Latin — 1533, repaired
[V]lterius considerare debes, virtutes rerum quibusdam inesse secundum totum, hoc est, secundum totam suam substantiam, vel eius omnes partes: sicut pisciculus ille echeneis, qui solo tactu fertur navem sistere, hoc non agit secundum aliquam praecipuam suam partem, sed secundum suam totam substantiam. Sic hyena habet secundum suam totam substantiam, quod umbrae eius contactu canes obmutescant; sic chelidonia confert visui, non secundum aliquam, sed secundum omnes suas partes, non minus radice, quam foliis et semine: et sic de similibus.
Quaedam autem virtutes insunt rebus secundum aliquas eius partes, puta solum in lingua, vel oculis, vel aliis quibusdam membris, sive partibus: sic in oculis basilisci et catoblepae est virtus violentissima occidendi homines, ubi ipsos viderit: similis virtus est in oculis hyenae, quae quodcunque animal lustraverit, evestigio hoc rediens stupescit, et moveri se non potest: similis virtus est in oculis luporum quorundam, qui si quem prius viderint, stupescit, et raucescit adeo, ut si clamare voluerit, non habeat vocis ministerium. De hoc Vergilius meminit, ubi canit:
(verse, summarized — see flag: on the shepherd Moeris losing his voice because the wolves of Moeris saw him first)
Sic et feminae quaedam erant in Scythia, et apud Illyricos et Triballos, quae quoties quem iratae aspexerant, interemisse feruntur. Similiter et Telchines populi leguntur fuisse, qui omnia aspectu suo in peius commutaverant, propterea a Iove submersi. Iccirco fascinatores huiusmodi animalium oculis in collyriis utuntur ad similes passiones, per fascinationes operaturi.
Simili modo formicae fugiunt ex corde upupae, non ex capite, pede vel oculis: sic fel stellionum in aqua tritum, fertur congregare mustelas, non cauda, vel capite: et fel caprarum vase aeneo in terra conclusum, ranas congregat: et iecur caprinum papilionibus et tineis omnibus contrarium est: et cor canis habentem fugiunt canes: et vulpes gallinaceos non attingunt qui vulpinum iecur comederint.
Sic habent res plurimae diversas virtutes per diversas suas partes diversimode dispersas, prout ipsis secundum receptibilium diversitatem caelitus infunduntur: quemadmodum in corpore humano ossa non recipiunt nisi vitam, oculi vero visum, et aures auditum. Et est in humano corpore os quoddam minimum, quod Hebraei Luz appellant, magnitudine ciceris mundati, quod nulli corruptioni obnoxium, nec igne quidem vincitur, sed semper conservatur illaesum, ex quo (ut dicunt) velut planta ex semine, in resurrectione mortuorum corpus nostrum animale repullulascet. Et hae virtutes non declarantur ratione, sed experientia.
De virtutibus rerum quae insunt ipsis in vita tantum, et quae remanent in illis etiam post interitum.
Close translation
Further, you ought to consider that the powers of things are present in some according to the whole — that is, according to their whole substance, or all its parts: as that little fish, the echeneis, which is said to stop a ship by mere touch — it does not do this by any particular chief part of itself, but according to its whole substance. So the hyena has it according to its whole substance, that dogs fall silent at the touch of its shadow; so celandine benefits the sight not according to some one part, but according to all its parts — no less in the root than in the leaves and the seed: and so of similar things.
But certain powers are present in things according to only some of their parts — say, only in the tongue, or the eyes, or certain other members or parts: so in the eyes of the basilisk and the catoblepas there is a most violent power of killing men, wherever it has seen them: a like power is in the eyes of the hyena, which, whatever animal it has looked over, that animal, turning back on its own tracks, grows stupefied, and cannot move itself: a like power is in the eyes of certain wolves, such that if one has seen a man first, the man grows stupefied and hoarse, so much so that if he wishes to cry out, he has no service of voice left. Vergil recalls this, where he sings: (verse, summarized — see flag: the shepherd Moeris has lost his voice, because the wolves saw Moeris first).
So too there were certain women in Scythia, and among the Illyrians and Triballi, who are said to have killed anyone they looked upon in anger, however many times. Likewise a people called the Telchines are recorded to have existed, who changed everything for the worse merely by their gaze, and were for that reason drowned by Jove. For this reason, those who practice this kind of fascination use the eyes of such animals in eye-salves, in order to work like effects through fascination.
In the same way, ants flee from the heart of the hoopoe, not from its head, foot, or eyes: so the gall of newts, ground in water, is said to gather weasels together — not its tail, or its head: and goat's gall, sealed in a bronze vessel in the earth, gathers frogs together: and goat's liver is opposed to all butterflies and moths: and dogs flee one that holds a dog's heart: and foxes do not come near hens belonging to those who have eaten fox liver.
So very many things have diverse powers scattered in diverse ways through their diverse parts, according as these are infused into them from the heavens, in keeping with the diversity of their capacity to receive: just as in the human body the bones receive nothing but life, while the eyes receive sight, and the ears hearing. And there is in the human body a certain very small bone, which the Hebrews call Luz, of the size of a cleaned chickpea, which is subject to no corruption, and is not even overcome by fire, but is always preserved unharmed — from which (as they say), like a plant from a seed, at the resurrection of the dead our animal body will sprout forth again. And these powers are made known not by reasoning, but by experience.
On the powers of things that are present in them only in life, and those that remain in them even after death.
Modern rendering
Beyond this, you should consider that some things carry their powers throughout their whole substance — that is, in every part of them: take the little fish called the remora, said to stop a ship dead just by touching it. It doesn't do this through any one special part of itself, but through its whole substance. The hyena works the same way: its shadow alone, touching a dog, is said to strike it silent. Celandine, likewise, benefits the eyes not through any single part but through all of it equally — root, leaf, and seed alike.
Other powers, though, belong to only certain parts of a thing — the tongue, say, or the eyes, or some other specific organ. The basilisk and the catoblepas, for instance, carry in their eyes alone a lethal power that kills a man on sight. The hyena's eyes have a similar power: any animal it has looked over, on turning back the way it came, freezes up and can't move. Certain wolves' eyes work the same way — if a wolf sees a man first, the man freezes and goes hoarse, so that even if he wants to shout, his voice fails him entirely. Vergil mentions this (verse, summarized — see flag: the shepherd Moeris has lost his voice because the wolves of Moeris saw him before he saw them).
Along the same lines, there were said to be certain women in Scythia, and among the Illyrians and Triballi, who could kill with an angry glance, however often they looked. And a people called the Telchines are recorded to have existed who ruined everything they looked at, and were drowned by Jupiter for it. This is why people who practice this kind of "fascination" use the eyes of such animals in eye-salves, trying to reproduce the same effect through fascination.
Similarly, ants flee from a hoopoe's heart specifically — not its head, foot, or eyes. Ground-up newt gall is said to gather weasels together, but not the tail or head. Goat's gall sealed in a bronze vessel underground draws frogs. Goat's liver repels all butterflies and moths. Dogs flee anyone carrying a dog's heart. And foxes won't come near the hens of anyone who's eaten fox liver.
So a great many things carry different powers scattered unevenly across their different parts, depending on how each part is suited to receive influence from the heavens — the same way bones in the human body receive nothing but life, while the eyes receive sight and the ears receive hearing. There's a certain very small bone in the human body, which the Hebrews call the Luz bone, about the size of a peeled chickpea, that can't be corrupted or even destroyed by fire — it's always preserved intact. From this bone, they say, our body will sprout again at the resurrection of the dead, the way a plant grows from a seed. These powers, though, aren't established by reasoning — only by experience.
On the powers of things that exist only while they're alive, and those that remain in them even after death.
Editorial flags — draft status
- verse: Vergil, Eclogues 9.53-54 ('vox quoque Moerim iam fugit ipsa; lupi Moerim videre priores') — identified with high confidence from the classical source given the OCR fragments, but per spec not reconstructed/versified in the Latin column beyond noting the identification; close/modern give prose summary only.
- list: the part-specific virtue catalogue (ant/hoopoe-heart, newt-gall/weasels, goat-gall/frogs, goat-liver/moths-butterflies, dog-heart/dogs, fox-liver/hens) should be re-keyed against page images alongside the ch.17-18 catalogues.
- uncertain: basilisk and catoblepas eye-venom passage: two distinct legendary creatures conflated in a single clause; kept as printed rather than disambiguated.