bramble, and Whey of Milk, burnt Acorns, Prunes roasted, and the decoctions of Chinches, and pot shards red hot, all of these put severally into Vinegar, will make it tart..."
"...Or thus may you restrain that part of common Whores, with Galls, Gums, whites of Eggs, Dragon's blood, Acacia, Plantain, Hypocistis, Balanstia, Mastick, Cypress nuts, Grape skins, Acorn cups. Or in that hollow part where the Glans breaks forth, and gaping, shows the Nucleus, with Mastick and Terra Lemnia..."
"...If you sow a whole Acre with this seed, you shall have five loads of seed, and of every load you may make two hundred pounds of Oil..."
See: Lettuce
"...Dioscorides seems to call it (Lettuce) Acrepula, because it hinders drunkenness..."
A small venomous serpent of the genus Vipera. The common European adder is the Vipera (or Pelias) berus. The puff adders of Africa are species of Clotho.
"...And if a women with a child meets a Serpent, her fruit becomes abortive. Hence it is, that when a woman is in very Fore Travel, if she does but smell the fume of an Adder's Hackle, it will presently either drive out, or destroy her child..."
"... Simon Sethi says, that Deer flesh, that is caught in summer, is Poison, because then they feed on Adders and Serpents..."
Adonis - A youth beloved by Venus for his beauty. He was killed in the chase by a wild boar.
"...The best means to produce this effect, is to place in the bed-chambers of great men, the images of Cupid, Adonis, and Ganymedes, or else to set them there in carved and graven works, in some solid matter, that they may always have them in their eyes..."
"... Adrianus Counsul of Rome, is a most clear witness of this, who having this sense hurt, made hollow catches to hear bettter by. And these he fastened to his ears, looking forward..."
"...There is an herb, that from killing beasts, but
especially, Goats, is called
Aegolethros..."
Aelianus
/Aelian
Aelian, or Claudius Aelianus, 170-235, was a literary
historian and teacher of rhetoric in Rome. His two main works, written in
Greek, are De natura animalium (On the Nature of Animals) and Varia
historia (Miscellany). The first is a collection of animal tales with
moralizing lessons. The second is a collection of curious lore about men
and manners.
"...Aelianus, going from Naples to Italy, to Puteoli, saw certain frogs, that their fore-parts moved and went upon two feet, while yet their hinder parts were unfashioned, and drawn after like a clot of dirt..."
"...Aelianus writes, that the keeper of Sheep, and Goats, and Mares, do besmear their hands with Salt and Nitre, and then rub the generative parts of them in the time of their coition, for their more lustful and eager performance of that action..."
See Aenutra
"... Athenaus says, that Dogs and Crows are mad Drunk with an herb called Aenutra. Whence Aenutra comes, by corruption of the word. Theophrastus, his Aenothera is Rhododaphne..."
See Aenothera
"... Athenaus says, that Dogs and Crows are mad Drunk with an herb called Aenutra. Whence Aenutra comes, by corruption of the word. Theophrastus, his Aenothera is Rhododaphne..."
Aeschylus 525 - 456 BC - Greek Playwright - Aeschylus was the earliest of the great Greek tragedians and the principal creator of Greek drama. He is called the 'Father of Tragedy'.
Aeschylus fought for Athens at Marathon (490 BC), helping defeat invading Persia. His first prize in a dramatic contest came in 484 BC, followed eight years later by his earliest extant work, 'The Persians'. Before Aeschylus, tragedies had a single actor, who could only respond to suggestions of the chorus. By adding a second actor, Aeschylus was able to show intrigue and conflict. He reduced the chorus in size, lessening its importance in favour of dramatic dialogue. The chorus assumed a secondary role, commenting, warning or setting the mood for the action of the play which was now carried by the actors. Of the 90 or so plays Aeschylus wrote, only seven have survived in complete form, among them the 'Oresteia' trilogy, 'The Seven against Thebes' and 'Prometheus Bound'.
"...Wine made of barley they call Brytum. Sophocles in Triptolemo, and Aeschylus in Lycurgo. But Hellantcus says, Brytum is made in farms out of roots."...
"...We read of some others, that they brought forth horned children, because in the time of their coition they looked upon the fable of Aetaon painted before them..."
"...Ovid
mentions such mongrels among
Aetaon's dogs..."
Aetius
Aetius - A Roman general, patrician, and
consul, b. towards the end of the fourth century; d. 454.
"...The Dragon-fish being cut and opened, and laid to the place which he has stung, is a present remedy against his sting, as Aetius writes..."
"...Nicander does mightily cry up for an Antidote against Poison, Fountain water in which Gold had been quenched. Supposing, that it imparts some of its Virtue to the water in the extinction. Dioscorides, Paulus Aegineta, and Aetius, affirm the same..."
"...The vine and the olive tree do joy in each other company, as Africarus writes both of them are commodious for men's uses. .."
Scipio Africanus Minor-?-
Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus
Numantinus, called
Scipio Africanus
Minor, c.184-129 BC, a Roman general and a noted
patron of the arts, destroyed Carthage in 146 BC and Numantia in 133 BC.
He was a son of the younger Lucius Aemilius Paullus and a nephew of
the wife of Scipio Africanus Major. Aemilianus was adopted
by the son of the elder Scipio
Africanus, whose name he took.
Aemilianus's
relationships were further complicated by marriage
to Sempronia, granddaughter of the elder Africanus and sister
of the Gracchi brothers.
"...The herb Corruda, whereof Sperage comes, is most fitly planted where reed grows, because they are of such likeness and nearness; and both of them are inciters to lust. The vine and the olive tree do joy in each other company, as Africarus writes both of them are commodious for men's uses..."
"...Figs are to be laid up as they are upon their boughs, as Africanus teaches, but, says he, they must be gathered before they are ripe. For when once they are com to be ripe, they will hang no longer upon their tree, as other fruits do, but will fall off presently..."
Agamemnon - leader of Greek (Achaean) expedition against Troy; killed by his wife Clytemnestra.
"...And
Agamemnon departing from his
country to go to Troy, doubting of the chastity of
Clytemnestra, left a harper,
who with Music did so
incite her to continency and chastity, that
Egystus could not enjoy her till
he had killed the harper..."
Agesilaus
Spartan king (399?-360?). Considered one of the most brilliant military leaders of antiquity, he successfully defended Sparta during the Corinthian War (394-387).
"...The same author (Thales) in his 'Parallels,' reports out of Agesilaus, his third book of Italian matters, that Fulvius Stella loathing the company of a woman, coupled himself with a mare, of whom he begot a very beautiful maiden-child, and she was called by a fit name, Epona..."
"... Grapes thus preserved in Wine, have been a great request among the ancients. Athenaus makes mention of them out of Eubulus in Agglutinato..."
Vitex agnus-castus L., commonly known as chaste tree, is native to West Asia and southwestern Europe.
"...The instrument of the harper, who when Agamemnon went from Greece to Troy, did keep Clytemnestra chaste by, his Music was made of Willow, called Agnus Castus..."
Roman soldier and politician who as governor of Britain (77-84) brought most of its inhabitants under Roman control. He also circumnavigated Britain, thereby discovering it to be an island.
"...It is thought to attract into itself the Liquor of the Glass, as it draws Iron to it. And being attracted, it purges it. And from green or yellowish Glass, it makes it white. But the fire afterwards consumes the Loadstone. Out of Agricola..."
"...And they say the veins have so great force, that they will bend the boughs of trees that grew near, towards them, as Agricola writes more largely..."
"...But Empedocles Agrigentinus not thinking that the elements were sufficient for this purpose, added unto them moreover concord and discord, as the causes of generation and corruption: There be four principal feeds or beginning of all things; Jupiter, that is to say fire; Pluto, that is to say, earth; Juno, that is to say air; and Nestis, that is to say, water..."
Agrimonia, agrimony -- (a plant of the genus Agrimony having spikelike clusters of small yellow flowers)
"...Take a pound of Lingnum Guaiacum, half a pound of Sarsaperilla beaten small, five ounces of the stalks and leaves of Sena, one handful of Agrimony and Horsetail, a Drachm of Cinnamon, and as much Cloves, and one Nutmeg..."
"...Vulnerary potions...Take Pirole, Comfrey, Aristolochy, Featherfew of each a handful. Of Agrimony two. Boil them in the best new Wine. Digest them in Horse Dung..."
Ague - An intermittent fever, attended by alternate cold and hot fits.
"...The Lion being sick of a Quatrain ague, eats and devours Ape, and so is healed. Therefore we know that apes blood is good against an Ague..."
"...Chrisial is like unto water, if one is sick of an Ague keep-it, and roll it in his mouth, it quenches his thirst..."
"... Livia Augusta, when she was young and great with the child of Nero, by Caesar Tiberius, because she earnestly desired to bring first a boy. She made use of this Omen to try it by..."
Air - The fluid which we breathe, and which surrounds the earth; the atmosphere. It is invisible, inodorous, insipid, transparent, compressible, elastic, and ponderable. &hand; By the ancient philosophers, air was regarded as an element; but modern science has shown that it is essentially a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, with a small amount of carbon dioxide, the average proportions being, by volume: oxygen, 20.96 per cent.; nitrogen, 79.00 per cent.; carbon dioxide, 0.04 per cent. These proportions are subject to a very slight variability. Air also always contains some vapor of water.
"...The next element to this is the Air, which is somewhat more weighty then the fire, and it is spread abroad in a large and huge compass; and passing through all places, does make men's bodies framable to her temperature, and is gathered together sometimes thick into dark clouds, sometimes thinner into mists and so is resolved..."
"...We may use Air in many artifices, I shall set down some, that I may give a hint to others to invent more..."
"...Hippocrates in his book of Air, and Water, And Places, does precisely set down the manner hereof, and shows how they do it, that dwell by the river Phafis, all of them being very long-headed, whereas no other nation is so besides..."
Alabaster - A compact variety or sulphate of lime, or gypsum, of fine texture, and usually white and translucent, but sometimes yellow, red, or gray.
See: Lodognium
"...The Alabaster stone, called vulgarly Lodognium, moves excellently..."
"... Leo Baptista Albertus says, that an earthen pot will stopped, and put into the sea, will fill with potable water..."
Albertus Magnus 1206-1280, German scholastic scientist; the preeminent medieval man of science; teacher of Thomas Aquinas.
See: Albertus Magnus
"...For the foul, says Albertus, is a chief help, and strikes a great stroke in those qualities which are in living creatures, so that they being alive, are endued with many operative virtues, which their death,..."
"...Ficinus reports, and he had it out of Albertus, that there is a certain bird, much like a blackbird, which is generated of the putrefaction of Sage, which receives her life and quickening from the general life of the whole world..."
or ABU MA'SHAR (b. Aug. 10, 787, Balkh, Khorasan [now in Afghanistan]--d. March 9, 886, al-Wasit, Iraq), leading astrologer of the Muslim world, who is known primarily for his theory that the world, created when the seven planets were in conjunction in the first degree of Aries, will come to an end at a like .
"...Albumasar said, that all things had their virtue from the sun and the moon. And Hermes the learned, said, that the sun and the moon are the life of all things living..."
Alcanna, Alkanet, Orchanet - A thorny tree or shrub of the genus Lawsonia (L. alba). The fragrant white blossoms are used by the Buddhists in religious ceremonies. The powdered leaves furnish a red coloring matter used in the East to stain the hails and fingers, the manes of horses, etc. The leaves of the henna plant, or a preparation or dyestuff made from them.
"...There is a powder brought to us from Africa, they commonly call it Alchena. If we boil it in a lye till it be colored, and annoint our hair with it, it will dye them red for many days, that is indelible..."
Alchemy - An art which aimed to transmute the baser metals into gold, to find the panacea, or universal remedy for diseases, etc. It led the way to modern chemistry.
"...For, that kind of Antimony which the Alchemists are found to call by the name of Regulus, if it be often burned in the fire, and be first thoroughly boiled, it turns into Lead..."
"... If the vessel does coagulate it slowly, so much as you find it has lost of its weight of the Silver, Arsenic and Alchemy make that good again, for we cannot know by the weight..."
"...Our Naples abounds so with them, that we would not go forth to see the orchards of the Hesperides, Alcinus, Semiramis, and at Memphis, that were made to hang above ground..."
---Synonym---Betula AlnusThe English Alder is a moderately-sized tree or large shrub of dark colour, usually growing in moist woods or pastures or by streams. The leaves are broadly ovate, stalked, and usually smooth. The catkins are formed in the autumn, the fruiting ones having scales rather like a tiny-fir-cone; the flowers appear in early spring, before the leaves are fully out. The woody, nearly globular female catkins are the so-called 'berries.'
"...They saw also, that such trees as have
a soft and a spongy kind of
Pith in them, as the
Fig tree, and the
Alder tree, and such like, bring
forth fruit without any stones in them at all..."
Aleibiades
Book by Plato
"...This does Plato seem to signify in his Aleibiades, where he said, That the Magick of Zoraflres, was nothing else, in his opinion, but the knowledge and study of Divine things, wherewith the Kings Sons of Persia..."
Alembick /
Alimbeck /
Alembic /
Alembeck
Alembic - retort, in old chemistry according to Diderot's Encyclopedia. A retort is a spherical container, generally of glass, with a long, angled neck. It is used for distilling substances or decomposing them by heat.
"...take CXXXV pounds of fountain water, distill it in a glass Alembick..."
"...Take the
lees of old wine, and dry it carefully.
It is commonly called
Tartar. Put into an
Alimbeck, made in such sort, that
the flame may be retorted from the top, and so augment the heat..."
Alexander the
Great
Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia
Alexander III, king of Macedonia, the first king to be called "the
Great," conquered the Persian empire and annexed it to Macedonia. The son
of PHILIP II and OLYMPIAS, he was born in 356 BC and brought
up as crown prince.
"...Alexander seeing this, was much grieved for the Dog's death, and greatly amazed at his valor, that he would rather suffer his life, then his courage to be taken from him..."
"...The ancients thought it was done by some superstitions worship, and that there was a chain of Iron by the river Euphrates, that was called Zeugma, wherein Alexander the Great had there bound the bridge. .."
"... The Queen of India sent to Alexander a very beautiful maid. Anointed and fed with the poison of Serpents, as Aristotle says, and Avicenna from the testimony of Rufus..."
"...The same may be extracted out ot other Alexipharmacal bodies, which Princes may use at meals, instead of ordinary Salt..."
"... The Tibarita, says Simaus, before they drank, fenced themselves by feeding on Coleworts. Alexis..."
See Saltpeter
"...The Marchasite or fire-stone, the lees of wine, that kind of salt which is found in Africa under the sand, when the moon is full, which is commonly called by the name of Al-hali, Saltpeter, and lastly Alome..."
"...bread with Millet...Then we mingle it with Wheat, and the air reflects back, and it will be converted into the substance of Alica, that you will think nothing taken from the taste, color, or goodness, nor yet added to it..."
Alisanders - A name given to two species of the genus Smyrnium, formerly cultivated and used as celery now is.
"...Alisander or Parsley may be made greater ...you must dig the Alisander around the root, and cover it with Cachryl, and then heap earth upon it..."
Alkanet - A dyeing matter extracted from the roots of Alkanna tinctoria, which gives a fine deep red colour. A boraginaceous herb (Alkanna tinctoria) yielding the dye; orchanet. The similar plant Anchusa officinalis; bugloss.
"...We read in Dioscorides of the herb Alkanet, which is very efficacious against the Poison of Serpents..."
"...Then shake ten whites of Eggs. Bruise an ounce of Camphire, Allom Sauharinum, two ounces. Mingle them all, and Distill them. Set it in a glazed vessel close covered, in the Sun. And then set it up for your use..."
See: Alom
"...If the Pearl be above or beneath the cornea, make a powder of Sugar-Candy of Roses, burnt Allome, and the bone of a Cuttle Fish, very finely beat and searched exactly, and the patient goes to bed, sprinkle a little of this powder upon his eye, and by and by drop some of this water into it, and let him shut his eyes and sleep..."
"...Wherefore for every Dolium, powder one ounce of Allome, and put it into the wine vessel with the wine, for it will keep it from corrupting..."
Allome de
Plume / Alom de
plume
allomone <biochemistry> Compound produced by one organism that affects, detrimentally, the behaviour of a member of another species.
"...take Allome de Plume, Salt Gemma, one Drachm, Frankincense, one and a half, Camphire, two Drachms, Oil of Tartar, six ounces, Rosewater, one pound..." (To make your face white)
"...Then powder finely Salt, one third part, Brick as much, Vitriol made red two parts. Take a Brick and make a hole in it as big as the vessel is. In the bottom then strew Alom de plume..."
Almansor [Almeon] (12. Century) - Almansor lived in Toledo, Spain, in the middle of the 12. century. He measured the inclination of the ecliptic in 1150 to be 23° 33.'5 and published astronomical tables.
"...Almeon said, that he made the same way parallel lines cut a cross..."
Almond tree, a willow which has leaves that are of a light green on both sides; almond-leaved willow (Salix amygdalina).
See: Oil of Almond
"...Which is done either by imbibing the oil with odors, or the Almonds out of which we afterwards express the oil..."
"... Africanus says, if you have drunk too much, eat before meat three or four bitter Almonds..."
See: Peach
"...How to produce an Almond-peach, which outwardly is a Peach, but with has an Almond Kernel."..."
"...This fruit is called and Almond-peach by the late writers, because it bears in it self the nature, both of the Almond and the Peach compounded together..."
They are succulent plants belonging to the Lily family, with perennial, strong and fibrous roots and numerous, persistent, fleshy leaves, proceeding from the upper part of the root, narrow, tapering, thick and fleshy, usually beset at the edges with spiney teeth. Many of the species are woody and branching. In the remote districts of S.W. Africa and in Natal, Aloes have been discovered 30 to 60 feet in height, with stems as much as 1O feet in circumference. (Botanical.com, A Modern Herbal, Mrs. M. Grieve)
"...The Elephant being wounded, seeks out the juice of Aloes, the thereby is cured..."
"...Take two bottles of Greek wine, half a pint of white Rose Water, of Celendine, two ounces, of Fennel, Rue, Eye-Bright, as much, of Tutty, half an ounce, of Cloves as much, Sugar-Candy of Roses, one Drachm, Camphire, half a Drachm, and as much Aloes..."
See Saltpeter
"...The Marchasite or fire-stone, the lees of wine, that kind of salt which is found in Africa under the sand, when the moon is full, which is commonly called by the name of Al-hali, Saltpeter, and lastly Alome..."
"...Moreover, I read that liquid Alom, as the ancients report, will stand out against fire. For wood smeared with Alom, and Verdigrease, whether they be posts or beams, so they have a crust made about them, will not burn with fire..."
"...If you burn three shellfish, especially of that kind which is called Murex, and when you have pound them together, cast the ashes thereof upon the Ivy berries. Or else, if you cast upn them beaten Alome, as Cassianus teaches..."
"...Pollux says, these are called Alopecidae, fox-dogs, as Xenophon also writes of them, and makes them to be hunting dogs..."
Alphabet - The letters of a language arranged in the customary order; the series of letters or signs which form the elements of written language. The simplest rudiments; elements.
"... Or put a boy of
Cork into a glass
Viol, with a broad mouth, that turns
himself about the needle equally balanced. And about the
Glass vessel, make the
Alphabet, that the man turning
round about may give the answers..."
Alum /
Allum
Alum - A double sulphate formed of aluminium and some other element (esp. an alkali metal) or of aluminium. It has twenty-four molecules of water of crystallization. &hand; Common alum is the double sulphate of aluminium and potassium. It is white, transparent, very astringent, and crystallizes easily in octahedrons. The term is extended so as to include other double sulphates similar to alum in formula.
"...Pliny writes, a certain garlic grows in the fields, they call it Alum, which being boiled, and cast to them, is a remedy against the villany of birds that eat up the Corn and it cannot grow again..."
"...For seeing they pass under the earth, through veins of Alum, Pitch, Brimstone, and the like, therefore it is that they are sometimes hurtful, and sometimes wholesome for the body..."
"...To five glasses of fountain water, add Alume-Foeces, one ounce, soap, three ounces, barley straw, one handful..."
See: Mariners Compass
"... Flavius says, an Italian
found it out first, whose name was
Amalphus, born in our Campania.
But he knew not the Mariners
Card, but stuck the
Needle in a reed, or a piece of
wood, cross over..."
See: Bitterling
"...There is a kind of tree that brings forth a very bitter fruit, so bitter that is is called Amarendula, that is to say, a Bitterling..."
Amber - A yellowish translucent resin resembling copal, found as a fossil in alluvial soils, with beds of lignite, or on the seashore in many places.
"...For there are many tenuous, oily flowers, as of Rosemary and Juniper, and other things, as Musk, Amber, Civet, Gum and suchlike out of which may be drawn oils very sweet and medicinable..."
"...They yield a fourth part, and it is a powerful antidote against poison and Witchcraft, and it is the best menstruum to extract the scent out of Musk, Civet and Amber, and to make sweet ointments of, because it does not quickly grow rank.."
Ambuscado - ambush; ambuscaded.
"... Hence it was, that by the policy of Amilcar, the men of Agrigentum, being drawn off far from the city, among their enemies that they pursued, unto an Ambuscado, where the enemy lay hid, and a by wood set on fire, suffered a great overthrow..."
Ambergris - A substance of the consistence of wax, found floating in the Indian Ocean and other parts of the tropics, and also as a morbid secretion in the intestines of the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), which is believed to be in all cases its true origin. In color it is white, ash-gray, yellow, or black, and often variegated like marble.
"...And the whole chamber will be in a flame, like an oven, and will much terrify one that goes in. If you dissolve in the water a little Musk, or Amber-greese, after the flame you shall smell a curious scent..."
"...Sowbread with
wine, makes a man drunk.
Amber-greese, or
Musk, put in wine, exasperates
drunkenness..."
Amerthist
See
Amethyst
"...The Amerthist is in color like wine, and it keeps
from drunkenness. in the stone
Achates you may see fruits, trees,
fields and meadows, the powder of it cast about the horns or shoulders of
oxen as they are at plough, will cause great increase of fruits..."
Amethyst
(Amethyst, a violet, crystalline variety of quartz. The ancient Greeks attributed various powers to amethyst, notably that of protecting against drunkenness and passion, but also those of controlling evil thoughts and enhancing shrewdness. The ancients probably applied the name to purple corundum and garnet as well as to true amethyst. )
"...How to counterfeit the color of Amethyst..."
"...They were wont in a vessel of Amethyst, to make another remedy for Drunkenness, that they might drink wine without danger..."
"...mingle the Powders of Harts Horn burnt, the stone Amiantus, Salt-Ammoniac, Myrrh, Frankincense, Mastick, with Honey. And it takes away all wrinkles..."
"...And no man yet was ever seen to draw Oil from the stone Amiants that would burn..."
AMILCAR (m) "friend of Melkar" (Phoenician) from the name Hamilcar. Melkar was a Phoenician deity. Hamilcar was a 3rd-century BC Carthaginian general, the father of Hannibal.
"... Hence it was, that by the policy of Amilcar, the men of Agrigentum, being drawn off far from the city, among their enemies that they pursued, unto an Ambuscado, where the enemy lay hid, and a by wood set on fire, suffered a great overthrow..."
Ammoniacum. The plant grows to height of about 7 feet and in spring and early summer contains a milky juice. It is visited by numbers of beetles which puncture the stem and thus cause an exudation, part of which dries on the stem, the rest falling to the ground where it becomes mixed with stones and other impurities found in the gum collected by the natives. The gum resin is found in special cavities in the tissues of the stem, root and petioles of the leaves. The name of the drug is said to be derived from the Temple of Jupiter Ammon in the Libyan Desert where it was collected by the ancients.
See: Sal Ammoniacum
"...Take the flowers of Sage, Origanum,...Rose of Jerusalem, Doronicum, Ammoniac, Opoponax, Spodium, Schaeinanthus, Bdellium, Mummy..."
"...How to make an Amphitheatrical Glass..."
AMPHORA: A large storage jar with a fairly tall neck and two handles stretching from a wide mouth to a broader oval body. In Greek antiquity, such jars were for both practical and trophy purposes.
"...Or take Honey one pound, as much red Wine Tartar in, half a pound of Raisins, two Amphoras of Vinegar..."
"...Some to Fix Amphorae thereof add ten Sextarii of salt, that it may not early corrupt. Others put Fennel and Thyme in the bottom, and the Caricae on the top, and so in order, till the vessel be full..."
Amulet - It is an occult charm serving as a protection against evil.
"...Dioscorides accounts Christs Thorn, wild Hemp, and Valerian, hung up in the house, an Amulet against Witchcraft..."
"...It is written in Genesis, chap. 36. v. 24 that Anah, Esau's kinsman, feeding his fathers Asses in the wilderness, found out Mules..."
Anastasius - Eastern Roman or Byzantine Emperor A. D. 491 - 518. At the time of the death of Zeno, Anastasius was a sixty - one year old usher at the imperial palace at Constantinople. Ariadne, Zeno's widow, selected him to succeed to the throne. A few weeks later, Ariadne married him.
"...Zonaras the Greek, writes in the third Tome of histories, that Anastasius moved sedition against Vitalianus a Thracian, and he got those of Mysia, and the Scythians to stand with him..."
Anatolius - Patriarch of Constantinople in the time of Theodosius the Younger.
"...Anatolius and Diophanes made a compound fruit called Melimela, of an Apple and a Quince mixed together..."
"...But
Anatolius says, if you pour oil
Lees into a brazen baison, and set
it in the middle of the house, all the
Mice at night will meet together..."
Anaxagoras
Anaxagoras - The philosopher Anaxagoras, b. Clazomenae,
in Anatolia (present-day Turkey), c.500 BC, d. Lampsacus, 428, went to Athens
to teach at the invitation of
Pericles,
taking with him new ideas of science and philosophy from Anatolia. Anaxagoras
seems to have anticipated the principles of contemporary Process Philosophy.
He described the cosmos as a continuous field in which different qualities
flow and mix together. He maintained, however, that the motion of the world
originated with Mind (Nous), which ordered the natural world but did not
mix with it. Anaxagoras thought that other worlds exist besides our
own and that "they have men on them, and these have houses and canals just
as we do.
"...Of the same mind were Archelaus, the Athenian, Anaxagoras, Clazomensus, and Euripides his scholar. Cleodemus, and after him Theophrastus, thought that they came of putrefied water mixed with earth, and the colder and fouler the water was, the unfitter it was for their generation..."
"... Anaxagoras, writes, that the seed which issues out of the right parts of the body, is derived into the right parts of the womb..."
"...I much rejoiced when I found among the ancients,
that Anaxilaus the philosopher,
was often found to make sport with the Snuff
of a candle and the wick, and by such delusions would make men's
heads show like monsters, if we may believe
Pliny..."
Anaximenes
Anaximenes,
the youngest of the trio from Miletus, and reputed by tradition to be a pupil
of Anaximander, follows his
alleged master in the concept of a primal matter, unlimited in space and
eternal in time which by its inherent energy of motion forms all other matter.
Instead, however, of leaving this primal matter qualitatively undetermined,
he sees in air this simple first substance from which all others are generated.
Fire, he thought, was produced from air by a rarefaction process and other
substances by condensation processes.
"...The first sort held that all things proceed from the elements, and that these are the first beginnings of things; the fire, according to Hippasus Metapontimus, and Heraclides Ponticus; the air, according to Diogenes Apolloniates, and Anaximenes; and the water, according to Thales Milefius...."
See: Pear
"...Pears may be long preserved in sodden Wine, especially the Tarentine Pears, and the Musk Pears, and the Gourd Pears. Varro says, that the Pears called Anciana, and Sementina are to be preserved in sodden Wine..."
Ancient - . Those who lived in former ages, as opposed to the moderns. Specifically applied to the times before the fall of the Roman empire.
"..whoever looks into the writings of the Ancients, namely, Hermes, Orpheus, Zoroastres, Harpocration, and other such like skillful men as have invented and registered the secrets of this art, shall find that they gathered all from the likeness of seeds, fruits, flowers, leaves and roots, as also of the stars, metals, gems, and stones, that likeness, I say, which these things have to the diseases and parts of a mans body, as also of other living creatures..."
"...And I could observe almost not the least difference, lest I should seem to make void the endeavors of the Ancients..."
440-391 B.C.E. - ancient Greece.
"... And when Colworts is seething, if you put ever so little Wine into it, it will neither boil nor keep the color. By the example of which experiment, Androcides found out a remedy against Wine..."
Andromeda - Daughter to Cepheus and Cassiopeia, rulers of Aethiopia, Andromeda was chained to a rock on the seashore as an offering to the monster, the Kraken, which had been terrorising the land. She was rescued by Perseus, who later married her.
"...Heliodorus begins that excellent history which he wrote, with the Queen of Ethiopia, who brought forth Chariclea a fair daughter, the cause was determined to be the fable of Andromeda pictured in that chamber, where she lay with the King..."
The roots of the Common Angelica are long and spindle-shaped, thick and fleshy - large specimens weighing sometimes as much as three pounds - and are beset with many long, descending rootlets. The stems are stout fluted, 4 to 6 feet high and hollow. The foliage is bold and pleasing, the leaves are on long stout, hollow footstalks, often 3 feet in length, reddish purple at the much dilated, clasping bases; the blades, of a bright green colour, are much cut into, being composed of numerous small leaflets, divided into three principal groups, each of which is again subdivided into three lesser groups. (Botanical.com, A Modern Herbal, Mrs. M. Grieve)
"...And to be short, in the same manner are extracted the oils out of the seeds of Carrot, Angelica, Marjoram, Rue, Rosemary, Parsley, Smallage and Dill, and suchlike..."
"...Others augment Musk by adding roots of Angelica, which does in some sort imitate the scent of Musk..."
"...Oil of Annis Seed. May be thus extracted, an ounce out of a pound..."
Ant - A hymenopterous insect of the Linnæan genus Formica, which is now made a family of several genera; an emmet; a pismire. &hand; Among ants, as among bees, there are neuter or working ants, besides the males and females; the former are without wings. Ants live together in swarms, usually raising hillocks of earth, variously chambered within, where they maintain a perfect system of order, store their provisions, and nurture their young. There are many species, with diverse habits, as agricultural ants, carpenter ants, honey ants, foraging ants, amazon ants, etc
"...to take off the hairs, men added to Ant eggs, red Orpiment, and Ivy gum, with Vinegar, and they rubbed the place where the hair was taken away...
"...For these likewise degenerate, as the same Theophrastus reports to have seen in Antandrus, for the Myrtle is not sown by seed, but planted by a grafting, and the Bay tree is planted by a setting a little sprig thereof that has in some part of the root, as we have shown in our discourse of husbandry..."
Antarctic - Opposite to the northern or arctic pole; relating to the southern pole or to the region near it, and applied especially to a circle, distant from the pole 23° 28&min;.
"...Whence we may conjecture, that as the stone (Loadstone) has a Pole Arctic and Antarctic. So it has an East and West part, and its upper and Nether part, as the heavens have..."
"... Hircius being Consul, as Frontinus testifies, sent forth Pigeons from the nearest place he could from the walls, which had been long shut up in the dark, and half famished, to Decius Brutus, who was besieged at Matina by Anthony..."
"...Nor ramparts, nor scouts, nor nets pitched before rivers, did profit Anthony..."
Antiquity - The quality of being ancient; ancientness; great age; as, a statue of remarkable antiquity; a family of great antiquity. Old age. Old times; former ages; times long since past; as, Cicero was an eloquent orator of antiquity. The ancients; the people of ancient times.
"...For, all the former experiments are the inventions of Antiquity, and, because there is great difficulty in working them, and small profit when they are wrought..."
"...Favorinus the Philosopher, the greatest searcher out of Antiquities, have written affirmatively, that the frame of a Pigeon made of wood, was formed by Archytas, by some art, and made to fly. It was so balanced in the air by weights, and moved by an aerial Spirit within it..."
A remedy for counteracting a poison.
"...Or, if you would have the Grapes to be more operative in this kind, you must supple the Vine branchs in some Antidote or counter Poison, and then set them in the head of a Sea-Onion, and so cover them with earth..."
"...It is the common opinion of all Physicians, that those Herbs, stones, or any other thing, which being put into a Serpent's mouth, does kill him, is an Antidote against his Poison..."
"...And Plutarch says, that when he (Alexander ) heard Antigenida playing melodies with a Pipe, that they called Harmatii, he was so inflamed, that he rose in his arms, and laid hold of him that sat next to him..."
Antimony ranks about 64th in natural abundance among the elements in crustal rock. The atomic weight of Antimony is 121.75; it melts at about 630° C (about 1166° F), boils at about 1750° C (about 3182° F), and has a specific gravity of 6.7.It occasionally occurs as a free element, usually associated with silver, arsenic, or bismuth.
"...For, that kind of Antimony which the Alchemists are wont to call by the name of Regulus, if it be oftentimes burned in the fire, and be first thoroughly boiled, it turns into Lead..."
"...Let it not be a Steel glass, because it cannot sustain the heat of burning, and by burning it loses its brightness. Let it be therefore of glass a finger thick. Let the Tin foil be of purged Antimony and Lead, such as they make in Germany..."
Antipater - d. 319 B.C., Macedonian general under ALEXANDER THE GREAT; regent of MACEDON (334-323 B.C.). After Alexander's death he defeated Perdiccas in a struggle for the regency (321). He held the kingdom together; his death was followed by the wars of the DIADOCHI.
"...When Antipater besieged the Megarenses, and the Macedonians did fiercely lie upon them, the Megarenses first annointed their hogs with pitch, and set them on fire, and so sent them out among their enemies..."
"...In Nonacris, a country of Arcady, there flow very cold waters out of a stone, which are called the Water of Styx, which break to pieces all vessels of Silver and Brass, and nothing can hold them but a mules foot, wherein it was brought from Antipater, into the country where Alexander was, and there his son Folla killed the King with it..."
Antipathy - Contrariety or opposition in feeling; settled aversion or dislike; repugnance; distaste. Natural contrariety; incompatibility; repugnancy of qualities; as, oil and water have antipathy.
"...By reason of the hidden and secret properties of things, there is in all kinds of creatures a certain compassion, as I may call it, which the Greeks call Sympathy and Antipathy. But we term it more familiarly, their consent, and their disagreement..."
"..If you put the stalks of wild fig trees into the pot, where Ox flesh is boiled, they will be boiled much the sooner, by reason of the wood. Pliny. I gave you the reason of it before from Antipathy..."
Antipho
"...Hence was it that
Antipho, the poet said, That
we overcome those things by Art, wherein Nature does overcome us;..."
Antipode - One of the antipodes; anything exactly opposite.
"...Over against this, let there be white walls of paper, or white clothes, so shall you see all that is done without in the sun, and those that walk in the streets, like to Antipodes, and what is right will be the left, and all things changed..."
"...That you may see them like the Antipodes in battle. For stretching out a paper, or setting a table aloft, the Loadstones moved above the table, will do the same thing we speak of, and show it to the spectators..."
Anvil - An iron block, usually with a steel face, upon which metals are hammered and shaped.
"...Let the Anvil and hammer be smooth and polished, lest the heavy strokes should make dents in the Copper, and break it..."
"...If it sound equally, and ring clearly, it is whole. If it does jar, it is cracked somewhere. Let your pieces of metal be about a finger in size. Beat them gently upon the Anvil, unless they break somewhere..."
Ape - A quadrumanous mammal, esp. of the family Simiadæ, having teeth of the same number and form as in man, having teeth of the same number and form as in man, and possessing neither a tail nor cheek pouches. The name is applied esp. to species of the genus Hylobates, and is sometimes used as a general term for all Quadrumana. The higher forms, the gorilla, chimpanzee, and ourang, are often called anthropoid apes or man apes.
"...The Lion being sick of a Quatrain ague, eats and devours Ape, and so is healed..."
"...Aelianus also writes of the Indians, and they will not admit into their cities any Red Apes, because they are often mad in lust towards women, and if at any time they find such apes, they hunt and destroy them as being adulterous beasts..."
Aphrodite - A large marine annelid, covered with long, lustrous, golden, hairlike setae; the sea mouse.
See: Aphya
"...Athenaus says, this fish ( Aphya) is consecrated to Venus, because she also comes of the froth of the sea, whence she is called Aphrodite..."
"...Alexander Aphrodisous ascribes to this, becuse Barley has in it a purgative and cleaning force, and so washes and expells the humors..."
"... Alexander
Aphrodisous in the beginning of his
Problems, inquires wherefore the
Loadstone only draws
Iron. And is fed or helped by
the filings of Iron. And the
more it is fed, the better it will be..."
Aphroselinon
(see Gypsum)
"...The stone
Selenites, (as
much as to say the
Moonbeam) called by others
Aphroselinon,
contains in it the image of the Moon
, and shows waxing and waning of it every day in the same
image..."
Aphya
See:
Aphrodite
"...Which Fish the Greeks
call Aphya, because rain
breeds it. Many of them breed of the foam that rises out of the sandy channel,
that still goes and comes at all times, till at last it is dissolved, so
that this kind of
Fish breeds all times of
the year, in shadowy and warm places, when the soil is heated, as in Attica,
near to Salamnia, and in Marathon, where
Themistocles
got his famous victory..."
"...Pliny. There is art used for sows livers, as well as for geese. It was the invention of Marcus Apicius, when they are fat with dry figs, give them sweet wine to drink, and kill them presently..."
"...Suidas says, that when Nicomedes, King of Bithynia, longed for some of these fish, and living far from the sea, could get none. Apicius the glutton, made the pictures of these fish, and set them on the table, so like, as if they had been the same..."
Apollo - A deity among the Greeks and Romans. He was the god of light and day (the sun god"), of archery, prophecy, medicine, poetry, and music, etc., and was represented as the model of manly grace and beauty; -- called also Phébus.
"...Some of the most beautiful and handsome young men that ever mankind afforded, as of Nireus, Narcissus, and valiant Hyacinthus, and of other young lusty gallants that were mostly comely and beautiful in face, and very sightly for all the parts fo their body; and some, of such excellent gods as was Apollo crowned with a garland of fresh coloured Bay, and Evan that had a Diadem of Vine-leaves about his head, and goodly hair hanging down under it. .."
"...We read in the roman histories, that there was at Rome, in the temple of ghe goddess Vesta, and of Minerva, at Athens, and of Apollo, at Delphi, a perpetual fire kindled..."
Apollonius of
Perga
Apollonius
of Perga, a Greek mathematician of the 3d and early 2d centuries BC, was
known as the Great Geometer. In his Conics, an investigation of the mathematical
properties of Conic Sections,
Apollonius introduced the terms Ellipse,
Hyperbola, and Parabola. He was also an important founder of Greek mathematical
astronomy, which applied geometrical models to planetary theory.
"...were excellent Magicians: as, amongst the Persians, Zoroastres the son of Orimafius, whom we spoke of before, amongst the Romans, Numa Pompilius; Thespion, amongst the Gymnosophists; Zamolxis, amongst the Thracians: Abbarais, amongst the Hyperboreans; Hermes, amongst the Egyptians and Budda among the Babylonians. Besides these, Apuleius reckons up Carinondas, Damigeron, Hifmoses, Apollonius, and Dardanus, who all followed Zoroastres and Osthanes. .."
"...Philostratus in the life Apollonius writes, that there was born in Sicily, a boy having two heads..".
Apoplexy - Sudden diminution or loss of consciousness, sensation, and voluntary motion, usually caused by pressure on the brain. &hand; The term is now usually limited to cerebral apoplexy, or loss of consciousness due to effusion of blood or other lesion within the substance of the brain; but it is sometimes extended to denote an effusion of blood into the substance of any organ; as, apoplexy of the lung.
"... The Salt of Pimpernel, being taken three days, and the third month, for a man's whole lifetime, secures him from the Dropsy, Pthisick, and Apoplexy..."
Apothecaries - One who prepares and sells drugs or compounds for medicinal purposes. &hand; In England an apothecary is one of a privileged class of practitioners -- a kind of sub-physician. The surgeon apothecary is the ordinary family medical attendant. One who sells drugs and makes up prescriptions is now commonly called in England a druggist or a pharmaceutical chemist.
"...There is also a kind of fruit called by the Apothecaries, Sebesten..."
"...You shall draw out a water from the seeds of Cardamom, (which Apothecaries call Grains of Paradise) Cubebs, Indian Cloves, raspings of Brasil and Spirit of Wine distilled..."
"...And it is not unlike that
Appius Claudius found it out, and
first procured it by the same means..."
Apple - . The fleshy pome or fruit of a rosaceous tree (Pyrus malus) cultivated in numberless varieties in the temperate zones. &hand; The European crab apple is supposed to be the original kind, from which all others have sprung.
See: Malina
"...In Persia there grows a deadly tree, whose Apples are Poison, and present death. Therefore there it is used for a punishment. But being brought over to the Kings into Egypt, they become wholesome Apples to eat, and lose there harmfulness, as Columella writes..."
"...A sleeping Apple...For it is made of Opium, Mandrake, juice of Hemlock, the seeds of Henbane, and adding a little Musk, to gain an easier reception of the smeller..."
"...Pliny speaks of
Apple-damosins, and
Nut-damosins,
but he showed not the manner how they may be produced, happily, because it
was never seen nor known..."
Appolloniates /
Appollonides
See: Diogenes (Diogenes of Apollonia)
"...The first sort held that all things proceed from the elements, and that these are the first beginnings of things; the fire, according to Hippasus Metapontimus, and Heraclides Ponticus; the air, according to Diogenes Apolloniates, and Anaximenes; and the water, according to Thales Milefius...."
"...There are such women in Scythia, called Bithiae, says Appollonides...(kill whatever they look earnestly on)..."
Apricot - A fruit allied to the plum, of an orange color, oval shape, and delicious taste; also, the tree (Prunus Armeniaca of Linnæus) which bears this fruit. By cultivation it has been introduced throughout the temperate zone.
"...I have often engrafted it upon that kind of
Damosin tree which bears a
Plum like a
Goat's stone both in shape and greatness,
(it may be it is our Scag
tree) and by this means I procured great
Apricots. ..."
Apuleius
Lucius Apuleius, AD 123-50, was a Latin
philosopher who wrote the novel Metamorphoses (Transformations), known
popularly as The Golden Ass. He was born at Madauros (North Africa),
educated in Carthage and Athens, and traveled and lectured widely. When he
married a wealthy widow in Tripoli, her relatives accused him of witchcraft.
The speech he delivered in his own defense in court, Apologia or De magia,
tells much about occult science in the ancient world. Apuleius was
acquitted and returned to Carthage, where he taught philosophy and
rhetoric.
In addition to The Golden Ass, the only complete novel in Latin still
in existence, Apuleius's works include the Platonic essays
De Deo Socratis (On
Socrates' Personal God) and Florida
(purple passages from his declamations).
"... Apuleius the Greek counsels us to gather our apples when they are in their full strength..."
"...Porphyry and Apuleius, great Platonicks, in an oration made in the defense of Magick, do witness, that Magick took her name and original form from Persia ..."
"...Wine of Pears...Which from the Greek word for Pears is called Apyres, and from the Latin Piery, Palladius says it was thus..."
Nitric Acid.
"...After this, take you some silver, and dissolve with that kind of water which is called Aqua-fortis but it must be such as has in it very little store of moisture..."
"... Mingle together the feces of Aquafortis one ounce, Pickle and Curcuma, of each one Drachm, with oil to the form of an unguent, and anoint your face, it will make it black..."
"...Take four pounds of rose water, two of orange flowers, one of myrtle, three ounces of sweet Trifoil, one of Lavender. Add to these, two ounces of Benjamin, one of Storax, the quantity of bean of Labdanum, as much of Mace and cloves, a drachm of cinnamon, Sanders, and Lignum Aloes, an ounce of Spikenard. Let these all be grossly beaten, and boiled in a varnished earthen Pipkin over a gentle fire, for the space of an hour, then let them cool..."
"...You may also add what you have reserved in making Aqua Nanfa..."
"...And in the space of a day there will spring up a most beautiful tree from the bottom, and hairy, as made of most fine beards of Corn, and it will fill the whole vessel, that the eye can behold nothing more pleasant. The same is made of Gold with Aquaregia..."
Alcohol... a strong alcoholic liquor (as brandy) ...
"... Upon this, I thrust half a Drachm of Treacle, or Mithridate, mixed with Aqua Vitae, into a Viper's mouth, and she died within half an hour..."
"...Beat the Ladanum, and Macerate it fifteen days in Aqua Vita, or Greek Wine, at least ten. For the longer it Infuses, the sooner it will run into Oil. Draw it with a gentle fire, it will Distil out by drops after the water..."
Aquinas, Saint Thomas
Saint Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican theologian,
met the challenge posed to Christian faith by the philosophical achievements
of the Greeks and Arabs. He effected a philosophical synthesis of faith and
reason that is one of the greatest achievements of medieval
times.
"...You must set in your garden in some shadowy place well dunged, a rank of fennel , and a rank of brambles one within another, and after the Aquinoetial day..."
"...The Arabian-Stone is like the spotted Ivory. Burned, it is good for Dentifrices. Also of Pumex-Stone very profitable Dentifrices were made. Pliny..."
"...The fruits of the Arbute, and the Lote tree, being eaten, will make men as though they were drunk..."
Aracdian Dog - Cross between a dog and lion.
See: Lion-Dog
"...And these are strong Dogs, and good hunters. Pollux says, that Arcadian dogs first came of a Dog and a Lion, and called Lion-Dogs. And Coelius writes the same. And Oppianus commends the Arcadian dogs, and those of Tegea, which is a town of Acadia..."
"... For Soporiferous receipts are very requisite to be placed among these Arcana, and are of very great esteem among physicians, who by sleep are desiresous to cheat their patients of pain..."
Arcanum . A secret; a mystery; generally used in the plural. "Inquiries into the arcana of the Godhead." A secret remedy; an elixir.
"...And there will remain true potable
Gold, the right
Tincture, and that great
Arcanum of
Philosophers, disquised with
so many riddles..."
Archelaus
Archelaus (d. 399 BC), who centralized the
kingdom with a system of roads and forts; he also fostered the Hellenization
of his people by inviting famous Greek artists, Euripides among them,
to his court. As a young man Socrates became fascinated with the new
scientific ideas that Anaxagoras and the latter's associate
Archelaus had introduced to Athens. PHILIP II (r. 359-336)
completed Archelaus's work by making Macedon the greatest power in the Greek
world.
"...Porphyry thought that living creatures were begotten of the bowels of the earth soaked in water, and quickened by the heat of the sun. Of the same mind were Archelaus, the Athenian, Anaxagoras Clazomensus, and Euripides his scholar..."
"... Archelaus the General, for Mithridates made trial of it in a wooden tower against Sylla, which he attempted in vain to set on fire..."
Architect - A person skilled in the art of building; one who understands architecture, or makes it his occupation to form plans and designs of buildings, and to superintend the artificers employed. A contriver, designer, or maker.
"... Dinocrates
the Architect began to vault
the Temple of Arsinoe with
Loadstone, that therein her image
of Iron might seem to hang in the
air. Both he and
Ptolomy died, who commanded this
to be made for his sister..."
(287-212 BC). The first scientist to recognize and use the power of the lever was Archimedes . This gifted Greek mathematician and inventor once said, "Give me a place to stand and rest my lever on, and I can move the Earth." He also invented the compound pulley and Archimedes'screw. Archimedes was a brilliant mathematician who helped develop the science of geometry. He discovered the relation between the surface area and volume of a sphere and those of its circumscribing cylinder.
"...We read that Archimedes at Syracuse with burning glasses defeated the forces of the Romans. And that King Ptolomey built a tower in Pharos, where he set a glass, that he could see for six hundred miles, see by it the enemy ships, that invaded his country and plundered it..."
"... Gellus noct.Attic. relates, that when the Lacedemonians wrote to their generals, that their letters being intercepted by the enemies might not be read, invented this kind of writing. yet it is referred to Archimedes to be the inventor of it..".
"...If any man think this a wonder, let him consider what is reported, that Archytas the Pythagorean did. For many of the noble greeks, and Favorinus the philosopher, the greatest searcher out of antiquities, have written affirmatively, that the frame of a pigeon made of wood, was formed by Archytas, by some art, and made to fly..."
Arctic - Pertaining to, or situated under, the northern constellation called the Bear; northern; frigid; as, the arctic pole, circle, region, ocean; an arctic expedition, night, temperature. &hand; The arctic circle is a lesser circle, parallel to the equator, 23° 28' from the north pole. This and the antarctic circle are called the polar circles, and between these and the poles lie the frigid zones
"...Whence we may conjecture, that as the stone (Loadstone) has a Pole Arctic and Antarctic. So it has an East and West part, and its upper and Nether part, as the heavens have..."
Arcturus - .) A fixed
star of the first magnitude in the constellation Boötes. &hand;
Arcturus has sometimes been incorrectly used as the name of the constellation,
or even of Ursa Major.
"Canicular Star" The star
Arcturus, at his rising causes
rain. Dogs are well acquainted with the rising of the
Canicular star; for
at that time they are commonly mad..."
Argil - Clay, or potter's earth; sometimes pure clay, or alumina.
"...How Corn may be long preserved... Perfrigerated Argil is best of all, for it will keep Corn thirty or forty years from corruption..."
"...There is an Herb commonly called Argentaria, or Argentina, or Wild Tansey, whos leaves are greeen above, but on the backside they shine of a silver color..."
Argonaut - Any one of the legendary Greek heroes who sailed with Jason, in the Argo, in quest of the Golden Fleece.
"...The first way, we read that Medea promised the Argonauts, that if she killed Pelias, she would signify so much to them by night with fire from a watch tower, and by day with smoke..."
Argus - A fabulous being of antiquity, said to have had a hundred eyes, who has placed by Juno to guard Io. His eyes were transplanted to the peacock's tail.
"...you will think you see Argus, one that is all eyes. If his nose, you shall see nothing but nose so his hands, fingers, arms, that you shall see no man, but Briareus the Poet, was said to have a hundred hands..."
"...Hence Herodotus first, and others from him, report, that Arion was carried to Tenarus on a Dolphin's back..."
"... Arion the harper made friends of the Dolphins that want reason, and they carried him safe to the shore, when he was cast into the sea..."
Arisaron
"...So the Herb
Arisaron in Egypt, and
Wake-robin, and
Garlic, bear seeds like
a Snake's head, and so
Bugloss and
Orchanet bear seeds
like a Viper's head, and these are
good to heal their venomous bitings..."
"... Herodotus mentions
it from Hestiaus, who was the
author of it. He being born in Asia, when of noble place, when
Darius ruled, when he was with the
King in Persia, ans would privately write to
Aristagoras to fall from
him..."
Aristides
Aristides, c.530-c.467 BC, was an Athenian general and political
leader, surnamed "the Just." He served in the Battle of Marathon.
"...Other properties there are also of places and fountains, which he that would know, may learn out of Theophrastus, Timaus, Poffidonius, Hegefias, Aristides, Meirodorus, and the like, who have very diligently sought out, and registered the properties of places, and out of them, Pliny, Solinus, and such writers have gathered their books..."
"...when the Cook of Aristian, among other meats, offered to Hercules a tender dunghill cock, newly slain, that was extremely short. Aristio gives the reason of this tenderness to be the fig tree..."
"...In the month of July, take three ounces of the seed, stamp it gently, and steep it in two glasses of the best white Wine, with Gentian, Tormentil, white Dittany, Zedoary, and Carline gathered in August. Red Sanders, long Aristolochie, of each two Drams. ..."
"...Vulnerary
potions...Take
Pirole,
Comfrey,
Aristolochy,
Featherfew of each a handful.
Of Agrimony two. Boil
them in the best new Wine. Digest
them in Horse
Dung..."
Aristophanes
"...It is like that jest in
Aristophanes, of a
Clown that rode upon an
Ass, and carried his
Coulter at his back, that he might
not load the Ass too much..."
Aristotle
With the possible exception of
Plato, Aristotle, 384-322 BC, is the
most influential philosopher in the history of Western thought. Logic into
the present century was basically Aristotelian logic. The study of the natural
sciences was dominated by
Aristotle until early modern times,
and modern physics was developed in reaction to the Aristotelian tradition.
Teacher of Alexander the
Great.
"... Aristotle in his Problems shows, How we may have cucumbers all the year long..."
"...Aristotle says, that Boars feed upon the herb Arum, or Wakerobin, to keep them soluble..."
"...For if you water them in the evening with new sweet Wine, and let them drink for three evenings together as much of that liquor as they will soak up, it will cause sweet Lettuce, as Aristoxenus the Cyrenian has taught out of Athenaus..."
"...Therefore Aristoxenus, in his plays, when he could not prevail with Dorick Music, he changed to Phrygian melody that agreed with them..."
Ark - A chest, or coffer. The large, chestlike vessel in which Noah and his family were preserved during the Deluge.
"... Florentinus the Grecian says, that Jubas King of Africa, taught how to make Bees in a wooden Ark..."
"...I remeber in Plutarch's works, what is worth relating that I read there, that by the Pigeon sent forth of the Ark, in Deucalions flood, was shown, that the waters were sunk down, and the storms past...."
Armhole - . The cavity under the shoulder; the armpit.
"...The stink of the Armholes makes some women very hateful. Especially those that are fat and fleshy. To cure this, we may use such kind of experiments. The Ancients, against the stink of armpits, used liquid Allome with Myrrh to anoint them..."
"...The Ancients, against the stink of armpits, used liquid Allome with Myrrh to anoint them. Or the Secrets and Arm-holes were strewed with the dry leaves of Myrtles in powder..."
"...Pheasants in summer hung up two days, and
three days in winter, will be fit meat,
Arnoleus..."
Arsemery
"...The fruit of White Ivy
will make feed barren, but the fruit of
Arsemery will make it
fertile, which fruit is a small grain, like to
Millet. .."
See: Oker, Orpiment, Arsenic Opine, Arsnick Sublimate
"...The chief and essential things that are of force to endue brass with a whiter color, are these. Arsenic or Oker, that kind of quicksilver that is sublimated, as the alchemists call it, the foam or froth of silver, which is called by the Greeks, Lithargyron..."
"... Set it to the fire, and melt in it two pounds of Tartar, and as many of White Arsenic. when you see them fume, pour in fifty pounds of old Brass, often used, and let it melt six or sever times, that it may be pure and cleansed. Then add twentyfive pounds of English Pewter, and let them melt together..."
Arsenic - One of the elements, a solid substance resembling a metal in its physical properties, but in its chemical relations ranking with the nonmetals. It is of a steel-gray color and brilliant luster, though usually dull from tarnish. It is very brittle, and sublimes at 356° Fahrenheit. It is sometimes found native, but usually combined with silver, cobalt, nickel, iron, antimony, or sulphur. Orpiment and realgar are two of its sulphur compounds, the first of which is the true arsenticum of the ancients.
"...Arsenic Opine that may be gotten, such as Yaws and gapes as though it had scales upon it, it must be of a very orient golden color, and must meddle this Arsenic Opine with the dust of Brass that has been filed from it, and..."
"... But in compositions for Arrows and Darts, that they might burn the more vehemently,they put melted Vernish, Printer's Oil, Petroleum, Turpentine, made up with the sharpest Vinegar, pressed close, and dried at the Sun, and wrapped over with Tow, and with sharp Irons to defend it, wrought together like to a bottom of Yarn. .."
"... Dinocrates the Architect began to vault the Temple of Arsinoe with Loadstone, that therein her image of Iron might seem to hang in the air. Both he and Ptolomy died, who commanded this to be made for his sister..."
"The
English Physitian", Culpeper, Nicholas, 1616-1654. --
"This hath broad Leaves set at the great red Joynts of the Stalks,
with semicircular blackish marks on them usually, yet somtimes without: The
Flowers grow in long Spikes usually either blush or whitish with such like
Seed following. The Root is long with many strings therat perishing yeerly;
this hath no sharp tast (as another sort hath, which is quick and biting)
but rather sowr like Sorrel, or els a little drying without tast.
"...Take a certain reasonable quantity of the leaves of Persisatinllrens, called Arsmart, or vulgarly called Watterper which you will dry in the shade..."
See: Sublimate
"... Let there be measure made like Lanthorns, so that they may go in at the mouths of the Brass Guns. Fill them with powder of Euphorbium, Pepper, Quicklime, Vine ashes, and Arsnick Sublimate..."
Art - The employment of means to accomplish some desired end; the adaptation of things in the natural world to the uses of life; the application of knowledge or power to practical purposes.
"... Let them ferment for ten days according to Art..."
"...Sometimes therefore they sought a way in the air, and used arrows for messengers, that none might intercept them. Herodotus says, that Artabazus and Timoxenus did this, when one would declare anything to the other..."
Son of Xerxes I.
"...Ovid confirms this, admonishing maids in his Arte Amandi, how they may safely write to their sweethearts..."
"...The secret places of clothes are best, to avoid suspicion. As in your bosom, or under the soles of your feet. Ovid in his Arte Amandi, writes to this purpose..."
Artichoke - . The Cynara scolymus, a plant somewhat resembling a thistle, with a dilated, imbricated, and prickly involucre. The head (to which the name is also applied) is composed of numerous oval scales, inclosing the florets, sitting on a broad receptacle, which, with the fleshy base of the scales, is much esteemed as an article of food.
"...There is a kind of Spider which destroys the Hart, except presently they eat Wild Ivy, and whensoever they light upon any poisonous food, they cure themselves with the Artichoke, and against serpents they prepare and arm them selves with Wild Parsnip, so do the Ring-doves, Coughs, and Blackbirds use Bay leaves..."
"...We may learn to do it out of Cassianus, who following the authority of Varro, says, that Artichokes always bring forth fruit about the same season that they are set in, and therefore it is easy to have them all year long..."
"...I shall treat of that dangerous fire that works wonderful things, which the vulgar call Artificial Fire, which the commanders of armies and generals, use lamentably in diverse artifices and monstrous designs, to break open walls and cities, and totally subvert them..."
Arum - A genus of plants found in central Europe and about the Mediterranean, having flowers on a spadix inclosed in a spathe. The cuckoopint of the English is an example.
See Wakerobin, Cuckow-pint, Chara
"...Aristotle says, that Boars feed upon the herb Arum, or Wakerobin, to keep them soluble..."
"... Anoint Iron with Oil, Wax, Asafoerida, and Lute it over with Straw and Dung, and dry it...."
See: Live-Flax
"... I shall now speak of Flax called Asbestinum. Pliny says there is Flax also found, that fire will not consume. The call it Live-Flax..."
"... Terpander and Aaron of Methymna, cured the men of Lesbos and Jonia of great diseases. Asclepiades, a physitian, cured deaf people by a trumpet, and by singing he stilled the sedicious people..."
"...By making a hole into an Onion, and putting into it a clove of Garlic, and so planting it. for that will grow to be an Ascalonian, or a cloven Onion..."
Ascent - . The act of rising; motion upward; rise; a mounting upward; as, he made a tedious ascent; the ascent of vapors from the earth.
"... Geber defines it thus, Distillation is the elevation of moist vapors in a proper vessel. But we will declare the true definition of it elsewhere. He makes three sorts of it, by Ascent, by Descent, and by Filtration..."
Ash - A genus of trees of the Olive family, having opposite pinnate leaves, many of the species furnishing valuable timber, as the European ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and the white ash (F. Americana).
"...Theophrastus writes that some are excellent against the bitings of Vipers, with Harps, Flutes, or other instruments, which instruments might be made of Juniper, Ash, Bays, the Stag's bones, Ferula, Elder, Vine-tree, and such like many more..."
"...For with a knife they cut the Hazel tree, which they say is the fittest of all to find out veins, especially if the Hazel comes upon any mineral vein. Others use diverse trees, as the metals are diverse. For they use the wands of Hazel for veins of Silver, Ash for Brass, wild Pilch tree for Lead, chiefly White Lead, or Brass, or Gold..."
Asp - A small, hooded, poisonous serpent of Egypt and adjacent countries, whose bite is often fatal. It is the Naja haje. The name is also applied to other poisonous serpents, esp. to Vipera aspis of southern Europe.
"...The Indian Rat, called Ichneumon, does harness himself with some of the Lote-tree and so fights against the Asp..."
"...The same is done also in Egypt by the bird Ibis. The Indian Rat, called Ichneumon, does harness himself with some of the Lote-tree and so fights against the Asp.."
Pericles was a political idealist. His personal life was austere, although his union with the courtesan Aspasia caused gossip and slander. The historian Thucydides admired his singular control of the Athenian democracy.
See: Daffodil, Navews, Round-heads
"Bread of Asphodils is eaten... Pliny, the Daffodil is eaten with the seed and head Terrified. But this roasted in the embers as Hesiod affirms, is eaten with oil also Braised with Figs, it is eaten with great pleasure. These round-heads are like to Navews of moderate bigness..."
"...Water is mingled with the oil, that the fraud
may not be known. Let it be done with troubled waters, as with the
decoction of Wood,
Rapes,
Asphodills, that it may the harder
be discerned from it..."
Asplnum
"...An Ass eats the
Herb
Asplnum to purge his
Melancholy,
of whom the
Physicians have
learned to minister the same
Herb for the same purpose. ..."
Ass - A quadruped of the genus Equus (E. asinus), smaller than the horse, and having a peculiarly harsh bray and long ears. The tame or domestic ass is patient, slow, and sure-footed, and has become the type of obstinacy and stupidity. There are several species of wild asses which are swift-footed.
"...The Beetle is generated of the Ass..."
"...Therefore to consider of animals, that have the quickest hearing, we must think of those that are the most fearful. Nor nature takes care for their safety, that as they have no great strength. Yet they might exceed others in hearing, and save themselves by flight. As the Hare, Coney, Hart, the Ass, Ox, and the like..."
Astringent - Drawing together the tissues; binding; contracting; -- opposed to laxative; as, astringent medicines; a butter and astringent taste; astringent fruit.
"...Or, if they sit in a Decoction of it, especially, if we mingle other Astringent things with it, and wet the Secrets therewith..."
Astroite - A radiated stone or fossil; star-stone.
"...The ancients say, that the stones called Prochites and Astroites, laid upon some other plain stone, will move of themselves, if you put Vinegar to them. The way shall be this. Let a plain well polished, on the outward surfaces, Porphyr Marble stone, lie beneath..."
Astrologer - One who studies the stars; an astronomer. One who practices astrology; one who professes to foretell events by the aspects and situation of the stars.
"...Astrologers, seeing it (Gold) contend with the Sun in beams, brightness and glory. And to have a prerogative of majesty among metals, like the Sun among the stars..."
Astrology - the science of the stars; among the ancients, synonymous with astronomy; subsequently, the art of judging of the influences of the stars upon human affairs, and of foretelling events by their position and aspects. &hand; Astrology was much in vogue during the Middle Ages, and became the parent of modern astronomy, as alchemy did of chemistry. It was divided into two kinds: judicial astrology, which assumed to foretell the fate and acts of nations and individuals, and natural astrology, which undertook to predict events of inanimate nature, such as changes of the weather, etc.
"...He must also know the Mathematical Sciences, and especially Astrology; for that shows how the stars are moved in the heavens..."
"...But lest we should make the matter too hard and difficult, by giving such Astrological precepts, we will frame ourselves to the most plain..."
"...Polianus reports,
Athenales, when he was besieged
by his enemies, poured out of brazen vessels, melted lead upon the engines,
that were set to scale the place, and by this were the engines dissolved,
but the enemies poured vinegar upon it, and by that they quenched the lead,
and all things else that fell from the walls..."
Athenaus /
Athenaues
"....mud engenders
Frogs that sometimes lack feet. The
generation of them is so easy, and sudden, that some write it has rained
Frogs, as if they were gendered in
the air.
Phylarchus
in
Athenaus writes
so..."
"... Grapes thus preserved in Wine, have been a great request among the ancients. Athenaus makes mention of them out of Eubulus in Agglutinato..."
Atom - Anything extremely small; a particle; a whit. - (a) An ultimate indivisible particle of matter. (b) An ultimate particle of matter not necessarily indivisible; a molecule. (c) A constituent particle of matter, or a molecule supposed to be made up of subordinate particles.
"...Epicurus would fain give a reason for it, as Galen and Lucretius report. For, say they, the Atoms that flew out of the Iron, and meet in the Loadstone in one figure, so that they easily embrace one the other..."
"...It may be by this craft, as Polyanus the Greek says, Attalus used the imprinted inscription of a beast for sacrifice..."
Attenuate - To make thin or slender, as by mechanical or chemical action upon inanimate objects, or by the effects of starvation, disease, etc., upon living bodies. To make thin or less consistent; to render less viscid or dense; to rarefy. Specifically: To subtilize, as the humors of the body, or to break them into finer parts.
"... Marsilius Ficinus says, it (Gold) is of a solid substance, and therefore must be Attenuated, that it may penetrate the body. But he is ignorant of the way of it. Only, he advises to give it in Cordial waters, being beaten out of thin leaves..."
"...Augustus was wont to burn his legs with a burning nut, that the hair might grow softer..."
"...Coracini,
blackfish, whose heads shine
like gold, allure the
Aulopii, when they observe some
such dainty food, and they come to it rejoicing..."
Aurelianus
Celius Aurelianus
(fl. 5th century AD, Sicca Veneria, Numidia [now in Algeria]), the last of
the medical writers of the Western Roman Empire, usually considered the greatest
Greco-Roman physician after Galen. Caelius probably
practiced and taught in Rome and is now thought to rank second only to the
physician Celsus as a Latin medical writer. His most famous work, De morbis
acutis et chronicis ("Concerning Acute and Chronic Diseases"), is a thorough
exposition of classical medical knowledge. Although his works are largely
adapted from those of Soranus of Ephesus, the 2nd-century leader of the methodist
school of medicine, known for its deprecation of theory in favour of
therapeutics, Caelius contributed the clearest and most accurate diagnosis
found among ancient writers. His doctrine emphasizes the use of dietetic,
mechanical, and hygienic measures in the treatment of
disease.
"...Neither is it hard to generate Toads of women's putrified flowers, for women do breed this kind of cattle, together with their children, as Celius Aurelianus and Platearius call them, frogs, toads, lizards, and such like. .."
See: Orpiment
"...The next operation is to make one ounce of salt-ammoniac an equal quantity of Borax, eight ounces of Auripigment..."
"...But the Augar, changing the other parts, and doing his office, turns the part where this inscription was contained, "Regis Victoria."..."
Auger - . A carpenter's tool for boring holes larger than those bored by a gimlet. It has a handle placed crosswise by which it is turned with both hands. A pod auger is one with a straight channel or groove, like the half of a bean pod. A screw auger has a twisted blade, by the spiral groove of which the chips are discharge.
"... They are such as are very hot, as the Bay tree, the Buckthorn, the Holm, the Piel tree. But Mnestor adds the Mulberry tree, and men conjecture so, because they will presently blunt the ax. Of all these they make the Auger, that by rubbing they may resist the more, and do the business more firmly...."
"...as Didymus shows us. You must bore the Cherry tree stock through with a Wimble, and, your Vine growing by it, you must take one of the next and best branches from it, and put it into the Auger hole, but you must not cut it off from the Vine..."
"...And the open passages are to carry the sound
form the place whence it comes.
Hares therefore have long ears
standing up high.
Pollux. But
Festus calls the
Hare,
Auritum, because of its great ears,
and quickness of hearing..."
Averroes
.Averroes (Arabic: Ibn Rushd),
1126-98, was a Spanish-Arab philosopher, the most noted Aristotelian scholar
in Islam. Called the "commentator" by
Thomas
Aquinas,
.Averroes composed
38 treatises on the various works of
Aristotle,
as well as original tracts on astronomy, physics, and medicine. His primary
work was The Incoherence of the Incoherence (c.1180; Eng. trans.,
1954), a spirited defense of his Neoplatonic and Aristotelian philosophy.
.Averroes studied medicine and law, then
served as a judge in Seville and later at Cordoba. In 1182 he became chief
physician to the Almohad caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf, whose favor he enjoyed
until Yusuf's death, in 1184. His religious views were considered
heretical by orthodox Muslims, however, and he was banished from the court
by the caliph Mansur in 1195. He was recalled from exile in 1198 but
died soon after.
"...Averroes held, that the stars
were sufficient to generate imperfect creatures, as mice, bats, moles, and
such like, but not to generate Men, or lions..."
Avicenna (Arabic, Ibn Sina), 980-1037, was a Persian philosopher who spent his life as a physician and scholar-in-residence at many Islamic courts. He died while in service in Isfahan. Many of his writings were translated in the West. Avicenna's works are of a compendious nature, the most notable being a philosophical encyclopedia. As did other Muslim scholars of the Greek school, he attempted to reconcile philosophy and Islam. For Avicenna, philosophy was the true path to understanding.
"...Avicenna says, that if any thing stand long in salt, it will become wholly salt, if in an unsavory vessel, it will become unsavory..."
"...Which
Plato, that chief Philosopher, calls
the soul of the World, and
Aristotle Universal Nature, and
Avicenna calls it Form-giver..."
Avis aborea
"...Munster
says, there are certain trees which bring forth a fruit covered over
with leaves, which, if it fall into the water under it, at the right season,
it lives, and becomes a quick bird, which is called
Avis arborea.
Neither is this any new tale, for the ancient
Cosmographers, especially
Saxo
Grammaticus, mentions the same tree..."
"...Strew Quicksilver upon the Foil, and as I said, make it stick by means of a Hare's foot. The artists call this Avivare..."
"...and moreover, that the herb Axesceed did grow among Pulse, by a kind of degeneration of the Pulse into Axesceed..."
Axiom - A self-evident and necessary truth, or a proposition whose truth is so evident as first sight that no reasoning or demonstration can make it plainer; a proposition which it is necessary to take for granted; as, The whole is greater than a part;" A thing can not, at the same time, be and not be." An established principle in some art or science, which, though not a necessary truth, is universally received; as, the axioms of political economy.
"...And the second Axiom, namely, that heavy should ascend, and light descend..."
"...There is an odoriferous water extracted out of the flowers of Azadaret, or Bastard Sicamore, very thin and full of favor..."
Awl - A pointed instrument for piercing small holes, as in leather or wood; used by shoemakers, saddlers, cabinetmakers, etc.
"...Who bore through the head of a Pullet with an Awl, and yet maintain that she is alive..."
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