Latin — 1533, repaired
Circa praeterea oportebit quasdam proprietates inesse rebus tantummodo in vita, quasdam etiam permanere post mortem: sic echeneis sistit navigia, et regulus, et catablepa interimunt visu, quando vivunt: post mortem vero nihil tale agunt: sic tradunt in torminibus anate viva apposita ventri transire morbum, anatemque emori. Simile est quod dicit Archytas: si accipiatur cor recens extractum ex animali, et adhuc calens atque vivens suspendatur supra patientem febrem quartanam, tollit eam. Sic si quis transglutiat cor upupae, vel hirundinis, vel mustelae, vel talpae, eo adhuc vivente et palpitante, confert ei ad memoriam, reminiscentiam, intellectum et divinationem. Hinc ortum est generale praeceptum, quod scilicet quaecunque colligenda sunt ex animalibus, sive lapides, sive membra, sive excrementa, ut pili, stercus, ungulae, haec ab animalibus, illis adhuc viventibus, auferri debent, atque etiam, si fieri potest, ipsis postea adhuc vivis remanentibus. Unde praecipiunt, quando colligis linguam ranae, eam vivam remittas in aquam: si colligas dentem vel oculum lupi, non interficias lupum: et sic de similibus. Sic tradit Democritus, si quis extrahat ranae marinae viventi linguam, nulla alia parte corporis adhaerente, ipsaque demissa in mare, imponat supra cordis palpitationem mulieri dormienti, quaecunque interrogaverit, vera responsuram. Simili modo oculos ranarum ante solis ortum adalligatos aegro, ita ut caecas demittant in aquam, tertianas abigi promittunt: eosdemque cum carnibus lusciniae in pelle cervina adalligatos praestare vigiliam somno fugato, tradunt. Similiter pastinacae radius adalligatus umbilico fertur faciles partus facere, si viventi ablatus sit, ipsaque denuo in mare demissa. Sic ferunt serpentis oculum dextrum adalligatum contra epiphoras prodesse, si serpens vivus dimittatur. Et est quidam piscis, sive serpens maximus nomine myrus, cui si eruatur oculus, et alligetur fronti patientis, ophthalmiam sanare dicitur, pisci vero oculum renasci: sed alter illum capit lumine, qui viventem non dimiserit. Item dentes omnium serpentum, quando vivis exempti sunt, suspensi supra patientem, quartanam sanare dicuntur: similiter dente talpae vivae excempto eaque dimissa, sanari dentium dolores: nec adlatrare canes, caudam mustelae, quae dimissa fit habentes. Et narrat Democritus, linguam chamaeleontis si vivo erepta fit, ad iudicia eventuque pollere, eandemque salutarem esse parturientibus circa domum: cavendum autem, ne domo inferatur, quia esset perniciosissimum. Sunt adhuc proprietates post mortem remanentes: ac de his dicunt Platonici, quod res in quibus minus mergitur idea materiae, in his adhuc postquam mortuae sunt, et defunctae fuerint, id quod immortale est, mirabilia operari non cessat. Sic in herbis et plantis, avulsis et arefactis adhuc viget et operatur ipsa virtus ab idea quondam infusa. Inde est, quod sicut aquila in vita sua omnes aves superat et vincit: sic etiam ea defuncta, pennae eius omnes aliarum avium pennas et plumas destruunt et corrodunt: eadem ratione pellis leonis omnes alias pelles consumit: et pellis hyaenae destruit pelles pantherae: et pellis lupi corrodit pellem agni. [†verse: lines beginning "Abitnimtiubmcoligttdd, illu vive tibutaufirri Ment..." — badly damaged marginal verse couplet, apparently on feathers/hide consuming their like and a drum-skin, unrecoverable] Et quaedam haec non agunt solum in contactu corporeo, sed etiam quandoque in harmonia vocali: sic tympanum factum de pelle adib (hoc est lupi), obmutescere facit tympanum de pelle agni. Simili modo tympanum factum de pelle ericii marini, procul fugat omnia reptilia, per quamcunque distantiam sonus eiusmodi auditus fuerit: et fides factae ex intestinis lupi, si cum ovinis fidibus in lyra aut cythara tentae fuerint, nullam inde fieri posse consonantiam, manifestum est.
Close translation
It will further be necessary to note that certain properties belong to things only during life, while certain others remain even after death. Thus the echeneis stops ships, and the basilisk and the catoblepas kill by their gaze, while they live; after death they do nothing of the kind. So it is reported that in colic a live duck placed against the belly draws the disease across, and the duck dies. Archytas says something similar: if a heart is taken fresh from an animal, still warm and living, and hung over one suffering from quartan fever, it takes the fever away. So too, if one swallows the heart of a hoopoe, or a swallow, or a weasel, or a mole while it is still beating, it grants memory, recollection, understanding, and divination. From this arose the general rule: that whatever is to be gathered from animals — stones, limbs, or excretions such as hair, dung, hooves — should be taken from the animals while they still live, and, if possible, the animals should be left alive afterward. Hence they instruct that when you gather a frog's tongue, you should put it back alive into the water; if you take a wolf's tooth or eye, you should not kill the wolf; and so with similar cases. Democritus reports that if one draws out the tongue of a living sea-frog, with no other part of the body attached, and releases the frog into the sea, and then lays the tongue on the heart of a sleeping woman, she will answer truly whatever she is asked. In like manner the eyes of frogs, bound on a patient before sunrise so that the blinded frogs are released into water, are said to drive off tertian fevers; and the same eyes, together with the flesh of a nightingale, bound in deerskin, are said to banish sleep and keep one awake. Likewise the sting-ray's spine bound to the navel is said to ease childbirth, if it was taken from the living ray and the ray itself then returned to the sea. So too they say the right eye of a serpent, bound on, helps against eye-discharge, if the serpent is released alive. And there is a certain fish, or rather a very large serpent called the myrus [moray], from which, if an eye is torn out and bound to the sufferer's forehead, it is said to cure ophthalmia, and the eye grows back on the fish — but only if the one who took it did not release the fish alive; that one is struck blind in turn. Likewise the teeth of any serpent, taken from it alive, hung over a patient, are said to cure quartan fever; likewise a mole's tooth taken from it alive, the mole then released, cures toothache; and those who carry a weasel's tail, the weasel having been released alive, are said not to be barked at by dogs. And Democritus relates that the tongue of a chameleon, torn out while it lives, has power over lawsuits and their outcomes, and is likewise helpful to women in childbirth if kept about the house — but one must take care it is not brought into the house itself, since that would be most dangerous. There are, further, properties that remain after death: and of these the Platonists say that in things in which the Idea is less immersed in matter, even after they have died and perished, that which is immortal in them does not cease to work its wonders. So in herbs and plants, once torn up and dried, the power once infused from the Idea still lives and works. Hence it is that just as the eagle, in life, surpasses and overcomes all other birds, so too, once dead, its feathers destroy and corrode the feathers and plumage of all other birds; by the same reasoning the lion's skin consumes all other skins; the hyena's skin destroys the panther's; and the wolf's skin corrodes the lamb's. [†verse, summarized — see flag: a badly damaged marginal couplet, apparently continuing the theme of one hide or feather consuming another, and something about a drum-skin — content not recoverable from the OCR]. And certain of these things act not only by bodily contact, but sometimes also through harmony of sound: thus a drum made from the skin of the adib (that is, the wolf) causes a drum made from lambskin to fall silent. In like manner a drum made from the skin of the sea-hedgehog drives away all creeping things, however far the sound of it is heard; and it is well known that strings made from a wolf's intestines, if strung together with sheep-gut strings on a lyre or cithara, can never be brought into consonance.
Modern rendering
Some properties belong to a thing only while it's alive; others survive its death. The echeneis fish stops ships, and the basilisk and the catoblepas kill with a glance — but only while alive. After death none of that works. Likewise, people say a live duck held against the belly draws off colic, and the duck dies in the process. Archytas makes a similar claim: a heart taken fresh from an animal, still warm and beating, cures quartan fever in whoever it's hung over. Swallowing the still-beating heart of a hoopoe, a swallow, a weasel, or a mole is said to grant memory, recall, understanding, and the power of divination. This is the source of a general rule: anything gathered from animals — stones, body parts, or castoffs like hair, dung, or hooves — should be taken while the animal is still alive, and where possible the animal should be left alive afterward. So the instructions run: if you take a frog's tongue, put the frog back in the water alive; if you take a wolf's tooth or eye, don't kill the wolf; and so on. Democritus says that if you cut the tongue from a living sea-frog — with no other tissue attached — release the frog into the sea, and lay the tongue on a sleeping woman's chest over her heart, she will answer truthfully whatever she's asked. Similarly, frog's eyes tied on a patient before sunrise, with the blinded frogs then released into water, are supposed to cure tertian fever; and those same eyes, combined with nightingale flesh and bound in deerskin, are supposed to banish sleep and keep someone awake. A stingray's spine tied to the navel is said to ease childbirth — but only if it was taken from a living ray that was then returned to the sea. A snake's right eye, bound on while the snake is released alive, is said to help with eye discharge. There's also a large eel-like creature called the myrus: tear out its eye and bind it to a sufferer's forehead and it's said to cure eye inflammation — and the fish regrows the eye. But if you don't release the fish alive, you go blind instead. Likewise, any snake's teeth, taken while it's alive, hung over a patient, are said to cure quartan fever; a mole's tooth taken the same way, with the mole released, cures toothache; and carrying a weasel's tail from a weasel that was let go alive is supposed to keep dogs from barking at you. Democritus also claims that a chameleon's tongue, torn out while it's alive, gives power over lawsuits, and helps women in labor if kept in the house — though it must not be brought inside the house itself, since that would be extremely dangerous. Some properties, though, outlast death. The Platonists explain this by saying that in things where the Idea is less deeply submerged in matter, the immortal part keeps working its wonders even after death. That's why herbs and plants, once pulled up and dried, still carry and exercise the power once poured into them by the Idea. It's why the eagle, which outdoes every other bird in life, keeps that edge in death: its feathers destroy and corrode the feathers of other birds. By the same logic, a lion's hide destroys other hides, a hyena's hide destroys a panther's, and a wolf's hide corrodes a lamb's. [†verse, summarized — see flag: a badly damaged fragment of verse, apparently continuing this theme of one hide or feather overpowering another, plus something about a drum-skin — the wording can't be recovered from the OCR]. Some of these effects don't even need contact — sound alone carries them: a drum made from wolf-hide (called 'adib') silences a drum made from lambskin just by being played near it. Likewise a drum made from sea-hedgehog skin drives off every creeping creature within earshot. And strings made from wolf-gut, strung alongside sheep-gut strings on a lyre or cithara, will never come into tune together — that much is well established.
Editorial flags — draft status
- verse: Mid-chapter marginal verse couplet, badly OCR-damaged ('Abitnimtiubmcoligttdd, illu vive tibutaufirri Ment... Qui post morte viret piu retme Tympano... exuere fis...'); source not identifiable from the wreckage, possibly Ovid or a marginal gloss-verse on hide/feather potency. Left as OCR in latin; prose-summarized in translations per spec rule 2.
- list: This chapter is a dense catalogue of animal-part virtues (echeneis, basilisk/catoblepas, duck-cure, Archytas heart cure, hoopoe/swallow/weasel/mole heart, frog tongue, frog eyes, stingray spine, serpent eye, myrus/moray eye, serpent teeth, mole tooth, weasel tail, chameleon tongue, eagle feather, lion/hyena/wolf hide, adib-hide drum, sea-hedgehog drum, wolf-gut strings). Flagging the WHOLE list per spec rule 3 for manual re-keying against page images — several animal/part identifications (echeneis, catablepa, myrus, adib, ericius marinus) rest on uncertain OCR and conventional Latin natural-history vocabulary that could hide misreadings.
- uncertain: 'catablepa' (catoblepas) and 'myrus' (moray/serpent) OCR forms are legible but the species identifications are Agrippa's inherited Pliny-derived lore; confidence is in the transcription only, not the zoology.