The natural history of Oxford-shire,: being an essay toward the natural history of England. / By Robert Plot ...

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF Oxford-shire.

CHAP. I. Of the Heavens and Air.

OXFORD, being not undeservedly by Mr. Cambden stiled, Our most noble Athens, The Muses seat, and, One of Englands Pillars; nay, The Sun, The Eye, &c. It would have occasion'd as strange a remark, as any to be men∣tion'd in this whole Essay, had there not some eminent Celestial Observations been made in this County; especially since that stu∣pendous Mathematical Instrument, now called the Telescope, seems to have been known here above 300 years ago. But these being chiefly matters of Art, relating either to the discovery of the magnitude, figure, or determination of the motions of the Hea∣venly Bodies, must be referr'd (as most proper) to the end of this Work; it being my purpose in this History of Nature, to ob∣serve the most natural method that may be.

2. And therefore I shall consider, first, Natural Things, such as either she hath retained the same from the beginning, or freely produces in her ordinary course; as Animals, Plants, and the universal furniture of the World. Secondly, her extravagancies and defects, occasioned either by the exuberancy of matter, or obsti∣nacy of impediments, as in Monsters. And then lastly, as she is restrained, forced, fashioned, or determined, by Artificial Ope∣rations. All which, without absurdity, may fall under the gene∣ral notation of a Natural History, things of Art (as the Lord Bacona 1.1 well observeth) not differing from those of Nature in form and essence, but in the efficient only; Man having no power

over Nature, but in her matter and motion, i. e. to put together, separate, or fashion natural Bodies, and somtimes to alter their ordinary course.

3. Yet neither shall I so strictly tie my self up to this method, but that I shall handle the two first, viz. The several Species of natural things, and the errors of Nature in those respective Spe∣cies, together; and the things Artificial in the end apart: Method equally begetting iterations and prolixity, where it is observed too much, as where not at all. And these I intend to deliver as succinctly as may be, in a plain, easie, unartificial Stile, studious∣ly avoiding all ornaments of Language, it being my purpose to treat of Things, and therefore would have the Reader expect nothing less then Words: Yet neither shall my Discourse be so jejune, as wholly to consist of bare Narrations, for where the subject has not at all, or but imperfectly been handled, I shall beg leave either to enlarge, or give my opinion.

4. Since then the Celestial Bodies are so remote, that little can be known of them without the help of Art, and that all such matters (according to my proposed method) must be referred to the end of this Book: I have nothing of that kind to present the Reader with, that's local, and separate from Art, but the ap∣pearance of two Parhelia or mock-Suns, one on each side of the true one, at Ensham on the 29^th of May, early in the morning, in the year 1673. With them also appeared a great circle of light concentrical to the true Sun, and passing through the disks of the spurious ones, as in Tab. 1. Fig. 1. which though I saw not the Phaenomenon, is as truly drawn (for so it was confest by some that did) as I could possibly have done it if personally pre∣sent; and yet so incurious was the amazed multitude, that they could not so much as give me ground to guess at the diameter of the circle, much less whether it were interrupted in some of its parts, or intersected (as they usually are) with any other circles of a fainter colour.

5. Whether these appearances are caused by reflection or re∣fraction in the Clouds, according to the old Philosophy; or by both, in a great annulary cake of Ice and Snow, as Des Cartes; or by semiopaque Cylinders, as M. Hugens de Zulichem, will be too too tedious hereto dispute. Let it therefore at present suffice, that this Phaenomenon is worthy our notice, in regard,

• 1. That no circle passes through the true Suns disk, nor the spurious ones found in the intersection of two Irides, as in those that appeared at Rome, March 20. 1629.b 1.2 and in France, April 9. Anno 1666.c 1.3
• 2. That whereas generally such mock-Suns appear not so bright, nor are so well defined as the true one is; these according to the agreement of all, appeared of so even and strong a light, that 'twas hard to distinguish the true from the false, and perhaps might not be inferior to the Parhelia mention'd by Cardand 1.4, or that lately were seen in Hungary.e 1.5

6. When they appear thus bright and illustrious, Astrologers heretofore always presaged a Triumvirate: thus the Triumvirate of Antonius, Augustus, and Lepidus, with all the evils that at∣tended it, was referred to the Parhelia seen a little before; and herein Cardan is so positive, that he fears not to assert, That after such an appearance, we seldom (if ever) fail of one, and there∣fore refers the Parhelia seen by himself to the Triumvirate of Henry the second King of France, Charles the fifth, and Solyman the Turkish Emperor. And truly, were not these to be more than suspected of vanity, it were easie to adapt a Triumvirate to ours: But my Religion, and that God that hath exhorted us, not to be dismayed at the signs of Heaven, and solemnly professes, that 'tis even He that frustrates the tokens of the Lyars, and makes the Diviners madf 1.6, has taught me to forbear. I shall therefore add no more concerning these things, but that though most common∣ly the Parhelia with the true Sun, appear but three in number, yet that somtimes more have been seen; as fourg 1.7 in France, Anno 1666. fiveh 1.8 at Rome, Anno 1629. fivei 1.9 in England, Anno 1233. and sixk 1.10 Anno 1525. by Sigismund the first, King of Poland; which are the most that we read were ever seen at a time, though Des Cartes endeavors to shew 'tis possible there may be seven.

7. And indeed this had been all I thought I should have men∣tioned concerning the Heavens, but that even now while I am writing this, at Oxon: on the 23^d of November, Anno 1675. about 7 at night, behold the Moon set her Bow in the clouds, of a white

colour, entire and well determined, which continued so for a∣bout half an hour after I first saw it. The reason why such ap∣pear not of divers colours, as Rain-bows do that are made by the Sun, has been alwaies ascribed by Philosophers, to the weak∣ness of the Moons raies, not entring so deeply into the opacity of the clouds. But if we may give credit tol 1.11 Dan: Sennertus, it has once to his knowledge happened otherwise, viz. in the year 1593, when after a great storm of Thunder and Lightning, he beheld an Iris Lunaris adorned with all the colours of the Rain-bow. As for ours, though I could not perceive in any part of it, that it had the least shade of any colour but white; however, I thought it not unworthy our notice, not only for the infrequency of the thing (they never happening but at or near the Moons full, and then but so very seldom too, thatm 1.12 Aristotle professes, that he saw but two in above fifty years; and I know several learned and observing Men, that never saw such an Iris in their lives) but also because of the great clemency of the wea∣ther, that followed upon it at that time of the year; there fal∣ling not one drop of rain, nor any wind stirring for sixteen days after, but so great a serenity, that the waies were as clean and passable then, as we could wish or ever enjoyed them at Mid-summer.

8. From the Firmament (waving all considerations of the pure Aether, of which we know so little, that I shall say nothing) I naturally descend to the lowest Heaven, I mean that subtile Bo∣dy that immediatly incompasses the Earth, and is filled with all manner of exhalations, and from thence commonly known by the name of the Atmosphere. Whether beside these exhalations, there be any peculiar simple body, called Air, I leave to the more subtile Philosophers, and consider it here only, as 'tis the sub∣ject of storms, of thunder and wind, of Echo's, and as it has relation to sickness and health.

9. As to Tempests that have happen'd in this County, though perhaps there have been some heretofore attended with as deplo∣rable effects as any where else; yet because they are no where transmitted to posterity, I shall only mention two within our memory, viz. The storm of wind that happen'd one night in February, Anno 1661/2, which though general (at least all over

England) yet was remarkable at Oxon: in these two respects. 1. That though it forced the stones inwards into the cavity of All-hollows Spire, yet it over-threw it not. And 2^ly, That in the morning, when there was some abatement of its fury, it was yet so vio∣lent, that it laved water out of the River Cherwell, and cast it quite over the Bridge at Magdalen College, above the surface of the River near 20 foot high; which passage, with advantage of holding by the College walls, I had then the curiosity to go see my self, which otherwise, perhaps, I should have as hardly cre∣dited as some other persons now may do. But those that have sailed to the Indies can inform them what force Hurricane's and Turbo's have, with what violence and impetuosity they take up whole Seas of water, and furiously mount them into the air.n 1.13 Now that such as these may also happen at Land (though per∣haps for the most part of less strength) I think we have little rea∣son to doubt, since our own Chronicles inform us, that in Q. Ma∣ries time, within a mile of Nottingham, all the houses of two little Parishes, with their Churches, were wholly born down by such a Tempest; and the water, with the mud from the bottom of the River Trent, that ran between them, carryed a quarter of a mile and cast against Trees, with the violence whereof they were torn up by the roots.

10. Of much such another Land Hurricane, Bellarmin gives us a relation so incredible, that he himself premiseth, Quod nisi vi∣dissem non crederem. Vidi (saies he) à vehementissimo vento effossam ingentem terrae molem, eamque delatam super pagum quendam, ut fovea altissima conspiceretur unde eruta fuerat, & pagus totus coopertus & quasi sepultus manserit, ad quem terra illa divenerato 1.14. Which be∣ing sufficient (I suppose) to evince the possibility of my story, I proceed to

11. The second tempest of Thunder and Lightning, on the 10^th of May, 1666. which though terrible enough to all parts adjacent to Oxford, yet was mischievous only at Medley, a well known House, about a mile or somwhat more distant from it; two Scholars of Wadham College, alone in a boat, and new thrust off shore to come homewards, being struck off the head of the boat into the water, the one of them stark dead, and the other

stuck fast in the mud like a post, with his feet downward, and for the present so disturbed in his senses, that he neither knew how he came out of the boat, nor could remember either Thun∣der or Lightning that did effect it. Others, in another boat a∣bout ten or twenty yards distance from the former, felt a disturb∣ance and shaking in their boat, and one of them had his chair struck from under him, without hurt. But of this no more, a full relation of the accident being already given by the Reverend and Learned D^r John Wallis Savilian Professor of Geometry in the University of Oxford, and publish'd in our English Philoso∣phical Transactionsp 1.15.

12. What hapned before or after those Tempests, I was not so curious in those days to observe, but it might indeed be wish'd, as the learned and observing D^r Beale advisesq 1.16, that some old Al∣manacks were written instead of new; that instead of the con∣jectures of the weather to come, some ingenious and fit Persons would give a faithful account from divers parts of the world, not only of the Storms, with the antecedents and consequents of them, but of the whole weather of the years past, on every day of the month: as it was industriously begun above 300 years ago, by William Merle Fellow of Merton College, who observed the weather at Oxford for every day of the month for 7 years together; viz. from January Anno Dom. 1337, to January Anno Dom. 1344. the MS copy of which Observations yet remain in the Bodleyan Libraryr 1.17: For from hence in time we might exa∣mine upon some grounds, as the learned D^r Beale well remarks, how far the positions of Planets, or other symptoms or conco∣mitants, are indicative of weathers, and probably be forewarn'd of Dearths, Famines, Epidemical Diseases, &c. and by their causes be instructed for remedies, or prevention. Certainly from such Calendars we might learn more in few years, then by Observa∣tions at random all the days of our lives; and if they might be had from foreign and remote parts* 1.18, we should then be in some hopes of true Investigations of heats and colds, and of the breadth and bounds of coasting Rains and Winds.

13. Next the Tragedies (it being as agreeable to my Method, as seasonable to the Discourse) it will not be amiss to present the

Reader with some of the sports of Nature, and entertain him a∣while with the Nymph Echo; a Mistress she is indeed that is ea∣sily spoke with, yet known to few: if therefore I take pains to acquaint him with her, I hope I shall not perform a thankless of∣fice.

14. First therefore, that Philechus may not be out in his choice, whenever he attempts to court her in Oxford-shire, he must know that of these there are several sorts, and may best, I suppose, be distinguish'd by their Objects, which are, either

• Single, such as return the voice but once; and these again
• are either
  • Polysyllabical, such as return many syllables, words, or a whole sentence.
  • Tonical, such as return the voice but once, nor that neither, except adorned with some pe∣culiar Musical note.
• Manifold, and these return syllables and words, the same oftentimes repeated, and may therefore be stiled Tau∣tological Echo's, which are caused either by
  • Simple
  • Double
  Reflexion.

15. As for Polysyllabical articulate Echo's, the strongest and best I have met with here, is in the Park at Woodstock, which in the day time, little wind being stirring, returns very distinctly seventeen syllables, and in the night twenty: I made experiment of it with these words,

—Quae nec reticere loquenti, Nec prior ipsa loqui didicit resonabilis Echo.

In the day it would return only the last verse, but in the night a∣bout twelve by the clock, I could also hear the last word of the former Hemistick [loquenti.] The object of which Echo, or the Centrum phonocampticum, I take to be the hill with the trees on the summit of it, about half a mile distant from Woodstock town, in the way thence to the Right Honorable the Earl of Rochester's Lodge: And the true place of the Speaker, or Centrum phonicum,

the opposite Hill just without the gate at the Towns end, about thirty paces directly below the corner of a wall inclosing some hay-ricks, near Chaucers house: some advantage I guess it re∣ceives from the rivulet that runs as it were in a direct line between the two centers, and from the pond at the foot of the object hill; as also from two other hills that run obliquely up to it: Which may better be apprehended by the prospect of the place, as in Tab. 1. Fig. 2.

16. That this Echo makes return of so many syllables, and of a different number in the day and night, being indisputable and matter of fact; I proceed in the next place to the reasons of these certainties, which possibly to every body may not be so plain. First then, the causes why some Echo's return more, and some fewer syllables, I take to lye in the different distances of the objects (returning the voices) from the places of the speakers: for by experience 'tis found, that if the speaker be too near the object, the return is made so quick upon him, that the Echo is as it were drowned in the voice: but if he remove farther from it, then it begins to be clear and distinct; and if it be a polysylla∣bical one, it first repeats one syllable, then two, three, four, five, or more, according as the speaker removes farther off it, which I take to be the only true way of measuring the proporti∣ons of the spaces of the ground, requisite for the return of one or more syllables. That this is true, I shall use no arguments to perswade, because the experiment is subject to every mans tryal; and if so, it must necessarily be admitted, that the reason why this Echo returns so much, is because of the great distance of the object from the speaker.

17. What distance is required to the return of each syllable, is best indeed determined by such a procedure, where the object is fore-known, and the condition of the place will admit of the experiment: but both these being wanting here (Echo's them∣selves being generally first known, and not the objects) I was forced to make use of a new analytical method, and find out the object by the number of syllables already returned, which being seventeen in the day time, and twenty by night; and having be∣fore found by frequent experience, that according to Blancanuss 1.19, no one syllable will be returned clearly, under the distance of 24

Geometrical paces, or 120 feet, I guess'd that the object could not be removed less than 400 of the former, and 2000 of the latter. For the better understanding of which Analysis, and for the Readers more secure finding of the true distance of the speaker in any other place, it may be convenient that he take no∣tice, that all Echo's have some one place whither they are return∣ed stronger, and more distinct than any other, and is always the place that lies at right angles with the object, and is not too near, or too far off: for if a man stand at oblique angles with it, the voice is better returned to some other person at another place, than to the speaker; and so if he stand too near, or far off, al∣though he do stand at right angles with it, which is plain by the diagram, Tab. 1. Fig. 3. where

• a. is the true place of the speaker.
• a b. the vocal line falling at right angles on the object.
• c d. places on each hand the true place, and oblique to the object.
• e f. places above and below the object, whence also the voice comes obliquely to it.
• g h. places whence ('tis true) the voice goes in right angles to the object, but g is too far off, and h too near.

Now the speaker standing in a, and his voice going in the straight line a b, and striking upon the object so as to make right angles with it, must needs return to the speaker again in the same line, and no farther, because he is suppos'd to stand at the two ex∣treams of the whole mix'd line of action: but if he stand too near at h, then the Echo repeats more syllables, and distincter at g than either at h or a, because g is now the extream of the line of action; for by how much the nearer the speaker is to the ob∣ject, by so much the more forcible he strikes it, which causes the rebound to be so much beyond him: and thus if he stand as much too far off, as at g, then the Echo repeats more syllables and di∣stincter at h, then either at a or g, because the distance being too great from g to b, and the reflexion weak, the Echo must needs terminate so much the shorter at h; all these being supposed to take up the whole line of the voices direct and reflex action. A∣gain, if the speaker stand in c obliquely to the object, the Echo is better heard at d, than either at a or c; and so if he stand at d, it is better heard at c then any other place: thus if he stand at e

above the object, the Echo is best heard in the valley f, & vice versâ. All which, may be well enough made out by throwing a ball against a wall, to which, if it be thrown in an oblique line, it returns not to the thrower but to another place; and though the projicient do so throw it, that it strikes at right angles with the wall, yet (like as in the voice) if he stand too far off, it will fall as much too short in the rebound, as it will exceed if he stand too near.

18. According to these grounds I carefully examined this Echo, and found, upon motion backward, forward, and to each hand, the true centrum phonicum, or place of the speaker, to be upon the hill at Woodstock towns end, about thirty paces below the corner of the wall aforesaid, directly down toward the Kings Majesties Manor: from whence by measure to the brow of the hill, on which my Lord Rochesters Lodge stands, are 456 Geo∣metrical paces, or 2280 feet; which upon allowance of 24 Geo∣metrical paces, or 120 feet to each syllable, to my great satisfa∣ction I found to be agreeable to the return of 19 syllables, viz. one fewer than it returns in the night, and two more than in the day.

19. The measure I must confess had been much more easie and natural, could I have began from the object, and so removed backward accordingly as the Echo gradually increased in the repe∣tition of more syllables; for then I could have given the due proportion to each, if I had found any inequality upon the in∣crease, which I guess there may be, because the allowance of an equality seems to set the object too far off by a syllable or two. But it not being feasible in this place, I was forced to take the for∣mer course; for in the valley between the two hills, being the whole medium through which the voice passes, and the Echo re∣turns it, there is scarce any such thing as an Echo to be found; nay, if you stand at the Manor it self, which is not far from the true place of the speaker, and situate almost as high, and direct your voice toward the place of the object, you shall not have the least return; whence 'tis most evident that I could not use that procedure here, and therefore must desire to be held excused from giving the proportions of space, which I suppose, accord∣ing to Kirchert 1.20 may decrease, according as the number of syl∣lables

increase, till I meet with an Echo fit for the purpose.

20. The reason of the difference between day and night, why it should return seventeen syllables in the one, and twenty in the other, may lie, I suppose, in the various qualities, and consti∣tution of the medium in different seasons; the Air being much more quiet, and stock'd with exhalations in the night than day, which somthing retarding the quick motion of the voice to the object, and its return to the speaker somwhat more, (by reason the voice must needs be weakned in the reflexion) must necessari∣ly give space for the return of more syllables.

21. Amongst other tryals of this Echo, I discharged a Pistol, which made a return much quicker then my voice, and (at which I still wonder) with a much different sound from that the Pistol made, whence I can only conclude, that the more forcibly the Air is stricken, (as also in the projection of a ball) the sooner the response is made, and that possibly there may be some sounds more agreeable to every Echo, than others. And it being my Lord Bacon's opinion, That there are some letters that an Echo will hardly express, and particularly the letter S, which, saies he, being of an interior and hissing sound, the Echo at Pont Cha∣renton would not returnu 1.21; hereupon I tryed, as well as his Lord∣ship, with the word Satan, beside many others of the same ini∣tial, but found the Echo here neither so modest or frighted, but that, though the Devil has been busie enough hereabout (as shall further be shewn near the end of this History) it would readily enough make use of his name.

22. Just such another polysyllabical Echo we have at Magdalen College, in the water-walks, near the Bull-work called Dover Peer; it repeats a whole Hexameter verse, but not so strongly as Woodstock: Where the true object of this may be, cannot so well be found by measure, because of the many Buildings interposing; but I conjecture it may be about the publick Schools, or New Col∣lege* 1.22. I could gladly, I confess, have assigned it somthing fur∣ther off, because I fear that distance falls somwhat short of our former account, but the buildings beyond lying all lower then those, it must by no means be admitted; which makes me think, there must be a latitude allowed in these matters, according to the

different circumstances perhaps of time, as well as place; and that possibly Mersennus might not be so much mistaken, when he assigned to each syllable but 69 feet.

23. Tonical Echo's, such as return but some one particular Mu∣sical Note, I have met with several, and do not doubt but they are to be met with in most arched Buildings, though scarce ob∣served or noted by any. Such a one is that in the Gate-house at Brasen-nose College, which answers to no Note so clearly, as to Gamut. The curious and well built Gate of Ʋniversity College, to none so well as B mi. The like Note I met with again at Mer∣ton College, in the Vault between the old and new Quadrangles, and in the Large arched Vault of Queens College Gate: Whereas the stately arched Stair-case leading into Christ Church great Hall, will return all the Notes through the Scale of Musick. These I must confess are but Echo's improperly so called, because they will express nothing that's articulate, and therefore rather fall under the notation of a Bombus; yet their cause being somwhat nice and subtile, I thought not fit to pass them by, but to take oc∣casion from hence to advertise the Reader, that there are some other inanimate Bodies beside the Load-stone, that though they have no sense, yet have a sort of perception, which I take to be sufficiently proved from these Vaults, that seem to have a kind of election to embrace what is agreeable, and exclude all that is in∣grate to them: thus are the very seats in Churches and Chappels affected with some peculiar Notes of the Organ; and I have a friend (a Violist) whom I dare believe, that says, his Thigh is thus sensible of a peculiar Note, as oft as he lights on it during his playing. Some have imputed much of this in Buildings, to the figure and accurate structure of the Arch, and that where they have different shapes and magnitudes, there will be different tunings also: But I do not find it agreeable to experience, there being another Vault in the entrance into Merton College Chappel, much less, and of a far different figure from that other before mentioned in the same College, which returns very near, if not exactly the same Note: And so do the Gates of Queens and Ʋni∣versity Colleges, than which in height, breadth and length, there are few more different.

24. It must therefore rather be referr'd to the pores of the stones, which are fitted to receive some vibrations of the Air,

rather than others; just as in two Viols tuned to a Ʋnison, where the strings being screwed to the same tension, and their pores put into the same figure, if you strike one, the corresponding string of the other Viol presently answers it: because the first string being of such a tension, and having pores of such a form, makes vibrations in the Air, suitable only to the pores made by the same tension in the other string.

25. As for Tautological Polyphonous Echo's, such as return a word or more, often repeated from divers objects by simple re∣flection, there are none here eminent; the best I have met with is at Ewelme, on the side of a bank, in a Meddow south and by west (about a furlong) from the Church: it returns the same word three times, from three several objects of divers distances, which I guess may be, 1. The Manor, 2. The Church and Hospital, And 3^d. Colonel Martins house. Another there is near Oxford, a∣bout the east-end of Christ Church new walk, that repeats three or four syllables twice over; and a treble one at the most northern point of the Fortifications in New Parks: But there being many better than these of the kind no doubt in other places, I shall re∣serve their consideration at large to a better opportunity, and on∣ly take notice here by the way, that these are never of many syl∣lables; and that always, by how many more they are of, by so many the fewer times they repeat them, because so great distance will be required for their objects, that they must quickly be re∣moved out of the reflex action of the voice: for suppose but a sentence of ten syllables, viz. Gemitu nemus omne remugit, and allow, as before, for the return of each syllable 120 feet, the first object must be 1200 feet off; and the second, with abatement for distance, at least 2000; and the third, certainly out of the voices reach, beyond all hopes of any response. Indeed, could we meet with one of Mersennus's Echo's, where sixty nine feet would return us a syllable, then such an Hemistick might be re∣sounded three times, or perhaps a whole Hexameter twice; yet however small a space may be found for the clear repetition of such a Verse, I cannot think it can possibly be, that any Echo should repeat one eight times over: for suppose a smaller distance would suffice, then that allowed by Mersennus, as but 350 yards to a Verse of seventeen syllables, and allowing some decrease for the objects distances; yet I do not doubt, but two or

three of the furthest must needs be out of the voices action.

26. Much less sure can any single object perform this, and yet Jacobus Boissardus, in his Topography of Rome, reports this to be true upon his own knowledge. On the Appian way (saies he) amongst many other vast ruins, which some think to have been the Castle wherein the Praetorian Soldiers lay, there are many Sepulchers, obtuse and solid Pyramids, &c. But the most eminent is of a round form, made of squared white Marble, like a Tower, hollow within and open at the top, erected in memory of Caecilia Metella: it stands in the corner of another wall, in whose circuit there are carved in Mar∣ble, near 200 Bulls heads, whence 'tis called, Capo di Boi. At the foot of the hill where this Tower stands, if any man pronounce an Heroic Verse, a wonderful Echo there is, that returns it often entirely and articulately: I my self, says he, have heard it repeat the first Verse of Virgils Aeneids distinctly eight times, and afterward often broken and confusedly. No place in the World yields the like Echow 1.23, &c. And what if I add, nor that neither, since beside the natural impossibility of the thing, the industrious Kircher, after he had used all imaginable care in the quest of it, came away unsuccess∣ful, and found no such matter* 1.24.

27. But though we have no considerable Tautological Echo's, by a simple reflection, yet we have others of no inferior account made by a double one, which also arising from divers objects, though in a different manner, belong to this place. Of these, though there are scarce any that will return a Trissyllable, occasion∣ed. I suppose, by the nearness of the secondary objects, yet a clap with the hands or stamp of the feet, there are some will re∣turn eight, nine, or ten times, the noise dying, as it were, and melting away by degrees with such a trembling noise, that I som∣time thought of the Epithet [tremulous] to discriminate this sort of Echo from the rest.

28. At Heddington, in the Garden of one M^r Pawling Mercer of Oxon: there is a wall of about 40 yards long, built for the advantage of the Fruit, with divers Niches; to which, if you stand but a little obliquely, so as to see the Peers standing out be∣tween each two of them, you have the several objects of such an Echo, not above nine or ten foot distant from each other, which return a clap with the hand, or a monosyllable (the wind being

quiet and still) at least nine, if not ten or eleven times, but so thick and close, that even a dissyllable breeds a confusion: Where by the way if it be objected, that (the whole wall being but 40 yards, or 120 foot long) according to the afore-limited distance for Echo's, a monosyllable should not be returned above once at most: It is to be noted, that these Echo's made by a double re∣flection, begin (quite contrary to all others) at the remotest object from the corpus sonorum, which in as many as I have yet seen, is a distinct wall, falling on that; on which the rest of the objects are, in right angles; and this object it is, that first terminates the voice, clap, or stamp; and from which, by reflection, they next strike the ultimate secondary object, then the penultimate and antepenultimate; which, though nearer to the corpus sonorum in respect of the situation of the objects, yet are still further off in respect of the voice, or other sounds motion: whence it comes to pass, that the nearest object to the corpus sonorum is last stricken, and therefore repeats a syllable as well as any of the rest, because indeed in that respect the furthest from it.

29. After the voice or clap has stricken these secondary ob∣jects, by way of accession as it were to the corpus sonorum, it is carryed again by a second reflection away from it toward the primary object, and somtimes over it, as it appears to be in this Echo at Heddington, where the sound seems as it were somwhat refracted, for it is heard quite out of the place, as is evident to any one that stands in the North-east corner of the Garden and speaks Westwards, who will hear the Echo rather in the Hortyard on the other side the wall, than in the Garden, which I take most certainly to be occasioned by this second reflection; for let any one that suspects the Echo to be really in the Hortyard, and not in the Garden, go but into it, and he shall there find no such matter as an Echo. All which, is more sensibly explained in Tab. 1. Fig. 4. where

• a. is the place of the speaker or maker of any other sound.
• b. the primary object first terminating the sound, and reflecting it on the Peers of the other wall.
• c c c c c c. the Peers between every two Niches that receive the sound reflected from the primary object and make the Echo.
• d d d d d d. the lines wherein the voice is carryed back again o∣ver the primary object, whereby the Echo appears out of its place.

But herein let it be noted, that I am not so sanguine as to exclude all fears that it may be otherwise, but only suggest what seems most probable at present, cum animo revocandi, whenever I shall be better informed by another, or my own future experience.

30. At New College in the Cloysters, there are others of this kind, to be heard indeed on all sides, but best on the South and West, because on those there are no doors either to interrupt or wast the sound: These return a stamp or voice, seven, eight, or nine times, which so plainly is occasion'd by the Peers between the windows, that on the West and shorter side (being but 38 yards long) the returns are more quick and thicker by much than on the South, where the primary object being above fifty yards removed from the corpus sonorum, and the secondary ones propor∣tionably further; the returns are much slower and more distinct, in so much that on that side the Echo will return a dissyllable, where∣as on the West side you can have but a monosyllable only. If it be objected, that according to the rule, 38 yards are not enough for the return of a monosyllable; I answer, that though it may be likely enough that the return of the primary object on that side is not heard, yet that there is none of the secondary ones, or Peers between the windows, but what are distant from the speak∣er above 40 yards, and therefore may well return a monosyllable. And if again it be objected, that the interval of an Echo must be liberum and patens* 1.25, and it be further demanded how it comes a∣bout that we have such Echo's in Cloysters, when we can have none in wells that are cover'd with houses, because the interval is closed at both ends, as this Cloyster is: It must be answered, that that rule holds only in narrow intervals closed up on all sides, and not in such Cloysters that are open and arched to the top; Which may also be the reason why at Magdalen College, where the Cloysters are covered with a flat roof, they have but an in∣considerable Echo, and at Corpus Christi none at all; notwithstand∣ing they have all other conditions requisite.

31. In the Cloyster at All-souls College, in the North and West sides, where no doors hinder, there is much such another, which to the stamp of ones foot, or clap with the hands, answers four or five times, with a noise not unlike the shaking of a door, and in nothing differing from the former, but that to the voice it

[illustration]

TAB. I. ad. pag. 16

To the right Hon^ble IAMES Lord NORREYS Baron of Ricot His MAI^ties L^d Lieutenant of Oxfordsh. This first Table in memory of his Lord ^ps favours is gratefully dedica∣ted by R. P. L L. D.

M. Burghers sculp.

makes no response* 1.26: and indeed, it would be matter of won∣der if it should, since no one side of that Cloyster comes near the distance assigned for the return of a syllable, whereas that at Heddington just equals it, and one side of New College much ex∣ceeds it.

32. Other Echo's there be that belong to this place, as Echo's upon Echo's, and such as my Lord Verulamy 1.27 stiles back-Echo's; of which, because I have met with none considerable, I am con∣tent to pass them by, having sufficiently, as I suppose, by this time tired the Readers patience with too tedious a consideration of so particular a subject, and make haste to treat of the Air of Oxford-shire, as it stands in reference to Sickness or Health. But all Air of it self being equally pure, and only accidentally good or bad, accordingly as more or less filled with wholsom or noxi∣ous vapors ascending from the Waters, or moist Earths; I refer its consideration to the next Chapter, to which it seems more in∣timately and originally to belong: it being the opinion of Hippo∣crates, and on all hands agreed, That Waters are of much more concernment in reference to health than the Air can be, because they are as it were part of our aliment, and the Air not so; and may be of themselves fundamentally bad, whereas the Air is only so by participation.

CHAP. II. Of the Waters.

THAT Oxford-shire is the best water'd County in England, though I dare not with too much confidence assert, yet am induced to believe there are few better; since beside the five more considerable Rivers of Thame, Isis, Cherwell, Even∣lode, and Windrush, there are numbred no less than threescore and ten at least of an inferior rank, beside smaller Brooks not worthy notice: And all these of so quick a stream, and free from stagnation, so clear, and yet so well impregnated with wholsom primogenial Steams of Salts and Sulphurs, that few (if any) vappid and stinking Exhalations can ascend from them to cor∣rupt the Air. As for standing Pools, Marish, or Boggy grounds, the parents (at least occasions) of Agues, Coughs, Catarhs, they are fewest here of any place to be found: the Soyl for the most part lying dry, and water'd only with clear and rapid Fountains. In short, so altogether agreeable is this County to Cardansz 1.28 rule, Solum siccum cum aquis currentibus salubritatem Aeris efficiunt, that had he wanted an instance for confirmation, he might have found one here most suitable to his purpose. And if plenty of whol∣som Fish, spontaneous productions of odoriferous Plants, and the scarcity of filthy Reptils, be cogent Arguments of the good∣ness of Waters, Soyls, and consequently of Air, as heretofore they have been accounted, I know not the place can make better pretences, as shall be shewn more at large in their proper places.

2. Beside its clearness from pestiferous vapors, I take the sharpness we find this Air to be of, to be no small argument of its health and purity. Aristotle, 'tis true, thought Air mode∣rately warm, but its constant return to a brisk coldness, after it has been heated either by fire, the Sun, or warm exhalations, gives us strong suspitions that 'tis naturally cold: All natural Bodies, after they have suffered violence, returning of themselves to their innate condition. To which add, that the Air on the tops of high Mountains, above the reach of the Clouds and o∣ther warm Exhalations, as 'tis found to be clear, so 'tis very

cold; whence I think it may not be illogically concluded, That the colder the Air, the nearer to purity, and consequentially more healthy: Which is also very suitable to the doctrine of Hip∣pocrates, who speaking concerning the healthy situation of Ci∣ties, says, That such which are placed to cold winds,a 1.29 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. i. e. that though their Waters are harsh and cold, yet for the most part they are sweet, and the Inhabitants healthy and brisk, sound, and free from defluxions. And so indeed in the main I find them here, of a very chearful humor, affable, and courteous in their Deportment; neither sparing, nor profuse in their Entertainments, but of a generous temper, suitable to the sweet and healthful Air they live in: Whereas the Inhabitants of fenny and boggy Countries, whose spirits are clogg'd with perpetual Exhalations, are generally of a more stupid, and unpleasant conver∣sation.

3. That the qualities of Waters and Soyls, together with the situations of places so the respective Quarters of the World, make them more or less healthy, according to the greatb 1.30 Hippocra∣tes, there is no doubt. But to these I must beg the favor of ad∣ding, not only more swasive but more irrefragable proof; I mean, the great age and constant health of persons that have been lately, and are now living here: Richard Clifford, not long since of Bol∣scot in this County, died at 114 years of age: Brian Stephens, born at Cherlbury, but Inhabitant of Woodstock, dyed last year at 103. Where also there now lives one George Green (but born at Ensham) in his hundredth year: at Kidlington one M^ris Hill was born, and lived there above an hundred years: and at Oxford there is living, beside several near it, a Woman (commonly called Mother George) now in her hundredth year current. The pleasant situation of which City is such, and so answerable to the great Reputation it ever had in this respect, that it must not by any means be past by in silence.

4. Seated it is on a rising Ground, in the midst of a pleasant and fruitful Valley of a large extent, at the confluence, and ex∣tended between the two Rivers of Isis and Cherwell, with which it is encompass'd on the East, West, and South; as also, with a ridge of Hills at a miles (or somwhat more) distance, in the form

of a Bow, touching more then the East and West points with the ends, so that the whole lies in form of a Theater: In the Area stands the City mounted on a small hill, adorned with so many Towers, Spires and Pinnacles, and the sides of the neighboring Hills so sprinkled with Trees and Villa's, that no place I have yet seen has equall'd the Prospect* 1.31. 'Twas the sweetness and com∣modiousness of the place, that (no question) first invited the great and judicious King Alfred, to select it for The Muses Seat; and the Kings of England ever since (especially when at any time forc'd from London by War, Plague, or other inconveniencies) so frequently to remove hither, not only their Royal Courts, but the Houses of Parliament, and Courts of Judicature: Many Synods and Convocations of the Clergy have been also for the same reason held here; of which, as they have promiscuously happened in order of time, take the following Catalogue.

A Catalogue of Parliaments, Councils, and Terms that have been held at Oxford.

• A Parliament held at Oxford, in the time of King Ethelred, anno 1002.
• A Parliament at Oxford, under King Canutus, an. 1018.
• A Parliament at Oxford, under King Harold Harefoot, anno 1036.
• A Conference at Oxford, under King William Rufus, an. 1088.
• A Conference at Oxford, in the time of King Stephen.
• A Council at Oxford, held against the Waldenses, temp. Hen. 2. an. 1160.
• A Council at Oxford, under King Hen. 2. temp. Tho. Becket Archiep. Cant. an. 1166.
• A general Council at Oxford, at which King Hen. 2. made his Son John King of Ireland, an. 1177.
• A Parliament at Oxford, called Parliamentum magnum, temp. H. 2. an. 1185.
• A Council at Oxford, temp. Rich. 1.
• A Conference at Oxford, in the time of King John.
• ...

• A Parliament held at Oxford, temp. Hen. 3. an. 1218. which first gave occasion to the Barons Wars.
• A Council at Oxford, under Steph. Langton Arch-Bishop of Can∣terbury, an. 1222.
• A Council at Oxford, an. 1227.
• A Council at Oxford, under Stephen Arch-Bishop of Canterbu∣ry, and his Suffragans, an. 1230. 14. Hen. 3.
• A Council at Oxford, temp. Hen. 3. an. 1233.
• A Council at Oxford, under Edmund Arch-Bishop of Cant.
• A Council held at Oxford, by the Bishops, temp. Hen. 3. an. 1241.
• A Term kept at Oxford, 31 Hen. 3.
• A Council at Oxford, temp. Hen. 3. an. 1247.
• A Council held by the Bishops at Oxford, an. 1250.
• A Parliament held at Oxford, called Parliamentum insanum, 41 Hen. 3.
• A Council at Oxford, an. 1258.
• A Parliament at Oxford, an. 1261.
• A Parliament at Oxford, an. 1264.
• A Council at Oxford, under John Peckham Arch-Bishop of Can∣terbury, an. 1271.
• A Council held at Oxford, under Robert Winchilsea Arch-Bishop of Canterbury, an. 1290.
• A Parliament summon'd at Oxford, 4 Edw. 3.
• A Parliament at Oxford, 19 Novemb. an. 1382.
• A Parliament at Oxford, 6 Rich. 2.
• A Term kept at Oxford, 11 Rich. 2.
• A Term kept at Oxford, 16 Rich. 2.
• A Convocation of the Clergy at Oxford, by Tho. Arundel Arch-Bishop of Canterbury, an. 1395.
• A Parliament at Oxford, 1 Car. 1. 1625.
• A Parliament summon'd at Oxford, temp. Car. 1. an. 1644. The Terms kept at Oxford, eodem temp. it being the Kings Head-Quarters in the late Civil War.
• A Parliament at Oxford, 13 Car. 2. an. 1665.
• The Term kept at Oxford, eodem temp. the Plague being then at London.

5. Of these there is an imperfect List in a MSS.c 1.32 in Corpus Christi College Library Oxon. in which there are also mentioned three Synods held in St. Maries Church: A Provincial Chapter of the Fryars Preachers, and a Council held at Oxon. whose Votes were written by Abraham Woodhall. There is also a Provincial Council at Oxford, mention'd in the Catalogue set before the De∣crees of Gratian. But these bearing no date, and in all likely∣hood the same with some of the afore-mentioned; I pass on to another Parliament, which though not at Oxford, yet was held in this County, and therefore I suppose not improper for this place. However, I shall rather venture the danger of impro∣priety and misplacing, then omit the taking notice of so consi∣derable a Meeting, it being the first Parliament held in the County, and doubtless in England; called it was at Shifford, now a small Village in the Parish of Bampton, and shewing now nothing adequate to so great an Assembly.

6. There is a MSS. in Sir Robert Cottons Library, that gives an account of this Parliament, which, it saies, consisted of the chief of all Orders of the Kingdom, and was called at Sifford (now Shifford) in Oxford-shire, by King Alfred, where the King as Head consulted with the Clergy, Nobles, and others, about the maners and government of the people, where he delivered some grave admonitions concerning the same: The words of the MSS. are these,

At Sifford seten Dancr manie, fele Biscops, et fele Boclered, Erles prude, et Cnihtes egloche. ðer ƿas Erle Elfricof ðe lage smuth ƿise, & ec Alfred Englehird, Engle derling, on England he ƿas Cyng, hem he gan leren, sƿo hi heren mihten hu hi here lif leden scolden.

i. e. There sate at Shifford many Thanes, many Bishops, and many learned Men, wise Earls, and awful Knights: there was Earl El∣frick very learned in the Law, and Alfred, Englands Herds-man, Englands Darling; he was King of England, he taught them that could hear him how they should live.

7. To which perhaps may be added, the great Council of Kyrtlington held there not long after, in an. 977, at which were present King Edward the Martyr, and S^t Dunstan Arch-Bishop of Canterbury; and at which died Sidemannus Bishop of Crediton. This Council by Sir Henry Spelmand 1.33 is taken to be the same men∣tioned by Wigorniensis held at Kyrtlinege, which he guesses to be

now Katlage in Cambridge-shire; but I rather believe it was held here, not only for the sake of the name, which remains the same to this day, but because of the one and only Constitution made there, viz. That it should be lawful for the Country People to go in Pilgrimage to St. Mary of Abington; a thing in all likelyhood not so desirable to the People of Cambridge-shire, as to ours of Ox∣ford-shire so near the place: Beside, the great reputation that this place was of in ancient times, seems to justifie my plea, it enjoy∣ing as great Privileges, and perhaps being a fitter place in those days for the reception of such an Assembly, then Oxford it self; for I find it part of the Possessions of the Kings of England, from whom it came to Henry, Son of Edmund Crouchback Earl of Lan∣caster, and Father to Henry, the first Duke of Lancaster, by whose Daughter and sole Heir Blanch, it came to John of Gaunt Duke of Aquitane and Lancaster, and was free, a Thelonio, passa∣gio, lastagio, pacagio, stallagio, tallagio, tollagio, cariagio, & terragio, per totum Regnum, as I find it in an old Charter in the possession of the Right Worshipful Sir Tho: Chamberleyne, now Lord of the Town, whose singular civilities in imparting this, and some o∣ther matters hereafter to be mention'd, I cannot but in gratitude ever acknowledge.

8. From whence (after so long, but I hope not unpleasant di∣gression) I return to the Beautiful Oxford again, a place of so sweet and wholsom an Air, that though it must not be compared with that of Montpellier, yet upon my own knowledge it has proved so advantagious to some, that it has prefectly recovered them of deep Consumptions; and particularly a worthy Friend of mine, who though he came hither sufficiently spent, yet with∣out the help of any other Physick, within few Months felt a sen∣sible amendment; and in fewer Years became of as sanguine a complexion as the rest of his friends, that had almost despaired of him.

9. Some have thought the Small Pox here more then ordina∣rily frequent, and it must indeed be confest, That we are per∣haps as often, though not so severely infested as some other places; for generally here they are so favorable and kind, that be the Nurse but tolerably good, the Patient seldom miscarries. But admit the Objection be truly made, That it is more subject to the Small Pox than other neighboring Cities about, yet if by so

much the less it feel the rage of the Plague, I think the edge of the charge is sufficiently rebated. 'Tis reported amongst thee 1.34 ob∣servations of an ingenious Person that resided long in the Island Japan, That though the Air be very salubrious there, yet the Small Pox and Fluxes are very frequent, but the Plague not so much as ever heard of; which has often made me reflect on the year 1665, when the Pestilence was spread in a maner all over the Kingdom, that even then, though the Court, both Houses of Parliament, and the Term were kept at Oxford, the Plague notwithstanding was not there at all.

10. Others again, tell us of the Black Assise, held in the Castle here, an. 1577. when a poysonous steam broke forth of the Earth, and so mortally seised the spirits of the Judges, Sheriffs, Justices, Gentry and Juries, beside great numbers of others that attended the business, that they sickned upon it and almost all of them dyed: but let it not be ascribed to ill fumes and exhalations ascending from the Earth and poysoning the Air, for such would have equally affected the Prisoners as Judges, but we find not that they dyed otherwise then by the halter, which easily perswades me to be of the mind of myf 1.35 Lord Verulam, who attributes it wholly to the smell of the Goal, where the Prisoners had been long, close, and nastily kept.

11. 'Tis true, that Oxford was much more unhealthy hereto∣fore then now it is, by reason the City was then much less, and the Scholars many more, who when crowded up in so narrow a space, and the then slovenly Towns-men not keeping the street clean, but killing all maner of Cattle within the walls, did ren∣der the place much more unhealthy. Hence 'tis, that we find so many rescripts of our Kings prohibiting mactationem grossarum bestiarum infra muros, & quod vici mundentur à fimis & fimariis, bearing date 13 Hen. 3. 29 Edw. 1. 12 Edw. 3. 37 Hen. 6.g 1.36 and all alledging the reason, quia per has mactationes, &c. aer ibidem in∣ficitur, because by the killing such maner of Cattle, and laying the dung in the streets, the Air was infected. Moreover, about these times the Isis and Cherwell, through the carelesness of the Towns-men, being filled with mud, and the Common-shoars by this means stopt, did cause the ascent of malignant vapors wherever there happened to be a Flood; for beside its stirring

the infectious mass, great part of the waters could not timely pass away, but stagnating in the lower Meddows, could not but increase the noxious putrid steams. But the former being long since remedyed by the care of the Ʋniversity, and the latter by the piety and charge of Richard Fox Bishop of Winchester, and Found∣er of C.C.C. Oxon. who in the year 1517. cleansed the Rivers, and cut more Trenches for the waters free passageh 1.37; the Town hath ever since continued in a healthful condition: though I can∣not but believe, but were there yet more Trenches cut in some of the Meddows, the Air might be somwhat better'd still, espe∣cially during the Winter season, when I fear somtimes Floods stay a little too long, and that not only near Oxford, but in Ot∣moor; and all along the Isis from Ensham to North-moor, Shifford, Chimly, and Rotcot, which brings me again to the general conside∣ration of the Waters as well of the whole County as City.

12. That the healthiness of Waters consists in their due impre∣gnation with Salts and Sulphurs, and their continuance so, in their continual motion, is indisputably evinced from the stinking evaporations of them upon any stagnation. Now that the Rivers here abound with these, will be altogether as manifest as that they run, if we consider but the Springs they receive and Earths they wash. The Isis, 'tis true, till it comes to New-bridge, re∣ceives not (that I find) any eminently salt or sulphureous waters; but there it admits the nitrous Windrush, so well impregnated with that abstersive salt, that no place yields Blanketing so notoriously white, as is made at Witney, a Mercat Town on that River, and upon this account the most eminent in England for that kind of Trade; though I am not ignorant, that some add another cause joyntly contributing with the afore-mentioned, to the excellency of these Blankets; of which more at large when I come to treat of Arts.

13. Somwhat lower, about Cassington, it receives the Even∣lode, a River whose Banks, especially near the Fountain heads, are very well saturated with both the Minerals: witness the wa∣ters that rise a little above Sir Thomas Pennyston's, in the Parish of Cornwell, from a sort of Earth that may well pass for a Marle; and the brinish Bog near Churchill-mill, which though upon the surface of the ground seems to have no communication with the

adjoyning Rivulet, yet being so near, and the Glebe all there∣about being to be presumed of a like nature, it must needs lick some of the Mineral in its passage. About Kingham I was told of a sulphureous Earth, and that some of the Waters there were of such an odour; but whether true or no, I am sure on the o∣ther side the water, at a place called Bould in the Parish of Id∣bury, it is manifestly so; which being not far from the River, at least not from the Stream that runs by Foscot, and so into it, in all likelyhood may impart to the waters hereabout no mean quan∣tity of its more volatile parts. Upon the Cherwell we have a salt Spring runs immediatly into it; and perhaps the sulphureous Glebe of Deddington may somwhere reach the River. The Banks of the Thame are so well sated with some kind of acid, that no well-water in the whole Town of the name, will either brew, or lather with soap: But none of these give a tincture so high, that they can be perceived by the most exquisite palate, but only so far forth as may conduce to a due fermentation, and to keep them living: And yet without doubt from hence it is, that the Thames water at Sea, in eight months time, acquires so spirituous and active a quality, that upon opening some of the Cask, and holding the candle near the bung-hole, its steams have taken fire like Spirit of wine, and somtimes endanger'd firing the Shipi 1.38. Hence 'tis also that its stench is no absolute corruption, and that after a third or fourth fermentation, it equals the waters of the Well in the Haven of Brundusium* 1.39, and stinks no more; and though the Mariners are somtimes forced to drink it and hold their noses, yet upon that account they do not sicken; whereas all other wa∣ters, as far as has been hitherto observed, become irrecoverable upon stinking, and dangerous to drink.

14. Cardan in his Comment upon Hippocratesk 1.40, takes the plenty and goodness of the Fish, to be a sure indication of the wholsomness of waters. And our Country-man, the ingenious D^r Browne* 1.41, speaking of the great fecundity of the River Tibiscus, admits it into consideration, whether its exceeding fertility may not be ascribed to the saline Tinctures it receives from the natural salt Mines it licks by the way: which opinions if approved, as rationally they may be, shew the health of our waters and the

reason of it too: for though we must not compare our Isis with Tibiscus or Brodrack; the one whereof is said to consist of two parts of water, and one of Fish; and the other so replenish'd with them, that in Summer when the River is low, the People say, The water smells of Fish: yet in the year 1674. it gave so ample testimony of its great plenty, that in two days appointed for the Fishing of M^r Major and the Bayliffs of the City, it afforded be∣twixt Swithins-Wear, and Woolvercot-bridge (which I guess may be about three miles distant) fifteen hundred Jacks, beside other Fish; which great fecundity, as it argues the goodness of the Element, so 'tis no whether to be referr'd, as to its original cause, but to the various Salts upon which depend the propagation of all sorts of Species'sl 1.42; and as far as concerns this part of the Ani∣mal Kingdom, are plentifully to be found at the bottoms of some Rivers.

15. And I said the rather at the bottoms of Rivers, not only because Bodies from Salts have their solidity and weightm 1.43, and therefore may well be presumed to reside in the lowest places: but because I find it the joynt agreement of all the Water-men hereabout that I have yet talk'd with, that the congelation of our Rivers is always begun at the bottom, which however surprizing it may seem to the Reader, is neither unintelligible nor yet ridiculous: for beside matter of fact wherein they all consent, viz. that they frequently meet the Ice-meers (for so they call the cakes of Ice thus coming from the bottom) in their very rise, and somtimes in the under-side including stones and gravel brought with them ab imo, it seems upon consideration also consonant to reason: for that congelations come from the conflux of Salts, before dispers'd at large, is as plain as the vulgar experiment of freezing a pot by the fire; and that induration and weight come also from thence, sufficiently appears from the great quantities of them that are al∣ways found in stones, bones, testaceous, and all other weighty bo∣diesn 1.44. Now whatever makes things compact and ponderous, must needs be indued with the same qualities it self, and therefore af∣fect suitable places; so that why standing Pools should freez at the top, might possibly, have proved the greater difficulty of the two, had not the Learned D^r Willis already cleared the point, by shewing us, that all standing waters are more or less in a state of

putrefactiono 1.45, with their salts and sulphurs ready for flight, and in that posture catch'd by the adventitious cold, are probably so congealed at the top of the water. How consonant to truth this Theory may be, I leave to the Readers judgment and future experience, and by the way would have him take notice, that as this, so my other opinions hereafter to be mentioned, are not magisterially laid down, so as to justle out better whenever they can be brought, but fairly to have their tryal, and so live or dye. But as to the matter of Fact, as I cannot but think it hard that so many people should agree in a falsity, so methinks 'tis as diffi∣cult they should mistake in their judgments, since I was told by one of the soberest of that calling, that he once knew a Hatchet casually fall over-board into the River near Wallingford, which was afterwards brought up, and found in one of these Ice∣meers.

16. And so much for the salts that give life to the waters, mul∣tiply the Fish, and are the cause of congelations; for the watry Plants it seems have their vegetation from none of these, but a higher principle, which some will have to be a volatile Niter, brought along with the showers in their passage through the Air. That subaqueous Plants have a proportionable growth to those on the Land after a shower of rain, is also the general voice of the Barge-men; and herein I am the rather inclin'd to believe them, because 'tis a matter so much their interest to observe; our water∣men here in these shallow Rivers, praying not so much for rain to fill them when low, as that weeds may also grow to help keep the waters when they have them, which will otherwise too soon glide away, to their no small detriment. Some have thought this vi∣gorous shooting of the aqueous Plants, so presently sensible af∣ter plentiful showers, to proceed rather from the soyls brought with them from the hills, and impregnated with salts fit to pro∣mote vegetation; but the contrary is evident from the former Paragraphs, for with such as these the Rivers are daily sated, and yet this brisk vegetation is wanting till it rains: whence I guess that terrestrial and subaqueous Plants (that I say not such as delight in uliginous places) have their sprightful shooting from different principles; and if to the former I should assign a more fix'd, and to the latter a volatile salt, perchance I might not be much

out of the way: but it being not so much my business to find the reasons of phaenomena, as to give the Reader such hints as may lead his greater sagacity to do it; I forbear saying more, & manum de tabula, only advertising him, that what has been said of the Isis may be indifferently applyed to the rest of the greater Rivers, of which neither have I any thing more to add, but an unusual accident that happened to the Cherwell, An. 1662/3, which without one drop of rain, or any other visible cause here, but from great and sudden showers that fell in Northampton-shire, swelled to that vast height, that in two hours time, not only the Medows were o're-flown, Magdalen College cellar drowned, and their raised Water-walks cover'd; but the River Isis driven back as far as Ivy-Hincksey, at least a mile from the confluence of the two Rivers.

17. But amongst the many smaller Rivulets, perchance it may not be unworthy notice. (1.) That the two considerable Rivers of Stour and Ouse, though but small here and running but little way in it, yet rise in this County; the one at Swalcliff, which goes in∣to the Severn Sea in the west; and the other at Fritwell, whence it runs into the Sea between Lincoln-shire and Norfolk in the east of England. And (2.) that the Fountain-heads of the River Rea lye for the most part in a plain Country, having little more to feed them, than just a declivity to facilitate their passage; which seems to argue, that all running waters owe not their continuance to rain and dews, collected as they say, on the spungy tops of hills, and sent forth again somwhere in the declivity. And so do's a a small Spring at Cleydon, that rises in the street on the south side of the Town, which continues running all the year, but most plentifully like the Scatebra of Plinyp 1.46, in the dryest weather: to which add a Well at Ewelme, also south of the Church, whose Springs run lowest in the Winter season, and advance in the Summer remarkably higher; as I am credibly informed from Lambourn in Berk-shire, all the Springs in that Town most con∣stantly do. But I decline all engagement in this great Contro∣versie concerning the origin of Springs, till my Travels have supplyed me with more, and more certain evidences, as well for the one as other part of the question.

18. That Land-springs, and such as run but once perpahs in many years, have their rise and continuance from plentiful show∣ers,

I think we have little reason to doubt, since we have them not at all, or but very weak in any Summer, or the dryer Winters: such are those that fore-tell (and naturally enough) the scarcity and dearness of Corn and Victuals; whereof that of Assenton, near Henly upon Thames, is one of the most eminent that I know of in England; and no question is the same mentioned by Johannes Eu∣seb. Nierembergiusq 1.47, in his Book (as he calls it) of the Miracles of Nature. In Britanniae territorio Chiltrensi sunt fontes multi, &c. by which, I suppose, he must mean the Chiltern Country of Oxford-shire, There are, says he, many Springs, which in fertile years are always dry; but before any defect, as the Harbingers of an approach∣ing dearth, these waters get loose, and as it were breaking prison, they quickly unite into a forcible stream. And so they did lately, in An. 1674. with that violence, that several Mills might have been driven with the Current; and had not the Town of Henly made some diversion for them, their Fair Mile must have been drowned for a considerable time. Of these there are many in the County of Kent, which I know not for what reason they call Nailbourns there, and prescribe them (some will) a certain time for their running, as once in seven, ten, or fifteen years. But the certain natural principle of such Springs, altogether depending upon an uncertain cause, no heed is to be given to such kind of stories, they being equally as vain as the persons that broach'd them.

19. Beside these constant and intermitting Rivulets, that al∣ways discharge themselves into Seas or Lakes, we have others here of a peculiar kind that empty themselves into neither of them: but as they first rose out of the Earth, so presently after a short stay on it, ingulf themselves again, and are no more seen. Two of these there are at Shot-over Forest, both rising as I take it on the north side of the hill; the one not far from Hed∣dington Quarry-pits, is constantly fed with a double Spring, yet after it has run about two Bows shoot, is received by a rocky sub∣terraneous indraught, and appears no more: for though some have thought it to come forth again at the Pool of a Mill not far from it, yet after diligent search I could find no such matter. Ano∣ther there is not far from Forest-hill, and I think in the Grounds of Sir Timothy Tyrrill, which somtimes in Winter runs with that violence, and has worn its In-let to such a capacity, that it can and has received an Ox.

20. Other waters again are of so slow a pace, that they seem rather to sweat than run out of the Earth, part whereof being spent in exhalation, and the rest in sating the dry neighboring Earth, do neither reach the Sea, are received in Lakes, nor swallowed up like the former, but of themselves are stopt upon the very surface. And yet I have observed, and believe rightly too, that these are the most durable Land springs we have, wit∣ness that famous one of this kind at Nettlebed, which I know not from what old Witch heretofore, by way of derision, they call Mother Hibblemeer; whereas if we consider how serviceable she has been, being never known to fail them in the dryest Summer, and that in a Country so uncapable of Wells, that there's no such thing to be found in the Parish, she rather merits the esteem of the Nymph of the place.

21. In Westphalia they have a Spring they call their Bolderbornr 1.48, from a noise that it makes at the exit of the water; whether ours may deserve the name, I know not, but such a one there is in the Parish of Glympton, in a wood about a mile south-west from the Church, in a place where there are stones in the form of Cockles; upon which account hereafter I shall mention it again. The Springs, as I remember, are in number three, and the most southern one of these 'tis that has the humming noise, much like that of an empty bottle held with the mouth against the wind, which per∣haps may be a resemblance so befitting our purpose, that it may help to explain the cause as well as the sound: for provided the channel be large within, and the passage forth somwhat narrow like a bottle, the collision of the water against the lips of the orifice, may well make a noise in a large vault within, especially if the waters be indued with a spirit, as peradventure anon may be proved like enough.

22. Which is all I have to say concerning the flux of Rivulets, but that one there is at Sommerton makes a small Cascade, or fall of water about seven foot high; which were it not in the high∣way, but in a Gentlemans Garden, some use might be made on't for divers good purposes, but as the case stands I think it can have none, except for experiments of petrifications, for which sure it cannot but be very excellent, since the living blades of grass of not above half a years growth, within that small time

are all covered with stone, and hang down the bank like so many Isicles; and the Earth it self over which it glides, as 'twere foli∣ated over with a crust of stone like the Mosco petroso of Ferrante Imperatos 1.49. Which brings me to a closer consideration of waters, as they are eminently endued with any peculiar qualities, of Pe∣trification, Saltness, or Medicinal use; of which in their order as briefly as may be.

23. Of Petrifying waters, though I doubt not but their kinds are as various, as the effects they produce; and the effects again, as the subjects they work on; yet I am inclined to believe that they all agree thus far, that they proceed in the main from the same stock and linage, and are all more or less of the kindred of Salts, which sublimed and rarified in the bowels of the Earth into an invisible steam, are received by the waters as their most agreeable vehicle, and brought hither to us at the rising of Springs, as in∣visibly as the particles of silver or gold, when each is dissolved in its proper menstruum: where meeting perchance with an am∣bient Air, much colder and chilling than any under ground, in all likelyhood are precipitated, and thrown down on such sub∣jects, as they casually find at the place of their exit, which they presently cloath with a crust of stone; or else (where precipita∣tion or cohesion will not suffice) they pass with the waters through the pores of the subjects, and are left behind in them just as in a filter.

24. The reason of which difference may probably be, tha•• some of these petrifying steams or atoms, may be gross and more bulky than some others are, and cannot be held up in the watry vehicle, without such a heat as they have under ground, but fall, and by reason of their bigness, do not penetrate, but adhere to their subjects; whereas others that are fine, more minute and sub∣tile, are easily supported in a volatile condition, and pass with the waters into the closest textures.

25. If any body doubt whether stones, and so petrifications, arise from Salts, let him but consult the Chymists, and ask, Whe∣ther they find not all indurated Bodies, such as stones, bones, shells, and the like, most highly sated with the saline principle? Some mixture of Earth and Sulphur 'tis true there is in them, which give the opacity that most stones have; from which, according as

they are more or less free, they have proportionable transparency, and som hardness too; as the best of gems, the Diamant, evinces. And if he shall ask what Salts are the aptest to perform this feat of petrification, though the difficulty of the question might well excuse me, yet I'le venture thus far to give him an answer, That I have frequently seen at Whitstable in Kent, how their Coperas or Vitriol is made out of stones that 'tis more then probable were first made out of that: to the Spirit of which Vitriol if you add Oyl of Tartar, they presently turn into a fix'd and somwhat hard substance, not much inferior or unlike to some incrustations; which seems to conclude, that from these two, all such like con∣cretions are probably made; and that could we but admit that Ocean of Tartar, which Platot 1.50 placed in the center of the Earth, and thought the origin of all our Springs, the business of petrifi∣cations were sufficiently clear. To which I also add in the be∣half of Vitriol, what's matter of fact, and prevails with me much, That where-ever I find strong Vitriol waters, the petrifying ones are seldom far off; which as far as I have observed, I believe may be reduced to these three kinds that presently follow.

• 1. Such as purely of themselves are petrifyed, the very body of water being turned into stone as it drops from the rocks, which we therefore commonly call Lapides stil∣latitios, and shall accordingly treat of them in the Chapter of Stones, these not strictly coming under petri∣fications, where beside the water and saxeous odour, there is always required a subject to work on of a distinct species from either of the two; as in
• 2. Such as petrifie by incrustation, and are only superficial, or
• 3. Such as petrifie per minima, or totum per totum; of both which I shall instantly treat, but of the last more at large in the following Chapter.

26. Incrustations, are petrifications made by such waters as let fall their stony particles, which because either of their own big∣ness, or closeness of the pores and texture of the Body on which they fall, are fixt only to the superficial parts, as it were, by ag∣gregation, and do not enter the solid body; of which I have met with several in Oxford-shire, and particularly at Sommerton, as was above-mentioned, where the grass, being one of the fluvia∣tilia,

is covered over with a soft stone; and yet so, that broken off, the grass appeared (for any thing I could see) as fresh and green as any other not crusted, nothing of the blade being alter'd or impaired, which is the nearest incrustation I ever yet saw: for though some of these petrified blades of grass hung down at least a foot in length, yet slipping them off from about the root, I could take the grass by the end, and pull it clean out as it were from a sheath of stone, so little of cohesion had the one to the other: the reason of which I guess may be, that the pores of the Plant possest with its own juice, and already furnish'd with a congenial salt, might well refuse adventitious ones.

27. And yet far otherwise is it, but just on the other side the River at North-Ashton, in a Field north-west of the Church, where either the petrifying water, or plants, are so different from what before I had found them at Sommerton, that though there too the work be begun by adhesion, yet the roots of rushes, grass, moss, &c. are in a while so altogether eaten away, that nothing remains af∣ter the petrification is compleated, but the figures of those Plants with some augmentation.

28. And petrifications of this kind I frequently meet with, that happen on things of much different substances, as shells, nuts, leaves of trees, and many times on their most ligneous parts. In the Parish of S^t Clements in the Suburbs of Oxford, about a quarter of a mile distant, on the right hand of the first way that turns east-ward out of Marston-lane, there is a ditch, the water whereof incrustates the sticks that fall out of the hedge, and some other matters it meets with there: but this is so inconsiderable, that I should not have mention'd it, but that it has been taken notice of by so many before, that my silence herein would have looked like a defect. Much better for this purpose is the water of a Pump at the Cross-Inn near Carfax, in the City it self, which not only incrustates boards fallen into it, but inserts it self so intimately in∣to the pores of the wood, that by degrees rotting it away, there is in the end the succession of a perfect stone; and that not with∣out some course representation of the very lineaments of the wood it self: Which though I must confess to be of somwhat a higher kind of petrification than incrustation, yet it being wholly performed by accession of parts, and continual intrusion into the open pores of rotten wood, will not amount to the warranty of a different species.

29. A curious pattern I have of this kind, in a piece of wood given me by M^r Pomfret School-master of Woodstock (whose care in my enquiries I must not forget) wherein nature has been so seasonably taken in her operation, that the method she uses is ea∣sily discovered; for being interrupted in the midst of her work, one may plainly see how the stony atoms have intruded themselves, as well at the center as superficies, and so equally too into all parts alike, that 'tis hard to discern in any part of it, whether stone or wood obtain the better share.

30. Petrifications of this kind are always friable, and though somtimes they faintly shew the grain, yet never, that I could see, keep the colour of the wood; in the fire they are as incombustible as any other stone, and lose nothing of their extension, but their colour for the most part seems to alter toward white: in distil∣led Vinegar they remain indissoluble, though not without the motion (as M^r Hooku 1.51 well observes) that the same spirit has when it corrodes Corals, yielding many little bubbles, which in all pro∣bability (as he says) are nothing else but small parcels of Air dri∣ven out of its substance by that insinuating Menstruum, it still re∣taining the same extension: but in aqua fortis, the Sommerton crust was wholly dissolved into a white substance, not unlike the white wash used by Plaisterers. All of them increase the bulk of the subject on which they work; and most of them, as the inge∣nious M^r Hooke also further notes, seem to have been nothing more but rotten wood, before the petrification began.

31. But some others I have seen of a far nobler kind, that shew themselves likely to be petrifications per minima, and per∣formed with a steam so fine, as permeates the very schematism and texture of the body, that even to a Microscope seems most solid, and must in all likelyhood be as tenuious as the subtilest effluviums that come from a Magnet; some whereof are so unlike rotten wood, that they keep the colour and texture of heart of Oak, and are some of them so hard that they cut Glass: and with one of them, that seems formerly to have been a piece of Ground-ash, I strook fire to light the candle whereby I write this. But I have nothing more to say of it here, because I guess the change not to have been wrought by water; that therefore I offer not vio∣lence to the Chapter of Earths, by which I thank this, and all

other of the kind, I have met with in Oxford-shire have been per∣formed; I forbear, and proceed to the other salt waters that are more eminently such, and do not petrifie.

32. And amongst them, we must remember to reckon all such as are unfit for washing, and will not take Soap; for though these to our tast are not sensibly salt, yet to our touch (as the Learn∣ed Willisw 1.52 notes) they are harsh and unpleasant, which they have from their too great impregnation with Salts: But what is a much more certain evidence of it, we do not find any but instantly lathers, except such as hold an acid salt, and discover themselves such upon evaporation. To which may be added this very easie Experiment, That if to simple water, and such as before would lather well, you add some few drops of Spirit of Vitriol, or some such like acid, it presently refuses to mix with soap: The reason of which seems indeed to be no other, but the congress of the acid salt of the water, with the fix'd and alcalizate one of the soap, which it so wholly subdues to its own inclinations, that it will not permit it any longer to hold the oily parts of the soap, or mix them with the water; but now visibly increased both in quantity and weight, by the considerable acquest of this new prisoner, it may also perhaps so fill up the pores and little cells of the water, that the excluded sulphur or oily parts of the soap (as in their se∣parate nature) are forced to the surface.

33. Many of these waters are every where found, and accord∣ing to some, all Pump waters are such; but that they are mistaken, my experience has taught me, for I have met with some that will lather very well.

34. At Henly they are troubled with many of them but not so much as they are at Thame; for there they have a way to let them stand two days, within which time (as I was informed by my worthy Friend M^r Munday, Physitian there) the Vitriol, or whatever other acid it be, falls down to the bottom of the Ves∣sels that hold them, and then they will wash as well as one can desire. But at Thame, where there is never a Well in the whole Town whose water will wash, or (which is worse) brew: This Experiment, for I caused it to be tryed, will by no means suc∣ceed; so that were they not supplyed by the adjoyning Rivulet, the place must needs be in a deplorable condition. The reason, I

suppose, why the acid will not fall, as it do's at Henly and some other places, is because these waters, beside their salt, in all pro∣bability also hold a crude Sulphur, whose viscous particles do so tenaciously embrace it, that it will not admit of any separation; which may also perhaps be a hint to the cause why their Beer will stink within fourteen days whenever they attempt to brew with this water, for where a Sulphur is any thing great in quantity, and its body opened and exalted by the heat in brewing, and the active spirituous particles of Mault, (as I guess the case may have it self here) the frame of that mixtion may probably be loosed, wherein the spirits first taking their flight, the Sulphur will next begin to evaporate, whose steams being smartly aculeated by the salt, that then bears the chief sway in the subject, cause the stink of the Beer that is brewed with such water.

35. Other waters there are that are palatably salt, and suffi∣ciently stinking without being brewed, and such is that before-mentioned near Churchill-mill: but I think within the bounds of the Parish of Kingham; The water as it stands looks of a greenish colour, as most of the palatably salt waters do, and do it resort all the Pigeons in the Country; which should they not do, I should much wonder, since besides its saltness it has such a stink, that it equals the salt stone, and roasted dog too: so that should the Pro∣prietor but build a Dove-house here, he might honestly rob all his neighbors of their flights; but that he may not put it to so invi∣dious a use, I shall divert him anon by a more profitable way.

36. As to the salt that impregnates this water, I do not take it to be a simple one, but some Mineral concrete both of salt and sulphur; for without these two be in their exaltation, and become so far fluid as to endeavor a divorce from each other, it could ne∣ver acquire so noisom a smell. Which concrete should I call a salt Marine, peradventure I might not be much mistaken; for if you take but a small quantity of thrice calcined Bay salt, and dissolve it in a pint of Well-water, upon dissolution you will have much such an odour, as has been observed by a late Author in a short account of the Sulphur Well at Knarsboroughx 1.53.

37. Nor hinders it at all that the Sea is so remote, since whe∣ther springs have any communication with it or no, such marine salts may be had very well; for if the Sea grow salt by the Earth

that it licks, which I take to be as certain as that 'tis not so by torrefaction; then if it be possible we may have such Earths, as give the Sea those salino-sulphureous tinctures, it's altogether as possible we may have such waters too, without any necessity of such communication.

38. If it be objected, That the waters of the Sea send forth no such stench as we find these do, let it be considered that the flux of the one, and stagnation of the other, may well occasion such a difference; whil'st the Sea-waters are in their motion, 'tis true their salts and sulphurs so involve one another, that their mutual imbraces hinder all evaporations; but whenever they come to stand but awhile, as they do most times in the holds of Ships, then their sulphurs evaporate with as great a stink, as can be sup∣posed ours have here at Land; and this the Ships pump doth fre∣quently witness, to the great content of all that travel by Sea, it being a sure indication of the Ships health, which abundantly recompences the inconvenience of the stench.

39. Such another I have heard of in the Parish of Chadling∣ton, in the grounds of one M^r Rawlison there, not differing in any thing at all from the former, but only it's somwhat stronger of the marine salt: this I must confess I saw not my self, yet having my information from so knowing a Person, and of so unquestion∣able fidelity as Sir Thomas Pennyston, I doubt not at all the truth of the thing.

48. A salt spring there is also at Clifton near Deddington, with∣in a Quoits cast of the River side: but its saline particles are so subtilized in the water, that they scarcely can at all be perceived by the palate, and yet it lays them down plentifully enough on the stones and Earth over which it passes. What sort of salt this is, I care not to determine, because it will be difficult not to mistake; for upon evaporation of about a gallon, it yielded a salt of a urinous tast: which at first I must confess was so surpri∣zing to me, that I could not but think, that during my absence, some waggish fellow had either put a trick on me, or else that I might have used some unfit vessel; whereupon I caused a new earthen pot to be bought, well glased, and then repeated the Ex∣periment very carefully, but found in the end all had been honest about me, for I had a salt again of the very same tast.

41. How this should come about I cannot divine, unless from

the sweat of the Bodies of Animals, it being much used in cuti∣cular Diseases; but this I think neither can well be; because 'tis a constantly running spring, and would sure carry off what might be left of that nature: I therefore wholly leave it to the Readers greater perspicacity, and shall content my self with this satisfa∣ction, that however improbable the thing may seem, that in the mean time 'tis an improbable truth.

42. I have often since wish'd, that I had tryed this water with a solution of Alum, and seen whether it would have given any thing of that milky precipitation it do's with Ʋrines; which be∣ing then quite out of my head, is left to the tryal of some inge∣nious person that lives thereabout; though before-hand I must tell him, that I believe it will not succeed because urinous sub∣stance seems not to be copious enough.

43. Divers might be the uses of these waters, and particularly of the two first, as good, or perhaps better than that at Clifton, for cuticular Diseases of Men and Beasts; some whereof I have known carryed out of these Inland Countrys to the Sea side; whereas 'tis likely they might (in all the Distrempers for which we have recourse thither) with much more ease have had a re∣medy at home.

44. But far more profitable must they surely be, if imployed to improve poor and barren Lands, which no question might be done by casting them on it. In Cheshirey 1.54, near the Salt-pits of Nantwich, 'tis yearly practiced thus to brine their Fields; which though never done, but after the fall of great store of Rain-waters into their pits, which before they can work again must be gotten out, and with it some quantity of their brine too, yet even with these but brackish waters do they so season their adjoyning Lands, that they receive a much more profitable return, then they could have done from any soil or dung.

45. In Cornwall and Devonshire, so considerable are their im∣provements by sea-sand, that it is carryed to all parts as far as they have the advantage of the water, and afterwards 10 or 12 miles up higher into the Country on horses backs: At which I must confess I marvel not at all, since we are informed by an in∣telligent Gentleman of those partsz 1.55, that where-ever this sand is

used, the seed is much and the straw little, (I have seen, saies he in such a Place, good Barly, where the ear has been equal in length with the stalk it grew on) and after the Corn is off, that the grass in such places turns to Clover. Some of the best of this sand, he saies, lies under Ouse or Mud about a foot deep; and who knows but there may be such a Sand under the briny Bog near Church∣hill-mill, or at Chadlington? I am sure the salt spring at Clifton comes from a sand; if so, and the Farmers thereabout get such Corn and Clover-grass, I hope I shall not want the thanks of the Country.

46. However, I do not doubt but the water will serviceable, either to cast on their Land, as at Nantwich, or to steep their Corn in before they sow it, to preserve it from all the inconve∣niencies formerly prevented by brining and liming it, and to strengthen it in its growth.

47. Sir Hugh Plata 1.56 tells us, of a poor Country-man who pas∣sing over an arm of the sea with his Seed-corn in a sack, by mis∣chance at his landing fell into the water, and so his Corn being left there till the next Ebb, became somwhat brackish; yet such was the necessity of the Man, that (notwithstanding he was out of all hope of any good success, yet not being able to buy any other) he sowed the same upon his plowed grounds; and in fine, when the Harvest time came about, he reaped a crop of goodly Wheat, such as in that year not any of his Neighbors had the like.

48. Now let the Owners or Farmers of these springs fit down and consider of what has been said, and if they shall think fit, make tryal of them, wherein, if they meet with success, I only beg of them (which I shall gladly accept as the guerdon of my labors) that they would be as free of it to their poor Neighbors that have lean grounds and ill penny-worths, as God has been to them by me his weak instrument in the discovery.

49. Having spoke of such waters as cure faulty grounds, and cuticular distempers by external application, it followeth, that we treat of such as are, or may be taken inwardly, and deserve the repute of Medicinal waters. The first, and perchance the best of these, I found at Deddington, a small Mercat Town, within the Close of one Mr. Lane, where not long since digging a Well,

and passing through a blew Clay, adorned with some glittering sparks; and meeting by the way with pyrites argenteus, and a bed of Belemnites, or (as they call them) Thunder-bolts, He came within few yards to this water, of a strong sulphureous smell, the most like of any thing I can think of, to the water that has been used in the scouring a foul gun: in weight lighter than pure Spring-water by an ℥js. in a quart, and yet after seve∣ral tryals, I found it so highly impregnated with a vitrioline salt as well as sulphur, that two grains of the powder of galls would turn a gallon of water into a dusky red, inclining to purple; nor did they only so alter the site and position of the particles, as to give a different colour and consistence, as it happens in waters but meanly sated; but in a quarter of an hour did so condense and constipate the pores of the watery vehicle, that the excluded particles of the Minerals appeared in a separate state, curdled in the Vessel, and of so weighty a substance, that they subsided to the bottom in a dark blue colour.

50. The sediment being great in quantity, I tryed upon red hot Irons, and some other ways, to see whether the salts or sul∣phur, either by colour, scintillation, or odour, might not by that means betray themselves; but with small success: whereupon I betook me to distillation, putting about a quart into a glass body, to which fitting a head and clean receiver, I gave an easie heat, till there was distilled off about three or four ounces, which when poured out, I found had neither smell, tast, or any other properties, that might distinguish it from any other spring water distilled: for with galls it would make no more alteration than any other simple common water would. Then ordering the fire to be slackned, to see what precipitate it would let fall; upon filtration of what remained in the body, I procured only a pale calx of a gritty substance, shewing, as it dryed in the Sun, many tran∣sparent particles intermix'd: in tast it had a faint pleasant piercing, with a gentle warmth diffused on the tongue; but pour∣ing on it Spirit of Vitriol, Oyl of Tartar, &c. I could not perceive any manifest ebullition, so as to judge whether the salt contained in this residence, were either of the acid or lixiviate kind.

51. Wherefore to come closer to the point, and taking dire∣ctions from that accurate, severe, and profound Philosopher, the Honorable Robert Boyle Esq the glory of his Nation, and pride

of his Family; and to whose most signal Encouragement of the Design in hand, these Papers, in great part, owe their birth: I took good Syrup of Violets, impregnated with the tincture of the Flowers, and drop'd some of it into a glass of this water as it came from the Well; whereupon, quite contrary to my expecta∣tion, not only the Syrup, but the whole body of the water turn∣ed not of a red, but a brisk green colour, the Index of a lixivi∣ate, and not that acid Vitriol, which I before had concluded on from the infusion of galls. The Phaenomenon at first was very surprising, till I had further weighed the cautious Expressions of that Noble Authorb 1.57, and found, that he restrains the Experiment of the Syrup of Violets, turning red with acids, with provision always they be distilled Liquors; and what he seems to hint in a former Experiment* 1.58, that sulphureous salts, (such as the Vitriol of this water will anon more plainly appear to be) being of a quite contrary nature, may have different effects: which may also be the reason why this sulphureous water, notwithstanding it most certainly possesses an acid salt, will yet as certainly lather with soap, and raise a greater sud than other waters commonly do; and if put into milk, though boiled up to the height, will not separate the more gross from the serous parts of it: effects so u∣sually following upon such applications, that perhaps till now they have always been supposed, never as yet to have happened otherwise.

52. But Experience, that great baffler of speculation, assures us the contrary to be possible enough, and brings matter of fact to confute our suppositions in the very tryal of this water, wherein the great quantity of Vitriol, is yet so close lock'd up by the vis∣cous particles of Sulphur, and thereby rendered so dull and un∣active, that it cannot exert its enmity to (as D^r Mayowc 1.59) or friend∣ly embraces with (as D^r Willisd 1.60) the alcalizate salt it finds in the soap; on so compress the pores of the milk, as therby to cause a precipitation: but having as it were thus put on the nature of a fix'd salt, acts not upon its like, nor longer enjoys the astringent power of an acid.

53. And under this vizor of a fix'd Alcali it was, that it acted its part, and with Syrup of Violets, gave a green tincture; unless

we may allow its salt to be a volatile Alcali, with which also that Syrup turns to the same colour: to admit such a thought 'tis true is very hard, yet finding but a mile off, at Clifton as above-mentioned, a Spring strangely sated with such a kind of salt; I adventur'd to try another Experiment of the aforesaid Honorable Author, and according as he directse 1.61, made a solution of subli∣mate in fair water (the only Criterion I yet know of, that plain∣ly distinguishes the two Alcali's) to which I added this Well-water, in great, small, and the intermediate quantities: but it answer'd not at all the design of the Experiment, not giving the tawny, much less the white precipitate: Whence 'tis easie to con∣clude, that this also succeeds only in discriminating Chymical salts, as that great Virtuoso well observes, and not in the immediate pro∣ducts of Nature.

54. One thing more I could not but observe, that notwith∣standing the powers of the Vitriol are thus restrained in reference to its acting on soap and milk, that yet it has its usual effect upon Iron: for the corrosion of the Pump-rod I must believe to pro∣ceed from Vitriol, till any one upon better grounds can convince me, that 'tis likely it may be from somwhat else; and yet this neither do I conceive to be done, but by such steams as ascend in the Well, and are freed from the shackles of Sulphur, much questioning whether the Pump-rod under, or near the bottom of the water, be eaten so or no.

55. To this add, that although the Sulphur do's exercise such dominion over, and so closely knits up the Vitriol, whil'st toge∣ther in the water, yet it may and do's too, let go its hold; and like, what is reported by Henricus ab Heers of his Spadacrene, and the Sauvenir by Frambesarius, can hardly be kept within any bounds, but expires through glasses stopt never so close; 'tis true, I had not the conveniency there of putting it under the Hermetick seal, but so easie a passage it made through a good cork cover'd over with wax, and both bound down with a double leather, that in six miles riding it lost all its virtues, not giving then any tincture with galls, and having but a faint putrid smell of the Sulphur: Whether it lost in weight or bulk, as well as vo∣latile Spirits, I must acknowledge I was not then enough curious to observe; but imagine it might, since 'tis plain from its not

tinging with galls, that not only the Sulphur, but also the Vitrio∣line particles exhale with it, and corporeally seiz on the next a∣greeable subject, which 'tis manifest they did on the above-men∣tioned Pump-rod.

56. Beside the more considerable ingredients of Vitriol and Sulphur, 'tis evident that this water also holds some small quan∣tity of Naphtha, one of the liquid Bitumens, which flies not away like the two former, but after separation of the parts, made ei∣ther by precipitation with galls, or insensible evaporation, remains swiming on the top in a thin skin, variegated as it were with the colours of the Rain-bow, much after the same maner as 'tis fre∣quently seen upon waters standing in boggy grounds, or such places where we dig the bituminous Earths called Peats: But whe∣ther this will burn at all, or with any such bright flame exceed∣ing that of sulphur, asf 1.62 Hen. ab Heers affirms of such a film that covers the waters of his Spadacrene, if kept all night, I have left to some ingenious person thereabout, that has both more skill and leisure to try.

57. At Banbury, another Mercat Town about four miles hence, at D^r Lanes Physitian there, Brother to the above-named M^r Lane of Deddington, and my very good Friend; there is also another sulphur Well, much like the former in taste, but not altogether of so strong a smell, holding, I suppose, either much more salt than that, or a less tenacious sulphur: for here I found not the energy of the Vitriol so fetter'd by the vigorous particles of sulphur, but that it had power to make that hostile or friendly congress with the lixiviat salt of soap, and send the oily part to float at top, making no lather or mixtion with it; and also so to constipate the pores of boiled milk, as to separate its parts into curds and whey. The quantity of salt appeared upon evaporation made by the said D^r Lane since I was there, but how much to a quart or gallon he sent me no word. This water has also a volatile part, collected by the said Doctor, which I did not find that Ded∣dington water had; upon the tongue it seems to have a little pricking, but nothing that I could perceive of a saltish tast, wherefore trying further with a convenient Menstruum, it at last confest it self to be Flores sulphuris, precipitating with the same ebullition, smell, and colour, that some others did I had from the shops.

58. Another of these of a sulphureous smell that will not take soap, and turns milk, I found at Bould in the Parish of Idbury, in part of the possessions of one M^r Loggan, a worthy Gentleman, (whose assistance in the tryal of this water, and furtherance in my other business, I cannot without ingratitude ever forget:) which differs from the former only in this, that besides its tinging red with powder of Galls, with spirit of Ʋrin it turns white, which (as I had observed before at Banbury) that would not do: whence I have ground to suspect, that over and beside the ingredients of that, here must in all likelyhood be somthing of Alum; and in this opinion I am the more confirmed, since I am informed, by the Controversie between D^r Wittie and M^r Sympson, that Vitriol and Alum are somtimes found together, as in the Cliff near the Scarborow Spaw. And that in Swedeng 1.63 there is a single stone of a yellow colour, intermixed with streaks of white, and very weighty, that affords Sulphur, Vitriol, Alum, and Minium; now that such a stone is here, though I dare not assert, yet question∣less there may be somthing not so altogether unlike, but whenever there is occasion of digging there-about again, the stones and earth may deserve examination* 1.64.

59. I should next have proceeded to the waters impregnated with Vitriol only, but that I am called back to Deddington again by another water of a fetid odour, in stench much exceeding all before-mentioned. This I met with in a small Close behind a Barn, within a furlong or less of that at Mr. Lanes, having the House where the Dutchy-Court is kept to the East, and the Guild West, and belonging to Ch. Ch. Coll. in Oxon, in smell so per∣fectly resembling that of rotten eggs, and accordingly so strongly affecting the sense, that I could not so much as put it to my mouth without danger at least of straining to vomit. Such a one as this is mentioned by Georgius Agricolah 1.65, at the Castle of Steurewald in the Bishoprick of Hildesheim, within a mile of Hasda; where, says he, there is another Spring that sends forth a stink, qualis est pulveris bombardae exstincti: a description so agreeable also to our sulphur well at Deddington, that as I could not at first but wonder, that two such waters should be found at places so far asunder, so strangly alike; so it gave me a hint, that these

waters in all probability might receive their tinctures from the same Minerals, and that their difference might only lye in the distances they have from the Mineral bed, or more Colanders the one may pass through than the other. Agricola observes, that the water at Steurewald smelling like ours, much like rotten eggs, not only comes forth of a Marble Quarry, but that the belchings of such as drink it fasting, give also the odour of brayed Mar∣ble. Whether ours have either such a passage or effect, I must confess I cannot inform the Reader; my Purse not affording me to try the one, nor my Stomach the other: However, I could wish it had not been stop'd up, as I hear it is since my being there, not only for the use it might have, but that Persons better qualified than I, might have made the Experiments.

60. Of Vitriolate and Ferrugineous springs, there are also plen∣ty in this County, one at Nether-Worton, and another at North-Weston* 1.66, within less than a Bolts-shot of each of their Churches; both of these, beside their tinging with galls, let fall a sediment of a rusty colour; only with this difference, that Nether-Worton spring is much the quicker and clearer, though I doubt not the other might be very well amended, were but little charge be∣stowed on it.

61. At Shipton under Which-wood there is another of these, at an Inn there whose sign is the Red-horse, but so weakly impregna∣ted with the Mineral, that it scarce tinges sensibly with the powder of galls, yet lays down the rusty sediment in as great quantities as any of the rest; and I have met with some at other places that have plentifully enough yielded this, which by no means could ever be brought to confess any thing of Vitriol, which has begot∣ten a strong suspition in me, that this rusty tincture may probably be the effluvium of some other Body, different from, and not of the chalybeat kind: for were it so, I cannot imagin but the salt of Mars must needs be discovered. However, herein I will not be positive, but propound it only as the subject of a severer research.

62. And of these I was told of a very odd one in the Parish of Heddington, near a place called the Wyke (I think) now stop'd up, that in the winter time would strike with galls, but not in the summer: whereof may be given this very easie reason; that

during the time of winter, the pores of the Earth being stopt, and the Mineral thereby not permitted to exhale, the water is then impregnated with it, and gives the tincture; whereas in the sum∣mer season it expires so much, that the depauperated water can shew nothing of it. That waters do thus alter according to the Seasons of the Year, I found also to be manifest from the waters of Deddington, which I found somtimes lighter, and at other times heavyer than common water, and to give much different se∣diments at divers tryals with the same materials. And this I thought convenient to note, not only to excite Men to more cri∣tical Observations, but that the curious Explorator may not be startled, in case he find them at any time not exactly to answer.

63. In the Park at Cornbury, not far from the Lodge, in a pit newly digged, there rises a spring also of a Vitriol kind, co∣louring the mud and earth under it very black; into this pit, it being designed for a conservatory of Fish, they put over night some of several sorts, but found them next day in the morning all dead; which gave me good ground to suspect (having just be∣fore met with a relation of Dr. Wittiesi 1.67, That Carps put into a Copper Brewing-vessel to be preserved but for one night, were all found dead in like maner in the morning) that here might be somthing of that nature too; and that the Vitriol wherewith this water is sated, might rather be that of Venus than Mars: And in these thoughts I was the more confirmed, when I quickly after was informed, of an odd kind of steam that rose hereabout of a suitable effect. But of this no more, leaving its further consideration to the Right Honorable and ingenious Proprietor of the place, and my singular good Lord, Henry Earl of Clarendon, a most effectual encourager of this design.

64. To these I must add another sort of waters, which though in tast they resemble milk, must yet I believe be reduced to this Head, for I find, notwithstanding their eminent sweetness, they all refuse to lather with soap, and therefore conclude them to hold some Acid: Of these we have several within the City of Oxford, one at a Pump over-against the Cross Inn, another near the Mount in New College Garden, and a third at the Pump at Buckley Hall, now the dwelling house of one Mr. Bowman a Book-seller, and several other places* 1.68: All which, notwithstanding their lacteous

tast, I guess may be impregnated with somthing of Vitriol, which though of it self it be a smart acid, yet its edge being rebated with a well concocted sulphur, turns sweet, and becomes of that more palatable gust. And herein perhaps I have not guess'd a∣miss, since we are informed by as eminent, as 'tis a vulgar Expe∣riment, that the austerity that Vitriol gives in the mouth, is cor∣rected by the fumes of Tabacco taken quickly after it; whose sul∣phureous particles, says the Learned Willisk 1.69, mixing with the saline pontic ones of the Vitriol, create such a pleasant and mellifluous tast.

65. There are also two small and very weak springs, of a la∣cteous colour but no such tast, in the way from South-stoke leading to Goreing, by the River side; not many years since of great re∣pute in those parts for Medicinal use, but now quite deserted; whether upon account of the ineffectual use of them, or because they are but temporary springs, sub Judice lis est: The people will tell you they were very soveraign, and never ceased running till some advantage was made of the water, and that Providence till then with-held them not. This water issues forth from a fat whitish Earth, and has always a kind of unctuous skin upon it, yet to the tast I thought it seemed dry and stiptical, as if it pro∣ceeded from a kind of Lime-stone, further within the Earth, and not to be seen.

66. But however the case may have it self there, it is not so dubious, that at a Well in Oddington, there is a water of the calcarious kind, and proceeding sure from some neighboring Lime∣stone, which beside its dry and restrictive tast, more signally evi∣dences it self, in the providential cure of a local Disease amongst Cattle, frequently catch'd by their grasing on Otmoor, and there∣fore by the Inhabitants thereabout commonly called by the name of the Moor-Evil: The Disease is a kind of flux of the belly, and corresponds (in a Man) to what we call a Dysentery, whereby the Cattle so spend themselves, that in little time from well and good liking, they fall in a maner to skin and bone, and so dye away un∣less prevented; which is certainly done by giving them dry meat, and suffering them to drink of this water only.

67. Beside these we have many other waters, not apparently (at least to sense) of any Mineral virtue, yet without doubt have their tincture from some subterraneous steam, of a much finer than

ordinary, and therefore unknown texture. Such are those in many places accounted so soveraign for the Eyes, and cure of in∣veterate Ʋlcers, after the ineffectual tryals of the best Chirurgi∣ons: These for the most part, and perhaps not undeservedly, are commonly stiled Holy-wells, not only for the good they have for∣merly done, but for that they seem to be the immediate gift of God, and designed for the poor.

68. A very eminent one of these there is in the Parish of Sandford, not far from Great Tew, which within the memory of many thereabout, hath done great cures upon putrid and fetid old sores, a long time before given over for incurable. These waters have with them, according to the observations of the ingenious Doctor Beall 1.70, a kind of active friction, but intermingling with their aspe∣rities such a pleasant titillation, as invites the Patient to rub on the tersive water, and will all along recompence the pain of search∣ing the wound, with such speedy and indulgent degrees of sana∣tion, as mitigates the torment with variety of pleasures.

69. And thus (as I am informed by persons of unquestionable fidelity, that have often used them for their eyes, and in some o∣ther cases) do the waters of St. Crosses in the Suburbs of Oxford, whose Well was heretofore, and in some measure yet remains, so considerable for such like purposes, that the great resort of peo∣ple to it has given occasion of change to the name of the Parish, which to this very day we call now nothing but Holy-well.

70. But of much greater Fame was the Well of St. Edward, without St. Clements at Oxford, now quite stop'd up; but as 'tis remembred by some of the antientest of the Parish, was in the field above a furlong S. S. West of the Church; this at least was be∣lieved to be so effectual in curing divers distempers, and there∣upon held to be of so great sanctity, that here they made vows, and brought their alms and offerings; a custom, though common e∣nough in those days, yet always forbidden by our Anglican Coun∣cilsm 1.71, under the name of Wilƿeorþuga [Wilveorthunga] more right∣ly translated Well-worship than Will-worship, as is plainly made appear by the Reverend and Learned Dr. Hammondn 1.72, out of an old Saxon Penitential, and a Saxon Homily of Bishop Lupus; where the word ƿil is rather shewed to signifie fontem, than voluntatem. Against these superstitions so ordinary in those days, there are se∣veral

prohibitions in the fore-cited Penitential and Homily. And of which kind are also divers Injunctions to be seen in the Office of Lincoln, of Oliver Sutton; and amongst them, one particularly against the worship of this Well of St. Edward, without St. Cle∣ments in Oxford, and St. Laurence's Well at Peterburgh, &c.

71. And so much for the Waters, with the Minerals they hold; and perhaps too much too in such like matters, may some Man say, for an unskilful Lawyer: Howver, since what has been said, has not been magisterially imposed, but modestly only, and timerously conjectur'd; and since I have not invaded another Mans profession, by so much as naming the Dseases they may probably cure, ex∣cept where they have a known reputation already, I hope I may evade the imputations of rashness, or putting my sickle into an∣other Mans Harvest.

CHAP. III. Of the Earths.

OXFORD-SHIRE, says Mr. Cambdeno 1.73, is a fertile County and plentiful, the Plains garnished with Corn-fields and Meddows, and the Hills beset with Woods; stored in e∣very place not only with Corn and Fruits, but also with all kind of Game for hound and hawk, and well water'd with Rivers plentiful of Fish. Which general description of the Soil, though in the main it be true to this day, yet if we come to a more particular and close consideration of it, we shall find, that though Oxford-shire almost in every part, where the industry of the Husband∣man hath any thing shewed it self, doth produce Corn of all sorts plentifully enough; yet it has much more cause to brag of its Med∣dows, and abundance of Pastures, wherein (as in Rivers) few Countrys may be compared, perhaps none preferr'd. And as to matter of Fruits, I think I may better assert of it what Giral∣dus do's of Ireland, Pascuis tamen quam frugibus, gramine, quam grano, faecundior Comitatus, than groundlesly to commend it over∣much.

2. The Hills, 'tis true, before the late unhappy Wars, were well enough (as he says) beset with Woods, where now 'tis so scarcy, that 'tis a common thing to sell it by weight, and not on∣ly at Oxford, but at many other places in the Northern parts of the shire; where if brought to Mercat, it is ordinarily sold for about one shilling the hundred, but if remote from a great Town, it may be had for seven pence: And thus it is every where but in the Chiltern Country, which remains to this day a woody Tract, and is (as I have very good ground to think) some of the western part of the great Forest Andredesƿald, or Andredeslege, reaching, says Lelandp 1.74, from beside Portus Limenus in Kent, a 120 miles westward, which happily falls out to be about this place: To which had Caesar ever arrived, he had never sure left us such an account, as we find in his Commentaries concerning our Woods: Materia, says he, cujusque generis, ut in Gallia, praeter Abietem & fagumq 1.75, i. e.

that there was here all maner of wood, as in France, except the Fir and Beech: of the last whereof there is such plenty in the Chil∣tern, that they have now there-about scarce any thing else; but it lies so far from Oxford, and so near the River side, which easily conveys it to London Mercat, that 'tis scarce beneficial to the rest of the County.

3. As to the qualifications of the Soil in respect of Corn, I find them in goodness to differ much, and not only according to their several compositions (being in some places black, or reddish earth: in others a clay or chalky ground, some mixt of earth and sand, clay and sand, gravel and clay, &c.) but chiefly according to the depth of the mould or uppermost coat of the earth, and the nature of the ground next immediatly under it: for let the up∣permost mould be never so rich, if it have not some depth, or such a ground just underneath it, as will permit all superfluous moisture to descend, and admit also the hot and comfortable steams to ascend, it will not be so fertile as a much leaner soil that enjoys these con∣ditions.

4. Thus have I often-times seen in this County, in all appear∣ance a very good soil, and such indeed as would otherwise have been really so, less fertile because of its shallowness, and a cold stiff clay, or close free-stone next under-neath it, than a much poorer Land of some considerable depth, and lying over a sand or gravel, through which all superfluous moisture might descend, and not stand, as upon clay or stone, to chill the roots and make the Corn languish.

5. Where by the way let it be noted, that I said a cold stiff clay or close free-stone; for if there be under a shallow mould, a clay that's mixed (as 'tis common in the blew ones of this County) either with pyrites aureus, or brass lumps; or the stones be of the warm calcarious kind, it may nevertheless be fruitful in Corn, be∣cause these, I suppose, do warm the ground, and give so much strength, that they largely recompence what was wanting in depth.

6. More possibly might have been added to this general ac∣count of Earths, and not a little instructive to the Farmers of the Country, but I found most of them froward and to slight my Quaere's; let them therefore thank themselves if I am not so ob∣liging: Beside, it seems a business a little beside my design, there∣fore

in hast I proceed to a more particular Consideration of Earths (as before of Waters) holding some Spirit, Bitumen, or concrete Juice, and as they are useful in Trades, or are otherwise necessary, convenient, or ornamental.

7. But herein I shall not shew my self either so angry or igno∣rant, or so much either disrespect my subject, or the civilities of the Gentry for the sake of the clowns, as not in the next place to treat of such Earths whose most eminent uses relate to Husbandry, since they also hold some concrete Juices (whereby they become improvements of such poor barren Lands) and are therefore very suitable to my present purpose.

8. The best of these we call commonly Marls, whereof, though 'twas believed there were none in Oxford-shire, yet I met with no less than three several sorts, and in quantities sufficient enough for use. The British Marls were very famous of old, whereof Plinyr 1.76 numbers several sorts; and of principal note were the Leucargillae, whereby, he says, Britan was greatly enriched: And of this kind, that I guess may be one, lately discovered by the much Honored, and my truly noble Friend, Thomas Stonor Esq of Watlington-Park, of which he already has had good expe∣rience: of colour it is whitish, a little inclining to yellow, not very fat, and of so easie dissolution, that it may be laid on the ground at any time of the year, and may be as good, I sup∣pose, for pasture as arable: this he found at a place near Blunds-Court, but I think within the Parish of Shiplake, where upon an∣other account sinking a deep pit, amongst other matters he met with this Marl.

9. Since that, there has lately been another discovered by that eminent Virtuoso Sir Thomas Pennyston, in his own Grounds in the Parish of Cornwell, about a quarter of a mile north-west of his House, of a blue colour, and so abstersive, that it would readily enough take spots out of cloaths, and gave its owner some ground to hope, that possibly it might be fit for the Fullers use; but he quickly, upon tryal, discovered an incurable fault that the Men of that Trade will never pardon: however, I take it to be so rich a Marl, that it may amply recompence the industry of its Master, if laid on its neighboring barren Hills; which I advise may be done about the beginning of Winter, that the Frosts and

Rain may the better separate its parts, and fit it to incorporate with that hungry Soil.

10. Which condition I suppose may not at all be required, in the manure of a light and hollow sort of Marl, lately found by the worshipful and industrious Improver, George Pudsey Esq of Elsfield: for in water it dissolves almost as soon as Fullers earth, and is naturally of it self so hollow and spungy, that one would think it were always in the very ferment, and may therefore be used at any fit time of year: of colour when dry, it is of a whitish gray, intermixed with sand, and very friable, and may in all probability be the very same, with the Marga candida are∣nosa friabilis, of Hildesheim, mention'd by Kentmannuss 1.77, and out of him by Lachmund. Of just such another Marl as this, brittle and dusty when dry, but fat when wet, we are inform'd there is at Wexford in the Kingdom of Ireland, by D^r Gerrard Boatt 1.78 som∣time Physitian there; only that that is blue, and this a whitish gray, and may therefore be fitter for Pasture than Arable. It being observed in the Counties of Sussex and Kent, where Marls are most plenty of any places of England, that the gray suit with Pastures, and the blue (such perhaps as Sir Thomas Pennystons) with Arable best.

11. It may therefore be expedient, that these new found Marls be thus agreeably tryed, and though they answer not expe∣ctation the first year, as some say they will notu 1.79, let not their Owners be thus discouraged, but still continue to make frequent tryals, of divers proportions of Earth, at all seasons of the year, with all kinds of Grain upon all sorts of Soil, till they find out the most suitable and necessary circumstances, so shall they in time attain to a knowledge beyond the expectation, and perchance imitation of their Neighbors. But I forbear to in∣struct such Ingenious Persons, as the Owners of the above∣named Marl-pits are: the Orator being accounted little less than a fool, that went about in his Speech to teach Hannibal to fight.

12. But beside these, we have another sort of Earth, of a fat close texture, and greenish colour, so well impregnated with some kind of salt, that put in the fire, it presently decrepitates with no

less noise than salt it self; and in water, after a quick and sub∣tile solution, leaves behind it a kind of brackish tast, which I thought might proceed from a sort of Vitriol, and perhaps true enough, though the water would not tinge with powder of galls: it takes grease out of cloaths extreamly well, and would it but whiten, as Fullers earth doth, I should not doubt to pronounce it the same with the viridis Saponaria, found near Beichling in Thuringia, and mentioned by Kentmannus in his collection of Fossilsw 1.80. This we have in great plenty in Shot-over Forest, where 'tis always met with before they come to the Ochre, from which it is separated but by a thin Iron crust, and may peradventure be as strickt a concomitant of yellow Ochre, as Chrysocolla (another green Earth) is said to be of Gold. At present 'tis accounted of small or no value, but in recompence of the signal favors of its present Proprietor, the Right Worshipful Sir Timothy Tyrril, who in person was pleased to shew me the pits, I am ready to discover a use it may have, that may possibly equal that of his Ochre. Which brings me next to treat of such Earths as are found in Oxford-shire, and are useful in Trades.

13. And amongst these the Ochre of Shotover, no doubt, may challenge a principal place, it being accounted the best in its kind in the world, of a yellow colour and very weighty, much used by Painters simply of it self, and as often mix'd with the rest of their colours. This by Plinyx 1.81, and the Latines, was anciently called Sil, which we have now changed for the modern word Ochra, taken up as some think from the colour of the Earth, and the Greek word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Pallidus; or as others, and they perhaps more rightly, from the River Ochra that runs through Brunswick, whose Banks do yield great quantities of ity 1.82; and from whence in all likelyhood we received the name, upon the arrival of the Angles and Saxons in Britan.

14. They dig it now at Shotover on the east side of the Hill, on the right hand of the way leading from Oxford to Whately, though questionless it may be had in many other parts of it; The vein dips from East to West, and lies from seven to thirty feet in depth, and between two and seven inches thick; enwrapped it is within ten folds of Earth, all which must be past through before they come at it; for the Earth is here, as at most other

places, I think I may say of a bulbous nature, several folds of divers colours and consistencies, still including one another, not unlike the several coats of a Tulip root, or Onyon.

The

• 1. next the turf, is a reddish earth.
• 2. a pale blue clay.
• 3. a yellow sand.
• 4. a white clay.
• 5. an iron stone.
• 6. a white, and somtimes a reddish Maum.
• 7. a green, fat, oily kind of clay.
• 8. a thin iron-coloured rubble.
• 9. a green clay again.
• 10. another iron rubble, almost like Smiths cinders.

And then the yellow Ochre, which is of two parts.

1. The stone Ochre, which we may also call native, be∣cause ready for use as soon as 'tis dug: and

2. Clay Ochre, which because of the natural inequality in its goodness, they wash and steep two or three days in water, and then beat it with clubs on a plank into thin broad cakes, of an equal mixture both of good and bad; then they cut it into squares like Tiles, and put it on hurdles laid on trestles to dry, which when throughly done 'tis fit for the Merchant.

15. Where perhaps by the way it may be worthy our notice, how different either the Ochres, or opinions of men concerning them, are now, from what they formerly were: for whereas Dioscorides (as quoted by Wormiusz 1.83) commends to our choice the lightest earthy Ochre, highly before the other of stone: We on the contrary, and not without reason, prefer the stone Ochre as far before the clay.

16. I was told of a yellow Ochre somwhere between Duckling∣ton and Witney, that serves them thereabout for inferior uses; and met with it beside at some other places, but none so good as this at Shotover; that at Garsington being full of blue streaks, and a small parcel (that was shewn me) taken up about Pyrton inter∣mixed a little too much with red, as if it were now in the trans∣mutation (so much spoke of by Naturalists) by the earth and suns heat; first into Rubrick, or Ruddle, and thence at last into pnigitis, or else black chalk.

a 1.84

17. Now that Nature indeed proceeds in this method, I am almost perswaded by what I have found in Shotover-hill, and else∣where near it: for within two beds next under the Ochre (nothing but a white Sand interceding) there lies another of a much red∣der hue, which first receiving the steams of the earth, is now in the way of becoming a ruddle, and in process of time when it grows adust, may at last make a change into a black chalk; which I should not so easily have been induced to believe, but that at Whately Towns end, near the foot of the hill, where lately some attempts were made for Coal, they met with a vein of such kind of chalk, which perhaps long before might have been nothing but ruddle, and as long before that, a yellow Ochre. But whe∣ther Nature proceed thus or no; or suppose these are not (as some have thought) the several gradations of the same indivi∣dual, yet however, I shall not be guilty of mis-placing, since all three belong to the Painters Trade.

18. To which may be added a sort of Caeruleum, which in English we may render native blue, because naturally produced by the steam of some Mineral, latent under the afore-mentioned Marl at Blunds-Court, amongst which it is found in very good plenty; but yet so thinly coating the little cavities of the earth, and some other bodies (of which hereafter) to which it sticks, that no quantities can be gotten for the Painters use, for whom it would otherwise be very fit, as upon tryal has been found by the worthy M^r Stonor. Kentmannusb 1.85 indeed tells us of a cine∣reous sort of Earth somwhere near Padua, that affords such a blue; but I guess that ours cannot be (nor perhaps is that) the immedi∣ate production of the ambient Earth, but rather of some mineral or metal below it; of which more at large in a fitter place.

19. Hither also may be referr'd a gritty sort of Ʋmbers, found in all parts of the County where there are Quarries of Stone: a courser kind of them I met with near Witney, and a somwhat finer at Bladen Quarry; these somtimes are found in the seams of the Rocks, and somtimes again in the body of the Stone; and not∣withstanding their gritty texture, yet prove useful enough to dressers of Leather. But yet a much finer than either of the for∣mer, has been lately taken up at Waterperry, in the ground, and near the House of the Right Worshipful Sir Thomas Curson, of so

rich and beautiful a colour, that perhaps it might better have been placed among the Ochres, but that mix'd with Oyl, it turned darker than that they call English, and much more so than the spruce-Ochre of Shotover Forest.

20. Beside these, we have another fine Earth, of a white co∣lour, porous and friable, insipid and without scent, dissoluble in water; and tinging it, of a milky colour, and somtimes raising a kind of ebullition in it; found frequently in the lissoms or seams of the Rocks, or sticking to the hollow roofs of them: in short, so altogether agreeable to what Conradus Gesnerc 1.86 (and out of him Boetius de Boot, Calceolarius, Aldrovandus, and Olaus Wormius) calls Lac Lunae, that I could not but think it the very same. And to put all out of doubt, I tryed the Experiment of Daniel Major (who wrote no less than a whole Treatise concerning it) and found according to him, that with Lacca, though I could get none good, it gave the skin so florid a whiteness, that I dare pro∣nounce it a good Cosmetick, and upon that very score have given it place here.

21. I observed it first near the Worcester road, about mid-way between Holton and Sir Timothy Tyrrils, where the Stones taken up, for I know not what use, as also at some places in Whately field, were all in a maner covered with it. And I met with it again near Haseley, in the fields between that and little Milton, and quickly after at long Hanborough, upon stones provided for walling there: I enquired of the Quarry-men what it might be, whether they had made any use, or observations of it, but all I could get would amount to no more, but that it was a sign of a very good Lime-stone.

22. Which also it seems is its character amongst our Neighbors in Ireland, where (we ared 1.87 told) the best Lime-stone is of a gray colour, and if broken, has a white dust that flies away from it. But if we may believe Olaus Wormius, 'tis a sign also of somthing much better than that, who apprehends it to be nothing less than a certain effect of Metallick vapors: Oritur, (saies he, speaking of Lac Lunae) à vaporibus metallicis, qui indies subtiles vehunt exhala∣tiones, quae ubi per saxa in cavitates exsudaverint, humido evocato, quod siccum est remanet & in medullam hanc raram, teneram, & fria∣bilem concrescit.e 1.88 To which Daniel Major not only agrees, but

more particularly adds, that the matter of this Earth proceeds from the metallick vapours of silver ore, by some fermentation raised and sublimed, and then condensed on the sides of the Rocks.

23. Of which, says Gesnerf 1.89, there are two sorts; the one gross and gritty, because immature and crude; the other more perfectly concocted, whiter, lighter, and softer: And of both these we also find here, but whether indicative of silver ore, as in the mentioned places by Johan: Daniel Majorg 1.90, is the great question. In answer whereunto I cannot but add, that though I should be very unwilling, that any Owner, Farmer, or others, should hazard their Fortune upon my weak judgment, without the advice of ancient and experienced Bermen; yet that at Shot∣over, beside Lac Lunae, there are other Symbols of silver Ore.

24. Whereof, if any heed may be given to Pliny, the Ochre before-mention'd may be accounted one: In argenti & auri me∣tallis nascuntur etiam optima pigmenta Sil & caeruleum; where by Sil he means such yellow Ochre, than which, there is no place we know of in the world that has greater plenty, or of equal worth. To which we may add a sort of Iron-stone, which is not Iron-ore, found peradventure in as great quantities here, as it is upon the hills near Schemnitz in Hungary, the greatest Mine-town in that Kingdom: where it seems it is not only a sign of the Ore, but is also of great use in melting of it; whereof saies Dr. Brown, in his Journey thither, that of a liver-colour is counted besth 1.91. Now that we have such an Ore, though I dare not pro∣mise, yet provided we had in the greatest plenty, the liver-co∣lour'd Iron-stone (I dare say it) would not fail us.

25. But if Lac Lunae alone may be a sufficient Index, and if we are not mistaken in the thing it self, as I verily think we can∣not be, none of the places already mention'd can shew it in quantity and goodness too, equal to a Quarry in the Parish of Cornwell, south west and by west about a hundred yards from the Right worshipful Sir Thomas Pennystons house; where it is found so well concocted, and of so great purity, that the driven Snow never appeared whiter; and yet in so great quantity too, that I cannot guess the Mineral, or whatsoever other metal it be, that

gives so great a steam as this, can lie very deep, or be very poor: Yet I shall not presume to advise its owner, the eminent Virtuoso Sir Thomas Pennyston, any further to dig in quest of it, than ac∣cording as he shall want Stone upon other occasions, to sink his Pit for the future, perpendicular to the Horizon, whereas now he takes it as it rises in plano: So that in time, when he is gotten through the Rock, a more certain judgment may be past on what lies under, with little charge or damage to him: Where if in time he finde a Treasure, I am sure the Discoverer will not want his reward, from so Ingenious, and every way so accomplish'd a Person, at least in such proportion as has alwaies been allowed by the Societies of the Mines Royal, and Mineral Battery-works.

26. Beside the notice it gives of Mines, and use it has in cover∣ing the blemishes of the Face, like the Earth Quei of China, men∣tion'd byi 1.92 Kircher; its Medicinal uses are very great. For by Georgius Agricola, and Fernante Imperato; the former whereof calls it Stenomargak 1.93, and the latter Agaricus Mineralisl 1.94: it is thought to have the virtues of the Samian Earth, and to be very beneficial in stopping of blood, and womens diseases. Boetiusm 1.95 holds it to be a good narcotick, and that it safely may be given to procure sleep. And Gesnern 1.96 affirms it to be commonly sold by the Apothecaries of Lucern, and used by Chirurgians to dry gleet∣ing sores; and that given to Nurses, it increases their milk, and quickly makes their Brests apparently swell. And upon this ac∣count it serves me as a seasonable transition to pass next to the Earths of Medicinal use.

27. Of which the most likely I have met with yet, is dug a∣mongst the clay they use for bricks, in the Parish of Nettlebed, not far from the Wind-mill, of as red a colour as Bolus Armenus, but not like that discolouring the hands; strongly adhering, if put to the tongue, but whether provocative of sweat or no, I have not hitherto been able to perswade a tryal. However, let it prove never so good, I'le not promise the owner any great profit, because of the humor we have of despising our own, and only admiring and esteeming those things that are far fetched and dearly bought.

28. But quite of another mind was that famous Physitian,

Mr. Henry Sayer of Magdalene College Oxon, who commonly made use of a cinereous Earth, somwhat tending to yellow, and finely chamletted, that he found at the Quarries, in the gullies of the Rocks in the Parish of Heddington: with which, as I am inform∣ed by my worthy Friend Mr. Cross once his Apothecary, and still living, he did as frequently, and as well procure Sweats, as with any of the Forreign earths whatever.

29. To these may be added a whitish fat earth, formerly of some use in external applications, which they fetch'd, whil'st the waters continued in request, from the orifice of the afore-men∣tioned spring at Goreing, and phansied it at least, to be a very good remedy for the ach of Corns, and some other such mala∣dies: but as soon as the waters began to fail, the earth too (though still there remain enough) began to decline in its reputation, and is now of very little, if of any esteem.

30. There is another white earth of some use in this Coun∣try, which some will have also, as well as Lac Lunae, to deserve the name of a mineral Agaric: it grows for the most part within round hollow Flints, to be had almost every where in the Chiltern Country, and good to stop fluxes boiled in milk; and I was told by an eminent Physitian, has been used in Consumptions with good success. The stone in which it grows they call here a Chalk Egg, and is the same with the Geodes of the ancient Naturalists, of which, because further in the Chapter of stones, I forbear to add more concerning it here.

31. Hither also must be referred not only the earths that are found to be soveraign for Mans preservation, but according to the Logical rule of contraries, such as often have been his destru∣ction too: Whereof there are some in the Parish of North Leigh, that send forth such sudden and deadly steams, that they kill be∣fore the Patient can give the least notice, of which they have had two very deplorable examples.

32. The first whereof happened in August, about twenty years since, when two men of the place imployed to dig a well, first sickned, and wisely withdrew from the work: whereupon it was undertaken by two others of Woodstock, men of greater resolu∣tion and less wisdom; who before they could do any thing con∣siderably in it, sunk down and irrecoverably dyed in the well: which quickly being perceived by a woman above, a Miller hard

by was called to their assistance, who as unhappily as willing∣ly descending to them, also suddenly fell down upon them, and dyed: To whom, after some deliberation taken, another ventures down with a roap about his middle, but he fell from the Lad∣der in just the same manner, and though presently drawn up by the people above, yet was scarcely recover'd in an hour or more.

33. And now again but lately, on the 20^th of August 1674. upon a buckets falling casually into a well, on the south side of the Town, about a furlong from the former, a woman calls her neighbor, a lusty strong man, to go down by a Ladder to fetch up her bucket, who altogether unmindful of the former acci∣dent, soon granted (as it proved) her unhappy request; for by that time he came half way down, he fell dead from the Ladder into the water: the woman amazed, calls another of her Neighbors, a lusty young man of about eight and twenty, who hastily descending to give his assistance, much about the same place also fell from the Ladder, and dyed, without giving the least sign of his change, so suddenly mortal are the damps of this earth.

34. Dr. Boato 1.97, in his Natural History of Ireland, gives ac∣count of an accident that happen'd at Dublin, in a well there so very like ours, that they scarcely differ in any circumstance. And we have a relation in our Philosophical Transactionsp 1.98, of such kind of damps that happen'd in Coal-mines belonging to the Lord Sinclair in Scotland. Now though we must not conclude from hence, that here must therefore needs be Coal; yet, conjoyned with others I know hereabout, I take it not to be so unlikely a sign, but that of all others I know of in the County, I guess this may be the most probable place.

35. For though I think those poysonous and killing steams may indeed more immediatly have their rise from a Pyrites, or Coperas stone, found here in great plenty where-ever they dig; a piece whereof brought me by a friend from thence, upon tast, proved a Vitriol so strong and virulent, that presently from my mouth it so affected my stomach, that I confess for a while I was fearful of danger: yet, it being the common consent of Natu∣ralists, that such Pyrites are nothing but the efflorescence of Mine∣rals,

latent underneath them in the bowels of the earth, my conjecture thereby is not made the less valid.

36. With the Pyrites cinereus, or Coperas stone, not unlikely there may also be some mixture of Arsenic, which advances its malignity to that deadly strength, that no man may approach un∣der pain of death: But that for the future, the insensible inva∣sions of this secret enemy may for ever be avoided; let all work∣men, and such as upon any account whatever have occasion to dig or go down in these wells, first throw down into them a peck of good Lime, which slaking in the water, and fuming out at the top, will so effectually dispel all such poisonous vapors, that they may safely go down, and stay some time unhurt.

37. From these mischievous ones of Vitriol and Arsenic, I proceed to some other more innocent salts, before promised more fully to be handled here, with which some earths being peculiar∣ly qualified, are accordingly disposed to petrifie bodies. How all petrifications are performed by salts, and petrifications per minima, by their subtilest steams, I suppose has already sufficiently been shewn, as also how waters most probably effect them: It remains only therefore now to be proved, that earths as well as waters, do afford such steams as permeate also the most solid texture.

38. To which purpose I met with a curious instance in the Fields between Clifton and Nuneham-Courtney, of a stone that represents a sound piece of Ash, cut both parallel and transversly to the pores, and retaining the grain and colour so well and live∣ly, that no body at sight believes it to be other than a firm and so∣lid piece of wood; and yet this was taken out of grounds there∣about, as far from water as one need to wish. In short, the ver∣sion seems so very perfect, its subject appearing to have been ve∣ry sound and free from rottenness, that either we must own such petrifications as this, to be truly such, and totum per totum, or else allow that stones may grow in grain and colour exactly like wood.

39. But that the latter of these may not so far take place (though the possibility of the thing must not be denyed) as to exclude a possibility of its being somtimes otherwise; I take leave to in∣stance in another petrification made also by an earth, and not by water, that seems to carry a necessity with it, of its subjects once being solid wood: for beside, that it shews the close grain of Oak,

and therefore by Naturalists called Dryites: it was taken up in great quantities too, and out of some of the pieces, (whereof I have one) it may be plainly seen where twigs have come forth, the knots still remaining where they were cut off; so that unless we fly to the sports of Nature, and allow her to imitate almost all things in stone, we cannot well avoid a consent, that this was somtime really Wood. It was casually dug up in the Parish of Wendlebury, in a gravelly ground not far from the Church, and is, I believe, the same Earth mentioned so good for this purpose in our Philosophical Transactionsq 1.99.

40. Thus having considered the principal Earths used in Hus∣bandry, Painting, Medicine, &c. I proceed in the next place to treat of some others, less in value, and put to inferior uses: A∣mongst which we may reckon the very uppermost Turf; which beside for Bowling-greens, and Grass-walks in Gardens, is here not unfrequently used by Thatchers, and laid on Mud-walls, and the tops of Houses, in the place and manner of those we call Ridge-tiles; not that it is so good as Thatching (though some say it better resists the winds) but because in some places Wood is so scarce, that they cannot get spraies to fasten on Thatch; or else the people so poor that they care not to buy them.

41. Also at some other places for want of Wood, they make use of another sort of Turf for fewel, not the upper Green-sword, but an inferior stringy bituminous Earth, cut out like Bricks, for the most part from moorish boggy grounds; in some Coun∣tries called Peat-pits, in others Mosses. The best of this Turf that I have seen in Oxford-shire, I met with at Mr. Warcups in the Parish of North-Moor, but dug as I was informed in Stanton-Harcourt, about a mile distance S. West from the Church: it lies but one spits depth within the ground, and is supposed to be at least four foot thick: They cut it in March, and lay the pieces called Peats to dry on the grass, somtimes turning them; which when reasonably well done, they then pile up like Wheelwrights felleys, leaving every where empty spaces between, that the Air and Wind passing through them, they at length may become dry enough for the fire. They think that the stringy roots, that together with the Bitumen, make up the Peats, do never flourish above the sur∣face: if so, I am somthing confirmed in an opinion, that there are

many subterraneous Plants not noted, of which I intend a dili∣gent enquiryr 1.100. After the Peats are taken out, they fill up the ground again with the grassy earth that was first cut up. And at Cowley, where they also dig them, they usually leave the depth of one spade-graft at the bottom, as a foundation whereon they may grow again, which in the space of twenty or thirty years, 'tis observ'd they will do in the North of England* 1.101.

42. The scarcity also of fireing has induced some People to burn a sort of black substance, of a grain somwhat like rotten wood half burnt, but participating also of a Mineral nature, and therefore by Authors called Metallophytum, or Lignum fossiles 1.102: put into water, it will not swim; and into fire, it consumes but slowly, and sends forth very unpleasant fumes: it is found in a Quarry called Langford-pits, in the Parish of Kidlington, not far from Thrup, about eighteen foot deep under the Rock, where there lies a bed about four inches thick. But at Ducklington I met with a much finer kind, and richer in bitumen; for though on the out side it looks like wood, yet broken, it shews a smooth and shining superficies, not unlike to stone-pitch, and put in the fire, has not near so ill a smell. This was dug, and kindly be∣stowed upon me by the Worshipful William Bayly Esq who told me beside of an Aluminous earth that he somwhere also f••und in his ground. As for the substance, Lignum fossile it is thought to be originally a cretaceous earth, turned to what it is by subterra∣neous heats, which probably at Kidlington may indeed be great, because reflected by the Quarry above it, for that it was never formerly wood, notwithstanding its specious and outward like∣ness, is plain, from its never being found with roots or boughs, or any other signs of wood.

43. At Marsh Balden Heath, and Nuneham-Courtney, they have a sort of earth of ductile parts, which put in the fire scarcely cracks, and has been formerly used by Potters, but upon what account I know not, now neglected. There is also a Clay near Little Milton that might very well serve for the Potters use. And at Shotover-hill there is a white clay, the fourth fold of earth in the way to the Ochre, which during the late wars, in the siege of Oxford, was wholly used for making Tobacco-pipes there; and is

still in part put to that service, mixed with another they have from Northampton-shire. It is also of excellent use to Statuaries, for making Moddels, Gargills, or Anticks; and containing a hard, but very small grit; in polishing Silver, it comes near to Tripela.

44. And so do's an anonymous very white earth, found in the seams of the Quarries at Teynton, which at first I concluded a crude Alabaster, because I found near it a piece that was perfect: but reducing it into a very fine powder, and putting it over a quick fire, it would not boil like Alabaster dust, nor keep the colour, but turned reddish. Many other tryals were made with it, in Pla∣sticks, Polishing, Painting, &c. but my endeavors succeeded in no∣thing so well, as in polishing smaller silver Vessels, that could not endure burnishing well; to which it gave a more glorious bright∣ness than Tripela would, though perhaps not so lasting; and not far behinde that of burnish'd Plate.

45. And yet neither this, nor the former will polish brass, nor any thing else that is not of its colour, which has lately engaged my thoughts in a Query, whether in all other Metals the rule does hold: for I find, that sulphur gives a luster to Gold; and that nothing does brighten Copper so well, as a sort of stuff they call rotten stone, also somthing of its colour.

46. At Teynton also, within a spit of the surface, they dig a sort of earth they there call Lam, of a whitish colour inclining to yellow; which mixt with sand, and some other earth, makes the best earthen floors for ground-rooms and barns: it dissolves as quick as Fullers-earth, and were it not for a fault which might possibly be help'd, it may serve their turns perhaps as well as any they use.

47. To these may be added another whitish earth, which cor∣ruptly I suppose from its colour is called Which-earth; mixed with straw, they use it for side-walls and ceilings, and with horse-dung it makes mortar for laying of stones: it seems to be a natu∣ral mixture of lime and sand, found at Thame, Waterperry, and Adwell, and slakes in water (like Gypsum) without any heat.

48. At Milton near Adderbury, Great Tew, and Stunsfield, I met also with another sort of spungy chalk, which though it will not slake like the former; yet at Milton and Adderbury used for point∣ing, seems to binde the stones of their walls very well: and theirs at Great Tew being somwhat finer, serves as well to white their

rooms within (as I saw at Swerford) as to point walls without: but at Stunsfield there was no body knew of its use.

49. Other earths there are that I find in this County, for whose names, as well as natures, I am quite at a loss; whereof there is one in Sir Thomas Pennystons Park, which for the strangeness of its qualities deserves the first place. Of colour it is extreamly white, of little tast, and less smell; lying in veins in a yellowish clay, like a medulla about the bigness of ones wrist: taken out with a knife, it falls into a fine powder, somwhat gritty, but of so very great a weight, that its double at least to any other earth of its bulk; put in the scale against white Marble dust, it equall'd its weight, and exceeded that of Alabaster by almost a fourth part: set in sand in a glass retort, and driven with a quick and strong fire, it sublimed to the sides of the glass a little, but still preserved its colour and weight, till put between two Crucibles, one invert∣ed upon the other; well luted, and strongly forced in a wind-furnace for about two hours, it lost above the moiety of its weight: for as I well remember, of three ounces put in, there came not out full one and a half, and yet nothing sublimed in the top of the Crucible: the colour still remained as white as ever, and the bulk (as near as I could guess) the same, but now of a strong salt and urinous tast; which after solution, filtration, and evaporation, came at last, to what people as little understood, as what became of its ponderous ingredient.

50. We tryed it also at Cornwell, in Sir Thomas Pennyston's Laboratory, because of its weight with divers fluxing salts, in hopes of some kind of metalline substance, but all, as before, to little purpose. So that I cannot tell what to divine it should be, ex∣cept the Gur of the Adeptists congealed, which they describe in their Books to be much such a thing, which for want of more time to spend in its service, I leave to the discovery of future ages.

51. In the Chalk-pits almost every where in the South-east parts of Oxford-shire, they finde a sort of iron-colour'd terra la∣pidosa, in the very body of the chalk, which I think they call Iron-moulds, and particularly at a place between Brightwell and Berrick, of an oval figure: how they came to be of that shape, or at all grow, in a substance of so different a nature as chalk, I confess to be a problem beyond my knowledge, as well as the

use they may probably have, which I also remit to posterity to find.

52. They have an earth about Teynton of a yellowish colour, adorned all over with glittering sparks, which unless they are particles of the specular stone, or English Talc, with the former must be reckoned amongst the unknown earths.

53. To which add another kind of terra lapidosa found about Thame, at the bottom of their Quarries, it is much of the colour of the Turkish Rusma, hollow and spungy, and full of shining grains like a sort of Pyrites, but of what nature or use I can no where find. Nor of another sort of Clay found at Hampton-Gay, holding a grit of a golden colour, much of the nature of Pyri∣tes aureus, only 'tis not found like that in great pieces, which by our modern Naturalists are called Brass lumps.

54. And thus I had concluded the Chapter of Earths, but that I think it belongs to this place to mention also such accidents as attend them; and therefore must not be altogether silent of an eminent Prospect about a mile from Teynton, where from a Hill North-east from thence, ten Mercat towns in a clear day may plain∣ly be seen. Nor of a small Earth-quake, that on the nineteenth of February, 1665. was observed at divers places near Oxford; as at Blechington, Stanton St. Johns, &c. But it shall suffice just to mention it, Relations (with the concomitants) of it, being al∣ready published:t 1.103 one by the Honorable Robert Boyle Esq and the other by the Learned Dr. John Wallis.

CHAP. IV. Of Stones.

AS in the Chapters of Waters and Earths, I treated only of such as eminently held some salt or sulphur, and were some way or other useful to Man: I intend in like man∣ner in this of Stones strictly to observe the same method, and take notice only of such as either plainly shew those Minerals, and supply the necessities; or are for the ornament, or delight of Man∣kind.

2. How all stones are chiefly made out of salts, with a mixture of earth and somtimes of sulphur, was formerly hinted in ano∣ther place. It remains only that I consider them in a more par∣ticular manner, and shew which they be, and where they are, that hold any of these principles more signally than other, which I suppose by their effects may best be discover'd.

3. In the Road from Oxford toward London, not far beyond Tetsworth, in a hollow way on the rising of a hill, I found a soft stone there-about called Maume, of a whitish colour; whose salt is so free from the bonds of sulphur, that with the frosts and rain it slakes like lime: perhaps half the firing used to burn away the sulphur in other lime-stone, might serve the turn here. An Ex∣periment so very likely to be beneficial to the Country, that I left it with the Son of the ingenious Improver, Sir Thomas Tipping, as a thing not unworthy of his Fathers tryal; but whether he have at all, or but unsuccessfully made any, I have not yet had the favor to hear.

4. In the way to Whitfield, as I rod thither from Tetsworth, I found the ways mended with this kinde of stone, I suppose be∣cause they could get no other, for certainly otherwise there were nothing more unfit, than a stone of so loose and open a salt: much rather with such should they mend their Lands than High-ways, that like lime, marles, and chalk, will slake in the Winter; which I take for so sure a mark of its improving quality, that I can∣not but commend it to the tryal of the Country.

5. And for their encouragement, let me farther tell them, that at a place called Hornton in the North of this County, they com∣monly

use the chippings of the stone dug there in the Quarry, for improvement of the Land, and that not without apparent success: and yet the stone is of a much harder kind, than this at Tets∣worth and in the way to Whitfield.

6. Amongst some MSS. notes of Natural things, I met with one of a stone at Oriel College, commonly called (says the Author) The sweating stone, at which the Birds were constantly pecking and licking; as I guess (if ever there were any such thing) for some kind of saltness they found come from it: I say, if ever there were any such thing, for I find it not in this new, nor re∣mains there any tradition of it in the old College. I therefore pass it by without further notice.

7. However, in short, all stones have so much salt in them, that in some measure they are an improvement of Land, for though it be so close lock'd up with sulphur, that the greatest frosts and rain will not make the stones run, yet there is still such an emissi∣on of saline steams, that some earths have their whole fertility from them. Thus have I seen Fields cover'd with Flints and Pebbles, produce better Corn than where there were none, which perhaps may be a better reason than what is brought by Plinyu 1.104, why the Foreign Coloni that came to Syracuse to inhabit there, and practise Husbandry; after they had cleared the ground of all the stones, could have no Corn, till they had laid them again on the very same ground from whence they had taken them but just before.

8, The like may be observed in walls and buildings, where se∣veral sorts of vegetables, yea trees of great bigness, will thrive and prosper remote from the earth, without any further nourish∣ment, than that they have from the fertile stones, and lime they are laid with, also made out of stones.

9. If it be objected that Pebbles and Flints also hold a sulphur, as well as a salt, and that in all probability Corn and other Vege∣tables may receive their flourishing verdure, rather from the warm comfortable steams of that, then the others of salt, I shall not so much as contend about it, but gladly accept of the oppor∣tunity by this means to pass from stones holding salt only, to such as have also a mixture of sulphur.

10. And such are all that with steel, or any other fit body,

will strike fire, and therefore by a very fit name called Pyrites, un∣der which genus may be reckon'd not only Pyrites strictly taken, but Flints, Pebbles, Sand, and whatever else by any quick and sudden attrition may have its parts kindled into sparks: of which as many as I find eminent in their kind, or are fit for uses, as briefly as may be.

11. And amongst them (as I think most due) for the preroga∣tive of its colour, I assign the first place to the Pyrites aureus, or golden fire-stone, whereof they find great plenty in digging of Wells about Banbury and Cleydon, and somwhere in the River at Clifton near Dorchester: Some of them are taken up in great lumps (and are therefore also called Brass lumps) of uncertain form, whereof I had very rich ones out of the Well of one Boreman of Cleydon. But those from Clifton aforesaid seem to be laminated, and some of them shot into angles like Bristol Diamants, and are mentioned by Aldrovandusw 1.105, which he calls, Pyrites cum fluoribus adnascentibus, and cujus partes cohaerent tanquam lapilli angulosi. These strike fire in great plenty, and for that reason formerly have been much used for Carabines and Pistols, whil'st Wheel-locks were in fashion; and are also very weighty, and perhaps hold metal, which, were it not for the too great proportion of sulphur (whence such Minerals, saith the Learned Willisx 1.106, have chiefly their concretion) that carryeth it away while it melteth in the Crucible, by over volatilizing it, which the Mine-men therefore term the Robber, might otherwise be procured with advantage to the owner.

12. At Aston Rowant, Nettlebed, and Henly, and indeed all along the Chiltern Country, they have another sort of Marcha∣site, within side of a golden, and without of a darkish rusty co∣lour, and therefore at some of the afore-mentioned places called commonly Crow-iron: this sort, if broken and laid in the air, or any other moist place, dissolves into a salt that tastes like ink, and is no question the Pyrites of Kentmannusy 1.107, which for that reason he terms atramenti parens. And such a one is the Pyrites found at North-Leigh, brought me thence by my worthy Friend Dr. Per∣rot, which not only like the former gave the tast of ink, but ex∣pos'd to the air awhile, became cover'd with a white downy salt of the very same tast, which I take to be such a natural atramentum

album, as is said by the same Kentmannus, Efflorescere è pyrite Gos∣lariano, & Radebergensiz 1.108.

13. Next to these, in order of nature as well as dignity, comes the silver Marchasite, under consideration of a white glistering colour, and to be had in the bottom of the River between Clif∣ton and Burcot: this strikes fire as well as the golden Pyrites, but notwithstanding it was exposed in the fittest places, yet would never, that I could perceive, send forth any efflorescence. An∣other sort of them I met with at Deddington, taken out of the afore-mentioned sulphur Well there, of as glorious a colour as the former; but several times tryed on the best Steel I could get, would never yield the least spark of fire: whence I rather con∣cluded it to be argentum felium, or Cat-silver, but that it would not shine in the dark, or consume in the fire: However, it may pass for a sterile nitidum, so often mentioned by Naturalists, it being a glorious nothing, of no kind of use.

14. That Flints, Pebbles, and Sands, are also Pyrites, needs no further evidence than that they strike fire, a thing so obvious to the meanest Observer, that to spend time to prove it, would be lost time to the Reader; it shall suffice therefore to enumerate the several kinds of each, and chiefly to insist upon such as have uses.

15. All along the Chiltern Country of Oxford-shire, Flints are as plentiful as any where else; amongst them the black one, well polish'd, will supply the place of the Lydian stone; and at Henly they use them in making of Glass, of which more anon in the Chapter of Arts. They are found beside of divers other co∣lours, and some of them so transparent, that they seem not only to imitate, but to be the very same with Achats. I have one, found at Dorchester, about an inch and half square, of a flesh co∣lour, and so transparent, that it may well enough deserve the name of Sardachates. Such as this were also shewn me, by the truly Ingenious, the Right Honorable James Lord Norreys of Ri∣cot, and found, as I think his Lordship told me, some where thereabout, and are I do not question the very same stones, that Kentmannusa 1.109 indeed places in his Title of Flints, yet calls them, Pellucentes Sardae colore.

16. Of Pebbles there are some also transparent, to be had a∣bout

Finstock and Nuneham-Courtney; I found them also in the way between New-yate and Ensham, but none comparable to what was shewn me by that great Virtuoso, the Right Worshipful Sir Anthony Cope of Hanwell, the most eminent Artist and Naturalist while he lived, if not of England, most certainly of this County, whose House me thought seemed to be the real New Atlantis, which my Lord Viscount Verulam had only in fansie. The Pebble I remember was about the breadth of ones hand, of a flat form, and yet not much less than an inch in thickness, so clear and pel∣lucid, that no Chrystal that ever I saw yet excell'd it; so that had not its Master, the cautious Artist, took care to leave on it part of its outward coat, few would have believed it had ever been a Pebble.

17. These Pebbles when transparent, make an excellent ingre∣dient for the Glass-works; and so do those which are white, though not transparent, called by some Authors by the name of Quocoli, and perhaps not much different in nature from the Cuogolo of Ferrante Imperatob 1.110, and such are the Pebbles gathered at Tesinoc 1.111, with which they make the purest Glass at the Moran.

18. There are about Goreing and Nuneham-Courtney, a sort of Pebbles of a blue-black colour, that if polish'd, might supply the place of Touch. And about Fawler and Stunsfield are a red∣dish kind, very hard, and for the most part of an oval Figure, so excellent for pitching of streets and stables, and for Painters mullars, that none can be found more fit and durable.

19. After consideration of Flints and Pebbles apart, let us now take a view of them jointly together, for so I found them at Caversham, and Greenvil, and in the way from Pushill to Stonor-house, in clusters together of divers colours, and uni∣ted into one body, by a petrified cement as hard as themselves, and most of them I believe capable of politure* 1.112. But the best of all are in the Close at Stonor, of which there are some so large and close knit, that could the Ingenious Proprietor, Thomas Sto∣nor Esq find a way to slit and polish them without too much charge, he might make him rich Chimney-pieces and Tables of them, so far excelling Porphyrie and Marble, that perhaps they might compare with the best Jasper or Achat. For I have seen such as these found about Hampsted, curiously wrought into handles of

knives by that eminent Artist Sir Anthony Cope; to which few Achats might be compared, perchance none preferr'd, either in the polish or variety of colours.

20. The Ingenious Mr. Ray, amongst other Observations made in his Journey through Italy, &c. tells us, That in the Church of the Benedictines at Ravenna, the Monks did shew him two Marble pillars, for which they said, the Venetians offer'd them no less than their utmost weight in Silver. But the like he says, he had seen elsewhere, at the Library at Zurich, and at Verona in our Ladies Chappel, in the Garden of Seignior Horatio Guisti: their generation at first, says he, was out of a mass of small Flints and Pebbles, united by a cement as hard as themselves, and capa∣ble of politure; which cement, he guesses, was separated by de∣grees from a fluid wherein the stones formerly lay: which I take to be a description so agreeable to ours, that nothing more need be said to promote their tryal.

21. Hither also must be reduced a courser sort of Smiris, dug up in the pits at Whately Towns end, of a cinereous colour, hard and rough, and striking fire as well as a Flint. The best sort of Smiris serves for several uses; but ours is fit only to cut the hard∣er sort of stones, that the sand commonly used will not so well do, and perhaps for some other inferior uses.

22. And to these must be added the several sorts of Sands, which upon violent motions all strike fire, and are commonly, and somtimes promiscuously used, for Building, Hour-glasses, and cutting of Stone. But some there are of a more peculiar and considerable use, and such is that dug in the Parish of Kingham, which after 'tis washed and duly ordered, so perfectly resembles Calis-sand, that it serves and is sold for the very same: it is not found in every place, but they have signs (like Miners) to know where it lies; viz. a sort of stuff that looks almost like rotten wood, which if they meet with under the Turf, they seldom fail of the Sand a little deeper; which they first cleanse from rubbish, and the greater stones, by putting it through a course sieve, then they wash it in a trough and lay it a drying; which when suffici∣ently done, they separate again by a finer sieve, the courser part of it from the finer: the courser serves for wheting of sithes, but the finer sort for scouring pewter, for which purpose it seems 'tis so very excellent, that the Retailers sell it for a penny a

pound, which amounts to above twenty shillings a bushel.

23. Other sands there are also of very good use, to give a consistency and body to glass; the naturally whitest are at Nettle∣bed and Shot-over, but the finest by much at Finstock and Ledwell, which when washed and cleansed, at least equal the former. The first of these has been tryed with success at the Glass-house at Henly: and any of the rest, perhaps, might prove as good Tarso as any they have from France, or is used in Italy, were they but in place where they might be tryed.

24. From Sands, I proceed to Lapis arenarius, commonly cal∣led Free-stone, and used in Building; of which we have as great plenty and variety in Oxford-shire, peradventure as in any other part of England. The Quarry at Heddington, scarce two miles from Oxford, supplies us continually with a good sort of stone, and fit for all uses but that of fire; in which, that of Teynton and Hornton excel it. In the Quarry it cuts very soft and easie, and is worked accordingly for all sorts of Building; very porous, and fit to imbibe lime and sand, but hardening continually as it lies to the weather.

25. Of it in general, there are two sorts; one that they call Free-stone, and the other Rag-stone: but these again are subdi∣vided into several species, according as they are cut or put to di∣vers uses. The Free-stone, if cut cubically into very great blocks, is then by way of eminence called nothing but Free-stone; but if cut into oblong, or other sorts of squares, of a lesser bulk, they then call it Ashler; and the fragments of these of inequilateral, multangular Figures, Scabble-burs. The two first are used in principal Buildings, and the last, if squared, is somtimes mixed with Ashler in Range-work, or by it self in that they call Planten-work in the meaner Buildings: but when not squared at all, is commonly thrown in amongst Rag-stone for walling; for which only, and making lime, that second sort is good, except it rises flat in the bed, and then 'tis worth the while to hew it for paving.

26. Of the stone afore-mentioned consists the gross of our Buildings; but for Columns, Capitels, Bases, Window-lights, Door-cases, Cornishing, Mouldings, &c. in the chiefest work they use Burford-stone, which is whiter and harder, and carries by much a finer Arris, than that at Heddington: but yet is not so hard as

that at Teynton, nor will it like that endure the fire, of which they make Mault-kills, and hearths for Ovens; but then they take care to surbed the stone, i. e. set it edg-ways, contrary to the posture it had in the bed, for otherwise there will be some danger of its flying.

27. Beside the fire, it endures the weather, for of this mix∣ed with another sort dug near Whately, on the Worcester road side, as it passes betwixt Holton and Sir Timothy Tyrrills, are all the oldest Colleges in Oxford built; as Baliol, Merton, Exeter, Queens, Canterbury (now part of Ch. Ch.) College, Durham (now Trinity) College, New College, Lincoln, All Souls, Magdalen, Brasen-nose, and the outermost Quadrangle of St. John Bapt. Coll. yet it en∣dures not the weather so well as Heddington, by reason, I sup∣pose, of a salt it has in it, which the weather in time plainly dis∣solves, as may be seen by the Pinnacles of New College Chappel, made of this stone, and thus melted away.

28. And yet the moisture of water has no such power over it, but that they make of it Troughs and Cisterns, and now of late Mesh-fats for Brewing; first hinted, 'tis true, by Mr. Bayly of Ducklington, but practised by one Mr. Veysey of Teynton, who had the first made him by one Strong a Mason, which it seems did an∣swer expectation so well, that it has since obtained in many other places. Of these, that generous and courteous Gentleman, Sir Compton Read of Shipton under Whichwood, has one that holds a∣bout sixty five bushels, drawn home with no less than one and twenty horses; they ordinarily mesh in it three quarters of Mault, but can, when at any time necessity requires, mesh five at a time: the dimensions of which Vessel of one single stone, taken within the hollow and abating its thickness, because of its vast unusual magnitude, I thought fit to note, and give as followeth;

• long, 2 yards ⅛.
• broad, 1 yard ⅛. and ½ an inch.
• deep, 1 yard ½.

yet much larger than this might be had from the Quarry, were there use for them, or could portage be contrived; for as I was informed by many credible witnesses, there was one single stone dug in this Quarry, containing no less than three hundred tuns. And another in the year 1673. measured by Mr. Veysey, of an

hundred and three tuns, accounting sixteen foot cubic to the tun.

29. Other Quarries there are also of considerable use, as Bla∣den, Little Milton, Barford, and Hornton, whereof the last has the best Fire-stone of any in the County; some of it seems to have Iron-colour'd veins, that receive (as I have seen) a toler∣able polish, and is the stone I mention'd before, whose chippings (laid on it) improve their land, by reason I suppose of the salt there is in it, which may also be the cause it endures fire so well.

30. At Cornbury Park there was a sort of stone, the Quarry whereof is now quite exhausted, that never would sweat in the moistest weather, of which the pavement of the Hall in the house there, still remains as a sufficient testimony: of this, did it rise in great blocks, might possibly have been made very good Mill-stones, the not sweating being a principal qualification in all stones whatever used for Corn-mills.

31. But before we take leave of materials for Building, we must not forget that the Houses are covered, for the most part in Oxford-shire (not with tiles) but slat-stone, whereof the lightest, and that which imbibes the water least, is accounted the best. And such is that which they have at Stunsfield, where it is dug first in thick cakes, about Michaelmass time, or before, to lye all the winter and receive the frosts, which make it cleave in the spring following into thinner plates, which otherwise it would not do so kindly. But at Bradwell (near the Grove) they dig a sort of slat-stone, naturally such, without the help of winter, and so strangely great, that somtimes they have them of seven foot long, and five foot over: with these they commonly make mounds for their Closes, and I have seen a small hovel, that for its whole co∣vering has required no more than one of these stones: and some of them are of so hard and close a texture, that I have known them by Painters of very good skill, preferr'd before Marble for grinding their colours.

32. To stone used in Building they somtimes add Lime, which because for the most part, is here made of stone, must also be handled in this place; for which they count the hardest rag-stone best, but any will make it, says the Learned Willisd 1.113, except such

as is made up of a reddish kind of gravel: the best sign of it here, as well as in Ireland, has been sufficiently hinted in the former Chapter, to be that white and spungy kind of matter, that sticks to the stones in the caverns of the Rocks, and so plentifully found at Cornwell and Whately; at Hanborough, Fawler, and in Cornbury Park. Not but that very good Lime may be had from stone that shews not the least of this sign, as at Bladen Quarry, and many other places, but that none makes better then the stone that has it; except hereafter it may be found true here, what Lachmunde 1.114 asserts of the Bishoprick of Hildesheim, where the best (he says) is made of the hardest stone, quod varia in se Conchylia continet, set full of petrified shell-fish: for if so, our best Lime-stone must be at Charleton and Langley; at Little Milton, and Shot-over Forrest, in the Quarry there on the north side of the Hill, not far from the way to Sir Timothy Tyrrills; at all which places, the stone is stuck full of Cockles, Escallops, and Oysters, of which more anon in the following Chapter.

33. Beside the stone that is used for the substance, there is o∣ther that serves for the ornament of Building, a sort of gray Marble dug in the Parish of Blechington, in the Lordship of the Right Honorable Arthur Earl of Anglesey, Lord Privy Seal: Of this there are several Chimny-pieces and Pavements, in his Lord∣ships House there, well worth the notice; as also at the Right Honorable the Earl of Clarendon's at Cornbury. And of this are the Pillars of the Portico's at St. Johns College in Oxford. They make beside of it Tomb-stones and Tables, and of late also Mill-stones, good enough for the Oyl-mills; but not for the Corn-mills, because of its supposed sweating, to which this is subject in rainy weather, like all other Marbles.

34. Some other stones there are of inferior use, which yet must by no means be past by in silence; whereof I know one so like the Tripoli-stone, in colour, consistence, and for all its uses, that I cannot but think it of the very same kind: to silver it gave that very lasting brightness, that another piece of Plate that was try∣ed against it, receiv'd from the Gold-smiths Tripoli-stone, and proved it self in all respects so much the very same; that would any thing please us not far fetch'd, perhaps there might be no fur∣ther need of sending any more to Africa for it.

35. Nor must I forget the Iron-stone at Shot-over, though oc∣casionally mention'd, and its uses delared, in the immediatly preceding Chapter of Earths: so called, not from any such metal that it holds, but meerly I suppose from the colour 'tis off. This I tryed with the Load-stone and Aqua fortis, thinking thereby, if it held any Iron, it must needs have confest it to one of those two. But I since have found the Experiments but ill applyed, for neither will Cavala (which is the best Iron-ore) answer either of them: So that I do not now condemn it to be no Iron-ore, upon those grounds as at first, but from other considerable differences it has from the known Iron-ores of Glocester-shire and Sussex.

36. There is also near Thame on Cuttlebrook-side, another Iron-colour'd stone, but more spungy than the former, and including within it a blackish kind of Cinder; the most like, of any thing I yet have seen, to Magnesia (in the Glass-houses, called Man∣ganese) only it wants of its closeness of texture and weight: what it should be, or for what use likely, to me I confess is wholly unknown, unless I may call it the Siderites of Plinyf 1.115. I therefore desist to say more about it, but commend it to the dis∣covery of future ages.

37. At Fyfield-merrymouth, in the Field above the Cave lately made by Mr. Bray, in the bank near the Brook, I found a stone of a light yellow colour, made up of glittering Lamellae, or Plates, which according to the description of Georgius Agricolag 1.116, seems not unlike the Samian-stone, found also about Hasda in the Bishop∣rick of Hildesheime, and good only for polishing silver and gold. Such laminated Stones by Nicolas Stenoh 1.117 are thought to be no∣thing but incrustations, made in the confines of a fluid and solid, an opinion that seems to come near to the truth. However it be, it is somthing formed, and may well serve to usher in the next Cha∣pter, which I have wholly reserved for formed stones.

CHAP. V. Of Formed Stones.

AFter Stones made to serve the necessities of Man, and not brought into form but by the tool of the Artist, come we next to consider those that are naturally formed, and seem rather to be made for his admiration than use. Whereof the World is beautified with so great variety, that as on the one hand I cannot but wonder at the great Providence of God, and his most perfect Workmanship, that has thus created the Ʋniverse for Mans delight as well as use: so on the other, I cannot but repre∣hend the petulant despisers of this innocent sort of Learning, who in derision have called it, picking of stones; as if what the Omnipotent and most wise God hath thought fit to create, were not worth the consideration of weak Man. But let such malici∣ous Scoffers know, that 'tis their pride and ignorance that has engaged them in this Censure: for as God has created them, so some things must be written off meerly for information, as well as others that tend to our advantage. Beside, who knows but these things may have a use, that hereafter may be discover'd, though not known at present. Since then their Exceptions are so ill grounded, that they vanish in a manner as soon as named, 'tis but just that I pay them in their own coyn, and slight their judgment more than they dare do my subject.

2. In the handling whereof, though in a particular Chapter, I shall observe the method of the whole Essay: And first treat of such formed stones as either in name, or thing, or both, relate to the Heavenly Bodies or Air; and next, such as belong to the Wa∣tery Kingdom: After them, such as resemble Plants and Animals, whether in the whole, or parts. And lastly such stones, wherein contrary to all rule, Dame Nature seems to imitate Art; for so far from idleness (says a very good Authori 1.118) is Nature in the bowels and dark caverns of the earth, that she continually plays the Geo∣metrician there, and presents us with Bodies, almost of all kinds, in stone.

3. Amongst the stones that have relation to the Heavenly Bo∣dies, the first place I think may be reasonably given to such as respect the greater Lights; upon which account, since the Helio∣trope is not found here, much less the Gemma Solis, mentioned by Plinyk 1.119: The Selenites or Moon-stone must have the precedence, which we find in great plenty in a bluish clay that lies above the Rock at Heddington Quarry, and in digging Wells, &c. at Hampton-Gay and Hanborough.

4. Where by the way let it be noted, that I intend not by the Moon-stone, the grey Tephrites of Plinyl 1.120, that grows like a Crescent, by the Greeks called Menöis; nor that other strange stone men∣tion'd by Pliny and the Poet Marbodeusm 1.121, corporeally containing the Figure of the Moon increasing and decreasing, like that in the heavens: but a stone so called, not from its figure, but (as 'tis honestly confest by Gesnern 1.122 and Agricolao 1.123) that only represents the Image of the Moon, in all its phases, but best at full, just as it were in a glass, and therefore by Authors is somtimes called also Lapis specularis.

5. And thus much will our Selenites do, if obverted to the raies of the Moon in right angles; which if all that is really in∣tended by the name, (for the very same reason) I know not why it may not as well be called the Sun-stone too, since it equally re∣presents the one as well as the other.

6. But though it hath nothing of the Moon in figure, yet it is commonly found of a certain shape, in circuit hexangular, but with two of the sides broader and more depressed, in the form of a Rhomboides, as in Tab. 2. Fig. 1. a. and therefore the learned Stenop 1.124 (which I think its best name) not unfitly stiled it Selenites Rhomboides. Besides the two larger Rhomboideal sides, it hath eight others of an oblong square, in all making up a decahe∣drum parallelipipedum; whereof the squares of the two shorter sides of the great Rhomboides, one is somtimes a right angled ine∣quilateral parallelogram, as in Tab. 2. Fig. 1. and the other a Rhomboid; and somtimes again they are both Rhomboids, but those on the longest sides of the great Rhomboids, as far as I have observed, are always Trapeziums.

7. As to its texture, the grain runs several ways, but slits the

easiest of any of them, in a planum to the more depressed Rhom∣boideal sides; which way it may be cut into very thin plates by Aldrovandusq 1.125, called Scaias, for which reason 'tis called also A∣lumen Scaiolae; not that it has the tast of Alum, or any thing like it. It breaks also another way into small threds, of which it seems chiefly to be composed, much after the manner of Amian∣tus or Talc, but its parts not so pliant as either of them: these threds lie for the most part, close and paralel to the longer sides of the great Rhomboids, as they are describ'd in Tab. 2. though I have seen them somtimes also parallel to the shorter; but they seem not to be continued the whole bredth of the Rhomboid, but divided by other parallel lines of a greater distance, that som∣times are subtended to the acute angles of the Rhomboid, but most commonly run in a more oblique posture, as may likewise be seen in Fig. 1. a. In these lines its parts are also easily separated, but breaking short off, and nothing so flexible as they are when bro∣ken as the threds run. According to some peculiar positions of these parts, there are some of them that really represent the Rain-bow, whereof I have some with the colours as vivid, as I ever saw any in a glass Prism. Of these Aldrovandus had one out of Cyprus, of which he has given us a Cut in his Musaeumr 1.126; but it being in Mans power to make these Rain-bows as he pleases, I think even those we find thus, to belong of the two rather to ca∣sualty than nature, and therefore pass them by.

8. There is, 'tis true, a sort of them of a different figure, not so easily to be met with, with only two depressed sides, and scarce any angles, but what are so obtuse that they deserve not the name, in the whole almost of an Oval form, as represented Tab. 2. Fig. 1. b. This sort of Selenites, besides the shape, is also so different from the former in texture, that it slits not like that into plates or scales, parallel to the most depressed sides, but quite contrary parallel to the thickness only; which I take to be a character abundantly sufficient, to make it of a different species from the other, though in the rest of their texture they be much the same.

9. About the origin of this matter, Authors differ much; a∣mongst whom Galens 1.127 makes it the dew of Heaven, congeled, as he says, by the light of the Moon, and therefore calls it by the name of Aphroselinum, but restrains the performance of the feat

to Egypt. Enceliust 1.128 thinks it a sort of moisture of the earth, so concreted, that like Chrystal it will not dissolve, but remains as it were an indissoluble Ice, whence the Germans took occasion to call it Glacies Mariae. But that learned and industrious investiga∣tor of Nature, Georgius Agricola, differs from them all, and makes it a product of Lime-stone and water, Gignitur (says he) ex saxo calcis cum pauca aquâ permistou 1.129; and thus I find it to grow here with us at Heddington, in a blue clay that lies over the Quarry, whose outermost crust is a hard Lime-stone.

10. The learned and ingenious Stenow 1.130 in his Prodromus, thinks Chrystalls and Selenites's, and all other Bodies having a smooth surface to have been already hardened, when the matter of the Earth, or stones containing them, was yet a fluid; if so, indeed Agricola must be out in his aim. But I cannot see how our bed of clay at Heddington, above the Quarry at some places ten foot thick, could have been a fluid within some ages past; and yet of the Selenites's of the Rhomboideal Figure, I find some as small as a Barley-corn, some about three inches, and others again at least half a foot long: so that they seem rather to have some succession of growth, and now to be in fieri; than to have been all together already hardened, when the clay that now contains them was but a fluid. Beside, they then would have been found close together, whereas we here meet them some higher some lower, and mix'd all together little and great; and the very clay it self, as 'tis broken to pieces, seeming somwhat inclinable to this sort of form.

11. A third sort we have of them also found here at Hedding∣ton, in the very same clay, as also at Cornwell and Hanwell; with two sides like the former, more depressed then the other, in com∣pass also hexangular (the thinest sides of them being divided by a ridge) but in the form, not of a Rhomboid, but an inequilateral parallelogram, as in Tab. 2. Fig. 1. d* 1.131. Some of these we find single, lying in any posture, the biggest scarce an inch broad, or above four inches long; and others joined together in a certain position, with their flattest sides towards each other, and edges downward, and their ends constantly meeting in a center. The Ingenious Sir Thomas Pennyston has observed, that at Cornwell they generally lye in ternaries, but here at Heddington we find them

oftentimes more, and not unfrequently irradiating all manner of ways into the form of a Globe, the several Selenites, like so many radii, all pointing to the center, as is plainly represented by one half of such a globe of them, in Tab. 2. Fig. 1. c.

12. The texture of these is somthing agreeable, and somthing different from the Rhomboideal Selenites, for they all cleave in a planum to the flattest sides, and seem to consist of small threds like them; but some have the threds running obliquely to the whole square, as in the lower part of Fig. 1. d. others have them meeting in the middle of the flat in an obtuse angle, as in the up∣per part of the same Figure.

13. The meeting of which threds so in an obtuse angle, I thought at first might have very well occasioned that representa∣tion of the gramen segetum paniculâ sparsa, fair panicled corn or bent-grass, to be seen in most, if not all of this kind (which like a fly or spider in amber) seem to be included at each end of them, with the panicles turned contrary to each other: But I quickly found my self mistaken, by slitting of several, whereby I dis∣covered, that the threds somtimes ran quite contrary to the spreading panicles of the corn or bent-grass (so very well coun∣terfeited in many of them) and therefore not likely to give that form: And that the thing it self was nothing but clay, thus pre∣tily dispersed in the form of a bent; which beside the pleasure of the surprizal, gave me another argument against Steno's opini∣on, That Selenites's were all hardened, when their beds they now lie in were nothing but fluids: for it cannot well be conceived how the clay should any way get to be within them, had it not had a being before the selenites, and thus included at the time of their formation.

14. Of formed stones, though there are few that have any, yet some there are of eminent use, and such is our selenites or specular stone; good taken inwardly for many distempers, number'd up by Cerutusy 1.132, Aldrovandusz 1.133 and Galena 1.134; and externally to take away the blemishes of the face. In ancient times, before the in∣vention of glass, it was of very great use for Lanterns and Win∣dows, it being easily slit into very thin plates, yet loosing nothing thereby of its diaphaneity. Of this says Agricolab 1.135, are the

Church-windows made at Caswick in Saxony, and Merseburg in Thuringia, which certainly must be of a different sort, from what is described by Aldrovandusc 1.136 and Wormiusd 1.137: the one whereof says 'tis imbrium impatiens; and the other, humido corruptibilis. I exposed this of ours many rainy days, but could not find that from the weather it received any damage, and therefore guess it to be the same describ'd by Agricola: I steeped it likewise many days in water, but found not any sensible alteration of its body, though it gave the water both an odd smell and tast. As for Lan∣terns and Windows; so they anciently used it in making of Bee-hives, that through it they might see the Bees operations, as in glass∣hives now: an Invention by some people taken for new, though very well known in the days of Plinye 1.138.

15. Out of burnt selenites is made the best gypsum, for Plai∣stering, Images, Fret-works, &c. When burn'd, it turns to a pure white Calx, by the Italians called Gesso, from the Latin word gypsum: Of this they make those curious counterfeit Tables, like Marble in-laid with divers Pretious stones, in the forms of Ani∣mals, Plants, &c. The way of making them is taught us by Kir∣cherf 1.139; but there is a friend of mine has a better method, who in∣tends very speedily to make some attempt to make them in Eng∣land, and of English materials. And so much for our first form∣ed stone Selenites, on which I had not dwelt so long, but to sup∣ply the defects of other Authors, whose descriptions of it are but mean and imperfect.

16. After the Moon-stone, the Asteriae, or Star-stones, next offer themselves to our consideration, which, to avoid the con∣fusion of other Authors, I shall only call those, whose whole Bodies make the form of a Star, as in Tab. 2. Fig. 2, 3, in oppo∣sition to the Astroites, which in the whole are irregular, but a∣dorned as it were with a Constellation, as in Fig. 4, 5, 6 and 7.

17. The Asteria, or star-stone, otherwise by Gesnerg 1.140 called Sphragis Asteros, or sigillum stellae, because of the use it is som∣times put to, is plentifully found in the Fields at Cleydon, the most Northern Parish of the whole County, Northward from the Church, and particularly on the Furlong called Hore-stone Furlong: the texture of as many as I have yet seen, seems to be

of thin lamellae or plates, lying obliquely to the Horizontal posi∣tion of the Star, much after the manner of Lapis Judaicus, and their colour various, according to the different Soils they are found in: whence 'tis, that in Glocester-shire and York-shire, where they are taken out of a blew clay, they are almost them∣selves of the same colour, breaking, as the Ingenious Mr. Lister informs ush 1.141, Flint-like, and of a dark shining politure. In War∣wick-shire they are accordingly, and in some places also of Glo∣cester-shire, of a cinereous colour. And here at Cleydon, because taken forth of a yellowish earth, of a yellow colour, herein va∣rying from all I had seen before. They differ much also from those of other Counties in circumference and softness; for here we have them ordinarily of above an inch and half, and scarce any so little as an inch in compass; than which in those Counties there are but few bigger. And whereas in other Counties they are so hard and so firmly cemented, that 'tis very difficult, if at all possible, to separate them from each other, without spoiling the Intagli or workmanship of the Stars; these if but steeped a night in vinegar, or other sharp liquor, may be divided the next morning with safety and ease.

18. And as in colour, circumference, and hardness; so these sometimes differ from those of other places in figure too, as Tab. 2. Fig. 2. where beside the sculpture that makes up the an∣gles, there is plainly represented a rose, or other uniform figure, in the middle of it, which I never saw at any other place, nor indeed are such often to be met with there.

19. In all other matters, I think these Asteriae of Cleydon a∣gree with the accurate description of them, by the Ingenious Mr. Listeri 1.142; all seeming to be fragments, and no intire Bodies, and found either in one single joint, as in Tab. 2. Fig. 2. or in 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, or 15 heaped together, as in Fig. 3. making a penta∣gonous cylindrical column, of which I met with none that were full an inch long; but however, guess that about 20 joynts, as in o∣ther places, may go to an inch: every joynt consists of five an∣gles, which in some are very obtuse, in others more acute; the middle of each angle is a little hollowed, and the edges more prominent and thick furrowed, by which the several joynts are knit together, their ridges and furrows being alternately let into

one another. In the center of the five angles is a small hole, con∣spicuous enough in most of them; but in some I have observed the small hole on one side, and a little prominency on the other, fit as it were to be let in to the Central-hole of the next joynt, after the manner of the ridges and furrows of the angles.

20. Many of these longest jointed Asteriae, have certain joynts a thought broader and more prominent than others, dividing the whole body as it were into certain conjugations, of two, three, or more joynts; which conjugations, says the learned and curious Observer, Mr. Listerk 1.143, are marked (as he calls them) with sets of Wyers, which though I could not perceive in any found at Cleydon, yet when I put a column of them into Vinegar, at those very places I could perceive bubbles, standing as it were at the ori∣fices, where formerly these Wyers were in all likelyhood inserted, by no means otherwise visible to the eye. And whereas 'tis cer∣tain that most of these in other Counties, if of any considerable length, are not straight, but visibly bent and inclining; these are not now, or scarce appear to have ever been so, though pos∣sibly this may rather be referred to the shortness of those I met with, or ill luck in finding none of the kind, than to any diffe∣rent operation in nature here, from her usual performances in o∣ther places.

21. They are found also about Swerford of the same colour, but nothing so plentifully, or large as these at Cleydon, for the biggest I found there was scarce an inch round; in all other re∣spects they correspond with them, only the conjugations, made by the prominence of some joynts beyond the rest, are more visi∣ble in these than in any at Cleydon.

22. Of Astroites or starry-stones, such as in bulk are irregular, but adorned all over with many stars, there are no less in this County than four several sorts: Whereof, in two, the stars are in mezzo Rilievo, prominent, and standing outward, with the striae or streaks descending from the Center at the top, on all sides to the Rock on which they grow. Some of these are of a larger, as Tab. 2. Fig. 4. and others of a smaller kind, as Tab. 2. Fig. 5. both found in the Quarries of rubble-stone, dug only for mend∣ing the High-ways, not far from the foot of Shot-over Hill, on the right hand of the road from Oxford to London, in the Parish of Heddington.

23. A third sort there is, and indeed the most beautiful of a∣ny it has been hitherto my luck to meet with, to be had in the Fields about Steeple-Barton, first discovered to me by a worthy Gentleman, since deceased, the Worshipful Edward Sheldon Esq to whose furtherance of my design I am not a little indebted. But these, quite contrary to the former, are Intagli, deeply en∣graven like a seal, and striated from the prominent edges above (which for the most part are Hexagons, and somtimes Pentagons) to a center in the bottom, as in Tab. 2. Fig. 6. yet agree with the former in this, that the Stars of all three are only superficial, and not to be found in the body of the stone, and have none of them (that I know of) been any where noted before.

24. To these add a fourth sort, imperfectly described by Ges∣ner, and out of him by several others; whose striae, like the third sort, descend in a concave, but from edges most times round, or quinquangular at the top, and tend to a center not of their own kind, as in Fig. 6. but smooth; and not depressed, but visibly prominent, as in Fig. 7. These are found in the afore-mentioned Quarries of rubble-stone in the Parish of Heddington, and are stellated not only in the superficies of the stone, but quite through the whole depth of it, yet not so that one continued star (as some have thought) does reach th••••ugh it; but many, according to the thickness of the stone, about ten of them lying in the depth of an inch, much after the manner of the Asteriae or star-stones, only they are not separate, but joined together, and making as it were so many ranges in the stone, which are clearly represented by Fig. 8. which shews the face of such a stone, cut parallel to the descent of the stars in its body, which lie within one another like so many cones.

25. Of this sort in France there are some so great, as Gesnerm 1.144 was informed by Petrus Bellonius, that they used them in building of Walls and Houses; to which use 'tis true we do not put ours, but I suppose it is not for want of bigness, but because we have much better stone for that purpose: for here we have them like∣wise so plentifully and great, that we commonly pave our Causeys with them, as may be seen in the Causey without St. Clements, leading from Oxford up Heddington hill.

26. Having hitherto considered these stones apart, and seen l 1.145

how they differ from one another, let us now consider them all together in that admired quality of their moving in Vinegar, which in some measure is found in the Astroites, but is much more signal in the Asteriae or star-stones: for the Astroites must be broken in very small pieces before they will move, though put in good Vi∣negar, but the Asteria will move not only in a whole joynt, but two or three of them knit together, which I have often seen done by the yellow ones of Cleydon, though of greater bulk than those of other places; which joined, with some other circumstances anon to be mention'd, has given me ground to suspect, if not conclude, that though it may be true enough what Mr. Listern 1.146 has asserted, as well of all fossils, as the stones Astroites, that as many of them as Vinegar will corrode as a Menstruum, do all move in it; yet none of them reach the effects it has on the Asteria, to which therefore I must crave leave to allow somwhat more than either to the Astroites or any other fossils.

27. For beside the progressive motion to be seen in those, the Asteria has a motion of circumgyration, and moves brisker and longer than any of them; for though it hath been steeped in Vinegar three or four days, yet upon infusion of a fresh acid, it still sends forth many little bubbl•• as at first, from underneath it, in the instant of its motion: which seems to argue, that it has it not wholly from the corrosion of the Menstruum, but in part at least from some other principle, which I take to be a spi∣rituous, yet corporeal effluvium, continually flowing from it, when provoked by an acid.

28. Whereof there is one, which hereafter shall be publick, found out indeed by chance at the House of Mr. Wildgose, Physi∣tian at Denton, and an ingenious Chymist, whose assistances (in gratitude) I must ever own: where not having Vinegar so ready at hand, we thought fit to make use of another suitable liquor, which so effectually excited the effluviums of the stone, that they ascended in a cloud to the surface of the Menstruum, and there setled exactly in the form of the stone, and that not only of a sin∣gle joynt, but a whole column of them together: which perswa∣ded me, that Cardano 1.147 was not so far out of the way, nor deserved so much the reproofs of Aldrovandusp 1.148 and others, for asserting the motion of such stones to arise, from vapors expelled from

them by the power of the Vinegar. Since perhaps his position (though not so well made out) comes nearer to truth than any his Animadverters have brought for it since.

29. After the stones some way related to the Celestial Bodies, I descend next to such as (by the vulgar at least) are thought to be sent us from the inferior Heaven, to be generated in the clouds, and discharged thence in the times of thunder and violent showers: for which very reason, and no other that we know of, the an∣cient Naturalists coined them suitable names, and called such as they were pleased to think fell in the Thunder, Brontiae; and those that fell in showers, by the name of Ombriae: Which though a∣mongst other Authors has been the only reason why these have had place next the stellated stones, yet methinks it is due to most of them, by a much better pretence, having somthing up∣on them that rather resembles a star of five points, than any thing coming from the clouds, or the Fish Echinus; to the shell where∣of deprived of its prickles, Ʋlysses Aldrovandusq 1.149, and some o∣thers, have compared them, and therefore called them Echinites. However, I think fit rather to retain the old names, though but ill applyed to the nature of the things, than put my self to the trouble of inventing new ones▪

30. Of Brontiae therefore, or Ombriae (call them which you will) we have several sorts in Oxford-shire, which yet all agree in this, that they are a sort of solid irregular Hemisphears; some of them oblong, and having somwhat of an oval; others either more elevated, or depressed on their bases. All of them divided into five parts, most times inequal, rarely equal, by five rays issuant from an umbilicus or center, descending from it down the sides of the body, and terminating again somwhere in the base. They are never found in beds together, like some other formed stones, nor that I have yet heard of (says the Ingenious Mr. Rayr 1.150) in great numbers in one place: but in the latter I must take leave to inform him, that though I think it in the main to be true, yet that at Tangley, Fulbrook, and all about Burford, they are found in such plenty, that I believe it were easie in a little time, to pro∣cure a Cart-load of the first sort of them, carefully exhibited in Tab. 2. Fig. 9, 10.

31. Whose innermost texture, though it seem to be nothing

more than a course rubble-stone, yet is thinly cased over with a fine laminated substance (the plates lying obliquely) much like Lapis Judaicus: In form they are flat, depressed upon the basis; in colour generally yellow, their rays made of a double rank of transverse lines, with void spaces between the ranks, visible enough on the top of the stone Fig. 9. but not so distinguishable on the bottom Fig. 10. the whole body of the stone, as well as the spaces included within the rays, being elsewhere filled with An∣nulets, much more curiously wrought by Nature, than by the tool of the Graver.

32. The center of these rays, by Pliny called Modiolus, by A∣ristotle, Ʋmbilicuss 1.151, is never placed on the top of the stone, but always inclining to one side, as that at the bottom do's to the o∣ther; the Axis lying obliquely to the Horizon of the stone. Which gave occasion to a Learned Society of Virtuosi, that during the late Usurpation lived obscurely at Tangley, and had then time to think of so mean a subject, by consent to term it the Polar-stone, having ingeniously found out, by clapping two of them together, as suppose the Fig. 9, and 10. that they made up a Globe, with Meridians descending to the Horizon, and the Pole elevated, very nearly corresponding to the real elevation of the Pole of the place where the stones are found.

33. The two next, represented Fig. 11, 12. like the former, being flat and depressed on their bases, having also some resem∣blance of a star of 5 points, were therefore thought fit to be placed next. Whereof the 11 indeed is a beautiful stone, found somwhere in the Chiltern about Aston Rowant, whose inner sub∣stance, though of black Flint, to outward view is of a cinereous colour, and adorned by Nature with somwhat more than ordi∣nary. For beside the Modiolus, and the issuing rays made of dou∣ble ranks of points, with transverse lines interceding them, it is also set with other points surrounded with double Annulets; on each side the stone with a single, and from the terminations of the rays with double ranks. The points thus surrounded, are neither deeply excavated, nor any thing prominent above the superficies of the stone; but the rays as they are but short (not extending above half way to the rim of the stone) so they are deeply hollowed down within it, wherein it differs,

33. From that of Fig. 12. found in the Fields about Ifley, whose rays like those of the Polar stones, are made of double ranks of transverse lines, whereof the outermost are much the longer, and extended likewise to the rim of the stone; its sub∣stance also like that seems to be a yellow rubble, but not cased that I can perceive with any such laminated substance, or adorned with Annulets, yet the Ʋmbilicus of some of them, is more beautiful than theirs, it being somtimes divided and foliated like a Rose. And so much for the Brontiae depressed on their bases.

35. Let us now proceed to others of a more elevated kind, whereof those expressed Fig. 13. found somwhere in the Chil∣tern, by the Country people called commonly Cap-stones, from their likeness to a Cap laced down the sides, are of any the most uniform. For the centers of these, both at the top and bottom, are on all hands equidistant from the rim of the stone, and the rays interceding the centers being also equidistant, cut it exactly into five equal parts; which in none of the former, nor those that are to follow, either by reason of their shape, or excentricity of their Modioli, can possibly be found. The rays of these are made of two rows of points set pretty deep in the body of the stone, out of which you are to suppose, according to Aldrovandus (who resembles this stone to a disarmed Echinus) proceeded the prickles that Animal is fenced with.

36. As also that other somwhat of an oval form, Tab. 2. Fig. 14. whose center corresponds with the figure of the stone, and is not concluded within the rays, as in the former, but is extended in a ridge to the rim of it: from which center there descend as it were double rays, made up of two double sets of points; which, expanding themselves as they draw toward the rim, at about mid∣way are surrounded with single Annulets, which each of them including two points apiece, are therefore all of an oval Figure. Its substance within is a black Flint, though without it appear of a cinereous colour, and was found in the Fields between Ewelm and Brightwell.

37. At Pyrton I met with another of these, a black Flint with∣in, and cinereous without, of oval figure and center like the for∣mer, but the descending rays from it of a quite different kind: for whereas they were made of points hollow and deep, these on the contrary are all prominent; and whereas they de∣scended

[illustration] table of formed stones

TAB II ad pag: 92.

To the right Worsp^ll. The learned and curious Artist S^r IOHN COPE Baron. This second Table of formed STONES whereof y^e 9^th. & 10^th. are found in his own grounds is humbly dedicated by R. P. L L. D.

M Burgh••••rs. delin. et sculp.

in double branches and points, which near the rim were included in oval Annulets; the double and protuberant points of these, about mid-way to the rim are turned into single, though much larger ones, as in Tab. 3. Fig. 1. which now de∣scending in single points, and meeting in an Ʋmbilicus not in the middle of the basis, but so much to one side, that the branches upon this account being some longer some shorter, and crossing the basis in a much different manner, make a figure somwhat re∣sembling a Flower-de-lis, as in Tab. 3. Fig. 2. which had been all I should have said concerning these Brontiae, but that perhaps it may not be unworthy our notice.

• 1. That the protuberancies of this last stone are all hol∣low, which when broken, look just like the hollow points of the former; which has given me some ground to suspect, that the deep points of that may have formerly been eminencies like the raised points of this, and are only broken down by the injuries of time.
• 2. That none of these Brontiae have been described be∣fore, but the 12 and 13 of Tab. 2. which indeed are somwhat like the 8 and 10 of Aldrovandust 1.152: and
• 3. That though some Authors have thought them the petrified shells of the Echinus Spatagus, or Brissus of Aristotle, I have reason to think (as shall appear in a fitter place) that they will prove nothing less.

38. Beside the Brontiae of the Forreign Naturalists, we have others, which here in England we call likewise Thunder-bolts, in the form of arrows heads, and thought by the vulgar to be indeed the darts of Heaven: which only in conformity to my own Coun∣try (though for as much reason as the foregoing Brontiae) I have placed amongst the stones related to the Heavens.

39. From their form, by all Naturalists they are called Bele∣mnites, from the Greek word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 telum, which indeed there are some of them represent pretty well. We have of them in Oxford-shire of divers sorts, yet all of them I find agreeing in this, that their texture is of small striae, or threds radiating from the center, or rather axis of the Stone, to the outermost superficies; and that burn'd, or rub'd against one another, or

scraped with a knife, they yield an odour like rasped Horn.

40. In magnitude and colour they differ much, the biggest I have met with yet, being that exprest in Tab. 3. Fig. 3. in length somwhat above four inches, and in thickness much about an inch and ¼. This was found in the Quarries in the Parish of Hedding∣ton, hollow at the top about an inch deep, and filled with a kind of gravelly earth; and has the rima or chink, which Aldrovan∣dus and Boetius say all of them have; but I find it otherwise, as shall be shewn anon. Of colour it is cinereous, inclining to yellow, and if vehemently rubb'd, is the only one amongst all that I have, that like Amber takes up straws, and some other light bodies.

41. There are of them also of a bluish colour, found at Great Rolwright in a bluish clay, of about a fingers length, hollow at the top, and have some of them, instead of one, three clefts or rimae, but neither so plain or long as the former, they ascending from the cuspis scarce half up the stone: two whereof are shewn Fig. 4. and the third hidden behind the Sculpture; which may make some amends for that of Fig. 5. which is of colour cine∣reous and hollow at the top, but has no chink at all; whereof there was a bed found in digging the Sulphur Well at Mr. Lanes of Deddington, as was mentioned before in the Chapter of Wa∣ters.

42. To which add a fourth sort, found in great plenty in the Gravel-pits without St. Clements, in the suburbs of Oxford, very few of them hollow at the top like the former, but radiated like a star from a closer center, as in Fig. 6* 1.153. which made Gesneru 1.154 think it to be the Astrapias of Pliny, though expresly he says, 'tis of a white or azurew 1.155, whereas this is always of an amber colour: yet draws not straws, is somwhat transparent, and may therefore pass for a sort of Lapis Lyncurius; not that it has original from the urine of that Beast, for we have plenty of the stones here and none of the animals, but from the unpleasant smell it has when burn'd or brayed; like the urine of Cats, or such like ramish creatures, whereof the Lynx perhaps may be one. These, most of them, are made tapering to a point like the former; yet som∣times having a blunter ending, and the chink on both sides, I thought fit rather to shew it in that form than the other, as in

Fig. 6. where the cleft runs not only the whole length of the stone, but quite under the end, and half way up the other side.

43. Many are the Medicinal uses of this stone, mentioned by Boetius, Aldrovandus, and Gesner: Whereof the chief are, 1. For the stone, for which (instead of the Eurrhaeus) 'tis used in Spain and Saxony. 2. For exsiccation of wounds in Prussia and Pomerania. And 3. for ocular distempers in Horses, in all parts of England.

44. Thus having run through the supposititious stones from Heaven, I next descend to the Atmosphere, or inferior Air, im∣mediatly encompassing the terraqueous Globe; which though in∣capable of it self to be represented in stone, yet having met with some related to its Inhabitants, I mean the feathered Kingdom, I thought fit to give them place before those of the Waters.

45. Whereof the first and only one, represented in Sculpture Tab. 3, Fig. 7. has perfectly the shape of an Owls head, which because not mention'd by any Author that I know of, I thought good to exhibit, and call Lapis Bubonius; it is a black flint with∣in, and cinereous without, and was found near to Hardwick in the Parish of Whitchurch.

46. To which I might have annex'd the stone Hieracites, found frequently in the Quarries in the Parish of Heddington, but is not the Hieracites mention'd by Plinyw 1.156, which he says alternatly changes its colour; but of Gesnerx 1.157, to whose figure of it, ours is exactly like: but neither his nor ours resembling any thing of a Hawks, or other Birds feathers, so much as to deserve a cut, or the Readers view; I have saved my self the expence, and him the trouble.

47. Next the Air, the stones that concern the Watery Kingdom, fall in order of Nature under consideration, whereof there are some that seem to be nothing else but meerly concreted drops of water, found plentifully in the Fields about Kircklington and North∣brook, which I touched on before under petrifications, and pro∣mised to treat of more largely here. By Authors they are cal∣led Stalagmites, and seem either to be generated of pearls of dew, setled on the stones as they lie in the Fields, which first being coated over with the small terrene atoms that are flying in the Air, and by that means kept in their own form for some considerable

time, are thus at length fix'd into a friable kind of stone, by the petrifying steam that comes from the earth; or else they are exsu∣dations out of the stones themselves, whence are formed those ex∣crescencies like warts in Animals: neither of which seem unagree∣able to their description in Tab. 3. Fig. 8.

48. But beside the Stalagmites, there are other concretions made of much the same materials, viz. of a cold sort of water, thick∣ned with terrene and petrifying particles; which yet because of their different mode of generation, have obtained a different, and more suitable name: And such are the stones made of nothing but such water, as it drops from the roofs and caverns of the Rocks, and therefore called Stalactites, or Lapides stillatitii; which, if the drops descend by the sides of the Rocks, and com∣ply with the usual raggedness of them, are then indeed of vari∣ous and the rudest forms, and by the work-men called Craumey 1.158. But if the drops descend from the top of a vault, or any more prominent part of a Rock, in a direct line and free from the sides, they are commonly then of a pyramidal form, as in Tab. 3. Fig. 9. which is the representation of a stone of about nine inches long, of a yellowish colour, as it hung from the Rock in Hed∣dington Quarry, where without doubt it was produced much af∣ter the same manner, as Isicles at the ends of spouts in Winter, by a gradual descent and congelation of the drops.

49. Hither also must be referred all sorts of Spars, by the Miners called Cawke, and the Latins, Fluores; which (say they) yet retain so much of a fluid, that with the heat of fire, like Ice in the Sun, they melt and flow: an effect, which though I could not find it had upon ours without the help of Salts; yet not doubting at all, but that once they had been fluids, I could not but accordingly give them place here.

50. Whereof, there is scarce any Rock whatever, whether metalline or vulgar, which has not some kind or other of them, shot in its seams or other hollows, which according to their diffe∣rent subjects or matrixes, are somtimes of different colours, and frequently of divers figures.

51. As for colours, I have not observed above two sorts in Oxford-shire, a light yellow, and a Pearl-colour'd white, where∣of

there are some in the Quarrys near Shotover, so clear and hard, that they come not much behind the Bristol-stones, and are in fi∣gure (though had from the same Quarry) as various as Diamants; some of them being comprised in seven, others in nine, others in eleven, and some in thirteen planes, as may easily be computed from their trigonal, tetragonal, pentagonal, and hexagonal pyramids, represented in Tab. 3. Fig. 10. to which, adding the planes of their columns, and the planes of their bases, whereby they are fix'd to their subjects, those numbers of Hedrae must needs be concluded.

52. As to the origin and texture of Spars, I take them to be much of the same with Chrystals (though we seldom find them of their hexagonal figure, or their columns ever interceding two pyramids) and that they differ in luster and hardness according to the more close or loose texture of the stones whereon they sit, and out of which they have sweat, as through a strainer or colander. Though it must not be denyed, but what is asserted by the inge∣nious and observing Stenoz 1.159 concerning Chrystals, may have place also in the increase and growth of these, which he says (what∣ever may be the manner of their first delineation) is by external apposition of new Chrystalline matter to the external planes of the already delineated Chrystal; which he also observes, not to be joined to all its planes, but for the most part to the planes of the top only; nor to these all at a time, nor in the same quantity: Whence it is, that the extream or top planes of Spars as well as Chrystals, are seldom or never equal, and not always triangular, but rising with unequal sides and angles from the planes of their columns, as in that separate piece of Spar or Chrystal near Fig. 10. which I take to be arguments sufficiently concluding the similitude of their growth and texture of parts, notwithstanding the planes of the columns of Spars are not streaked, nor so plainly shew the places of apposition, as they do on Chrystal; which streaks, for the Readers more ready apprehension, are therefore cut on the se∣parate column near Fig. 10. though otherwise indifferently to be understood either for Spar or Chrystall.

53. Some of these Spars fall so little short, either of Chrystals or Bristol Diamants, either in luster or hardness, that we may very well admit what is said of them by Aldrovandusa 1.160, that they are gemmae inchoatae, & non perfectae. And that Boetiusb 1.161 in all likely∣hood

may have hit the mark, who doubts not but they are made of the same matter with Gems, and therefore gives them place between Gems and Stones, Inter Gemmas & lapides medium locum obtinent fluores, says he: to whom in this matter I readily sub∣scribe, finding many of them to participate with Gems in luster, but with other Stones in softness and brittleness; whence it comes to pass, that they will not polish like other stones, and are only fit to be mix'd with other metals, which they render much more quick in fusion, than otherwise they are inclined to be of them∣selves.

54. After Stones so purely made out of Waters, that they readily return into fluids again, or have only such figures, into which that Element seems most naturally to compose it self, as the Stalagmites and Lapides stillatitii; come we next to such as re∣present its Inhabitants, the Fishes of the Sea and fresh Waters too: of which there are some of so great variety of texture, that in case they were not heretofore the spoils of real Fishes indeed, and now petrified, require a much higher principle for their effor∣mation; concerning which before we attempt any thing, let us first consider some of their particular shapes, with the places and postures they are now found in.

55. Of such as resemble any of the fresh water kind, I have met with only one in this County, which did we but know where else to put it, should not be placed here neither; for it was taken out of a block of coal (whereof there is none dug in Oxford-shire) by the ingenious and observing Sir Thomas Pennyston, at his House at Cornwell; and seems to represent a Carp or Barbel, the best of any Fish I have yet compared it with, and rather indeed the latter of the two, because of the short and thick scale: It was broken, in taking it out of the Coal, into several pieces, whereof that is one exactly engraven Tab. 3. Fig. 11. kindly bestowed on me by that worthy Gentleman, and by whom the rest are carefully preserv'd; which were it not for want of the variety of co∣lours, I should take (for the scales sake) to be the Lepidotes of Plinyc 1.162.

56. The stones that we find in this In-land Country, having the shapes of Sea fish, are many, but chiefly of the testaceous kind; whereof there are some that lie in a mass of stone together, and

others found in the Fields or Quarries apart. Of the first sort of these we have a curious instance in the possessions of the Right Honorable Henry Earl of Clarendon, at Langley in the confines of Whichwood-forrest, where there is a Quarry of very hard stone, wholly composed of a close union of Cockles, scarce any of them exceeding a Pea in bigness, and streaked circularly to the hinges of the valves, as in Tab. 3. Fig. 12. they are none of them hol∣low, but firmer within, than they are to the bed of stone where they lye; and yet even to that they are so closely knit, that the mass receives a very good polish, insomuch that his Lordship in∣tends to pave the new Chappel now building at Cornbury with it.

57. This sort of Marble is mention'd by Stenod 1.163, and called (as he says) by the Italians, Nephiri; whereof there is also a very good sort at Charleton Towns end, upon the edge of Otmoor* 1.164, differing from that of Langley only in this, that the gross of the stone is somwhat whiter, the Cockles larger, and not so thick set. However, of so firm and close a texture, that of it they make Tomb-stones, Tables, &c, so curiously spotted and set with rings, that it very much pleases the eye of the beholder, and has alrea∣dy gotten (though but lately found) a reputation at Oxford and the parts adjacent.

58. Of this sort of stone most certainly it was, though som∣what perhaps of a softer kind, and different colour, that Pausa∣nias informs us (as quoted by Agricola) the Monument of Phro∣neus, and many other works, were made at Megara. Megarae in saxo valde albo, & reliquis lapidibus molliore, undique insunt con∣chae marinae, ex quo &c. are the words of Agricolae 1.165; for which very reason this sort of stone is there called Conchites, and since by Johnston and Fred; Lachmundf 1.166 (from the place where found) Lapis Megaricus.

59. There is another sort of it in the Quarries near Adderbury, thick set with Cockles in their full proportion, as in Tab. 3. Fig. 13. Some of them are wonderfully Chrystallized, and beautiful to the eye, but not being so finely cemented together, but that a knock will loosen or make them leap from their beds; and many of them being hollow, or filled with brittle Spar; the stone by no means will receive a polish, and upon that account fit for no other work

than to mend the high-ways, or some other mean uses. Nor can I inform the owners of these Quarries of any better that it may have, except they shall think fit to burn it for Lime, for which I dare promise it must needs be excellent.

60. And so is the stone Ostracomorphos, made of heaps of Oy∣sters cemented together, and found plentifully enough on Shot-over hill, not far from the way to Sir Timothy Tyrrils; of which I have forborn to give any draught, it being easily conceived from the manner of the Cockles thus heaped together in the two for∣mer cuts.

61. To these succeed the stones resembling Sea-fish of the te∣staceous kind, not found in clusters after the manner of the former, but in a separate state: of these there are some curiously lineated, and others plain, with but few or no such ornaments, which yet I must treat of promiscuously together, because there are of both sorts in several species.

62. Of these again some are of a turbinated form, and others bivalvular, resembling the double shell'd kind, joyned together with a hinge, and yet these somtimes found all with their shells apart, and somtimes again none of them so.

63. Amongst these the turbinated or wreathed kind of stones, by the Greeks called Strombites, from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 torqueo, to wreath (which is always helically, and for the most part from the right hand to the left, and spirally from a greater to a smaller ending) are but seldom found: However, I have met with both the sorts of A∣gricolag 1.167, the greater, which he says is somtimes nine inches long, but ours indeed not much exceeding five, of a plain superficies, as in Tab. 4. Fig. 1* 1.168. and the lesser wanting of half an inch in length, but curiously striated, as Fig. 2. both found in the Quar∣ries in the Parish of Heddington, of a cinereous colour, somwhat inclining to yellow, and of a harder consistence than the stone wherein they lye.

64. But as for such as represent the bivalvular Conchae, such as Cockles, Escallops, Oysters, &c. we have very great plenty, as well of kinds as individuals. The Conchites or Cockle-stones found in this County, may also be divided into the greater and lesser; whereof the greater are some of them striated with large striae,

[illustration] table of formed stones

TAB III ad pag 100

To the right Hon^ble Henry Earle of Clarendon Viscount CORNBURY & Baron HYDE of Hindon &c This 3. Table of formed STONES (whereof the 12^th fort is dug in his LORD ^ps. own Lands) in memory of his LORD^ps. many and great favours, is gratefully consecrated by R P. L L. D.

Michael Burghers Delin; et Sculp:

and larger furrows, descending as it were from a center at the top, and expanding themselves to the rim of the stone; having also six or seven transverse simple lines, bent circularly to the hinge or commissure of the valves, as in Tab. 4. Fig. 3. which is a stone without, of a dark cinereous colour, but within, a black flint; found somwhere in the Chiltern about Henly upon Thames, and kindly bestowed on me by the ingenious Mr. Munday, Physitian there.

65. Some there are again, whose striae also descend from the hinge or commissure, but not in straight lines, but bent and un∣dulated, and much broader than the former, as in Tab. 4. Fig. 4. which though in magnitude it fall short of the Concha Tridacna of Aldrovandus (so called it seems because they made three mouth∣fuls apiece) yet in form it shews to be so very like, as may be seen also in Jonston, Tab. 13. that were it not a stone, I must pro∣nounce it the sameh 1.169. This I found at Great Rolwright in a bluish clay, whereof, and of nothing else, it seems to be concreted; for it do's not much exceed it in hardness, and still participates most of that colour, though covered with a bright and shining substance, by the Naturalists called Hoplites, or Armatura: of which more anon when I come to Cornu Ammonius, a stone, the most of any adorned with that substance.

66. Another sort there is found at Heddington Quarries, whose lines or striae are not drawn like the two former, from the com∣missure of the valves to the rim, but transversly and circularly from one side of the stone to the other; the lesser circles having place next the commissure, and the greater next to the rim of the stone, as in Tab. 4. Fig. 5. which seems much to resemble the Concha rugata of Rondoletiusi 1.170, with valves swelling very high; of colour it is cinereous, inclining to yellow, not hollow within, but a solid stone, and of much the same texture with the rubble of the Quarry.

67. Of the smaller Conchites there are also several sorts, differ∣ing in colour, lineation and valves; for at Teynton and about Bur∣ford, where they are found in the Fields, they are most of them yellow, with their valves rising high and approaching to a round* 1.171: but at Glympton, where they are only found in a spring that rises

in a Wood about a mile Southward from the Church, they are much more depressed and of a cinereous colour; but both having their lineations from the commissure to the rim, they are both there∣fore represented under one draught, Tab. 4. Fig. 6.

68. How it should come about that these Cockle-stones of Glym∣pton should only be found at the Fountain-head, and no where lower in the stream, nor that I could hear of, in the Fields about, I must acknowledg to be a knot not easily loosed. Some have thought them brought out from amongst the Rocks, at the bot∣tom of the hill where the Spring rises; others that they are formed by a peculiar virtue of the water, as it runs over the rubble stones that lye near its exit: for, say they, if you pick them never so clean away, in few months time you shall have as many more. And indeed it must be confest, that I met with se∣veral that were only striated on one side, and rubble stone on the other; and some of them but just begun to be a little lineated: However it be, I shall determine nothing yet, having imployed a careful and ingenious person to watch the increase and lineations of these stones, which when throughly understood, shall be faith∣fully communicated.

69. Beside those of Glympton, there are others at Cornwell, in the Park of the Right Worshipful Sir Thomas Pennyston, found in a bank of yellowish clay, of a much different form, and trans∣versly striated, as in Tab. 4. Fig. 7. which though indeed for the most part are hard stones, yet I was shewed several by the Ingenious Owner of the place, that were nothing but clay, not differing at all from that in the bed wherein they lye, and out of which they seem to be formed, but in figure only; which is also different from all the bivalvular Conchae that I find in Books, or have seen in collections of that sort of Shell-fish.

70. And so is the figure of the Conchites found in Hornton Quarry, near approaching to an oval, and scarce striated at all: which inclines me at least to doubt, if not certainly to conclude, that these Cockle-like stones were never heretofore any real Cockle-shells, thus transmuted by the penetrating force of petrifying juices, but that most of them (as the ingenious Mr. Listerk 1.172 thinks) ever were, as they now are, Lapides sui generis, differing not only from one another, but many of them from any thing in Nature

beside, that the fresh or salt-water can any where afford us. But before I engage in this great controversie, let us first consider a few more of these stones resembling shell-fish.

71. And first, the above-mention'd Conchites found in Horn∣ton quarry, and represented in Tab. 4. Fig. 8. which is not a solid stone within (as all the Cockle-stones hitherto described have been) but hollow, and filled with spar; somtimes shot into ir∣regular figures, but for the most part forked, as in Fig. 9. the basis, or place where the branches of the fork are conjoyned, be∣ing rooted (in all that I have yet seen) at the commissure or hinge of the valves, and the branches extending themselves in the broader parts of the Conchites; of which operation of Nature I can give no other account, but that it was first observed, by the Reverend and Ingenious Mr. Clark, Rector of Dreyton near Ban∣bury, from whom, beside other favors, I received many of them.

72. After the bivalvular Cockles found always with their valves closed together, come we next to consider the other Bi∣valves found never so, but their valves always apart. And such are the stones resembling Escallops, and some other striated Con∣chylia: whereof that represented Fig. 10. is the most curious in its kind I ever yet saw, found in Heddington quarries by Mr. Ri∣chard Stapley, an ingenious young Man, and learned in these mat∣ters, to whom I am beholding not only for this, but for some o∣ther choice stones hereafter to be mention'd. Which amongst all the Pectines or Escallop-shells I could find in the Icthyographers, best resembles the Pecten asper of Aldrovandusl 1.173. Of colour it is yel∣lowish, eared on both sides, the lineations from the commissure to the rim of the stone very prominent, and yet having some o∣ther transverse lines (not bending to, but from the commissure) standing upon them, and not passing through the deep furrows so as to joyn with each other,

73. As the transverse lines do in the next following Pectinites, Fig. 11. where they are both of equal depth, and very small, thick and fine; the transverse lines all of them bent to the commis∣sure, but the other striae not meeting together in it, as in the for∣mer and following Escallops: This stone is of a light reddish co∣lour, eared on both sides, and found in the quarries in the parish of Heddington.

74. And so was the next stone in form of a Pectunculus, or little Escallop, Fig. 12. of a whitish yellow colour, the striae large and broad, but the transverse lines small, eared like the for∣mer on both sides: Which also argues, that this stone was never heretofore the shell of a Fish, and thus cast into stone by an Ani∣mal mold. For the Pectunculi, says Rondeletiusm 1.174, are a distinct species from the Pectines or larger Escallops, and never have ears but on one side, which indifferently are either on the right or left; except that we shall say that this was once the shell of a young Pecten, not yet come to its full growth.

75. To this also may be referr'd another of the same texture, only somwhat bigger, and wanting the ears of a Pectunculites, or little Escallop-stone, Fig. 13. which because it shews no signs of its ears being broken off, I suppose may either represent the Cha∣ma striata Pectiniformis of Aldrovandusn 1.175, or else the Pectunculus of Bellonius, which (as quoted by the Zoographer Gesnero 1.176) he not only says has no ears, but has exhibited it in Sculpture.

76. And so perhaps may the next stone, Fig. 14. except we shall rather make it the first of the Conchites striati, or streaked Cockle stones, which indeed I cannot chuse but assent too, because of its bearing too much on one side, which I find the Pectinites or Escallop stones do not: and because it cannot be a Tellinites, which shell-fish (if at all) is never streaked that way. Let it therefore pass only for a streaked Cockle stone, which are plenti∣fully found not only at Heddington, and about Shot-over, but in the Quarries near Stunsfield, North Leigh, and Little Milton; and are placed here, because found like the Escallop stones, always with their shels apart.

77. Whereof there are some larger, and as it were heaped up∣on one another, as in Tab. 4. Fig. 15; and others single, as in Fig. 17. The real shell-fish of which kind, called Conchylia stria∣ta, though thus lineated without, are always, says Aldrovandusp 1.177, plain and smooth within, contrary to what we find in these Con∣chites striati, as is shewn by Fig. 16. which shews the in-side of one of those stones, not only lineated from the commissure to the rim, but adorned also with four or five transverse fillets, not made of one, but several conjoyned lines, which seems also to conclude

[illustration] table of conchites

TAB. IIII ad pag: 105

To the right Hon^ble. ARTHUR Earle of ANGLESEY Viscount Valentia Baron of Newport Pagnel, Mount Norris &c Lord Privy SEALE &c This 4^th. Table of formed STONES representing SHELL-FISH of the Testaceous kind is humbly offerd by R. P. LLD.

Michael Burghers delineavit sculpt.

it to be Lapis sui generis, and not to have been molded by a stria∣ted Cockel-shell.

78. Beside Cockle and Escallop-stones, there are others that seem to be of the Oyster kind, found plentifully in the Gravel-pits without St. Clements, in Cowley-common, and in a wood near Wood-eaton: amongst them there are some of an oblong figure, ve∣ry thick, and of a bluish colour, such as that depicted Fig. 18. which I guess may be the same with the petrified Concha oblonga crassa, mentioned by Dr. Merretq 1.178, found in Worcester-shire, and there called Crow-stones, Crow-cups, or Egg-stones; or else the more protuberant part of the Mytulus niger of Aldrovandusr 1.179, or the Mytulus of Rondeletiuss 1.180.

79. But others are again of the true Oyster shape, called Ostra∣cites, or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, represented Fig. 19. some whereof are blue, and others reddish, of the colour of the Gravel out of which they are taken: These are generally greater, thicker and weigh∣tier, than the true Oyster-shell, yet like them seem to be resolved, according to the opinion of Stenot 1.181, into many little shells, the innermost being always the greatest, and the outermost the least: Upon which very account I could easily have assented, that these, and the former, might once indeed have been shell fish; but that we only find (just as in the Escallops) the protuberant parts of the shells, and never any of the flat ones; which had they been once fishes, we have little reason to think, could have been thus absent from them.

80. We find also in Oxford-shire a sort of Mytuloides, or Muscle-stones, of an odd kind of figure, and not easie perhaps to be parallel'd, though the testaceous Kingdom be of large extent: They are not hollow, but within a terra lapidosa of a yellowish colour, and cover'd without with a white shining kind of Arma∣ture, with ablong lineations agreeable to the figure of the stone, as in Tab. 5. Fig. 1. found in digging a Well in the Parish of Cley∣don. To which we may add another sort remarkably small, found in Heddington Quarries, Fig. 2. which finish my discourse con∣cerning such stones as resemble the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or testaceous shell-fish. Whence I proceed

81. To stones representing the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or the shell-fish of

the softer crustaceous kind, such as that Tab. 5. Fig. 3. in substance and hardness much like a Pebble, and of colour yellowish: divi∣ded first by five pretty straight lines, adorned on each side with double sets of points, ascending from a protuberant umbilicus in the basis of the stone, to another of like form at the top, but fo∣liated round in manner of a Rose: And after again subdivided by five other indented lines, terminated before they reach the umbi∣lici; by which means the spaces between these lines are all penta∣gons, like the outer scales of some sort of Tortoise. Much such another stone as this I find in Aldrovandus, in his Book De Testa∣ceisu 1.182, which because he thought resembled the sea Ʋrchin depri∣ved of its outward prickly coat, he calls Echinus lapis spoliatus à suis spinis: But it seeming to me to be much more like the Estrice marino, si ritrava nelli mari profondi, of Ferrante Imperatow 1.183, I chuse rather to call it Histricites, or Porcupine-stone without bri∣stles. This was found in the Chiltern Country, near Stonor-house, and sent me by the Worshipful Tho. Stonor Esq the Proprietor of the place, and one of the Noblest Encouragers of this Design.

82. And so was the following curiously embroider'd stone, Fig. 4. much resembling the petrified Riccio marino, or sea Ʋrchin of Imperatusx 1.184, found in the same place also without prickles, but much differing from the former in colour and substance, as also from the stone of that Learned Author: For whereas he confesses that was but of the consistence of the Lime-stone; ours, though without of a whitish cinereous colour, within is a hard black flint, covered over with thin glittering plates, set edg-ways to the ball of the flint, out of which those uniform eminencies and de∣pressures, those waved and transverse lineations are all framed.

83. These are found in great plenty in the Isle of Malta, and by the Country men there, says the Ingenious Bocconey 1.185, called Mamelles de Saint Paul, because of the lenticular eminencies and small roundures, that fill the whole surface of the stone; or rather because they are somtimes found coupled two and two, as may be seen in the sculptures of the same Author. By Boetius and Gesner, and all the old Authors, they are called Ova anguina, Serpents eggs; perchance because from the basis there issue as it

were five tails of serpents, waved and attenuated toward the upper part of the stones. They tell us also a story of its being engendered from the salivation and slime of snakes, and cast into the Air by the force of their sibilations, where if taken, has ef∣fects as wonderful as its generation, and therefore of great esteem amongst the French Druids. But I care not to spend my time in Romance, and therefore proceed

84. To another Echinites, resembling the inner shell of the Echinus ovarius or Esculentus, so called from a sort of quinque-partite or stellated eggs, that this kind of Echinus has within it good to eat. Their outermost coat is full of sharp prickles, upon which account they are somtimes called Chastaignes de Mer, or sea Chesnuts, because of their likeness to rough prickles that encompass Chesnuts whil'st they are on the Tree; for which ve∣ry reason they are also called Herissons de Mer, sea Hedg-hogs, and Cardui Marini, sea Thistles: which rough coat of theirs, when the Fish is dead, coming off from them, they then discover their inward shell of that curious workmanship, that is lively repre∣sented by our stone, Fig. 5. made up of so many compartements and eminencies, and so regularly disposed, that, says Monsieur de Rochefortz 1.186 (who calls them also Pommes de Mer, or sea Apples) the most ingenious Embroiderer would be much troubled to imi∣tate them. This Echinites ovarius was found in the Parish of Teynton, and sent me by my worthy and ingenious Friend Mr. Robert Veysey, to whom also I am beholding for many other mat∣ters mentioned in this Essay.

85. From Teynton also was sent me another of this kind, but much smaller, not exceeding the Rouncival pea, or French Halslet in bigness; and yet with lines of compartement, and o∣ther eminencies as large as the former, but much fewer in num∣ber: to which, whether there be any Animal in Nature whose shell will exactly, or for the most part correspond, I much que∣stion; wherefore that it may be examined both at home and a∣broad, I have caused it to be engraven, Fig. 6.

86. To which add a fourth sort with its prickles still on, found plentifully in the Quarries near Shotover-hill, very like to the fifth sort of Echinus of Aristotle, as depicted by Rondeletiusa 1.187, whose inward shell it seems is very small, but its prickles long and stub∣born,

found always in the deepest waters, and sticking to Rocks, much after the same manner as here represented in stone, Fig. 7. which in conformity to Aristotle may be called Echinites minutus. And this had ended my Discourse of Stones resembling Shell-fish of the crustaceous kind, but that I am admonish'd by the Learned, and deservedly Famous Virtuosi, Mr. Hookb 1.188 and Mr. Rayc 1.189, and since them by the Ingenious Sicilian Gentleman Mon∣sieur Bocconed 1.190,

87. That the stone commonly stiled Cornu Ammonis, also be∣longs to this place, as being nothing else but the petrified shell of the Nautilus, or Coquille de Porcellain; or as Rondeletiuse 1.191 calls it, the testaceous Polypus. Of these we find plenty in the Coun∣ty of Oxford, of different colours, figures, cizes, but all so curled up within themselves, that the place of the head is always in the circumference and the tail in the center of the stone, and therefore by the Ancients called Cornua Ammonis, for that they resembled the curled horns of the Ram, worshipp'd by the name of Jupi∣ter Ammon in the desarts of Africaf 1.192; to whom Alexander the Great having declared himself Son, that he might be the more like so inhuman a Father, he assumed the horns of the Ram Deity, as may be seen on the Impresses of some of his Mony. And so did Lysimachus that succeeded him in Thraceg 1.193, Attila the Hun, and some other proud Princes.

88. The places in this County most remarkable for this stone, are 1. The City of Oxford it self, where, in digging cellars, foun∣dations, &c. chiefly in the eastern parts of it, they are commonly met with; whereof some are small, the parts protuberant, and swelling to a round, as in Tab. 5. Fig. 8. others broader and more depressed, as in Fig. 9. but the lineations of both waved, and extended from toward the center, to a single edged ridge in the back of the stone: and therein different from a third sort found also at Oxford, whose lineations are larger, not so thick nor waved, and terminated at great protuberances on each side of the stone, be∣tween which, on the broad back of it, there intercede other li∣neations, the whole body of the stone being also divided by Su∣tures, in form much resembling the leaves of Oak, as in Fig. 10. The two latter of these are both perforated at the center, and there∣fore

called by Bauhinush 1.194, Cornua Ammonis pertusa: And all three adorned with a shining brasen Armature, in luster equalling that metal it self, yet of which in substance it has nothing less, though Agricola have affirmed it to be naturae rudimentum id metallum face∣re discentis.

89. Boetius de Boot, in his Book de Lapidibus & Gemmisi 1.195, thinks the stone it self naturally of a ferrugineous colour, which lying in an Earth sated with an aluminous juice, is changed thereby into this brasen colour. To which de Laetk 1.196 in his Supplement, adds, atramentum sutorium; both which, he says, joined, give that co∣lour to Iron. For my part, I rather think it may be performed by Nature, much after the same manner they guild money at our English Baths; if so, there will be requisite somthing urinous, which they always add there to superinduce such a colour, where∣of more at large when I come into Somerset-shire.

90. The second place eminent for production of these stones, is the Parish of Cleydon, where they find them of many more turns than those at Oxford, though not much bigger; without Armature, of a yellowish colour (like the Asteriae before men∣tion'd found at the same place) and differently striated, as in Fig. 11. in which the striae from the innermost part of the stone are all single, but many of them divided before they reach the rim of it, where they are terminated with a back much more protuberant than the rest of the stone, but alike striated.

91. Near Thame, in the Fields Eastward from the Church, they somtimes meet also with the Cornu Ammonis, striated singly like the former, near the inner part of the stone, and presently divi∣ding, but without termination either at any ridge, or other protu∣berancies in the back; the division being continued to the other side of the stone, where 'tis made again into one common linea∣tion, as in Fig. 12. Of which sort I had some arches or parts sent me also from Chislehampton, by the Right Worshipful Sir John D'Oyly Baronet, in whom flourish all the Virtues of that ancient House. But these (not like the former) a hard stone, but some of them a kind of Terra lapidosa, or hardened yellow clay, one degree perhaps above that of the bed wherein they lay; which (beside Sir Thomas Pennystons clay Cockles) seem to overthrow

Steno'sl 1.197 first conjecture concerning these matters: That they are always found in the same place, of the same consistence; and that there are no signs amongst them of sooner or later production.

92. And so do the Ophiomorphit's found in a bluish clay in the Parish of Great Rolwright, Eastward from the Church, whereof some are so soft, that 'tis easie to press them asunder with ones fingers; and others a hard bluish stone. But though they agree with the former in the manner of production, they differ as much in the manner of their lineations, for whereas their striae were di∣vided near the rim, some of the lineations of these come toge∣ther there, and are united in pretty large protuberant knobs on each side the back of the stone, which in these being broad and somwhat rising, is crossed by other arched lines that intercede the eminencies, as in Fig. 13.

93. Other Ophiomorphit's there are, that have only straight single ribs, which terminate also in straight ridges that run along on each side the back of the stone; between which two ridges, there rises a third more prominent one, just in place as it were of the Spina dorsalis, as in Tab. 5. Fig. 14. which though not wreath∣ed, but plain like the other lower ridges on each hand it, I take to be the Cornu Ammonis cristatum of Johannes Bauhinusm 1.198. One of these, of about four inches over, and made up of as many turns, was given me by the Reverend and Learned Dr. John Wallis; and there is another amongst the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 of the Medicin School, of above eight inches diameter, taken up as they say somwhere about Corpus Christi College.

94. There are also Orphiomorphit's found somtimes about Adderbury, about two miles from Banbury, but so very seldom, that though I were there often, I could meet with none of them; so that I cannot inform the Reader whether they are of any pecu∣liar kind, different from what have been already describ'd, or no: However, that the Town has not its name from these stones (as Mr. Ray thinks) I dare confidently avouch, Adderbury being only the vulgar name: for in the Court Rolls of New College, (and o∣other Instruments) to which the Lordship of the Town belongs, it is written Eabberbury, perhaps from St. Ebba the tutelar Saint of the Church.

95. The biggest of the kind that I have yet met with, was at

[illustration] table of muscle-stones

TAB. V ad pag. 111

To the Worsp.^ll THOMAS STONOR of WATLINGTON Park & STONOR Esq This fift Table of FORMED STONES cheifly resembling SHELL FISH of the Crustaceous kind, whereof the 3^d & 4^th sort were found in his owne grounds, is humbly presented by R. P. L. L D.

Clifton near Dorchester, but found as I was told at Sandford near Ox∣ford, about eleven inches over, and seventeen pounds in weight; having single ribs only, without knobs or ridges at the back, which is plain and even, as in Fig. 15. which though little more than half so big as that mention'd by Dr. Merret of 21 inches diame∣ter* 1.199, that he saw in the Garden of one Mr. Rawdon, yet I guess it must needs so extravagantly exceed the biggest Nautilus or Por∣cellane-shell, both in latitude and number of turns, that we must be forced to seek out another origin for it.

96. Beside, its being in-laid with a small sort of Conchites, so placed in its sides, that they have segments (if I may so call them) within the very bulk or body of the Ophiomorphite, seems flatly to deny its original from the Nautilus, for had this fallen out by compression of their shells together, their uniform figures must needs have been spoiled, contrary to what appears as well in the stone as its draught. Which brings me to consider the great Que∣stion now so much controverted in the World.

Whether the stones we find in the forms of Shell-fish, be Lapides sui generis, naturally produced by some extraordinary plastic virtue latent in the Earth or Quarries where they are found? Or whether they rather owe their form and figuration to the shells of the Fishes they represent, brought to the places where they are now found by a Deluge, Earth-quake, or some other such means, and there being filled with mud, clay, and petrifying juices, have in tract of time been turned into stones, as we now find them, still retaining the same shape in the whole, with the same lineations, sutures, eminen∣cies, cavities, orifices, points, that they had whil'st they were shells?

97. In the handling whereof, though I intend not any per∣emptory decision, but a friendly debate; yet having according to the wishes and advice of those Eminent Virtuosi, Mr. Hook and Mr. Ray, made some considerable collections of these kind of things, and observed many particulars and circumstances con∣cerning them: Upon mature deliberation, I must confess I am inclined rather to the opinion of Mr. Lister, that they are Lapides

sui generis; than to theirs, That they are thus formed in an Animal mold. The latter opinion appearing at present to be pressed with far more, and more insuperable difficulties than the former.

98. For they that hold these stones were thus formed in the shells of fishes, must suppose either with Stenon 1.200, that they were brought hither by the Deluge in the days of Noah; or by some o∣ther more particular, and perhaps National Flood, such as the Ogygean, or Deucalionian in Greece, than either of which there is nothing more improbable.

99. First, not by the Flood in the days of Noah, because that (and for very good reasons too) seems not to have been uni∣versal, and at most to have covered only the continent of Asiao 1.201, and not to have extended it self to this then uninhabited Western part of the World. But suppose it were universal, yet it pro∣ceeded from Rain, which (as Mr. Ray well observes) would more likely have carryed shells down into the sea, than brought any upwards from it. And if it be further urged, That the fountains of the great deep were broken upp 1.202, and that the Deluge proceeded partly from a breaking forth and over-flowing of the sea, which consequently might bring in the shells: It may be answered, that the over-flowing, either gradually increased upon the Earth, or was violent: if gradually, as it is most likely (for God caused not any wind to pass over the Earth till the Waters began to asswageq 1.203; and besides, the Waters that descended in Rain, in all probabi∣lity at first ran down to the Sea, and gave some check to its floods) why should we think that any shell-fish, especially of the testace∣ous kind, whereof there are some that always stick to rocks, and others that have no locomotion, as Oysters, Muscles, &c. but what is given them by the Waters violence, should leave their beds in the Sea at all, and be carried aloft to the tops of Mountains. And if violent, then such a Flood would have indifferently scat∣tered all sorts of shells over the whole face of the Earth, especi∣ally in all valleys; whereas we find the stones that resemble them many times at the tops of hills, and but in few valleys; and those not scattered neither indifferently one amongst another, but for the most part those of a kind together; and of the same kind too, those of different lineations together. Thus at Cornwell

and Hornton we find only Conchites or Cockle-stones, and those striated (if at all) from side to side transversly, as in Tab. 4. Fig. 7, 8. And so at Glympton only Cockle-stones, but lineated the con∣trary way from the commissure to the rim, as in Fig. 6. of the same Tab. On Cowley-common we find nothing but Ostracites, such as in Tab. 4. Fig. 19. And in the Gravel-pits of St. Clements a mix∣ture of such Oyster-stones, and (to which I believe it will be hard to adapt a shell-fish) the stone Belemnites. The Nephiri or Lapis Megaricus at Langley, is a bed of nothing but Cockles as small as pease; and that at Charlton the same, only the Cockles are som∣what bigger. So that these beds of Cockle-stones (if they must needs have been shell-fish) seem rather to have been their breed∣ing places, where they had aboad for some considerable time (especially where we find them of several cizes) than brought hi∣ther in the flood in the time of Noah, which remained on the Earth but forty natural days, too small a time for so many shell-fish, so dispersed, as they must be presumed to be by so violent a mo∣tion, to get together and sequester themselves from all o∣ther company, and set them down, each sort, in a convenient station.

100. And secondly, that they should be brought by any other flood is altogether as unlikely, since we have no other floods de∣liver'd down to us, but the Ogygian and Deucalionian, which were restrained within Greece. But suppose all that can be desired by the adverse party, that there was somtime or other a National flood here in England, that did for some hundreds of years cover the face of the Land, of which there is no Record deliver'd to posterity; yet that it should cover the highest Hills, or if it did, that it should force the shells to their tops, which are weighty and rather affect the lowest places, is a concession as hard to be granted, as that the Mountains (where such stones as resemble them are now found) were heretofore low places and since raised by Earth-quakes: a thing by no means to be believed of our Nor∣thern parts, where the Earth-quakes we have at any time are so inconsiderable, that they scarce somtimes are perceived, much less affrighten us; unless we shall groundlesly grant, that in the infancy of the World the Earth suffered more concussions, and con∣sequently more mutations in its superficies, than it has done ever since the Records of time.

101. Yet granting too that in the Primitive Times there were such strange Earthquakes, or else that there was some time or o∣ther such a Flood, that did cover our highest hills, and which might be so violent, as to bring shells out of the great deep, and place them on the tops of Mountains; yet that our formed stones, at least the most of them, were not fashion'd in such molds, but are Lapides sui generis, may be strongly suspected from the fol∣lowing reasons.

102. First, because I have found some of them that resemble shell-fish that always stick to rocks, and cannot well be presumed to have come away with the greatest Flood, unless so violent as to have brought the Rocks too: and such is that engraven Tab. 5. Fig. 7. which whether it best represent the Echinus quintus of Aristotle, or some sort of Lepas or Patella, equally makes for my purpose, neither of them leaving the rock they stick too, being Ʋnivalves, and having the rock it self instead of the other.

103. Secondly, because there are many shells, and other testa∣ceous and bony substances belonging to Fish, that must also have been left behind upon the ebb of such a Flood as well as the rest, of which we have no stones that resemble them at all. Such are the bones of Whales, Sea-horses, and the bones of all the squammeous kind; the great shells of the Buccina, Murices, Conchae Veneris, and Solenes; the sword of the Xiphias or Sword-fish, and almost all the crustaceous kind, such as Crabs, Congers, Lobsters, &c. which last having locomotion, I should much rather expected to have found petrified on the tops of Mountains, than any of the testace∣ous kind, and yet of these we meet the fewest of any.

104. Thirdly, because there are many Stones formed indeed in the manner of Bivalves, &c. which yet resemble no species of shell-fish now to be found, whereof several are above-mention'd. And this is ingeniously confess'd by Fabius Columnar 1.204, though one of the Adversaries of this my present opinion: Addemus (says he) Pectunculorum imagines, quarum quasdam non nisi lapideas vi∣dimus, of which that he calls his Mytulo-pectunculus rarior Berbe∣roides, is one. If it be said, that possibly these Species may be now lost, I shall leave it to the Reader to judge, whether it be likely that Providence which took so much care to secure the works of the Creation in Noah's Flood, should either then, or

since, have been so unmindful of some shell-fish (and of no o∣ther Animals) as to suffer any one species to be lost.

105. Fourthly, because there are several formed stones, that no body pretends to know whether to refer, as representing nei∣ther Animals or Plants, either in the whole or parts; such as the Selenites, Astroites, and Belemnites; which if thus tacitly confest to be Lapides sui generis, and formed by some latent plastick power of the Earth, why might it not as well produce all the rest? e∣specially since scarce any of them are reduced to Animals or Plants without great inconvenience. Thus they that think the Asteriae to be nothing but the Spinae dorsales, or tail-bones of fish petrified (they consisting, 'tis true, for the most part of pieces sticking to∣gether like Vertebrae) neither can tell us of what sort of Fish, nor give us any reasonable account why the tail-bones of such a parti∣cular Fish (for the Asteriae of all places are striated alike, and seem to have had original from the same Species) should be thus petri∣fied, and not the tail-bones as well of some others?

106. And they that fansie the several Species of Brontiae to be nothing else but the petrified shells of Echini Spatagi, or Brissi, would be hard put to it to reconcile the different conditions of that shell-fish and these stones: for first, the Fish it self is but rarely found, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, says Aristotles 1.205, which is also con∣firmed by Rondeletiust 1.206, whereas the Stones are plentiful enough. Again, the Echinus Spatagus has but few bristles, aculeis parvis & raris septus, says the same Rondeletiusu 1.207, and those, if we may be∣lieve the Cuts of Authors, but disorderly set; which how a∣greeable to our Brontiae, Tab. 2. and 3. let any man judge. The first of them indeed in the gross Figure, is like the Herissons Spa∣tagi of Bocconew 1.208 which he saw in Holland, flat like a small cake; but he tells us nothing of such numberless small annulets as there are in our Stones, which if heretofore the places of so many bristles, but ill agree with the description of Rondeletius. Beside these of Oxford-shire, there are several other sorts that I have seen in other Counties (hereafter to be represented, in case this Essay prove acceptable) which I could heartily wish the Ingenious Steno and Boccone, or any other Curioso's, for the better clearing of this great Controversie, would undertake to parallel (and so

of other formed stones) with shells in all parts answerable.

107. They that think the Cornua Ammonis, or Ophiomorphites, to have been formerly nothing but Porcellane-shells, seem also to be pressed with the like difficulties: for either there are several sorts of them not known to (I am sure not described by) Authors, or else our stones must have their formation from a different mold than their shells. For first, the shells seem to be extravagantly broad at the mouth, as described by Rondeletius and Jonston, and not to have more than two other small turns at most; whereas the turns of the Ophiomorphit's are proportionable to one another, and in number many times four or five, and somtimes six, if we may believe Aldrovandusx 1.209: Of which difference Chioccusy 1.210 seems to have been so well aware in his description of the latter part of the Musaeum Calceolarium, that he makes the Cornu Ammonis and Nautilus lapideus to be quite different things, and describes the latter very broad at the greater end, and with but one turn, som∣what like indeed to the Porcellane-shell.

108. Beside, so far are some of our English Ophiomorphit's from ever having been formed by the shell of the Nautilus, that at Huntley-Nab in the North-riding of York-shire, they are found always included in other great round stones, not unlike, says Mr. Cambdenz 1.211, to Cannon bullets. And at Whitby, says Mr. Raya 1.212, in stones of a lenticular figure, which if formerly they had been the shells of Nautili, how they should become thus included in stones also of a determinate figure, is a difficulty more insuperable than any of the former. Add hereunto that Mr. Cambdenb 1.213, and since him Dr. Childreyc 1.214 plainly avouch, that the Ophiomorphit's of Cain∣sham, have some of them heads, and that in this they differ from those of York-shire: Vidimus enim lapidem hinc delatum serpentis in spiram revoluti effigie, cujus caput in circumferentia prominuit, extrema cauda centrum occupante, are the very words of Mr. Cambden. Which if I find true when I come into Somerset-shire, will give me, and I doubt not, others satisfaction beyond all exception; for that the shells of the Nautili have any such matter, no body yet has, nor will dare to pretend.

109. To which also add the greatness of some of these stones, whereof there are some it seems near twod 1.215 foot in diameter, far

exceeding, says Mr. Raye 1.216 the bulk of any shell-fish now living in our seas. To which if it be said that most petrifications are made either by aggregation, or by intrusion or protrusion of parts, which always increase the bulk of the subject: It may be answered, that though such augmentation must be allowed indeed in many cases, yet sure it did not so fall out in the petrification of the Nephiri or Cockle-stone at Langley, where the stones are much less than most Natural shells.

110. Fifthly, because that even those stones, which so exactly represent some sort of shell-fish, as Oysters, Cockles, &c. that there can be no exception upon the account of figure, but that they might formerly have been shells indeed; at some places are found with only one shell, and not the other. Thus in Cowley-common we meet only with the gibbous, and not the flat shell of the petri∣fied Oyster, and so of the Escallop-stones in the Quarries near Shot-over; which had they been once the shells of Oysters and Escallops, in all probability had scarce been thus parted.

111. Sixthly, because I can by no means satisfie my self, how it should come to pass, that in case these stones had once been molded in shells, some of the same kind should be found in beds, as the Conchites at Langley, Charleton, Adderbury, and others, scatter'd as at Glympton and Teynton; and so the Ostracites at Shot-over and Cowley. Nor how it should fall out, that some of these Bivalvulars should always be found with their shells apart, as the Ostracites and Pectines: and others always closed together, as the Conchites in all places I have yet seen.

112. Lastly, because many of these formed stones seem now to be in fieri, as the Selenites at Shot-over and Hampton-Gay, the Conchites at Glympton and Cornwell, where within one of the clay Cockles above-mentioned, I found a little one of stone, not ex∣ceeding a vetch in bigness; which had they been formed hereto∣fore by Cockle-shells, in all likelyhood would both either have been Stone or Clay. Nor can it be said they were brought hither by different Floods, because they were both found in the same bed, one included in the other. Which is all I have to urge for this part of the Question, but that in the Bishoprick of Hildesheim, between Alfeld and Eimbec, there is a sort of Ochre that forms it self in this manner into the shape of Oystersf 1.217: And that Mr. Ray

was informed by a person of good credit, of a stone of this na∣ture resembling a Cockle-shell, found in the belly of a Beef, where in all likelyhood it bred, and shot into that figure: Which if true, says he, there can be no reason to doubt, but that those in the Quarries and other places are so generated.

113. But against this opinion there are several considerable objections brought by the ingenious Mr. Hook, Steno and Boccone, which I shall next faithfully propound to the best ad∣vantage, and then see whether they may not more easily be solved, than the arguments on the other side perhaps are like to be.

114. First, That amongst those stones, there are some with the perfect shell, in figure, colour and substance, sticking to their surface; especially, says Mr. Hookg 1.218, (discoursing of these mat∣ters) those Serpentine or Helical stones were covered with, or re∣tained the shining or pearl-colour'd substance of the inside of a shell, which substance on some parts of them was exceeding thin, and might be easily rubb'd off; on other parts it was pretty thick, and retained a white coat, or flaky substance on the top, just like the outsides of such shells; some of them had very large pieces of the shell, very plainly sticking on to them, which were easily broken or flaked off by degrees. Add hereunto some particulars mention'd by Stenoh 1.219. 1. That there was found a Pearl-bearing shell in Tuscany, a Pearl yet sticking to the shell. 2. A piece of the great Sea-nacre [pinna marina] in which the silk-like substance within the shell being consumed, the co∣lour of that substance did remain in the earthy matter which had fil∣led the shell. 3. That about the City of Volaterra, there are many beds of earth, not stony, which do abound with true Cockle-shells, that have suffer'd no change at all, and yet they must needs have lain there above 3000 years; whence it is evident, that that part of Tuscany was of old time cover'd with the Sea: And why then might not as well all those other places where these petrified shells are found? 4. To which also let me add, that at some places here in Eng∣land, particularly at Cats-grove near Reading, a place sufficiently remote from the Sea (of which more at large when I come into Berk-shire) they meet with a bed of Oyster-shells both flat and gib∣bous, about 12 or 14 foot under ground, not at all petrified, all of them opened, except some very few, that I suppose have ca∣sually

fallen together; which how they should come there with∣out a Deluge, seems a difficulty to most men not easily avoid∣ed.

115. To all which it may be answered, first in general with Mr. Listeri 1.220, that we will easily believe that along the shoars of most Countries, such as are particularly the shoars of the British and Mediterranean Seas, there may all manner of Sea-shells be found promiscuously included in Rocks or Earth, and at good di∣stances from the Sea, where the grounds are no higher than the Volaterran hillock, which meeting with suitable petrifying juices, may either be wholly petrified, or where the juices are not com∣potent, be only metamorphos'd in part, some of the shelly substance still remaining; or not changed at all, as in the instances of Steno, and perhaps of Mr. Hook, for he tells us not where he found those semipetrified stones.

116. But secondly, Suppose he found them in the highest and most In-land Counties, since he tells us not that he found them in any great plenty, we can easily also admit that some small quantities of shells thrown away after the Inhabitants had eaten the fish, may even there be filled with mud and petrifying juices, and so turned either in the whole or part into stone.

117. And thirdly, provided it be near a great Town or City, either now flourishing, or that did so heretofore, and hath for∣merly been the seat of much action; it may be allowed also that some quantities of shells may be found, either perfectly or but imperfectly petrified, or that have suffer'd no change at all: which helps me to a salvo for my own Objection taken from the bed of true Oyster-shells found near Reading, it having been a Town of very great action during the Invasions of the Danes, who cutting a deep trench cross between the Kennet and Thames, and inclosing themselves as it were in an Island, held it against King Ethelred, and Alfred his Brotherk 1.221 a considerable time; from whence, in all probability, the Saxons having removed their Cattle and other provisions before the Danes arrival, 'tis likely that they might be supplyed from their Navy with Oysters, which during the time of the aboad of the Army on Land, might be a very suitable employ∣ment for it: Which conjecture, if allowed, there is nothing more

required to make out the possibility of the bed of Oysters coming thither without a Deluge, but that Cats-grove was the place ap∣pointed for the Armies repast.

118. Secondly, That these formed stones are many of them in all respects like the living shell-fish; thus says Boccone, the Heris∣sons Spatagi of stonel 1.222, the Cornua Ammonis or Nautili lapidesm 1.223, have the very marks, characters, eminencies, cavities, and all other parts alike, with the true living Nautili, and Herissons spatagi, and Brissi of Imperato, and Rondelet, which proves, says he, the body changed to have been the very same thing, with that which is living. But I must tell him, it do's it but very weakly, all arguments drawn a similitudine being the most inefficacious of all others, such rather illustrating than proving, rather perswading than compelling an adversaries assent: For how many hundred things are there in the World, that have some resemblance of one another, which no body will offer to think were ever the same, and parti∣cularly amongst some other formed stones hereafter to be mention∣ed. Such are the stones Otites, or Auriculares, several sorts of Cardites, Lapides Mammillares, Hysterolithos, &c. which though they as exactly resemble those parts of Men from whence they have their names, as any Conchites or Echinites do those shell-fish; yet no Man that I ever heard of, so much as dreamed that these were ever the real parts of Men, in process of time thus turned into stone. As well might we say, that our Kettering-stone in Northampton-shire here in England, was once nothing else but the spawn of Lobsters; than which, that I know of, there is no∣thing more like.

119. But should it be granted that these stone Herissons spatagi were somtime real shell-fish, as reasonably enough perhaps we may, they being found at Malta, as you come into the Port over-against St. Ermen 1.224, yet this by no means would conclude that all others of the form must needs be so, that are attended with much different, and indeed (in respect of having once been shells) in∣explicable circumstances.

120. Thirdly and lastly, That it seems quite contrary to the infi∣nite prudence of Nature, which is observable in all its works and productions, to design every thing to a determinate end, and for the attaining that end, makes use of such ways as are (as far as the know∣ledge

of man has yet been able to reach) altogether consonant and a∣greeable to mans reason, and of no way or means that doth contradict, or is contrary to human ratiocination: Whence it has been a general observation and Maxim, that Nature doth nothing in vain. It seems I say contrary to that great wisdom of Nature, that these pretily shaped bodies should have all those curious figures and contrivances (which many of them are adorned and contrived with) generated or wrought by a plastic virtue, for no higher end than only to exhibit a formo 1.225.

121. To which I answer, that Nature herein acts neither con∣trary to her own prudence, human ratiocination, or in vain, it be∣ing the wisdom and goodness of the Supreme Nature, by the School-men called Naturans, that governs and directs the Natura naturata here below, to beautifie the World with these varieties; which I take to be the end of such productions as well as of most Flowers, such as Tulips, Anemones, &c. of which we know as lit∣tle use as of formed stones. Nay, perhaps there may proportion∣ably, number for number, be as many of them of Medicinal or other use, such as Selenites, Belemnites, Conchites, Lapis Judaicus, &c. as there are of Plants: So that unless we may say also (which I guess no body will) that these are produced contrary to the great wisdom of Nature, we must not of stones.

122. And thus I have given the grounds of my present opinion, which has not been taken up out of humor or contradiction, with intent only to affront other worthy Authors modest conjectures, but rather friendly to excite them, or any others, to endeavor col∣lections of shell-fish, and parts of other Animals, that may an∣swer such formed stones as are here already, or may hereafter be produced: Which when ever I find done, and the reasons alle∣ged solidly answered, I shall be ready with acknowledgment to retract my opinion, which I am not so in love with, but for the sake of Truth I can chearfully cast off without the least relu∣ctancy.

123. However, in the mean time since no doubt it will be ex∣pected, upon so deliberate rejection of Animal molds, that some further and more particular account should be given of the Pla∣stic virtue, or whatever else it is, that effects these shapes: I shall briefly set down also my present thoughts concerning it, which yet I intend not my self (much less desire the Reader) to em∣brace,

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any further then I shall find them agreeable to future ex∣perience.

124. That Salts are the principal Ingredients of stones, I think has so sufficiently been noted already, that to endeavor any fur∣ther evidence of the thing, would be actum agere in me, and loss of time to the Reader: And if of stones in general, much ra∣ther sure of formed ones, it being the undoubted prerogative of the Saline Principle to give Bodies their figure, as well as solidity and duration: No other principle that we yet know of naturally shooting into figures, each peculiar to their own kind, but salts; thus Nitre always shoots into Pyramids, salt Marine into Cubes, Alum into octo, and Sal Armoniac into Hexaedrums, and other mixt salts into as mixt figures.

125. Of these spontaneous inclinations of salts, each pecu∣liar to its kind, we have further evidence in the Chymical Anato∣my of Animals, particularly in the volatile salt of Harts-horn, which in the beginning of its ascent is always seen branched in the head of the Cucurbit like the natural Horn. And we were told the last Term by our very Ingenious and Learned Sidleyan Professor* 1.226 here in Oxon, That the salt of Vipers ascends in like manner, and shoots into shapes somwhat like those Animals, pla∣ced orderly in the glass. Thus in congelations which are all wrought by adventitious salts, we frequently find curious ramifi∣cations, as on Glass-windows in winter, and the figur'd flakes of snow; of which Mr. Hookp 1.227 observed above an hundred several sorts, yet all of them branched as we paint stars, with six prin∣cipal Radii of equal length, shape, and make, issuing from a cen∣ter where they are all joined in angles of 60 degrees.

126. What salt it should be that gives this figure, though it be hard to determin, yet certainly it must not be a much different one from that which gives form to our Astroites and Asteriae, where∣of, though the latter have but five points, and therefore making angles where they are joyned at the center of 72 degrees; yet the Astroites both in mezzo Rilievo and Intagli, as in Tab. 2. have ma∣ny more. Perhaps there may be somthing of an Antimonial salt that may determin Bodies to this starry figure, as no question it do's in the Regulus, and the Caput mortuum of the Cinnabar of An∣timony. To such a salt may also be referr'd our Brontiae or Om∣briae,

and all the Echinites, some whereof are plainly, all in some measure stellated at the top.

127. The Belemnites which are all striated from a center, yet in the whole affect a pyramidal form; seem to have somwhat also of an Antimonial, but a more prevalent quantity of a nitrous salt.

128. The Conchites, Pectinites, and Ostracites, whether trans∣versly striated, or from the commissures to the rim, seem to own their origin to urinous salts, which shoot likewise from a center (as suppose from the hinges of these stones) but generally are most extended to one side, as may be seen in the branched figure form∣ed on the surface of urine by freezing, in Mr. Hooks Micrographyq 1.228; whose striae not obtaining much above the quadrant of a circle, whatever other difference there may be, in this respect at least is agreeable to our stones.

129. To which add the Ophiomorphit's, or Cornua Ammonis, most probably formed either by two salts shooting different ways, which by thwarting one another make a helical figure, just as two opposite winds or waters make a Turbo; or else by some simple, yet unknown salt, that affects such a figure: perhaps the stems and branchings bended in a most excellent and regular order, like the ribs of some of our Ophiomorphit's, observed by Mr. Hook* 1.229 in Regulus Martis stellatus, might not a little conduce to the clear∣ing this matter.

130. How near I am to the mark in these former Conjectures, I dare not too temerariously resolve: But as to the formation of the Rhomboideal Selenites, Tab. 2. Fig. 1. with a little more con∣fidence I shall venture to pronounce it, to come from a Tartareous salt in the Earth; having observed in the Honorable Mr. Boyl's way of preparing Tarta••ized Spirit of Winer 1.230, that the Calx of Tartar being sated with the phlegmatick part of the Spirit, and dissolved by the heat; set to cool, somtimes shoots (I dare not say always) exactly into such Rhomboideal figures made up of plates, and the whole Rhomboids somtimes issuing out of one an∣other, just as we find the Selenites often do.

131. More might have been added concerning some other formed stones hereafter to be mention'd; but I have now only time to hint my Hypothesis, which I suppose may be sufficiently done

in the afore-going instances; not intending to prosecute it fur∣ther till I have had more experience, which this my present at∣tempt serves to shew the World is yet but small. And therefore I hasten on to the residue of the formed stones, which according to my method laid down in the beginning of this Chapter (having done with all such as relate to the waters) are those that resemble any terrestrial bodies; and amongst them, first of such as belong to the vegetable Kingdom.

132. Whereof there are some that represent whole Plants, and such is the Fungites or Tuberoides, found somwhere in the Chiltern about Stoken-Church-hill, and engraven Tab. 6. Fig. 1. of a cinereous colour without, but a black Flint within, and live∣ly representing one of the fungi lethales non esculenti.

133. Others there are that resemble only the parts of Plants, and such is that depicted Tab. 6. Fig. 2. like a Bryony-root broken off transversly, and shewing the fibrillae from the center to the circumference, with the other striae descending down the sides, and the annulary divisions; and all these in a stone so exactly of the co∣lour of a Bryony-root, that it would be hard to distinguish it, were it not for the weight. This was found in the Quarry-pits of rub∣ble stone near Shot-over hill.

134. And others there are again like the Fruits of Trees, as in Tab. 6. Fig. 3, and 4. which in general may be called Lapides py∣riformes, whereof the first is a black flint found somwhere near Bix brand, above eleven inches round, and in bigness and form resembling the Bell or King-pear: The other a sort of Pebble, whitish without, and yellow within (as manifestly appears at the place of the strig) in the shape of a Warden-pear, found in the Parish of Waterstock, by the Learned and Ingenious Sir George Croke, somwhere near his house.

135. In the Parish of Whitchurch not far from Hardwick-house, I found a hard stone in the form of an Apricock, with the Rimula or cleft from the pedicle to the apex, just as in the true plum, and as depicted Tab. 6. Fig. 5. And in the Quarries of rubble stone near Shotover-hill, I met with a kind of spar, shot exactly in∣to protuberances (and in the whole bulk) like a Mulberry, as in Fig. 6.

136. On the Chiltern-hills near to Sherbourn, I found a white Flint, with another set in it, in the form of a Luca Olive, as in

Fig. 7. To which may be added, the Lapides Judaici of Oxford-shire, which though of a much more slender and longer figure than any sort of Olive, yet because in other Countries they are found in that shape, and for that very reason called somtimes Py∣renes, and treated on by Authorss 1.231 amongst stones relating to the fruits of Trees, I shall not change their place. We find them here of different cizes, from about two inches in length and an inch and half in circuit, downwards to an inch and less in length, and not much above half an inch round: Most of them have a kind of pedicle, from which they seem to have had their growth, and are ridged and channelled the whole length of the stone, the ridges being purled with small knots, set in the Quincunx order, as in Tab. 6. Fig. 8. As to their texture, I find it to be very curious, made up of Lamellae or little thin plates, not unlike the stone Se∣lenites; only these are opaque, and the whole bulk of the stone indeed much different. The Plates, as in the Selenites, seem to be made up of strings, which in most of them run three, but in some but two ways; according to the running of these strings the stones will easily cleave, but generally some one way rather than any other, which most commonly is agreeable to the helical running of the ridges of knots or furrows between them, yet all ways obliquely to the Axis of the stone, as is perfectly shewn, Tab. 6. Fig. 9. which represents the stone broken the three se∣veral ways.

137. By Authors they are said to be of different Sexes, the lesser and rounder of the feminine, and the greater and longer of the masculine gender; whereof the former is good against the stone in the bladder, and the latter against it in the kidneys, for which reasons they are somtimes by Authors called Eurrhei, and Tecolithi. The greater and longer, says Gesnert 1.232 are rarely found, but that must be restrained to his own Country; for here in Ox∣ford-shire, and particularly in the Quarries of rubble stone near Shotover-hill, we have plenty of them.

138. There is another sort of them also at the same place, much more slender than the rest, plain and smooth, without ei∣ther ridges or channels, mention'd by Caesalpinusu 1.233; which (and not the Lapis Judaicus) by him is said to be the true Tecolithus of

Plinyw 1.234, that breaks and expels the stone, if the Patient do but lick it. Of colour without, it is a whitish yellow, and breaks into shining white plates obliquely to the axis of the stone, like the former, but whether made up of threds running differing ways, I could not afford to try, having but one of the kind; which was found and given me, beside several other matters of the same nature, by my very good Friend Edward Tyson A. M. an ingenious and industrious searcher into the works of Nature and Arts.

139. Hither also must be referr'd the fresh water Adarce made at the Cascade at Sommerton, which though but a meer incrustation, and formed not of it self, but ad formam alterius, viz. of the grass about which it gathers, and therefore none of the Litho∣phyta; yet it having some form, though but accidental, I have thought rather fit to misplace it here, than omit to shew the Read∣er how prettily the grass is sheathed with stone, which is accu∣ratly expressed by Fig. 10.

140. Thus having done with the Lapides 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, I proceed to the stones resembling Animals, either in the whole or parts; amongst which, some there are that seem to have been reptils pe∣trified, which possibly enough coming to the places where they are now found in stone without the difficulties of a flood, may be true enough too: though I know some places in other Counties, where there are Cochleomorphit's or snail-stones so thick, that they seem unlikely to have ever been the spoils of that Animal. In Oxford-shire indeed I have met with but two, one at Teynton, and another in the rubble Quarries near Shotover-hill, both which be∣ing of the same shape, colour and bigness, are represented toge∣ther under Fig. 11.

141. At the same rubble Quarries we find also the Lapides ver∣miculares, or worm-stones of two sorts, whereof one is of a whi∣tish yellow colour, not hollow within, and as far as I could per∣ceive of the same texture with the rubble stone it self; some of them are of the bigness of a small quill, and lie in the rock in mezzo rilievo irregularly contorted, much after the manner of the Ver∣micchiara, or Alcyonio Milesio of Ferrante Imperato* 1.235, as in Tab. 6. Fig. 13. whereas the other sort lies in the very body of the stone, of a white colour, and regularly curled up like the

[illustration] table of formed stones

TAB. VI ad pag 126.

To the right Worsp^ll. the virtuous & most accomplisht Gent. S^r THOMAS CHAMBERLEYN Baron^t This sixt Table of FORMED STONES w^th all imaginable respect is humbly dedicated by R P L L D

spring of a Watch, as in Fig. 12.

142. After those that concern Reptils, come we next to form∣ed stones that resemble the parts of four footed beasts, whereof we meet with one sort in the Quarries at Heddington, set in the body of the stone, the most like to the head of a Horse of any thing I can think of; having the ears, and crest of the mane appearing between them, the places of the eyes suitably prominent, and the rest of the face entire, only the mouth and nostrils are absent in them all, as in Tab. 7. Fig. 1. These are plentifully enough found, and of divers cizes, yet not mention'd that I know of by any Author, wherefore I have taken the boldness to fit them with a name, and in imitation of other Authors (in the like case) shall call them Hippocephaloides.

143. At Heddington in the same Quarry there are plenty of Cardites, or stones in the forms of hearts, but by Authors, because of their bigness, generally called Bucardites, or stones like Bulls hearts. These at Heddington are all of them of a whitish yellow colour, smooth and plain, as in Tab. 7. Fig. 2. but there are o∣thers found about Brise-Norton and Witney, that seem to be ribbed on each side, as in Fig. 3. Of these I had one sent me by my worthy Friend Robert Perrot Esq from North-Leigh, ten inches round, and near two pounds in weight, which is the biggest of the kind that I ever yet saw, except one that I found at Shetford, going up a little hill east-ward of the town, about 20 pounds in weight, though broken half away, curiously reticulated with a white-spar-colour'd stone, as in Tab. 7. Fig. 4. which being much too heavy for my Horse-portage, was afterward upon my direction, fetch'd away by that miracle of Ingenuity Sir Anthony Cope, since whose decease it is come I suppose into the hands of his equally ingenious Brother Sir John Cope, the Heir of his Vir∣tues as well as Estate.

144. To these add the Orchites, or Lapides testiculares, that lie at the foot of Shotover-hill, which though indeed they extrava∣gantly exceed those parts as well of beasts as men, yet of the two I rather thought fit to place them here: Most of them lie in pairs coupled together, as in Tab. 7. Fig. 6. and are called Diorchites; but somtimes (as it also falls out in monstrous Animal) there are three of them found together, and then we call them T iorchites, whereof there are two or three on the foot of the same Hill of so

vast a bigness, that I guess they cannot be less than a tun in weight: I am sure that which lies highest on the Hill, and is here repre∣sented Fig. 5. is so much at the least. Of these all that Western side of the Hill seems to be composed, if one may guess by their appearance above the ground on each hand the way; but how they should come there, or with what Animal-mold formed (if not by some peculiar plastic power in the earth) I leave to the fa∣vorers of that opinion to find.

145. Hither also I must refer for the very same reason, a sort of stone found in the Quarries of rubble stone near Shotover, com∣posed as it were of filaments like hair, which yet must not be the Polythrix of Plinyx 1.236 because not greenish, nor the Bostrychites of Zoroastres, or the Corsoides of the same Plinyy 1.237, because neither gray nor long. However, let it be a Thrichites (though the word be differently used by Dioscoridesz 1.238) and the rather placed here, be∣cause most like the short hair of beasts: Of colour it is yellowish, and each hair (as they appear in the Microscope) seems to be striated and channelled its whole length; but to the naked eye they shew themselves only in columns, which at certain distances are all joint∣ed, as in Fig. 7.

146. Beside the stones representing the parts of the Viviparous, I have met with one that seems to belong to the oviparous Quadru∣pedes, and that is a Bufonites or Toad-stone, which perhaps may better deserve its name, than any yet mention'd by other Authors. For by my Bufonites or Toad-stone, I intend not that shining po∣lish'd stone, first demonstrated by the Ingenious and Learned Dr. Merret, in His Majesties presence, to be nothing else but the jaw-tooth or grinder of the Lupus marinus, and so confest to be by the Gold-smiths that sold them. But a certain reddish liver-colour'd real stone, indeed of the form of those of the Shark-fish, i. e. like the segment of a sphere, convex at the top, and concave underneath, as in Tab. 7. Fig. 8. but found amongst the Gravel in Magdalen Coll. Walks: and may be so called (as I presume the others are) from some resemblance they have to the figure of a Toads skull, not that there comes any such thing out of a vexed toads head, as is commonly and no less fabulously reported.

147. The stones that resemble the parts of Men being next to be consider'd, I shall begin with those that have relation to the

head, and so descend in order to the lower parts: According to which method, the first that presents it self is one of the Brontiae, whose upper part was described before, sect. 33. of this Chapter, where I had also shewn its basis, but that it somwhat resembles part of the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or basis of a Mans brain, yet included with∣in its dura Meninx, with the several pairs of nerves cut asunder as they come through it, according as the brain is prepared and in∣verted in Dr. Willis's new way of dissecting it: Beside the exit of the processus Mammillares, and several pairs of nerves, it has a fair resemblance of the Cerebellum at a a, and of the Medulla oblongata at b b, as is plainly represented in Tab. 7. Fig. 9. This was found, as above-said, in the Chiltern Country, and much bet∣ter deserves the name of Encephaloides, than any described by Al∣drovandusb 1.239, or others.

148. Add hereunto another sort of stone, found in the rubble Quarry near Shotover-hill, lively representing the Olfactory nerves or par primum, entire and whole, and not cut off. Of these there are many to be found in these pits of a yellowish colour, smooth without, and I think all of them (for I have broke several) hol∣low within, as in Tab. 7. Fig. 10.

149. I have also a stone (not unlike a pebble) found somwhere in the gravel near the City of Oxford, of an oval figure, and for the greatest part of a reddish colour; but at one end distin∣guish'd, first with a circle of white, within which is a Zone of the proper colour of the stone, and then a round pupilla of white, in the whole resembling the figure of an Eye obscured by a Cata∣ract, as in Tab. 7. Fig. 11. This I should have taken for the stone called Beli Oculus, but that Boetiusc 1.240 expresly makes the body of that to be of a white colour: The nearest it comes to any yet described, is the Leucophthalmus of Pliny, which he plainly says is of a reddish colour, in which yet it carryeth the form of an Eye both for white and blackd 1.241 d 1.242: And so do's ours, only it wants the black Pupilla, which we must suppose to be covered by a Ca∣taract. However, it may pass for an Ophthalmites, or some sort of Eye-stone: whence I proceed to some others, in shape also of another of our senses Organs.

150. Which by reason they so well resemble the Ears of a Man, though much less, as in Tab. 7. Fig. 12. I have made bold to call them Otites, or Auriculares: Of which we have plenty in the rubble Quarries near Shotover, in the banks of the High-ways North of Fulbrook Church; but the most I saw any where yet, are in a bank near a spring rising at Sommerton Towns end, Eastward from the Church, in the Lordship of the Worshipful Richard Fer∣mor Esq whose many ingenious Contrivances about his House, beside other assistances he readily afforded me, have eminently contributed to this History, as will more abundantly appear in the Chapter of Arts.

151. From the Ʋpper, I descend next to such formed stones as resemble any of the parts of the middle Ventricle, or Thorax: whereof I met with some on Stoken-Church Hill, of a Flinty sub∣stance, strangely like to human Paps, or Duggs; having not only the Mamma, but Papilla too, surrounded by an Areola, and stud∣ded with small protuberances, as in Tab. 7, Fig. ult. and there∣fore well deserving the name of Mammillares: than which yet I had once a much better pattern, unhappily lost in the portage, be∣twixt my Chamber and the Gravers.

152. And if we look further into the inner parts, I have a stone that so exquisitely represents the Heart of a Man, as in Tab. 8. Fig. 1. that at, and near the basis, there remains the trunck of the descending part of the Vena Cava at a, the ascending portion of the Vena Cava at b; and from the left Ventricle the trunck of the Arteria magna, tending upwards at c, and a portion of the same Artery tending downwards at d. This was also found on the Hills near Stoken-Church, being a whitish kind of Flint, and per∣haps may merit the name of Anthropocardites. Whereunto add another found in the Gravel near Oxford, by my ingenious Friend John Banister M. A. of Magdalen College, which though not so exactly of the shape of a Heart as the former, yet because stellated all over from the basis to the mucro, as in Fig. 2. I thought its admittance would not be ungrateful to the Reader.

153. Other stones there are also in likeness of some parts of the Abdomen or lowest Ventricle; such are the stones, Didymoides, found in the Quarries of rubble stone near Shotover-hill, having upon it both the rugosity, and suture of the Scrotum, And Phalloides, which I met with near the Wind-mill at Nettlebed, perfectly re∣presenting

[illustration] table of formed stones

TAB. VII ad pag. 130

To the right Worsp^ll. S^r. IOHN D'OYLU Baron^t. in whom lodg all the virtues of HIS ancient house. This 7^th. Table of FORMED STONES with all due respect is humbly presented by R P. LLD.

presenting the glans and praeputium penis humani; but without any fraenum fastened to the urethra: Of which out of modesty I have given no sculptures.

154. To these add another stone which we may call Lapis Ne∣phriticus, not from any likeness either in colour or effect to the whitish green stone used in distempers of the Kidneys (though the signature it carries might perswade a tryal) but from the colour and figure it has of the Kidney of an Animal, with a trunck of one of the Ʋreters descending from the hollow of it, as in Tab. 8. Fig. 3. This stone was lent me by the Reverend and universally Learned Dr. Ralph Bathurst, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, and Dean of Wells, one of the most cordial Encouragers of this de∣sign; who found it hanging to an Oyster by that part which repre∣sents the Ʋreter, which was then so soft that he easily cut it a∣way with his knife; but within less than an hour (like the Gorgo∣nia of Pliny* 1.243) it grew as hard as the rest of the stone, which I guess may be equal to that of a Pebble: preserving, I suppose, its native softness whil'st it enjoyed the salt steams in the heap of Oysters, and not hardning till exposed to the purer Air; which evidently shews (though the opinion be exploded of Coral) that there are indeed some other Sea things, soft under water, or whil'st they enjoy the steams of it, that as soon as exposed to the fresher Air, become presently stones.

155. Next the stones that relate to either of the three Ventri∣cles, come we next to such as concern the Artus, or other mem∣bers of the body: Amongst which, I have one dug out of a Quar∣ry in the Parish of Cornwell, and given me by the ingenious Sir Thomas Pennyston, that has exactly the figure of the lowermost part of the thigh-bone of a Man, or at least of some other Ani∣mal, with the capita femoris inferiora, between which are the an∣terior (hid behind the sculpture) and the larger posterior sinus, the seat of the strong ligament that rises out of the thigh, and that gives safe passage to the vessels descending into the leg: And a lit∣tle above the sinus, where it seems to have been broken off, shew∣ing the marrow within of a shining spar-like substance, of its true colour and figure, in the hollow of the bone, as in Tab. 8. Fig. 4. In compass near the capita femoris just two foot, and at the top above the sinus (where the thigh-bone is as small as any

where) about 15 inches; in weight, though representing so short a part of the thigh-bone, almost 20 pounds.

156. Which are dimensions, and a weight, so much exceeding the ordinary course of nature, that by Agricolae 1.244, Caesalpinusf 1.245, and Kircherg 1.246, such stones have been rather thought to be formed either in hollows of Rocks casually of this figure, and filled with materials fit for petrification; or by some other sportive plastic power of the Earth, than ever to have been real bones, now pe∣trified.

157. And that indeed there are stones thus naturally fashion∣ed, must by no means be doubted, since no question the stony teeth of which there are Cart-loads to be had in a Cave near Pa∣lermo, beside others in the shape of leg and thigh-bones, and of the Vertebrae of the back, are no others than suchh 1.247. None of them, as the judicious Charles Marquess of Ventimiglia well ob∣served, having any signs of hollowness for the place of the marrow, much less of the marrow it self.

158. Which has fully convinced me that this stone of ours was not so produced, it having those signs exquisitly expressed; but must have been a real bone, now petrified, and therefore indeed not properly belonging to this place. However, it being now a stone, and not coming to my hands whilst I was treating of pe∣trifications, I have rather thought fit to throw my self upon the Readers candour, and mis place it here, as I did the Adarce, than altogether to omit so considerable an instance.

159. But against this opinion of its having been once a real bone, there lies a considerable objection, viz. that it will be hard to find an Animal proportionable to it, both Horses and Oxen fall∣ing much short of it. To which if it be answer'd, that it may be much increased in the petrification; it may again be replyed, that though indeed there be an augment in some petrifications, yet that it is not so in all: for though in all petrifications there be an ingress of steams and particles that were not there before, and therefore either a cession of some other body required, or a ne∣cessary augmentation; yet that those petrifying steams are som∣times so thin and fine, that they require only the cession of some Airy or Aethereal atoms contained before in the porous parts of

the body to be changed, as indeed it appears to have been in this instance of our petrified bone: for with it was found a tooth, de∣picted Fig. 5. in its exact bigness, weighing two ounces and ¼, not at all petrified but perfect bone still, rather exceeding than any thing short of it in proportion; whence it must necessarily be concluded, that there could be but little if any augmentation at all.

160. And if it be asked how it should come to pass that the thigh-bone should be petrified, and not the tooth, it may be an∣swered, and that experimentally too, that teeth admit not so ea∣sily of any change or petrification, because they are much more closely compacted substances than any other bones; whence 'tis, that we so often find them sound and good, when all other bones are consumed. Thus at Bathendown, or Bannerdown (the Mons Badonicus of Nennius) not far from Bath in Somerset-shire, there have been Caps full of teeth picked up by such as followed the Ploughi 1.248, but we are told of no other bones found there. And we are informed by Fazellus, in his History of Sicily, that of two Giants Sceletons, one found by Johannes à brachiis fortibus, in the Field Gibilo, a mile South of the Town Mazarenum, now Mazara; and the other by Paulus Leontinus, not far from Paler∣mo, that when they came to be touched, all fell into dust but the dentes molares, or the greater teeth called the Grindersk 1.249, suffi∣cient Arguments (I had almost said) of their unalterable state.

161. Since then it seems to be manifest, that the cize of the bone has been scarce alter'd in its petrification: It remains, that it must have belong'd to some greater Animal than either an Ox or Horse; and if so (say almost all other Authors in the like case) in probability it must have been the bone of some Elephant brought hither during the Government of the Romans in Britan: But this opinion too lies under so great difficulties, that it can hardly be admitted; which are briefly these.

162. First, That we do not find that any of the Roman Au∣thors, who elsewhere are large enough in describing the Ele∣phants behavior in fight, and how terrible they were to some of the Trans-Alpine Nations, mention any such matter in any of their Expeditions into Britan. Dionl 1.250, 'tis true, says, That Clau∣dius

Caesar, when he was called to the assistance of the Praetor Aulus Plautius, sore pressed by the Britans, then revenging the death of their slain Prince Togodumnus, amongst other prepara∣tions, gathered together his Elephants, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, are his very words. But Suetonius in his life, where he is very particular concerning this Expedition into Bri∣tan, mentions no such matter; nor indeed doth Dion say, that he brought them hither with him, only that he gather'd them to∣gether in order to it. But they both agree in this, that he met with such storms in his intended passage by Sea thither, that he was forced to put in at Marseilles, and march by Land quite through France to Gessoriacum, now supposed to be Boulogne, from whence 'tis true he passed over to Britan. But so swift was his motion in this Expedition, that they also both agree, that he was returned to Rome again within six months, a time scarce a∣greeable with the motion of so unwildy Creatures as Elephants; which in all likelyhood were therefore left behind at Marseilles, because hindered by the weather of their Sea portage, and ne∣ver transported into Britan at all. Nor find I in other Authors, that it was ever after attempted. One there was, 'tis true, sent hither as a present by St. Lewis the 9^th, King of France, to King Henry the Third, Anno 1255. which, says Matthew Paris* 1.251, was the first seen on this side the Alps; and perhaps there may have been two or three brought for shew hither since: but whether it be likely any of these should be buryed at Cornwell, let the Reader judge.

163. Beside, had this thigh-bone and tooth, and the several o∣thers that have been found in England, such as the two teeth taken up at Edulfsness in the County of Essex, in the Raign of King Richard the First, that might have been cut into two hun∣dred of an ordinary cizem 1.252; and divers other bones and teeth found at Chartham near Canterburyn 1.253, and Farley near Maidstone in Kent, whereof I have one now by me, dug up and given me, by the truly Noble and Ingenious Jacob Lord Astley, near seven inches round, and five ounces and ⅛ in weight, of which more when I come into Kent. Had, I say, these bones and teeth been ever the spoils of Elephants, we should certainly at some time or

other have met also with those greater Tusks with which they are armed, of which I have not heard there have been any yet found in England, nor any thing like them.

164. Add hereunto what prevails with me much, that since the great conflagration of London, Anno 1666. upon the pulling down of St. Mary Wool-Church, and making the site of it into a Mercat-place, there was found a thigh-bone (supposed to be of a Woman) now to be seen at the Kings-head Tavern at Greenwich in Kent, much bigger and longer than ours of stone could in pro∣portion be, had it been intire. We have also here at Oxford* 1.254, a thigh-bone that came from London, three foot and two inches long, which I guess may be of an agreeable proportion with ours. And the same day I brought the tooth from Cornwell, there were two others happily procured for me by my worthy Friend Samuel Fowler A. M. dug up in the Parish Church of Morton Va∣lence, about seven miles from Glocester, in the way thence to Bri∣stol, in all points so exactly like the other from Cornwell, in ridges, cavities, &c. that had they not differ'd somwhat in colour, they could scarce have any way been distinguish'd. Now how Ele∣phants should come to be buryed in Churches, is a question not easily answered, except we will run to so groundless a shift, as to say, that possibly the Elephants might be there buryed before Christianity florish'd in Britan, and that these Churches were af∣terward casually built over them.

165. If it be urged out of Ponticus Virunnius, and some o∣thers, that the Emperor Claudius was at Glocester, and that he built that City after his own name, in memory of the Marriage of his fair Daughter Gennissa, with Arviragus then King of Britano 1.255, where possibly he might have some of his Elephants with him, which might dye and be buried thereabout. It must be answer∣ed, that notwithstanding the name of Claudii Castrum, now Glo∣cester, seems so much to favor the story in hand, that yet in all likelyhood there was never any such matter: For neither Sue∣toniusp 1.256, who numbers up all the Daughters that he had, and shews how given in Marriage. Nor Dionq 1.257, who do's the same (who lived in his time, and had born the Office of Consul) remem∣ber any such Daughter, or so disposed of to Arviragus.

166. Beside, how was it possible that Claudius, who came hither, and was returned again to Rome within six months, should find so much time, as to come up so far in the Country as Glo∣cester, much less to celebrate such a Marriage, and build that City, since the same Dion expresly says, that of those six months time, he was here in Britan but sixteen days, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, are his own wordsr 1.258, and those sixteen days in all probability, were spent in ordering his Army, and joyning them with the Forces of Plautius that lay then at the mouth of Thames ready to receive him, and in taking of Camulodonum, which the same Author asserts he did that Expedition, and so immediatly returned.

167. But what is instar omnium in this difficult point, there hap∣pily came to Oxford while I was writing of this, a living Elephant to be shewn publickly at the Act, An. 1676. with whose bones and teeth I compared ours; and found those of the Elephant not only of a different shape, but also incomparably bigger than ours, though the Beast were very young and not half grown. If then they are neither the bones of Horses, Oxen, nor Elephants, as I am strongly perswaded they are not, upon comparison, and from their like found in Churches: It remains, that (notwithstanding their extravagant magnitude) they must have been the bones of Men or Women: Nor doth any thing hinder but they may have been so, provided it be clearly made out that there have been Men and Women of proportionable stature in all ages of the World, down even to our own days.

P68. The Sons of Anak, no question, were very great men, and Goliath for certain was nine foot nine inches highs 1.259. We read also of the Sons of the Titans, and of high Giantst 1.260, and of Gi∣ants famous from the begining, that were of great stature and ex∣pert in Waru 1.261. And (to omit the Fables of the Giants of Mount Erice near Drepanum in Sicily, 200 cubits high, of Tanger in Mau∣ritania 60 cubitsw 1.262, and of the Giant found standing in a Rock, cleft by an Earth-quake in the Isle of Candy, 46 cubits, supposed to be Orion, or Otusx 1.263, and several others mentioned by Phlegon* 1.264.) Amongst the Romans, Theutobochus King of the Teutones or Ger∣mans, vanquish'd by Marius, is reported by Florus to be insigne 〈…〉〈…〉

phispectaculum, so very tall, that he was seen above all the Tro∣pheesy 1.265, which were the spoils of the Enemies, usually carryed aloft upon the tops of spears. Naevius Pollio, says Plinyz 1.266, was so great a Giant (having no account of his dimensions) that it was taken for a wonderful strange thing, that when a great press of people came running upon him, he had like to have been killed.

169. But to come closer to the business, and more determi∣nate statures, the same Plinya 1.267 tells of two others living in the time of Augustus, nick-named Pusio and Secundilla, whose bo∣dies were preserved for a wonder in the Salustian Gardens, that were ten foot high: and that in his time there was one Gabbara, brought out of Arabia, in the days of Prince Claudius the Em∣peror, exactly of the height of Goliath, viz. nine foot nine inches highb 1.268; which being a cize very proportionable to our bone found at Cornwell, I am rather inclined to believe, that Clau∣dius brought this Gabbara into Britan with him, who possibly might dye and lay his bones here, than that ever they belonged to any Elephant; except we shall rather say, that here also Cori∣naeus, cosin to Brute, might kill one of Gogmagog's race, and that from him the place doth take his name, as well as the County of Cornwall.

170. Moreover, that there were men heretofore of such vast statures, we have the testimony of Josephusc 1.269, in his Antiquities of the Jews, where he tells us of one Eleazar, a Jew born, sent amongst the Presents to Tiberius, when Darius the Son of Arta∣banus King of Persia, after a Peace made, went as a Hostage to Rome, that was full seven Cubits in height. And there is a Sce∣letond 1.270 now to be seen in the Town-hall at Lucern, found under an old Oak in the County of Willisau, near a Village called Rey∣den, within the jurisdiction of that City, that gives further con∣firmation, it having all, or most of the bones wherein a Man differs from other Animals, and being above seventeen foot high.

171. And if we consult the latter ages of the World, we shall still find that there were always some few persons vastly exceed∣ing the ordinary stature of Men: Joh. Cassanioe 1.271, though no fa∣vorer

of the stories of Giants, yet tells us of one that lived a∣bout 150 years since at Burdeaux in Aquitan, commonly called the Giant of Burdeaux, whom Francis the first, King of France, pas∣sing that way, beheld with admiration, and gave especial com∣mand that he should be of his Guard: but he being a Peasant of a narrow soul, and not pleased with a Courtiers life, quitted his Halbard, and got away by stealth to the place whence he came: Of whom the said Cassanio was assured by an Honorable Person, who had seen him Archer of the Guard, that he was of so great a height, that a Man of an ordinary stature might go upright between his legs when he did stride. And Thuanusf 1.272 treating of an Invasion made by the Tartars upon the Polanders, in the Year 1575. tells us of a Tartar slain by one Jacobus Niezabilovius a Polander, whose fore-head was 24 inches broad, and his body of so prodigious a bulk, that as he lay dead on the ground, his carcass reached to the navel of a person standing by him.

172. Geropius Becanusg 1.273, Physitian to the Lady Mary, sister to the Emperor Charles the Fifth, Queen of Hungary and Regent of the Netherlands, assures us, That there dwelt a person within five miles of him ten foot high, and that himself saw a Woman of the same height. The tallest that I have yet seen in our days, was also a Woman of a Dutch extraction, shewn publickly here at Oxford, seven foot and a half high, with all her Limbs propor∣tionable: when she stretch'd forth her arm, Men of ordinary sta∣ture might walk under it; and her hand, from the carpus or wrist where it is joined to the radius of the arm, to the end of the middle finger, was full ten inches long. A stature, 'tis true, much short of any of the afore-mentioned, and indeed I believe it will be hard to meet with their fellows in these parts of the World, where Luxury has crept in, together with Civility: Yet if we look abroad amongst the present barbarous Nations of both Indies, where they live still according to Nature, and do not debauch her with the sensual Delights of the more civilized World, we shall find (if the Relations either of English or Hol∣landers be of any credit) that there are now men and women ad∣equate to them in stature; several having been seen, especially a∣bout the Straights of Magellan, of ten: and one near the River of Plate by Tho. Turner, 12 foot high.

173. Whence 'tis plain, that whether we respect the more an∣cient or modern Times, 'tis possible enough these bones from Cornwell might be the bones of a man or woman, there being no decay apparent in the constitutions of Mankind from the begin∣ning to this day, but what is adventitious and accidental; saving in the longevity of the antediluvian Patriarchs.

174. Beside this Gigantick thigh-bone, there is another stone at the foot of Shotover-hill, amongst the Orchites before-mention∣ed, Sect. 144. that also represents one of the Artus; viz. the Leg and Foot of a Man cut off above the ancle, as in Tab. 8. Fig. 6. which from the toe to the heel is about a yard long, and per∣haps in the whole may weigh 50 or 60 pounds: But I take not this for a petrification as the former, but a stone formed in this shape purely by Nature, which may therefore be termed Andra∣podites, as might all those of the kind mentioned by Wormiush 1.274. To which also may be added the Lapis acetabulum referens, whereof there is plenty on the Chiltern-hills. And a sort of Osteocolla found in Heddington rubble Quarries, which scraped, has the smell of burnt bone, and may I suppose be the same mentioned by Gesner* 1.275, that was sent him by Peter Coldeberg, Apothecary of Antwerp.

175. After the Stones that relate to the parts of Animals, come we lastly to those that resemble things of Art, such as that in the form of a button-mold, Fig. 7. whereof there were several found in the very same Quarry with the thigh-bone and tooth, in the Parish of Cornwell, and no doubt did belong to the owner of those bones: And the other in the shape of the heel of an old shoo, with the Lifts plainly to be distinguish'd, as in Fig. 8. which was found somwhere near Oxford, and given me by the Right Reverend and profoundly Learned, Thomas Lord Bishop of Lin∣coln, one of the first Promoters of this Design. But both these I take to be but petrifications, and therefore mis-placed here like the Adarce and thigh-bone.

176. But I have another sort of button-stone, sent me from Teynton, which I take to be a meer production of Nature, finely striated from the top as I have seen some hair buttons, as in Fig. 9. and may therefore be called Porpites: Except we should rather take it for a new sort of Echinites, not yet discover'd, which

is wholly left to the Readers choice.

177. In the Quarry of rubble stone near Shotover-hill, I met with a Spar-like stone, made I suppose of the dropings of petrify∣ing water, not unlike to the bags called Manicae Hippocratis, used in filtrations by the Chymists, three one above another as they usually place them, as in Fig. 10. And in the very same Quarry I found a single Trochites of a cinereous colour, so called from its likeness to a wheel, having rays coming forth of its center, like the spoaks of a Cart-wheel from its stock, hub, or nave: These are said to have affinity with the Lapis Judaicus in their tex∣turei 1.276, and with the Asteriae in the property of moving in Vine∣gark 1.277, neither of which I could well try, having but one, and that too set in a rubble stone of the Quarry. They are found plentifully Northward in Holy-Island, and in the bottom of the Chanel of the River Teesl 1.278, at Braughton and Stock in York-shire, at Beresford in Stafford-shirem 1.279, and are commonly there called St. Cuthbert's Beads, whereof I intend Cuts, and shall treat more at large when I come to those places.

178. At the Parish of Heath I met with a reddish sort of stone, in the usual form of a Whet-stone, as in Tab. 8. Fig. 11. about four inches long, very hard, and for both those reasons not fit for use: it was given me by Mr. Evans, Rector of the place, and said by him to be taken out of a block of stone dug in the Quar∣ries thereabout, naturally having grown in that form. And at Stonor there was given me a crisp'd white stone, taken up not far thence, resembling a sort of Sweet-meat, not like the Confetti de Tivoli, but rather of Viterbo mentioned by Aldrovandusn 1.280, or a sort of Sweet-meat we have from Portugal.

179. Amongst the stones, like things of Art, I think I must also number a sort of globular iron-colour'd balls, taken up about Cornwell; whereof I have two given me by Sir Thomas Pennyston; the one plain and smooth, the other granulated on the out-side, not unlike to an Orange, very weighty, and made up within of a golden striated substance from the center to the circumference, shewn in the Hemisphere of one of them, Fig. 12. Of these there are some so equally round, as if done by Art; and so they are says Cambden at Huntley Nabo 1.281, where under the craggy Rocks

they lye scatter'd here and there of divers bignesses, so artifi∣cially by Nature shaped round in manner of a Globe, that one would take them to be great bullets, cast for shot, to be dis∣charged out of great Ordnance. Such as these are also mention'd by Joh. Kentmannus, found inter lapides aerarios, which if broken (says he) are like the silver or cinereous Marchasite, out of which somtimes brass or silver are smeltedp 1.282, than which ours are som∣what of a better colour, but whether possest with those or a better metal, I must confess I have not tryed, and therefore can∣not inform the Reader.

180. Hither also must be referred a round stone before men∣tioned, chap. 3 sect. 30. containing within it a white sort of earth, and therefore called Geodes, or the pregnant stone; differ∣ing from the Aetites in this, that whereas that has within it a movable stone, by the Naturalists called Callimus; this contains only earth or sand, that moves not at all: The outward crust of these is somtimes only an indurated chalk, under which are some other folds like the coats of an Onyon; and when found thus, by the Inhabitants of the Chiltern (where they are most plentiful) they are called chalk Eggs. Others there are of them, whose outermost coats are hard black Flints, some very thin, and others thicker, according I suppose to the seniority of their generation: For I have some of them by me whose coats are not much thicker than the shell of a Wall-nut, others stone half way, and others so almost to the very center; and these Flint coats black without side, and gradually whiter and whiter, as they approach nearer to the whitish earth contained within: whence I am almost per∣swaded; that however it may be in irregular Flints, that in these the chalky matter does turn into stone, and is the chief principle of their generation.

181. Upon the Chiltern-hills, near to Sherbourn and Lewkner, I found many of the Flints inclining to a Conical Figure. And in the gravel about Oxford, I have seen fasciated Pebbles, having as it were Zones or girdles round them, of different colours from those of the stones. About Fawler and Stunsfield, the Pebbles before mentioned, cap. 4. sect. 18. are most of them streaked with iron-colour'd lines, somtimes inclining towards one another like the ramifications of a Dendrites; which though not so curious as

the Pietra di figure de boschi of Ferrante Imperatoq 1.283, yet fit me well enough with a transition to the Chapter of Vegetables, which im∣mediatly follows.

182. Only I must beg leave first to advertise the Reader, that what I have ascribed to Dr. Merret concerning the Toad-stone, sect. 146. I have found since the Printing of that sheet, seeming∣ly also given to the Learned Sir George Ent, by the no less Learn∣ed Sir Thomas Brown, in the last Edition of his Pseudodoxia Epi∣demicar 1.284, to whether more rightly, let them contend. And that since the Printing the beginning of this Chapter, I received from the Right worshipful Sir Philip Harcourt of Stanton Harcourt, two kinds of Selenites, though of the same texture, yet much diffe∣rently formed from any there mention'd; both of them being Dodecaëdrums, but the Hedrae too as much different from one an∣other, as from any of the former: The first sort of them being made up of two Rhomboideal sides, four oblong, and as many short∣er pentagons; and two small Trapeziums, one half whereof are represented Tab. 8. Fig. 13. And the second, of two oblong Hexagons, four oblong Trapeziums, four oblong parallelograms, and two large pentagons, one half whereof are also represent∣ed Fig. 14. In both which it is to be understood, that the Hedrae at the ends of each stone, are opposed by two others like them, not according to the breadth, but length of the stone. The two pentagons at the top of the stone, Fig. 13. being opposed by two others like them, behind the small Trapezium at the bottom of it; and the small Trapezium at the bottom, by another like it behind the two short pentagons at the top; and so the oblong parallelo∣grams, and large pentagons at the ends of the stone, Fig. 14.

[illustration] table of formed stones

TAB. VIII. ad pag. 142

To the right Worsp^ll. the learned and curious Artist S^r. THOMAS PENYSTON Baron^t. This 8^th Table of formed STONES whereof the 4^th. 5^ft and 7^th. were found in his own grounds is humbly presented by RP. LLD.

CHAP. VI. Of Plants.

NEXT Inanimate things, I proceed to such as have Life; amongst which, first of those that hold the lowest place, that exercise the most universal, and therefore in∣ferior Faculties, such as Herbs, Shrubs, Trees, all which are con∣tained under the general name of Plants: But of these I intend not a compleat Catalogue (that being a subject of it self large e∣nough for a Volume) but only a short account,

• 1. Of the Indigenous Plants of the County, which yet either
  • 1. Are not described by any Author that we know of, or
  • 2. Have not been noted by the ingenious Mr. Ray, in his excellent Catalogue, to be of English na∣tural growth; or
  • 3. Have indeed been noted, which yet remaining dubious, either as to the certainty of their de∣scription, or specifical difference, are cleared in this County.
• 2. Of the extraordinary accidents of well known Plants.
• 3. Of the unusual Plants now cultivated in the Fields, un∣der which head somwhat of the Husbandry of the Country.

according to which method I shall treat of all the three foremen∣tioned Species of Plants; viz. Herbs, Shrubs, Trees, so far forth as each of them will come up to it. And first, of those stiled herbaceous Plants.

2. By which I understand all and only those that are made up of a succulent and carnous substance, that never in any part will become lignous, (or hardly any of them retain it all winter) as Shrubs and Trees do: of which those that are indigenous, and not described by any Author that we know of, are these that follow.

3. Viola Martia hirsuta major inodora. Which large Violet from a fibrous root sendeth forth many leaves, each upon his own foot-stalk, neither creeping as the common March, nor branch∣ed as the common Dog-violet; its leaves and stalks are all hairy especially on the back-side; they are also broader, larger, and more pointed than the ordinary March Violets, which occasioned (as some think) the ingenious Dr. Merret to note it by the name of Viola Trachelii folios 1.285, but that certainly must be some diffe∣rent kind, the leaves of ours being all invecked, as in Tab. 9. Fig. 1. whereas the Trachelia are all indented: Amongst the leaves grow large flowers, upon foot-stalks (as other Violets) of a pale blue colour, with white lines or rays issuing from the middle of them, but wholly without scent. They flower in March and April, and are commonly but abusively sold to the shops amongst other Vio∣lets, they not being so good for any of those uses the Apotheca∣ries put them to, as other Violets are. They grow plentifully in Magdalen College Cops, on Shotover hill, Stow-wood, and many other places.

4. Viola polustris rotundifolia. From the root of this Plant, which is white, and at equal distances knotted (whence only it sends forth its fibers not downward, but horizontally) arise 3 or 4 (somtimes more) feeble small stalks, each bearing at its top only a round leaf, as in Tab. 9. Fig. 2. Among which, about April come up the stalks of the flowers, slender, like those of the leaves; the whole Plant being weak, and beholding to the neigh∣boring ones for its support. The flowers are all small and blue, which being past, a long Prismatical seed-vessel succeeds, open∣ing its self when ripe into three parts, and shewing a rank of brown seeds, appended to each angle by white Nerves: This is easily distinguish'd from all other Violets by its native place, wherein it is supposed they will not grow; and by the smalness of its flowers, which are considerably less than any of the rest; whereunto add the remarkable roundness of its leaves, which are so far from drawing to points, that the longest way of them is from side to side. Clusius indeed seems to describe a Plant like this, by the name of Viola Alpina alterat 1.286, but makes its flower as much greater, as ours is less than the common one; adding beside, that it flowers about the latter end of June, a month be∣fore

which time the Seed of ours is ripe; which are differences so irreconcilable, that we cannot but pronounce ours as distinct from his, as from any other Violets before described by Authors, whereof we have consulted most, if not all the best. It grows sparingly in the Boggs about Stow-wood, and on the Banks of Cherwell between Oxford and Water-eaton; but most plentifully at Chilswell in Berkshire, amongst the moistest Boggs.

5. Juncellus omnium minimus capitulis Equiseti. This least club-rush from small hairy roots, riseth no bigger than horse-hair, and not above three inches high, bearing at the top a little club, as in the other club-rushes, but proportionably lesser, as in Tab. 9. Fig. 3. where also it may be observed, that the rush rises singly from the root, and not branched, like the Fluitans mentioned by Mr. Rayu 1.287, who had he seen this, would certainly have own∣ed different species's of club-rushes, which he seems so much to doubt. It grows in Binsey-Common, in the moist ditches next the River Isis.

6, Geranium columbinum maximum foliis dissectis. Or the great jagged Doves-foot Cranes-bill, differs from the jagged ones of o∣ther writers, in that it is jagged at the first coming up, whereas all others are whole then; its leaves are also standing on long foot-stalks, and much greater than those of any other Doves-feet; from the middle of which there rise up great jointed stalks, near the bigness of a mans finger, branched, and almost standing upright a yard in height: At the joynts, which are largely knotted, are also large jagged leaves, which at the top grow very thick, amongst which stand the flowers upon short foot-stalks, as in Tab. 9. Fig. 4. of a bright and red colour, whereas the others are of a bluish purple; the seeds being like those of other Doves-feet. This grows in hedges about Marston, and on that part of Botley-Causey next Oxford, in great plenty.

7. Pentaphyllum reptans alatum foliis profundius serratis. This creeping Plant in all respects grows like the common Cinque-foil, but that at the bottom some leaves are found round and undivid∣ed like Alchimilla, and others dividing themselves into five, are jagged but half way: As it increases in growth, the number of leaves oftentimes decrease, bearing four, three, two, and at the top, one; all which, have two little leaves or ears at the bottom

of the foot-stalk, like Tormentill: The flowers are of the big∣ness and colour of common Cinque-foil, but generally made up of four leaves, as in Tab. 9. Fig. 5. and but very rarely to be found with five. It grows in the edges of the Corn-fields between Hockley and the Woods under Shotover-hill.

8. Orobanche Verbasculi odore. The root of this Plant is skaly and obtuse, to which are appended a bundle of complicated Fi∣bers, like those of Nidus avis, whence it riseth up with a soft round very brittle stalk, seldom eight inches high, set with thin, small, short skaly leaves like skins, growing close to it: At, or very near the top of which stalk, grow somtimes eight or ten small flowers, altogether different from those of the common O∣robanche, each consisting of four pretty large leaves, within which are contained as many lesser, as in Tab. 9. Fig. 6. About the seed vessel (which is round at the bottom, with a narrow neck, and a hole at the top somwhat resembling a childs sucking-bottle, as in Fig. 6. a) stand small chives with purplish tops, as in Fig. 6. b. The whole herb, flowers, stalks and leaves, are at the first flow∣ering, of a whitish yellow, or straw colour, and being broken or bruised, smell like the root of a Primrose. It grows at the bot∣toms of Trees in the woods near Stoken-Church, and we find it mention'd in some MS. notes of the famous Mr. Goodyer.

9. Saxifraga Anglica annua Alsine folio. This small annual Sa∣xifrage from a small fibrous root, spreadeth its trailing jointed stalks about an inch or two from it, at each joint come forth small narrow leaves as in the other Chickweed-break stone, and from the upper joynts toward the end of the stalks, come small herbaceous flowers made up of four leaves, which prove the case for the small included seed vessel, as in Tab. 9. Fig. 7. This Plant differs from the common one, which is of a light fresh green, perennial, and somtimes roots again at its joynts; in that its stalks and leaves are of a brownish green colour, the Plant an∣nual and never reptant: it grows plentifully in the walks of Ba∣liol College gardens, and on the fallow Fields about Heddington and Cowley, and many other places.

10. To which perhaps I might add two different Lychnis's from the sylvestris flore albo Gerardi, observed this Year by Mr. Richard Stapley; one whereof bears a white flower somwhat less than the common, yet at the center having another little flowery

[illustration] table of plants

TAB. IX. ad pag: 146.

To the right Worsp^ll. the learned and curious Bo∣tanist S^r. Geo: Croke Knight This Table of undescribed Plants natives of Oxfordsh: is humbly dedi∣cated by R. P. L L D

circle, in the middle of which appear several fine stamina, with yellow longish apices, whereas the reclining stamina of the com∣mon Campion have no apices at all; the other also bears a white flower without that flowery circle, but has stamina crowned with roundish purple apices, with the dust whereof the flower it self is commonly soiled. But in the first of these the seed vessel not appearing at all, and in the second withering away with the flower; We are not so bold as to make them distinct species's, not knowing as yet whence they should be propagated. These were found near Holy-Well in the Suburbs of Oxford, and grow also in the Corn-fields about New-parks, and as we suppose in most parts of England. Sed de hoc quaere.

11. Beside these, there is also another, of which Authors write so obscurely, that we cannot positively say whether descri∣bed or no: However, we have ventured to call it Artiplex vulga∣ris sinuata spicata, it not being like the Pes anserinus alter sive ra∣mosior of John Bauhin, mentioned by Mr. Rayw 1.288, in that it bears its seeds in buttons close to the stalks, like the Fragifera. This grows equally common on Dung-hills with the sinuata major, a∣mongst which we suppose it has hitherto lay hid.

12. As for the Plants described by other Authors, but not no∣ted by Mr. Ray to be of English growth, we find only these in the County of Oxford. 1. Clematis Daphnoides sive pervinca major, in the High-ways between Woolvercot and Yarnton, and in several hedges thereabout. 2. Lagopus major vulgaris Parkinsoni, in Stow-wood plentifully, and several other places. 3. Oenan the a∣quatica minor Park. sive juncus odoratus Cordi, in the ditches a∣bout Medley and Binsey-Common, and almost every where about Oxford.

13. Whereunto add some others indeed noted by Mr. Ray, but left in doubt whether described, or different from one ano∣ther. Such are the Helleborine flore albo, mentioned in his Ap∣pendixx 1.289 to grow in the woods near Stoken-Church, not far from the road leading from London to Oxford, which because he had not seen either flowering, or green, modestly refused to determin whether described or no: But we having had time and curiosity of viewing it often in flower, find it to be the Helleborine flore albo of Gerard and Tabernaemontanus: Epipactis angustifolia of Besler, y 1.290

in his Hortus Eystettensisz 1.291: Alisma quorundam Cordia 1.292, and Alisma Cymbaleanthemon Thaliib 1.293. Which Authors, and others, we have diligently searched, and by comparing them together, find the Plant to agree with each Figure, as well as they could do one with another, had they (as indeed they commonly are) been Printed from one Plate.

14. The Plants which he doubts whether specifically distinct, yet found so in Oxford-shire, are also Helleborine's; the one his Helleborine flore atro-rubente, and the other Helleborine latifolia montanac 1.294, both plentifully growing on Stoken-Church hills: Whereof the former has small narrow leaves, somwhat like the Palustris, and growing thicker on the stalk; whereas those of the latter are broad and much thinner, the one also flowering a full month after the other, which we take to be distinguishing Characters enough, though not so signally differing in the flowers as Mr. Ray owns his to do; our latifolia montana coming nearer to that of Gerard, then of him or Dodonaeus, having purple flowers, but as deep or deeper than those of the Helleborine flore atro rubente.

15. Of Accidents that are incident to herbaceous Plants, be∣side what I have seen amongst forreigners in Gardens, I have met also with some amongst the natives of Oxford-shire; which I guess may happen to them (as likewise to all others) most times through excess, or defect in their nourishment. Thus have I seen the stalks of Dyers-weed and Succory, from a round near the root, spread themselves upward into a broad flat stalk, as if there were seve∣ral of them fasciated together, occasioned I suppose by reason of the ascent of to much nourishment for one stalk, and yet not enough for two. The fasciation (if I may be allowed to coyn such a word) being as it were an attempt for two stalks, which upon the ascent of sufficient sap, is somtimes accomplish'd, the flat stalk then dividing into two, as I observed it this Summer in a Draba lutea siliquis strictissimis, and several other Plants in the Gardens.

16. Which accident of Plants the German Virtuosi think only to happen after hard and late Wintersd 1.295, by reason whereof in∣deed the sap being restrained somwhat longer than ordinary, up∣on

sudden thaws, may probably be sent up more forcibly and to∣gether, and so produce these fasciated stalks; whereas the natu∣ral and graduated ascent would have produced them but single. Yet experience has taught us this present year 1676. that such productions must by no means be thus restrained; the Winter preceding, in Anno 1675. being one of the mildest ever known in England, and yet fasciated Plants as frequent as ever.

17. Beside those, we have observed some others here curiously striped; some of them yellow, as Dens Leonis, Caryophyllata, Ʋr∣tica urens, &c. others white, as Papaver spumeum, Plantago quinque nervia, Cruciata, Calamintha aquatica, &c. Others again differing from the rest of their kind, not in leaves, but colour of their flowers; such are Lamium rubrum, Lysimachia siliquosa magno store, Trachelium minus, Gentianella fugax minor, Anagallis terrestris, & aquatica sive Becabunga, cum multis aliis, all with white flowers; and Hyacinths, we have somtimes found with red, and white flow∣ers: All which, I guess accidentally accrew to these Plants (their species's having flowers of different colours) through defect, or some interception of their nourishment, which occasion diseases, and such discolorations both in their leaves and flowers.

18. That this is true of all striped Plants, is manifest, in that such discolorations may be procured by artificial substraction of the nourishment, viz. by applying Lime, or other hot dry matter to their roots; which drying up, or otherwise rendring the nourishment unfit, will thus make the Plants striped; as our very Learned Botanic Professor, Dr. Morison, informs us he observed it in Dulcamara creeping through Lime and other rubbish of Build∣ings, at the Duke of Orleans his House at Blois, whence not only ours, but most other Gardens of Europe have since been supplyed with the white striped Dulcamara.

19. Moreover, that such stripings are nothing but disease, ap∣pears plainly in that most, if not all striped Plants, are somwhat deformed and imperfect in their leaves; and though striped very lively in the beginning of the Spring, will many of them recover in some measure, at least before Autumn, and some of them have their leaves at length as green, as the rest of the healthy Plants of their kind: Which I take to be manifest arguments of their sick∣ness, and such stripings to be only discolorations, and no ornaments of perfection, though ornaments of our Gardens.

20. To which if it be objected that 'tis otherwise in the Flow∣ers of all the Plants above-mentioned, which though of diffe∣rent colours from the rest of their species, continue so still from year to year, not altering in the Autumn from what they were ith' Spring: It must be answer'd, that notwithstanding what is urged be true, yet such constancy will not warrant them of a dif∣ferent species, since no seed they produce will bring more of their kind, but only such whose flowers will be of the ordinary colour; which is so great an imperfection, that we cannot but suspect these also to be diseased, and to have their variations only from thence.

21. Though it must be confest, that it's worthy notice too, that many of these Plants seem as strong, and flourish as well as any others, and produce perhaps their Seed as perfect as any: Why then they should be numbred amongst diseased plants, any more than a red hair'd man should be accounted so in England, or a black hair'd one in Denmark (where I am informed there are so few, that they commonly paint Judas with black hair as we do with red) is a difficulty, I guess, not easily avoided; e∣specially since the difference of colours in flowers may be occasi∣oned by the different textures of the stalks of some certain plants, as it is in the hair and feathers of Animals, also of different co∣lours from the rest of their species, as shall be fully made out in the following Chapter. It may therefore perhaps be more safely concluded, that the different colorations at least of some of these flowers, may indeed be accidents, but no accidents of disease or imperfection.

22. Which is all I have met with concerning wild herbaceous Plants, and the accidents attending them remarkable in this County, in the relation whereof I have been all along so careful of not imposing on the World, that I have mention'd nothing, except in the Philosophical part, wherein I have not consulted, and had the approbation of some of the most knowing in the Faculty, such as the Reverend William Brown B. D. and Fellow of Magdalen College Oxon, Edward Tyson M. A. John Banister M. A. Richard Stapley B. A. and Mr. Jacob Bobart junior, all eminent Bota∣nists.

23. Of unusual Plants now cultivated in the Fields, to pass by the ordinary red and white Laminas Wheats, black and white Ryes,

the common Barley, Peas, Beans, and Oats, there are several worthy notice now sown in this Courty, that have been scarce ever heard of, much less used in some others: Where by the way let it be noted, that the word [unusual] is not so much to be ap∣plyed to this, as other Counties, and that in these matters of Hus∣bandry, I rather write for the information of strangers, than the inhabitants of Oxford-shire, as I must hereafter in other Counties for the information of this: There being many things in each County thought common there and unworthy notice, that per∣haps in some others will appear so strange, that they will scarcely be believed. And such are

24. Triticum spicâ muticâ rubrum, caule item rubro; red stalkt wheat (mistaken by many for red Lammas) so commonly called from the redness of its straw, especially near the joints when the Corn begins to turn; which redness yet will vanish for the most part away, when it is full ripe. This Corn, as I was inform'd, was first propagated from some few ears of it pickt out of many Acres, by one Pepart near Dunstable, about fifty years ago, which sowed by it self till it amounted to a quantity, and then proving Mercatable, is now become one of the commonest grains of this County, especially about Oxford; which yet because not known in many other places, I thought fit at least to mention it, and the rather because of its seldom or never smutting, a convenien∣cy that pleases the Baker and Husbandman both; and yet it seems 'tis not now sown about Thame and Watlington so much as for∣merly, because it brings not so certain, nor so good a bur∣then as

25. Triticum spicâ muticâ albicante, granis rufescentibus, white eared red wheat, white Corn, or mixt Lammas, which latter name I take to be as agreeable as any, because of its participating both of the white and red Lammas, having a white ear and red grain; whereas the white Lammas has both ears and grain white, and the red Lammas both red: Nor has this, as I was told, been long in Oxford-shire, it being first advanced like the former from some few ears, and at last being found to yield considerably better than most other wheat, viz. somtimes twenty for one, it is now be∣come the most eligible Corn, all along the Vale under the Chil∣tern Hills, and in far better esteem than the red stalk'd wheat, or,

26. Triticum spicâ aristatâ glumis hirsutis, the long Cone Wheat, which yet is the best of any, to be sown in rank clay Land, its stalks being reedy and not subject to lodging; and by hedges sides, because the Birds cannot eat it; for which reason also it must be good in Inclosures, besides its being the least subject of a∣ny Corn yet known, to the inconveniency of Mildews: This sort also yields extreamly well, but its Flower being course and not pleasing the Bakers, it is seldom sown but under the men∣tioned circumstances, except somtimes mixt amongst the other wheats.

27. Triticum multiplex, sive, spitâ multiplici, double ear'd wheat, so named for that it has divers small ears issuing out of the sides of the greater, and is sown about Bissiter and Weston on the Green, but it not proving agreeable to the soils thereabout, nor advan∣tagious to the Husbandman, it is almost quite disused, though I hear it succeeds better about Fritwell and Souldern. They sow also a Wheat about Weston on the Green, which from the hanging of its ear they call Pendule wheat, but suspecting that it differs in nothing from Cone, it being aristis munitum, and glumis hirsutis, I forbear as yet to pronounce it any other, though I am told that the Pendule has a redder and more slender, and Cone a whiter and fuller ear; and that Cone endures longer, and Pendule but a very short time here, it yielding for the first year somtimes twenty for one, and within two years after dwindling away, so as not to be worth sowing; which time expiring, they supply themselves again out of Berks-shire, at Abington Mercat, whereof more (if I find it to be a different kind) when I come into that County.

28. All which, 'tis true, in Oxford-shire are so commonly sown, that they cannot indeed in this respect be stiled unusual: but be∣cause scarce ever heard of in the South-east parts of England, I thought it convenient at least to hint them. And so likewise our

29. Hordeum distichum praecox, or rathe ripe Barly, deservedly so called from its early ripening, it having been somtimes sown and returned to the Barn again in two months time, and often in nine or ten weeks. This Barly, 'tis tree, is no native of Oxford-shire, only much sown here, it being all had either immediatly or mediatly from Patney in Wiltshire, whence by some 'tis also called Patney Barley: Where the soil (as I am told) is of so pe∣culiar

a quality, that what-ever other Barly is sown there, it is turned forthwith into this we call rathe-ripe; a feat, which they say, no other Land will perform. But we are told by Dr. Chil∣drey3 1.296, that in the western parts of Cornwall, they sow a sort of Barly near the Sea-side, which they carry to Mill in eight or nine weeks time after they have sowed it. However, what we have here comes all from Patney, but is not so agreeable to our Oxford-shire soil immediatly from thence, as when it has been sown elsewhere twice or thrice; after which, it endures not a∣bove three or four years, but degenerates again into common Barly. Its conveniency notwithstanding is very considerable in wet and backward Springs, and moist Autumns, when many o∣ther Countrys lose their seasons, and some of the more Northern ones perhaps their crop, the common Barly there never coming to be ripe, whereas this may be sown at the latter end of May, and will come to be ripe in the worst of Summers. This I heard of first at Gaunt-house, (the Paternal Estate of the Right Reverend Father in God, John Lord Bishop of Oxon, one of the Noblest En∣couragers of this Design) but met with it after all over the County, it being generally approved of by all sorts of Husbandmen. And this is the only Barly sown in this County unknown in some others.

30. But of Peas there are many sorts little thought of South∣ward, that possibly were they known, might prove as agreeable to the soils there, as here, and as advantagious to the Husband∣man. Such are the Peas called Henly-gray, and another sort called Red-shanks, for fresh new broken Land; the Vale-gray for strong; and Hampshire-Kids for new chalkt Land; the small Rathe-ripes, for poor and gravelly; and the Cotswold Pea for sour ground. And of Vetches; in deep clay Lands they sow the Gore and pebble-Vetch; in cold moist grounds the rathe-ripe Vetch; and Dill or Lentills, in poor stone-brash land, which are a good podware for cattle, and sown in many parts of the County.

31. As for Beans and Oats, they sow only the common that are every where else; but for Grasses, the usual name for any Her∣bage sown for Cattle, especially if perennial (to pass by the tri∣folium purpureum majus sive sativum, Clover-gross; and Onobrychis spicata flore purpureo, semine echinato, commonly called Sainct-foin,

or Everlasting-grass; but according to Dr. Morison, the trite Lu∣cern, now every where known, and therefore nothing concern∣ing the qualities and advantages of it.) They have lately sown Ray-grass, or the Gramen Loliaceum, by which they improve any cold, sour, clay-weeping ground, for which it is best, but good al∣so for dryer up-land grounds, especially light stony, or sandy Land, which is unfit for Sainct-foin.

32. It was first sown (as I was told) in the Chiltern parts of Oxford-shire, and since brought nearer Oxford by one Mr Eustace, an ingenious Husband-man of Islip, who though at first laught at, has been since followed even by those very persons that scorn'd his Experiment, it having precedence of all other grasses, in that it takes almost in all sorts of poor Land, endures the drought of Summer best, and in the Spring is the earlyest grass of any, and cannot at that time be over-stock'd; its being kept down making it sweeter, and better beloved by Cattle than any other grass: Nay, somtimes they have been known to leave Meddow hay to feed on this: but of all other Cattle it is best for Horses, it being hard Hay; and for Sheep, if unsound, it having been known by expe∣rience to have work'd good cures on them, and in other respects the best Winter grass that grows.

33. As to the manure of it, some sow but two bushels on the Statute Acre, but 'tis best to sow three, mixt with the trifolium agrarium Dodonaei, called Melilot-trefoil, and somtimes Non-such, because of it self it is but a thin spiry grass, and will not be of any bulk the first year, unless thickned by the Trefoil, which fail∣ing by degrees, the Ray or bennet-grass (so some also call it) thickens upon it, and lasts for ever. Of Ray-grass and Trefoil thus mix'd together, one at Islip but lately had so advantagious a crop, that from four Statute Acres, worth not above forty shil∣lings per annum; beside the keeping six or eight cattle till holy Thursday, and the feeding all the Winter following, had twenty Quarters of Seed worth twenty pounds, and fourteen loads of fodder, enough to winter five or six cattle.

34. The faenum Burgundiacum caeruleum L'Obelii, or Medica legi∣tima Clusii & Dodonaei, commonly called Lucern; but by the Learn∣ed Dr. Morison said to be the true Sainct-foin, is also sown here, and found to agree well enough with a rich moist ground, but bet∣ter by much in a warm and dry soil. This stands recommended

for an excellent fodder both by Men and Beasts, especially Horses, which are purged, and made fat with it in the Spring time in 8 or 10 days. But no more of this, or any other grasses, they having all (but Ray-grass) been already described.

35. But beside Grasses, there have some other Plants been cul∣tivated here of no mean use, such as Cnicus, sive Carthamus sati∣vus, manured bastard Saffron, somtimes called Safflore, for dying of scarlets; and therefore by some called also the scarlet Flower, whereof there was once a considerable quantity sown at North-Aston by Colonel Vernon, the Seeds being planted in rows about a foot distant, for the more convenient howing and keeping it clean from weeds: In these rows it rises with a strong round stalk three or four foot high, branching it self to the top, where it bears a great open skaly head, out of which it thrusts forth ma∣ny gold yellow threds of a most orient and shining colour, which they gather every day as fast as they ripen, and dry them well; which done, it is fit for sale, and dying of scarlet.

36. And about Hampton and Clanfield, they make some profit of sowing Carum sive Careum, or the Carui of the shops, com∣monly called Caruwaies, which they sow in March or April, as they do Parsly; the first year (it seems) it bears no Seed, but the next it seeds and shatters, and so will hold six or seven years without new sowing, or any other care or trouble, beside keep∣ing it from weeds: the encouragement they have to sow it, is the value put on it; one pound of this being esteemed by the Grocers, worth almost two of that which they have from Lon∣don.

37. And this is all I have met with concerning cultivated plants worthy taking notice of in this County, but that like the wild In∣digenous ones, these have somtimes accidents that attend them too: for such, and no other, were the two ears of Wheat branched from one stalk, and six ears of barley from another, found at Fulbrook near Burford, and given me by Mr. Jourden, since deceas∣ed. Nor have I more to add concerning them, but that I find few that I have mentioned to be noted by Mr. Ray.

38. Next Herbaceous plants, I proceed to the Shrubs, amongst which I met with but little extraordinary, only the Haw-thorn at Bampton, in the bowling-green hedge, bearing white berries or haws, which indeed I take to be a great curiosity: for though in Flowers

and Animals, white be esteemed by some a penurious colour, and a certain indication of a scarcity of nourishment: Whence 'tis, says my Lord Verulamf 1.297, that blue Violets and other Flowers, if they be starved, turn pale and white; Birds and Horses by age turn white; and the hoary hairs of men come by the same reason. And though among Fruits the white for the most part argues but a mean concoction, they being generally of a flashy over-watery tast, as Pear-plums, the white-harvest plum, white Bulleis, &cg 1.298. and diver sorts of pears and apples of that colour. Yet in Berries the case seems to be quite different, as we see in Goosberries, Grapes, Straw-berries, Rasps, whereof the white are by much the more delicate, and have the better flavor; which if true, in the whole species of berry-bearing Plants (as in probability it may) we have reason to conclude that the berries of this Thorn are not acciden∣tally white, through defect or disease as in some other Plants, but that they are an argument of its perfection, and that the Thorn it self is of a quite different species from all known before, and may justly challenge the name of Oxyacanthus baccis albis. These Burries 'tis true, I saw not my self, not being there in time of year for them, but being certified of the truth of it by the com∣mon voice of the Parish, and particularly by the Worshipful Tomas Hoard Esq who first told me of it, and the Reverend Mr. Philips Arch-Deacon of Salop, and one of the three Vicars there; (men of great ingenuity and undoubted veracity) I had no reason to question the certainty of the thing.

39. And hither I think may be referred the Glastenbury Thorn, in the Park and Gardens of the Right Honorable the Lord Nor∣reys, that constantly buds, and somtimes blossoms at or near Christmass: Whether this be a Plant originally of Oxford-shire, or brought hither from beyond Seas, or a graft of the old stock of Glastonbury, is not easie to determin. But thus much may be said in behalf of Oxford-shire, that there is one of them here so old, that it is now dying, and that if ever it were transplanted hither, it is far beyond the memory of men.

40. As far the excellent and peculiar quality that it hath, some take it as a miraculous remembrance of the Birth of CHRIST, first planted by Joseph of Arimathea; Others only esteem it as an ear∣lier sort of Thorn peculiar to England: And others again are of

opinion, that it is originally a foreigner of some of the southern Countries, and so hardy a Plant, that it still keeps its time of blossoming (which in its own Country might be about the end of December) though removed hither into a much colder Climat. Whether of these is most probable, I shall not determin, but leave every Reader best to please himself; and whatever more can be said of it, I shall reserve till I come into Somerset-shire, where it is in greatest reputation, and has been most observed.

41. Whereunto perhaps may be added a kind of Rosa Canina, which we have ventured to stile, humilior fructu rotundiori, for that it wants much of the height and strength of the common one, and has round leaves, and the hips compressed at the top, and branches thick set with small prickles between the great ones; whereas the common one has both leaves and hips long and pointed, and only a larger sort of prickles set at some distance: But whether this be not the rosa sylvestris folio glabro, flore plane albo, of John Bauhin, to w^ch we find it most agreeable of any described* 1.299, we dare not pro∣nounce; and therefore have not ventured to give it any draught, but have left it to further enquiry, which that all men may readi∣ly, make, they may find it growing plentifully in Magdalene College water-walks; in the way up Heddington-hill; and in many other places near about Oxford. And if judged at length to be that of John Bauhin: however, we find it not noted by Mr. Ray, and there∣fore cannot be guilty of misplacing it here.

42. Beside this, I met with no others either dubious or omit∣ted, but several of them diseased, discoloured or striped; such as Periclymenum sylvestre (with the more accurate Botanists, rather a subfrutex than a shrub) found at Shotover-hill; Cornus faemina at Waterstock; Rubus major vulgaris, in the Lane between Finstock and Fawler; and Sambucus vulgaris, in the hedges at Cowley, and near to Oxford; all which are striped yellow, but the last som∣what more remarkably than any of the former, the veins only be∣ing yellow, and all the parenchymous part of the leaf remaining green, so that the striping represents as it were a Net-work: but this also growing out after some time like the rest, must be repu∣ted of the same kind, and to proceed from the same cause. Which is all I have found observable under the species of shrubs, ex∣cept it be worthy notice, that in the Chiltern part of Oxford-shire

the Rubus Idaeus, Framboise, or Rasp-berry bush, grows plentifully enough among the woods and hills: and the Oxya∣cantha, or Barberry-bush, between Ʋpper and Nether Kiddington.

43. Thus having dispatch'd both Herbs and Shrubs, I come at length to the Trees, whereof I have met with but one undescri∣bed, and that a narrow leaved Elm, which also being smooth, just∣ly deserves the name of Ʋlmus folio angusto glabro, wherein it dif∣fers not only from the Ʋlmus minor of Parkinson and Gerard, but also from their Ʋlmus folio glabro, whose Leaves they say are no∣thing so large as the Wych Hasel, but nearest in bigness, and exact∣ly in the figure of the common Elm; whereas ours are much less, and of a quite different figure; being narrow, and having a pe∣culiar kind of pointed ending, as exactly expressed in Tab. 10. Fig. 1. Of those there are plenty in the Avenues to the House of the Honorable the Lady Cope, the Relict of the most Ingenious Sir Anthony Cope of Hanwell, where there is a whole Walk of them planted in order, beside other that grow wild in the Coppices of the Park.

44. As for Trees either not noted, or any way doubted, I have met with none here: but of Trees remarkable for some un∣usual accident attending them, there are several worthy notice. For of Oaks, though I found none so prodigious as some men∣tion'd by the Learned and Ingenious John Evelyn Esq in his dis∣course of Forrest Treesh 1.300 yet there is one between Nuneham-Courtney and Clifton, that spreads from boughs end to boughs end, 81 foot, in circumference supposing the boughs to spread uniformly 243, shading 560 square yards of ground; under which allowing three square yards for a horse or other beast, and two square feet for a man; 186 of the former, and 2420 of the latter, may be shelter'd from the injuries either of sun or rain.

45. Yet there is a somwhat bigger Oak than that, at Magdalen College, near the Gate of the Water-walks, whose boughs shoot from the boal fifteen or sixteen yards, which supposing they did spread of equal length from the trunk, like the rays of a circle; the content of ground on which it would drop, would be no less than 768 square yards, whereof allowing as before, three square yards of ground for a horse to stand on (three yards long, and one yard broad, seeming a competent proportion) there might

256 horses stand under that Tree; or allowing as before 2 square feet for a man, 3456 men.

46. Yet at Ricot, in the Park of the Right Honorable the Lord Norreys, there is an Oak yet somwhat bigger then eiher of the former, by the Author of Dodona's Grove, called his Robur Brita∣nicum, which extendeth its branches from the trunk of the Tree about 18 yards, so that the diameter of its circumference being 36 yards, it takes within its Area 972 square yards; under the umbrage of which Tree, upon the afore-mentioned proportions, no less than 324 horses, or 4374 men, may sufficiently be shel∣ter'd.

47. And these are the Trees most capacious without; some o∣thers there are that have given shelter within the hollow of their trunks: Mr. Evelyn tells us of one, somwhere in Glocester-shire, that contains within its bowels a prety wainscoted Room, en∣lighten'd with windows, and furnish'd with seats, &c. which I suppose may have given reception to many an honest Gentleman. Now though 'tis true we have none put to so Honorable a use, yet the hollow Oak on Kidlington-green, for the necessary and pub∣lick service it has done, ought perhaps to have preference, though neither so great nor gaudy; it being frequently used be∣fore the death of Judge Morton (before whose House it stood) for the Imprisoning Vagabonds and other inferior Malefactors, for the space of a night or so, till they conveniently might be had to the Goal at Oxford: Of whom, the hollow is so large within, that it would receive eight or ten commodiously enough, the Tree with∣out being 25 foot round above the spurs.

48. Just such another Prison as this, as we are informed by Johan. Ferdinand Hertodai 1.301, was made in Moravia, in the trunk of a Willow 27 foot round, in the Village of Moravan, by a certain Judge of that Country: The extravagant growth of which Tree, he attributes to the fertility of the whole Marquisate; whereas I rather think (not but that the Country may be fertile enough) the extreem rank growth of that, and of all other Plants so ex∣ceeding the ordinary course of Nature, ought rather to be im∣puted to some more peculiar agreeableness ot the respective soils and Plants, than is ordinarily met with in any other places of the same Country where-ever it be.

49. On Blechington-green, near the Angel and Crown Inn, there is also an Elm of so capacious a hollow trunk, that it once gave reception to a poor great bellyed woman (excluded all the houses in the Parish, to prevent her bringing a charge on it) who was brought to bed in it of a Son, now a lusty young man, and living, as they told me, at or near Harwich. And yet neither this Elm, nor the afore-mentioned Oak, are either of them so big, but that they may be match'd in many other places, in so much that I should scarce have thought them worthy my notice, had it not been for the strange uses they were heretofore put to.

50. And thus I had immediatly passed on to Elms, but that I am detained by a parcel of subterraneous Oaks, found some years since at the bottom of a Pond on Binfield-heath in the Parish of Shiplake, very firm and sound, but quite through to the heart as black as Ebony; caused I suppose by a Vitriolic humor in the Earth, which joining with Oak the parent of a sort of Galls, might rea∣sonably enough produce such an effect, as we see they do always in the making of Ink: And that I am not mistaken in this conje∣cture, the Ditches by the Woods side between this and Caversham will bear me witness, the Waters whereof, where they stand un∣der Oaks and receive their dropings and fall of their leaves, be∣ing turned blacker than any Vitriolic ones I have any where seen, except those of Mr. Tyrrill of Oakley in Buckingham-shire.

51. And these also no question performed the same feat to some Tuns of Oak found also under a Pond, belonging to the Worshipful Thomas Stonor Esq of Watlington-Park, near Blunds Court, in the Parish of Rotherfield Pypard, which for the benefit of the soil, and other conveniencies, being cleansed in July, Anno 1675. the Work-men sinking it a convenient depth, came at last, as it proved, to the top Branches of an Oak: relation whereof being made to the owner the worthy Mr. Stoner, a per∣son not only curious, but equally generous; he presently gave or∣der for a further inquisition, and accordingly employed an equal number of men to the greatness of the work, who sinking a pit a∣bout twenty yards over, and about fifty or sixty foot deep, found many whole Oaks; whereof one stood upright perpendicular to the Horizon, the others lay obliquely, onely one was inverted, the

forked end downward: All of them dyed through of a black hiew like Ebony, yet much of the Timber sound enough, and fit for many uses, several of the Trees being a foot or fourteen inches, and particularly one above three foot diameter, and all receiving a very good polish; and therefore fitter for Joyners in-laid works, than pales to set about closes, to which use that was put, which was found at Binfield.

52. Beside the Trees, all along as they dug, they met with plenty of Hasel-nuts from within a yard of the surface to the bottom of the pit, which Times iron teeth had not yet crack'd; and that which amazed me most of all, I think they lay thicker than ever they grew: Some of which, as well as the Oaks were at some places cover'd with a bluish substance, much of the con∣sistence of the flower of Sulphur, and not much unlike to the finest blue starch; which is the Caeruleum nativum before mention∣ed in this History, Cap. 3. Sect. 18. The Oaks had none of them any roots, but plainly cut off at the kerf, as is used in felling Tim∣ber; The shells of the Nuts very firm without, but nothing re∣mained within of the Kernel, but a shew of the dry outer rind. And the blue substance not found only upon the Nuts and Oaks, but in any other small cavities of the Earth, dispersedly here and there all over the pit.

53. Moreover, there was found a sort of white stone dispersed in like manner, in pieces somtimes as big as ones fist, in colour somwhat like to white Marble or Alabaster, but of a much diffe∣rent texture. And near the bottom of the pit a large Stags head, with the Brow-antliers, as sound as the Beam it self, with two Roman Ʋrns, both which were broken by the incurious Work∣men.

54. How the Timber should be thus dyed as black as Ebony, I hope I have made no improbable conjecture, nor is it liable that I know of to any exception, unless to a Quaere: Why the Nuts and Stags head were not dyed so too? To which it may be an∣swered, That the pores of the shells being closer than the wood, and neither the nuts nor the born having any thing gallish, the Vitriol of the Earth could have no power on them, whether it be wrought by repugnancy or combination, to work that ef∣fect.

55. But how the Timber should become thus buryed both

at Binfield and Blunds Court? and at the latter how joyned in so strange a mixture, as Hasel-nuts, a Stags head, and Ʋrns; and at som places only, with an Alabastrine kind of substance? re∣mains yet a knot not so easily loosed. However, since attemts have somtimes pleased, and it has always been acceptable in ma∣gnis voluisse, I shall adventure to propound my present thoughts; still reserving the liberty to my self, as well as Reader, of thinking otherwise when sufficient grounds of change shall offer themselves at any time hereafter.

56. First then, as for the timber dug at Binfield-heath, 'tis likely that might be fell'd and buryed there when Societies of men (which I guess was not common till the days of King Alfred) un∣der some Mean, or Lord Paramount, first chose to themselves cer∣tain places of aboad, and promoted Agriculture: which that they might the better do they fell'd and buryed the timber which they could not well burn with the under-wood. Thus, as I have been informed by a very worthy Person, who had it from his aged Father, did our Grand-fathers serve their timber in the in∣land parts of Kent to make room for tillage, digging a trench by each tree after it was fell'd, and so tumbling it in, its sale not be∣ing worth the portage, even there, so few years ago. Much ra∣ther therefore might the first Planters of Binfield-heath throw it into Ponds, or other hollow places ready at hand, to make room as well for habitation as tillage, in ancienter times: which I guess might be done in the Reign of King Alfred, 1. because he divided the Kingdom into Shires and Hundreds; and 2. because Binfield gives name to the Hundred (however inconsiderable it be now) in this woody part of the County.

57. Moreover, that this Timber must be buryed by design, and not casually over-thrown, either by their roots being loosen'd by to much wet, occasioned by the obstruction of Rivers, as Cam∣denk 1.302 apprehends those Trees were, found in Chatmoss in Lanca∣shire: Nor by the over-flowing of any Rivers, nor fall of any Torrent, as Steno would have itl 1.303: Nor undermined by subterrane∣ous streams, or dissolution of matter underneath them, as Dr. Jacksonm 1.304 thinks it happened about 18 years since at Bilkely in Hereford-shire, is plain and evident; for that all the Country here∣about

lies very high, and is as stony a fast ground, as almost any where to be found.

58. It remains therefore, that it must needs be designedly bu∣ried, and if in any other places of the heath, as well as in the pond, may possibly be discover'd either by the herbage over them, which will wither much sooner than any of the rest; as near Yeo∣vil in Somerset-shire, where, as we are informed by the Reverend and Learned Dr. Bealn 1.305, the parched part just over them, will bear the very length and shape in gross of the trees, whence they have been instructed to find and take up hundreds of Oaks: Or by the direction of the dew in Summer; it being observed in Cumberlando 1.306, that the dew never stands on any of the ground under which such trees lie; though possibly too, on the other side we may have no such indications here in firm grounds, they being hitherto observed only in moors and mosses.

59. But as for the timber at Blunds Court, as it was found, so it requires a deeper research, it being very unlikely they should dig so low, upon the same score as at Binfield, since timber might have been buryed on far easier terms, as formerly in Kent. Much less can it be admitted it should be swallowed by an Earth-quake, or as the vulgar will needs have it, thus cover'd with Earth by the violence of a Flood, and particularly by that in the days of Noah. For in either of those cases, we should have found each tree with roots as well as branches, whereas these were plainly hewen off at the Kerf, as is used in felling Timber, the marks of the Ax still remaining upon them.

60. Beside, the several other things found in company of these trees, seem to give testimony of some other matters. The first and chiefest whereof, is that blewish kind of substance, which I am strongly perswaded is Caeruleum nativum, and the rather, because found in an Ash-colour'd Earth. The true Cyprian Caeru∣leum, or Ʋltramarine, as is testified by Rulandus, being found in terra cinereâ; and the Caeruleum Patavinum, in glebis subcinereisp 1.307; with whom agrees Kentmannus, as cited above, Chap. 3. §. 18. And if true Caeruleum, we have reason to suspect a Mine under∣neath; for then, says Aldrovandus, is Caeruleum produced, when some saline acid humor (such as the Vitriol that dies the Trees

black) corrodes some metallick matter or otherq 1.308; which som∣times is Copper, and somtimes Gold, as Encelius witnesseth it is at Lauterberg and Goldeberg in Silesia, in his Book De re Metallicar 1.309; where he also further adds, that Gold is smelted out of Caeruleum it self.

61. Dr. Brown also tells us, in the account of his Journey from Comara to the Mine-Towns in Hungarys 1.310, that at Schemnitz, where the silver Ore holds some gold, and at the silver Mines in Peru, there are Rocks cover'd over with a fair shining blue. Ru∣landust 1.311 also joins it with a silver Ore at Gieshubelia, and so does Plinyu 1.312: What then should hinder but it may be so here? since I do not doubt it to be the steam of a mineral; for when I was at the bottom of the pit (above 50 foot deep) notwithstanding the openness of the pit, and coolness of the day, no Sun appear∣ing, I found it so hot, that the drops followed one another on my face, whence I judged the Mine-chamber not to be far off.

62. Which I rather guess to be of silver than of any other metal, because of the Alabastrine or spar-like substance found mix'd with it; which, says Mr. Webster, was in some places in∣termixt also in the best Silver-mine ever yet found in England, the Ore whereof held about sixty six pounds per Tunw 1.313. From all which it may be concluded, that 'tis probable at least that here may have been formerly such a mine, stopt up as I first thought by the Aboriginal Britans, upon the arrival and conquests of the Ro∣mans or Saxons, who not being able to recover their Country with∣in the memory of man, it might be lost like the Gold-mine of Glass-Hitten in Hungary, when Bethlem Gabor over-ran that Coun∣tryx 1.314; or the Gold-mine of Cunobeline in Essex, discover'd again temp. Hen. 4. as appears by the Kings Letters of Mandamus, bear∣ing date 11 May, An. 2. Rot. 34. directed to Walter Fitz-Walter concerning ity 1.315; and since that lost again.

63. Till at length they found the Ʋrns, and then 'twas plain and evident that it must have been formerly some Roman Work, and probably still remains some old Roman Mine, in all likelyhood stopt up, when Gallio of Ravenna sent hither with a Legion (the last that ever was in Britan) to repel the Picts and Scots, was fi∣nally

recalled by Valentinian the third, to assist Aetius in Gallia a∣gainst the In-roads of the Francks under Clodion, and to support his then tottering, and quickly after ruin'd Western Empire: At what time, says Mr. Speedz 1.316 (but he quotes not his Author) they buryed also their Treasures, whereof we have found parcels in all Ages ever since.

64. And this 'tis likely they might do, first by throwing in Trees, which not lying close enough immediatly to support the Earth, were after cover'd with Hasels (when the Nuts were fully ripe, which has occasioned their endurance to this very day) on which they heaped Earth; which after some time sinking below the surface of the other ground might occasion this Pond, never thought to have been any other till the time above-mention'd.

65. After the accidents of Oaks, come we next to those of Elms, whereof there stands one on Binsey-Common, at the spurs next the ground at least 6 yards diameter, occasion'd here, as (I suppose) at many other places, by erecting a Turf seat round the bottom of the Tree, it being elsewhere but of ordinary dimen∣sions. But this is not so extravagant in the excess of the growth of its trunk near the ground, but there is another more strange for a defect in that place, viz. a great old Elm growing near the North-east corner of the Bowling-green in Magdalene College Grove, disbarked quite round, at most places two foot, at some at least a yard, or four foot from the ground; which yet for these many years past has flourish'd as well as any Tree in the Grove.

66. Now how this should come to pass (all Trees being be∣lieved to receive their nourishment between the wood and bark, and presently to die upon their separation) many have admired, but few attempted to explain, being further discouraged by the absence of the pith, the Tree being within as hollow as a Drum, and its outmost surface, where unbark'd, dead and dry beside. All which I think had not startled me much, but that I found it in our Transactionsa 1.317 positively asserted, that if any circle be drawn round any common English tree (only Ash excepted) as Oak, Elm, Poplar, &c. by incision to the timber (how thin soever the knife be) so that no part of the rind or bark to the very solid timber be uncut, the Tree will die from that part upwards.

67. For the better clearing of which point, and avoidance of the attending difficulties, it will be but requisite, though two prin∣cipal parts of our tree be wanting, to represent in Sculpture, at least a sextant of the body of an Elm cut transversly, together with the bark and pith, as well as the wood, as they all appear in a Microscope: Which without further trouble, or suspicion of fals∣hood, I have carefully taken out of the Anatomy of Trunks lately publish'd by the accurate and ingenious Dr. Grew, as in Tab. 10. Fig. 2. only with some alteration of the Letters of direction. Wherein

• AB, CD. represent the whole bark of the tree.
• AB. the skin of the bark.
• CD one kind of sap vessels.
• EF. another kind of sap vessels.
• GH. the parenchyma of the bark wherein the Vesiculae are so exceeding small, as difficultly to be percei∣ved by the Microscope.
• IK, LM, NO, PQ. the great air vessels postured chief∣ly in rings on the inner verge of every annual growth of wood.
• rs, rs, rs. the small air vessels postured in cross bars.
• TVW the pith.
• XY. the diametral portions, or insertions runing through the several annual rings from the pith to the bark.
• zzzz. the true wood, having been originally the sap vessels of the bark.

now the sap vessels in this diagram being only to be found in the Bark, and those passages intercepted at so great distances, as above-mention'd in our Elm, the great question still returns as difficult as before, and as far from solution.

68. In the clearing whereof, it must first for certain be an∣swer'd, that its a great mistake (though it have obtained so long) that a tree only lives by the ascent of its nourishment in or be∣tween the Bark and the Wood, and that trees must needs die when once they are bark'd round, here being matter of fact to confute those opinions. And secondly, That it is as certain a truth as the other is a mistake, that an Elm as well as an Ash, or

any other tree, whatever Experiments may have been made, may and do's somtimes live after 'tis disbarked, and that therefore there must be other vessels, beside the sap vessels of the Bark, capable of the office of conveying sap, sufficient not only for the life, but flourishing condition of a tree.

69. And such perhaps are a sort of small vessels in the very schematism of the wood at zzzz, not perceptible by a Microscope, it being on all hands agreed on, that the whole wood of trees, was all heretofore the sap vessels of the Bark: The Bark every year, as Dr. Grewb 1.318 well observes, dividing into two parts, and distri∣buting it self two contrary ways; the outer part falling off toward the skin at A B, and becoming at length the skin it self; and the inner part adding it self to the wood, the parenchymous part there∣of making a new addition to the Insertions at X Y, and the sap vessels a new addition to the lignous parts at zzzz standing be∣tween the Insertions: So that a Ring of sap vessels in the Bark this year, becomes a Ring of wood in the tree the next; all which may be perfectly seen in the great Oak afore-mentioned, (§. 45. of this Chapter, and belonging to the same College) at several places where the rind is bruised off.

70. And if so, not unlikely they may so far retain their anci∣ent office of conveying sap, as to keep a tree alive, though not augment it, which perhaps may be one different use of these sap vessels in the wood from those in the bark, these being sufficient for the continuation of a tree, and the others serving only for its augmentation: Which if true, and our tree past its increase, as no doubt it has been many years since; what need has there been of any such thing as the sap vessels of the bark? or indeed of the bark it self?

71. Now that this indeed is certainly so, seems agreed on and confirmed by the learned and ingenious Mr. Willughby and Mr. Rayc 1.319; who have made it appear by irresistible experience, that the sap not only ascends between the bark and the tree, but also through the very substance of the wood: And by the accurate Dr. Grewd 1.320, who allows to the wood, as well sap vessels as air ves∣sels, it being proper to the bark to have sap vessels only. All which put together, seem abundantly to dispel all appearing dif∣ficulties,

and no question will satisfie all unprejudiced Readers how our tree comes to flourish, though disbark'd all round.

72. But if there shall be any found so froward, as not to al∣low (against all experience) those minute sap vessels in the substance of the wood, yet the visible prick'd circles between the annual coats of the wood, observed also by Mr. Willughby, Mr. Ray, and Dr. Tonge 1.321, which I suppose may be the large air vessels of Dr. Grew, may be sufficient for this purpose; especially in Elm, where they are numerous and of two sorts, as in Tab. 10. Fig. 2. I K, &c. r s, &c. It being the office of air vessels, for about a month in March and Aprilf 1.322, before the new sap vessels of the back are fit for use, to convey the sap necessary for the vegetation of all Plants. And if so, in old trees that have done growing, and have no need of the annual new production of a bark, why may it not continually a∣scend by them still?

73. To which if it be objected, that a tree lives as well by ve∣getable air as sap, and that if the air vessels be continually fill'd with sap, the tree must dye on the other side for want of air: It may easily be replyed, that the use of the Insertions or Diametral por∣tions, Fig. 2. X Y, interceding the pith at T V W, and the paren∣chyma of the bark at G H, all made of small kind of bladders cluster'd together, is for conveyance of air, as well as the air vessels themselves. But if it be further urged, that the Diame∣tral portions only serve to convey it by the bredth, and not the length of the tree, which makes them insufficient for this pur∣pose; we have latitude enough, and can allow the lesser sap ves∣sels that lye in cross bars at r s to supply that defect, and still re∣tain all the ranges of the great air vessels at IK, LM, NO, PQ, for conveyance of the sap, in such like Trees as our old Elm.

74. And if it be further enquired, how it comes to pass that some trees do dye upon the loss of their bark, and all are not pre∣served by the help of the sap, or air vessels of the wood: It may be answer'd, and probably rightly enough, that such trees as are young, a growing, have a plentiful issue of thin sap between the bark and the wood, and that readily bleed when they are wound∣ed or bored, do most commonly (if not always) certainly dye: whereas some of the same trees when older, past growing, espe∣cially if they have a more gummy juice, such as Ash, Elm, Lime-tree,

&c. may live and flourish many years after their disbarking, by the saps ascent through the sap or air vessels of the wood.

75. Moreover, amongst the accidents that have happen'd to Elms, I must not forget a very pleasant one that fell out at Mid∣dle-Aston, where cleaving of Elm blocks at one Mr. Langston's, there came out a piece so exactly representing a shoulder of Veal, that it was thought worth while to preserve it from the fire by the owner of it, by whom it was kindly bestowed on me, as an additi∣on to the rest of my Curiosities of Nature.

76. But the most remarkable accidents that ever befel trees, perhaps here, or in any other County, were the foundations of two eminent Religious houses both occasion'd by trees. The first, Oseney Abby founded in that place by Robert D'Oyly the second, by reason of a certain tree that stood in the meddows where after he built the Abbey, to which it seems repaired a company of Pyes, as often as Editha the wife of Robert came to walk that way, which in company with her maid she often used to do (as Leland expresses it) to solace her selfg 1.323: at whose arrival the Pyes were alwaies so clamorous, that she took notice of it, and consults with one Radul∣phus Canon of St. Frideswid's, what this might signifie: who cun∣ingly advises, that she must build some Church or Monastery where the tree stood, which she instantly procures her Husband to do, and this Radulphus (her Confessor) to be made the first Prior.

77. What tree this was, Leland acquaints us not; but that which occasioned the second Foundation in the place where it is, was a triple Elm, having three trunks issuing from one root. Near such a Tree as this Sir Thomas White, Lord Major of London (as we have it by Tradition) was warned in a Dream he should build a College, for the education of Youth in Religion and Learn∣ing: whereupon he repairs to Oxford, and first met with som∣thing near Glocester-Hall that seem'd to answer his Dream, where accordingly he erected a great deal of Building. But afterward, finding another Elm near St. Bernards College, supprest not long before by King Hen. 8. more exactly to answer all the circumstan∣ces of his Dream, he left off at Glocester-Hall, and built St. John Bapt. College, which, with the very Tree beside it, that occasion'd its Foundation, flourishes to this day, under the Presidence of the Reverend and Learned Dr. Levinz, a cordial promoter of this Design.

78. Beside the Elms at St. Johns knit together at the root, there are two Beeches in the way from Oxford to Reading, near a place called Cain-end, more strangely joined together a great height from the ground: for the bodies of these Trees come from diffe∣rent roots, and ascend parallel to the top, but are joined together a little before they come to bough, by a transverse piece of tim∣ber entering at each end into the bodies of the Trees, and growing jointly with them, for which reason 'tis commonly called the Gallow-tree, though the piece that intercedes them lies somwhat obliquely: How this should come to pass many have wondered, but the problem I guess may be easily solved, only by allowing the transverse piece of Timber to be one of the boughs of the Tree to which its lowermost end still joins, which whilst young and tender, might bear so hard against the body of the neighboring Tree, that with the continual motion of the wind, it might not only fret it self asunder, but gall off the bark too of the other Tree; which closing up again in calm weather at the rising of the sap, might well include so near a neighbor, first within its bark, and after some time within the wood it self: which I have obser∣ved to have been done but very lately in New College Gardens, where the boughs of two different Sycomores are thus grown to∣gether, only by bearing hard on one another, and interchangably fretting away each others bark, and then closing up again at the rising of the sap.

79. There have also some accidents befallen the Ash and Wil∣low, not commonly met with; the former whereof in a Close of one Mr. Coker, of the Town of Bisseter, grows frequently out of the boal of the other, yet not as 'tis usual amongst other Trees, but so that the roots of the Ashes have some of them grown down through the whole length of the trunks of the Willows, and at last fastening into the earth it self, have so extended themselves that they have burst the Willows in sunder, whose sides falling away from them and perishing by degrees, what before were but the roots, are now become the bodies of the Ashes themselves. But this happens only to Willows that have been lopt at six or seven foot high; the Willows at Enston, in the walks near the Rock, whereof there are several about 50 foot high, being incapable I suppose of any such accident.

80. Beside this unusual growth of the Ash, I have met with

other accidents that frequently attend it, which because so much commended by Plinyh 1.324 in Maple, in which they are common, I think ought much more to be noted in this: And such are the Nodosities called Bruscum and Molluscum, to be found in Ash as well as Maple, which when cut, shew a curled and twining grain; the Bruscum thick and intricate, the Molluscum being streaked in a more direct course. With the Molluscum of Ash there is a whole Closet wainscoted, at the much Honored Mr. Stonor's of Watling∣ton Park, the grain of the panes being curiously waved like the Gamahe's of Achats. And at the Worshipful Mr. Reads, of the Parish of Ipsden, the Bruscum of an old Ash is so wonderfully fi∣gured, that in a Dining-table made of it (without the help of fansie) you have exactly represented the figure of the Fish, we commonly call a Jack, though endeavoring to mend, they have somwhat marr'd it by Art: and in some other Tablets the figures of a Ʋnicorn, and an old Man from the navel upwards, but nei∣ther of these so plain as the former.

81. Jacobus Gaffarellus, amongst his unheard of Curiositiesi 1.325, tells us of a Tree found in Holland, which being cut to pieces by a wond-cleaver, had in one part of it the figure of a Chalice, in another that of a Priests Albe, in another that of a Stole; and in a word, there were represented very near all the ornaments be∣longing to a Priest: which relation if true, says he, it must needs be confest, that these figures could not be there casually or by chance; and indeed 'tis very hard to think, how so many things pertinent to the same office, should thus meet together without some design of Nature. However, till I am better satisfied of the truth of the thing, or convinced by the sight of some other such Curiosity, I cannot afford to think ours (being altogether inde∣pendent) more than meer accidents.

82. Beside these unusual accidents of whole Trees, or their Trunks, there are some also that have happened to their upper branches and leaves, whereof the former are somtimes fasciated, and the latter striped. In willows, and some other of the softer woods, the uppermost boughs are commonly fasciated, but the best of the kind I ever yet saw, was the top-branch of an Ash, which I met with at Bisseter, not only fasciated, but most uniformly wreathed two or three times round. And there is a good example of this

nature, in a top branch of Holly hanging up in the Gate-house of the Physick-garden, whence 'tis plain, that this happens also to the hardest woods; and in both, by the ascent of too much nourishment, though in branches of Trees, especially such as are not only flat but helically curled, I guess there concurs some blast, or some such like matter, that contracts the fibers and so turns them round, beside the excess in the ascent of their nourish∣ment.

83. As for the striped leaves of Trees, as well as those of Shrubs, and herbaceous Plants, I suppose they may be met with almost in every kind. The greater Maple, miscalled the Sycomore, was found striped white not many years since in Magdalen College Grove, and translated thence into the Physick-garden, where it flourishes still and retains its stripings; and I hear of a striped Elm som∣where in Dorset-shire. Dr. Childreyk 1.326, and out of him the inge∣nious Mr. Evelynl 1.327, inform us of an Oak in Lanhadron Park in the County of Cornwall (to omit the painted Oak in the Hundred of East) which constantly bears leaves speckled with white. And there was another of these found this instant year, 1676. by my worthy Friend Dr. Thomas Tayler, in a place called Frid-wood, in the Parish of Borden near Sittingbourn in Kent. But of these more hereafter, when I come into those Counties.

84. Of Ʋnusual trees now cultivated in Oxford-shire, there are some remarkable; such is the Abele-tree, advantagiously pro∣pagated by Sir George Croke of Waterstock, which he does, by cutting stakes out of the more substantial part of the wood, which put into moist ground grow more freely than willows, coming in three or four years time to an incredible height. And such are the Fir-tree, and the lesser mountain Pine, whereof there are se∣veral Nurseries planted in the Quincunx order, at Cornbury, in the Park of the Right Honorable the Earl of Clarendon, which they propagate by slips twisted, as well as by Kernels, to that advantage that there is great hopes of beautiful and stately Groves of them; such as I met with at the Right Worshipful Sir Peter Wentworths at Lillingston Lovel, where there are three Walks of Firs, most of them 20 yards high.

85. Which Parish, if the Reader look for in the Map of Ox∣fordshire he must not expect to find, though it belong to the County,

it lying five miles within Buckingham-shire: as on the other side several Parishes of Berkshire, Buckingham-shire, and Worcester-shire, are placed within Oxford-shire. How these things come to pass we have little of certainty, but in all probability this Lillingston was accounted in Oxfordshire for the sake of the Lords Lovels, whose Inheritance, from the addition, we may conclude it once was; who being powerful men in these parts, and not un∣likely most times the Kings Lieutenants, might have permission to reckon this their own Estate, within their own Jurisdiction as part of Oxford-shire; as I suppose all other Parishes thus placed out of the body of their Counties, may also have been.

86. From this necessary, and therefore I hope pardonable di∣gression, I proceed to some Fruit-trees not ordinary elsewhere, such as the double-bearing Pear-trees: whereof I met with one in the Parish of Haseley, at a place called Latchford, in the Hort∣yard of Mr. Gooding, called the Pear of Paradice, whose first Crop is ripe about Midsummer, and the second at Michaelmass. There is also another of these, but of a different kind, in the Parish of Stanlake at the Chequer-Inn, called the Hundred-pound Pear, which Blossoms at two distinct times, and bears two Crops, whereof it has both sorts (much like the Fig) upon the Tree at a time, some ripe, and others green. But in both these trees, the Pears in the second Crops are somwhat less than of the first, and grow both after a peculiar manner, most of them, if not all, coming forth at the ends of the twigs, which are all the pedicles they seem to have; and therefore on the tree they do not hang downwards, like those of the first Crop, but point up in the air, or any other way the shoots direct them.

87. At Corpus Christi College they have a sort of Pear-tree, that bears Fruit in hardness little inferior to the younger shoots of the very tree that bears them; and therefore not undeservedly by some called the Wooden-pear, though in wet years I have known them pretty soft: but generally they are so sound, and of so un∣alterable a constitution, that I have now some by me that were sea∣sonably gather'd, above ten years old, as hard and firm as ever they were at first, only somwhat less than when first gather'd; for which very reason, in some parts of Worcester-shire where they have plenty of them, they are called Long-lasters, being not sub∣ject to rot like other Pears.

88. And thus I had finish'd the Chapter of Plants, but that I think fit to acquaint the Reader of a further design I have concern∣ing them, viz. Of enquiring hereafter into some other accidents of Plants of an inferior quality to any before mentioned; which yet perhaps are more abstruse in their consideration than the more noted ones are. And such are the blebs or blisters we find on the leaves of many Trees and Shrubs, which somtimes happen to them after heat and droughts, and somtimes too upon cold nipping weather: but whether thus infected from the air from without, or by juices within, or by both; and when by one, or the other, or both together? is a Question requires a great deal of time, and more sedulity than has yet been afforded, to be but probably sol∣ved.

89. And this I the rather design, because all that I find certain concerning them yet, is only that the weak, and free growing sappy Trees are most subject to them, and the stout Ever-greens but little, if at all: that the infection for the most part is under, and the blister above the leaf, but somtimes otherwise: that the bli∣sters somtimes have Insects in them, somtimes bear fungus's on their topsl 1.328, and somtimes have neither: But what kind of Insects or fungus's they are, that belong to each Plant that have them? or whether the same Plants have not somtimes different Insects and fungus's, especially in dry, and wet years? are also Questions that require indefatigable industry, to be in any measure satisfied.

90. And yet even in these, if God give me life, and I find en∣couragement to proceed in my undertaking, I intend to attempt somthing. As also to find out how it comes to pass, that of the seeds of many Plants, such as Oak, Ash, Elm, Beech, Yew, Ju∣niper, Hemp, &c. there come some Plants again that will never bear seeds, if not timely prevented by our Learned Professor of Natural Philosophy, the Ingenious Dr. Millington; the Learned Dr. Morison our Botanic Professor; or the Learned and accurate Dr. Grew, now reading, writing, and practising the Anatomy, of Vegetables.

CHAP. VII. Of Brutes.

HAVING done with the Vegetative, I proceed to the Animal Kingdom, wherein I shall consider first, that part of it that indeed has apprehension of external Objects, of Pleasures and Pains, and Locomotion to make address to the one, and fly the other, but is void of reason; within which may be comprehended all manner of Brutes, such as Birds, Insects, Fishes, Reptils, and four-footed Beasts, which I presume may be a subject sufficient for this Chapter, though as in the former of Plants, I in∣tend only to mention such, as either have not been noted before, are very unusual, or have somthing extraordinary attending them; Leaving what concerns Men for a Chapter by it self.

2. And herein, as before in the Chapter of Formed stones (and as I intend for the future in all other Chapters so far forth as they will bear it) I shall observe the method of the whole Essay, and first treat of such Animals as are Inhabitants of the Heavens, then of those that belong to the Waters, and lastly of such as inhabit the dry Land; of which in their order.

3. But amongst the inhabitants of the Air or lowermost Hea∣ven, it cannot be expected in so small a County, I should produce many not already noted, since the feathered Kingdom has been so lately and so carefully surveyed, by the Learned and Industrious Francis Willughby Esq Nor indeed could I meet with any omitted by him, except perchance a little Bird, somtimes seen, but oft∣ner heard in the Park at Woodstock, from the noise that it makes, commonly called the Wood-cracker: Described to me (for I had not the happiness to see it) to be about the bigness of a Sparrow, with a blue back, and a reddish breast, a wide mouth and a long bill, which it puts into a crack or splinter of a rotten bough of a Tree, and makes a noise as if it were rending asunder, with that violence, that the noise may be heard at least twelve score yards, some have ventured to say a mile from the place.

4. Which is all I could find in the County of Oxford omitted by that careful and ingenious Author, except I may have leave to

number the Diabolus marinus, or Sea Devils-bird mention'd by Johnstonm 1.329, and others, and to be seen in the Repository of the Bodleyan Library: Which though it has so ill a name, contracted I suppose from its exquisite blackness, and the ill it bodes to Sea-men whenever they see it; yet is a very beautiful Bird, and has therefore by some been numbered amongst the Manucodiata's, and called the black Bird of Paradise. But of this no more, because no inhabitant of the Land, much less of this County.

5. Which yet I think I had not forborn to describe, had our Bird been perfect, it not being to be found in Sculpture in any Author that I know of: For though I did it not in Foreign un∣described Plants growing in our Gardens, well knowing the much abler Dr. Morison to be about it: Yet I think I may take the liber∣ty to do it in Animals, not hearing of any body else now design∣ing such a work.

6. And therefore shall not omit the Hen from the Isle of St. Helen, now living, and in the possession of the Right Honorable the Lord Norreys, a great lover of Curiosities in all sorts of Ani∣mals: which for her kind I think may be accounted one of the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and amongst them of the rapacious, carnivorous sort, having her beak near its end, crook'd after the manner of a Vul∣tur, and striking with her pounces like a Hawk, though her talons indeed are not much more turned than those of a common house Hen.

7. In her head 'tis true she is somwhat like the second sort of Gypaëtos of Aldrovandusn 1.330, or the Percnopteros of Johnstono 1.331, be∣ing bald and wrinkled, but not quite to the hinder part of the head, as they are said to be; having from the crown of her head down to the beginning of her neck, and so behind her ears to her throat, a sort of slender plume, like bristles, which she erects or lets fall at pleasure: in her gorge also and pounces she is very unlike them, for though she be carnivorous, yet her gorge is slender, and though she strike with her pounces, they scarce exceed in bigness those of a common house Hen, whereas the gorge and pounces of the Gypaëtos, and Percnopteros, are protuberant and very long; nor has she like them any part of her plume so disposed at the top of her back, as to represent a Monks hood, thrown backward from his headp 1.332.

8. However, for her near resemblance of them in her head, and some other parts, we cannot but allow her to be a Bird of that genus, though undescribed; and accordingly advise, she may be placed amongst them by future Ornithologists, to which purpose let them take the following description.

9. Her beak is straight, only at its extremity, where it is turn∣ed like the Vulturs, in length 2 inches ¾, and her Nares long and narrow, as in Tab. 10. Fig. 3. The pupillae of her eyes are full and black, encompassed with Irides of a dark brown colour, bald and wrinkled to the top of the head, and so round by the ears (which are of an irregular oval form) next which stand the pen∣nae setiformes as aforesaid; her gorge not at all protuberant, but slender; her wings complicated or folded to her body, reach al∣most to the end of her train, and extended at full stretch, have their extremities distant about five foot, being somwhat larger than those of a Lanar, and containing in each of them 34 Remi∣ges, i. e. beside the five feathers, 29 at least or 30 flags: her thighs and pounces are much like those of a common house Hen, having the outermost talon knit to the rest by a membran. In the whole, she is bigger than a Moscovy Goshawk, from the point of her beak to the extremity of her train, above two foot long, her plume for the most part being of an Ash-colour, mixt with some white feathers, and growing whiter upon mewing, as those of Hawks do.

10. Other Birds there are here that are but rarely seen, yet breed in this Country, and are continually with us, and therefore to be numbred amongst those we call perennial. Such are the Ʋ∣pupa the Hoopoe, or Hooping-bird; whereof I saw one alive on Otmoor, and another was given me for the Repository of the Bod∣leyan Library (killed somwhere about Cassenton) by one Mr. Pain∣ter Alderman of Woodstock. A Bird it is to admiration beautiful, being curiously deck'd with feathers of divers colours, and with a large crest on its head, as it is exquisitely engraven both by Dr. Charleton* 1.333 and Mr. Willughby; but like the Diabolus marinus, ne∣ver appearing or being heard (as the vulgar will have it) till im∣mediatly before some approaching calamity.

11. As for Birds that have casually flown hither, or come but at some certain seasons of the year, by Naturalists stiled Aves mi∣gratoriae,

beside Swallows, and some well known winter Fowl: The Cormorant has been observed to come hither about Harvest time, whereof there was one killed from St. Maries steeple (ti∣red with along flight) An. 1675. and another young one taken up in Arncot-field fallen down in the Corn, and brought me to Oxford.

12. But what is somwhat stranger, in the year 1644. the Pi∣ca Brasiliensis, or Toucan, whose beak is near as big as its whole body, was found within two miles of Oxford, and given to the Repository in the Medecine-School, where it is still to be seen; which argues it a Bird of a very rank wing, there being a necessity of its flying from America hither, except we shall rather say it might be brought into England by Ship, and afterwards getting away might fly hither.

13. Of Birds well known of unusual colours, I have met with two remarkable examples: the one a white Linnet, given me by Mr. Lane of Deddington; and the other a sort of white, and py∣ed Phesants, kept by the Right Honorable James Lord Norreys of Ricot: Whereof how some happen to be of different colours from the rest of their species, especially when they have deviated from their kind by whiteness, hath been a question thought worthy of se∣vere examination. In the prosecution whereof, it hath been ob∣served (as before in the Chapter of Plants, §. 38.) that whiteness often proceeds from a defect of moisture or nourishment; and it hath been a received opinion concerning Birds, that they may become white by plucking off their first feathers, which will cause their new ones to come forth of that colour. But beside these ways of art and privation, it is manifest that Nature her self som∣times positively designs such a colour, even in species too that seldom are of it, many other Animals as well as Birds, having been produced of that colour unusual to the species, as brisk and well liking as any others whatever, such as white Moles, Rats, Mice, and somtimes white Fawns, where there has been neither Buck nor Doe of that colour in the Park.

14. And this I guess she does by giving some certain Indivi∣duals of each species a skin of finer and more contracted pores than others, which will cause whiteness in feathers, hair, &c. by not permitting of the sulphureous particles to expire, which give varie∣ty of coloursq 1.334; thus we see in the cicatrization of wounds where

the skin is drawn together like a purse, and the pores closed up, the hair comes constantly white: thus the subtile Veterinarians pro∣cure white stars, or other desired marks in the fore-heads of their horses; and I have seen the skins of black Grey-hounds powder∣ed with white, or made Ermyness, by applying wood-ticks to their skins when young, both which are performed also by cicatrization, and closing the pores of the skin, thereby hindering the exhalati∣on of the Sulphur in those parts.

15. Which will further appear from an observation of my Lord Verulam's concerning Flowers, whereof the whites for the most part are more inodorate than other colours: And this he makes out in many Flowers, as single white Violets, the white Rose, white July-flowers, &c. We find also, says he, that blossoms of Trees that are white are commonly inodorate; as of Cherry, Pear, and Plum-trees: whereas those of Apple, Crab, Almond, and Peach-trees, are blushy, and smell sweet. The cause whereof is, that the texture of these Plants producing white Flowers (ex∣cepting such as produce white Flowers only, as Lillies; or are extravagantly succulent, as the white Satyrion) is so very close and fine, that it will not permit any sulphureous particles, which are also the cause of smellsr 1.335 as well as colours, in any measure to ex∣hale. Which possibly may be found true, if duly examined, in all sorts of Animals; and if so, we hereby may be profitably in∣structed what Beasts of each kind are least offensive, and fittest for the conversation of men or women, especially Ladies, who com∣monly have great sagacity in smelling, may hereby be directed in the choice of their Melitaei or Lap-dogs.

16. As for pyed Birds that are generally of another colour, such as pyed Phesants, &c. the case is easier, for such are produced either by common colour'd Hens troden by a white Cock-phesant, or vice versâ; which possibly may have happened also by our white Linnet whether male or female, or in any other Birds of any o∣ther species, as we see it falls out in Dogs and Horses, and most other Animals.

17. And this had been all concerning Birds, but that at Wit∣ney, Anno 1674. I met with an Egg about the bigness of a Pid∣geons, containing another imperfect one in it, given me by Mr. Hinton the then Minister there, which seems to have been in the way toward such an Ovum in Ovo as is mentioned by the Learn∣ed

Dr. Harvey, and shewn by him to that incomparable Prince, Charles the Martyr, and many others; Vidi inquit Ovum perexi∣guum (Fabricius Centeninum vocat, & Nostrates mulieres Gallo a∣scribunt) crustâ tectum, intra aliud Gallinae ovum majus, perfectum & cortice circumcirca obtectum, contineris 1.336. Just such an Egg as this, pregnant with another, is preserved in the Repository of the King of Denmark, which was shewn by his Majesty to Tho. Bartholine, as he testifies in his Epistlest 1.337; who also saw another in the year 1669u 1.338. And Geo. Sebastian Jungius met with ano∣ther of these the nineteenth of June, 1671w 1.339. which are Autho∣rities enough (though more might be brought) to justifie my mentioning the thing, though by some thought inconsider∣able.

18. Yet before we take leave of the inhabitants of the Air, we have somthing worth notice concerning winged Insects, and particularly of the feminine monarchy of Bees, not only the Pro∣gnosticators, but Concomitants of Eloquence: of their Prophetical presages of future Eloquence, we have instances in Plato, Pindar, Lucan, and that eloquent Father of the Church St. Chrysostom, a∣bout whose mouths, whil'st Infants, the Bees gathered, and dropt their hony, thereby fore-telling those Rhetorical Endowments they should hereafter be possest of, which accordingly came to pass.

19. But none of those, says the industrious Butlerx 1.340, are more memorable than the Bees of Ludovicus Vives, who being sent in the year 1520. by Cardinal Wolsey to Oxford, to be publick Pro∣fessor of Rhetorick there, and placed in the College of Bees (Cor∣pus Christi being so called by the Founder in his Statutes) was welcomed thither by a swarm of Bees, which to signifie the in∣comparable sweetness of his Eloquence, setled themselves over his head under the leads of his Study (at the west-end of the Cloyster) where they continued about 130 years.

20. The truth of this story appears as well by the general voice of the House, who have received it by tradition, as by the special testi∣mony of a worthy Antiquary [Mr. Brian Twine] who affirmed [to Mr. Butler] that he had often heard his master, Dr. Benefield (one of the publick Professors of Divinity) who then had L. Vives's cham∣ber and study; and Dr. Cole (then President, and in Q. Maries

days Scholar of this House) to say as much, calling these Bees, Vi∣ves his Bees.

21. In the year 1630. the leads over Vives his study being pluckt up, [it then being the study of Mr. Gabriel Bridges] their Stall was taken, and with it an incredible mass of hony: but the Bees, as presaging their intended and imminent destruction (whereas they were never known to have swarmed before) did that Spring (to pre∣serve their famous kind) send down a fair swarm into the Presidents garden, which in the year 1633. yielded two swarms; one whereof pitched in the garden for the President; the other they sent up as a new Colony to preserve the memory of this mellifluous Doctor, as the University stiled him in a Letter to the Cardinal. Thus far Mr. Butler.

22, And there they continued, as I am informed by several ancient Members of that Society that knew them, till by the Par∣liament Visitation, in Anno 1648. for their Loyalty to the King, they were all, but two, turned out of their places, at what time with the rest of the inhabitants of the College, they removed themselves, but no further than the East end of the same Cloy∣ster, where as if the feminine sympathized with the masculine Mo∣narchy, they instantly declined, and came shortly to nothing. After the expiration of which ancient Race, there came, 'tis true, another Colony to the East corner of the Cloyster, where they con∣tinued till after the return of his most Sacred Majesty that now is: but it not being certain that they were any of the remains of the ancient Stock (though 'tis said they removed thence to the first place) nor any of them continuing long there, I have chose ra∣ther to fix their period in the year 1648. than to give too much credit to uncertainties.

23. And thus unhappily, after above six score years conti∣nuance, ended the famous stock of Vives his Bees, where 'tis pitty they had not remained, as Virgil calls them, an Immortale Genusy 1.341. However, since they are now irrecoverably lost, it would not I think be amiss, if the College provided them ano∣ther Colony; not that I think that Learned Society wants any such monitor of Industry, but that it seems but congruous, they should always have by them the Thing, whereof their whole House is but the metaphor, the Founder calling it Alvearium, and the Students,

Ingeniosas apes, dies noctesque Ceram ad Dei honorem, & dulciflua mella conficientes, ad suam & universorum Christianorum commodita∣tem. And this I the rather perswade, because by the new dis∣covery of that excellent method of Bee-houses and Colonies, they are freed from most, if not all the hazards, charge, and trouble that heretofore attended them: Not to mention the advantage and profit accrewing by them, which has always been judged so considerable, that there have been several Tracts written and publish'd full of experiments, directions, and methods to be used in the menage of these Insects.

24. But none yet extant that I know of comparable to what are practised by John Lad of Over-Worton, and William Tayler of Warkworth, who though a Nortbampton-shire Man, has Apifacto∣ries in this County, who profess (as I am informed by the Reve∣rend Mr. Clark Rector of Dreyton near Banbury) 1. That they can take swarms out of any stock that is able, and neglects to swarm, without any prejudice to the stock. 2. That they can take hony out of a stock without that hazard to the Bees, which (they say) the way proposed by the Author of the Colonies is subject too. 3. That they can secure any stock from the invasion of Robbers. 4. That they can so order an old stock, that the Bees shall ga∣ther pure Virgin hony. 5. If a stock be in low condition, they can preserve and recruit it, so as it shall do well. 6. They can take away a Queen where there is more than one in a hive, and place her in a stock where the Queen is dead, or otherwise want∣ing, and by that means keep the subjects together, which would else disperse. 7. If a Queen wants subjects, they can draw out of several stocks supplies in what number they please, that shall settle under her government. And these operations they com∣monly practice, which because profitable to them, they are un∣willing should be made too common, which yet they are so in∣genious as not to deny to communicate to fit persons upon rea∣sonable terms.

25. Of other flying Insects, I have minded only the Muscae a∣quaticae, such as are generated in the waters, and come of Cad∣worms, and therefore called by Johnston, Phryganidesz 1.342, quod è Phryganio Monfetia 1.343 (the Caddis of the English) ortum habeant:

Nor shall I venture to describe above one of these neither (and that only as a specimen of what I intend of the rest, as fast as I can compass the method of their productions) which I think I may call Musca è Phryganio saxatili, there being a stone, as well as a stick Caddis, or Cad-worm; in the generation of which, Nature seems to observe the following method. First, there appears on the stone to which many of them stick, as in Tab. 10. Fig. 4. only little bubbles of a glutinous nature, like the spawn of frogs, which by the descent of gravel and sand that stick to them, are formed into stone Caddis houses, including the Animal therefore called the stone Caddis; which after it has continued in its rough-cast stone house its due time, gets off the stone either to the bank of the River, or climes up some reed, where also leaving its house, it becomes a flye, somwhat like in shape to the Muscae 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or bipiles Moufetib 1.344, that come of the stick Caddis, only it is shorter, and wants both the Antennae and forked bristly tail; but most of all like the Breise, only the Briese is all gray, and this has a black head and dark brown wings. See its form, Tab. 10. Fig. 5.

26. Other water Flys there are that come of such worms, cal∣led Cock-spurs, Rough-coats, Pipers, &c. of which no more at pre∣sent till further observation; but that though at last they come to be flying Insects, yet at first they are all of them water Animals, which puts me in mind of proceeding next,

27. To the Fishes, whereof we have a sort in the River Isis, that we call here a Pride, of the long cartilagineous smooth kind, concerning which Authors seem so obscure, that I know not whe∣ther it be described at all; or if it be, it is done so imperfectly, that perhaps it may be acceptable if I contrive another. The Fish the most like it of any I can find, is the Lampetra parva fluviati∣lis of Rondeletiusc 1.345, rendred by Dr. Charltond 1.346 and Dr. Merrete 1.347, the Stone-grig: it having a mouth cut neither perpendicularly downward, nor transversly, but hollowed as it were between two cheeks, without an under jaw, after the manner of Leeches; on the top of its head it has one, and on each side seven holes that supply the place of gills; and under the belly a small line, reaching from the mouth to the exit of its excrement; it moves

by a winding impulse of its body, without the help of any other fins but the pinnulae at the tail, by which it steers its course; and thus far it agrees with the Lampetra fluviatilis.

28, But though they agree in some particulars, they differ in as many, our Pride being streaked from the top of its back down to the afore-mentioned line at the bottom of its belly, with lines of a distinct colour from the rest of its body, like the Pricka ma∣rina of Aldrovandusf 1.348, whereof the Lampetra is not said to have any: Beside the two pinnulae of the Lampetra, whereof one stands on the top of its tail, and the other a little higher on the back, some space interceding; the Pride has another underneath its tail, joyning with the other from above at the tip, making the whole tail to end like the head of a spear. Moreover, the eyes of the Pride are very obscure, and not such plain round ones as are given the Lampetra, not only in the description but Cut of Rondeletius; And though it have a hole in its head, yet it stands not as Rondeletius describes it in the Lampetra, just in the middle between the eyes, but more forward in the extremity of the head, near the upper lip; all which may plainly be seen Tab. 10. Fig. 6, and 7. Whence 'tis easie to conclude, that either this Fish has not been described at all, or so very meanly, that there was almost a necessity of giving another, either of which I sup∣pose will excuse this attempt.

29. Beside the Pride which we think undescribed, we have another sort of Fish plentiful in the Cherwell (scarce ever found in Isis but below the place where the Rivers joyn) that is more certainly so; and that a Fish of the squammous kind, which they call a Finscale, somwhat like a Roach, only the belly fins, and the single one at the exit of the excrement, and those at the tail are much redder then those of a Roach; it has also a full black eye, incompassed with a yellow iris, whereas that of a Roch is red; it is also a much deeper and thinner Fish, but yet neither so deep or thin as a Bream; from which also it differs not only in the redness of its fins, but in that the single fin placed next the exit of its ex∣crement, is not continued to the tail as it is in the Bream: Its fins at the gills are much whiter than the rest, and that upon the back of a dirty bluish colour: its scales, especially near the back, are of a greenish yellow colour, on which from the gills to the tail

there runs a crooked line of points, one on each scale, as in Tab. 10. Fig. 8. The Fishes most like it of any described, are the Bol∣lerus or Bordeliere, and the Phoxini, Rose or Rosiere of Rondele∣tiusg 1.349; but that they cannot be the same is plain from hence, in that the Bordeliere is confest to have no teeth, whereas the Finscale has teeth as large as a Roach; and the Phoxini never to be found without spawn, or to exceed half a foot in length, whereas I have seen Finscales, even in time of year when one might well have expected it, without any spawn; and some of them (particularly the described one, Fig. 8.) from the mouth to the fork of the tail a foot long, and four inches and a half in depth, beside many other differences that might also be brought.

30. Which is all I have met with extraordinary amongst the squamous kind of Fish, but that there is a sort of Chub peculiar to the Evenlode, some say exceeding, all equalling the Pearch or Tench in goodness. And that at Lillingston-Lovell, about six years since were taken two Salmons, one somwhat above, the o∣ther somwhat under a yard in length, in a small brook (a branch of the Ouse) that a man may step over, little less (as the river runs) than two hundred miles from the Sea. How these Salmons should come up so high, has been much wondered at by some, since so many Mills and Locks stand in the way on this Rivulet to hinder them: but to such as have either seen, or but read of the Salmon-leap at Kilgarran in Pembroke-shireh 1.350, or at Wasserfal in the Rhine, which I suppose is much greater, and that they run up that river above five hundred miles to the Lake of Zugh in Switzer∣landi 1.351, perhaps it may not appear so strange; especially if it be also considered, that our Mills and Locks have most of them back streams and lashers to carry off the water when it is too plentiful, over which the leap is but very inconsiderable.

31. I have met with also somwhat remarkable of our fresh wa∣ter shell-fish, and particularly of a sort of Gammarus, or Crey-fish, found in Salford stream, that do's not boil to a brisk red colour, but at best of a dirty yellowish red, which I suppose must be attributed to the badness of the water, infected with ill qualities perhaps by the Moor through which it passes, which is very agreeable to one of Cardans signs of good water: Ʋbi aqua bona (says he)

astaci debent esse valde rubri, cum coquanturk 1.352: whence 'tis easie to conclude (if the Symbol be truly put) that where they boyl of a different colour, the water must needs be naught.

32. I found also in Ponds at Bradwell, Hanwell, and Shot-over Forest, as well as in Rivers, the Mytilus fluminum maximus sub∣viridis, whereof I examined several in hopes of the Pearls to be found in them, mention'd by Sir Hugh Plat in the Appendix to his Jewel-house of Art and Naturel 1.353; but I could not meet with any with craggy rough out sides, in which it seems they are only found (ours being all of them smooth) and so lost my labor; but I hear they are to be met with in Buckingham-shire, Montgomery-shire, and Shrop-shire, as Sir Hugh also informs us, where more fully con∣cerning them, if this design be encouraged, and I live to travel and examine the productions of these Counties.

33. We have also in great plenty all the Cochleae fluviatiles, or fresh-water Snails mention'd by Mr. Listerm 1.354, concerning which I can add nothing, but that his Cochleae fasciatae ore ad amussim ro∣tundo (which is somwhat strange) seem to be all viviparous, con∣taining their young within their bodies, cover'd over with shell before their exclusion, as I found it upon examination in great numbers of them; and that I found most of them this Summer swiming above water, dead and stinking, which whether to be ascribed to the drought, or any other cause, I am yet uncer∣tain.

34. Amongst the Cochleae marinae, and fluviatiles, I find all the Naturalists to treat of the Cochleae terrestresn 1.355, though I think they should rather be put under the title of Reptils; whereof we have one sort met with in Cornbury Park by Mr. Jacob Bobart junior, that I find not described in any of our Zoographers: in shape (though not so big) like the Turben magnus of Rondeleto 1.356, or the twelfth Turbo of Aldrovandusp 1.357, having a long Turbinated shell rough and unequal, by reason of many protuberant ribs thwarting the heli∣cal turns of the shell, as in Tab. 10. Fig. 9. which was found a∣live and creeping on the grass, but what it should be I cannot di∣vine, unless the same with the Cagaroles of Spain and Montpellier, mentioned by Aldrovandusq 1.358, which he seems to describe to be a

Cochlea terrestris of this figure, but gives no cut of it.

35. Of other Reptils we have little to say, but that in the Lordship of Blechington, and all the more Northern parts of Ox∣ford-shire, no Snakes have been ever or very rarely seen, in so much that I met with several ancient people about Deddington and Banbury that scarce ever saw a Snake in their lives, at least not in that Country. And at Blechington 'twas confidently believed, that a Snake brought from any other place, and put down there, would instantly die, till I made the experiment and found no such matter: Whereupon I got leave (in the absence of the Family) to inclose my Snake in the Court, before the Right Honorable the Lord Anglesey's house, to see what time would produce, lea∣ving the Gardiner in trust to observe it strictly, who found it in∣deed, after three weeks time dead, without any sensible external hurt.

36. How this should come to pass, is a question indeed not easie to determin, but certainly it must not be ascribed to the Ta∣lismanical figure of the stone Ophiomorphites to be found about Ad∣derbury, and in most blue clays, whereof there are plenty in this Country. Since these are to be met with about Oxford too, and many other places, where there are Snakes enough. Beside, we are informed by Cardanr 1.359, that Albertus Magnus had a stone, that being naturally mark'd with the figure of a Serpent, had this no less admirable than contrary virtue, that if it were put into a place that was haunted with Serpents, it would draw them all to it. Much rather may we subscribe to the cause assigned by Plinys 1.360, who seems confidently to assert, that the earth that is brackish, and standeth much upon Salt-peter, is freer from vermin than any other. To which we may add (if need be) Sulphur and Vitri∣ol, whereof there is plenty in these parts of the County; but whe∣ther by one, two, or all these, though we dare not pronounce, yet that it is caused by some such mineral steam disagreeable to the Animal, I think we may be confident.

37. Amongst the inhabitants of the Earth, come we next to the Quadrupeda, whereof some are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, whole-hooft, such as Asses, Mules, Horses, of which last kind I met with three remark∣able for their age; one at Souldern, another at Sherbourn, and a third at Aston Rowant, each reported to be about forty years old

apiece. And amongst the Quadrupeda 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or cloven-hooft Beasts, there was a Hog at Ʋpper-Tadmerton, of as strange a sta∣ture as they were of age; being fed by one Pargiter to so extra∣vagant a greatness, that he came at last to be near 13 hands high, as it was testified to me by the Reverend Mr. Whateley, Rector of the place, and several others who had carefully measured him.

38. Of four-footed Beasts that chew the cud, they have a sort of sheep esteemed in this Country for their constantly bearing two lambs at a time, whence they have justly obtained the name, though somwhat an improper one, of double Ews. They are said to have been first brought into this Country by the Worshipful James Ʋxley of Darnford Esq where I hear they are still preserved by the Right Worshipful Sir Nicholas Pelham Knight, who with one of his daughters (a coheiress) enjoys that Estate. I heard of them also about Newington and Dorchester, and some other places here and there in the County.

39. But there are much stranger sheep, though perhaps not so profitable, at Ricot in the Park of the Right Honorable the Lord Norreys, brought hither from some other parts of England or Wales, but now breeding here: Of which, some of them at first had six or eight horns apiece, but the number upon mixture of their generation with other sheep is since diminish'd. However, there remain still two of them with very strange heads, having each four horns; one of them with two larger ones issuing from the top of its head, bending forward, and two side ones coming out from under its ears, and bending round towards its mouth, as in Tab. 10. Fig. 10. And the other having two large horns standing prety upright on its head, and two side ones proceeding from under the ears like the former, and bending round to the cheeks, into which they would grow (and so in the whole kind) were they not prevented by being timely cut off, as in Tab. 10. Fig. 11.

40. And as these are remarkable for their many horns, there was another sheep once there, that excelled all the rest, in its be∣ing a Ʋnicorn, having a single horn growing almost in the middle of its fore-head, 21 inches long, with annulary protuberances round it, and a little twisted about the middle, as in Tab. 10. Fig. 12. There was, 'tis true, another little horn grew on the

same head, but so inconsiderable, that it was hid under the wool. This head is still preserved by the Honorable the Lord Norreys, and is now to be seen nailed up at Ricot on the North side of the Hall.

41. To which may be added a Cow of Mris. Dunches, of New∣ington near Dorchester, more strangely prolific, than the Sheep are strange in form, that whil'st a Calf, before she was eleven months old produced another: which Animals carrying their burthen no less than nine months, we must either admit that she took Bull at about ten or eleven weeks old, or that the Cow her self was at first brought forth pregnant of another, as Aristotle reports a sort of Mice commonly are in a certain place in Persia, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, i. e. that in female Mice dissected, the female off-spring was found pregnant with otherst 1.361. The same again is reported by Claudius Aelian of the very same Animals, near the Caspian Seau 1.362. And Aristotle further acquaints us, that the Fish Phoxini have spawn when they are very little, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 are his very wordsw 1.363, in so much that Rondelet adds, ut periti Piscatores cum ovis nasci affirmentx 1.364.

42. We are informed also, that the same somtimes happens in more perfect Animals, by Joan. Baptista Nierembergius, who tells us of a certain mare in Spain that brought forth a mule, great of anothery 1.365. And the learned and observing Bartholinz 1.366, yet further acquaints us, that in the Parish of Ʋleslovia near Neoburg in Fionia, Joan the wife of Nocholas Peter, a Husbandman of that Country, was deliver'd of a female still-born child, pregnant with another female, duly placed in the womb about a span in length, with all its parts so perfect, that the Grand-mother (who dissected the pregnant infant) believed it had been living.

43. But what yet comes nearer to the business, we are inform∣ed by David Spilinbergerus, Physitian of Leutschovia, that in the year 1663. there was a Cow in Hungary that brought forth a Calf with a great belly, wherein there was found another Calf with all its limbs perfecta 1.367. How these things should come to pass, the learned Bartholin gives us his conjecture, viz. that in such pro∣ductions as these three last, Nature at first intended only twins,

and that by some error in her procedure, one, of each of these, might be thrust into the belly of the other (as I suppose it hap∣pened in some measure in the case of Lazarus Colloredo and his Brother Baptistb 1.368) over which we may easily allow a skin to be su∣perinduced. But that ever any such second faetus was brought into the world, living after the first, we have no instance, except this calf of Newington may pass for one, which is wholly left to the readers judgment. For my part, I am rather inclined to believe that the Cow might take Bull at ten or eleven weeks old, that being the lesser wonder of the two, especially having lately received news out of the Country from an intelligent Lady, that the thing is not so strange, but possible enough.

44. Hither also must be referr'd the three calves brought forth by a cow at one time, that I met with at Hardwick not far from Bisseter, which though a production not frequent, yet is as much remarkable in that they became all grown cattle, and so strangely alike, that their very owner himself scarce knew them asunder, much less could I, though I observed them strictly: whence I was firmly convinced, that similitude was a concomitant as well of Tergemini as Twins, and held as well in Brutes as rational Ani∣mals.

45. Nor can I pass by without admiration, the Deer of Corn∣bury Park, which before His Majesties wonderful restoration, be∣ing (in part at least) turned into a Cony-warren, the Deer upon it had all dwarf heads, the most of them irregular, as in Tab. 10. Fig. 13. but if any of them were uniform, as in Tab. 10. Fig. 14. yet they were still far short of growth, seldom exceeding 8 or 10 inches long, though the Deer themselves were well enough grown, and warrantable; the two that bore those engraven heads, being both of them two years a Buck at least, and in all other re∣spects well enough liking: which yet as soon as the Warren was destroyed by the present Proprietor, the Right Honorable the Earl of Clarendon came again, to have as fair branched-heads as any Deer whatever in the adjoyning Forrest: Which strange alterations I cannot guess to proceed from any other cause than the infection of the grass by the urin and crotizing of the Conies, which being hot and dry must needs abate the moisture of the Deer, which supplyed matter for the fair heads wherewith before and since

they have been as well adorned, as any of their kind.

46. Amongst the Quadrupeda 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or claw-footed Ani∣mals, I met with nothing so strange as the rib of a Dog, or some such like Beast, set in a bone interceding two other ribs, that the intercostal parts were filled with it, as in Tab. 10. Fig. 15. in so much that if all the ribs were thus qualified, the whole chest of that Animal must needs be one bone. This was found about Ox∣ford, and given me by the Right Reverend Father in God, Thomas Lord Bishop of Lincoln. And there are two other ribs joyned in like manner, to be seen in the Repository in the Medicin School. But I find this has happened not only to Beasts, but somtimes to Men, who have been always remarkable for their prodigious strength; whereof in their respective places as I meet them here∣after.

CHAP. VIII. Of Men and Women.

THE subject matter of this Chapter being very narrow, ex∣tending it self only to Man, whom God created Male and Female, and them only in his own Image, little lower than the Angels: It cannot be expected, that the methods of the other Chapters can be observed here, there being no new species of Men to be produced, or not sufficiently noted already. All therefore that remains concerning them to be handled here, will be only the unusual Accidents that have attended them, where∣of, though I have not met with over many in this County, yet they are enough to be distributed into such as have attended them, either

• ...at or before their birth.
• ...in their course of life.
• ...in their death or grave.

2. Before the birth of Man, the Vagitus uterinus, or crying of the child in the mothers womb, is not ordinarily to be met with, though we find many examples of the thing in Authorsc 1.369, to which may be added one more that lately happened at Heyford Purcel, where there was a child cryed very audibly in its mothers womb somtime before the birth. For the performance of which action, whether there be a necessity of the Infants having respi∣ration whil'st included in the Amnion; or whether it may not be done without it? let the Physitians dispute: The matter of fact sufficeth me at present that there was such a thing, the people being frighted with it, and expecting some calamity should soon attend such a Prodigie, pernicious (forsooth) not only to the place where heard, but to the State it self. Whereas the learn∣ed Bartholin more rightly notes, that the ruin of Kingdoms de∣pends rather on the wickedness of the people, living in con∣tempt of God and his Laws, than any such vagitus; which por∣tends nothing but happiness to the Infant, the Mother, and State

it self: To the Infant, in that it is an Index of its strength, and perfection of Organs; To the Mother, in the certainty that her child is living, and likely to promote its own exit; To the State, which is likely to be blest with an able subject: the Vagitus being nothing but such an Jo Triumphe, as Livyd 1.370 reports was made by the infant in the mothers womb in Marrucinis, Q. Fabius Maximus being the fourth time, and M. Marcellus the third time COSS. So that if any thing amiss fall out after such Vagitus, it must be im∣puted rather to chance than design of nature: Let us but mend our lives, and no such matters can hurt us.

3. In the birth of man it is equally strange, that the pangs of the woman in the exclusion of the child have somtimes affected the Abdomen of the husband, which yet to such as have experiment∣ed the secrecy of sympathies, and understand the subtilty and power of effluviums, perhaps may not seem difficult: But that the man should somtimes suffer such pains, whil'st the woman is well, and before she is in labor, is a problem I fear beyond all hopes of solution. And yet that this has happen'd to some per∣sons in Oxford is very certain, and that to knowing ones too, very unlikely to be deceived, and of unquestionable veracity: where∣of one of them told me (whom I enquired of more particularly concerning them) that they came upon him when he little thought of his wife, and that the pangs were very odd ones, such as he never felt in his life; not like any griping in the guts, but lying in the muscles of the Abdomen, which yet he should never have thought to have had relation to his wife, had they not suddenly, and beyond expectation ceased, as soon as his wife began to be in labor. Which makes much for the credit of a relation of the German Virtuosie 1.371, concerning one Faber of Buxovil in Alsatia, who constantly acted the part of his pregnant wife, being taken with vo∣mitings, and suffering those inordinate longings that usually at∣tend women in that condition, his wife all the while suffering no such inconveniencies.

4. That such symptoms should be thus translated from the wo∣man to the man, the woman remaining well and undisturbed, Dr. Primirosef 1.372 thought so irrational (upon account that natural Agents first work on the nearest objects, and then on the remotest, and

that therefore a woman must needs be first affected with her own noxious humors) that he lookt upon it as no better than a ridicu∣lous error, as indeed I think I should have done my self, but that I am otherwise perswaded by sober men, who well know how to distinguish the manner of the pangs, and the circumstances of them: Nor should I have ventured to have made this relation, but that the persons are living, and ready to justifie what I have written to any person fit to be discours'd with about such matters: but how they should come to pass, is so hard to determin, that I dare not yet attempt it, it being difficult not to err concerning such mysteries of Nature.

5. That women may bring forth three at a birth appears evident∣ly by the example of the Horatii, and Curiatii; to whom may be added, though of unequal rank, the three children of a Tayler here in Oxford, which he had all at a birth. But to go above that number says Plinyg 1.373, is reputed and commonly spoken off as monstrous, and to portend some mis-hap: for confirmation where∣of, he instances in a Commoners wife of Ostia, who was delivered at one birth of two boys and two girls; but this, says he, was a most prodigious token, and portended no doubt the famine that ensued soon after: i. e. It pleased God to visit those parts with famin about that time, there being no more dependence between the famin and the preceding birth, than there is between the Wars, Plagues, and Famins, that somtimes follow Comets; there ha∣ving been (no question) as many of them, to which nothing extra∣ordinary has been subsequent, as to which there has; and so of Births.

6. Witness the four children brought all at a time by Elenor the wife of Henry Deven of Watlington, An. 1675. since which time we have yet lived (thanks be to God) in as great health, peace and plenty, under our good and gracious King, as ever People did, which God of his mercy continue to us; whom if we serve in sin∣cerity, performing unto Him an honest, faithful, and uniform o∣bedience (though 'tis true our best performances will be mixed with much of weakness, ignorance, frailties, and recidivations) we need never to fear the influence of any such accidents, though they much exceed the ordinary course of nature.

7. The same Plinyh 1.374 informs us, that many men indeed have

begotten children at sixty or eighty years old: for which he in∣stances in Volusius Saturninus, who on Dame Cornelia, of the lineage of the Scipio's, begat Volusius Saturninus (who afterward was Consul) at sixty two years old and upwards. Cato Censorius, says the same Pliny (ancestor to Cato who slew himself at Ʋtica) begat a son on the daughter of Salonius his Vassal, after he was past 80 years of age; and King Massinissa, another, whom he cal∣led Methymathnus, when he was eighty six. But as to women, he is positive that they are past child-bearing at fifty, and that for the most part their customary purgations stop at forty.

8. But I met with an instance at Shetford near Banbury, that proves him plainly mistaken, where I saw and spoke with one Catharine Tayler, that had a son then living and lusty, in the sixti∣eth year of her age, which was testified also to me by many there about. And I have since heard of one Good wife Harvey of Smithen-green, in the Parish of Leigh, within three miles of Worcester, that is now with child in her sixty third year, which are instances wonderful rare, and scarce heard of in other Countrys; though we are informed indeed by Dr. Boati 1.375, that amongst the women in Ireland, there are several found who do not only retain their Catamenia, but even their fruitfulness, above the age of fifty, and some till that of sixty years; whereof he tells us, his brother knew some, who being above threescore years old, did not only con∣ceive and bring forth children, but nursed them, and brought them up with their own milk: which also as we are acquainted by Gul. Piso* 1.376, is very common in Brasil.

9. As in the child-bearing of women, and the accidents attend∣ing it, I have met with also somwhat extraordinary in their growth, which must be ranked among the accidents that have befallen the sex during their course of life; and such is the growth of one Philippa French, born at Milcomb in this County, now six or seven and thirty years of age, and a marryed woman, having all her parts proportionable, and of good symmetry, yet wanting half an inch of a yard in height: which is somwhat lower than Manius Maximus, or M. Tullius, who as Varro reports, were each but two cubits high, and yet they were Gentlemen and Knights of Rome: but higher then Conopas the Dwarf of Julia, Neece to Augustus,

who as Plinyk 1.377 tells us, was but two foot high and a hand bredth; but he tells us not whether Conopas were at his full growth, or had good symmetry of parts like our Philippa, it being common enough for persons to be very low of stature, when either their Bo∣dies are awry, or some of their parts disproportionable to the rest.

10. And amongst such accidents as these, we may reckon a strange disease that befel Mary the daughter of John Collier of Bur∣ford▪ who out of the corners of her eyes excluded a sort of con∣gealed matter, which after some time turned into a stony kind of substance, not unlike the stones, as they were described to me, that somtimes come forth of the tumor called Atheroma: which I therefore guess to have been only a more exalted kind of Aegilops, or fistula lachrymalis, and not to have been caused by fascination, as Lachmundl 1.378 thinks the stones were that came forth of the left eye of Margaret the daughter of Conrad Brandis of Banteln, she be∣ing cured of the disease by that eminent Oculist Dr. Turbervil of Sarum.

11. Yet a much stranger accident than that befel one Rebeckah Smith, the Servant-maid of one Thomas White of Minster Lovel, who being of a robust constitution, though she seldom eat flesh (it scarce agreeing with her) and above 50 years of age; after she came from the Communion on Palm-sunday, April 16. Anno 1671. was taken with such a dryness in her throat, that she could not swallow her spittle, nor any thing else to supply the decays of nature: and in this case she continued without eating or drink∣ing, to the amazement of all, for about ten weeks, viz. to the 29 of June, being both St. Peters, and Witney-fair day: by which time being brought very low, her master enquired and found out a person who gave him an Amulet (for it was supposed she was be∣witch'd) against this evil; after the application whereof, within two or three days time (though I dare not suppose there was any dependence between the medicin and disease) she first drank a lit∣tle water, then warm broaths in small quantities at a time, and nothing else till Palm-sunday again twelve months after, when she began to eat bread and other food again as formerly she had done, and is now about the age of sixty, and still living at the same place ready to testifie the truth of the thing, as well as Tho. White and

his wife, who were all that lived in the house with her, and will confidently assert (for they carefully observed) that they do not believe she ever took any thing in those ten weeks time, nor any thing more all the year following but what was above-mention∣ed: wherein I think they may the rather be credited, because there was never any advantage made of this wonder, which argues it clear of all juggle or design.

12. Concerning the death of women, we have two as remark∣able examples, as any perhaps to be met with in History, both of them being confirmations of what Pliny says of them, that they much more frequently revive after they have been reputed dead, than males do* 1.379, whence doubtless also the Proverb, mulieri ne cre∣das, ne mortuae quidem. Of which recoveries of the female Sex ra∣ther than the male, the same Pliny offers us a natural reason, but I think fit to wave it, especially since the reviviscence of Anne Green, innocently condemned to dye, and executed at Oxford for the murther of an abortive Infant, is rather ascribed to the Justice of Heaven, than to the strength or other conveniencies of nature for such purpose in women rather than men, though it must also be al∣lowed, that God Himself makes use many times of natural means in production of the most wonderful, most amazing effects. The History whereof, as it is taken out of a Chronicle of the late Civil Wars, by James Heath Gentlemanm 1.380, and the continuation of the History of the World, by Dionysius Petaviusn 1.381, with some few ad∣ditions and alterations, take as followeth.

13. In the year 1650. this Anne Green, being a Servant-maid of the Right Worshipful Sir Thomas Read of Duns Tew in Oxford-shire, was gotten with child by some servant, or other of the fami∣ly (as she constantly affirmed when she had little reason to lye) and through over-working her self in turning of mault, fell in tra∣vel about the fourth month of her time: But being but a young wench, and not knowing what the matter might be, repairs to the house of easment, where after some straining, the child (scarce above a span long, of what sex not to be distinguish'd) fell from her unawares. Now presently after, there appearing signs of some such matter in the linnen where she lay, and she before ha∣ving confest, that she had been guilty of what might occasion

her being with child, a search instantly was made, and the Infant found on the top of the ordure.

14. Whereupon, within three days after her delivery, she was conveyed to the Castle at Oxford, where forthwith (an Assise being purchased on purpose) she was arraigned before Serjeant Ʋmpton Croke, then living but at Marston, who sat as Judge by a Commis∣sion of Oyer and Terminer, and by him sentenced to be hanged; which was accordingly executed on the fourteenth of December in the said Castle-yard, where she hung about half an hour, being pulled by the legs, and struck on the brest (as she her self desired) by divers of her friends; and after all, had several stroaks given her on the stomach with the but-end of a Soldiers Musket. Be∣ing cut down, she was put into a coffin, and brought away to a house to be dissected, where when they opened it, notwithstand∣ing the rope still remained unlosed, and straight about her neck, they perceived her brest to rise; whereupon one Mason a Tayler, intending only an act of charity, set his foot upon her brest and belly; and as some say, one Orum a Soldier struck her again with the but-end of his musket.

15. Notwithstanding all which, when the learned and inge∣nious, Sir William Petty, then Anatomy Professor of the Ʋniversity, Dr. Willis, and Dr. Clark now President of Magdalen College, and Vice-Chancellor of the Ʋniversity, came to prepare the body for dissection, they perceived some small ratling in her throat; here∣upon desisting from their former purpose, they presently used means for her recovery, by opening a vein, laying her in a warm bed, and causing another to go into bed to her; also using divers remedies respecting her senselessness, Head, Throat, and Brest, in so much that within 14 hours, she began to speak, and the next day talked and prayed very heartily.

16. During the time of this her recovering, the officers con∣cerned in her execution, would needs have had her away again to have compleated it on her: but by the mediation of the worthy Doctors, and some other Friends, with the then Governor of the City, Colonel Kelsey, there was a guard set upon her to hinder all further disturbance, till he had sued out her pardon from the Powers then in being; thousands of people in the mean time coming to see her, and magnifying the just Providence of God in thus asserting her innocency of murther.

17. After some time Dr. Petty hearing she had discoursed with those about her, and suspecting that the women might suggest unto her to relate somthing of strange visions and apparitions she had seen, during the time she seemed to be dead (which they al∣ready had begun to do, telling about that she said, she had been in a fine green meddow, having a River running round it, and that all things there glittered like silver and gold) he caused all to de∣part the room but the Gentlemen of the Faculty, who were to have been at the dissection, and asked her concerning her sense and apprehensions during the time she was hanged.

18. To which she answered at first somwhat impertinently, talking as if she had been then to suffer. And when they spake un∣to her concerning her miraculous deliverance, she answered, that she hoped God would give her patience, and the like: Afterward, when she was better recovered, she affirmed, that she neither re∣membred how the fetters were knocked off, how she went out of the Prison; when she was turned off the ladder, whether any Psalm was sung or not, nor was she sensible of any pains that she could remember: what is most observable is, that she came to her self as if she had awakened out of a sleep, not recovering the use of her speech by slow degrees, but in a manner all together, beginning to speak just where she left off on the gallows.

19. Being thus at length perfectly recovered, after thanks given to God, and the persons instrumental in it, she retired into the Country to her friends at Steeple-Barton, where she was after∣wards marryed, and lived in good repute amongst her Neighbors, having three Children afterwards, and not dying as I am inform∣ed till the year 1659. Which occurrence being thought worthy of remembrance by the Author of the continuation of the History of the World, by Dionysius Petavius, who esteemed it no less than the finger of God pointing out the Maids innocency; and by Mr. Heath, who thought fit to transmit it to posterity for Gods glory, and mans caution in judging and punishing. It would have been a great omission in me to have passed it by untouched.

20. Not long after, viz. in the year 1658. Elizabeth the ser∣vant of one Mrs. Cope of Magdalen Parish Oxon, was indicted at the City Sessions for killing her bastard child, and putting it in the house of office; of which being convicted, she was condemned to dye, and accordingly was hanged at green-ditch, the place

appointed for the execution of the City malefactors, where she hung so long, that one of the by-standers scrupled not to say, that if she were not dead, he would be hanged for her: hereupon being cut down (the gallows being very high) she fell with such vio∣lence on the ground, that it would have been enough to have been the death of many another person, only to have had such a fall. Being thus cut down, she was put into a coffin and brought to the George Inn in Magdalen Parish aforesaid, which when o∣pened, they found perfect life in her, as in the former: where∣upon breathing a vein, and putting her to bed with another young wench by her, she came quickly to her self, and might no question have lived also many years after; but having no friends to ap∣pear for her, she was barbarously dragg'd the night following by the order of one Mallory then one of the Bayliffs of the City, to Glocester-green, and there drawn up over one of the arms of the Trees, and hang'd a second time till she was dead.

21. After what concerns women solitarily consider'd, who ac∣cording to the courtesie of England, have always the first place, come we next to treat of things unusual that concern women and men joyntly together; amongst which I think we may reckon ma∣ny ancient Customs still retained here, abolish'd and quite lost in most other Counties: such as that of Running at the Quinten, Quin∣tain, or Quintel, so called from the Latin [Quintus] because says Minsheuo 1.382, it was one of the Ancient Sports used every fifth year amongst the Olympian games, rather perhaps because it was the last of the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or the quinque certamina gymnastica, used on the fifth or last day of the Olympicks. How the manner of it was then I do not find, but now it is thus.

22. They first set a Post perpendicularly into the ground, and then place a slender piece of Timber on the top of it on a spindle, with a board nailed to it on one end, and a bag of sand hanging at the other; against this board they anciently rod with spears; now as I saw it at Deddington in this County, only with strong staves, which violently bringing about the bag of sand, if they make not good speed away it strikes them in the neck or shoulders, and som∣times perhaps knocks them from their horses; the great design of the sport being to try the agility both of horse and man, and to break the board, which whoever do's, is for that time accounted Princeps Juventutis.

23. For whom heretofore there was some reward always ap∣pointed, Eo tempore (says Matthew Paris) Juvenes Londinenses, statuto Pavone pro bravio, ad stadium quod Quintena vulgariter dici∣tur, vires proprias, & Equorum cursus, sunt experti: Wherein it seems the Kings servants opposing them were sorely beaten; for which, upon complaint, the King fined the Cityp 1.383. Whence one may gather that it was once a tryal of Man-hood between two parties; since that, a contest amongst friends who should wear the gay garland, but now only in request at Marriages, and set up in the way for young men to ride at as they carry home the Bride, he that breaks the board being counted the best man.

24. To which may be added the observation of Hoc-day, Hock-day, Hoke-day, Hoke-tide, Hoke-Monday and Hoke-Tuesday: by all agreed to be a Festival celebrated in memory of the great slaughter of the Danes in the time of King Ethelred, they being all slain throughout England in one day, and in great part by wo∣menq 1.384; whence it came to pass, that the women to this day bear the chief rule in this Feast, stopping all passages with ropes and chains, and laying hold on passengers, and exacting some small ma••ter of them, with part whereof they make merry, and part they dispose of to pious uses, such as reparation of their Church, &c.

25. For which very reason some have thought it to be called Hoke-Tide, from the German or High-Dutch, Hoge zeit, i. e. Tem∣pus Convivii, a time of Feasting; or the Saxon Hoegen, which signifies a Solemn Feast; or perhaps rather from the Anglo-Saxon, Heage, sid i. e. a high Time, or high Day: Others that thought the name respected the contempt that the Danes now lay under, a∣mongst whom is Mr. Lambard, thought it so called, quasi Hucxsuerdaeg, i. e. Dies Martis irrisoriusr 1.385, perhaps rather from Hogian temnere: And others, that respected the manner of the celebration of the Feast, chose rather to derive it from the German Hocken, which signifies obsidere, cingere, incubares 1.386, to compass about, lay hold off, &c. as the women do on the men upon this day.

26. And as about the name, so about the time Authors differ much, some making Hoke-day to be the Tuesday, and others the Monday fourteenth night after Easter, and none of them on the

Danes massacre, which Henry Arch-Deacon of Huntingdont 1.387 ex∣presly says was on the Feast of St. Brice, i. e. the 13 of Novem∣ber. That it was formerly observed on Tuesday, not only Mr. Lambard, ut supra, but Matthew Paris also gives us testimony, Et post Diem Martis quae vulgariter Hoke-day appellatur, factum est Parliamentum Londini, &cu 1.388. And yet the same Matthew Paris in another place makes it to fall on the Quinsieme of Easter, in Quin∣dena Paschae quae vulgariter Hoke-day appellatur convenerunt Lon∣dini, &cw 1.389. which must needs be Munday; and the very same day it is observed here at Oxford in our times.

27. In so much that I once thought they might anciently, as well as now, observe two Hock-days, one for the women, and an∣other for the men, but that I find the same Matthew Paris to men∣tion the Monday before Hoke-Tuesday, and not calling it a Hock-day at all; viz. Anno 1252. where mentioning King Henry the thirds taking on him the Crusado, he says, he did it die Lunae, quae ipsum diem proxime praecedit quem Hoke-day appellamusx 1.390. However it were then, it is most certain that now we observe two of them here, on Monday for the women, which is much the more solemn, and Tuesday for the men which is very inconsiderable; and yet nei∣ther of these perhaps was the dies Martis ligatoria, whatever Sir Henry Spelman may thinky 1.391, whereon men and women use to bind one another, that being now celebrated in some parts of England on Shrove Tuesday: Much less the same with the Feast of St. Blase, as Minsheuz 1.392 thinks, when Country women went about and made good cheer, and if they found any of their Neighbor-women a Spinning, set their distaff on fire; that Feast being celebrated on the third of February, and in all probability upon some other grounds.

28. Amongst things of this nature, I think we may also reckon an ancient Custom of the Royalty of Ensham, where it was former∣ly allowed to the Towns-people on Whit-monday, to cut down and bring away, where-ever the Church-wardens pleased to mark it out, by giving the first chop, as much Timber as could be drawn by mens hands into the Abbey-yard, whence if they could draw it out again, notwithstanding all the impediments could be given the Cart by the servants of the Abbey (and since that by the family

of the Lord, it was then their own, and went in part at least to the reparation of their Church; and by this, as some will have it, they hold both their Lammas and Michaelmas Common. But this Custom, now the Timber is almost destroyed thereabout, begins to be so inconvenient, that if it be not seasonably laid aside, it will discourage all people from planting it again, even about their very houses: for to what purpose should they do it, when it would still be in the power of a malicious Church-warden to give it a chop, and destroy it when he pleases. To prevent which great evil, I hear the chiefest of the Parish have lately combined, where∣in I think they have done well enough, provided always that the Rights of the Church (whatever they be) be fully compensated some other way.

29. In the Northern part of Oxford-shire, about Banbury and Bloxham, it has always been the custom at set times of year, for young people to meet to be hired as servants; which meeting, at Banbury they call the Mop; at Bloxham the Statute, where they all sort themselves, and carry their badges according as they are qualified; the Carters standing in one place with their whips, and the Shepherds in another with their crooks; but the maids, as far as I could observe, stood promiscuously: which custom I had scarce I think noted, but that it seems to be as old as our Saviour, and to illustrate his Parable in St. Matthews Gospela 1.393, where the laborers are said to stand in the mercat to be hired.

30. And now I have run my self into Divinity, I cannot but note an odd custom at Stanlake, where the Parson in the Procession about holy Thursday, reads a Gospel at a Barrels head in the Cellar of the Chequer Inn, where some say there was formerly a Hermi∣tage; others, that there was anciently a Cross, at which they read a Gospel in former times, over which now the house, and parti∣cularly the cellar being built, they are forced to perform it in manner as above.

31. But in matters of Religion there is nothing so worthy me∣mory as the Christian unanimity of the Parish of Brightwell, where, through the exemplary Piety, and prudent conduct of that wor∣thy Gentleman, the Worshipful John Stone Esq Lord of the Town, and the Reverend Mr. Fiddës, Rector of the place, and their Predecessors, and the good disposition of the people them∣selves,

all matters both of Spiritual and Temporal concern, have been so effectually press'd, and prudently menaged, that there has not been known any such thing as an Ale-house, a Sectary, or Suit of Law commenced within the whole parish (which is of a large extent) in the memory of man: which being more for ought I know than any Parish in England can say beside, and so well wor∣thy the imitation of all other places, I thought fit (for the eternal honor of its Inhabitants) to recommend it accordingly.

32. Yet but few miles off, at the Town of Watlington, I was told of a sort of Sectaries, perhaps never heard of in the world before; which if so, is as strange as the thing it self, for one would have thought there could have nothing been so absurd in Religion, but what must have needs been embraced already. These by the rest of the people are called Anointers, from the ce∣remony they use of anointing all persons before they admit them into their Church, for which they allege the fifth of St. James, v. the 14 and 15. Is there any sick among you (which it seems they account all people to be but themselves) let him call for the Elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oyl in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him: which Elders amongst them are some poor Tradesmen of the Town, and the oyl they use, that commonly sold in the shops, with which the Proselyte being smeared over, and fired with zeal, he presently becomes a new Light of this Church; which I could not but note, these people being as remarkably mad, as those of Brightwell are good. Though perhaps some may think one Richard Hastings, then of Broughton, and yet living near Banbury, more religiously mad than any of those; who with Origen understanding the twelfth verse of the nineteenth Chapter of St. Matthews Gospel literally, hath castrated, and so made him∣self an Eunuch for the Kingdom of Heavens sake.

33. And thus much of men and women jointly together in their lives; as to what concerns their deaths, I must add also a Rela∣tion, as strange as 'tis true, of the Family of one Captain Wood late of Bampton, now Brise-Norton, Captain in the late Wars for the King; Some whereof before their deaths have had signal warning given them by a certain knocking, either at the door with∣out, or on the table or shelves within; the number of stroaks,

and distance between them, and the place where, for the most part respecting the circumstances of the persons to dye, or their deaths themselves, as will easily be collected from the following relation.

34. The first knocking that was heard, or at least observed, was about a year after the restoration of the King, in the after∣noon a little before night, at or upon the door it being then open, as it was apprehended by Mrs. Elenor Wood, mother to Captain Basil Wood, who only heard it, none being then by or about the house but her self; at which she was very much disturbed, think∣ing it boded some ill to her or hers, and within fourteen nights after, she had news of the death of her Son in law Mr. George Smith, who dyed in London.

35. About three years after that, there were three great knocks given very audibly to all that were then in the house, viz. to the aforesaid Mrs. Elenor Wood, Mr. Basil Wood, and his wife Mrs. Hester, and some servants: which knocks were so remarkable, that one of the maids came from the well which was about twenty yards from the place, to see what was the matter; and Mrs. E∣lenor Wood, and another maid that was within the house, saw three great pans of Lard shake and totter so upon a shelf in the Milk-house, that they were like to fall down. Upon this violent knock∣ing, Mr. Basil Wood and his wife being then in the hall, came presently into the milk-house to their mother, where finding her somwhat disturbed, and enquiring the reason, she replyed, God Almighty only knew the matter, she could tell nothing but she heard the knocking; which being within doors, Mr. Basil Wood concluded must be for some of the Family at home, that upon the door being for a friend abroad: which accordingly fell out, three of the family, according to the number of the knocks, dying within little more than half a year after; viz. Mrs. Hester Wood wife to Mr. Basil Wood, a child of Mr. Woods sister, and Mrs. E∣lenor Wood his mother.

36. About August, 1674. Mr. Basil Wood junior, son of Ba∣sil aforesaid, living at Exeter in Devon-shire, heard the same kind of knocking, at which being disturbed, he wrote word of it to his Father here at Bampton in Oxford-shire; viz. That one Sun∣day, he and his wife, and her sister, and his brother, did distinctly hear upon a Table in their Chamber as they stood by it, two se∣veral

knocks struck as it were with a cudgel, one of them before, and the other after Morning-prayer, a little before dinner: which Letter was shewn by Mr. Wood senior (as the other knockings be∣fore the deaths of any that dyed, were before-hand told) to se∣veral neighboring Gentlemen. After which, within about four∣teen days, Mrs. Hester Wood a second wife of Mr. Basil Wood se∣nior, and about a quarter of a year after, her Father Mr. Richard Lisset, dyed both at Bampton; since which time they have heard nothing more as yet.

37. Amongst such unaccountable things as these, we may reckon the strange passages that happened at Woodstock in Anno 1649. in the Manor-house there, when the Commissioners for sur∣veying the Manor-house, Park, Deer, Woods, and other the De∣measnes belonging to that Manor, sat and lodged there: whereof having several relations put into my hands, and one of them written by a learned and faithful person then living upon the place, which being confirmed to me by several eye-witnesses of many of the particulars, and all of them by one of the Commis∣sioners themselves, who ingeniously confest to me, that he could not deny but what was written by that person above-mention'd was all true; I was prevailed on at last to make the relation pub∣lick (though I must confess I have no esteem for such kind of sto∣ries, many of them no question being performed by combinati∣on) which I have taken care to do as fully, yet as briefly as may be.

38. October the 13. 1649. the Commissioners with their ser∣vants being come to the Manor-house, they took up their Lodging in the Kings own rooms, the Bed-chamber and with-drawing Room; the former whereof they also made their Kitchin; the Council-hall, their brew-house; the Chamber of Presence, their place of sit∣ting to dispatch business; and a wood-house of the Dining-room, where they laid the wood of that ancient Standard in the high-Park, known of all by the name of the Kings Oak, which (that nothing might remain that had the name of King affixed to it) they digged up by the roots. October the 14 and 15 they had lit∣tle disturbance, but on the 16 there came as they thought, som∣what into the Bed-chamber where two of the Commissioners and their servants lay, in the shape of a dog, which going under their beds, did as it were gnaw the bed-cords; but on the morrow

finding them whole, and a quarter of Beef which lay on the ground untouched, they began to entertain other thoughts.

39. Octob. 17. Somthing to their thinking removed all the wood of the Kings Oak out of the dining-room into the Presence Chamber, and hurled the chairs and stools up and down that room: From whence it came into the two Chambers where the Commissio∣ners and their servants lay, and hoisted up their beds feet so much higher than the heads, that they thought they should have been turned over and over, and then let them fall down with such a force, that their bodies rebounded from the bed a good distance, and then shook the bed-steds so violently, that themselves con∣fest their bodies were sore with it. October 18. Somthing came into the Bed-chamber and walkt up and down, and fetching the warming-pan out of the with-drawing room, made so much noise that they thought five bells could not have made more. And October 19. Trenchers were thrown up and down the dining-room and at them that lodg'd there, whereof one of them being shaken by the shoulder and awakened, put forth his head to see what was the matter, but had trenchers thrown at it. October 20. the curtains of the bed in the with-drawing room were drawn to and fro, and the bedsted much shaken, and eight great pewter dishes, and three dozen of trenchers, thrown about the bed-chamber again, whereof some fell upon the beds: this night they also thought whole arm-fulls of the wood of the Kings Oak had been thrown down in their chambers; but of that, in the morning they found nothing had been moved.

40. October 21. The keeper of their Ordnary and his bitch, lay in one of the rooms with them, which night they were not di∣sturbed at all. But October 22. though the bitch kennel'd there again (to whom they ascribed their former nights rest) both they and the bitch were in a pitiful taking; the bitch opening but once, and that with a whining, fearful yelp. October 23. they had all their cloaths pluckt off them in the with-drawing room, and the bricks fell out of the chimney into the room; and the 24^th they thought in the dining-room that all the wood of the Kings Oak had been brought thither, and thrown down close by their bed-side, which noise being heard by those of the with-drawing room, one of them rose to see what was done, fearing indeed that his fel∣low Commissioners had been killed, but found no such matter;

whereupon returning to his bed again, he found two dozen of trenchers thrown into it, and handsomly covered with the bed-cloaths.

41. October 25. The curtains of the bed in the with-drawing room were drawn to and fro, and the bedsted shaken as before: and in the bed-chamber glass flew about so thick (and yet not a pane of the chamber windows broken) that they thought it had rained money; whereupon they lighted candles, but to their grief they found nothing but glass, which they took up in the morning and laid together. October 29. Somthing walked in the with-drawing room about an hour, and going to the window opened and shut it; then going into the bed-chamber, it threw great stones for about half an hours time, some whereof lighted on the high-bed, and others on the truckle-bed, to the number in all of about four∣score. This night there was also a very great noise, as though forty pieces of Ordnance had been shot off together; at two se∣veral knocks it astonished all the neighboring dwellers, which 'tis thought might have been heard a great way off. During these noises which were heard in both rooms together, both Commission∣ers and servants were struck with so great horror, that they cryed out to one another for help, whereof one of them recovering himself out of a strange agony he had been in, snatch'd up a sword, and had like to have killed one of his Brethren coming out of his bed in his shirt, whom he took for the Spirit that did the mis∣chief: However, at length they got all together, yet the noise continued so great and terrible, and shook the walls so much, that they thought the whole Manor would have fell on their heads. At its departure it took all the glass away with it.

42. November 1. Somthing as they thought walk'd up and down the with-drawing room, and then made a noise in the dining-room: The stones that were left before and laid up in the with-draw∣ing-room, were all fetch'd away this night, and a great deal of glass (not like the former) thrown about again. November 2. came somthing into the with-drawing room treading (as they con∣ceived) much like a Bear, which first only walking about a quar∣ter of an hour, at length it made a noise about the Table, and threw the warming-pan so violently, that it quite spoiled it: It threw also glass and great stones at them again, and the bones of horses, and all so violently, that the bedsted and walls were bruised

by them. This night they set candles all about the rooms, and made fires up to the mantle-trees of the chimneys; but all were put out no body knew how, the fire, and billets that made it, be∣ing thrown up and down the rooms; the curtains torn with the rods from their beds, and the bed-posts pull'd away, that the tester fell down upon them, and the feet of the bedsted cloven in two: And upon the servants in the truckle-bed, who lay all this time sweating for fear, there was first a little, which made them be∣gin to stir; but before they could get out, there came a whole coule, as it were, of stinking ditch-water down upon them, so green, that it made their shirts and sheets of that colour too.

43. The same night the windows were all broke by throwing of stones, and there was most terrible noises in three several places together, to the extraordinary wonder of all that lodged near them; nay, the very Cony-stealers that were abroad that night, were so affrighted with the dismal thundering, that for hast they left their Ferret in the Cony-boroughs behind them, beyond Ro∣samonds well. Notwithstanding all this, one of them had the boldness to ask in the Name of God, what it was? what it would have? and what they had done, that they should be disturbed in this manner? to which no answer was given, but the noise ceased for awhile. At length it came again, and (as all of them said) brought seven Devils worse than it self. Whereupon one of them light∣ed a candle again, and set it between the two chambers in the door-way, on which another of them fixing his eyes, saw the similitude of a hoof striking the candle and candle-stick into the middle of the bed-chamber, and afterwards making three scrapes on the snuff to put it out. Upon this the same person was so bold as to draw his sword, but he had scarce got it out, but there was another invisible hand had hold of it too, and tug'd with him for it, and prevailing, struck him so violently with the pummel, that he was stun'd with the blow.

44. Then began grievous noises again, in so much that they called to one another, got together and went into the Presence-chamber, where they said Prayers and sang Psalms; notwith∣standing all which, the thundring noise still continued in other rooms. After this, November 3. they removed their Lodgings over the gate; and next day being Sunday, went to Ewelm, where how they escaped, the Authors of the Relations knew not;

but returning on Monday, the Devil (for that was the name they gave their nightly guest) left them not unvisited; nor on the Tuesday following, which was the last day they staid. Where ends the History (for so he was stiled by the people) of the just devil of Woodstock; the Commissioners and all their dependants going quite away on Wednesday; since which time, says the Au∣thor that lived on the place, there have honest persons of good Quality lodged in the Bed-chamber and with-drawing room, that never were disturb'd in the least like the Commissioners.

45. Most part of these Transactions, during the stay of these Commissioners, 'tis true, might be easily performed by combination, but some there are of them scarce reconcilable to Jugling: Such as 1. The extraordinary noises, beyond the power of man to make, without such instruments as were not there. 2. The taring down and spliting the bed-posts, and puting out so many candles and so great fires no body knew how. 3. A visible shape seen of a horses hoof treading out the candle. And 4. a tugging with one of them for his sword by an invisible hand. All which being put together, perhaps may easily perswade some man otherwise inclined, to believe, that immaterial beings might be concern'd in this business; which if it do, it abundantly will satisfie for the trouble of the Relation, still provided the speculative Theist, be not after all, a practical Atheist.

46. And thus, before I am aware, being fallen amongst the unusual accidents that have happened to men only, the next unac∣countable thing that presents it self, is a remarkable Dream of Thomas Wotton Esq of Bocton Malherb in the County of Kent, Fa∣ther to the famous Sir Henry Wotton Provost of Eaton, whose dreams did usually prove true, both in fore-telling things to come, and discovering things past. The dream, 'tis true, of which I am now writing, was had at Bocton in Kent, but the most impor∣tant concern of it relating to Oxford, I thought fit rather of the two to place it here; the particulars whereof, as taken verbatim out of Sir Henry Wottons lifeb 1.394, are briefly these.

47, This Thomas Wotton, a little before his death dreamed, that the University Treasury was robbed by Towns-men and poor Scho∣lars, and that the number was five. And being that day to write to his Son Henry (then a Scholar of Queens College) at Oxford,

he thought it worth so much pains, as by a Postscript in his Letter, to make a slight enquiry of it. The Letter (which was writ out of Kent, and dated three days before) came to his Sons hands the very morning after the night in which the robbery was committed; and when the University and City were both in a perplext inquest of the Thieves, then did Mr. Wotton shew his Fathers Letter, by which such light was given of this work of darkness, that the five guilty persons were presently discovered, and apprehended.

48. Amongst the unusual accidents attending men in their Lives, we must also reckon all unusual diseases, such as that of Mr. Evans Rector of Heath, who had a Ranula under his tongue, wherein there bred a stone, I suppose è sanguine crasso & terrestri; or as they call it, a Tartareous humor got together in the veins under the tongue, so hard and great that it almost quite deprived him of his speech; which he drew away with his own hand, and as he told me sent it to the Medicin School at Oxford; but upon search I could not find it, nor had the School-keeper ever heard of any such matter: So that whoever he were that he sent it by, proved false both to him and the Ʋniversity; which I the rather note, that people hereafter may take more care by whom they send such matters. Of just such another stone as this Mr. Lister gives us an account in a Letter to his Grace the Arch-Bishop of Yorkc 1.395, cut from under the tongue of a man, and now preserved in the Repository of the Royal Society, which he chuses to call Lapis Atheromatis, though the place of its birth made him allow the distemper to be a Ranula: but for my part, though the Ranula be always a tumor, and somtimes perhaps of that sort they call Atheromata; yet the place giving the disease a peculiar name, I think I ought rather to call it Lapis Ranulae, from the place of its birth, and those only Lapides Atheromatis found in that tumor in other places of the body.

49. To this may be added a large stone taken out of the bladder of one Skingley of Oxford, weighing above a pound, and being ten inches round one way ferè, and full eleven the other; preser∣ved, and now to be seen in the Medicin School. As also a Corn that grew on the Toe of one Sarney a Wheel-wright, of St. Al∣dates Parish in the City of Oxford, Anno 1655. two inches long, which for the unusual figure and bigness of it, I have caused to

be ingraven of its just magnitude, Tab. 10. Fig. 16. which is al∣so to be seen in the Medicin School.

50. Amongst which also I think we may number the descend∣ing trunck of the Arteria magna, taken out of the body of an an∣cient person, by the skilful Mr. Pointer Chirurgion of Oxford, in the presence of Dr. Millington our Sidleyan Professor of Natural Philosophy, whose innermost coat from above the Emulgents down to the Iliac branches, is by parcels only (and not continued throughout) turned into bone, the outer coat remaining soft and tender in its ordinary state; which Artery remains to be seen in the custody of Mr. Pointer. Just such another Artery as this, I find observed by Fallopiusd 1.396: and Dr. Willis took another of them out of a man much used to wine and stale drinkse 1.397; who also in∣forms us, that in the dissection of one that dyed of an ulcerated Schirrus in the Mesentery, he found one of the Carotides turned into bone in the same mannerf 1.398: Beside, above the Emulgents nearer the heart, there was a portion of this Artery turned into an annulary bone, perhaps such another as was observed by Dr. Harvey, and Veslingiusg 1.399, in the great Artery of an old man; but this I have not seen, it being in the possession of our afore-men∣tion'd Professor residing in London.

54. Amongst other the fore-runners of death and the grave, we must not forget extream old age, such as those above-mention∣ed, §. 3. of the second Chapter; and of one Josias Pierce late of Witney, better known by much by the name of George Jüs, who lived to the age of an hundred and twelve. Where also in the Tithing of Curbridg there is one William Carter now living, at least a hundred years old, who yet it seems has not lived more abste∣miously than others of his rank, nor do's he now at this age take so much care, as other people of his health: he commonly lying naked amongst the blankets of the Mill where he lives, which ma∣ny times are not over dry; out of which he will go naked in the midst of winter, and drink cold water at the Rivers side.

52. Of accidents in the very point of death, I have met with none observable amongst the Men of this County, nor of any at∣tending them in the Grave, except we may reckon that one, of preservation from corruption many years after death; such as that

[illustration] table of animals

TAB. X ad pag: 212.

To the Hon.^ble JAMES HERBERT of Tythrop Esq This 10^th Table Consisting cheifly of undescribed Animals. where-of some are near neighbors to HJM in memory of his many and signall favours is gratefully dedicated by R.P. L L. D.

Michaell Burghers sculpsit.

of the body of one that had been Rector of Wendlebury, taken up in the Church there near forty years after he had been buryed, whose flesh yet look'd as red (as I was informed by the Incumbent, since also dead) as raw beef: which whether it might not be caused by the petrifying qualities of the earths and waters about that Town, would be an experiment worthy the trial of the Ingenious thereabout; or about Sommerton or North Aston, where it would be easie to try whether flesh were so inclinable to corrupt in pe∣trifying waters as others. But if this prove the cause, all bodies must equally be preserved there, as well as that. De quibus quaere.

53. And thus I had finish'd this eighth Chapter, but that I must beg leave to acquaint the Reader, that since the Printing the 21 §. of it, I have found the Quintan amongst the Roman exerci∣ses (which yet perhaps they might borrow from the Greeks) by the name of Quintana; so called, by reason the Romans in their Tents made first four ways in manner of a Cross, to which adding a fifth on one side, it was called Quintana* 1.400. In this way they set up a great Post about six foot high, suitable to the stature of a man, and this the Roman Soldiers were wont to assail, with all Instru∣ments of war, as if it were indeed a real enemy; learning upon this, by the assistance of the Campidoctores, how to place their blows aright. And this they otherwise called exercitium ad Pa∣lum; and somtimes Palaria, the form whereof may be seen in Vulturius* 1.401: which practice being in use during their Government here, in all likelyhood has been retained among us ever since, be∣ing only translated in times of Peace, from a military, to a sportive marriage exercise.

CHAP. IX. Of Arts.

THUS having run through all the Natural Bodies I have met with in Oxford-shire, such as either Dame Nature has always retained the same from the beginning, as Waters, Earths, Stones, &c. or freely produces in her ordinary course, as Plants, Animals, with all her extravagancies and defects, or o∣ther accidents attending: I am come at length, according to my proposed method, to treat of Arts, and things artificial, that have either been invented or improved in this County; whereof first, of such as have tended to the discovery of the magnitudes, or de∣termination of the motions of the Heavenly Bodies, whither also must be referr'd the contrivance of new Periods, of new Hypo∣theses and their demonstrations. Secondly, I shall consider Air, Fire, and Water-works, and thence go on to such Arts as have a∣ny relation to Earths, Stones, or Plants. In short, I shall here also follow the method of the whole Essay as in some other Cha∣pters, by the way taking in all Inventions, and improvements that I have met with in this County, whether in the Mechanick or Liberal Arts; which I intend the whole scope of the following Chapter.

2. The first Celestial Observations in order of time, made here, that were any thing artificial, I presume might be done by Robert Grosthead Bishop of Lincoln, crassi quidem capitis, sed subtilis in∣genii, says Pitseus of himh 1.402; who amongst other his Learned works, left us Treatises of the Sphere and the Astrolabe, with which no question he found out many things that were new to that age: But because we can instance in no particulars, let it suffice as an evidence of the great probability, that he is highly commended for his knowledge in Astronomy and Perspective by Roger Bacon a Frier minor of Oxon: and somtime Fellow of Merton College, a Man of such affrighting skill in Mathematicks, especially Perspe∣ctive, that he justly deserved the title of Dr. Mirabilis. Nor in∣deed was he out of the way who gave him so much, since had he

lived in our days we could have given no less, to one who in all probability was a great Improver at least, if not the Inventor of that useful Mathematical Instrument, since by Galilaeus and others called the Telescope; of which admirable Invention perhaps Ox∣ford may justly boast, and for it expect to be celebrated to all po∣sterity. Which assertion if made good with all perspicuity and clearness, without wresting any words or begging favorable con∣struction, I think I need not to doubt but on all hands 'twill be granted, that the observations here made as they were new and fre∣quent, so to the vulgar and ignorant, they must needs be terrible and amazing.

3. That this Learned Frier understood all sorts of glasses, and to order and adapt them to such like purposes (not to cite other places that might easily be brought) I think I may with truth as well as confidence affirm from the unconstrained sense of his own words, in his Book of Perspective. Si vero corpora non sunt plana per quae visus videt, sed sphaerica; tunc est magna diversitas, nam vel concavitas corporis est versus oculum, vel convexitasi 1.403. But, says he, if the glasses be not plain (having treated of them before) but spherical; the case is much otherwise, for either the concavity of the glass is next the eye, or the convexity, &c. Now that he u∣sed these glasses in Celestial Observations, is altogether as evident from the same Book, where he proceeds in these words. De visione fractâ, majora sunt, nam de facili patet, maxima posse apparere mini∣ma, & è contra; & longe distantia videbuntur propinquissime, & è converso: sic etiam faceremus Solem, & Lunam, & Stellas descendere secundum apparentiam hic inferius, &ck 1.404. Greater things are per∣formed if the vision be refracted, for [by refraction] 'tis easily made appear that the greatest things may be represented less, and little things as the greatest; and that things a far off may be repre∣sented near: Thus we can make the Sun, and Moon, and Stars, to all appearance, to come down to us here below, &c.

4. Again in his Epistle ad Parisiensem, concerning the secret works of Art and Nature. Possunt enim sic figurari perspicua, ut lon∣gissime posita, appareant propinquissima, & è contrario; ita quod ex incredibili distantia legeremus literas minutissimas, & numeraremus res quantumcunque parvas, & stellas faceremus apparere quo vellemusl 1.405. Glasses may be so figured, that things the most remote may appear

near; so that at an incredible distance we may read the smallest Character, and number things though never so small; and lastly, make Stars appear as near as we please. And these things, he says at another place, were to the illiterate so formidable and a∣mazing, ut animus mortalis ignorans veritatem non possit aliqualiter sustinerem 1.406: that no mortal, ignorant of the means, could possibly bear it.

5. Wherein this Learned Franciscan did so far excel the anci∣ent Magicians, that whereas they represented the Moons approach by their magical charms, he brought her lower with a greater in∣nocence, and with his glasses did that in truth, which the ancient Poets always put in a Fable: thus Petronius brings in his Witch, boasting the power of her charms.

—Lunae descendit imago Carminibus deducta meis. And Martialn 1.407 in the Epitaph of Philaenis enquires, Quae nunc Thessalico Lunam deducere Rhombo Quae sciet?

All which put together, it must necessarily be confest, that he had some such Instrument, though not so trimly made, 'tis like, as our Telescopes are now. In favor of which truth, much more might be alleged, did I not think this sufficient to evince it with unprejudiced Readers, for whose benefit I have laid down his words thus at large, and translated them (as I also intend in some other matters) that such as have not the opportunity of seeing his Books, or understand not his Language, might give their verdict, as well as those that have, or do.

6. Upon the account of these, and many other excellent Ex∣periments, exceeding ('tis true) the capacity, but not the malice of those times, he was accused of Magick in its worst sense, to have performed them by the concurrent help of the Devilo 1.408, per∣secuted as such by those of his own Fraternity, and thrown into Prison by Hieronymus de Esculop 1.409, General of his Order, afterward Pope by the name of Nicholas the Fourth, where they so barba∣rously treated him, that he was forced to seek redress of Clement

the Fourth, to whom he made complaint not only of his hard usage, and sequestration of his Books, but charge of his Experi∣ments, some whereof he tells him, especially concerning burning things at any distance, would amount at least to a thousand marks, Et certe combustio in omni distantia constaret plusquam mille marcas, antequam specula sufficientia fierent ad hocq 1.410, are his very words. And at another place speaking of Mathematical Instruments, Instrumenta haec non sunt facta apud Latinos, nec fierent pro ducentis nec trecentis librisr 1.411, that they would not be made for two or three hundred pounds: great sums indeed in Bacons time, yet scarce bearing pro∣portion with his greater attempts.

7. Which made them at last so jealous of him, that notwith∣standing he wrote a whole Treatise against the use of Magicks 1.412, they would suffer none to come near him, nor his Books to have place in their Libraries, insomuch that it almost repented him of his Inventionst 1.413, which in all probability (not to mention the humor of the Age, very careful of breaking the Heavenly Seal (as they called it) which obscured their mysteries from the unworthy multitude) was the cause why he left us no particular Phaenomena of the motions of the Planets, nor any thing of new stars; the disclosing such secrets producing many inconveniencies. Which also was the reason (as guess'd by Dr. Deeu 1.414) why he never re∣vealed his secret of Gun-powder; not but he esteemed it a consi∣derable Invention, but because he fore-saw the many evils attend∣ing it, which these latter ages have severely felt; since brought into practice by Bertholdus Swartz, of which more fully in its pro∣per place.

8. So far then was John Lippersein of Zeland, Metius of Alck∣mar, or Galilaeus himself from being the Inventor of the Telescope, or first applyer of it to the Heavens; that perhaps had not Bacon left his Books to posterity, with such pregnant Indications how much might be done that way; he had been as little able to make those advancements he did, as Paulus Middleburgensis, or Coper∣nicus had been, to give occasion for the correction of the Julian Calendar, or Tropical Year, consisting of 365 days and 6 hours (first contrived, as Bacon informs us, by one Faelixw 1.415, and only

perfected by Caesar) which though not performed till the time of Gregory the 13^th, Anno 1582. yet the first motion of its being done, was certainly made by this Learned Friar to Pope Clement the 4^th, as appears from a fair MS Copy of the fourth part of his Opus minus in the Bodleyan Library: Where after he has passio∣natly lamented its errors awhile, he gives this succinct account of it, viz. that its being greater than the true Solar year, was the cause of the going back of the Aequinoxes and Solstices, and then how all was to be amended.

9. Quod autem hic intendo (says hex 1.416) est de correctione Calendarii quo utitur Ecclesia. Julius quidem Caesar in Astronomia edoctus complevit ordinem Calendarii secundum quod potuit in tempore suo; & sicut Historiae narrant contra Achorium Astronomum, & Eudo∣xum ejus Doctorem disputavit in Egypto de quantitate Anni Solaris, super quam fundatum est Calendarium nostrum, unde sicut Lucanus re∣fert, ipse dixit

Non meus Eudoxi vincetur fastibus Annus.

Sed non pervenit Julius ad veram anni quantitatem quam posuit esse in Calendario nostro 365 dies, & quartam diei integram, quae quarta colligitur per quatuor annos, ut in anno Bissextili computetur unus dies plus quam in aliis annis communibus: Manifestum autem est per omnes computistas, antiquos & novos, sed & certificatum est per vias Astronomiae, quod quantitas anni Solaris non est tanta, imo minor; & istud minus aestimatur à sapientibus esse quasi 130 pars unius diei, unde tanquam in 130 annis superflue computatur unius dies, qui si au∣ferretur, esset Calendarium correctum quoad hoc peccatum, i. e.

10. That which I intend here (says he) is the correction of the Calendar now in use in the Church. Julius Caesar indeed be∣ing learned in Astronomy, compleated the Calendar very well for his time, and as Histories tell us, disputed in Egypt against Acho∣rius, and his Master Eudoxus, concerning the quantity of the Solar year, on which our Calendar is founded, which made Lu∣can bring him in speaking to this effect,

The Julian, shall ne'r be prov'd amiss, By the Eudoxian Ephemeris.

But Julius never came to the knowledge of the true quantity of

the year, which he made to consist of 365 days, and a whole fourth part of a day, which fourth part collected at four years end, made, that in the Bissextil there was one day more than in any other year: But 'tis manifest (says he) to all Astronomers both old and new, and 'tis plain from the rules of Astronomy, that the quantity of the Solar year is not so much, but less, and that as 'tis judged by wise men, by the 130^th part of a day; whence it comes to pass, that in 130 years we have one superfluous day, which were it but taken away, the Calendar would be corrected as to this error.

11. And then he proceeds to shew, that upon this account it is that the Aequinoxes and Solstices are not fixt, but continually ascend in the Calendar, that in the beginning of the Church they were not, where they are now in his time; and in the conclusion of the Discourse, Debet autem nunc temporis remedium apponi pro∣pter istos errores manifestos, &cy 1.417. But that now some remedy must be found for those palpable errors, and that to take off scandal from the Church; for (says he) all the learned in Astronomy know this, and laugh at the ignorance of the Prelates that suffer it. Nay, the Infidel Arabians, Hebrews, and Greeks, abhor the folly they see in the Christians in ordering the time they set aside for their greater Solemnities: But now Christians have so much skill in Astronomy, that they can amend all these things. Therefore your Holyness (meaning Pope Clement) may command, & invenietis homines qui praeclara remedia apponent in hac parte.

12. Thus earnestly wrote he for the reformation of the Calen∣dar, not only in this but in several other Books; in one whereof he makes also this complaint, Non tamen aliquis praesumit tradere Calendarium correctum, propter hoc quod Concilium generale prohi∣bet ne quis mutet Calendarium, sine licentia sedis Apostolicae genera∣liz 1.418, i. e. Yet no body presumes to correct this Calendar, because it is forbid by a General Council that no man should offer to alter it, without special license first obtained of the Apostolick Sea. Which license I gather at length was given him, for I find him in the end of the aforesaid Chapter, mentioning a more correct Copy of a Calendar sent to the aforesaid Pope by his Boy John, than any he had sent him before. Cum propter festinantiam, & propter

occupationes in aliis magnas & varias, vestrum Exemplar non fuit usquequaque correctum, hic iterum feci transcribi, & correxi; & haec ideo facio, ut certitudinaliter considerare & conferre possitis de hâc ma∣teria cum quocunque velitis, i. e. because upon the account of hast and various other businesses intervening, your Copy was not suffi∣ciently correct, I have corrected and transcribed it again, that you might consider and confer about it more certainly with whom you please. A perfect and fair MS. Copy of which Calendar, I hear yet remains in the hands of one Mr. Theyer, a Gentleman of Glo∣cester-shire.

13. From which, or some other Calendar of his, Paulus Mid∣dleburgensis Bishop of Fossombrone, in the Dukedom of Ʋrbin, stole half of his great Volum, which he calls his Paulina, con∣cerning the true time of keeping Easter, and day of the Passion of our Lord JESUS; directed to Pope Leo the Tenth, in order to the reformation of the Roman Calendar and Ecclesiastical Cycles, written just in the same order and method generally and particu∣larly as Roger Bacon long before had done to Clement the Fourth; and yet full slender mention (says Dr. Deea 1.419) doth this Bishop make of him, though his chief Instructor in the best part of the matter contained in his Book: In which design, though the Pla∣giary were unsuccessful, his endeavors being frustrated for a time, yet 'twas he that stirred up Nicholas Copernicus (as the same Nicholas honestly confesses in an Epistle of his to Paul the Thirdb 1.420) more accuratly to observe the motions of the Sun and Moon, and thence to define the quantities of years and months more truly than they were before in the Julian Calendar; upon whose foundations Aloysius, and the rest of the sumptuous Col∣lege of Mathematicians at Rome having built their Reformation, it is easily deducible that whatever has been done in this matter from the time of Frier Bacon, to that of Pope Gregory the Thir∣teenth, must in great measure be ascribed to him, their whole Re∣formation scarce differing from his.

14. Only in this (which is well worth the observation) that whereas the Gregorian Reformers reduced the Equinoxes and Sol∣stices to the places they supposed they held in the time of the Ni∣cene Council, Bacon seems inclinable to have brought them (and

that most rationally) to their places, in a much more eminent E∣poche, viz. the Winter Solstice to the tenth of the Calends of Janu∣ary, and the Vernal Aequinox to the tenth of the Calends of April, their true places at the time of Christs birth: which he proves by a very cogent Argument drawn from the observations of Pto∣lomy, who lived but 140 years after Christ; in whose time the Vernal Aequinox was found to be on the eleventh of the Calends of April: now allowing, as before, that it ascends in the Calendar a whole natural day in 130 years; if in Ptolomies time it fell on the eleventh of the Calends of April, it must needs at Christs birth have been at least on the tenth; and so of the Solstice* 1.421. Accord∣ing to which computation they have now gon back in our Calen∣dar since Christs time almost 13 days, the number 130 days be∣ing so often to be found in 1676. wanting but 14. Now the Aera of Christs birth being a time of much higher value, and more to be respected by Christians than the Nicene Council, in what ever else they have exceeded him, I am sure in this they have fallen short of his reformation.

15. And so much for the invention of the Telescope, and o∣ther Instruments, by the assistance whereof he so nearly defined the true quantities of the Solar and Lunar years, that he first gave oc∣casion to the reformation of the Julian Calendar: wherein if the Reader (with me) be convinced, let him hither refer those in∣ordinate Encomiums by Kepler, Fabricius, and Caesar la Galla, heaped on Galilaeus for the one; and whatever else of that na∣ture he shall meet with, given to Paulus Middleburgensis, Copernicus, or Aloysius for the other.

16. Thus was the Christian World first informed in matters of Astronomy by Roger Bacon, and with so much success here in En∣gland, that in the next Century we meet with Richard Wallingford Abbot of St. Albans, and Simon Bredon, both Oxford men, the most eminent for their time in the whole World: who for their subtilty, and yet clearness of demonstration, we find yoaked with no less than the great Albategnius, by Lewis Caerlyon also an Oxford man, in his observations of the Eclypses, An. Dom. 1482c 1.422. where also he treats of the oblique ascensions of the Signs calcula∣ted to the Meridian of Oxford. And quickly after we meet with

William Rede (after Bishop of Chichester) and John Eschenden joint∣ly to carry on this study, as appears from their Treatises of the central Eclyps of the Moon, and conjunction of the three supe∣rior Planets that happen'd An. 1345. and the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, An. 1365. both which were calculated by William Rede, and the Prognostications added by John Eschendend 1.423: From which Eclyps, and the first conjunction, he fore-told the Epidemical Pestilence that followed in the year 1349. which be∣ginning in Turky, spread all over Syria and Greece; whence it came into Italy, Spain and France, and at length into England. To these add John Somer and William Wyrcester, also most eminent Astronomers; the former whereof corrected the Calendar perhaps yet more accuratly than Bacone 1.424; and the latter wrote a verifica∣tion of all the fix'd stars, as to their longitude and latitude, for the year 1440f 1.425. with some other Astronomical matters, at the in∣stance of his Patron Sir John Falstoff.

17. Great we see was the increase of this sort of Learning, even in those days, yet that former Ages may not carry away the whole honor, let us also make an estimate of its modern advance∣ments; such as it received from Thomas Lydiat, formerly Fellow of New College, and Rector of Alkerton in this County, who de∣fining a yet truer period than any of the former, of the Sun and Moons motion (without which, there could be no accurat System or Calendar of years, months and days) most happily first contri∣ved the Octodesexcentenary Period: ipse primus, absit dicto invidia, nostro seculo observavi, are his own wordsg 1.426: Which Period, though till now not so certainly known, by Learned Antiquity was called the great year, as is manifest from Josephus his History of the Jewsh 1.427, where speaking of the great advantages our Fore-fathers had in Astronomy, he says, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. i. e. that 'tis probable God gave them a longer life, that they might fully understand the Theorems of Astro∣nomy, which they could not well do, unless they lived six hun∣dred years; for the great year, says he, is accomplish'd in that number of years.

18. Which Lydiat found to come so near the truth, that there

needed but the abatement of eight in six hundred, his true period consisting of 592 years, and that (according to Geminus) of whole years, whole months, and whole days, as a period ought to doi 1.428, viz. of 592 intire solar years, 7322 entire months (whereof 218 are intercalary) 216223 entire days, and 30889 entire weeks; defining every Lunar month to consist of 29 days, 12^h, 44′, 3″, 12‴, 44'''', 3^V, 12^VI. And the solar year of 365 days, 5^h, 47′, 50″, 16‴, & 8/37; or 5^h and 59/74; or 365 days and 1/128 part of a day: So that the whole period, or 592 Lydiatean years, do anticipate so many Julian ones by five days.

19. According to this period found out in An. 1605. exceed∣ing the Dionysian but 60 years, he calculated the middle motions of the seven Planets for the nine first periods entirely, and the tenth so far forth as it had gon in his time; (some MS. fragments of which calculations I had lately in my possession, but now disposed of to the Worshipful Dr. Lanphire, Principal of Hart-hall, care∣fully to be preserved amongst the rest of his writings.) And in An. 1620. viz. in the last year of the first half of his tenth period, he put it forth, with his Menologium, or reformation of the Calen∣dar, which he opposed to the new, but confused, absurd, and false Pontifical Gregorian year, contrived by the sumptuous Col∣lege of Mathematicians at Rome; and defended it against the ob∣tractations of Joseph Scaligerk 1.429, a man, 'tis true, of great Learning, but withal so confident and imperious, so abusive and assuming, that whenever he wanted Arguments for the support of his cause, he always sought revenge upon the person of his Ad∣versary.

20. Which was manifestly the case of modest Lydiat, whom in an Epistle to Richard Thomson (his correspondent in England) he calls, the greatest monster that ever England producedl 1.430; and in another to the same Thomson, the veryest fool in the whole world, and that 'twas below his dignity, nor had he leisure to write against such a Beetlem 1.431. But herein (as the Reverend Dr. Heylin very well notes in another case) we must pardon Joseph; for had not scorn and contempt been part of his Essence, he had neither been a Scaliger, nor the son of Juliusn 1.432, who scrupled not to pass this rash censure on the whole English Nation; that we are, Perfidi, inflati, feri, con∣temptores,

stolidi, amentes, inertes, inhospitales, immaneso 1.433. In which very act yet I think he proves nothing, but that most of those Epithets rather belong to himself.

21. If it be objected that Joseph did not so far patrizare, but that he spake Honorably of some of the English, such as Wotton, Savil, Camdenp 1.434, Reynoldsq 1.435: it must be answered, That these touched not the apple of his eye, nor endeavored the ruin of his great Diana, the Julian Period, of which he conceited him∣self the Inventor: which yet since by an indifferent, and that a competent judge, is given to Robert Lorringe an English Bishop of Hereford, who lived 500 years before Scaligers inventionr 1.436. 'Tis true, he fitted it to Chronological uses; but whil'st in the midst of his glorious attempts, behold him shaken by meek, and modest Lydiat, the happy Inventor of a more accurat period, whereby he so disturbed and confounded all his supputations, that (if we may believe the most Learned of the Age) he laid his angry Rival flat upon his back.

22. And so much concerning the Lydiatean Period, of which, because so much already in Print, I shall not add more, only in what years of as many of them, as have already been (which pos∣sibly may not be unacceptable to the Reader) the most considerable Aera's of the world have happen'd.

	Years of the World.	Years of the Lydiatean	Periods.
The Flood.	1657.	473.	(3)
Birth of Isaac.	2109.	333.	(4)
Exodus.	2509.	141.	(5)
The Temple.	2988.	28.	(6)
Empire of Nebuchadn.	3401.	441.	(6)
Empire of Cyrus.	3471.	511.	(6)
Empire of Alexander the Great.	3675.	123.	(7)
Empire of Jul. Caesar.	3956.	404.	(7)
Baptism of Christ.	4033.	481.	(7)
The Dionysian year of our Lord, 1620.	5624.	296.	(10)
The year of our Lord, 1676.	5680.	352.	(10)

23. If I descend yet lower to persons now living, we shall daily find Astronomy receiving new advancements, particularly from the Right Reverend Father in God, Seth Lord Bishop of Sarum, one of the most cordial Promoters of this undertaking: who ra∣ther embracing the opinions of Diogenes, Apollonius Myndius, of the Chaldees, and at length of Seneca; That Comets are perpetual stars, and carryed about in a continued motion; than of Kepler, who thought them still produced de Novo, quickly perishing again; or of Gassendus, who held indeed they might be corpora aeterna, but yet that they always moved in straight lines; he first proposed this new Theory of them, viz. that it was much more probable they might rather be carryed round in Circles or Ellipses (either in∣cluding or excluding the Globe of the earth) so great, that the Comets are never visible to us, but when they come to the Perige's of those Circles or Ellipses, and ever after invisible till they have absolved their periods in those vast Orbs, which by reason of their standing in an oblique, or perpendicular posture to the eye, he de∣monstrated might well seem to carry them in straight lines; all circles or ellipses so posited, projecting themselves naturally into such lines: which Theory was first proposed in a Lecture here at Oxford, and afterward set forth in the year 1653. The Right Re∣verend Father in God, Seth Lord Bishop of Sarum, and my very good Lord, being then Professor of Astronomy in this Ʋniver∣sity.

24. In the same year, the same Right Reverend, and most ac∣complish'd Bishop first Geometrically demonstrated, the Copernico-Elliptical Hypothesis to be the most genuine, simple and uniform, the most easie and intelligible, answering all Phaenomena without com∣plication of motions, by Excentrics, Epicycles, or Epicyc-Epicycles. That the Excentricities of the Planets and their Apoge's according to the Ptolomaic hypothesis, and the Aphelions according to the Copernican, might all be solved by a simple Elliptical line, was first indeed noted by Kepler, but how their proper and primary Inequa∣lities, or Anomaliae Coaequatae, should thence be demonstrated geo∣metrically, he profest he knew not, and utterly despaired it would ever be done: which stirred up the Learned Ismael Bullialdus to attempt the removal of this disgrace to Astronomy, which accord∣ingly he thought he had done, finding the method of the Apheli∣ons, and demonstrating (at least as he thought) the first Inequa∣lities

geometrically, and making Tables; calling his work Astrono∣miam Philolaicam.

25. But how far he came short of what he pretended, was so plainly and modestly made appear by the Reverend Bishop, in a Book which he entituled, Inquisitio in Ismaelis Bullialdi Astrono∣miae Philolaicae fundamenta. Edit. Oxonii, 1653. that the ingeni∣ous Bullialdus himself, sent him a Letter of thanks, and recogni∣tion of his errors. Where also he further shews, that although Bullialdus had not, and Kepler thought no man could, rightly calculate the first inequalities according to the rules of Geometry, i. e. out of the known middle motions of the Planets (or true places of the Aphelions) accuratly find a priori, their true or ap∣pearing motions: That yet there were methods by which it might be done, whereof he propounded two in the same Book, and de∣monstrated them, which afterwards applying to all the primary Planets, he set forth both Elliptical and Circular Astronomy, shew∣ing how the Phaenomena, according to both Hypotheses, might be geometrically made out, which he called his Astronomia Geometrica. Edit. Londini, An. 1656.

26. The Elliptical Hypothesis has received yet further advance∣ment from Mr. Edmund Hally of Queens College Oxon. a young man, for his years of prodigious skill in Astronomical matters, who, amongst many other excellent performances in that Science to be met with in our English Philosophical Transactionss 1.437, has shewed us a direct and geometrical method for finding the Aphelions, Excentri∣cities, and proportions of the Orbs of the primary Planets, with∣out supposing the equality of the angle of motion at the other Fo∣cus of the Planets Ellipsis, which has been hitherto always done amongst Astronomerst 1.438: From whom I dare promise yet further improvements, he being lately gon to the Isle of St. Helen, for the more advantagious prosecution of his Astronomical studies; from whose solitary observations there, and comparative ones with Mr. Flamsted's here, Astronomy no question will receive considerable advancements.

27. To which may be added several other improvements this Science has received from that incomparable person Sir Christopher Wren, late Professor here: who before any thing of Hugenius ap∣peared on that subject, from his constant observations of Saturn,

stated a Theory of that Planet; and of the Moons Libration. He has attempted also (and perhaps by this time performed) a Sele∣nography by measure, what we have yet of that kind being rather pictures, than accurate surveys or maps of the Moon: To this pur∣pose he contrived a Lunar globe, representing not only the Moun∣tains and Valleys in solid work, but the several degrees of whiteness and blackness on the surface, which if turned to the light, shews all the menstrual phases of the Moon, with the several appearances that arise from the shadows of the Hills and Vales.

28. He has made Maps of the Pleiades, and other Telescopial stars, and proposed ways to solve the great Question concerning the earths rest or motion by some small stars about the North pole, to be seen only in large and well made Telescopes: To which In∣strument he has added many sorts of Rete's, screws, and Apertures, to take in more or less light, by opening and shutting like the pu∣pil of the eye, according as the Observer thinks fit; and has im∣proved the manufacture of grinding good glasses. He has also made two Telescopes to open with a joynt after the manner of a sector, whereby distances may be taken to half minutes, and no differences found in the same observation often repeated, the In∣strument not being lyable to any prejudice by warping or luxation. He has contrived and hung Quadrants, Sextants, and Radii, much better than heretofore, by which Astronomical Observations may be made more accurate and easie. Of all which ingenious and use∣ful Inventions, there are much more full and elegant relations, in the most accurate History of the Royal Societyu 1.439: However, they being most, if not all of them found out here, or at least whil'st their Author was Astronomy Professor in this Ʋniversity, I could not but mention them with relation to this place, as I shall some other matters which ow their invention to the same worthy person.

29. And these are all the modern advancements in Astronomical matters I can at present think of, onely a late invention of one R. Holland, a teacher of Mathematicks in this City for many years, who has shewed us a way to get the Angle of Parallax of a Comet or other Phaenomenon at two observatious to be taken in any one station or place of the earth, and thereby the distance from the earth: whereof no more, there being a short account of the whole contrivance set forth by himself, and printed at Oxford.

30. Having done with the Inventions and Improvements that concern the Heavens, come we next to those belonging to the sub∣lunary World, whereof the same Ingenious Sir Christopher Wren has furnish'd us with several; as of exquisite subtilty, so of ex∣cellent use: Such as his contrivance to make Diaries of wind and weather, and of the various qualifications of the air, as to heats, colds, drought, moisture, and weight, through the whole year; and this in order to the History of Seasons: with observation, which are the most healthful or contagious to men or beasts; which, the Harbingers of blights, meldews, smut, or any other accidents at∣tending men, cattle, or grain; so that at length being instructed in the causes of these evils, we may the easier prevent, or find reme∣dies for them.

31. Now that a constant observation of these qualities of the air, both by night and day might not be insuperable; he contri∣ved a Thermometer to be its own Register, and a Clock to be annex∣ed to a weather-cock, which moves a Rundle covered with white Paper; upon which the Clock moving a black-lead pensil, the ob∣server, by the traces of the pensil on the paper, may certainly know what winds have blown, during his sleep or absence, for 12 hours together. He has also discover'd many subtile ways for easier finding the degrees of drought, and moisture, and the gravi∣ty of the Atmosphere; and amongst other Instruments, has Bal∣lances (also useful for other purposes) that shew the pressure of the air, by their easie (I had almost said spontaneous) inclina∣tionsw 1.440.

32. He has made Instruments whereby he has shewn the Me∣chanical reason of sailing to all winds; and others of Respiration, for straining the breath from thick vapors, in order to tryal whe∣ther the same breath thus purified will serve turn again. Which Experiments, however nice they may seem, yet being concerned about a subject so nearly related to man, that he always lives in it, and cannot long without it, and is well or ill according to its al∣terations, the minutest discoveries of its nature or qualifications ought to be valuable to us.

33. Wherein yet we have been assisted by nothing more, than the Pneumatick Engine, invented here at Oxon: by that miracle of Ingenuity, the Honorable Robert Boyle Esq with the concurrent

help of that exquisite contriver, Mr. Robert Hook, commonly called the Air Pump; so different a thing from the Instrumentum Magdeburgicum, devised by Otto Gerickex 1.441, an ingenious Consul of that Republick, that it can scarce be reckoned an improvement of that, but a new Engine; although it must not be denyed but the Magdeburg Experiment gave occasion to its Invention. By the as∣sistance whereof, that Noble Philosopher hath accuratly examined the Elastical power, pressure, and weight; expansion and weakness thereupon, of this element; and thereby found out so many things new, relating to the height and gravity of the Atmosphere, nature of a Vacuum; Flame, and Excandescence of coals, match, firing of gun-powder; propagation of sounds, fluidity, light, freez∣ing, respiration, &c. that to give an account of them all according to the merits of the Experiments, would be to transcribe the whole Treatise of that Honorable Author set forth on this subject; whither I refer the Reader for further satisfaction, and so to the rest of his Works upon several other subjects; many of his nume∣rous inventions and improvements, wherewith he has so highly ob∣liged the World, having been made in this place.

34. Whereof I shall mention no more (it being indeed uncer∣tain as to most of them, which were made here, which at London, and which at other places) only the Barometer, a well known In∣strument, also invented here by the same Noble Person, whereby, the gravity of the Atmosphere has been daily observed by the Reve∣rend and Learned Dr. John Wallis, for about six years together: in all which time he found the Quick-silver in the Tube, never to ascend much above 30 inches, and never to descend much be∣low 28, which he takes to be the whole latitude of its variation. He also observed, for most of that time, the temper of the air by a Thermometer, whereof he has still the Notes by him, which are very particular for every day.

35. Which latter instrument, though of very ancient inven∣tion, there having been one of them found by Robert de Fluctibus graphically delineated, in a MS. of 500 years antiquity at leasty 1.442: yet it has still received other useful advancements (beside that a∣bove mention'd) from that curious Artist Sir Christopher Wren, who finding the usual Thermometers not to give so exact a measure of the airs extension, by reason the gravity of the liquor as it

stands higher or lower in the Glass, weighs unequally on the air, and gives it a contraction and extension, beside what is produced by heat and cold; he therefore invented a Circular Thermometer, in which the liquor can occasion no such fallacy, it remaining conti∣nually of one height, and moving the whole instrument like a wheel on its axelz 1.443.

36. Amongst other Aerotechnicks, here is a Clock lately con∣trived by the ingenious John Jones LL. B. and Fellow of Jesus College Oxon: which moves by the air, equally expressed out of bellows of a cylindrical form, falling into folds in its descent, much after the manner of Paper Lanterns: These, in place of drawing up the weights of other Clocks, are only filled with air, admitted into them at a large orifice at the top, which is stop'd up again as soon as they are full with a hollow screw, in the head whereof there is set a small brass plate, about the bigness of a sil∣ver half penny, with a hole perforated scarce so big as the smal∣lest pins head: through this little hole the air is equally expres∣sed by weights laid on the top of the bellows, which descending very slowly, draw a Clock-line, having a counterpoise at the o∣ther end, that turns a pully-wheel, fastened to the arbor or axis of the hand that points to the hour: which device, though not brought to the intended perfection of the Inventor, that perhaps it may be by the help of a tumbrel or fusie, yet highly deserves men∣tioning, there being nothing of this nature that I can find amongst the writers of Mechanicks.

37. To which may be added, a hopeful improvement of that uncommon Hygroscope, made of two Deal, or rather Poplar boards, mention'd in our English Philosophical Transactionsa 1.444, contrived by my ingenious Friend John Young M. A. of Magdalen Hall, who rationally concluding, that the teeth of the thin piece of brass placed across the juncture of the two boards, must needs in its passage from bearing on one side of the teeth of the pinion, to the other, upon change of weather, make a stand as it were in re∣spect of the motion of the axel of the hand; thinks a pretty stiff spring cut on the under side, after the manner of a fine file, placed flat and not edge-ways, and bearing pretty hard upon an axel of Copper, may turn the hand upon change of weather in the punctum of reversion, without any more than a negative rest: which be∣ing

an opinion so very rational and unlikely to fail, when brought to the test, I thought fit to propound it to the Ingenious, though the Press would not give us leave first to experiment it our selves. Whence I proceed,

38. To such Arts as relate to the Fire, which I have placed next, in regard we have knowledge of no other but what is Culinary, that in the concave of the Moon being only a dream of the Anci∣ents. Amongst which, we must not forget the perpetual, at least long-lived Lamps, invented by the Right Worshipful Sir Christopher Wren; nor his Registers of Chymical Furnaces for keep∣ing a constant heat in order to divers uses; such as imitation of Nature in the production of Fossiles, Plants, Insects; hatching of Eggs, keeping the motions of Watches equal, in reference to Lon∣gitudes and Astronomical uses, and several other advantagesb 1.445.

39. But amongst all the Fire-works ever yet produced by the Art of Man, there is none so wonderful as that of Frier Bacon, mention'd in his Epistle ad Parisiensem, where speaking of the secret works of Nature and Arts, he has these words, In omnem distantiam quam volumus possumus artificialiter, componere ignem, com∣burentem ex sale Petrae, & aliisc 1.446; which alia, as the Reverend and Learned Dr. John Wallis saw it in a MS. Copy of the same Roger Bacon, in the hands of the Learned Dr. Ger. Langbain, late Pro∣vost of Queens College, were Sulphur, and Carbonum pulvis: con∣cerning which, after a while he further adds: Praeter haec (i. e. combustionem) sunt alia stupenda naturae, nam soni velut Tonitrus, & coruscationes possunt fieri in aere, imo majore horrore, quam illa quae fiunt per naturam: Nam modica materia adapta, sc. ad quantitatem unius pollicis, sonum facit horribilem & coruscationem ostendit violen∣tem, & hoc fit multis modis quibus Civitas aut Exercitus destruatur. —Igne exsiliente cum fragore inaestimabili—Mira haec sunt si quis sciret uti ad plenum in debitâ quantitate & materiâ.

40. That is, that of Salt-peter, and other matters, viz. Sul∣phur, and the dust of coal, he could make fire that should burn at what distance he pleased; and further, that with the same mat∣ter he could make sounds like Thunder, and coruscations in the air more dreadful than those made by Nature: For, says he, a little of this matter rightly fitted, though not bigger than ones Thumb, makes a horrible noise, and shews a violent coruscation,

which may be ordered many ways; whereby a City or Army may be destroyed—the Fire breaking forth with an unspeakable noise —which are wonderful things, if a man knew exactly how to use them in due quantity and matter.

41. Whence 'tis plain, he either invented or knew Gun-powder, though I think we cannot allow him less than the first, till we find out an ancienter Author for it* 1.447, which if no body ever do's (as 'tis manifold odds they never will) in all probability it was invented here at Oxford, where he made the rest of his affrighten∣ing Experiments. And that out of his works, Constantinus Ancklit∣zen of Friburgd 1.448, or Bertholdus Swartze 1.449, and the rest of the Im∣provers, in all likelihood might have their pretended Inventions, though we allow him not quite so explicit as in the Copy of the Reverend and Learned Dr. Langbain, but that as 'tis conjectured by Dr. Deef 1.450, he somwhat concealed his Invention in the word [aliis] well knowing it might be dangerously destructive to man∣kind.

42. As for Water-works invented or improved in this County, some concern profit, and others only pleasure. Of the first sort, is an Instrument of Sir Christopher Wrens, that measures the quanti∣ty of Rain that falls, which as soon as 'tis full, empties it self, so that at the years end 'tis easie to compute how much has fal∣len on such a quantity of ground for all that time; and this he contrived in order to the discovery of the Theory of Springs, ex∣halations, &c. And secondly, other Instruments whereby he has shewn the Geometrical Mechanie of Rowing, viz. that the Oar moves upon its Thowle, as a vectis on a yielding fulcrum, and found out what degree of impediment the expansion of a body to be moved in a liquid medium ordinarily produces in all proportions, with several other matters in order for laying down the Geometry of sailing, swiming, rowing, and the fabrick of Shipsg 1.451.

43. Hither also belong the Locks and Turn-pikes made upon the River Isis, the 21 of King James, when it was made navigable from Oxford to Bercot, which are absolutely necessary for that purpose, on shallow rivers that have also great falls, to keep up the water, and give the vessels an easie descent. For the first where∣of,

provided the fall of water be not great, a Lock will suffice, which is made up only of bars of wood called Rimers, set per∣pendicularly to the bottom of the passage (which are more or less according to its breadth) and Lock-gates put down between eve∣ry two of them, or boards put athwart them, which will keep a head of water as well as the Turn-pike for the passage of a Barge, but must be all pulled up at its arrival, and the water let go till there is an abatement of the fall, before the boat may pass either down or upwards; which, with the stream, is not without vio∣lent precipitation; and against it, at many places, not without the help of a Capstain at Land; and somtimes neither of them without imminent danger.

44. But where the declivity of the Channel, and fall of wa∣ter is so great, that few barges could live in the passage of them, there we have Turn-pikes, whereof there are three between Ox∣ford and Bercot; one at Ifley, another at Sanford, and a third at Culham in the Swift-ditch, which was cut at that time when the River was made navigable; and are all thus contrived. First, there are placed a great pair of Folding doors, or Flood-gates of Timber cross the river, that open against the stream and shut with it, not so as to come even in a straight line, but in an obtuse angle, the better to resist and bear the weight of the water, which by how much the greater it is, by so much the closer are the gates pressed; in each of which Flood-gates there is a sluce to let the water through at pleasure, without opening the gates themselves. Within these, there is a large square taken out of the river, built up at each side with Free-stone, big enough to receive the largest barge afloat; and at the other end another pair of Flood-gates, opening, and shutting, and having sluces like the former. Which is the whole Fabrick of a Turn-pike.

45. At the uppermost pair of these gates the water is stopt, which raises it in the river above, and gives the Vessels passage o∣ver the shallows, which when come to the Turn-pikes, the Sluces are first opened, and the water let in to the square or inclosed space between the two pair of gates, where it must necessarily rise (the lower gates being shut) till at length it comes to be level with the surface of the river above: when this is done, the up∣per stream then making no such pressure on the gates as before, they are easily opened by two or three men, and the Vessels let in

one at a time; which done, they shut those upper gates and sluces as before: Then they open the sluces of the gates at the other end of the Turn-pike, and let the water by degrees out of the inclosed square till it is sunk down, and the Vessel with it, level with the ri∣ver below, and then open the gates themselves, and let the Vessel out; the upper gates all the while being drove too, and kept so fast by the water above, that little of it can follow. And thus the boats go down stream.

46. But when they return, they are first let into the inclosed space (where the water stands constantly level with that of the low∣er channel) at the lower gates, which as soon as shut again, the sluces are opened at the uppermost gates, and the water let in, till it rises with the boat upon it, to be equal with that of the river above: this done, the upper gates are easily opened as before, there being no pressure upon them, and the boat let out. So that notwithstanding the Channel has much steeper descents where these Turn-pikes are set, than at any of the Locks, yet the boats pass at these with much more ease and safety. Notwithstand∣ing these provisions, the River Thames is not made so perfectly Navigable to Oxford, but that in dry times, barges do somtimes lie aground three weeks, or a month, or more, as we have had sad experience this last Summer; which in great measure no doubt might be prevented, were there a convenient number of Locks, or Holds for water, made in the River Cherwel above Oxford, to let down flashes as occasion should serve; and so again out of the River Kennet near Reading, the Lodden, &c.

47. Not impertinent hereunto is a contrivance for Fish-ponds, that I met with at the Right Worshipful Sir Philip Harcourt's at Stanton Harcourt, where the stews not only feed one another, as the Ponds of the Right Honorable the Earl of Clarendon at Corn∣bury, Sir Timothy Tyrrils at Shot-over-Forrest, and the worshipful Brome Whorwoods at Holton, &c. and may be sewed by letting the water of the upper Ponds out into the lower; but by a side Ditch cut along by them, and Sluces out of each, may be any of them emptyed, without letting the water into, or giving the least di∣sturbance to any of the rest: which being a convenience that I never met with before, and perhaps unknown to many, I thought good to mention.

48. Amongst the Water-works of Pleasure, we must not forget an Engine contrived by the Right Reverend Father in God, John Wilkins, late Lord Bishop of Chester, when he was Warden of Wadham College, though long since taken thence; whereby, of but few gallons of water forced through a narrow Fissure, he could raise a mist in his Garden, wherein a person placed at a due di∣stance between the Sun and the mist, might see an exquisite Rain∣bow in all its proper colours: which distance I conceive was the same with that assigned by Des Cartes, viz. where the Eye of the Beholder is placed in an angle of 42 degrees, made by the decussa∣tion of the line of Vision, and the rays of the Sun; and the Fissure such another as in his Diagramh 1.452. But what kind of Instrument it was that forced the water, I dare not venture to relate, the descri∣ption given me of it being but lame and imperfect.

49. Nor can I pass by unmentioned, a Clock that I met with at Hanwell, at the House of the Right worshipful Sir Anthony Cope, that moves by water, and shews the hours, by the rise of a new guilded Sun for every hour, moving in a small Hemisphere of wood, each carrying in their Centers the number of some hour depicted black; as suppose of one a clock, which ascending half way to the Zenith of the arch, shews it a quarter past one, at the Zenith half hour; whence descending again half way towards the Horizon, three quarters past one; and at last absconding under i••, there presently arises another guilded Sun above the Horizon at the other side of the arch, carrying in its center the figure two: and so of the rest. Which ingenious device, though taken out of Bettinusi 1.453, who calls it, aquarii Automatis ingeniosissimi horari∣am operationem: yet being since improved by that ingenious Person, and applyed to other uses, particularly of a Pseudo-perpetual mo∣tion made by the descent of several guilt bullets upon an indented declivity, successively delivered by a wheel much of the same fa∣brick with the Tympanum of the Water-clock, so that they seem still the same: I could not but in justice take notice of it.

50. There are some other Water-works at the same Sir Anthony Copes, in a House of diversion built in a small Island in one of the Fish-ponds, Eastward of his house, where a ball is tost by a column of water, and artificial showers descend at pleasure; within which they can yet so place a candle, that though one would think it must

needs be overwhelmed with water, it shall not be extinguisht, &c. But the Water-works that surpass all others of the County, are those of Enston, at the Rock first discovered by Tho. Bushell Esq about 4 or 5 and forty years since, who cleansing the Spring then called Goldwell, though quite over-grown with bryars and bushes, to place a Cistern for his own drinking, met with a Rock so won∣derfully contrived by Nature her self, that he thought it worthy of all imaginable advancement by Art.

51. Whereupon he made Cisterns, and laid divers Pipes be∣tween the Rocks, and built a house over them, containing one fair room for banquetting, and several other small Closets for divers uses, beside the rooms above; which when finisht in the year 1636. together with the Rock, Grove, Walks, and all other the appurtenances, were all on the 23^d of August, by the said Tho. Bushel Esq presented to the then Queens most excellent Majesty, who in company with the King himself, was graciously pleased to honor the Rock not only with her Royal Presence, but commanded the same to be called after her own Princely Name, HENRIETTA: At which time as they were entring it, there arose a Hermite out of the ground, and entertain'd them with a Speech; returning again in the close down to his peaceful Ʋrn. Then was the Rock presented in a Song answer'd by an Echo, and after that a banquet presented also in a Sonnet, within the Pillar of the Table; with some other Songs, all set by Symon Ive.

52. Which structure, with all the Ingenious Contrivances a∣bout it, continued in a flourishing condition for some few years, till the late unhappy Wars coming on, it became wholly neglect∣ed, and so sensibly decayed, till at last it lapsed (being next door to ruine) into the Hands of the Right Honorable and truly Noble Lord, Edward Henry Earl of Lichfield, Lord of the soil; who in the year 1674. not only repaired the broken Cisterns and Pipes, but made a fair addition to it, in a small Island situate in the pas∣sage of a Rivulet, just before the building set over the Rock; which though the last in erection, is yet the first thing that presents it self in the exterior Prospect of the whole work, Tab. 11. where∣in the Figures,

• 1. 1. Shew the water of the Rivulet.
• 2. 2. The Island in the middle of it,

• ...

• ...
  [illustration] exterior of Waterworks

  TAB. XI. ad pag. 237

  To the right Honorable Edward Henry Earle of Lichfield Viscount QUARRENDON and Baron of Spelsbury, &c This Elevent Table Shewing the exterior Propspect of ENSTON Waterworks, in part erected, all restored by his LORD.^p with all imaginable respect is justly dedicated. by R.P. LL D.

  M. Bur. sculp.
• ...

• 3. 3. the Pales round it standing on a stone wall.
• 4. An artificial Rock erected in the middle of the Island, co∣vered with living aqueous Plants.
• 5. The Keeper of the Water-works that turns the Cocks.
• 6. A Canopy of water cast over the Rock, by
• 7. an Instrument of Brass for that purpose.
• 8. A Column of water rising about 14 foot, designed to toss a Ball.
• 999999. The streams of water from about 30 Pipes set round the Rock, that water the whole Island, and sportively wet any persons within it; which most people striving to avoid, get behind the Man that turns the Cocks, whom he wets with
• 10. a spout of water that he lets fly over his head; or else if they endeavor to run out of the Island over the bridge, with
• 11. 12. which are two other Spouts, whereof that represented at a 11, strikes the legs, and that at 12 the reins of the back.
• 13. The Bridge over the water lying on two trestles.
• 14. The steps leading into the Grove, and toward the House, where you pass by
• 15. a Table of black Marble.
• 16. A Cistern of stone, with five spouts of water issuing out of a ball of brass, in which a small Spaniel hunts a Duck, both diving after one another, and having their motion from the water.
• 17. The way up into the banquetting-room over the Rock, and other Closets, &c.
• 18. The passage between the Cistern and Building.
• 19. The iron grate that gives light to the Grot within.
• 20. The passage down to the Grot.
• 21. The windows of the Banqueting-room.
• 22. The Grove and Walks behind and on each end of the Building.

53. Being now come down into the Grot by the passage 18, Tab, 11. and landing at the bottom of the stairs, Tab. 12. a. on a large half pace before it bb. The Rock presents it self made up of large craggy stones with great cavities between them, ccc &c. out of which flows water perpetually night and day, dashing against the Rocks below, and that in great plenty in the dryest Seasons,

though fed only with a single spring rising in a piece of ground call'd Ramsall, between Enston and Ludston. The natural Rock is about 10 foot high, and so many in bredth; some few shelves of lead d d, and the top stones only having been added (easily to be distinguisht by their dryness) which have advanced it in all about 14 foot high.

54. In the half pace just before the Compartment e e e, upon turning one of the cocks at f rises a chequer hedge of water, as they call it, g g g g; and upon turning another, the two side columns of water h h, which rise not above the height of the natural rock; and of a third, the middle column i, which ascending into the turn of the Arch, and returning not again, is received into hidden pipes provided for that purpose: Into one whereof, terminated in a very small Cistern of water behind a stone of the rock, and ha∣ving a mouth and Languet just above its surface, the air being for∣ced into it by the approaches of the water, a noise is made near resembling the notes of a Nightingale: But when that pipe is fil∣led there is then no more singing, till the water has past away by another pipe in the lower part of the rock, which when almost done, there is heard a noise somwhat like the sound of a drum, perform∣ed by the rushing in of air into the hollow of the pipe, which is large, and of copper, to supply the place of the water now al∣most gon out; which don, the Nightingale may be made to sing again.

55. From the turned roof of the rock, by help of the brass instrument k, and turn of a cock in one of the closets above, they can let down a canopy of water l l; from the top also they can throw arched spouts of water crossing one another, and dashing against the walls, opposite to those of their rise, as at m n and o p; and others that rise out, and enter in again to the roof at some di∣stance, never falling down at all at q r and s t. Which falls of water may be also delicatly seen, turning the back upon them as well as looking forward, by help of a Looking-glass placed in the wall opposite to them, which could not be possibly represented in the Cut. And some of these waters (I must not say which) be∣ing often used by way of sport to wet the Visitants of the Grot, that they might not avoid it by running up the stairs, and so out into the Grove, by turning a cock in another of the Closets, they can let fall water so plentifully in the door u u, that most people ra∣ther

[illustration] interior of Waterworks grotto

TAB. 12. ad pag. 238.

To the most Illustrious Lady. the Lady CHARLOTTE Countess of Lichfield Viscountess Quarrendon & Baroness of Spelsbury &c. This 12. Table. Shewing the interior Prospect of E••STON Water∣works. with the greatest devotion is humbly Consecrated by R.P. L L.D.

Burghers sculpsit

chuse to stay where they are, than pass through it: which is all concerning the inner Prospect of the Rock; what remains being only a representation of the Arch of stone w w built over it, with two Niches x y one of each side, and the grate z at the top, through which they look down out of the Banqueting-room into the Grot. Of which no more, but that behind the Rock there is a Cellar for keeping Liquors cool, or placing Musick, to surprise the Auditors; and behind that the Receivers of water to supply the Pipes, &c.

56. To these succeed the Arts relating to Earths, which either respect the Tillage, or Formation of them. How many sorts of Soils I met with in Oxfordshire, viz. Clay, Chalk, and others from their different mixtures called Maum, Red-land, Sour-ground, Stone-brass, Stony, Sandy, and Gravelly, were enumerated amongst Earths, Chap. 3. It remains that we here give a particular account, by what Arts they are tilled to the best advantage. And first of Clay,

57, Which if kind for Wheat, as most of it is, hath its first tillage about the beginning of May; or as soon as Barly Season is over, and is called the Fallow, which they somtimes make by a casting tilth, i. e. beginning at the out sides of the Lands, and laying the Earths from the ridge at the top. After this, some short time before the second tilth, which they call stirring, which is usually performed about the latter end of June, or beginning of July, they give this Land its manure; which if Horse-dung or Sheeps-dung, or any other from the Home-stall, or from the Mixen in the Field, is brought and spread on the Land just before this second ploughing: But if it be folded (which is an excellent ma∣nure for this Land, and seldom fails sending a Crop accordingly if the Land be in tillage) they do it either in Winter before the fallow, or in Summer after it is fallowed. And these are the manures of Clay Land in the greatest part of Oxford-shire, only in and near the Chiltern; where beside these, it is much enriched by a soft mellow Chalk that they dig from underneath it: when it is stirred it lies again till the time of sowing Wheat, except in a moist dripping year, when runing to thistles and other weeds, they som∣times give it a second stirring, before the last for sowing.

58. All which tillages they are very careful to give it as dry as may be, ridging it up twice or thrice for every casting tilth (i. e. in their stirring, and for sowing, beginning at the top of the Land

and laying the Earth still upwards to the ridge) by which means both Land and Corn lie dryer, warmer, and healthier, and the succeeding Crop becomes more free from weeds. After it is thus prepared, they sow it with Wheat, which is its proper grain; and if it be a strong stiff Clay, with that they call Cone-wheat: and the next year after (it being accounted advantagious in all tillage to change the grain) with Beans; and then ploughing in the bean-brush at All-Saints, the next year with Barly; and amongst the several sorts of that grain, if the Land be rank, with that they call sprat-Barly; and then the fourth year it lies fallow, when they give it Summer tilth again, and sow it with Winter Corn as before. But at most places where their Land is cast into three Fields, it lies fallow in course every third year, and is sown but two: the first with Wheat, if the Land be good, but if mean with Miscellan, and the other with Barly and Pulse promiscuously. And at some places where it lies out of their hitching, i. e. their Land for Pulse, they sow it but every second year, and there usually two Crops Wheat, and the third Barly, always being careful to lay it up by ridging against winter; Clay Lands requiring to be kept high, and to lie warm and dry, still allowing for Wheat and Barly three plowings, and somtimes four, but for other grains seldom more than one. When at any time they sow Peas on this Land, the best Husband∣men will chuse the Vale-gray as most proper for it; and if Vetches, the Gore or Pebble-vetch: But if so cold a weeping Clay that unfit for these, then they improve it with Ray-grass.

59. As for the Chalk-lands of the Chiltern-hills, though it re∣quires not to be laid in ridges in respect of dryness, yet of warmth it doth: when designed for Wheat, which is but seldom, they give it the same tillage with Clay, only laying it in four or six fur∣row'd Lands, and soiling it with the best mould, or dung but half rotten, to keep it from binding, which are its most proper manures; and so for common Barly and winter Vetches, with which it is much more frequently sown, these being found the more suitable grains. But if it be of that poorest sort they call white-land, nothing is so proper as ray-grass mixt with Non-such, or Melilot Trefoil, accord∣ing as prescribed in Chap. 6. §. 33.

60. If the Land be of that sort they call Maumy, consisting of a mixture of White-clay and Chalk, and somwhat of Sand, which causes it to work so short if any thing dry, it is commonly sown

with all sorts of Wheat, Miscellan, Barly, &c. having the same til∣lage, and requiring to be kept high, and to lie dry and warm as the Clay doth, only its most proper manure is the rottenest dung; and as they sow Beans next after Wheat in clay grounds, in this they judge Peas a more agreeable grain, and take care in their seed-time that the weather be fair, and setled; for if there happen but a smart shower presently after they have sown, it will bind so fast, that the seed in great part will be utterly lost; whereas if they have but one or two dry nights, all succeeds well enough.

61. If Red-land, whereof there are some quantities in the North and West of Oxford-shire, it must have its tillage as soon in the year as possibly may be, before the clay, where they are in competition, because it will not endure the scorching tillage that clay will do, and therefore must have it before the Sun get to near the Crab: if it be moist when fallowed, so it be not too wet, it is the better. This never requires a double stirring, nor must be made too fine and light, for then it runs to May-weed, or Mathern, as they call it; yet the manure for clay does very well with it, but the mixt manure of Horse-dung and Cow-dung together, they say does best of any: Nor is the Sheep-fold amiss either Winter or Summer, which must all be applyed before stirring, and ploughed in; if for wheat, about the latter end of July, or beginning of Au∣gust; if for barly, later in the year, as the time and season gives leave. This Land, like clay, bears wheat, miscellan, barly, and peas, in their order very well, and lies fallow every other year, where it falls out of their hitching.

62. There is another sort of ground in this County which they call Sour-land, which must have its tilth according to its state and condition when they set about it; if it have a strong swarth on it, then they cast to give it a fallow, when the Sun is prety well en∣ter'd Cancer; and this they call a scalding-fallow, which kills the grass roots, and makes the Land fine: But if it be light, and as they term it, hath little skin on the back, they either leave it for cooler tillage, or plough it early in the year as soon as their clay is fallowed, and then there will spring some spiring-grass that will keep it from scorching in the Summer; for if they suffer it to be scorch∣ed when it is light before, all their Art and Manure will never pro∣cure a good Crop of it.

•••• The Sheep-fold is good for this Land winter and summer, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 manure it also with the Dung-cart, if near home, before the ••••••ing; but Pidgeons dung is the most proper for this sort of soil, ••ecause it is for the most part very cold Land, and so is Mault-dust in a larger quantity, both sown with the winter-corn and ploughed in with it, for then it lies warm at the roots of the Corn all win∣ter, and corrects the crudities of the rains and frosts, makes the Corn cover the ground sooner than ordinary, and holds the moi∣sture of the Spring longer with it; and in short (if thus order∣ed) brings a certain Crop. It must not be stirred or sown very wet, for then it proves uneasie both for Man and Beast, nor will it be kind for Corn, it being then very hard to cover it with the harrows. It is a good Land for wheat or miscellan, when it is fine, especially if in condition for a scalding fallow, and accordingly is sown with that and barly by turns to change the grain; and when it falls in a Peas quarter, seldom fails of a good burthen, though somtimes it doth not kid very well, which yet possibly may be prevented by sowing the Cotswold Pea, which I guess the most a∣greeable to this sort of ground: But if too wet for these, the rath-ripe Vetch is fittest for it.

64. In some parts of the County they have another sort of Land they call Stone-brash, consisting of a light lean Earth and a small Rubble-stone, or else of that and sour ground mixt together, which are also tilled according to their present condition; for if they be grasie, which they otherwise call swardy, they fallow them pretty late, but not so hot and scorching as sour ground, because they will not bear such tillage: But if they be scary, as they word it, i. e. have no skin or sward upon them, they either fold them in winter, and the sheeps dung with addition of some hay seeds, will help them to get grasie; or else they lay upon them in the beginning of the spring, old thatch or straw, or the most strawy part of the dung∣hill, earth out of ditches, the shovelings of a dirty Court, or the like, which spread thin will assist the grass in its growth; which must necessarily be had, for they hold it (in some parts of the County at least) for a general Rule, that if these sorts of Land have not sward on them before they are fallowed, they will by no means bring a kind Crop, but great store of Mony-wort, May-weed, &c.

65. This done in September, October, November, and somtimes

in December, they fallow them as their swards direct, and if in ei∣ther of the two last months, are called Winter-fallows, and are ne∣ver stirred at all, but sowed with Barly upon the second earth in the beginning of sowing, because then they work most kindly, and will bear cold weather better than when more finely tilled. These Lands will also bear Wheat and Miscellan indifferently well in a kind year, but not so well as clay, sour-ground, or red-land; but they bear a fine round barly and thin skin'd, especially if they be kept in heart: They lie every other year fallow (as other Lands) except where they fall among the Peas quarter, and there after Peas they are sown with Barly, and lie but once in four years. These are sown also many times with Dills or Lentils, and when quite worn out, or so poor that they will bear nothing else to advantage, they are yet fit for Ray-grass mixt with Trefoil, as prescribed above in the Chapter of Plants.

66. There is a sort of tillage they somtimes use on these Lands in the spring time, which they call streak-fallowing; the manner is, to plough one furrow and leave one, so that the Land is but half of it ploughed, each ploughed furrow lying on that which is not so: when it is stirred it is then clean ploughed, and laid so smooth, that it will come at sowing time to be as plain as before. This is done when these Lands are not swardy enough to bear clean tillage, nor callow or light enough to lie to get sward, the intent is to keep the Sun from scorching them too much: But in most places they think this way of tillage wears their Land too fast, and therefore seldom use it.

67. As for stony Land, whereof there is but little can be pro∣perly so called but in the Chiltern Country, they give it for Wheat, Peas, and Barly, much the same tillage and manure, they do Clay in other places, adding the advantage of chalking it, which they have not elsewhere for their clay grounds, by which they much enrich it for some years, so that it bears excellent wheat, barly, peas; of which last those they call Hampshire-kids, if the Land be new chalkt, are counted most agreeable; where by the way let it be noted, that I said but for some years, for when once the manure by chalk is worn out, the Land is scarce recoverable by any other, whence 'tis Proverbial here, as well as some other parts of England, That chalkt Land makes a rich Father but a poor Son, thereby intimating the ruin of the Land in the end, it becoming

at last only fit for Ray-grass, mixt with Trefoil as above.

68. Lastly, their sandy and gravelly light ground, has also much the same tillage for wheat and barly, as clay, &c. only they require many times but two ploughings, especially if for wheat, except the fallow be run much to weeds, and then indeed they somtimes afford it a stirring, else none at all. Its most agreeable grains are, white, red, and mixt Lammas wheats, and miscellan, i. e. wheat and rye to∣gether, and then after a years fallow, common or rathe-ripe barly: so that it generally lies still every other year, it being unfit for hitching, i. e. Beans and Peas, though they somtimes sow it with winter Vetches; and if ever with Peas, the small rathe-ripes are ac∣counted the best: Its most agreeable manure is of straw, from the Close or Mixen half rotten, which keeps it open, and suffers it not to bind too much, where subject to it; but if otherwise, the rot∣tenest dung is the best.

69. Whereof, as upon all other Lands before mention'd, they lay about 12 loads upon a common Field acre, i. e. about 20 upon a Statute acre; but I find the business of manuring Land to have a great latitude, Men doing it here many times not according to their judgment, but according to the quantities they have, so that where the quantities of manure are but small and the tillage is great, the case is much otherwise, than where both tillage and manure are in a contrary condition. But however the case stand, I find this a general Rule amongst them, that they always soil that Land first and best, which is to bear three Crops; one on the tillage, another of beans and peas, and a third of barly, on the beans or peas brush; all which depend upon the single manure given it when it lay fallow for wheat: though I have known this order frequently inverted by the best Husbandmen on their richest Lands, sowing barly first, then peas or beans, and their wheat last, for which they allege this very good reason, That wheat following the dung Cart on their best Land, is the more liable to smut.

70. And so much for the ordinary Manures of this County, there being two others yet behind, viz. Chippings of stone, and woolen rags, not altogether so common, which I have therefore thought fit to consider apart; the first whereof I met with at Hornton near Banbury, where the chippings of the stone they hew at their Quarry, proves a very good manure for their Ground thereabout, and is accordingly made use of, by reason no doubt of a salt that stone

holds, which being dissolved by the weather, is imbibed by the Earth, as hinted before in Chap. 4. of this Essay.

71. The 2^d sort I first observed about Watlington, and the two Britwels, where they strew them on their Land with good success; & I have heard since of several other places where they do the same. To this purpose they purchase Taylers shreds, which yet retain∣ing somwhat of the salt of the Fulling-earth with which they were drest, do well enough; but I judge them not so good as other old rags first worn by men and women, which must needs beside be very well sated with urinous salts, contracted from the sweat and continual perspiration attending their Bodies. And in this Opini∣on I am confirmed by Sanct. Sanctorius, who is positive, that our insensible evacuations, transcend all our sensible ones put togetherk 1.454, to that excess, that of eight pounds weight of meat and drink be taken by a man in one day, his insensible transpirations use to amount to fivel 1.455. Now if so, our cloaths must needs be so filled with a well rectified salt, left behind in the percolation of the steams of our bodies, that there can be nothing more rational, if well considered, then that they should be a very fit manure for Land, when unfit for other uses.

72. As to the quantities of Corn sown on the statute Acre, they differ much in proportion to the richness or meanness of the land; about two bushels of wheat and vetches, two bushels and ½ of barly, oats, and peas, and a quarter of beans sufficing the poorer; where∣as the richer Land will take up three bushels or more of wheat or vetches, three bushels and ½ or upwards of barly, oats, peas, and somtimes six bushels of beans: Yet I have known some able Hus∣bandmen afford more Seed to their poor than rich Land, giving this reason, That the Seed in the rich does tillar, i. e. sprout into several blades and spread on the ground, whereas on the poor Land its sprouts come all single, which therefore, say they, re∣quires the more seed.

73. In the choice of their seed they have a double respect, first to the grain it self, and secondly to the land it grew on. As to the first, they take care that it be clear of all manner of seeds; that it be handsom round Corn, of an equal cize, which some of them call Even shooting Corn, or well brested; such Corn being for the most part full of kernel, and the likeliest to give strong roots.

And in respect of the soil, they constantly choose Corn that grew on land of a quite different nature from that it is to be sown on; but in general, they desire it from land that is well in heart, and rich in its kind. If they are to sow wheat upon tillage, they choose wheat sown before upon bean stubs, and when they sow upon peas or bean stubs, wheat sown before on tillage; for Clay ground they have their seed from Red-land or Chalk, & vice versa; for the o∣ther soils, that from Clay is esteemed the best, though that from Red-land is little inferior; for barly they count that best which comes of new broken laud; and for the rest, none so good as those that come from the richest soils.

74. Before they sow, if the place be subject to the annoyan∣ces of Smutting, Meldews, Birds, &c. they take care to prevent them either in the preparing or choice of their grain. Against smutting they both brine and lime their Corn, some making their brine of urin and salt; or else sow red-straw'd wheat, which is the least subject to it of any. To prevent meldews, some sow prety early, judging Corn most subject to that annoyance when sown late; or else make choice of the long bearded Cone, that being the least subject of any wheat yet known to the inconveniencies of meldews, and of being eaten by Birds, and therefore also fittest to be sown in small Inclosures, as noted before in the sixth Cha∣pter.

75. In Sowing they have their several methods, viz, the single Cast, the double Cast; and as they call it about Burford, the Hack∣ney bridle, or riding Cast. The single Cast sows a Land at one bout; the double Cast is twice in a place, at two different bouts, viz. once from furrow to ridge, and afterwards from ridge to furrow. The Hackney bridle is two casts on a Land at one time, and but once about, though I find these two latter somtimes confounded, their names being interchangably applyed in different parts of the County. The first way is seldom used amongst them, only by the ancientest Seeds-men; the second is their usual and most certain way; the last, though the newest fashion, is but seldom used yet, though some have tryed it with good success, and perhaps may hereafter bring it more in practice, it having more speed than the double Cast to recommend it to use. They have also a way of sow∣ing in the Chiltern Country, which is called sowing Hentings, which is done before the Plough, the Corn being cast in a straight line

just where the plough must come, and is presently plougbed in. By this way of sowing they think they save much seed and other charge, a dexterous Boy being as capable of sowing this way out of his hat, as the most judicious Seeds-man. But of this way more hereafter, when I come into Buckingham-shire.

76. Thus having run through, the Tillage, Manures, Quantities and choice of Seed, and the several ways of sowing the Soils of this County, I proceed to the Instruments used in their tillage: A∣mongst which, the Plough being the best, because the most useful Engine in the World, deserves the first place; of which there are two sorts used in Oxford-shire, the Foot, and Wheel-plough; whereof the first is used in deep and Clay Lands, being accord∣ingly fitted with a broad fin share, and the Horses going always in a string and keeping the furrow, to avoid poching the Land; and the second in the lighter and stony Land, the Horses either going in a string, or two a breast, according as thought most suitable to the tillage in handm 1.456: This Plough when used in stony Land, is armed with a round pointed share, having also near the chep of the Plough a small fin to cut the roots of the grass, for in this Land the broad fin jumps out of the ground. The foot plough does best at the henting, i.e. ending of a Land, it going close up to a hedge, and not being subject to over-throw; whereas the wheel plough, if care and discretion do not meet in the holder, is apt to over∣throw there, the Land being ridged; but goes much more light∣som and easie for the Horses than the foot plough doth, which is the sum of the Conveniencies and Inconveniencies of both.

77. After Ploughing and Sowing, they cover their Corn with Harrows, whereof some have 4, 5, or 6 bulls, or spars apiece, each of them armed with five tines, and of a square form as at most o∣ther places. But at Whitfield, near Sir Thomas Tippings, I saw a great weighty triangular Harrow, whose tines stood not in rows after the manner of others, its use being in ground much subject to Quitch-grass, whose roots it seems continually passing between the tines of other Harrows, are not so easily dragged forth by them, as this, whose tines stand not in rows, and is drawn with one of the Angles fore-most, after the manner of a Wedge: Yet I could not find it answer'd expectation so well as to obtain in other places, most thinking the great square Bull harrow, drawn by the second

bull on the near side of the harrow, to take the Grass much better than that.

78. But the worst ground to harrow of all others is new broken Land, the parts of its furrows being commonly so fast knit to∣gether by the roots of the grass, that though great charge and trouble be afforded in the harrowing, yet after all it will not so disperse the Corn, but that it will come up as it fell, thick and in ranks between the furrows, and scarce any where else. To pre∣vent these inconveniencies, the Ingenious Mr. Sacheverel, late of Bolscot, deceased, contrived a way of howing the earth from the turf as soon as a little dryed, thereby first laying his ground even and then sowing it; by which means his seed not only fell and came up equally disperst in all parts alike, but he found that a quantity considerably less, did this way serve the turn. Which Experiment he often made with good approbation, the charge of howing not exceeding that of harrowing, which without it must be great, whereas after it, one cross tine covers the Corn well e∣nough.

79. After harrowing, if it hath been so dry a time, that the ground has risen in clods that cannot be broken with harrows, they commonly do it with a beetle, or big stick: But a much quicker way is that I met with about Bisseter by a weighty Roll, not cut round, but octangular, the edges whereof meeting with the clods, would break them effectually, and with great expedition. I was shewed also at Bolscot another uncommon Roll, invented by the same Mr. Sacheverel above-mentioned, cut neither smooth nor to angles, but notched deep and pretty broad, after the manner of a Tessella or Lattice, so that the protuberant parts remained al∣most as big as the foot of a Horse, by which being large and weigh∣ty, he could so firmly press his light Land subject to Quich-grass and other weeds, and so settle the roots of the Corn, that it would come up even and well; whereas if it had been left hollow it would certainly have been choaked, and came to little; He assert∣ed, that it also excelled a smooth Roll, especially if the Season proved dry and windy, in that, when a Field is rolled smooth, the wind is apt to blow the Earth from the Corn, whereas by this the ground is laid so uneven and full of holes, like Chequer-work, that what the wind blows from the ridges, still falls into the hollows between them, and on the contrary gives the Corn the better root.

80. I have heard of another sort of Roll, of a large diameter, and weighty, set the whole length with edged plates of steel, pro∣minent from the body of the Roll about an inch and half; thus contrived for the quicker cutting of turf, which drawn first one way, and cross again at right angles, cuts the turf into squares, in bigness proportionable to the distance of the edged plates on the Roll, requiring no farther trouble afterward, then to be pared off the ground with a turfing Spade, which seems to promise well for the cutting out of Trenches, Drains. &c. But this I have not seen, nor has it that I know of, been yet experimented by the in∣genious Inventor: However, I thought fit to offer it to the consi∣deration of Improvers, and the rather because it affords me a smooth transition from the consideration of the Arable, to the Meddow and Pasture Lands.

81. For the Meddow grounds of this County, as they are numer∣ous, so they are fertile beyond all preference, for they need no o∣ther compost to be laid on them, than what the Floods spontaneously give them, and therefore the Reader must not expect any methods or rules concerning that affair here: Nor concerning the remedies of annoyances, such as Sour-grass, Mosses, Rushes, Sedges, &c. for I find none of our meddows much troubled with them. As for their Ʋp-lands, when they prepare them for grass, they make them as rich as they can with their most suitable soils, and lay them also dry to keep them from Rushes and Sedges; if any thing boggy, they usually trench them; but that proves not sufficient, for the trenches of boggy grounds will swell, and fill up of them∣selves.

82. To prevent which inconveniency, I know an ingenious Husbandman, that having dug his trenches about a yard deep and two foot over, first laid at the bottom green Black-thorn bushes, and on them a stratum of large round stones, or at least such as would not lie close; and over them again, another stratum of Black-thorn, and upon them straw, to keep the dirt from falling in be∣tween, and filling them up: by which means he kept his trench open, and procured so constant and durable a drain, that the land is since sunk a foot or 18 inches, and become firm enough to sup∣port carriages.

83. As for the Grasses sown in this County, I have little more to add concerning them, but what was said before in the Chapter

of Plants, only that it has been found most agreeable that Sanct∣foin, Ray-grass, &c. be not sown presently after the Barly, Oats, or whatever other Grain it be sowed with, but rather after the Corn is come pretty high, so that it may shelter the seed from the heat of the Sun, which, as is apprehended at least, is somtimes prejudicial. And that in the Chiltern Country, after they have eaten off their Ray-grass or Sanct-foin, they find it advantagious to fold it with Sheep, as other Corn-lands: which I thought good to note, it being, as I am informed, but lately practised.

84. Amongst Arts that concern formation of Earths, I shall not mention the making of Pots at Marsh-Balden, and Nuneham-Courtney; nor of Tobacco-pipes of the White-earth of Shot-over, since those places are now deserted. Nor indeed was there, that I ever heard of, any thing extraordinary performed during the working those Earths, nor is there now of a very good Tobacco-pipe Clay found in the Parish of Horspath, since the Printing of the third Chapter of this History. Let it suffice for things of this nature, that the ingenious John Dwight, M. A. of Christ Church College Oxon. hath discovered the mystery of the stone or Co∣logne Wares (such as D' Alva Bottles, Jugs, Noggins) heretofore made only in Germany, and by the Dutch brought over into En∣gland in great quantities, and hath set up a manufacture of the same, which (by methods and contrivances of his own, altogether unlike those used by the Germans) in three or four years time he hath brought it to a greater perfection than it has attained where it hath been used for many Ages, insomuch that the Company of Glass-sellers, London, who are the dealers for that commodity, have contracted with the Inventor to buy only of his English manufa∣cture, and refuse the foreign.

85. He hath discovered also the mystery of the Hessian wares, and makes Vessels for reteining the penetrating Salts and Spirits of the Chymists, more serviceable than were ever made in England, or imported from Germany it self.

86. And hath found out ways to make an Earth white and transparent as Porcellane, and not distinguishable from it by the Eye, or by Experiments that have been purposely made to try wherein they disagree. To this Earth he hath added the colours that are usual in the colour'd China-ware, and divers others not seen before. The skill that hath been wanting to set up a manufa∣cture

of this transparent Earthen-ware in England, like that of China, is the glazing of the white Earth, which hath much puz∣zel'd the Projector, but now that difficulty also is in great measure overcome.

87. He hath also caused to be modelled Statues or Figures of the said transparent Earth (a thing not done elsewhere, for China affords us only imperfect mouldings) which he hath diversified with great variety of colours, making them of the colours of Iron, Copper, Brass, and party-colour'd, as some Achat-stones. The con∣siderations that induced him to this attempt, were the Duration of this hard burnt Earth much above brass, or marble, against all Air and Weather; and the softness of the matter to be modelled, which makes it capable of more curious work, than stones that are wrought with chisels, or metals that are cast. In short, he has so far advanced the Art Plastick, that 'tis dubious whether any man since Prometheus have excelled him, not excepting the famous Da∣mophilus, and Gorgasus of Plinyn 1.457.

88. And these Arts he employs about materials of English growth, and not much applyed to other uses; for instance, He makes the stone Bottles of a Clay in appearance like to Tobacco-pipe clay, which will not make Tobacco-pipes, though the Tobacco-pipe clay will make Bottles; so that, that which hath lain buryed and useless to the Owners, may become beneficial to them by reason of this manufacture, and many working hands get good livelyhoods; not to speak of the very considerable sums of English Coyn annual∣ly kept at home by it.

89. About Nettle-bed they make a sort of brick so very strong, that whereas at most other places they are unloaded by hand, I have seen these shot out of the Cart after the manner of stones to mend the High-ways, and yet none of them broken; but this I suppose must be rather ascribed to the nature of the Clay, than to the skill of the Artificer in making or burning them, and should therefore have been mention'd in the Chapter of Earths.

90. At Caversham, near the Right Worshipful Sir Anthony Cravens (and at some other places) they make a sort of brick 22 inches long, and above six inches broad, which some call Lath-bricks, by reason they are put in the place of the Laths or Spars (supported by Pillars) in Oasts for drying mault, which is

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the only use of them, and in truth I think a very good one too; for beside that they are no way liable to fire, as the wooden Laths are, they hold the heat so much better, that being once heated, a small matter of fire will keep them so, which are valuable advan∣tages in the Profession of Maulting.

91. And which brings me to the Arts relating to Stone, they have lately also about Burford, made their Mault kills of stone; the first of them being contrived after an accident by fire, by Va∣lentine Strong, an ingenious Mason of Teynton, much after the manner of those of brick, which for the benefit of other Coun∣ties where they are not known, I have caused to be delineated so far forth at least, as may be direction enough to an ingenious Work-man, in Tab. 13. Fig. 1, 2. whereof the first Figure shews the front of such a Kill, and the Letters

• a. The Kill hole.
• b. The Pillars that support the principal Joists.
• c. The sloping away of the inside of the Oast.
• d. The ends of the Joists.
• e. The spaces between the Joists for the Laths.

And the second Figure, the square above, immediatly supporting the Oast-hair and the Mault, wherein the Letters

• f f. shew the Flame-stone.
• g g. The Pillars on which the principal Joists lie.
• h h. The principal Joists.
• i i. The shorter Joists.
• k k. The Laths between the Joists.
• l l. The spaces between the Laths.

Which first Kill of Valentine Strong, built after this manner in stone, succeeded so well, that it hath since obtained in many o∣ther places; nor do I wonder at it, for beside the great security from fire, to which the old Kills were very subject, these also dry the mault with much less fuel, and in a shorter time, than the old ones would do; insomuch that I was told by one Mr. Trindar, an ingenious Gentleman of West-well, who shewed me a fine one of his own at Holwell, that whereas he could formerly dry with the ordinary Kill but two Quarters in a day, he can now dry six, and with as little fuel. Now if Mault-kills or Oasts made with ordi∣nary

stone prove so advantagious, what would one of them do, if the Joists and Laths at least were made of the Cornish warming-stone, that will hold heat well eight or ten hours? or of Spanish Ruggi∣ola's, which are broad plates like tiles, cut out of a Mountain of red salt near Cardona, which being well heated on both sides, will keep warm 24 hourso 1.458?

92. To which may be added the Invention of making Glasses of stones, and some other materials, at Henly upon Thames, lately brought into England by Seignior de Costa a Montferratees, and car∣ryed on by one Mr. Ravenscroft, who has a Patent for the sole making them; and lately by one Mr. Bishop. The materials they used formerly were the blackest Flints calcined, and a white Chri∣stalline sand, adding to each pound of these, as it was found by solution of their whole mixture, by the ingenious Dr. Ludwell Fellow of Wadham College, about two ounces of Niter, Tartar, and Borax.

93. But the Glasses made of these being subject to that unpar∣donable fault called Crizelling, caused by the two great quanti∣ties of the Salts in the mixture, which either by the adventitious Niter of the Air from without, or warm liquors put in them, would be either increased or dissolved; and thereby indure a Sca∣brities or dull roughness, irrecoverably clouding the transparency of the glass; they have chosen rather since to make their glasses of a great sort of white Pebbles, which as I am informed they have from the River Po in Italy; to which adding the aforemen∣tioned salts, but abating in the proportions, they now make a sort of Pebble glass, which are hard, durable, and whiter than any from Venice, and will not Crizel, but endure the severest trials whatever, to be known from the former by a Seal set purposely on them.

94. And yet I guess that the difference, in respect of Crizeling, between the present Glass and the former, lies not so much in the Calx, the Pebbles being Pyrites (none but such I presume being fit for vitrification) as well as the Flints; but rather wholly in the a∣batement of the salts, for there are some of the Flint glasses strict∣ly so called (whereof I have one by me) that has endured all try∣als as well as these last. But if it be found otherwise, that white Pebbles are really fitter for their turns than black Flints, I think

they have little need to fetch them from Italy, there being enough in England of the same kind, not only to supply this, but per∣haps Foreign Nations. Which is all concerning Arts relating to stone and glass; except it be also worth notice, that Venerable Bede of this Ʋniversity, first brought Building with stone, and Glass win∣dows into Englandp 1.459.

95. Whence according to my proposed method, I proceed to the Arts relating to Plants; amongst which, the first that present themselves, are those that concern the Herbaceous kind. Of this sort we may reckon that ingenious Experiment made in June, 1669. by my worthy Friend John Wills M. A. and Fellow of Trin. Coll. Oxon. in order to find in what measure Herbs might perspire, where∣in he made use of the following method. He took two glass Vials with narrow necks, each holding one pound 8 ounces, and 2 drachms of water, Avoir de pois weight: into one of these glasses filled with water, he put a sprig of florishing Mint (which before had grown in the water) weighing one ounce; the other glass he also fill'd with water, and exposed them both in a window to the Sun. After ten days time, he found in the bottle where the mint was, only five ounces and four drachms of water remaining, and no more, so that there was one pound two ounces and six drachms spent, the mint weighing scarce two drachms more than at first.

96. From the other Glass, where water was put of the same weight, and no mint, he found the Sun had exhaled near one ounce of water, and therefore concluded it drew but so much out of the first glass, at least not more: So that allowing one ounce for what the Sun had exhaled, there was in those ten days spent by the mint, one pound one ounce six drachms of water; and the mint being increased in weight only two drachms, 'twas plain the mint had purely expired in those ten days, one pound one ounce and four drachms, that is, each day above an ounce and half, which is more than the weight of the whole mint. Whence he concluded, that what Malpighius so wonders at in his Book De Bombyce, viz. that those Animals will somtimes eat in one day, more than the weight of their bodies, is out-done by every sprig of mint, and most o∣ther Herbs in the Field, which every summers day attract more nou∣rishment than their own weight amounts too.

97. Which the same ingenious person at least questions not (and therefore wishes tryals may be made) of the Tithymali, Esulae, and especially of Pinguicula and Ros Solis, which last sucks up moisture faster than the Sun can exhale it, and is bedewed all over at Noon-day, notwithstanding its power: Nor doubts he but that Wormwood, and all other Plants that are very hot, and of strong smells, expire as much, if not more than Mint.

98, There are also several Arts, used about the Corn in this County, whil'st in the blade, and straw, that belong to this place, such as eating it off with Sheep, if too rank, to make it grow strong and prevent lodging: whil'st the Corn is young they also weed it, cutting the thistles with a hook; but rattles they hand∣weed as soon as in flower, and so they do cockles when they in∣tend the Corn for seed. If the Crows toward Harvest are any thing mischievous, as they many times are, destroying the Corn in the outer limits of the Fields, they dig a hole narrow at the bottom, and broad at the top, in the green swarth near the Corn, wherein they put dust, and cinders from the Smiths forge, mixt with a little Gun-powder, and in and about the holes stick feathers (Crow-feathers if they can get them) which they find about Bur∣ford to have good success.

99. They cut their Wheat here rather a little before, than let it stand till it be over-ripe; for if it be cut but a little too soon, the shock will ripen it, and the Corn will be beautiful, whereas if it stand too long, much will shatter out of the head in reaping, e∣specially if the wind blow hard, and that the best Corn too; the worst only remaining, which will be pale in the hand, an unpar∣donable fault where the Baker is the Chapman. In reaping Wheat and Rye they use not the sicle, but a smooth edged hook, laying their Corn in small hand-fulls all over the Field; I suppose that it may the sooner dry, in case wet come before they bind it, which they do in very small sheaves, and very loose in comparison of some other Counties: They shock it rafter-wise, ten sheaves in a shock, which if set wide in the but-end, will be very copped and sharp at the top, and will bear out rain beyond hope, or almost credit.

100. They count their Barly ripe (as they do their Wheat) when it hangs the head and the straw has lost its verdure, which they mow with a sithe without a cradle, never binding but raking

it together, and cocking it with a fork, which is usually a trident, whose teeth stand not in a row, but meet pyramidally in a center at the staff: They let it lie in the swathe a day or two, which both ripens the Corn and withers the weeds. Oats, and all mixed Corns called Horse-meat, are Harvested somtimes with two reaping hooks, whereof the manner is thus: The Work-man taking a hook in each hand, cuts them with that in his right hand, and rolls them up the while with that in his left, which they call bagging of Peas; Others they cut with a reaping hook set in a staff about a yard long, and then they cut and turn the Peas before them with both hands till they have a wad, which they lay by, and begin again; and this they call cutting with the staff-hook: But the sithe they say is much the speediest way, which if used with care, cuts them as well and clean, as either of the other.

101. After the sithe they wad both Beans and Peas, and so turn them till they are throughly withered and dry, and then cock and fit them for carriage, only with this difference, that Beans while they are cocked and carryed, have the loose stalks pickt up by hand, the rake being apt to beat the Beans out of the pods, as they are drawn up against the leg. All sorts of Cocks are best made of a middleing cize, and well top'd; the advantages are, that these are apprehended at least to take less wet with the same rain than greater, and will dry again without breaking; whereas the great cocks, after rain, must be pulled to pieces, which cannot be done without great loss, for in the opening and turning much Corn will be beaten out, and that certainly the best too.

102. If their Corn be brought home a little moister, or greener than ordinary, or the weeds be not let lie to be throughly shrunk or wither'd, that they suspect it may heat in the Barn more than ordinary (for it is kind for Corn and fodder to heat a little) then they draw a Cubb or Beer-lip (which others call the Seed-cord) up the middle of the mow or stack, and through the hole that this leaves, the heat will ascend and so prevent mow-burning; Or if it heat in the Barn beyond expectation, and be like to do amiss, they then pull a hole in the middle from the top to the bottom, which will also help it much. They draw an old Axel-tree of a Cart up a Hay-rick to the same purpose, if they think their Hay of the greenest, or over moist when stacked.

103. But the best contrivance I ever yet saw to prevent the fire∣ing of Ricks of Hay, or Sainct-foin, I met with at Tusmore, at the Worshipful Richard Fermors Esq where they let in square pipes made of boards of a foot diagonal, to the middle of their stacks, to give them Air perpetually; the number of pipes bearing pro∣portion to the bigness of the Ricks, which no question may also be as rationally applyed to stacks of Corn, whenever thought sub∣ject to the same danger.

104. To preserve their Ricks of Corn lyable to rats and mice, they commonly place them in this Country, on standers and caps of stone; the standers being four Obeliscs about two foot high, and the caps as many Hemispherical stones placed upon them, with the flat sides downwards, on which having laid four strong pieces of Timber, and other Joists to bear up the Corn, they place their Ricks, which then are not annoyed by mice or rats (at least not so much) as stacks on the ground, by reason the Hemispherical stones being planums at the bottom, though they may possibly ascend the stand∣ers well enough, yet can scarce get up the caps, whose broad bot∣toms hang so over them in plano Horizontis, that they must needs fall in the attempt.

105. The Cart they most use to bring home their Corn, is the two-wheeled long Cart, having shambles over the shafts or thills, a Cart Ladder at the breech, and hoops over the wheels, on which they will lay great and very broad loads, though it go not so se∣cure and steady as a Waggon, which notwithstanding that advan∣tage is of but little use here, only amongst Carriers, &c. They use also a sort of Cart they call a Whip-lade, or Whip-cart, whose hinder part is made up with boards after the manner of a Dung∣cart, having also a head of boards, and shambles over the thills; which head being made so as to be taken out or left in, the Cart may be indifferently used to carry dung or other matters; dung, when the head is in, and Corn, &c. when taken out.

106. About Banbury most of their Carts have Axel-trees of Iron, made square at one end and round at the other; at the square end they are made fast into one of the wheels, and move round together with it; and at the other end they move within the box of the wheel, and the wheel round them too: With this sort of Axel some are of opinion that the Cart moves much lighter for the Cattle, than with a wooden one, to whom I should much rather

assent, did the round end of the Axel move in a box of brass, and were the places where the Cart rests on it, lined with brass plates, for then a small matter of oil (as 'tis in the oiling of bells) would cause the heaviest weight to be moved with great ease: however as they are, much less grease serves the turn; and one of them made of good tough iron, will last a mans age, and somtimes two, whereas the wooden ones are frequently at reparations: nor does there any inconveniency attend them that I could hear of, but that the wheels have not so much room to play to and fro on these, as on the others of wood, and therefore not so good where either the ways or Cart-routs are deep.

107. Their way in this Country to bring the corn from the straw, is for the most part by the flail, only in some places when their wheat is very smutty, they have a way of whipping it first, and then threshing it afterwards: their manner of whipping is striking the corn by a handful at a time, against a door set on its edge; and when a sheaf is thus whipt, they bind it up again for the flail: which way indeed is troublesom and tedious, but by this means the smut bags or balls are preserved unbroken, and by the strength of a good wind, and care in the raying, most part of them may be gotten forth, and the wheat left clear.

108. But before they thresh Rye, they somtimes take care to preserve some of the straw whole or unbroken, to serve for straw-works: which I should not have thought worth mentioning, but that we have an Artist here in Oxford, the ingenious Robert Wise∣man, excellent for such matters, beyond all comparison; and yet he modestly owns, that he saw work in Italy that gave him a hint for his Invention, but knows not whether that Artist (but believes rather the contrary) uses the same procedure that he does or no: However, if it must not be allowed his Invention, yet because he has improved it to so great an excellency, I cannot but let the World know, that though he professes nothing extraordinary in the dying of his colours, yet by certain method, of first scraping the straw, and cutting it into small square pieces, none longer than the 20^th or 30^th part of an inch, he can lay them on wood, copper or silver (first prepared for the purpose) in such order and manner, and that with great expedition, that thereby he represents the ruins of Build∣ings, Prospects of Cities, Churches, &c. upon dressing or writing Boxes, or Boxes for any other use.

109. He also represents in a most exquisite manner, both the Irish and Bredth stitch in Carpets and Screens, which he makes of this straw work for the more curious Ladies; and with these he co∣vers Tobacco boxes, or of any other kind, whether of wood or me∣tal, puting the Arms of the Nobility and Gentry, if desired, upon the tops or elsewhere: And all these with the colours so neatly shaded off, from one another, that at due distance they show no∣thing inferior to colours laid with a Pensil. When these Prospects, &c. are made, he can and does frequently wash his work with common water, leting it continue at least an hour underneath it; then drys it with a spunge, and beats it with a wooden mallet as thin as may be, and then lays it on his boxes, giving it lastly so curious a polish, that no varnishing excels it: which work, though made of such minute squares of straw, will endure portage, and any other as severe usage, as most other materials; none of them being to be gotten off by easie means, but will admit of washing and polish∣ing again, when at any time foul, as well as at the first.

110. Which is all concerning Corn, whil'st in the blade or straw, what remains relates to the separating the seed from the chaff, and preserving it in the stores. As to the first, they either do it in a good wind abroad, or with the fan at home, I mean the leaved fan; for the knee fan, and casting the corn the length of the Barn, are not in use amongst them. They that have but small quantities, when no wind is stirring, will do it with a sheet; the manner thus: Two persons take a sheet, and double it at the seam, then rolling in each end a little, and holding one hand at the top, and the other a foot or 18 inches lower, they strike together and make a good wind, and some speed. But the wheel fan saves a mans labor, makes a better wind, and does it with much more ex∣pedition.

111. They preserve it in their stores, as well as ricks, from mice and rats by many ordinary means used in other places: but I met with one way somwhat extraordinary, performed by a peculiar sort of Rats-bane, that kills no creatures but those for which it is designed, except poultry; so that it is an excellent remedy, especi∣ally within doors, where Fowls seldom come, or any other place where they may be kept from it; all Cats, Dogs, &c. tasting it without hurt. To secure their Corn from musting, I have heard of some that have laid it in Chambers mixt with Pebble-stones of the

larger cize stratum super stratum, viz. after every six inches thick∣ness of Corn, a stratum of Pebbles, placed about a yard distance from each other, then Corn again to the same thickness, and so S S S to ten lains apiece: by which method, as I was told, Corn had been preserved sweet and free from must, ten years together, only removing it once a year, and laying it again as before; and in the Summer time when the weather was dry, setting open the windows in the day time and shutting them at night.

112. To recover it from mustiness, to its pristin sweetness, some have laid it out all night, thin spred on cloaths, to receive the Even∣ing and Morning dews, with so good success, that being dryed a∣gain next day in the Sun, the ill smell has been quite removed. And thus I have done with the most uncommon Arts I have met with concerning Plants related to Husbandry, and the whole Her∣baceous kind: where by the way let it be noted, as in Chap. 6. §. 23. that these Arts are called uncommon, not so much in respect of this, as of other Counties, where indeed they will seem so: and that I have written of them rather for the information of strangers, than the Inhabitants of Oxford-shire, as I must hereafter in other Counties, for information of this. Wherein if through my own ignorance, or frowardness of some Husbandmen (I dare not say all) I have failed of that accuracy, that might otherwise have been expected, I beg the Readers pardon, and promise amendment in the following Counties, provided I have encouragement to go on in my design.

113. After the Herbaceous Plants, come we next to consider the Shrubs and Subfrutices, amongst which I met with one, per∣haps I may say scarce heard of curiosity, though it have been an Experiment frequently performed many years since, not only by those excellent Gardeners and Botanists, the two Bobarts, Father and Son; but as I have heard also by the Reverend and Ingenious Robert Sharrock L L D, and Fellow of New College, who after many unsuccessful tryals of grafting one Fruit upon another, made at last a very pleasant one, and to good advantage too, upon different Vines, which in so great measure answer'd their hopes, that they have now signal proof in the Physick Garden of the white Frontiniac grafted upon the Parsly Vine, growing and bear∣ing very well; and to this advantage, that they think the early ripening stock of the Parsly Vine, to conduce somwhat to the

earlyer ripening of the white Frontiniac, naturally late.

114. They have also grafted the early red-cluster or Currant-grape, upon that large, luxuriantly growing Vine, called the Fox-grape, which seems to produce much fairer and stronger Fruit, than that grape is usually upon its own stock. And divers other Experiments of this nature they say may easily be made, as well to have white and black, or other varieties, as they have already broad leav'd and narrow leav'd, early grapes and late ones, on the same stock: But this is not to be done by present amputation, as in other Fruits, the wood being not sufficiently solid to bear it.

115. As to the Arts relating to Trees, the chiefest are those of the Planter and Gardener making curious Walks, and Topiary works of them; such is the Dial cut in Box in New College Garden, the Kings arms, and the College coat of arms there, and at Exeter College; beside the other Garden knots of Box in both those Colleges, and in Brasen-nose College Quadrangle; to which add the Guards at the Physick garden gate of Gigantick stature, and several other Topia in the same Garden, all formed of the Yew tree. Of Walks, the most curious I have met with in this County, are those elegant ones of Trees of various kinds in Cornbury Park; and (to omit the numerous Walks in and about the Ʋniversity) those of Firs at Sir Peter Wentworths at Lillingston Lovel, and the pleasant Vista at Sir Timothy Tyrrils, from a short walk of Trees toward the Chil∣tern hills; and for a close Walk there is a fine one lately designed in Grimes-ditch, near Ditchley, a seat of the Right Honorable Edward Henry Earl of Lichfield's, about half a mile in length.

116. For Garden walks, I think one of the longest I met with, was at the Worshipful Mr. Clerks at Aston Rowant. And for a descent, there are none like the Walks at Rousham, in the Garden of the Worshipful Robert Dormer Esq where there are no less than five one under another, leading from the garden above, down to the river side, having steps at each end, and parted with hedges of Codlings, &c. But of all that I ever met with, there is a Walk at the Worshipful Mr. Fermors of Tusmore, the most wonderfully pleasant, not only in that it is placed in the middle of a Fish-pond, but so contrived, that standing in the middle no Eye can perceive but it is perfectly streight, whereas when removed to either end, it appears on the contrary so strangely crooked, that the Eye does not reach much above half the way,

117. Which deception of sight most certainly arises from a bow in the middle, which seems only an ornament, and the inca∣pacity of the Beholder of seeing both parts of the Walk at one time; which that it may be the better apprehended, see the man∣ner of it, Tab. 13. Fig. 3. where the letter a shews the walk from the garden tending toward that in the Fish-pond, b the place of the beholder, c the semicircle or bow opposite to him, d e the two ends of the walk: Now the beholder being placed in b, and ha∣ving the bow before him, is not commonly so wary as to find, that if the lines f g h i were continued, they would decussate and not fall into straight lines, nor that the walks themselves would do the same, because he sees but one straight part of the walk b d at one time, and the other b e at another time, which when seen to∣gether at either end, plainly meet in an angle, and by reason of the side hedges terminate the sight at little more than half way, at k l.

118. Hither also belong the methods whereby they order their Woods in this County, which if Ʋnder-woods in or near the Forrest of Whichwood, they commonly fell not till twenty years growth; but in the Chase near by it, somtimes at seven or eight: dividing them into Acres and Braids (or bredths) every Acre containing forty braids, a braid being one pole long and four broad; into which they thus divide their Woods for the better sale of them to the meaner sort of people, some buying ten, others twenty, and some thirty braids or more.

119. In the Chiltern Country they fell their Under-wood Co∣pices commonly at eight or nine years growth, but their tall wood, or Copices of which they make tall shids, billet, &c. at no certain time; nor fell they these Woods all together, but draw them as they call it, almost every year some, according as their wood comes to be of a fit scantling for tall shid or billet, cutting every shid of tall wood four foot long beside the kerf, and the billet three foot four inches, according to the Statutes of the 7 of Edw. 6. 7. and the 43 of Q. Eliz. 14. which ought also according to the same Statutes, whether round bodyed, half round, or quarter cleft, to be of a certain number of inches about, according as named or mark∣ed of so many Cast, as may be seen particularly in the Statutes at large. Which is all concerning Arts relating to Plants, except it shall be thought worthy notice, that they use ropes in this Coun∣try,

made of the bark of the Tilia faemina folio minore, small leav'd Lime or Linden tree, in some Countrys called Bast; whence the ropes are also called Basten ropes; but of these no more, the Tree neither growing, nor the ropes being made in this County, but only used here.

120. Of Arts relating to Brutes, I have met with none extra∣ordinary concerning the winged Kingdom, but the new sort of boxes, or Colony hives for Bees, first invented, I suppose, by the Right Reverend Father in God John Wilkins, late Lord Bishop of Che∣ster; notwithstanding the pretensions of John Gedde Gent. and his seven years experience: for I find one of them set up in Wadham College Garden (where it still remains) when the said ac∣complish'd Bishop was Warden there above twenty years since. For Fish, I was shewed the model of a Net contrived by the in∣genious Sir Anthony Cope, that seemed likely to catch all found within such a compass.

121. Relating to four footed Beasts, the ingenious Richard Fermor of Tusmore Esq shewed me a pretty contrivance to avoid the incumbrance of Oat tubs in Stables, especially where they are any thing streightned in their room, by letting the Oats down from a loft above, out of a vessel like the Hopper of a Mill, whence they fall into a square pipe let into the wall, of about four inches diago∣nal, which comes down into a Cup-board also set into the wall, but with its end so near the bottom, that there shall never be above a gallon, or other desirable quantity in the cup-board at a time, which being taken away and given to the Horses, another gallon presently succeeds; so that in the lower part of the Stable where the Horses stand, there is not one inch of room taken up for the whole pro∣vision of Oats; which contrivance has also this further conveni∣ence, that by this motion the Oats are kept constantly sweet (the taking away one gallon moving the whole mass above) which laid up any otherwise in great quantities grow frequently musty.

122. The same ingenious Gentleman has also applyed the same contrivance, with some little alteration, to the feeding of his Swine, which have constantly their meat from such a vessel like the hopper of a Mill placed over the sty, into which having put a certain quantity of beans, enough to fat so many Hogs, they continually descend to about half way down the sty in a large square pipe, which then divides it self into six smaller ones, which terminate

each of them in a small trough, no bigger than just to admit the nose of a Hog, and come all of them with their ends so near the bottom, that there is never above a handful of beans or so, in each trough at a time, which taken away by the Hogs, there follow so many handfulls again, but never more: so that having also drawn a small Rivulet of water through the sty, the daily trouble of ser∣vants waiting on them is not only saved (for they need never come near them till they know they are fat) but the Hogs themselves are also made hereby uncapable of spoiling a bean, by trampling or pissing amongst them as in most other sties, they never having a∣bove a handful at a time, and those in a trough too small to admit any such means of wast.

123. He has thoughts also of applying the same contrivance to the feeding of his Hounds; and has made stalls for Oxen, by spars of wood descending perpendicularly from the utmost rim of the rack, and nailing boards on them half way up before the Oxen, that they cannot spoil by trampling, or any other means, the least straw or grass, all that go beside their mouths falling still within the boards nailed upon the spars, which when come to any quantity, is returned into the rack as sweet and good, as when put there at first. Which being matters of Architecture relating to Beasts, bring me next to treat,

124. Of Arts that respect Mankind, and first of Architecture, wherein we have many remarkable Curiosities, as well in the Coun∣try as Ʋniversity; some whereof are of an inferior, others of a more Honorable rank and quality. Of the first sort are several Mills that I have met with in this County, scarce perhaps to be found els∣where in England; such is that at the same ingenious Mr. Fermors at Tusmore, which with one horse and man (who is carryed round as it were, in a Coach-box behind the horse) performs at pleasure these very many offices. First, it grinds Apples the common way for Cider. And secondly Wheat, which it sifts at the same time in∣to four different finenesses. Thirdly Oats, which it cuts from the husk, and winnows from the chaff, making very good Oat-meal. And lastly makes Mustard, which indeed is a meer curiosity. And all these it performs severally, or together, according as desired.

125. At Hanwell, in the Park, there is also a Mill erected by the ingenious Sir Anthony Cope, of wonderful contrivance, where∣with that great Virtuoso did not only grind the Corn for his House,

but with the same motion turned a very large Engine for cutting the hardest stone, after the manner of Lapidaries; and another for boaring of Guns: and these, as in the Mill at Tusmore, either severally or all together, at pleasure.

126. To these add the Mills for making French Barly, erected some years since upon the river near Caversham, by one Mr. Bur∣naby, but are now carryed on by one Mr. Nelthrop of London, Merchant: They are four in number, and differ from other Corn mills chiefly in the following particulars. 1. In that they have always double tackling. 2. The stones not being the Cologne, but ordinary white stones; which thirdly, are both of them cut the sending way: and fourthly, the upper stone or runner, hung about a hands breadth distant from the lower or bed stone, also called the Legier. They put in the Corn, about half a bushel at a time, not at the eye, but round the hoops at the sides of the stones; they stop the spout or tunnel, and let the Mill run just an hour, for if the Corn stay longer the heat will turn it yellow: then they let it out, and sever the bran and flower from the Corn, and put it up again into another mill of the same kind, and let it run in the same man∣ner another hour, and the work is finished.

127. Hither also must be referred the Mault Kills of Henly, so thriftily contrived, that the Kill holes are placed in the backs of their Kitchin Chimneys, so that drying their mault with wood, the same fire serves for that, and all the other uses of their Kitchins be∣side. To this place also belongs a sort of Oast made about thirty years since by one Philips a Baker of Magdalen Parish Oxon, who having a very great Oven, made it plain at the top and plaister'd it over, whereon laying mault, he dryed it with the same fire that heated his Oven for the bread, and thus made the best mault that Oxford afforded, and of necessity the cheapest, for the fire cost him nothing. I have heard also of the same method used at Henly on the Thames; and these, as some have ventured to assert, gave the first hints to the Invention of that sort of Kills whereby they dry mault with coal; but herein I dare not be too confident, not knowing of what standing those Kills are, otherwise the thing seems to be likely enough.

128. Thus having run through those of inferior rank, I come next to the remarkable curiosities of Architecture in our most stately buildings, and that have a more immediate relation to mankind

than any before mentioned, whereof some are private, others publick; and may both be considered either in the whole or parts. Of private buildings, the most eminent in this County, are the Seats of the Right Honorable the Earl of Anglesey, Lord Privy Seal, at Blechington, the Earl of Clarendon at Cornbury, the Earl of Lichfield at Ditchley, the Earl of Rochester at Adderbury, the Countess of Down at Wroxton, the Lord Viscount Say and Seal at Broughton, the Lord Viscount Falkland at Great Tew, the Lady Abergavenny at Sherbourn, the Lord Norreys (His Majesties Lord Lieutenant of Oxford-shire) at Ricot, the Lord Carrington at Led∣wel, and of the Honorable James Herbert Esq at Tythrop in Oxford-shire, though of Kingsey Parish in the County of Buckingham.

129. Whereunto might be added several structures of the mi∣nor Nobility, that shew a great deal either of past or present Ma∣gnificence, such as that of the Right Worshipful Sir Anthony Cope late of Hanwell, of Sir John Cope at Bruern Abbey, Sir Tho. Spencer at Tarnton, Sir Tho. Chamberleyn at Northbrook, Sir Francis Wen∣man at Thame-Park and Caswel, Sir Tho. Cobb at Adderbury, Sir An∣thony Craven at Caversham, Sir William Glyn at Amersden, Sir Ro∣bert Jenkinson at Walcot, Sir William Walter at Saresden, Sir Thomas Penyston at Cornwel, Sir Compton Read at Shipton under Which∣wood, Sir John D'Oyly at Chislehampton, Sir Edward Norreys at Weston on the green, Sir George Croke at Waterstoke, Sir Philip Har∣court at Stanton Harcourt. And of the worshipful Tho. Stonor at Watlington Park and Stonor, Esq Robert Dormer at Rousham, Esq Richard Fermor at Tusmore and Sommerton, Esq John Stone at Brightwel, Esq John Clerk at Aston Rowant, Esq Tho. Hoard at Coat, Esq Arthur Jones at Chasleton, Esq Basil Brook at North-Aston, Esq and the seats of the Families of Knolles at Rotherfield Grays, and Blount at Maple-Durham, Esqs; To which add the Parsonage House of the Rectory of Chinner, little inferior to some of the aforementioned, either in greatness, commodiousness, or elegancy of Building.

130. And yet amongst all these eminent private Structures, could I find nothing extraordinary in the whole: But in the parts, the Kitchin of the Right Worshipful Sir Philip Harcourt Knight, of Stanton Harcourt, is so strangely unusual, that by way of Rid∣dle one may truly call it, either a Kitchin within a Chimney, or a Kitchin without one; for below it is nothing but a large square,

and octangular above ascending like a Tower, the fires being made against the walls, and the smoak climbing up them, without any tunnels or disturbance to the Cooks; which being stopped by a large conical roof at the top, goes out at loop-holes on every side according as the wind sits; the loop-holes at the side next the wind being shut with falling doors, and the adverse side opened.

131. The spacious Stair-case at Blechington-house is also re∣markable, not only for that it stands on an Area of 30 foot square, but for its rarity too, it being not perhaps at all, at least not easie to be met with amongst the writers of Architecture: wherefore, though I cannot approve of its contrivance in all particulars, yet for the sake of its magnificence, and variety from most, if not all others, I cannot in justice but afford it a short description.

132. It being placed therefore backward, opposite to the most honorable entrance of the House, between two wings that extend themselves beyond it, and the gross of the Pile, you enter upon it having past by the hall, and other offices usually placed by it, at the door-way A, Tab. 13. Fig. 4. and land upon the half pace 1, which together with the rest marked 234, &c. are 6 foot ⅓ square: The figures in their natural order shew how you ascend from one half pace to another, by ascents of 7 steps, each about 5 inches ½ deep, and near 10 inches ¾ broad: The half paces marked with the same figure lye on the same level, and therefore as 4 is the highest half pace in this first Scheme of it, so it is the lowest in the second, Tab. 13. Fig. 5.

133. In which also the order of the figures shews the manner of ascent just as in the former, only it must be observed, that as the ascent to the half pace 4 in the first Scheme, was suppose from East and West, so the ascent higher from it in the second, is to North and South: Of which two Schemes placed alternatly over one an∣other, the whole stair-case is framed from bottom to top, which is easily apprehended, if you but imagine the half pace 4 in the second Scheme, to be placed over 4 in the first, and such another frame as is delineated in the first Scheme to be placed on the se∣cond: The Letters V V shew the vacancies that open a Prospect from the top to the bottom of the whole stair-case, and a b c d shew the places of the doors into the rooms at each corner of it.

134. In short, this stair-case seems to be a composition of 4 half-pace-open-newel'd stair-cases, as may easily be perceived by the figures, 123, 123, 123, 123, and 567, 567, 567, 567, only communicating in the middle; which indeed shews very magni∣ficently, but has this inconvenience, that there is no passage from one room into another though on the same floor, without going up and down many steps; as in Scheme the second, if from a to b, and so of the rooms of any of the other sides, you have no pas∣sage but from 6 to 7, and so down again to 6, i. e. 14 steps. But if you are to go from corner to corner, as suppose from a to c, or b to d, & vice versa, whether you pass round the sides, or over the middle half pace, you cannot do it, without ascending and descending in all twenty eight steps.

135. Of publick Buildings, the most eminent in the County are certainly those of the Colleges and Halls, the Publick Schools, Library and Theater in the Ʋniversity of Oxford; of which yet in the whole I shall give no account, their magnificence and outward Architecture being already sufficiently shewn, by the exquisite hand of Mr. David Loggan, Chalcographer to the Ʋniversity, in his Cuts of them all lately set forth. It shall suffice me therefore to give a succinct account of some particular parts of them, whether in the stone or Timber-work, scarce to be met with elsewhere, or known to few.

136. Of the first sort is the flat floor of stone over the passage between the Right Reverend the Provosts Lodgings, and the Chap∣pel at Queens College, born up only by the side walls without any pillar, though consisting of divers stones not reaching the walls, which yet indeed may very well be, since as I am informed by the same Right Reverend Provost, and Bishop of Lincoln, who pulled up the boards of the room above to view the curiosity; the stones are all cuneoform, and laid like that they call straight Arch-work.

137. The Roof of Merton College Treasury is also an odd piece of stone-work, being all made of Ashler, yet slooping to an angle (only more acute than usual) like roofs made of Timber: It has, 'tis true within, three inequidistant arched ribs of stone that seem to support the Fabrick, which is about 20 foot long, but the stones not reaching from rib to rib, and seeming to be laid like common pavement both within and without, make many to wonder that it does not fall in: but the stones being pretty thick, and cut as they

call it, with an arching joint, must necessarily lye as firm (and for the very same reason) as those at Queens College do, and so most certainly they would, were the arches quite removed. There is also much such another roof over a little Oratory or Chappel in the Church of North Leigh in this County.

138. As for arched roofs of stone, that of the Divinity School is a fine piece of Architecture; and so is that of the stately stair∣case leading into Christ-Church great hall. The Physick garden gate is a curious piece of rustick rock-work; and the Portch at St. Maries, the Ʋniversity Church, is a well contrived thing. And were it not improper amongst these to mention a structure of so inferior a qua∣lity, as New College house of Easement, commonly called the long-house, I could not but note it as a stupendious piece of building, it being so large and deep, that it has never been emptyed since the foundation of the College, which was above 300 years since, nor is it ever like to want it.

139. The Portico's on the East and West sides of the New Qua∣drangle at St. Johns College, built by the most Reverend Father in God, William Laud Arch-Bishop of Canterbury, supported with pillars of Blechington Marble, are well worthy notice; and so is the Cloyster at Magdalen College, the Butteresses without being curiously adorned with Hieroglyphical Imagery.

140. The erect Southern declining Dial over All Souls College Chappel, is a neat piece of work, so curiously contrived by Sir Christopher Wren, that though it stand high, yet by the help of two half rays, and one whole one for every hour, one may see to a mi∣nute what it is a clock, the minutes being depicted on the sides of the rays, viz. 15 on each side, and divided into fives by a diffe∣rent character from the rest.

141. The Cylindrical Dyal in Corpus Christi College Quadrangle, set at right angles with the Horizon (the common sections whereof, with the hour circles (except the Meridian circle which divides it by the axis) as also the Aequinoctial, are all Ellipses) is a fine old piece of Gnomonicks; of which no more, because its Contriver Mr. Robert Heggs, Fellow of the College, has already written of itq 1.460. And the Dials made upon a pile of Books on New College Mount, with Time on the top, exactly pointing out from what Quarter the wind blows, upon the 32 Points of the Compass, depicted on

a Cylinder of stone, is an ingenious contrivance.

142. There are many lofty spires about the Country as well as City, built all of Free-stone, and of exquisite workmanship, such as those of Bampton, Witney, Burford, Bloxham, Spelsbury, Kidling∣ton, &c. but that which excels all the rest is the spire of St. Mary's in Oxford, the Ʋniversity Church, the Battlements whereof were repaired, and thus thick set with Pinnacles as it now stands, by Dr. King Dean of Christ Church, then Vice-Chancellor of the Ʋni∣versity, afterwards Bishop of London.

143. For Towers, that of Merton College is a large well built thing; and so is that of the Schools, but more remarkable, for that it is adorned on the inner side next the Quadrangle, with all the orders of Pillars. But for a neat plain piece of work, that of Magdalen College excells all I have yet seen, adorned on the top with well proportion'd Pinnacles, and within with a most tunable sweet ring of bells.

Miraris Turrim egregiam sacro Aere sonantem.

144. Amongst curiosities in Timber-work, we may reckon se∣veral screens in College Chappels; such as that of Magdalen College, that of Cedar at Lincoln College, and another at Corpus Christi now erecting. There is an Altar rail at All Souls College of curious workmanship, and to this place belongs the Tomb of St. Frides∣wide, still remaining at Christ Church, the top whereof is wood, and a fine old piece of work: But not comparable to the Tomb of fair Rosamund at Godstow, in the Chapter-house of the Nuns there, which according to the description of Ranulph Higden seems to have been also of wood, and of wonderful contrivance, cista ejusdem puellae (says he, having spoken before of her death and Epitaph, and of the Amour's between her and K. Henry the second) vix bipedalis mensurae, sed mirabilis architecturae ibidem cernitur, &cr 1.461. i. e. That her chest coffin or tomb was there to be seen, not above two foot long, or perhaps rather square, but a stupendous piece of workmanship, in qua (says the same Author at the same place) conflictus Pugilum, gestus animalium, volatus avium, saltus piscium absque hominis impulsu conspiciuntur, i. e. where in might be seen the conflicts of champions, the gestures of animals, the flights of birds, with fishes leaping, and all done without the assistance of man.

145. By what means this was effected, we are not informed by the afore-cited Author, but the Learned Thomas Allen M. A. of Glocester-hall, thought it might be done by a sort of Looking-glass, whose structure he found mentioned in an ancient MS, De Arcanis & Secretis, with this Title, Speculum in quo uno visu apparebunt multae imagines moventes se. To be made thus, accipe pixidem bene profundam, & pone in fundo ejus speculum commune, sc. convexum, po∣stea, &c. Take, says the Author, a deep box, and place in the bot∣tom of it a common convex glass, then take 6 or 7 other convex glasses of the same bigness, and scrape off the lead [plumbum is the word] in the concave part with a knife; where by the way the Author advises, that since it is very hard to get the lead clean off without breaking the glass, that Quick-silver be made use of, to a∣noint the lead to get it off.

146. These glasses when made clean, he orders to be put into the box, so as they may stand obliquely in divers positions, in this manner: When the first glass is put in the bottom, the second must be so put, that one side of it must touch the first glass, and the opposite side be distant from it an inch, & sic (says he) oblique pones in pixide. In the top there must be put one cleansed glass as the first, plain and not obliquely, so that nothing must be seen but the uppermost glass, into which if you look, you shall see as many Images as glasses; and if turned round, how one Image always stands still in the middle, and the rest run round it, as if they went about to dance. Of which contrivance, though I understand not some particulars, yet I thought fit to mention them, because they may possibly meet with a Reader that may, and translate them too as well as I could, for the benefit of them all. As for those that have opportunity, and are desirous of seeing the Latin Copy, they may find it in a Miscellaneous MS. in Mr. Seldens Librarys 1.462. For my part, all that I can add concerning it, is, that I have seen a sort of Cabinets of this nature, that by the help of glasses placed obliquely have shewn such prety prospects.

147. The great bivalve wooden windows in the upper Gallery of the Theater, are so ingeniously contrived, that notwithstanding their great weight, yet can never sink so as to be brought out of square, as 'tis usual in such windows, for the Iron bars crossing them from side to side, not being set at right angles, but diagonally like

struts or braces, as in Tab. 13. Fig. 6. must necessarily bend or break before the window can sink. Nor are the round windows be∣low unworthy consideration, being contrived to admit air in foul weather, yet not one drop of rain; for being opened and set ob∣liquely, as in Tab. 18. Fig. 7. it receives the rain within at a, and casts it out again at b; much less will it admit rain any ways when shut, it closing within its frame at the top, and without it at the bottom.

148. It was an excellent device, who ever first contrived it, of making flat floors or roofs of short pieces of Timber, continued to a great bredth without either Arch-work or Pillar to support them, being sustained only by the side walls and their own texture; for by this means many times the defect of long timber, or mistakes of Work-men, are supplyed and rectified without any prejudice to the Building. Of this sort of work we have an example in the Schools, in the floor of the uppermost room of the Tower, but to be seen only in the room underneath where the Records of the Ʋniversity lye. There is also a diagram of such work in the Architecture set forth by Sebastian Serlyt 1.463, for which reason I think I should scarce have mention'd it, but that the Reverend and Learned Dr. John Wallis, Savilian Professor of Geometry here, was the first that de∣monstrated the reason of this work, and has given divers forms of it beside the fore-mentioned, in his Book De Motu, whence I have taken the diagrams, Tab. 13. Fig. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12u 1.464. to make them more publick; upon the two first whereof depend the three last, and all others of the kind what ever, whether made up of quadrats or oblong parallelograms, of which there are some other forms in the fore-cited Book De Motu, beside that engraven Fig. 10. consisting of great and small Quadrats; or Triangles alone, as Fig. 11. or mixt with Hexagons, as Fig. 12. to which Book I recommend the Reader for further satisfaction concerning them.

149. But of all the flat floors having no Pillars to support it, and whose main beams are made of divers pieces of Timber, the most admirable is that of the Theater in Oxford, from side wall to side wall 80 foot over one way, and 70 the other, whose Lockages being so quite different from any before mentioned, and in many other particulars perhaps not to be parallel'd in the World, I have taken care to represent an exact draught of it, Tab. 14. Fig. 1.

[illustration] architectural elements

TAB. 13. ad pag: 272.

To the Worsp.^ll RJCHARD FERACOR of Tusmore Esq This 13.^th Table wherein the third Diagramm has relation to H••ACSEL•• in memory of his Favors is gratefully offerd by R.P.L L.D.

Burghers sculpsit

150. Wherein a a a and b b b shew the walls of the Theater that support this frame of timber, and the places of the pilasters of the rail and ballister round it; c c c and d d d the leads and pipes let down into the wall for conveyance of water; e e e and f f f the wall plate or lintel, and places of its joints; g g g the girders of the semi circle, each supported by a King piece or Crown post cut off at h h h, and screwed into the binding beam i i i; which is som∣what different from the rest of the binding beams k k k, l l l, m m m, n n n, having several prick-posts let into it at o o o o, beside the King-posts that support this and the rest at p p p p p, &c. The Let∣ters q q q shew the purlines between the binding beams, not set right against one another because of room to turn the screws whereby they are fastened, and r r r r two dragon (perhaps rather Trigon) beams or braces lying under the joists ss ss ss, &c. the true lengths and distances whereof, and of all other pieces of timber and places whatever, are all shewn by the scale Fig. 2.

151. And so are the lengths and distances of the several pieces of timber set over this flat floor, such as the principal rafters t t t t, the Crown posts or King pieces u u u u, the prick posts w w w, braces or punchons x x x, by all which together the binding beams, girders, joists, &c. are all held up as it were by an Arch above, as in Tab. 14. Fig. 3. which is the whole band of Timber that stands next the semi circle, having prick posts and different lockages from the rest of the four bands, as is sufficiently represented by one half of one of them, Tab. 14. Fig. 4.

152. Which is all I think need be said concerning this fine piece of Timber-work, only that there are cross braces between the middle Crown posts as they stand in a line from the front to the se∣micircle, as is represented Tab. 14. Fig. 5. mark'd with the letters y y y y y y both here, and as they stand Fig. 1. And that it was con∣trived by our English Vitruvius, the Right Worshipful and Learn∣ed Sir Christopher Wren, and worked by Richard Frogley an able Carpenter; and both this, and the stone-work too, at the sole charge of the most Reverend Father in God Gilbert, by Divine Provi∣dence, Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury, Primat of all England, and Metropolitan, who finishing, and having endowed it with a competent Estate for its reparations for ever, It is like to stand a most magnificent and lasting monument of his Graces Munificence, and favor of good Learning to all posterity.

153. There are several other roofs in this Ʋniversity also well worth the noting, whereof some are flat or under-pitched, as the roof of the great Hall at Christ Church College, and the roofs of the Chappels and Halls at Magdalen College and New College; others due proportion'd, or over-pitched, such as at Jesus, Wadham, Corpus Christi, Exeter, and Oriel Colleges; which yet having nothing ex∣traordinary either in their contrivance or workmanship, I pass them by, and proceed next,

154. To some remarkable pieces of Painting that we have here at Oxon; amongst which (to omit the deformation of a Caesars head to be seen in the Schools, brought into shape by a metalline Cylin∣der, and several others of the kind at Sir Anthony Copes; and that Painting it self was first brought into England by Venerable Bede of this Ʋniversityw 1.465) I take the Painting of the Theater to be well worth examination: for in imitation of the Theaters of the anci∣ent Greeks and Romans, which were too large to be covered with lead or tile, so this by the Painting of the flat roof within, is repre∣sented open: and as they stretched a cordage from Pilaster to Pila∣ster, upon which they strained a covering of cloth, to protect the people from the injuries of the weather, so here is a cord-molding guilded, that reaches cross and cross the house both in length and bredth, which supporteth a great reddish Drapery, supposed to have covered the roof, but now furl'd up by the Genii round about the House toward the walls, which discovereth the open Air, and maketh way for the descent of the Arts and Sciences, that are con∣gregated in a circle of clouds, to whose assembly Truth descends, as being sollicited, and implored by them all.

155. For joy of this Festival some other Genii sport about the Clouds, with their Festoons of Flowers and Lawrels, and pre∣pare their garlands of Lawrels and Roses, viz. Honor and Pleasure for the great lovers and students of those Arts: and that this assem∣bly might be perfectly happy, their great enemies and disturbers, Envy, Rapin, and Brutality, are by the Genii of their opposite Vir∣tues, viz. Prudence, Fortitude, and Eloquence, driven from the socie∣ty, and thrown down head-long from the Clouds: The report of the assembly of the one, and the expulsion of the other, being pro∣claimed through the open and serene Air, by some other of the Genii, who blowing their antick Trumpets, divide themselves into the several Quarters of the World. Hitherto in gross.

[illustration] architectural elements

TAB XIIII. ad pag. 274.

To the right Worsp.^ll S.^r FRANCJS WENACAN K.^t & Bar.^t K.^t of the SHIRE in the p.^sent Parliam.^t This 14 Table Shewing the Timberwork of the THEATER will all due respect is humbly dedicated by R.P. L.L.D.

Burghers sculp.

156. More particularly the circle of Figures consists first of Theology, with her Book with seven seals, imploring the assistance of Truth for the unfolding of it. On her left hand is the Mosai∣cal Law vailed, with the Tables of stone, to which she points with her Iron rod. On her right hand is the Gospel, with the Cross in one hand, and a Chalice in the other, In the same division over the Mosaical Law is History, holding up her Pen as dedicating it to Truth, and an attending Genius with several fragments of old Writing, from which she collects her History into her Book: On the other side, near the Gospel, is Divine Poesy with her Harp of Da∣vids fashion.

157. In the triangle on the right hand of the Gospel, is also Logick in a posture of arguing; and in another on the left hand of the Mosaical Law, is Musick with her antick Lyre, having a Pen in her hand, and paper of musick notes on her knee, with a Genius on her right hand (a little within the partition of Theology) play∣ing on a flute, being the emblem of the most ancient musick; and on the left (but within the partition for Physick) Dramatick Poesy, with a vizor representing Comedy, a bloody dagger for Tragedy, and the reed pipe for Pastoral.

158. In the square on the right side of the Circle, is Law, with her ruling scepter, accompanied with Records, Patents, and Evi∣dences on the one side; and on the other with Rhetorick: by these is an attending Genius with the scales of Justice; and a figure with a Palm branch, the emblem of reward for virtuous actions; and the Roman Fasces, the marks of Power and Punishment. Printing, with a Case of Letters in one hand, and a Form ready set in the other, and by her several sheets hanging as a drying.

159. On the left side the Circle opposite to Law is Physick, hold∣ing the knotty staff of Esculapius, with a serpent winding about it: The Botanist imploring the assistance of Truth in the right under∣standing of the nature of her Plants: Chymistry with a Retort in her hands: and Chyrurgery preparing her self to finish the dis∣secting of a head, which hath the brain already opened, and held before her by one of the Genii.

160. On the other side of the circle opposite to Theology, in three squares are the Mathematical sciences (depending on demonstra∣tion, as the other on Faith) in the first of which is Astronomy with the Celestial globe, Geography with the terrestrial, together with

three attending Genii; having Arithmetick in the square on one hand, with a paper of figures; Optick with the Perspective-glass; Geometry with a pair of compasses in her left, and a Table with Geo∣metrical figures in it, in her right hand: And in the square on the other hand, Architecture embracing the capitel of a column, with compasses, and the norma or square lying by her; and a workman holding another square in one hand and a plumb-line in the other.

161. In the midst of these squares and triangles (as descending from above) is the figure of Truth siting on a cloud, in one hand holding a Palm-branch (the emblem of Victory) in the other the Sun, whose brightness enlightens the whole circle of figures, and is so bright, that it seems to hide the face of her self to the spectators be∣low.

162. Over the entrance of the front of the Theater are three figures tumbling down; first Envy with her snaky hairs, squint eyes, hags breasts, pale venomous complexion, strong but ugly limbs, and ri∣vel'd skin, frighted from above by the sight of the shield of Pal∣las, with the Gorgons head in it, against which she opposes her snaky tresses, but her fall is so precipitous, that she has no command of her arms.

163. Then Rapine with her fiery eyes, grinning teeth, sharp twangs, her hands imbrewed in blood, holding a bloody dagger in one hand, in the other a burning Flambeau, with these Instruments threatning the destruction of Learning, and all its habitations, but is over∣come and so prevented by a Herculean Genius, or Power. Next that is represented brutish scoffing Ignorance, endeavoring to vilifie and contemn what she understands not, which is charmed by a Mer∣curial Genius with his Caduceus. Which is the sum of what is designed by the painting of the Theater, for the most part thus de∣scribed by William Soper M. A. of Wadham College, after of Hart Hall, only with some few additions and necessary alterations.

164. Beside the painting of the Theater, there are other fine pieces perhaps as well worthy notice, such are the Resurrections at Magdalen and All-souls Colleges, both of Fullers work; though the latter indeed be somwhat defaced. The written Picture of his Majesty King Charles the first, in St. Johns College Library, taking up the whole Book of Psalms in the English tongue; and the writ∣ten Picture of King James, and the Arms of England (as now born) taking up the whole Book of Psalms in the Latin, in the

hands of Mr. Moorhead Rector of Bucknel, are pretty curiosities, and much admired.

165. And so is the Cat painted over one of the compartments in∣cluding the Arms of the Ʋniversity, in the South side of the gal∣lery at the Schools, for her looking directly upon all her Beholders, on what side soever they place themselves; which common, yet surprizing effect of the Painters Art, is caused, says the ingenious Honoratus Faberx 1.466, in all Pictures whatever of this nature, by their turning the nose to one side and the eyes to the other; whence it comes to pass that such Pictures seem to look to the right side, be∣cause indeed the eyes are turned that way; and to the left in like manner, because the point of the nose is turned to the left: where by the way he also notes, that 'tis necessary that all such pictures be drawn on flat tables, so that the Beholder perceive not that the eyes of the picture are turned contrary to the nose; which he must needs do if the eyes of the portraict were convex, concluding, that no figure can be made in Rilievo thus to look every way.

166. To this place also belongs the Invention of drawing pi∣ctures by Microscopical glasses by Sir Christopher Wreny 1.467, and the In∣vention of Mr. Bird Stone-Cutter or Carver of Oxford, of sink∣ing a colour a considerable depth into the body of polish'd white marble, by application of it to the out-side only, so that the same Figures delineated without, shall be as perfectly represented with∣in, deeper or shallower, according as he continues his applica∣tion to the surface a longer or shorter whilez 1.468. And if we may take in Etching, which is painting in Copper, there is a very cu∣rious and speedy way also invented, by the so often mentioned Sir Christopher Wrena 1.469. And which borders still on these, in the Sta∣tuaries Trade, we can shew two excellent pieces of Art, in the Sta∣tues of Brass of King Charles the first, and his Queen Henrietta, placed in the Niches over the gates of the new Quadrangle in Saint John Baptist College Oxon.

167. In some other Trades yet inferior to these, there have been made also considerable Inventions and Improvements, such as that of weaving silk stockings, first invented by one Mr. William Lee M. A. of this Ʋniversity, who being marryed and poor, and observing how much pains his Wife took in knitting a pair of stock∣ings,

put himself on thinking of a nearer way: whereupon ha∣ving observed the contrivance of the stitches by unravelling a stocking, he designed a Loom accordingly, which succeeded so well, that (with but small alteration) it remains the same to this very day.

168. And 'tis confidently vouched, that the Engine for cut∣ting of handles of Knives, we commonly buy cut into those va∣rious figures, was first invented and practiced here in Oxford by Tho∣mas Pierce a Cutler, whose Apprentice now practices the same Art in London: But not with so much accuracy as Robert Alder ano∣ther Cutler of Oxford, who only by observance of the others work, and long study, at last found it out also, and hath improved it much: which two last, as I am informed, are the only two per∣sons that can do this in England, perhaps I may say ith' World. Nor can I pass by the Invention in the Coopers Trade, of making barrels without hoops, whereof I found a specimen in St. Ebbs Parish Oxon. though I know the Invention belongs to another place, of which more when I come thither.

169. For Improvements, 'tis certain that the Blanketing trade of Witney is advanced to that height that no place comes near it; some I know attribute a great part of the excellency of these Blankets to the abstersive nitrous water of the River Windrush where∣with they are scoured, as was mentioned before, cap. 2, §. 12. but others there are again that rather think they owe it to a pecu∣liar way of loose spinning the people have hereabout, perhaps they may both concur to it: However it be, 'tis plain they are esteem∣ed so far beyond all others, that this place has engrossed the whole trade of the Nation for this Commodity; in so much that the wool fit for their use, which is chiefly fell wooll (off from Sheep-skins) centers here from some of the furthermost parts of the Kingdom, viz. from Rumney-marsh, Canterbury, Colchester, Norwich, Exeter, Leicester, Northampton, Coventry, Huntington, &c. of which the Blanketers, whereof there are at least threescore in this Town, that amongst them have at least 150 Looms, employing near 3000 poor people, from children of eight years old, to decrepit old age, do work out above a hundred packs of wool per week.

170. This Fell wool they separate into five or six sorts, viz. long fell wooll, head wooll, bay wool, ordinary, middle, and tail wooll: Long fell wooll they send to Wells, Taunton, Tiverton, &c. for ma∣king

worsted stockings; of head wool and bay wool, they make the blankets of 12, 11, and 10 quarters broad, and somtimes send it, if it bear a good price, to Kederminster for making their Stuffs, and to Evesham, Parshore, &c. for making yarn stockings; or into Essex for making Bays, whence one sort of them I suppose is called bay wool: of the ordinary and middle they make blankets of 8 and 7 quarters broad; and of these mixt with the courser locks of fleece wooll, a sort of stuff they call Duffields (which if finer than ordi∣nary, they make too of fleece wooll) of which Duffields and blankets consists the chief Trade of Witney.

171. These Duffields, so called from a Town in Brabant, where the trade of them first began (whence it came to Colchester, Brain∣try, &c. and so to Witney) otherwise called shags, and by the Mer∣chants, trucking cloth; they make in pieces of about 30 yards long, and one yard ¾ broad, and dye them red or blue, which are the co∣lours best please the Indians of Virginia and New England, with whom the Merchants truck them for Bever, and other Furs of se∣veral Beasts, &c. the use they have for them is to apparel them∣selves with them, their manner being to tear them into gowns of a∣bout two yards long, thrusting their arms through two holes made for that purpose, and so wrapping the rest about them as we our loose Coats. Our Merchants have abused them for many years with so false colours, that they will not hold their gloss above a months wear; but there is an ingenious person of Witney that has improved them much of late, by fixing upon them a true blue dye, having an eye of red, whereof as soon as the Indians shall be made sensi∣ble, and the disturbances now amongst them over, no doubt the trade in those will be much advanced again.

172. Of their best tail wooll they make the blankets of 6 quar∣ters broad, commonly called cuts, which serve Sea-men for their Hammocs, and of their worst they make Wednel for Collar-makers, wrappers to pack their blanckets in, and tilt-cloths for Barge-men. They send all the sorts of Duffields and Blankets weekly in waggons up to London, which return laden with fell wooll from Leaden-hall, and Barnaby-street in Southwark, whether 'tis brought for this pur∣pose from most places above-mention'd; Oxford-shire and the ad∣jacent Counties being not able to supply them.

173. There are also in this Town a great many Fell-mongers, out of whom at the neighboring Town of Bampton, there arises

another considerable trade, the Fell-mongers sheep-skins, after dressed and strained, being here made into wares, viz. Jackets, Breeches, Leather linings, &c. which they chiefly vent into Berk-shire, VVilt-shire, and Dorset-shire, no Town in England having a trade like it in that sort of ware.

174. Which two trades of the Towns of VVitney and Bampton, are the most eminent, that are too, the most peculiar of this Coun∣ty. The Maulting trade of Oxford and Henly on Thames, 'tis true are considerable, and Burford has been famous time out of mind for the making of Saddles; and so has Oxford had the reputation of the best Gloves and Knives, of any place in England; but these trades being not peculiar to the places where they are practised, I therefore pass them by without further notice.

175. But the Starch trade of Oxford, though indeed it be not great, yet being practiced in few places, and the method known to fewer how it is made, its discovery perhaps may be acceptable to some, I shall not therefore stick to give a short account of it. Let them know therefore, that the substance we commonly call Starch, notwithstanding its pure whiteness, is made of the shortest and worst bran that they make in the Meal shops, worse than that they sell to Carriers to feed their Horses; This they steep in a water prepared for that purpose (by a solution at first of Roch-Alum, a∣bout a pound to a Hogshead, which will last for ever after) for ten or fourteen days in great tubs; then 'tis taken and washed through a large Osier basket over three other tubs, the sower water of the se∣cond tub washing it into the first; and the sower water of the third, into the second; and clear water from the Pump washing it into the third.

176. Whereby the way it must be noted, that only Pump wa∣ter will serve the turn to give it this last washing, and continue the waters sowerness for ever after, by reason I suppose of the in∣cisive particles of salt to be found in most Pump waters (which are plain from their not taking soap) that are apt to work upon and separate the finest flower yet sticking to the bran (notwithstanding the mill and sieve) which at last becomes starch.

177. What remains in the basket at last after the three washings, is thrown upon the dung-hill, which, as they have found of late, becomes a very good manure for meddow land, and should there∣fore have been mentioned in the 70 §. of this Chapter, amongst

the uncommon manures. And the fine flower thus washed from the bran, is let stand again in its own water for about a week, then be∣ing all setled at the bottom, it is stirred up again and fresh Pump water added, and strained from its smalle'•••• bran through a Lawn sieve; which done, they permit it to settle again, which it does in one day, and then they draw off the water from it all to a small matter: then standing two days more, it at last becomes so fixt, that with a burchen broom they sweep the water left at the top, (which is a slimy kind of matter) up and down upon it to cleanse it from filth, and then pouring it off, they wash its surface yet cleaner, by dashing upon it a bucket of fair Pump water.

178. Which done, they then cut it out of the tubs in great pieces with sharp trowels, and box it up in troughs, having holes in the bottom to drain the water from it, always puting wet cloths between the wood and it, for the more commodious taking it out of the troughs again to dry, which they do within a day; laying it first on cold bricks for about two days, which suck away a great deal of moisture from it, and after over a Bakers oven four or five days together, which will dry it sufficiently, if intended only to be ground to powder for hair, as it is chiefly here; but if intended to be sold as starch, they then use a stove to give it the starch-grain, which the oven will not do.

179. From the inferior, I proceed to the superior Arts and Sci∣ences, and others instrumental to them, for in these too, there have been many Inventions and Improvements made in this Ʋniver∣sity. In enumeration whereof, if we begin so low as the very Elements of Speech, we shall find that the Reverend and Learned Dr. Wallis, Savilian Professor of Geometry here, first observed and discovered the Physical or Mechanical formation of all sounds in Speech, as plainly appears from his Treatise de Loquela, prefix'd to his Grammar for the English Tongue, first publish'd in the Year 1653.

180. In pursuance whereof, he also found out a way whereby he hath taught dumb persons (who were therefore dumb because deaf) not only to understand what they read, and by writing to express their minds, but also to speak and read intelligibly, ac∣cording to directions for the artificial position and motion of the Organs of Speech, and thereby also assisted others who have spoken very imperfectly. Of which no more, there being a particular

account given by himself in our English Philosophical Transactions, of July 18. 1670b 1.470.

181. I know that the Right Reverend Father in God John Wil∣kins, late Lord Bishop of Chester, hath also laid down the distinct manner of forming all sounds in Speech, and shewed in Sculpture which letters are Labial, Lingual, Nasal, &c. and how the Epiglot∣tis, Larynx, Aspera Arteria, and Oesophagus, conduce to them. Since him, in the Year 1669. the Reverend and Ingenious Wil∣liam Holder D.D. publish'd an Essay of Inquiry into the Natural Production of Letters, together with an Appendix to instruct per∣sons deaf and dumbc 1.471. Yet whether either of these, with advan∣tage of what Dr. Wallis did before, have with more accuracy of judgment performed the same, I dare not by any means take up∣on me to determine.

182. The same Dr. Wallis hath also, with great sagacity, de∣ciphered many things written in Cyphers, of very intricate and perplext contrivance, beyond what hath been known to have been done by any other, whereof there be Examples of many in a MS. Book of his, reserved in the Archives of the Bodleyan Li∣brary.

183. Add hereunto the ingenious Invention of a Ʋniversal Cha∣racter, or Philosophical Language, first contrived here at Oxford by Mr. George Dalgarno M. A, who in the Year 1656. endeavoring to improve the Art of Short-hand beyond what others had done, by expressing the auxiliary Particles of the English Language, by distinct points and places about the radical or integral words, after the manner that 'tis done by prefixes and suffixes in the Hebrew; found at last that there was no way to distinguish the affixed points which he intended to be used really, from those used before in the common way of Short-hand (where not only the Capital Chara∣cter, but points about it were Alphabetical) but by making the prin∣cipal Character it self, to which they were to be accessary, not Al∣phabetical but real.

184. Thus having formed Tables both of Integrals and Parti∣cles, to be expressed by single Characters, he perceived at length, that he was gone unawares further than ever he intended, having not only improved the Art of Short-hand, but also discovered a real Character equally applicable to all Languages: And after he

had pursued the design of a dumb Character a considerable time, at last he perceived that it would naturally resolve it self into a Language, having this advantage over any Character, that we may use our known Alphabet to express it, whereas in a Character the figures must be new. At length having digested his whole con∣trivance into a Synopsis, he communicated it to several Learned Men, whose approbation and certificates procured him good en∣couragement; but he met with no Man that took so much pains to understand the Novelty, or so zealous to have it finished and come abroad, as the Reverend and Learned Dr. John Wilkins late Lord Bishop of Chester, then the worthy Warden of Wadham College.

185. The last thing he attempted in his Tables, was the re∣ducing the species of Natural Bodies to the rules of Art, the rea∣son of which delay, was because he perceived that they occurred but seldom in common discourse, and that there was but little Grammatical difficulty about them, though in number they much excelled all the other simple notions, which make the body of a Language: His judgment then being, and as far as I can perceive, still remaining unshaken, notwithstanding what has been done since, that from a few general words allowed to be radical, the names of the inferior species should be made off by composition, ad∣ding to the general and radical word, one, or somtimes more such words taken from the Table of Accidents as might describe the in∣tended species, and difference it from all others, and somtimes also to allow Periphrases.

186. And this Institution, as he takes it to be grounded upon nature and necessity, as appears more or less in all Languages, so he thinks it approved by the highest Examples that ever Art was: For God Himself named the first Man, though a single Individual, not by a word of a first, but second institution; and Adam as a perfect Philosopher imitating his Maker, named all living Creatures not by words of a first institution, antecedently insignificative, but by such as by an antecedent institution, might be apt to express som∣thing of their nature, for otherwise the common opinion of Di∣vines that Adam gave names to the Creatures according to their na∣tures, would be absurd.

187. Which Institution he takes also to have this further ad∣vantage, that the name of any single species may be known with∣out

obliging the Learner to carry in his memory all the Predica∣mental Series of its fellow Species; so that names of common use may be known, passing by others that are not so, which to Learn∣ers is as great an encouragement, as the obtruding things not ne∣cessary is a discouragement to them. According to this Institu∣tion, he published a Specimen called Ars Signorum, in the Year 1660. containing but 500 Radicals, all the Particles being brought from the Radicals by which they are resolved; every Radical, ex∣cept the genera intermedia being Monosyllables, and all things else being made off from these by composition, which is allowed here in its fullest latitude, Quidlibet cum quolibet pro re nata, provided the simple terms loose nor change nothing of signification, by composi∣tion.

188. But the Reverend and Learned Dr. John Wilkins, who throughly understood and commended his labors in the former part of the work, thinking perhaps that this way of composition would produce too long words, or that the various conceptions of Men, must needs cause different compositions and descriptions of the same things, and thence unavoidably bring misunderstandings (which yet Mr. Dalgarno thought might be avoided by stating of notions and a collection of Formula's) did not approve of this In∣stitution; declaring his judgment to be, that all the species of Na∣tural Bodies (according as he owns, was suggested to him by that most learned and excellent person Dr. Seth Ward, the present Bi∣shop of Salisbury* 1.472) ought to be provided for as Radicals, by a regular enumeration of them according to the Theories of the Schools.

189. Nor did he approve of his rejection of a Character, since a graceful one might be contrived more proper for Brachygraphy, and equally convenient for many Nations, with the common Al∣phabet: Nor of his bringing the Particles from the Radicals by which they are resolved; judging perhaps their composition, be∣side the reducing some of them handsomly, more troublesom than that, of learning a small, yet sufficient number of them disposed regularly in schemes, and noted with smaller Characters than those of Integrals. All which may be collected from the learned Essay to∣wards a real Character, or Philosophical Language, put forth by that highly ingenious person then Dean of Rippon, An. 1668.

190. In which, though 'tis true the number of Radicals are near 3000, yet are they so ordered by the help of a natural method, that they may be more easily learned and remembred than 1000 words otherwise disposed of, upon which account they may be reckoned but as 1000. For the Signa (they are so methodical∣ly contrived) they may be all learned in less than an hour, were they twice as many; the difficulty therefore must be in the signa∣ta, but these being drawn up in schemes, so that one notion will clearly depend upon another, they seem to be a perfect artificial memory, rather than require any help to be remembred. Not∣withstanding it leaves a large scope, enough for derivation and com∣position, as may be seen by the Tables, where several words, though no Synonoma's to it, may be made off from a Primitive, as Queen, Crown, Scepter, Throne, from the Radical [King]; and so from the Primitive, [sheep] are made off, ram, ewe, lamb, weather, mutton, bleat, fold, flock, shepherd, &c. which compositions are clear, though the greatest difficulty of the Language consists in these.

191. Yet I shall not offer to determine which of these is to be preferr'd, leaving that wholly to the Readers judgment, who may consult both Treatises: It being sufficient for me, that a Ʋniversal Character and Philosophical Language can be no more reckoned a∣mongst the Desiderata of Learning, and that the defect was first supplyed here at Oxford; the Contrivances of both being first founded here, and both grounded upon rational and solid princi∣ples, with greater advantages of facility, than can be believed possible to any that have not made tryal. And this is all con∣cerning Letters and Language, but that John Basinstoke also an Ox∣ford man, Figuras Graecorum numerales in Angliam portavit, & ea∣rum notitiam suis familiaribus significavit, de quibus figuris hoc maxi∣me admirandum, quod unicâ figurâ quilibet numerus significatur, quod non est in Latino vel in Algorismod 1.473.

192. In Logick the subtile Johannes Duns Scotus, Fellow of Mer∣ton College, was the Father of the Sect of the Reals; and his Scholare 1.474 Gulielmus Occham, somtimes falsly printed Holran, of the same House, Father of the Sect of the Nominals, betwixt whom as the story goes, there falling out a hot Dispute (Scotus being then Dean of the College, and Occham a Bachelor Fellow) where∣in

though the latter is said to have obtained the better, yet being but an inferior, at parting submitted himself with the rest of the Bachelors to the Dean in this form, Domine quid faciemus, as it were begging punishment for their boldness in arguing; to whom Scotus returning this answer, Ite, & facite quid vultis. They forth∣with brake open the Buttery and Kitchin doors, taking all they could meet with, making merry with it all night: Which, 'tis said, gave occasion to their observing the same diversion to this very day, whenever the Dean keeps the Bachelors at Disputations till twelve at night, which they now commonly call a Black night.

193. Rogerus Swisset, alias Swinshead, of the same College, was the first Contriver of the Art Calculatory in disputation, wherein says the Learned Selden, Multiplicatis particulis negativis & traje∣ctis per esse, & non esse, Calculo (which was Beans and Peas) opus erat, quoties erat disputandum* 1.475. But others who have consulted more of his Works than I suppose Mr. Selden ever did, rather think this Art Calculatory, to be some way he had to determine the pro∣portions of matters capable of proportion or degrees, such as action, motion, reaction, intension, remission, &c. whereof the Reader, if he think it worth while, may further satisfie himself from his Print∣ed Works; such as his Introductorium in Calculationem, his Calcu∣lationes cum Quaest. de Reactione, his Treatises de intensione & remissi∣one, maximo & minimo; to which add, M. Bassani Politi, Introdu∣ctorium in Calculationes Swisset, most of which, if not all, are in Merton College Library.

194. The same Roger Swisset found out many things in Mathe∣maticks, which no body found before him, & perpauci post eum jam Inventa comprehendere valuerunt, says Pitseus of himf 1.476. And the Honorable Robert Dudley of Christ Church College Oxon (made Duke by the Emperorg 1.477, with the Title of Northumberland here in En∣gland, whereof he fansied himself wrongfully deprived) contri∣ved many Engines and Mathematical Instruments not known be∣fore, now in the possession of the Great Duke of Tuscany, to whose Ancestors he applyed himself in his discontent, by whom he was succor'd and highly valued for his great Learning, and with whom his Children now remain to this day in Wealth and Honor, retain∣ing

the Titles of Dukes of Northumberland and Earls of Warwick and Leicester; which Titles others say, and perhaps more right∣ly too, were conferred on them by the Pope, in whose Quarrel they were pretended at least to have been losth 1.478.

195. Of later years the highly ingenious Sir Christopher Wren, in the year 1668. first found out a straight line equal to a Cycloid and the parts thereof, as is clearly made appear in his behalf by the Right Honorable and Learned, the Lord Viscount Brouncker, Chancellor to Her Majesty, and President of the Royal Society; and the Reverend and Learned Dr. John Wallisi 1.479. The same Right Wor∣shipful and very learned Person Sir Christopher Wren, found out also several new Geometrical Bodies, that arise by the application of two Cylinders and one Lenticular Body, fit for grinding one ano∣ther; by whose mutual attrition will necessarily be produced a Co∣noides Hyperbolicum, and two Cylindroidea Hyperbolica: The En∣gine whereby this may be done being represented in Sculpture in our Philosophical Transactions, and designed for grinding Hyperbo∣lical glassesk 1.480. He also first observed that a plain straight edged Chi∣sel, set any way obliquely to a Cylinder of wood, did necessarily torn it into a Cylindroides Hyperbolicum Convexo-concavum, the se∣veral sections whereof are accuratly demonstrated by the Reverend and Learned Dr. John Wallis our English Archimedesl 1.481.

196. The same Dr. John Wallis, Savilian Professor of Geome∣try in this Ʋniversity, in the year 1656. published his new method called his Arithmetick of Infinites, for the more expedite and ef∣fectual enquiry into the Quadrature of Curvilinear figures, or o∣ther difficult Problems in Geometry; and therein, amongst other things (at the Scholium of his 38 Proposition) shewd the way of comparing straight and crooked lines, which gave occasion to Mr. William Neil (in pursuance thereof) in the year 1657. to find out (the first of any Man) a straight line equal to a Curve, of which we have an account in the Philosophical Transactions of Novemb. 17. 1673m 1.482.

197. The same Reverend and Learned Dr. John Wallis, a∣mongst his other numerous and new Performances in Arithmetick and Geometry, first demonstrated the impossibility of squaring the Circle, Arithmetically, according to any way of notation yet ge∣nerally

receivedn 1.483, and what kind of new notation must be intro∣duced to express it, with divers methods of squaring the Circle, Ellipsis, and Hyperbole, so far as the nature of Numbers will bear, having apply'd his method of Infinites in order thereunto; as also for rectifying of Curve-lines, plaining of Curve-surfaces, squaring of innumerable sorts of Curve-lined figures, plain and solid (a∣mongst which are a multitude of figures of infinite length, and fi∣nite content) determining their Centers of Gravity, and other ac∣cidents.

198. He has also adjusted the strength of percussions and reflexi∣ons (or repercussions) and other motions to Geometrical measures, deduced from principles of Elasticity; and has estimated the ar∣tificial force acquired in all sorts of Mechanick Engins, deduced from our common principle of the Reciprocation of strength and time; with many other improvements of Arithmetick, Algebra, Geometry, Mechanicks, and other parts of Mathematicks, in his Arithmetick of Infinites, his Treatise of the Cycloid, with that ad∣joyned of the rectification of Curves; his Treatise of Motion, and other his Printed Works.

199. In Musick (which is Arithmetick adorned with sounds) to pass by a Harpsechord that I met with at Sir Tho. Penystons with Cats-gut strings. It hath been lately observed here at Oxford, that though Viol or Lute strings rightly tuned do affect one another, yet most of them do it not in all places alike, as has till now been supposed: for if the lesser of two Octaves be touched with the hand or bow, each half of the greater will answer it, but will stand still in the middle; and if the greater of the two Octaves be touched on either of its halves, all the lesser will answer it, but if touched on the middle, the lesser will not stir any where at all. So if the lesser string of two fifths be touched on either of its halves, each third part of the greater will answer it, but if on the middle they will not stir; and if the greater of two fifths be touched on ei∣ther of its thirds, each half of the lesser will answer it, but if in the divisions they will not stir: and so of twelfths, fifteenths, &c.

200. Which Phaenomena I shall always gratefully acknowledge were first discovered to me by the ingenious Thomas Pigot B. A. and Fellow of Wadham College, which have also been observed for about these two years, by the no less ingenious William Noble M. A.

of Merton College: The solution whereof in all their Cases, as re∣ceived from the learned and accurate hand of the Reverend Nar∣cissus Marsh D. D. and Principal of St. Alban Hall, one of the most cordial Encouragers of this Design, take as followeth: which though so exquisitely done, that it seems not capable of much ad∣dition or amendment, yet he modestly will have called but a short Essay touching the (esteemed) Sympathy between Lute or Viol strings.

201. Wherein he first lays it down as a Postulatum, that if two Lute or Viol strings be rightly tuned, the one being touched with the hand or bow, the other will answer, or tremble at its motion, which holds also in some measure in Wire strings; and between Or∣gan pipes and Viol strings, but not between Wire and Viol strings. For the clearer solution of which Phaenomenon in all its cases, he has laid down these two following Principles.

Princip. 1. That strings which are Ʋnisons are of the same, or a proportionable length, bigness, and tension; so that by how much any string is longer than other, caeteris paribus, by so much smaller, or more tended; and by how much bigger, by so much shorter or more tended must it be, to render them Ʋnisons, w^ch will appear in the following Cases. Whereunto he premiseth,

That in strings moved by an equal force, through a like medium, the difference of motion does arise from the difference of magni∣tude and tension, wherefore (the force and medium being alike) he Premiseth

• 1. That strings of the same cize move equally fast, because they cut the Air with the same facility. Hence
• 2. That the greater any string is in diameter (or circumfe∣rence) the slower it moves (and on the contrary) because it finds the greater resistance in the Air.
• 3. That strings of the same length and tension move to the same distance, because they have the same compass to play. Hence
• 4. That the longer, or less tended, any string is, the farther it moves (and on the contrary) because of the greater com∣pass it can fetch.

Whence he infers this Conclusion,

That (in strings moved through the same medium) the swiftness of motion does arise from the greater force, and less cize or bigness; the compass of vibration, from the greater length (or force) and

less tension; and the quickness or frequency of vibration, from the greater or swifter motion, and less compass.

202. This premised, he proceeds to his first Hypothesis, and shews, that if A B and C D, Tab. 15. Fig. 1. be equal in length, as in Viol strings, what sounds and vibrations they will produce ac∣cording to their different bigness and tension in the following Cases.

Cas. 1. Let A B = (i. e. be equal to) C D, Tab. 15. Fig. 1. have the same cize and tension, and be touched with an equal force, they will vibrate to equal distances EG=IK (per praemissam 3) in the same time (per praem. 1.) whereby striking the Air in∣to alike arches, or arches of equal circles, with the same brisk∣ness, and alike quick or frequent returns of their vibrations, they will produce the same sound, and so be unisons, 1 to 1 vibration.

Cas. 2. Let A B=C D, Fig. 1. have the same cize and a greater tension, 'twill with the same force, vibrate proportionably to a less distance (per praemis. 4.) in a shorter time (per praem. 1.) as, if double the tension, to half the distance EF=1/2EG or IK, in half the time; striking the air into an arch of a great∣er circle (and that so much the greater, as A B is a chord of fewer degrees to A G B, the less) which doing brisk and smartly with a quick return, because of the little compass it fetches, 'twill beget a sound so much the more acute, as its vibrations (are shorter, and thereby) come thicker and oft∣ner; i. e. of double the acuteness, or an upper octave to C D 2 to 1 vibration.

Cas. 3. Let A B=C D, Tab. 15. Fig. 2. have a greater cize and the same tension, it will with the same force, vibrate to the same distance E G=I K (per praem. 3.) but in a longer time proportionably (per praem. 2.) as, if it be double in diame∣ter (and so in circumference, i. e. quadruple in bulk) in twice the time; striking a Note so much the more grave, as its vi∣brations return slower and seldomer, and are thereby fewer, i. e. twice as grave, or an under octave to C D, 1 to 2 vibra∣tions.

Cas. 4. Let A B=C D Fig. 2. have as much greater a cize as tension, it will, with an equal force, vibrate to a less distance

proportionably; as if double the cize and tension, to half the distance E F=1/2 E G or I K in the same time (per Cas. 2. & 3.) and so keeping touch in their vibrations, they will strike unisons 1 to 1 vibration.

Cas. 5. Let A B=C D Fig. 2. have as much greater cize as less tension, 'twill with the same force vibrate to a greater distance proportionably, in a time greater in a duplicat proportion; as if double the cize, and but half the tension, to double the distance E H=2 E G or I K, in quadruple the time (per Cas. 2. & 3.) and so will strike an under disdiapason or 15^th to C D, 1 to 4 vibrations; as on the contrary C D to A B an up∣per, 4 to 1 vibr.

Where by the way he gives notice, that when he speaks of strings (of a different cize) being moved by the same or an equal force (which is also to be understood in all the following cases where not exprest) that he means it that way their gravity does propend, viz. downward in those that are Horizontally streined, lest their proper gravity might be thought to cause a difference.

203. Thus having absolved his first Hypothesis concerning strings of equal length, he proceeds to his second, and shews that if A B and C D, Fig. 3. be unequal in length, as in most Lute-strings, what vibrations and sounds they will produce, according to their different cizes and tension also in the following Cases.

Cas. 1. Let A B › (i. e. be longer than) C D, Tab. 15. Fig. 3. have the same cize and tension, it will with an equal force, vibrate proportionably to a greater distance (per praem. 4.) in a greater time (per praem. 1.) as if twice as long to double the distance, LN=2 LM: For AL. LN::CL. LM. (& AN. CM::NL. ML. [per 4. 6. Euc.] ergo Arch. AN=Arc. CMD) and that in twice the time; striking the air into an arch of a circle of double the Radius; by which double slower re∣turn of its vibrations, 'twill produce a sound twice as grave, or an under octave to C D. 1 to 2 vibrations.

Cas. 2. Let AB › CD Fig. 3. have the same cize, and a tension as much greater as 'tis longer, 'twill with an equal force, vi∣brate to the same distance LM (per praem. 4. vel per Cas. 1. Hyp. 2. & Cas. 2. Hyp. 1.) in the same time (per praem. 1.) striking the air (with alike briskness) into an arch of a circle, so

much greater proportionably, as CD is the chord of fewer degrees, and so will produce alike sounds or unisons. 1 to 1 vibration.

Cas. 3. Let AB › CD, Fig. 3. have the same cize and a tension as much less, as 'tis longer; 'twill vibrate to a distance, and in a time greater in a duplicate proportion (per praem. 4. & 1. vel per Cas. 1. Hyp. 2. & Cas. 2. Hyp. 1.) as, if being double, it has but half the tension to quadruple the distance LO=4 LM in quadruple the time, and so will produce a sound 4 times as grave, or an under disdiapason to CD 1 to 4 vibr.

Cas. 4. Let AB › CD, Tab. 15. Fig. 4. have a cize as much greater as 'tis longer, and the same tension. 'twill vibrate to a greater distance proportionably (per praem. 4. vel per Cas. 1. Hyp. 2.) in a time greater in a duplicate proportion (per praem. 2. vel per Cas. 3. Hyp. 1.) as if double in length and cize, to double the distance PR=2 PQ in quadruple the time; and so will strike an under disdiapason or 15^th to CD. 1 to 4 vibr.

Cas. 5. Let AB › CD, Tab. 15. Fig. 5. have a cize as much less as 'tis longer, and the same tension; 'twill with the same force, vibrate to a greater distance proportionably (per praem. 4. vel Cas. 1. Hyp. 2.) as if twice as long to double the di∣stance TX=2 TV, in the same time (per praem. 2.) and so keep∣ing pace in their vibrations will strike unisons, 1 to 1. vibr.

Cas. 6. Let AB › CD, Fig. 4. have both cize and tension as much greater as 'tis longer, 'twill vibrate to the same distance PQ (per praem. 4. vel Cas. 2. Hyp. 2.) in a longer time proportion∣ably (per praem. 2.) as if double the cize, in twice the time, and so will strike an under octave, 1 to 2 vibrations.

Cas. 7. Let AB › CD, Fig. 5. have both cize and tension as much less, as 'tis longer; 'twill vibrate to a distance greater in a duplicate proportion (per. Cas. 3. Hyp. 2.) in a time pro∣portionably greater (per praem. 2.) as if double the length, it has but half the cize and tension, to quadruple the distance TY=4TV in twice the time, and so will strike an under octave 1 to 2 vibr.

Cas. 8. Let AB › CD, Fig. 4. have a cize as much greater, and a tension as much less as 'tis longer; 'twill vibrate to a distance greater in a duplicate proportion (per Cas. 3. Hyp. 2.) in a time greater in a triplicate proportion (per praem. 2.) as if dou∣ble

in length and cize, and but half so much tended, to qua∣druple the distance PS=4 PQ in octuple the time; and so will strike an under trisdiapason, or a 22^d, 1 to 8. vibr.

Cas. 9 Let AB › CD, Fig. 5. have a cize as much less, and a ten∣sion as much greater as 'tis longer; 'twill vibrate to the same distance TV (per Cas. 2. Hyp. 2.) in a time proportionably less (per praem. 2. vel Cas. 3. Hyp. 1.) as if half the cize in half the time; and thereby will strike an upper octave, 2 to 1 vibr.

All which Cases, may be thus briefly expressed (putting T for Ten∣sion, D for the Cize or Diameter, and L for the length of the string:) supposing T / LXD = 1 to be the acuteness of the sound proposed (to which you compare the rest) the acuteness in the other cases com∣pared to it, will be in the proportions following respectively.

Hypoth. 1.	Case 1.	2.	3.	4.	5.
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Hypoth. 2.	Case 1.	2.	3.	4.	5.
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6.	7.	8.	9.
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The reason of which manner of expression, depends on this; that (in Proportions expressed after the manner of Fractions) increasing that above the line, doth increase the value (and so doth the increase of Tension, increase the acuteness:) But increasing that under the line, doth diminish the value (and so doth the increase of the length, and the increase of the cize, diminish the acuteness) in the same proportion. Which may serve for a brief demonstration of the whole.

By which may be judged of, all other more mixt or compound Cases, which are infinite, according to the divers unequal pro∣portions, of length, bigness, and tension; but being all made out of, or founded on these, they will all hold true in Analogy to them.

204. From many of which Cases 'tis plain and easie, that the sympathy and consent of strings lies not wholly in their like tension

and formation of pores, as was supposed §. 24. of the first Cha∣pter of this Book. Whence also 'tis equally easie to make these three following Illations.

1. That strings agreeing in either length, bigness, or tension, can be made unisons but four ways. 1. If they be of the same length, bigness, and tension (per Cas. 1. Hyp. 1.) 2. Of the same length, and one a cize and tension equally greater than the o∣ther (per Cas. 4. Hyp. 1.) 3. Of the same cize, and one a length and tension equally greater (per Cas. 2. Hyp. 2.) 4. Of the same tension, and one as much longer as 'tis less (per Cas. 5. Hyp. 2.) and after the same manner when they disagree in all three, as will be obvious to the considering: Wherefore unisons are always strings of the same, or a proportionable length, bigness, and tension.

2. That unisons may be moved by the same force, in the same time; or being moved by the same or an equal force, will vibrate in the same time; as is manifest in the fore-mention∣ed Cases, to which all others bear Analogy.

3. That octaves being moved by the same or an equal force, the upper will vibrate in half the time, that the under does, or twice to its once (per Cas. 2 & 3. Hyp. 1. & Cas. 1, 6, 7, & 9. Hyp. 2.) wherefore they can by no force be made to vi∣brate together; for as much as the same string (being of the same length and tension) always vibrates in the same time; a greater force only making it fly out to a greater distance, or fetch a greater compass in its vibrations, and thereby move (but not vibrate) faster, per Conclus. post Praemissas. And the same is verified concerning all other Notes.

205. Having done with his first Principle, with the Hypotheses, and several Cases attending it, the same Reverend and Learned Dr. N. M. proceeds to his second Principle, viz. That all tuned strings either are or consist of unisons, which will plainly appear from the division of the Monochord; where,

1. Ʋnisons are as AB to BC, Fig. 6. 1 to 1 part, or vibration, per Illationem 1. & 2.

2. A Diapason or Octaves, as BC to CD, Fig. 7. 1 to 2 Ʋnisons, or 2 to 1 Vibrat. per Illat. 3.

3. A Diapente, or perfect fifths, as CD to DE, Fig. 8. 2 to 3 Ʋnisons, or 3 to 2 vibrat.

4. A Dia••••sseron, or fourths, as DE to EF, Fig. 9. 3 to 4 Ʋni∣s••••••, or 4 to 3 vibrat.

5. A Ditone, or greater thirds, as EF to FG, Fig. 10. 4 to 5 Ʋnisons, or 5 to 4 vibrat.

6. A Semiditone, or lesser thirds, as FG to GH, Fig. 11. 5 to 6 Ʋnisons, or 6 to 5 vibrat.

7. A Diapason with a Diapente, or twelfths, as IK to KL, Fig. 12. 1 to 3 Ʋnisons, or 3 to 1 vibrat.

8. A Disdiapason or fifteenths, as MN to NO, Fig. 13. 1 to 4 Ʋ∣nisons; or 4 to 1 vibrat.

And so for the rest, whereof the chief may be expressed on one line, Fig. 14.

Where	AB. AC. or AC. CG or AD. AG. are	8.
AC. AD. or AE. AG.	5.
AD. AE.	4
AE. AF	3 ma.
AF. AG.	3 mi.
AD. AF.	6.
AC. AF.	10.
AB. AD. or AB. BE. or AC. AG.	12.
AB. AE. or AB. BF. or AB. CG.	15.
AB. AF. or AB. BG.	17.
AB. AG.	19.

206. And thus much for his Principles, whence he goes on to some special or particular Propositions, in order to demonstrate the late observed Phaenomena, which immediatly follow.

Prop. 1. If two strings be tuned Ʋnisons AB. BC. Fig. 6. and either be touched with the hand or bow, the other will answer it, by trembling at its motion.

For the Air being put into an arched figure and motion by the string that is touched, rolls away to the other, which finding of a length, bigness, and tension, that are the same, or proportionable (per Il∣lat. 1.) it easily (by the force it received from the touched string)

imprints both figure and motion into it, in the first Case (per Cas. 1. Hyp. 1. Princ. 1.) or else communicates its motion only, in the se∣cond, (per Illat. 2.) whereby the next undulation of Air, from the touched string, taking it just at its return, and in like manner the consequent ones, and moving it as before, they continue their vibrations together, passibus aequis, Q. E. D.

Prop. 2. If the lesser of two Octaves BC, be touched Fig. 7. each half of the greater C2, 2D will answer it, the middle 2 standing still; which he thus demonstrates.

About CD wrap loosly 3 narrow strips of paper, one in the middle 2, the other betwixt C2 and 2D (exemp. gr. in p and q) then with the finger or bow strike BC, or any part of it, and you will see the papers in p q, dance and play up and down and about the string, 'twixt C2 and 2D, but that in 2 stand still. Whence it is evident, that CD moves in its two halves, by two distinct motions. Which he thinks occasioned by the arched Airs, rushing with the force of BC against all CD, and moveing it somwhat forward out of its place; but finding it of a disproportionate length, bigness, and tension, to be excited by so quick vibrations, as may correspond with those of BC, and the undulations whereinto they strike the Air (by which alone it causes any string to vibrate) per Illat. 3. the second undulation of the Air from BC meets CD just at its re∣turn (CD's vibrations to BC's, and the Airs undulations caused thereby, being as 1 to 2) whereby it is beat back, and rebounds from 2 towards BC, when the third undulation from BC occurring, forces it forward again; whereupon (not being able to move backward nor forward) the undulations break and roll away to each side, towards C and D. Which parts C2. 2 D being Ʋnisons to BC, per Princip. 2. it easily moves them per Prop. 1. and so, (though Des Cartes denys ito 1.484) they apparently vibrate in p q (vid. Fig. 15.) by two distinct motions, Q. E. D.

Prop. 3. If the greater of two Octaves CD be toucht on either of its halves C2. 2D. all the lesser will answer it, but if on the middle 2 it will stir no where. Which is thus demonstrated.

About BC, Fig. 7. wrap loosly one strip of paper, then with the finger or bow, strike CD on either half, C2 or 2 D, and you will see

the paper dance and play as before, and that in all parts of BC alike; but if you strike it on the middle 2, the paper will not stir: The reason whereof seems to be, that C2. 2D being Ʋnisons to BC, per Princip. 2. if either be touched, BC will answer it, per Prop. 1. But CD having a disproportionate length, bigness and ten∣sion to BC: if touched in 2 (whereby the whole string is equally moved) it cannot affect it, by reason of their different vibrations; as in the former Proposition, Q. E. D.

Note that this, and (especially) the following Experiments, must be tryed curiously by a gentle touch of the string (only so hard as to make the papers move) and that with a bow rather than the finger: For if CD be touched boldly in 2 (with the finger he means, not the bow) by reason of the strong motion communica∣ted to its parts (and happily divided there, which perhaps may be the cause too, why, if you strike it with the bow in 2, it sends forth forth a screaking broken sound) BC will tremble, but with a mo∣tion nothing so brisk, as when touched with but half the force any where else.

Prop. 4. If the lesser of two Fifths, CD Fig. 8. be touched on either of its halves C2. 2D, each third part of the greater D X, XZ, ZE, will answer it, but if in the middle 2 they will not stir. Which will plainly appear,

By laying papers as before, on t, x, 3, z, v, if then you strike CD on C2 or 2D, you'l see the papers on t, 3, v, frisk and daunce, while those on x and z stand still, but if you strike it on 2 none will move. Demonstratio eadem est cum superioribus, for C2. 2D are Ʋnisons, and CD an Octave, to DX, XZ, ZE, per Princ. 2.

If it be demanded, wherefore DZ or XE (which are Ʋnisons to CD per Princip. 2.) do not vibrate when it is touched in 2. He answers, if DZ, then by the same reason XE also, and so XZ would at the same time be moved by contrary motions, as in Fig. 16. Q. E. A.

Prop. 5. If the greater of two fifths DE be touched, Fig. 8. on either of its thirds DX, XZ, ZE, each half of the lesser C2. 2D, will answer it: but if in the divisions XZ, they will not stir.

Experimentum & demonstratio instituuntur ut supra, DX, XZ, ZE, be∣ing Ʋnisons to C2. 2D, and octaves to CD, per Princip. 2.

If it be askt, why, when DE is toucht on X or Z, whereby the conterminous parts seem principally to be moved, CD does not vibrate, which is Ʋnison to it. He answers, that if all CD could tremble, then beating the Air back again on DE, it would at once shake DZ and XE (Ʋnisons to CD) as in the former Propos. Q.E.A.

Prop. 6. If the lesser of two twelfths IK, Fig. 12. be touched, each third part of the greater, K a, a b, b L, will move; but in the divisions, a b stand still. On the contrary, if the greater be touched on its parts, K a, a b, b L, all the less will tremble; but if on the divisions a b, it will not stir.

Experimentum & Demonstratio ut ante, IK being a Ʋnison to K a, a b, b L, per Princip. 2.

Prop. 7. If the lesser of two fifteenths, MN Fig. 13. be touched, the greater will move in all its quarters N c, c 4, 4 d, d O, but not in their divisions, c 4 d. On the contrary, if the greater be touched on either of its quarters N c, c 4, 4 d, d O, all the less will move; but if on the divisions c 4 d, it will stand still.

Experimentum & demonstratio instituuntur ut supra. MN being Ʋnison to N c, c4, 4 d, d O, per Princip. 2.

207. Thus having cleared the late observed Phaenomena men∣tioned above in §. 199. he infers the following Corollaries.

• 1. That all Consonancy (or Sympathetick motion of strings) is made by Ʋnisons, that is, 1 moves 1, and not 1.2, or 2.3, &c. as appears from the fore-going Propositions. Hence
• 2. That each string at the due touch of another, will tremble in as many places as it contains Ʋnisons thereunto, whether to the whole or its parts. So a lower octave in 2, each half be∣ing Ʋnison to the higher; a lower fifth in three, and the higher in two, they being as 3 Ʋnisons to 2, &c. Hence
• 3. That all tuned strings whatever (whether thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, &c.) will answer each other more or less, at the due touch of their Correspondents: But the tremor or vibration in some of them being made in many places at the same time (according to the number of the Ʋnisons, per Corol. 2.) and therefore not great, where the part moved is but short (per Cas. 1. Hyp. 2. Princ. 1.) it cannot always be discerned by

• by the sense, but follows by a parity of reason; contrary to what Des Cariesp 1.485 asserts, that such vibrations are found on∣ly in upper thirds and fifths.

208. From the same Principles may be shewn how a Man may strike any two Notes with his mouth at the same time. For if a Man open his mouth in two places at once, as AB to BC, Fig. 17. or as 1 to 2 both in length and bredth, and then force out the breath strongly against them (thus opened) so that the sound be all begot∣ten there (as in whistling) you will hear distinct and perfect octaves, per Princ. 2. And so secondly, if a Man can open his lips as BC to CD, Fig. 18. or as 2 to 3 in length & bredth, and do as before, he will strike fifths, per Princip. 2. And after the same manner for the rest of the Notes, according to the division of the Monochord.

209. According to which Hypothesis one Hooper here of Oxford could so close his lips, as to sing an octave at the same time. And I know two other persons now living here, that can do it though their lips seem not to be set in that posture, yet they shut them so close that they can by no means pronounce any thing articulate. But he that excels them all, and indeed to a miracle, is one Mr. Joshuah Dring, a young Gentleman of Hart-hall, who sings a Song articulatly, ore patulo, and all in octaves so very strongly, & yet with∣out much straining, that he equals if not excels the loudest Organ.

210. By what means he performs this, is hard to guess, unless the Epiglottis and Ʋvula be both concerned in it, one sounding the upper, and the other the lower octave; or either of them apart, o∣pening unequally as 1 to 2 in Fig. 17. or which is most likely of the three, by an unequal application of the Ʋvula to the Epiglot∣tis. For his own part he can give but little account of it himself, only that he performs it in the lower part of his throat, and that it came casually on him at first, upon straining his voice; yet must it not be reckoned a meer casualty neither, for he sings these octaves, or otherwise (and both very strongly) according to pleasure. And this is all I know of new, concerning the Mathematicks, ex∣cept there be any thing of Chorography in the Map of Oxford-shire prefixt to this Essay, that may be thought worthy the name of a new Contrivance.

211, In Natural Philosophy, Medicine and Anatomy, there have also been many new Inventions and Improvements, made of later years in this Ʋniversity, which as they promiscuously fell out in order

of time, immediatly follow. The Honorable and Ingenious Ro∣bert Dudley Esq formerly of Christ Church aforementioned, titu∣lar Duke of Northumberland, was the first Inventor of the Pulvis Cornachinus, being a mixture of Diagridium, Tartar, and Diapho∣retic Antimony, with cream of Tartar, the proportions varying pro re natâq 1.486; a Medicine of such general and excellent use, that Mar∣cus Cornachinus (from whom it has its name) wrot a whole Trea∣tise concerning it, commending it to the World as highly useful in all Diseases whatever, requiring Purgation.

212. Nor doubt I in the least, notwithstanding the pretensions of the famous Thomas Bartholin, and Olaus Rudbeck, but that the ingenious Mr. Jolliff of this Ʋniversity, first of Wadham, and af∣ter of Pembroke College, was the first Inventor of that fourth sort of Vessels, plainly differing from the Veins, Arteries, and Nerves, now commonly called the Lympheducts: That he knew them about the beginning of June, An. 1652. we have the testimony of the learned and famous Dr. Glisson, to whom he discovered them, coming to Cambridge to take his Doctors degreer 1.487; at what time, says the Learned Dr. Walter Charleton, 'tis plain from Bartholins own Book set forth in May, 1653. that he scarce ever dreamt of thems 1.488.

213. Yet I know the Learned Bartholin, amongst his Anatomi∣cal Histories, tells us he first found them the 15^th of Decemb. 1651. and again, the 9^th of January, and 28 of Febr. 1652t 1.489. and that the Learned Olaus Rudbeck says, He first discovered them in Octo∣ber and November, 1650u 1.490. both anticipating the date of Dr. Glis∣son. But I have been frequently told by my worthy and learned Friend, Dr. Robert Stapley, an eminent Physitian, and one of un∣questionable fidelity, Contemporary with Mr. Jolliff at Pembroke College till Oxford was made a Garrison for the King, about the Year 1642. that they were often shewn to him by the same Mr. Jolliff while they were Students there. To which add the Testimony of the fore-cited Dr. Charleton, that these Vessels were known & com∣monly talked of amongst the Fellows and Candidats of the Famous College of Physitians in London, many years before they heard any news of them from beyond Seaw 1.491. Not to mention that Dr. High∣more seems to have noted somthing of them, though veiled under a different name and description.

214. The same Learned Dr. Highmore, formerly of Trinity College Oxon. was the first that we know of that treated of the stru∣cture of Mans body, adapting it to the then new received Doctrine of the circulation of the Blood; for the proof whereof he seems chiefly to have intended his piece of Anatomy, dedicating it to the Author of the Invention, the famous Dr. Harvey: Wherein he has several new Cuts of the Spleen, Pancreas, Testes, &c. of which, though most have since received considerable Improvements from others, yet it must be acknowledged that he deserved very well for his diligent and laborious search into them all, but more par∣ticularly for his first discovery of the new ductus for the carriage of the seed from the Testes to the Parastataex 1.492, and for his new descri∣ptions of the Vessels and Fibres of the Spleen, by the ancient Ana∣tomists held to be Veinsy 1.493, and of the intricate plexus of the Para∣statae, &cz 1.494.

215. In Natural Philosophy, the famous Dr. Willis of Christ Church College Oxon. and Sidleyan Professor of Natural Philosophy in this Ʋniversity, first taught us, that the Generations, Perfections, and Corruptions of Natural Bodies, whether Mineral, Vegetable, or Animal; and so likewise of Bodies Artificial, do depend upon fermentations, raised from the different proportions and motions of Spirit, Sulphur, Salt, Water, and Earth, which he has consti∣tuted the ultimate sensible principles of mixed bodiesa 1.495. According to which, in his Book de Febribus, he has given us the Anatomy of Blood, and declared the true causes and nature of fermentations in the Juices, and upon them built his most rational Doctrine of Fe∣vers, intermittent, putrid and malignant, with particular instances and observations concerning them, much different from the ways of the Ancients: to which he has superadded the Spagyrical A∣natomy of Ʋrin.

216. In Anatomy (wherein he had the assistance of the deser∣vedly famous, Sir Christopher Wren, Dr. Millington, Dr. Edmund King, Dr. Masters, but chiefly of Dr. Lower) his method of dis∣secting the Brain is new, and most natural; and so exact, that there is scarce any one part in it, but what has received consider∣able advancements from him. To mention all would be endless, let it therefore suffice, that after his description of the Palace in

general, he has allotted the several appartments to the faculties of the sensitive Soul: His placing the Spirits to serve to voluntary actions in the Cerebrum, and those that serve Involuntary in the Cerebellum, is a noble and useful discovery.

217. His assigning the cortical part for generating Spirits, and the seat of Memory; the Medullary, or Corpus callosum, for the o∣perations of the Phantasie; the Corpus striatum for the common sense; the Medulla oblongata, a promptuary for the Spirits, for per∣forming the office of Sensation, and spontaneous motion; and the Prominentiae orbiculares, and their Epiphyses, for conveying the impresses of the passions, and natural instinct, between the Cerebrum and the Cerebellum, are highly ingenious and his own; and so is his, and Dr. Lowers joint discovery of the curious plexus, of the Vertebral and spinal Veins and Arteries; their Neurologia is also most elaborate and no less admirable, tracing the Nerves from their very source, and following them through all the Meanders of the Body, and thence shewing us the reason of the secret sympathies of the parts.

218. And although Dr. Willis was not the first that mention'd two Souls in a Man, viz. the Sensitive and Rational; yet there is no body has proved it so well as himself; as likewise that the sensi∣tive is igneous; and that there are two parts of it, the flammea and lucida: Where he discourses of the manner how the Soul performs its operations in us; he does it, as indeed he has done all, with the greatest Improvements within the compass of Wit and Reason: And having fully discovered the Hypostasis of the sensitive Soul, its affections and senses; he further obliges Mankind with a most ratio∣nal account of the diseases seated in it, and the Nervous Juice, ac∣cording to the different parts of the Brain, and the Systema nervo∣sum; placing Cephalalgies in the Meninges; Lethargies, somnolen∣tia continua, Coma, Carus, Pervigilium, and Coma vigil, in the An∣fractus and Cortical part of the Brain; the Incubus in the Cerebellum: Then descending to the Corpus callosum, he finds the Spirits there somtimes hurled round into Vertigo's, somtimes exploded in Spasms, Convulsions, Epilepsies, somtimes eclypsed in Apoplexies.

219. In the Corpora striata, and Medulla oblongata, if the spi∣rits that serve to motion be disturbed, thence he shews come like∣wise Spasins and Convulsions; if those that serve to sensation, do∣lor; if either, or both, are impeded or destroyed, the Palsie:

And as the sensitive Soul is the seat and organ of the Rational, so the ill constitution of that (he observes) proves oftentimes the disorder of the other: For the Animal spirits being spirituo-saline, if they are inflamed, they produce a Phrensie; if acid, Melancholy; if acrous, like Aqua stygia, Madness; if vapid, Stupidity. In dis∣coursing of which distempers, his Aetiologies of the various sym∣ptoms, his methods of cure, and forms of prescriptions, are found∣ed upon far more rational principles, than ever Greece taught us. And how far Antiquity, and later Ages too, were mistaken in their notions of divers other diseases; his evincing Hysterical and Hypo∣chondriacal affections, the Colic, Gout, Scurvy, some sort of Asth∣ma's, the Tympanitis, with others; either wholly, or in part to be Nervous, does plainly demonstrate.

220, Nor has the Pathological part of Physick been only hap∣py in his labors; but the Pharmaceutical part likewise highly im∣proved in the Inventions of his Spiritus Salis Armoniaci succinatus, Syrup of Sulphur, preparation of Steel without Acids, and from thence of his artificial Acidulae: In general, this part of Physick has been so far advanced by him, that what was formerly Empiri∣cal, and but lucky hits, is now become most rational, by his making the operations of Chathartic, Emetic, Diaphoretic, Cardiac, and Opiat Medicines, intelligible by Mechanical Explications; having subjoined to each most neat and artificial Formula's, as well Chy∣mical as others; a Province but meanly adorned by the Ancients, though of infinite use. And where Nature is exorbitant in any of these Evacuations, he has likewise taught us how to check and reduce her; adding for the better illustration of the whole, a new Anatomy of the Stomach, Intestines, Gula, Veins, and Arteries.

221. Which he has seconded with a further discovery and ra∣tional account of Thoracic and Epatic Medicines, and of the Dis∣eases belonging to those parts; discoursing also of Venesection, stop∣ping of Hemorraghies, of Issues and cutaneous Distempers: In all which it may be observed, what is almost peculiar to him; that there is nothing trivial, most new, and all most ingenious. To which add, that the organs of Respiration, which have been the sub∣ject of so many Learned Pens of late, are best understood, from his most elegant descriptions, and beautiful Cuts. But it is too difficult a task to give a just account how far Physick, Anatomy, Chy∣mistry, and Philosophy, stand indebted to him for their Improve∣ments.

Let it suffice to say, that he has introduced a new Body of Physick, almost universally embraced before all others, and a new Sect of Philosophers at home and abroad called Willisians; so that England (for ought I know) may have as much reason to boast of her Learned Willis, as Coos, and Pergamus of old, of their great Masters in Physick.

222. The Learned and Ingenious Sir Christopher Wren, Savilian Professor of Astronomy in this Ʋniversity, was the first Author of that noble Experiment of injecting Liquors into the Veins of Ani∣mals, first exhibited to the meetings at Oxford, about the Year 1656b 1.496. and thence carryed by some Germans and published abroad; by which operation divers Animals were immediatly pur∣ged, vomited, intoxicated, kill'd or revived, according to the qua∣lity of the Liquor injectedc 1.497, whereof we have several Instances in our Philosophical Transactions of Decemb. 4. 1665d 1.498. From whence arose many other new Experiments.

223. Particularly that of transfusing of Blood out of one A∣nimal into another, first performed here at Oxford about the latter end of February, in the Year 1665e 1.499. by that most exquisite A∣natomist, and eminent Physitian, Dr. Richard Lower Student of Christ Church; the method whereof I shall not here mention, nor the considerations upon it, because there is a particular account of both already given by the Learned Inventor, in his fore-cited Book de Corde, &c. and in our Philosophical Transactionsf 1.500. Nor how much the famous Willis was beholding to him for most of his Anatomical Discoveries, because already freely acknowledged by the Doctor himself, in the Preface to his Book de Cerebro.

224. Wherefore passing by those, I shall only hint in short what I meet with new in Dr. Lowers Book de Corde, a subject though handled by many Learned Men, yet not so far exhausted, but it af∣forded new discoveries, when it came to be examined by this most curious, most judicious Author. For though the Heart by Hippo∣crates was called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, yet Dr. Lower was the first that published the true method of dividing it into its several Muscles, illustrating the same with most elegant Cuts; and by attributing to it a muscular motion, and shewing several ways how it may be impeded or di∣sturbed,

has done a good piece of service toward the advance∣ment of the Pathological part of Physick.

225. His computation of the frequency of the Bloods circu∣lation through the heart, is very ingenious, and the cause he as∣signs of the florid colour of it when emitted, I think is new, and believe generally received: And having discovered the Channels that carry away the Serum that is separated by the Glandules of the Brain, to be those two foramina in the Os Cuneiforme, which empty it into the Jugular Veins, he has sufficiently detected how far the Ancients were mistaken, in making the causes of several di∣stempers to be defluxions or humors falling from the Brain; which passage of the secreted humors into the Jugular Veins, is indeed mention'd also by Dr. Willis, but supposed by most to be Dr. Lowers Invention.

226. The Ingenious John Mayow L. L. D. and Fellow of All-Souls College, but Student in Physick, has lately also taught us that the Air is impregnated with a Nitro-aerial Spirit, and that it is dif∣fused almost through the whole System of Nature; that Fire it self, as to its form and essence, is nothing else but this Nitro-aerial Spi∣rit put into motion, and that all Fermentations, whether tending to generation, perfection, or corruption, also depend on this Spirit, with many other Phaenomena of Nature; all which he has ingeni∣ously deduced from his Nitro-aerial principles, and confirmed them by Experiments.

227. He has taught us also in his Treatise de Motu musculari, that whereas Anatomists have hitherto perswaded us, that the carneous Fibres chiefly make the contraction in Muscles, that it is much more probable that the Fibrillae, transversly set into the greater Fibres, are the immediate instruments of that motion, by reason as well of their position as cize and number. And he has given the best ac∣count that I have any where met with, of the reason of the Incur∣vation of the Leg-bones and Spina dorsi, in the disease called the Rickets.

228. Lastly, the ingenious Edward Tyson M. A. of Magdalen Hall, and Student in Physick, has lately observed, that many o∣ther strong scented Animals, beside the Hyaena odorifera, Catus Zibethicus, or Civet-cat; the Fiber [Castor] or Bever, from whom we have our Castoreum; the Gazella Indica or Capra Moschi, from whom our Musk; and the Fishes, Sepia, Loligo, Purpura, have fol∣licular

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Repositories or Bags, near the exit of the Intestinum rectum, wherein they keep those humors or liquors, that are the Vehicles of their respective scents.

229. This he first observed in a male Pol-cat he dissected here at Oxford, Febr. 4. 1674. and was further confirmed therein the second of March in the year following, 1675. in a female Pol-cat, at the opening whereof I was present my self; since which times, he has found the same in a Fox dissected in the presence of Dr. Grew; and since again in Weasels, Cats, &c. the vesicles or little bags being found by pairs, one on each side the gut; and accord∣ing to the bigness of the Animals, largest in the Fox, and least in the Weasel.

230. Those of the Pol-cat were about the bigness of Peas, of a somwhat oblong figure, and a yellowish colour, and seemed to consist of a double substance, glandulous and membranous; the mem∣branous toward the necks of the bags being cover'd with glandu∣les, but toward the fundus wholly membranous, representing upon being emptied, orbicular muscular Fibres, which he supposes by contraction force the contained humor out into the gut.

231. The use of the Glandules he doubts not to be, to seperate the humor from the mass of blood (all secretions in the Body being performed by the help of Glandules) and the necks of the bags im∣mediatly emptying themselves into the gut, without any continued ductus; and being placed near the Sphincter Ani, made him think the contained humor in respect of the Animal, to be excrementitious. In this Pol-cat it was of somwhat a thick consistence, for the most part white, but in some places of a greenish yellow colour, and up∣on pressing out, of so strong a scent, that I could scarce (I well re∣member) endure the room; which once removed from the body, we could not perceive any considerable ill smell in any of the o∣ther parts.

232. In a Cat that he dissected (which was but a young one, and a female) the bags when blown up were not above the cize of ordinary Peas, seated like the former on both sides the intestinum rectum, just under the Sphincter Ani, which covering them, he sup∣poses might both occasion their not being noted before, and help in the expression of the humor out, which (he observed in the Cat) was not into the gut, but in the limb or margo Ani, the orifices of the bags terminating there, so that he plainly perceived them

before he began to dissect her: The Glandules that seperate the hu∣mor from the mass of Blood, and transmitted it into the bags, af∣forded a pleasant sight, there being seven small round ones placed in a circle about the vesicles, the humor within not being consider∣able but for the faetor.

233. Such Glandules (which he thinks hold the nature of E∣munctories) he has likewise observed in Rabbits, but with no con∣siderable cavity, the liquor whereof he rationally guesses may give the ranck tast we find about those parts after they are roasted: He thinks also such like Glandules are found in Mice and Rats, and observes that in some Animals they are found more glandulous, in others with a more signal bag or cavity. And analogous to these scent-bags in Quadrupeds, he believes those Glandules seated on the rumps of Fowls, whose excretory vessels may be those little protube∣rances or pipes we observe on them; whence 'tis also (as in Rab∣bits) that we find the rumps of Fowls strongest tasted, and to par∣take most of the natural scent of the Fowl.

234. That all Animals conserve their peculiar scents in such like parts, though he dares not assert; yet if the analogy that Na∣ture observes in forming most of the parts, of most Animals alike, be sufficient Logick to warrant an inference, he thinks it highly probable that 'tis so in most; and that should they be found in Man (which he has not yet had opportunity to Experiment) it might be worthy enquiry how far Fistula's, Tenesme's, &c. might be concern'd in them. Which is all I have met with new relating to this County, in Medicine, Anatomy, or Natural Philosophy. For to mention the many and new Experiments of the Famous Mr. Boyle (did we distinctly know which were made here) would be endless, and to recapitulate the New Discoveries (if there be any in this Essay) but a vain repetition.

CHAP. X. Of Antiquities.

AND thus having finish'd the Natural History of Oxford-shire, I had accordingly here put a period to my Essay, but meeting in my Travels with many considerable Anti∣quities, also relating to Arts, either wholly past by both by Le∣land and Camden, or but imperfectly mention'd; and finding that I may as well also note them in other Counties hereafter, as let them alone: I have been perswaded to add (because perhaps a digression that may be acceptable to some) what I have met with in this kind, whether found under ground, or whereof there yet remain any foot-steps above it; such as ancient Mony, Ways, Bar∣rows, Pavements, Ʋrns, ancient Monuments of stone, Fortificati∣ons, &c. whether of the ancient Britans, Romans, Saxons, Danes, Normans. Of which in their order,

2. Leaving the Antiquities and Foundations of Churches and Religious Houses, their Dedications, Patronages, and foundation Charters; with the pedigrees and descents of Families and Lands, &c. as sufficient matter for another Historian, and as too great a task, and too much beside my design, for me to attempt. How∣ever, I have taken care in the Map prefix'd to this Essay, to put a mark for the site of all Religious houses, as well as ancient ways and Fortifications, except Brockeley and Saucomb, both mention'd in the Catalogues of Harpsfieldg 1.501 and Speedh 1.502, which I could not find out, though I sought them diligently.

3. Of British Antiquities that are certainly such, I have met with none here but some pieces of their Mony; whereof, as much as I find not described before, I have caused to be delineated, Tab. 15. Fig. 19, 20, 21. Of which the first no doubt is a Coin of King Cunobelin, a King here in Britan at the time of the birth of our Saviour CHRIST; it shewing a Horse, and his Inscription on one side, and an Ear of Corn and CAMƲ on the reverse; inti∣mating the place of its coinage to be Camulodunum, the Royal City and seat of Cunobelin.

4. Camden, 'tis true, has described a Coin of the same King, not differing in the reverse at all from this; but the Inscription of ours varies from his, in that the final Letter O, is not plac'd in a line with the rest of the preceding Letters under the Horses feet, but just before his breast; the Horse having also a spica or ear of Corn (or some such like thing) placed over his back, Fig. 19. which is not to be found in any of his. This was dug up at Wood-Eaton this present Year 1676. near the House of the Wor∣shipful John Nourse Esq amongst old Foundations, and kindly be∣stowed on me by the same worthy Person.

5. At the same time and place, the small one next engraven; Fig. 20. was also dug up, but whether of the same King or no, does no where appear, it having nothing upon it but somwhat like a Chalice, and a crooked lineation, under which there is also a forked kind of Figure, and a small Crescent; unless the affirmative may be collected from the last of these, the Crescent being to be met with on Cunobelins mony, as is plain from Mr. Camden, and so on the mony which he thinks carries the name of the City Callena, alias Gallena, now Wallingfordi 1.503: Whereof though I can give no better account, I however thought fit to give a draught of it, be∣cause possibly it may meet with a Reader that can.

6. But for the third, that seems adorned with two faces on the obverse, and an ill shapen Horse and a wheel underneath him on the reverse, Fig. 21. dug up at Little Milton, now in the possession of my Reverend and Learned Friend, Mr. Obadiah Walker the wor∣thy Master of Ʋniversity College; I take, notwithstanding the want of an Inscription, to be a coin of Prasutagus, King of the Iceni, mention'd by Tacitus, who out of hopes of preserving his Kingdom and House quiet after his death, made the Emperor Nero, and his two daughters, Co-heirs of his Fortunes. And that the two faces are of him and his valiant Queen Boodiciak 1.504, otherwise called by the same Tacitus, Boudiceal 1.505, and Voadicam 1.506, who in revenge of her own daughters ill usage by the Romans, af∣ter the decease of her husband, raised an Army against them, ut∣terly vanquish'd the ninth Legion, sack'd Camulodunum and Veru∣lam, and slew no less then seventy thousand of themn 1.507.

7. And the ground of this conjecture, I take from the reverse

with the Horse and wheel under him, most times found on the Coins of the same Boodicia, where her name is stamp'd on them, as may be seen both in Mr. Camden and Mr. Speed's Histories: by the horse and wheel intimating perhaps their great strength to lie in their Esseda, a sort of Chariot much used by the Britans in War, as is testified by Caesaro 1.508, and particularly by Tacitus of this very Boudicea, viz. that she was drawn in a Chariot, with her daugh∣ters placed before herp 1.509, when she came to fight Suetonius then Propraetor of Britan. Or else perhaps by this time having learn∣ed of the Romans the necessity and convenience of making mili∣tary ways, and other passages for Carriages through the Woods and marish grounds; in memory of the fact, after the manner of the Romans, as may be seen on the mony of Trajan, Hadrianr 1.510, &c. they might put these horses and wheels on their Coin.

8. Which is all I know remarkable in these British pieces, but that they are all hollowed to a concave on one side, and convex on the other (a concomitant of most, if not all British coin) and that they are all gold, or at least Electrum, as most of the British mony we now find is, which is a sort of metal compounded of gold and silver, and this done either by nature, or proportioned by the Artist. That there is such a metal as natural Electrum, we have not only the testimony of Plinys 1.511, who says, 'tis found com∣monly in trenches and pits. But of Serviust 1.512, and St. Isidore Bishop of Sevil, the latter whereof asserts, that the natural E∣lectrum is of great value, Quod naturaliter invenitur in pretio habe∣tur, are his very words, for that it is more pure then any other metal, and that if poison be put into a vessel made of it, it makes a hissing sparkling noise (as Pliny also witnesses) and casts it self into semicircles, resembling Rain-bows, as well in colours as fi∣gurev 1.513.

9. To which add the testimony of Peter Martyr, a person of unquestionable credit and veracity, who himself saw a great piece of pure natural Electrum, so heavy, that he was unable to move it one way or other, much less to lift it with both hands from the ground: they affirmed (saies he) that it weighed above 300 pounds, at eight ounces to the pound, and that it was found in

the House of a certain Prince, and left him by his Ancestors. And albeit, that in the days of the Inhabitants then living, it was no where digged, yet knew they where the Mine of it was, but were very unwilling to discover the place; yet at length they did, it being ruinated and stopt with stones and rubbish; being much easier to dig then Iron mine, and might be restored again, if Mi∣ners, and others skilful therein, were appointed to work itw 1.514.

10. Some such natural Electrum seems also to be hinted in the Civil Law, and to have been mixed with Silver. Neratius re∣porting that Proculus gave sentence, that it was no matter in a Le∣gacy of Electrine vessels, how much Silver or Electrum was in them, but whether the Silver or Electrum exceeded? which might easily be perceived by ocular inspection; or if so equally mixt that it could not be done, that then recourse was to be had to the Estimat of the Testator, amongst which sort of vessels he usually accounted themx 1.515. Whence 'tis easie to collect, that the Electrum here spoke of, can be no artificial mixture of silver and gold, again mixed with silver; but a natural metal before it mix∣tion with silver.

11. Moreover, that there is also an artificial Electrum, is as e∣vident from the Institutes of the Emperor Justiniany 1.516, and Q. Flor. Tertullianz 1.517: made by intermingling gold and silver, according to the natural mixture; which according to Servius and St. Isidorea 1.518, was of gold in a triple, but according to Plinyb 1.519 and Monsieur Sa∣votc 1.520, in a quadruple proportion, to one of silver; viz. 19 Carats 1/5 of gold, and 4 Carats and 4/5 of silver; which as the same Savot testifies, were the proportions observed by the Emperor Severus Alexander, and Lewis the Twelfth of France, by an Ordinance made at Blois, of Nov. 19. 1506. for the French gold.

12. Which very proportions I should be willing to think our British coins to have; only I guess the Britans had, and made use of, as little Art as might be: Wherefore I am enclined to believe them rather native Electrum, dug and coined thus according as they found it, either richer or poorer; for I have seen some pie∣ces of this sort of mony, much richer in gold then some others are. That gold and silver Mines were worked here in Britan in those

ancienter days, is plain out of Tacitus: Fert Britannia (says he) Aurum & Argentum, & alia metalla, pretium victoriaed 1.521. And Prince Galgacus chief Captain of the Britans, now beat Back as far as Mount Grampius in Scotland, in his speech (before the fight with the Propraetor Agricola) exciting them to indignation against the Romans; amongst other things tells them, that these were the men that had taken from them their fertile Soil, their Mines, and trading Towns: Neque enim Arva nobis, aut metalla, aut Portus sunt, quibus exercendis reservemure 1.522. Now all gold whatever con∣taining some silver more or less, and the Britans not being able to refine it then, as in after Ages, were necessitated to coin Electrum after this manner.

13. That they had and coined silver in these early times, is also plain from Mr. Camden, Mr. Speed, &c. who have given us draughts of silver Coins of Cunobelin, Venutius King of the Bri∣gantes, and Caractacus King of the Silures, both which make not a little for the reputation of my conjecture § § 62 and 63 of the sixth Chapter of this Essay, the Mines there mention'd, in all pro∣bability, being some of those spoken of by Tacitus, and perhaps first belonging to the aboriginal Britans, and after to the Ro∣mans.

14. To this if it be objected out of Caesars Commentaries, that the Britans then used only Copper (and that imported) and Iron rings instead of monyf 1.523; and that this gold might either be also imported, or the Mines discover'd after the conquests of the Romans. It may rationally be answer'd, that Caesars account of the State of Britan (as has been shewn also before in another case, Chap. 3. §. 2. of this Essay) is as imperfect as his Victories or Tra∣vels in it were. For we find in Mr. Speed a gold coin of King Cassivellaun, who was King here in Britan at Caesars arrival; beside the Romans came then not to enrich, but to spoil Britan, how un∣likely it is therefore they should supply them with gold, or find them Mines so early, let the Reader judge.

15. Whereunto it may be added (as Tacitus informs us) that Caesar rather discovered then conquered Britan; that he rather frightened the Inhabitants on the shoars, than got footing there: Quanquam prosperâ pugnâ terruerit Incolas, ac littore potitus sit, potest 〈…〉〈…〉

videri ostendisse posteris, non tradidisseg 1.524, are his very words of him: And that whatever he pretended at Rome, he got little here but dry blows, and the honor of having led an Army hither, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, says Dion Cassius of his first Expeditionh 1.525. And Tacitus rather more than less of his second, who brings in Caractacus encouraging his British Army to recover their Liberty; and in order thereunto, calling upon the names of their An∣cestors, Qui Dictatorem Caesarem pepulissent, that had driven the Di∣ctator Caesar out of the Landi 1.526.

16. Add further hereunto what Strabo delivers concerning his Expeditions into Britan, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that he did nothing great, nor went far up into the Islandk 1.527. And that Tacitus further confesses him beaten hence: for speaking concerning the arguments the Britans used amongst themselves to perswade the Revolt under Voadica, he says they brought this as a main one, that could they shew but the cou∣rage of their Ancestors, Recessuros (i. e. Romanos) ut Divus Julius recessissetl 1.528: intimating, that his sudden departure hence was little better than a flight. Not to mention what Quintilian says of one M. Aper, that he met with an ancient Britan, that avowed to him, that he was in the British Camp when they beat Caesar from the shorem 1.529; and that Lucan says of him expresly,

Territa quaesitis ostendit terga Britannisn 1.530.

17. After whose departure, the Britans, says Tacitus, enjoyed a long Peace, lying forgotten by the Romans all the days of Au∣gustus, Tiberius, and Caligulao 1.531; so unlikely were the Romans to help Cassivellaun or Cunobelin to this Gold or Electrum: Nor indeed is it probable they would do it after, in the time of Claudius, when they had footing here; not only for that mony and riches are the in∣centives to rebellion, and the very sinews of war, but because had they thought it fit either then or before, we should certainly have heard on't in some of their writings.

18. Of Roman Antiquities yet remaining in this County, (to wave the stories of Molmutius and Beline) the most considerable of any, are their publick ways, whereof though there are several,

and of different forms and materials, and those too broken down, and discontinued by ploughing and other accidents; yet by their pointing, and after a diligent scrutiny, I hope I shall render at least a probable account of them.

19. But before I descend to particulars, it will be necessary I think to acquaint the Reader, that of these amongst the Romans some were called publick, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and others Vicinalp 1.532. And that the first sort of these were otherwise called (as reckon'd up by Taboetiusq 1.533) by these other different names, Regiae (by the Greeks 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉) Praetoriae, Consulares, Militares, Privilegiatae, Illu∣stres, frequentatae, Celebres, Eximiae, &c. and after by the Conque∣ror William, in the Laws he confirmed of St. Edwards, Chemini majores, from the French Chemin, as may be seen by the Laws of the same King Edwardr 1.534: of which sort we had in all but four in England; Watling-street, the Foss, Ikenild-street, and Erming-street; whereof two stretched themselves from Sea to Sea the length of the Land, and the two other the bredth; all misdemea∣nors committed in these, falling under the cognizance of the King himself. Pax autem quatuor Cheminorum (intellige majorum) sub majori judicio contineturs 1.535?

20. Beside these, there were many others of like erection, though of less extent, by the ancient Romans called Vicinales, quod in vicos ducebant, i. e. from Colony to Colony, from station to station; which were also publick, if compared with the more pri∣vate Agrarian wayst 1.536. And these were after by King William cal∣led Chemini minores, and were the ways (as expresly described in the Laws of St. Edward the Confessor) de Civitate ad Civitatem, de Burgis ad Burgos, ducentes, per quos Mercata vebuntur, & cetera negotia fiunt, &c. all misdemeanors committed in these, falling under the cognizance of the Earl, or chief military Governor of the County, or of his Vice-Comes or Sheriff.

21. It will also be expedient to inform the Reader, that both the Majores and Minores were somtimes raised, and somtimes le∣vel with the groundu 1.537, and somtimes trenched; and the raised ones somtimes only of earth, and somtimes pavedw 1.538, especially in moist and boggy grounds; though it must also be acknowledged that

we somtimes find them paved, where there was little need: which I guess might be done to exercise the Soldiers and common people of the Country, least by lying idle they should have grown muti∣nous, and affected alterations in the State. But where they were indeed laid through meers and low places, and necessity compel∣led them to raise and pave them, we have the exact method of making them, laid us down by Statiusx 1.539.

Hic primus labor inchoare Sulcos, Et rescindere limites, & alto Egestu penitus cavare terras: Mox haustas aliter replere fossas Et summo gremium parare dorso, Ne nutent Sola, ne maligna sedes Et pressis dubium Cubile saxis.

i. e. that they first laid out the bounds, then dug trenches, remo∣ving the false earth: then filled them with sound earth, and paved them with stone, that they might not sink or otherwise fail.

22. Of the four Basilical, Consular, or Praetorian ways, or Che∣mini majores, I have met with but one that passeth through this County, the discovery whereof yet I hope may prove acceptable, because not described before, or its footsteps any where noted by Sir H. Spelman, Mr. Camden, or any other Author that I have read or could hear of: whereat indeed I cannot but very much wonder, since it is called by its old name at very many places [Ikenild way] to this very day. Some indeed call it Icknil, some Acknil, others Hackney, and some again Hackington, but all intend the very same way, that stretches it self in this County from North-east to South-west; coming into it (out of Bucks) at the Parish of Chinner, and going out again over the Thames (into Berks) at the Parish of Goreing, lying within the County in manner and form, and bearing to the Parishes and Villages placed on each hand, as described in the Map prefixed to this Essay, by two sha∣ded parallel lines made up of points, which I have chose, to shew that this way is not cast up in a ridged bank, or laid out by a deep trench, as some others are; described also in the Map by two con∣tinued parallel lines, that the Reader, or such as please to view them hereafter, may know where to expect a bank or trench, and where no such matter.

23. The reason, I suppose, why this way was not raised, is, because it lies along under the Chiltern hills on a firm fast ground, having the Hills themselves as a sufficient direction: Which is all worth notice of it, but that it passes through no Town or Village in the County, but only Goreing; nor does it (as I hear) scarce any where else, for which reason 'tis much used by stealers of Cattle: and secondly, that it seems by its pointing to come from Norfolk and Suffolk, formerly the Kingdom of the Iceni, from whom most agree (and perhaps rightly enough) it received its name Icenild, or Ikenild; and to tend the other way West-ward, perhaps into Devon-shire and Cornwall, to the Lands end. So much mistaken is Mr. Holinshed in his description of this wayy 1.540, who fansied it began somwhere in the South, and so held on to∣ward Cirnecester, and thence to Worcester, Wicomb, Brimicham, Lichfleld, Darby, Chesterfield, and crossing Watling-street som∣where in York-shire, stretched forth in the end to the mouth of the Tine at the main Sea. Yet the Learned Mr. Dugdalez 1.541 seem∣ing to favor this opinion in his description of Ickle-street that passes through Warwick-shire, I suspend my judgement till I have seen more of both.

24. Amongst the many Vicinal ways, or Chemini minores, we have but one neither here, of all those mentioned by Antoninus in his Itinerary, and that is part of the Gual-Hen, which signifies in Brittish antiquum Vallum, that went between Pontes, now Cole∣brook, and the old City Caleva, or rather as it was written in the ancientest Books, Gallenaa 1.542; to which our Fore-fathers ad∣ding the word, Ford, by reason of the shallowness of the Ri∣ver there, and changing the letter G into W (a thing frequently done by the Saxonsb 1.543) it was at length called ƿallengaford, now more contractedly Wallengford.

25. Which 'tis plain stood not formerly where it now doth, this old Vallum, or high ridged way, pointing down from be∣tween Mungewell and Nuneham-Warren on Oxford-shire side the Ri∣ver, as described in the Map, near a mile below the Town as it is now seated; whereabout, in all likelyhood, on the other side the River stood that part of the City containing the 12 Parishes, laid desolate by a great Plague that reigned there, temp. Edw. 3. Which

great blow it could never recover (though much endeavored by Rich. 2.) the Bridges of Abington and Dorchester being also about that time built, which diverted the Trade another way, whereas before there was no passage over the Thames but here at Walleng∣fordc 1.544.

26. This Vallum or ridged Bank, now called Grimes-dike, as it runs towards Pontes, yet remains very high, but is but single till it comes to the Woods near Tuffield, alias Nuffield, where it appears double with a deep trench between, like the ways near Piperno and at Porto in Italyd 1.545; which induces me to believe, that that part next Wallengford was once so too, and therefore still called Grimes-ditch, the trench in all likelyhood being filled up with one of the banks thrown into it upon the increase of Agri∣culture, perhaps at first designed only to carry off the water, and the two banks on each side for the carriages 'twixt the stations* 1.546; those from Wallengford to Pontes going upon one Bank, and those from Pontes to Wallengford upon the other, so that there could be no disturbance by meeting on the way. From Tuffield, I was told, it held on its course through the thick Woods, and passed the River below Henly into Berk-shire again, but the Woods scarce admitting a foot passage, much less for a Horse, I could not con∣veniently trace it any further.

27. There seems also to have been cast up another Roman way, between the old City of Alcester in the Parish of Wendlebury (of which more anon in its proper place) and the City of Calleva, whereof there is part to be seen to this day running quite cross Otmoor, as described in the Map, and coming out of the Moor un∣der Beckley Park-wall; which 'tis plain, has been paved (as in∣deed it had need) by the stones yet found upon, and about the ridge, and no where else on the Moor. From Beckly it passes on to, and may plainly be seen in the Wood near Stockers, where cut∣ting the London road to Worcester, it goes plainly through the fields to Stafford-Grove, and thence over Bayards watering-place, to∣ward Heddington Quarry pits, leaving Shotover-hill on the left, and the Pits on the right hand.

28. At the foot of Shotover-hill it enters Magdalen College Cop∣pices, and thence through Brasen-nose College Coppices, over the

Eastern part of Bullington-green, as I gather by its pointing, for it is not to be seen there, it having been ploughed down as well in the green, as fields thereabout, as may be seen by the marks of the ridge and furrow yet remaining upon it; whence I guess it pas∣ses on towards the two Baldens, and so for Wallingford; going over the River at Benson, alias Bensington, where it may be seen again running West of the Church, and is there called by the name of Medlers-bank.

29. If it be asked why this way 'twixt Wallengford and Alce∣ster was laid so crooked? it is plain, 'twas for the convenience of taking Oxford in the way as occasion should serve. For though I could not discover the diverticulum tending toward Oxford in the way from Wallengford, yet in the way from Alcester it remains at some places yet plain and evident, coming out of the main road about the Parish of Beckley, and passing more Westward through Stow-wood, and more particularly through the grounds still cal∣led Principal (for that they were formerly the Principal Coppices before the dis-forresting that Wood) where the way is to be seen entire and perfect, having formerly been paved, as appears by a ditch cut through the bank in a division of these grounds, where the stones lie arch-wise in form of the bank, there being none nei∣ther like them in the fields thereabouts.

30. Coming almost as far as Elsfield, where it is now deeply trenched between two banks, like some part of Grimes-dike men∣tioned above, it is broken down and discontinued, I suppose by ploughing, but points just upon Heddington, whereof the hollow lane ascending into the Town, near Mr. Pawlings new Buildings, perhaps may be a part; and the deep way between two green banks a little on this side Heddington, another; and the hollow way on the brow of Heddington-hill, another piece of it. Out of which there seems also another way to have branched about the top of the hill, which passing through the grounds 'twixt that and Marston-lane, where it is plain to be seen, by its pointing shews as if it once passed the River above Holy-well Church, straight up∣on St. Giles's, or the old Bellositum, now Beaumont; where about Thomas Rudburn in his Chronicon Hydense, says, anciently before its restoration by Aelfred, the Ʋniversity was seated: Quae Ʋniver∣sitas Oxoniae quondam (says he, having before discoursed of its restoration by Aelfred) erat extra Portam Borealem ejusdem Ʋrbis, &

erat principalis Ecclesia totius Cleri, Ecclesia Sancti Aegidii extra ean∣dem portam* 1.547. Which two put together, perhaps may make as much for the Antiquity of this place, as need be brought for it.

31. Beside, this branch out of the way 'twixt Alcester and Wallengford pointing toward Oxford, I must not forget there is another that seems designedly made for a passage hither immedi∣atly from Alcester, whereof there is a part still remaining about Noke, whence it passes through the fields to the purlue grounds, where it cuts the Worcester road, and so into Drunshil, formerly a part of the Forrest of Stow-wood, where about fourteen years since there were several Roman Ʋrns and Coins dug up; beyond which place I could not trace it, it being ploughed down in the following grounds, which yet is the best conjecture I can make of it, unless we shall rather say it was only laid this way to avoid Otmoor in the winter season, when it is usually under water; and that it turned about again (as indeed it seems to point) and joyn∣ed with the foremention'd to Wallengford and Oxford.

32. Nor must it be omitted, that the people hereabout call that part of this way that lies through Otmoor, by the name of Akeman-street, supposing it to have come from Wallengford, and to have passed on by Alcester to Banbury; to which name of theirs, and course of the way, Mr. Camden seems to afford his tacit con∣sente 1.548: wherein I wonder they, but more that he, should be so much or'e-seen, since he could not but know, that neither end of such a way could tend toward Bathe, the old 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or Ʋrbs Aegrotorum hominum; nor they, that the true 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, comes near indeed to Alcester, but passing through the County quite another way, both the City and way leading to it, having their names from the sick persons, or men with aches, travelling on it thither.

33. The true Akemanstreet then, or as some call it Akehamstreet, and others Akermanstreet, coming out of Buckingham-shire, en∣ters this County at a Village called Black-thorn, whence it passes on without any raised bank, close by Alcester as far as Chesterton, as described by the shaded or pointed lines in the Map: whence it goes to Kirklington Towns end, and so over the River Cherwell near Tackley, and thence in a straight line to Woodstock-Park, which it enters near Wooton-gate, and passes out again at Mapleton-well

near Stunsfield stile, whence it holds on again as far as Stunsfield; and all this way on a raised bank, as described in the Map by two parallel lines; where breaking off (but still keeping its name) it goes on over the Evenlode to Wilcot, and so to Ramsden; a little beyond which Village, at a place called Witty-green, it may be seen again for a little way; but from thence to Astally, over Astall-bridge, and so through the fields till it comes to Brodwel-grove, it is scarce visible, but there 'tis as plain again as any where else, holding a straight course into Glocester-shire, and so towards Bath the old Akemancester.

34. And out of this Akemanstreet, as most other such ways, there are several branches; viz. two near Kirklington; one at the Towns end, which though presently discontinued, yet points just upon the Port way running East of Northbrook, the two Hey∣fords, Sommerton, and Souldern, for six miles together; and an∣other, that by its pointing seems to have come out of Akeman∣street, nearer the place where it passes the River Cherwel, crossing the Port way, and running at the broadest place, scarce a mile di∣stant from it, as far as Fritwell, where on the North side of the Town it inclines toward the Port way, as if it joyned with it again somwhere about Souldern, both of them pointing upon the For∣tifications called Rainsborough (perhaps a corruption of Romans∣borough) near Charleton in Northampton-shire: whence in all pro∣bability it went to Vennonis, alias Bennonis, an old Roman station, by the Saxons after called Claycester, in the confines of Warwick and Leicester-shires; and so on to the Ratae of Antoninus, or Ragae of Ptolomy, now Leicesterf 1.549.

35. This second branch of Akemanstreet, about Fritwell they call Wattle-bank; but in an old Terrier of Sir Thomas Chamberleyns, it is called Avesdich, perhaps a corruption of Offa's-ditch, the great King of the Mercians, whose Kingdom might at first be ter∣minated here, though I find he extended it at length as far as Benson, as thinking it for his honor and profit both, that the West-Saxons should have nothing North or West of the Thamesg 1.550. Or if ancienter than Offa, it might perhaps be a praetentura, or fore∣fence of the Romans, raised against the Britans (or vice versa) who might possibly be possest of the Port way before.

36. Yet I rather believe they might be both of them ancient

ways, though so near together, for we read that the Romans, where the way was not well laid out, or was longer than needed, did commonly (to keep the people from idleness, and the Soldi∣ers from mutinies) lay them straiter and better; as Galen wit∣nesseth that Trajan did in Italy: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉h 1.551, i. e. that where the way was longer than needed, he cut out another shorter, which possibly might also be done here, the Port way being much shorter and more direct then Avesdich, to the place whither they both seem to hold on their course: which may also be the reason of the two Ikenild ways under Stoken Church hills, there being about Lewkner and Aston Rowant, an upper and lower Ikenild way.

37. Beside these, there are yet two other branches coming out of Akemanstreet; one in Woodstock Park near Col: Cooks Lodge, whence it runs toward the trees called Oak and Ash, not far from Glympton, where it is discontinued; and where to be met with a∣gain I could no where find; so that all I can say of it is, that towards the end it points North-west towards Enston and Chipping∣norton, and seems to have cut another such like way near Ʋpper Kiddington, which has its period there, as far as I could learn, but runs as far as Ditchley the other way, where the ridge turns to a ditch by the name of Grimes-dike (as that near Wallengford) and gives name I suppose to Ditchley that stands upon it, a Seat of the Right Honorable Edward Henry Earl of Lichfield's, whence it runs in that manner fair and visible for about half a mile: but before it comes to Charlbury, turns again to a ridge, very high and lofty at a place called Baywell, where it enters into Cornbury Park but scarce visible there; yet as I was told, to be found again in the woods beyond it, and that it pointed toward Ramsden, where at first (as I guess) it branched out of Akemanstreet.

38. But whether this, and the other before-mentioned tend∣ed, is hard to guess, no Roman station lying near this place, unless I may be allowed to conjecture by their pointing, at a great di∣stance, which must needs be very uncertain. However, because a guess perhaps may better please than to say nothing, I conjecture the way by Ditchley may tend either toward Vennonis, and Ratae, as the Port way and Avesdich afore-mention'd were thought to do, or else toward Tripontium, now Toucester in Northampton-shire;

and that from Woodstock toward Manduessedum, now Manchester in Warwick-shire, or rather the old Etocetum, now the Wall in Staf∣fordshire.

39. Which are all the raised banks or deep trenches that I met with in Oxford-shire, except the two banks with a trench between them (therefore called dike-hills) South and by West of Dorche∣ster, which I cannot imagin part of any Roman way, because ex∣tended only as a string to a great bow of the River Isis, as described in the Map; but rather a Fortification, such as P. Ostorius Proprae∣tor here in Britan under Claudius, is said by Tacitus to have made on the Rivers Antona and Sabrina* 1.552; or else some of the Out∣works of the Fortifications on Long-Witenham hill on the other side the water, which perhaps was the Sinnodunumi 1.553 of the an∣cient Britans.

40. Nigh to the raised ways thus cast up by the Romans, they placed the Tumuli, or Sepulchres of their Generals, or such o∣ther valiant persons as dyed in the wars; it being forbid by the Law of the 12 Tables to bury within their Cities or Stations. Ho∣minem mortuum in Ʋrbe ne sepelito neve uritok 1.554: And by a penal Rescript of the Emperor Hadrianl 1.555. Now the reason why they placed them on the military ways, rather then elsewhere, is given us by Camden, viz. that Passengers might be put in mind, that as these here buryed were somtimes mortal men, that they them∣selves are no better nowm 1.556: whence perhaps the formula still used on Tombs, Siste Viator, and monumentum à monendo.

41. But I guess that there could not but be somwhat more in't, for as it was accounted the greatest dishonor imaginable to lie un∣buryed, so it was a great reputation to the person deceased to be co∣ver'd with a large Tumulus, which 'tis like might in part at least be the reason of their placing them so near the public ways, that Passengers might continually add to the heap, it being look'd up∣on as piety in them so to do; nor sufficed it to throw on a single handful of earth, but (as may be collected from Horace) usually three. For in Archytas's request to the Mariner, that he would not suffer his Body any longer to lye on the shoar unburyed, he makes it part of his plea, that notwithstanding the swift motion of Sea∣men, yet he might find time enough to throw 3 handfuls of dust.

Quanquam festinas, non est mora longa, licebit Injecto ter pulvere currasn 1.557.

42. Which way of burial under Conical hillocks, whether na∣turally composing themselves into that Figure by the fall of the Earth, or designedly so made by the Soldiers, was sure very an∣cient; for from their being placed without Cities, I find them called by the Greeks, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and upon High-ways, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, for that the God Mercury had the charge of ways; as his other name 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 likewise imports.

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉o 1.558.

We find also Achilles in Homer, complaining how small a Tumulus he had made for his beloved Patroclus,

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,p 1.559 &c.

and intreating those should come after to raise it higher, which desire of his was piously performed by the succeeding Greeks, who raised it to so great a height, that they designed it for a Sea∣mark to those that should sail the Hellespont.

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. &cq 1.560.

and this I find here, and at all other places, they always perform∣ed 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉r 1.561; and so again in the erection of the Tumulus over Hectors 1.562, by pouring on earth or stones; the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 as Eustathius informs us, being somtimes used absolutely, pro 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉t 1.563. i. e. (in the most critical sense) for humare.

43. It was also very ancient amongst the Romans, not only for Princes, as Virgil witnesses,

fuit ingens monte sub alto Regis Dercenni terreno ex aggere bustum. Antiqui Laurentis, opacaque Ilice tectumv 1.564.

with whom agrees Lucan,

Et regnum cineres exstructo monte quiescuntw 1.565.

but also for meaner persons; for thus we find Aeneas burying his Nurse Cajeta,

At pius exequiis Aeneas rite solutis. Aggere composito tumuli, &cx 1.566.

Nay so very ancient was it, that Pliny says expresly, it was long in use amongst them before Burning, Ipsum cremare apud Romanos non fuit veteris instituti; terra condebantur, i. e. that they always interred them, till they began to understand that the bodies of their men slain in the wars afar off, were somtimes taken forth from under their Tumuli, and barbarosly abusedy 1.567, as Florus ac∣quaints us the Germans served the body of the Consul Varus, a∣mongst other indignities offer'd the Romans: Ipsius quoque Consu∣lis Corpus, quod militum pietas abdiderat, effossumz 1.568.

44. To prevent which barbarity for the future, they ordained burning before tumulation, as was used always amongst the Greeks; for we find in Homer, that the body of Hector (as well as Patro∣clus) was first burned, and his calcined white bones then gather∣ed by his Friends and put in an Ʋrn.

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉a 1.569 &c.

and then follows their raising a tumulus over him, which it seems was of stones,

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉b 1.570.

and yet expressed as where made of Earth, by pouring them on, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉c 1.571.

45. It was a usual custom also amongst the Northern Nations, in their second Age, which they called Hoigold, or Hoelst tijd, Tu∣mulorum Aetas; thus to bury their dead under earthen hillocks, Arenam & terram exaggerando usque dum in justam monticuli exsurge∣rent altitudinem, says Wormius of the Danesd 1.572; and of these he says they had two sorts, the Rudiores, which, ex sola terrâ in ro∣tunditatem & Conum congesta constabant, i. e. that were made only of Earth, cast up in a round conical figure, which were set up in memory of any stout Champions that had deserved well of their

Country. And the Ornati, which were encompassed with a circle of stones, set up only for their Generals, or some other great Personse 1.573.

46. And these they set over the Bodies without burning them (as they had formerly done in their first age, which they called Roisold, or Brende tijd, Aetas igneaf 1.574) the manner being as Mr. Camden informs us, for every Soldier remaining alive after a field fought, to carry his head-piece full of earth, towards making the tombs of their fellows that were slaing 1.575, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, fundentes tumulum, after the manner of the Greeks.

47. But the Romans here in Britan, having little reason to ex∣pect more favor then they found in Germany; whenever any Con∣sul, or eminent Warrior dyed in such an Expedition, first burned them on the level near the via strata, or militaris; by which means having deprived their exasperated Enemies of all hope of being able to abuse the dead bodies; they more-over endeavored to prevent the very scattering their ashes in hast, the whole Army casting on them pure grassy turfs, cut from the surface of the ground, which probably indeed may be the very reason (as the learned and ingenious Mr. Dugdaleh 1.576 guesses) why there appears not any hollowness whence the earth was taken that raised these Tumuli.

48. Whereof here in Oxford-shire I have met with two kinds; one placed, as above, on the Praetorian ways; and the other sort not so, yet both commonly called Burrows, alias Barrows, from the Saxon Beorg, collis, acervus, whence our word to buryi 1.577. Hence also the raised banks, made for Conies to hide themselves, says Sir Henry Spelman, were also called Berriesk 1.578. Of the first sort is the hillock in the Parish of Fritwell, called Ploughly-bill, stand∣ing just within Oxford-shire on the Port way, and (which is som∣what more then ordinary) giving name to the Hundred wherein it stands.

49. And there is another on the West side of that branch of Akemanstreet that comes out of Woodstock Park, close by the Ri∣vulet over which that way passes; but the most eminent on Ake∣manstreet, is that they call Astall Barrow, standing high and lofty, which I conceive might be the Sepulcher of some considerable per∣son,

at least of great repute amongst the common people that past that way; there being another, not far off upon the same way, on the edge of Oxford-shire, incomparably less.

50. Upon these their High-ways it was also usual amongst them to place pillars of stone, whereon they inscribed the distances from the regal Cities, Stations, and Mutations, whence the phrase, ad tertium, quartum, vel quintum, ab Ʋrbe lapidem, i. e. so many miles from the City. And of these I think the stone, that yet lies on a bank close by Akemanstreet way, not far from Astall Barrow, to have been a remnant, and most likely of any the pedestal of such a Pillar: unless we shall rather think it to have been a pedestal to a statue of Mercury, made with four sides and without arms, from thence called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or Cylleniusl 1.579, and in old time Hermae, which were also used every where to be set up near high∣ways; and if in cross roads, with as many heads as there were ways, ut interdum etiam quatriceps conspicereturm 1.580.

51. Whatever it were, no doubt this, and the fore-mention'd Barrows, were of Roman erection; but as for Kenners Barrow near Shipton under Which-wood, the large Barrow at Stanton-Harcourt, and that other (if it be one) called Adwel Cop; I think rather erected by the Britans or Danes, for that near no high-ways, but in the open fields, as Saxo-Grammaticusn 1.581, and Wormius say they made them: Non solum in campis & pratis occurrunt Tumuli, sed & in Silvis & Lucis, &c.o 1.582 i. e. that they have them not only in the fields and meddows, but in the woods and groves too.

52. More particularly, as for Kenners barrow and Adwel cop, I think them erected but for inferior Captains, though perhaps e∣minent Soldiers, because they are of the rudiores, ex sola terra: But for that at Stanton Harcourt, if a Danish Monument, it was cer∣tainly a memorial of some greater Person, because of the stones set near it, of which more anon in another place: though it be possible too that these may be Roman, it being customary for them to set up such Trophees, at the utmost bounds of their Victories, or where they could not conveniently advance them further, as Dion testifies, the Roman General Drusus did at the River Albis, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉p 1.583, i. e. that he set Trophies and returned: which Tro∣phies of his, Florus says expresly, were only a Tumulus: Nam Mar∣comannorum

spoliis insignibus quendam editum tumulum in Trophaei modum excoluit, are his very wordsq 1.584 concerning the same Expe∣dition of Drusus.

53. However it were, 'tis certain the two former of these, are much different from those erected on the viae militares, for I found them trenched round, and particularly that of Adwel cop, with two or three circumvallations, part whereof are still visible on the South-east side of it, insomuch that I question whether there were not some Camp, with this Trophie perhaps of Victory erected within it, of which more anon when I come to speak professed∣ly, of the ancient Fortifications yet remaining in this County.

54. Of other Roman Antiquities that I can certainly call such, the most eminent I met with is a part of their pavement made of small bricks or tiles, not much bigger than dice; whereof the Roman Generals, amongst their other baggage, were used to carry a quantity sufficient to pave the place, where they set the Praetori∣um or Generals Tent, or at least some part of it, which is parti∣cularly witnessed of Julius Caesar, In expeditionibus tessella, & se∣ctilia pavimenta, circumtulisser 1.585.

55. These if made of small square Marbles, of divers natural colours, were called Lithostrota; but if of small bricks or tiles, ar∣tificially tinged with colours, annealed and polish'd, Pavimenta tessellata, or opus Musivums 1.586; and both Asarotat 1.587, for their not be∣ing to be swept, but wiped with a spunge. As for ours plough∣ed up somwhere about great Tew, and engraven Tab. 15. Fig. 22. I take it for certain to be of the second sort, it consisting of a matter much softer than Marble, cut into squares somwhat bigger then dice, of four different colours, viz. blue, white, yellow, and red, all polished, and orderly disposed into works; the colours of the squares being represented in the Cut, as those of the Arms in the Map.

56. There was much such another Pavement ploughed up at Steeple-Aston, consisting likewise of squares of divers colours, and set in curious figures, but as described to me by the Reverend Mr. Greenwood, Rector of the place, not cubick like the former, but oblong squares set perpendicular to the Horizon. That these Pavements were Roman, I think there's no doubt, notwithstand∣ing

found near no Roman station, and far enough removed from any Roman high-way; (except the branches of Akemanstreet from from Ramsden and Woodstock, might happily pass these places:) but I guess not set here till they wholly possest themselves of this Southern part of Britan, and might securely enough pass their Armies any where; and therefore cannot afford them any high∣er antiquity than the time of Agricola the Lieutenant of Vespasian, who compleated the Roman Conquests; or at most of Paulinus, that defeated Boadicea.

57. Under the Sepulchral monuments, or tumuli afore-mention∣ed, raised by the Romans over their dead in memory of them, they placed the more immediate receptacles of their ashes, or at least some part of them, as much as could be saved in the Vas ustri∣num; for they were not so curious as some have imagined, to scrape together all the bones and ashes of the Corps, as may be easily collected from the smalness of all Ʋrns, but Family ones. Yet over all their Ʋrns they raised not such a tumulus; for we find them ma∣ny times in level ground, though containing the remains of noble Persons, as may be guessed by the Lamps, Lachrymatories, and Ves∣sels of Oyls, or Aromatical Liquors somtimes found with them.

58. Of which sort of Vessels, I presume that odd fashioned glass, depicted Tab. 15. Fig. 23. must needs be one, found in a place called bushy Leas, betwixt Brightwel and Chalgrave, be∣ing part of the possessions of that right worthy Gentleman, John Stone of Brightwel Esq surrounded with no less than twelve of those Ʋrns, Tab. 15. Fig. 24. both which, amongst many other signal favors, were kindly bestowed on me by the same worthy person. That the Earthen pot, Fig. 24. is a Roman Urn, I take to be so plain, that it would not need proof, though one of the four Regal high-ways were much farther removed than Ikenild way is, which comes up almost to Ewelm, not far from this place: But whether this glass contained a lamp, were a Lachrymatorie, or a vessel containing water, or some Aromatical liquor, is the great question next to be determined.

59. That the Bodies of great Persons were usually accompa∣nied with Lamps after death, is plain from the Civil Lawu 1.588 and to interr Lamps with them, was heretofore so frequent, that For∣tunius Licetus has written a whole Book, De reconditis Antiquorum

[illustration] table of antiquities

TAB XV. ad pag. 328.

To the Worsp.^ll The worthy and much Honored Gentlemen JOHN and CARLETON STOEVE Esqrs. This 15^th Table Consisting partly of Antiquities whereof the 23^d. and 24^th were found in the grounds near their Seat at Brightwel; in memory of their favours is gratefully dedicated by R.P.L.L.D.

Burghers sculpsit.

Lucernis, amongst which he mentions one out of Baptista Porta, called Lucerna Nesidea (from the Island where found in Cratere Neopolitano sita) which was included within a glass, and placed in a Marble Tombw 1.589, upon the same account (I suppose) that in∣deed all others were; both as a Symbol of the quality of the per∣son there interr'd, and for the sake of the soul, which they thought did not so quite desert the body, but that it rested with it in the gravex 1.590.

60. But that ours was such a glass including a lamp, I dare not conclude, more than that it is barely possible it might be so, it seeming much rather likely to have been a phiala Lachrymatoria, or tear-bottle, wherein the surviving Friends of the deceased, col∣lected those passionate expressions of their grief, and usually bu∣ryed with them, as is somtimes signified in old Inscriptions, by some such expression as, Cum lachrymis posuerey 1.591; only it is of a much different figure from any of those described in Joh. Bapt. Casaliusz 1.592 and Paulus Aringhusa 1.593.

61. And therefore I rather believe it to have been one of those vessels containing some Aromatical liquor, such as they usually in∣terred with the Ʋrns of Noble Familiesb 1.594, and perhaps a glass of the same kind with those three found in a Roman Ʋrn, preserved by Cardinal Farnese, and mentioned by Vigeneric 1.595: Except we shall rather think it the vessel for the Aqua lustralis sprinkled by the Priest on the Ʋrns, to expiate for the smaller faults of the de∣ceasedd 1.596, which possibly they might after bury with them, which waters were otherwise called arferiae aquae, and by the Greeks, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉e 1.597: But I rather incline to the former of the two, because there seems a kind of white sub∣stancc yet remaining between the two coats of the glass (it being a vessel of a peculiar make, one glass as it were including another) which possibly might be the sediment of some such Aromatical li∣quor when dryed away.

62. Also in the Parish of Wendlebury I saw a great square stone, hollowed round in the middle, dug up in or near the old City of Aldcester, in which there was set a glass bottle fitted to it, con∣taining nothing but somwhat like ashes, and cover'd over above

with another broad flat stone: This Ʋrn I saw at a house in the Town, where 'tis used for a Hog-trough, but the glass had been broken long before, nor could I get any certain description of it; however, I guess it some such like vessel with that described a∣bove, and placed there upon the same or like accounts. There have been several other Ʋrns also taken up at divers other places, particularly in the old Mine at Blunds Court above-mention'd, Chap. 6. §. 63. at a place called Drunshil not far from Wood-Eaton, but belonging, as I was told, to the Parish of Marston, near the ridged way that comes from Noke; and three in one Mr. Finches house at the Mercat-place in Henly, and one in the high-way that leads towards the North at the Towns end, not far from Ancastle, which argues those places some of the first Roman habitations, though no recorded garisons.

63. Nor indeed is there any such to be found in this County, though it cannot but be acknowledged that Oxford it self must be a noted place, before the departure of the Romans at least, if the Roman way thither described in the Map, prove so good an ar∣gument to the Reader as my self. Where by the way perhaps it may not be unworthy notice, that Oxford is mention'd by the Ara∣bian Geographer, Sharif ol' Edrîsi, or Adrîsi (of whose works the Geographia Nubiensis translated by Gab. Sionita, and Joh. Hez∣ronita, is too short an Epitome) by the name of 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Ozcfort* 1.598, withal adding, that it stands on the same river with London (which river he calls 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Retandah† 1.599) 40 miles above itf 1.600, which shews that Oxford was always a Town of good repute, in the remotest places, as well as times.

64. As for the antiquity of the Ʋniversity, beside what was al∣leged §. 30. of this Chapter, I think it very considerable what remains upon record in Magdalen College Library, in an ancient MS of Walter Burley's Fellow of Merton College, (Tutor to the Famous King Edw. 3. and deservedly stiled Dr. Profundus) upon the Problem [Complexio rara quare sanior] he has these words (which should indeed have been mentioned before, Chap. 2. §. 3.

of this Essay) concerning the healthy situation of Oxford, and its selection by Students, for the seat of the Muses: Notanda, inquit, sunt tria, quod Civitas sana est in Borea & in Oriente si plantata est aperta, & in Austro & Occidente si montosa; propter puritatem Bo∣reae, & Orientis, & putrefactionem Austri & Occidentis: sicut Oxonia, quae per industriam Philosophorum de Graecia fuerat ordina∣tag 1.601, i. e. that a healthy City must be open to the North and East, and mountanous to the South and West; by reason of the purity of the two former quarters, in respect of the latter: just as Oxford is seated, which was selected by the Philosophers that came from Greece.

65. And that according to the rules of their great Master Hip∣pocrates, who requires no other, but the very same situation for a healthy Cityh 1.602. But about what time it was these Philosophers arrived, though I dare not be too confident, yet in all probabili∣ty they might be some of those Graecians brought over by Theodo∣rus the Greek Arch-bishop of Canterbury, about the year 668i 1.603, whom 'tis like he placed here to instruct the Saxon youth; for we find Venerable Bede and St. John de Beverlaco (alwaies reputed of this Ʋniversity) to have been his Scholars; and so Tobias Bishop of Rochester, and Albinus Abbot of St. Augustins Cant. who are said to have understood the Greek Tongue as well as their native onek 1.604.

66. Not to mention that Britan was known to the Greeks be∣fore the arrival of the Romans; for otherwise Polybius could ne∣ver have hoped to have described Britan, or the method there used in ordering Tin, as we find he designed, having promised to write, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉l 1.605. Which Book though lost, yet Strabo* 1.606 bears us witness, that therein he refuted the Errors of Dicaearchus, Pythias and Eratosthenes, con∣cerning the magnitude of Britan, who were also Greek Authors (that it seems had written somthing concerning this Island) and much ancienter than himself. Nor to note secondly, that the French Druids (who had their Learning out of Britan) in things of common concern, used the Greek Characterm 1.607; which how

they should come by without the learning of the Greeks (which possibly might be brought over by some of their Philosophers who accompanyed the Merchants trading for Tin, and seated themselves here) let the Reader judge.

67. But for the Bishoprick of Oxon, it is but of late erection, taken out of that of Lincoln by King Hen. 8. and of no longer standing than his days, notwithstanding what we meet with in the Decretals of Pope Gregory; where we find two Rescripts of Pope Alexander the Third, about the year 1158. directed to the Bishop of Oxon. and othersn 1.608, it being but a mistake (though to be found in all the Copies, I could meet with) of Oxoniensi, for Exoniensi, as plainly appears in the fourth Book of the same De∣cretalso 1.609, compared with the places afore-cited.

68. Yet the ancientest Town of the whole County I take to be Henley, so called from the Brittish Hen, which signifies old, and Lley a place, and perhaps might be the head Town of the people called Ancalites, that revolted to Caesarp 1.610: it was also called Han∣leganz and Hanneburg, as appears by an Inspeximus of Q. Eliza∣beth, granted this Corporation. And there is a place near it, still called Ancastle (west of the Town where the Wind-mill now stands) which is but the Norman name, importing the same with the Saxon Hanneburg. If it be objected, that Aldbury near Ricot in this County (according to vulgar tradition) is the mother of Henly, and consequentially older; it may be answer'd, that its probable indeed that Christian Henley may be younger than Ald∣bury, in respect of a Church first built there, but upon no other account.

69. And the Town of Watlington seems of no small antiquity, provided its age do but answer its Etymologie; for by its name it seems also to have been an old British City, which according to Strabo, were nothing else but groves fenced about with trees cut down, and laid cross one another, within which they built them sheds both for themselves and Cattle. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉q 1.611, are his very words: which manner of fence the Saxons after called patelas Crates, hur∣dles or wattles, within which mound building them tents or co∣verings,

by the Saxons also called patelr 1.612; from one of these, or both, I guess this Town took its name.

70. As also the Praetorian or Consular way, called Watlingstreet, and Wattle-bank here in Oxfordshire, these in all probability be∣ing made the same way, that Hadrian is said to have made bounda∣daries (where Rivers were wanting) between barbarous people, Stipitibus magnis in modum muralis sepis funditus jactis atque con∣nexiss 1.613, i. e. with great stakes set fast in the ground, and knit to∣gether 'tis like with smaller wood woven between; which if hap∣pily made use of in these ways to keep up the earth at first, might well invite the Saxons to name them Wattleing-street, Wat∣tle-bank, &c.

71. Just upon the meeting of Akemanstreet way, and the Port way from Wallengford, there are also some foot-steps of that decay∣ed ancient station, by Camden called Alchester, still remaining, which he guesses so called, as one would say an old Townt 1.614. But I have met with some notes in a MS. now by me, that says it was the Seat of Alectus the Emperor, who having trecherously slain his Friend and Master, the Emperor Carausius, basely usurped Britan for himself, calling this his new Seat after his own name, Alecti Castrum, since Alchester or Aldcester: but it seems by the story that it florish'd not long, for Constantius Chlorus being sent against him by the Emperors Dioclesian and Maximian, and by the benefit of a mist, landing privatly somwhere on the South shoar, near the Isle of Wight (whether Alectus came to prevent it) gave him battle, defeated, and put him to flight towards this his chief Fortress, but was over-taken and slain by Asclepiodotus, one of Constantius's Captains (as this Author will have it) here at Elsfieldu 1.615 near Oxon, (which he also would have a corruption of Alectus-field) before he could reach it.

72. For the credit of this relation, it having no foundation in the Roman story, I shall wholly leave it to the Readers judg∣ment; yet shall add thus much for its reputation, that the Roman military ways lye very agreeable to it; for on supposition, this conflict happened about Regnum, now Ring-wood; or Clausentum, now Southampton, the Roman ways lye directly thence to Venta Belgarum, now Winchester; and so to Callena, now Wallengford,

according to the Itinerary of Antoninusw 1.616; and thence close by Elsfield to Alchester, as described in the Map, and in §§. 27. and 28. of this Chapter.

73. Which is all I find remaining of the Romans here, but some parcels of their Mony found at many other places, particu∣larly near Dorchester not far from Dike-hills, near the Fortification at Idbury, and Madmarston-hill in the Parish of Swalcliff, inclosed with a double vallum; which I therefore judge to have been Ro∣man works. There is also a small circumvallation in a Wood South and by West of Harpsden Church, near which place there has also been Roman mony dug up (whereof there is some in the possession of the Worshipful ..... Hall Esq) and so likewise about Hor∣ley, Swerford, Chippingnorton, Teynton, and a Village called Sinet near Burford, Stratton-Audley, Fringford and Tusmore, and most of them, of the Emperors between Cocceius Nerva, and Theodosius the second, exclusively.

74. After the departure of the Romans came the Saxons into Britan, and after them the Danes, who also made them Works so indistinguishable from the Romans (otherwise than by the Roman mony found near them, as in the former Paragraph) that they can scarce be known asunder: So that whatever of these Fortificati∣ons (at most places in this County abusively called Barrows) have no Roman mony found at or near them, I think we must conclude either Saxon or Danish; Saxon if square, and if round Danish; for so I find them distinguish'd in a MS, History of Ireland by E. S. whereof the first sort he calls Falkmotes, i. e. places for the meeting of the folk or people, upon the approach of the enemy; and the latter Danerathes, i. e. hills of the Danes made for the same purposex 1.617, though I very much question whether I shall find these forms strictly observed in all places hereafter.

75. Yet I find Tadmerton-Castle, and Hooknorton Barrow not far from it, agreeable to this rule; the former being large and round, and the other smaller and rather a quinquangle than a square; both of them cast up (the great round one by the Danes, and the less square one by the Saxons) about the year 914, when the Danes in the time of Edward Senior being grown strong and nu∣merous, came forth of Northampton and Leicester, and made great slaughter of the English-Saxons at Hochmeretune, says Joh. Brom∣ton,

An. 10. of Edw. Seny 1.618. at Hokenertune, says Florentius Wi∣gorniensis, which he calls Villam Regiamz 1.619, now Hoke-norton.

76. As for Chastleton barrow, by the above-mention'd rule, it should be a Fortification of the Danes, perhaps cast up about the year 1016. at what time Edmund Ironside met Canutus the Danish King hereabout, and defeated him after a long and bloody Bat∣tle, fought at a place called Seorstan by Job. Bromtona 1.620, Sterneston and Scerusdan by Matth. Westminsterb 1.621, Scearstan by Florentius Wi∣gorniensisc 1.622 and Simon of Durhamd 1.623, and Sejerstan by Wormius, from sejer victoria, and stan lapis; whereof all the rest seem but corruptions, there being several such in Denmark and Norway cal∣led by that name to this day* 1.624: which though they all say ex∣presly was in Hwinctia or Huiccia, i. e. Worcester-shire, yet I verily believe it with Camden, to be that stone not far off, called Four shire stone (or else that other near it) parting four Counties, whereof Worcester-shire is one.

77. And as for the Entrenchments in Merton Woods, I guess them cast up by King Aethelred, or the Danes in the year 871. at what time says Floren. Wigorniensis, King Aethelred and his Bro∣ther Aelfred, cum paganis pugnantes apud Meretunee 1.625, fighting with the Danes at Mereton (as I find this town was anciently written in the Leigier Book of Enshamf 1.626) overcame them, and put their whole Army to flight. That the Danes had somwhat to do hereabout, is further evinced, from one of their spurs in the hands (if I mis∣remember not) of George Sherman, of the Town of Bisseter not far from this place, which I took no care to get engraven, because already done by Olaus Wormiusg 1.627, where the Reader may see the exact figure of it: All which put together, and that this place is near the meeting of two military ways, I am pretty well sa∣tisfied that this Battle between Aethelred, his Brother Aelfred, and the Danes, was much rather here, than at Merdon in Wilt-shire, as some have thought it.

78. And if Adwell Cop may pass for a Fortification, as the En∣trenchments about it on the South-east-side seem to promise, I guess it made about the year 1010. when the Danes, as Simeon of Dur∣ham testifies, came forth of their Ships in the month of January,

and passing through the Chiltern Woods, came to Oxford and burnt ith 1.628, erecting perhaps this fortified Barrow in the way, where 'tis like they might meet with some opposition, and loose some prin∣cipal Captain. As also upon Shotover-hill, where there seems to have been two other little Barrows, on the left hand of the road from Oxford to London, that should I confess have been mention'd before in §. 51. of this Chapter.

79. But as for the large square Entrenchments on Callow-hills in the Parish of Stunsfield (which yet 'tis possible too may have been an old British town, such as described by Caesar, Oppidum vo∣cant cum sylvas impeditas vallo atque fossâ munierunti 1.629, it being much larger than any of the rest, and having deep holes within, I sup∣pose, to preserve water) the small Fortification under Cornbury Park-wall, and the large one called Beaumont, near Mixbury-Church, encompassed with a ditch 170 paces one way, and 128 the other; I can give no account of them, but that in general 'tis like they were works of the Saxons, these being all square, though the last by its name should indeed be Norman.

80. And so again for the Fortification commonly called Round∣castle, west of Begbrook Church, but in the Parish of Bladen, and Lineham Barrow (between which and Pudlycot, a Seat of the ancient Family of the Lacy's, there is a passage under ground down to the river) I can say little of them, but that in general 'tis most probable they were made by the Danes (they being both round) but upon what particular occasion, I could no where find.

81. Beside the circles of Earth cast up by the Danes, there are others of stone in many places of this Nation, and particular∣ly one here in the very bounds of Oxford-shire, near Chipping-nor∣ton, in the Parish of Little Rollwright, the stones being placed in manner and form, and now remain as exactly engraven Tab. 16. Fig. 2222, in a round of 'twixt 30 and 40 paces over; the tal∣lest of them all (which may be a scale for the rest) being about se∣ven foot high. North of these, about a Bolts-shoot off, on the other side the hedge, in the County of Warwick, stands one sin∣gly alone, upwards of nine foot high, in form as described Fig. 1. and Eastward five others, as in Fig. 3. about two furlongs off,

the highest of them all about nine foot also; meeting formerly at the top (as drawn by Mr. Camden) with their tapering ends, al∣most in shape of a wedge, since whose time there are two of them fallen down from the rest. Of which ancient Monument (or what ever else it be) he gives us in brief this following accountk 1.630.

82. Not far from Burford (he should have said Chipping-norton, for Burford cannot be less then 7 or 8 miles from it) upon the ve∣ry border of Oxford-shire, is an ancient Monument, to wit, cer∣tain huge stones placed in a circle: the common people call them Rollrich-stones, and dream they were somtimes men, by a mira∣culous Metamorphosis turned into hard stones. The highest of them all, which without the circle looketh into the Earth, they call the King, because he should have been King of England (forsooth) if he had once seen Long-Compton, a little Town lying beneath, and which one may see if he go some few paces forward.

83. Other five standing on the other side, touching as it were one another, they imagin to have been Knights mounted on horse∣back, and the rest the Army. These would I verily think, says he, to have been the Monument of some Victory, and happily erected by Rollo the Dane, who afterward conquer'd Normandy; for what time he with his Danes troubled England with depredati∣ons, we read that the Danes joyned Battle with the English at Hoch∣norton, a place for no one thing more famous in old time, than for the woful slaughter of the English in that foughten Field under the Raign of King Edward the elder.

84. That this Monument might be erected by Rollo the Dane, or rather Norwegian, perhaps may be true, but by no means about the time of Edward the elder; for though it be true enough that he troubled England with depredations, yet that he made them in the days of King Alfred, I think all the ancient Historians agree, An. 897. according to Florilegusl 1.631, but according to Abbot Brom∣tonm 1.632 a much better Author, in the year 875, near 40 years before that slaughter of the English in King Edwards days, as will plain∣ly appear, upon comparison of this with the 75. §. of the same Chapter.

85. Therefore much rather than so, should I think he erected them, upon a second Expedition he made into England, when he

was called in by King Aethelstan to assist him (as Thomas of Walsin∣gham witnesses) against some potent rebels that had taken arms against himn 1.633; whom having vanquished, and reduced into obedience to their Prince, and perhaps too slain the designed King of them (who possibly might be perswaded to this rebellion, upon a conditional Prophesie of coming to that honor when he should see Long-Compton) might erect this Monument in memory of the Fact; the great single stone for the intended King, the five stones by themselves for his principal Captains, and the round for the mixt multitude slain in the Battle, which is somwhat agreeable to the tradition concerning them.

86. But if I may give my opinion what I really think of them, (though I do not doubt much but they must be a Danish or Norwe∣gian monument) I can by no means allow the round or other stones to be Sepulchral monuments: For had the Cirque of stones been any such memorial, it would certainly have had either a tumulus in the middle, like the monument near the way to Birck in Seland, and of Langbeen Kiser not far from ito 1.634, and another near Roeschild* 1.635; or a stone Altar, as in the notable monument of Harald Hyldetand near Leire in Selandp 1.636, placed there, says Wormius (in another part of his Book) eo fine ut ibidem in memoriam defuncti quotannis sacra paragantur, that they might yearly offer Sacrifices in memo∣ry of the defunct, at the place of his inhumation. But neither of these are within Rollright Cirque, nor could that curious and learned Antiquary the Worshipful Ralph Sheldon of Beoly Esq (one of the noblest Promoters of this design) who industriously dug in the middle of it (to see whether he could meet any sym∣bols or marks, either who might erect it, or for what end or pur∣pose) find any such matter.

87. For the very same reason, it is also as certain that it can∣not have been any place of Judicature, such as was used in old time in the Northern Nations, whereof there is one so great in Seland, as described by Wormius, that it takes up no less than six and forty great stones of stupendious magnitude within its cir∣cumferenceq 1.637, and so does Rollright and more too; but then it has no stone (nor I suppose ever had) erected in the middle for the Judge to sit on, as those always had. Beside these Fora, or

places of Judicature, (by the Danes called Tings) seem always to have had their muniments of stone, either of a Quadrangular or Oval Figure, and not to be entered but at two sides, as that at Orething mention'd by Wormiusr 1.638, whereas ours is circular, and shews no signs of such gates.

88. Which perhaps might occasion the Learned Dr. Charleton, to judg it rather a Trophie, or Triumphal pile, set up as a Monument of some great Victories 1.639, to whom though I cannot but somwhat incline, yet am verily perswaded, that at the same time it might serve also for the Election and Inauguration of a King; and much rather than the great and famous monument of Stone-Heng on Sa∣lesbury Plain; the very disparities betwixt it and those in Den∣mark, brought by himselft 1.640, being not to be found here.

89. For beside that it is placed (as all such Courts of the Danes were) 1. Upon a rising ground, for the advantage of pro∣spect (that the common people assembled to confirm the suffrages or votes of the Electors by their universal applause, and congratu∣latory acclamations, might see and witness the solemn manner of Election:) 2. Made of huge stones of no regular Figure. And thirdly, Having no Epigraph or Inscription cut or trenched in the stones, as carrying a sufficient evidence of its designment and use, in the figure of its platform. It is but a single Cirque of stones with∣out Epistyles or Architraves, few of them very high on which the Electors might easily get up to give their suffrages, as was usu∣ally done in the Northern Nations; whereas Stone-Heng is made up of three circles at least (some say four) and the stones of each circle joyned with Architraves, whereof there is no example to be found in those Countrys.

90. Now that the Northern Nations usually erected such Cirques of rude stones for the election of their Kings, is fully testified by Olaus Wormius, Reperiuntur inquit in his oris loca quaedam in quibus Reges olim solenni creabantur pompâ, quae cincta adhuc grandibus saxis, ut plurimum duodecim, conspiciuntur, in medio grandiore quo∣dam prominente, cui omnium suffragiis Electum Regem imponebant, magnoque applausu excipiebant. Hic & Comitia celebrabant, & de Regni negotiis consultabant. Regem vero designaturi Electores Sa∣xis insistebant forum cingentibus, decreti firmitudinem pronunciantesu 1.641, i. e. as Englished by Dr. Charletonw 1.642.

91. In this County are beheld certain Courts of Parliament, in which Kings heretofore were solemnly elected, which are sur∣rounded with great stones, for the most part twelve in number, and one other stone exceeding the rest in eminency, set in the middle; upon which (as upon a Regal Throne) they seated the new ele∣cted King, by the general suffrage of the Assembly, and inaugu∣rated him with great applause and loud acclamations. Here they held their great Councils, and consulted about affairs of the King∣dom: But when they met together to nominate their Kings, the Electors stood upright on the stones environing the Court, and gi∣ving their voices, thereby confirmed their choice.

92. The very same practice of the Northern Nations, with the Ceremonies of it, are also briefly set down by Saxo Grammaticus, Lecturi Regem veteres affixis humo Saxis insistere suffragiaque promere consueverunt, subjectorum lapidum firmitate, facti constantiam omina∣turix 1.643, i. e. that the Ancients being about to choose their King, used to stand upon stones fixed in the ground, and thence give their votes, by the firmness of the stones on which they stood, ta∣citly declaring the firmness of their Act. Which manner of ele∣ction is also proved of them, by Crantzius, Meursius, and Bern∣hardus Malincort de Archicancellariisy 1.644.

93. Which places of election it seems were held so sacred, as further testified by Wormiusz 1.645, and out of him by Dr. Charletona 1.646, that in times of peace the Candidate King, was obliged de Jure there to receive his Inauguration, the place and ceremonies being accounted essential parts of his right to Soveraignty, and the votes of his Electors much more valid and authentick for being pro∣nounced in the usual Forum.

94. But if it happened the King fell in a Foreign expedition by the hand of the enemy, the Army presently got together a parcel of great stones, and set them in such a round, as well somtimes per∣haps for the interment of the corps of the deceased King, as ele∣ction of his successor. And this, 'tis like, they did, 1. Because they esteemed an election in such a Forum, a good addition of Ti∣tle. And second, with all expedition, because by the delay of such election too long, irreparable damages many times accrewed to the Republick thereuponb 1.647; which practice of the Danes they

both confirm, by the authorities of Stephanus Stephanius, in his Commentaries on the first Book of Saxo Grammaticus's History of Denmark, and Svaningius a grave and faithful Writer of that Na∣tion, though what they cite of the latter (if that be all he says) scarce proves quite so much.

95. Beside the erection of Stones in Foreign Nations upon the loss of one King, and election of another, what if I should add that its also very likely that the same might be done at the Investi∣ture of a Conqueror into a new acquired Principality: Thus why might not Rollo, either being compelled as a younger brother, to leave Denmark or Norway, as was appointed by the Law of the former Kingdom, and to seek him a new seatc 1.648; or forced from the latter for Piracy by King Harold Harfager, as in the Chronicle of Norwayd 1.649; I say, why might not Rollo after good success against those he invaded (as Walsingham says expresly he wase 1.650, though in another place) be elected King by his followers, and be inaugu∣rated here, as well as there, within such a circle of stones, which bearing his name to this very day, and he being acknowledged both by Bromtonf 1.651 and Florilegusg 1.652 to have beaten the Saxons, and to have tarryed in this Nation a whole Winter, it is highly pro∣bable he might be.

96. For if we enquire into the origin of the name of this Cirque of stones, we shall find that Reich or Riic signifies a King∣dom, and somtimes a King, as Eyn reich fraw, the Queen, or Kings womanh 1.653: Whence 'tis plain, that these stones seem still to be cal∣led the stones of King Rollo, or perhaps rather of Rollo's King∣dom, for it was customary for them to have so many Cirques of stones as Kingdoms, though in the same Country. Thus, as Wor∣mius testifies, there are three at this day in the Kingdom of Den∣mark; one in Seland, another in Schoneland, and a third in the Cimbrick Territory, because these were anciently three distinct Principalities, and under the dominion of as many Kingsi 1.654, as 'tis certain England was also about this time.

97. And if this conjecture may be allowed to take place, we are supplyed also with a reason why we have no tumulus in or near this monument, there being no King or eminent Commander slain, but only a conquest of the enemy in or near this place, intimated

by the five stones meeting in a point at the top; which perhaps may be the disposition intended by Saxo Grammaticus, and out of him by Wormius, Cuneato ordine, which he says expresly signified, Equestrium acies ibidem, vel prope, fortunatius triumphassek 1.655 i. e. that Knights or Horse-men there, or near the place, obtained a glori∣ous Victory.

98. Yet against this conjecture I fore-see there lye two objections worth removal. 1. That in these Cirques of stones designed for the election of Kings, there was always a Kongstolen most times bigger than the rest placed in the middle of it, as intimated above, §. 90. And secondly, that had this place been at first designed for the Inauguration of a Danish or Norwegian King, and such places been so essential to a good title, as pretended above, §. 93. certainly all the Kings of the Danish race that reigned after here in England, would have been either crowned here, or at some other such Forum; whereas we have no such Kongstolen in the middle of the Cirque; and beside, find Canutus with great sole∣mnity Crowned at London, Harold Harefoot here at Oxford (not far from this Cirque) and Hardi-Canute likewise at London.

99. To which it may be replyed, that though not placed in the Cirque, yet here is a Kongstolen not far off, which 'tis like was not necessary should be set within it; for I find the place where the new elected King stood and shewed himself to the peo∣ple, at the Forum for this purpose at Leire in Seland, to have been without the Area, as our Kongstolen is. Area saxis undique cincta Coronationi Regum deputata vicinum habet Collem, cui Coronatus jam insistebat jura populo daturus, & omnibus conspiciendum se praebiturusl 1.656, i. e. that the Area encompassed with stones designed for the Coro∣nation of their Kings, had a Hill near it, whence the new Crown∣ed King gave Laws, and shewed himself to the people; it seeming indifferent from hence, and another such like hillock called Trollebarolhoy, whereon the King also stood, at the place of such election near Lundie in Scaniam 1.657, whether he ascended a stone or mount of earth; within, or without the Area, so he thence might be seen and heard by the people.

100. And to the second Objection it may be reasonably an∣swered, that the Danes by this time having gotten the whole Kingdom, and such capital Cities as London and Oxford were,

might well change the places of their Coronations: Beside, Canutus and the rest were much greater persons, and more civilized than Rollo and his crew, can be presumed to have been; for beside that he lived above a hundred years before them, we find him (though the son of a Norwegian Iorli, or Earl) a great Pyrate at Sean 1.658, and little better then a Robber by Land; well might he therefore be contented with this Inauguration, after the old barbarous fashion, having gained no City wherein it might be done with greater so∣lemnity.

101. But as for the stones near the Barrow at Stanton-Harcourt, called the Devils Coits, I should take them to be appendices to that Sepulchral Monument, but that they seem a little too far re∣moved from it; perhaps therefore the Barrow might be cast up for some Saxon, and the stones for some Britans slain hereabout (aut vice versa) at what time the Town of Eignetham, about a mile off, as Camden informs us, was taken from the Britans by Cuth∣wolf the Saxono 1.659. Which is all I can find worthy notice con∣cerning them, but that they are about eight foot high, and near the base seven broad; and that they seem not natural, but made by art, of a small kind of stones cemented together, whereof there are great numbers in the Fields hereabout; which makes thus much for the conjecture concerning those at Stone-Heng, that they may be artificial, it being plain from these, that they could, and did do such things in the ancienter times.

102. There stands also a stone about half a mile South-west of Enston Church, on a Bank by the way-side between Neat-Enston and Fulwell, somwhat flat, and tapering upward from a broad bottom, with other small ones lying by it; and another near the road betwixt Burford and Chipping-norton, which I guess might be erected for the same purpose with the two former, as above∣mention'd: Unless we shall rather think, both these and them to have been some of the Gods of the ancient Britans, as the Reve∣rend and Learned Dr. Stillingfleet thinks it not improbable those Pyramidal stones, mention'd by Camden in York-shire, called the Devils boltsp 1.660, somtimes were. And so likewise Stone-Heng in Wiltshire, which he judges neither to be a Roman Temple, nor Da∣nish Monument, but rather somwhat belonging to the Idol Marko∣lis,

which Buxtorf saith the Rabbins called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 domum Kolisq 1.661; of which more hereafter when I come into that County; and into Kent, where of Kits-coty-house, which I take to be an Antiquity of the same kind.

103. That the Britans long before the arrival of the Romans, were acquainted with the Greeks, has sufficiently I guess been made appear already, §. 66. of this Chapter; and that long be∣fore that they were known to the Phaenicians, and all the Eastern Countries, is plain out of Strabor 1.662, and Bochartuss 1.663, and by com∣parison of the Learning and Religion of the Druids, with those of the Indian Brachmans. Now that it was the ancient custom of all the Greeks to set up unpolish'd stones instead of Images, to the ho∣nor of their Gods, we have the testimony of Pausanias in these words, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉t 1.664. i. e. that unhewn stones amongst all the Graecians, had the honor of Gods instead of Images; more particularly the same Author asserts, that near the Statue of Mercury there were 30 square stones, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which the Pharii worshipt, and gave to every one of them the name of a Godu 1.665.

104. That the Arabians and Paphians also worship'd such like Gods, is likewise witnessed by Maximus Tyrius. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉w 1.666. i. e. that the Arabians worship'd he scarce knew what God, but that he saw amongst them was only a square stone; and that the Paphians worship'd Venus under the representation of a white Pyramid.

105. And Herodian describing the Worship of Helaegabalus at Emesa in Phaenicia, saith, that he had no kind of Image after the modern Greek or Roman fashion made by mens hands, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉x 1.667, i. e. but a great stone round at the bottom, and lessening by de∣grees toward the top, after the manner of a Cone. To which add, that Peter della Valle, in his late Travels into the Indies, saith, that at Ahmedabad there was a famous Temple of Mahadeu, wherein there was no other Image but a little column of stone af∣ter

a Pyramidal form; which Mahadeu, he saith, in their Lan∣guage signifies the great Gody 1.668. And after this fashion, he saith, 'tis the custom of the Brachmans to represent Mahadeuz 1.669.

106. All which being put together, especially as recommend∣ed by so Learned a Person as the Reverend Dr. Stillingfleet, have prevailed with me much: However, the Reader is free to use his judgment, whether they are memorials of the dead, as common∣ly thought, or representations of the Deities of the ancient Bri∣tans, given them by some Companions of the Eastern Merchants, trading hither for Tin, to the Cassiterides.

107. Other Antiquities contemporary with the stones above-mentioned, I met with none here in Oxford-shire, but those three Rings lincked one within another, and engraven by mistake a lit∣tle out of their place, Tab. 16. Fig. 4. for that they are not like to be British or Roman, I think is pretty certain. The Britans, 'tis true, used Rings instead of Mony, yet as Caesar testifies, they were only of Irona 1.670. And though the Romans, amongst their other dona militaria, did usually give Calbeosb 1.671, sive armillas, bracelets, yet they were constantly I find, either of gold or silver; where∣as ours, as in number, are of three different materials; the largest copper, the second iron, and the least green glass, or some stone of that colour.

108. It remains they must therefore be either Saxon or Danish, but whether of the two, we must not hope to determin, since we find such rings used by both Nations. That the Saxons had such bracelets, is plain from King Aelfred, who notwithstanding he came to the Kingdom, long habituated as it were to rapines and murders, yet brought it before his death into so good a posture, (as is learnedly made out, and by what degrees he did it, in that excellent History of his Life, now in the Press) that he could, and did hang up such bracelets of gold in the high-ways, which no Traveller dared touch. Aelfredus per publicos aggeres, ubi semitae finduntur in quadrum, Armillas jubebat aureas appendi, ut Viantium aviditatem irritaret, cur non esset qui eas acciperet, says Florilegus of himc 1.672. Where, by the way, perhaps it may not be amiss to note, that these Rings were drawn out of the River Cherwel with a Fishing-net, near Hampton Gay, not far from the meeting of

such ways at Kirklington, and kindly bestowed on me by my wor∣thy Friend Mr. Barry, amongst some other matters of like nature, though not so fit to be mention'd here.

109. And that the Danes also made the same Experiment of the innocency of their people, and of universal peace & freedom from rapine, is as manifest out of Saxo Grammaticus, who says expresly of Frotho the Great, Ʋt uniuscujusque rem familiarem à furum incursu tutam praestaret, Armillam unam in Rupe, &cd 1.673. i. e. that he might preserve every mans Goods from the spoils of thieves and robbers, hung up a bracelet of gold on the rock called after his own name, Frothonis petram; and another in the Province of Wig, threatning great severity to the Presidents of those Countries, if they should be taken away. They used them also (like the Romans) as re∣wards of valour, as appears from the proffer of King Roricus, of his six bracelets to any man that would undertake the Champion of the Sclavi (his Enemies) challenging any man in his Armye 1.674; and somtimes too as rewards of Wit, as the same Author informs us, Wiggo being honor'd with a great Armilla by Rolvo Krage, for a Jestf 1.675; and Refo, by Goto King of Norway, ideo tantum quod eum cultius & familiarius habuissetg 1.676.

110. These Armillae, the Danes and other Northern Nations accounted so sacred, that as Bartholin informs us out of Arngri∣mus, the Islanders usually swore upon them, Cujus religionis fuit ritus, ut juramentum praestituri, adhibitis testibus Annulum in Ara De∣orum asservari solitum, & in foro Judiciali à Judice supremo in bra∣chio gestatum, hostiarumque sanguine illinitum, attrectarenth 1.677, i. e. that the manner of people to be sworn was, that before witness they should lay their hands on a certain Ring, usually kept upon the altar of their gods, worn upon the arm of the Chief Justice (whence 'tis plain it was an Armilla) and smeared over with the blood of their Sacrifices. And Ethelwerdus and Asserius both acquaint us, that King Aelfred having gotten considerable advantage over the Danes, made them swear (beside on his own Reliques) in eorum Armilla sacra, quod caeterarum Regionum Regibus fecere nunquami 1.678, i. e. upon their holy bracelet, which they had never done before to the Kings of any other Nation.

111. Which Armillae it seems were somtimes single, and som∣times curiously link'd together. Thus the six bracelets of King Roricus above-mentioned, are said to have been, ita mutuis nexi∣bus involutas ut ab invicem sequestrari nequirent, nodorum inextrica∣biliter serie cohaerentek 1.679, i. e. so inextricably involved one within another, that there was no parting them. The Learned Bartho∣lin also informs us, that somtimes the Armilla had a Ring hung to it. Est tamen Armillae suus quandoque circulusl 1.680: And that when rings are thus hung to bracelets, there is always some mystery in it, quod annuli Armillis fere jungantur non caret mysteriom 1.681. Where by Armillae he means 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, ornaments for the wrists, and by annuli and circuli, ornaments for the fingers: Armillae id brachio praestant, quod digitis annulin 1.682, i. e. that bracelets have the same use on the wrist, that rings have on the finger.

112. Now that ours was an Armilla, is plain enough, for that the great Copper ring is of somwhat above three inches dia∣meter, and big enough to encompass any ordinary mans wrist; the lesser iron one, and green ring of glass, being additional orna∣ments, especially the latter, which questionless was put on to re∣present an Emrauld; that sort of stone, as Pignorius and Bartho∣lin both testifie, being much used in braceletso 1.683: which makes me think it the bracelet but of some ordinary person, the Armilla it self being copper, with which, saith Bartholin, only the vulgar adorned themselves, Armillae aereae, plebeae censendae suntp 1.684, and the appendent glass but a counterfeit Jewel.

113. For eminent places in this County, during the Govern∣ment of the Saxons and Danes in Britan, we may reckon first Ban∣bury, then called Banesbyrig, where Kenric, the second West-Saxon King, about the year 540, put to flight the Britans, fighting for their lives, estates, and all they hadq 1.685. After the Conquest, about the year 1125. it was strengthned with a Castle by Alexander the then great Bishop of Lincoln; and since that, Jan. 26. 1^o Mariae, made a Burg or Burrough consisting of a Bayliff, 12 Aldermen, and 12 Burgesses, in recompence of their faithful service done to the said Queen Mary (as 'tis exprest in their Charter) in manful∣ly resisting John Duke of Northumberland that rebelled against her; whence 'tis plain this Town was ever zealous in matters of

Religion, of what perswasion soever they were, heretofore as well as now. Since again on the 8 of June, Jac. 6, it was made a Major Town, consisting of a Major, 12 Aldermen, and 6 Capi∣tal Burgesses.

114. And secondly, Benson, alias Benesingtune* 1.686, which Ma∣rian (says Camden) calls villam Regiam, the Kings Town, and re∣porteth that Ceaulin, the third King of the West-Saxons, about the year 572, took it from the Britans, which his successors kept 200 years after, till they were dispossest again by Offa the great King of the Merciansr 1.687. And thirdly, though Dorchester has its name from the British Dour, which signifies water, and therefore called by Leland, Hydropolis; and seems to have been known to the Romans by the mony found thereabout, and the La∣tin termination Cester, which, says Leland, the Saxons applyed to Cities as well as Fortificationss 1.688; yet it never came to its height till Birinus, an. 614. was seated there as Bishop of the West-Saxons, by Cynigelse their King, whom he had newly Baptized, and Os∣wald King of Northumberland, God-father to Cynigelset 1.689.

115. About this time the Town of Berencester, alias Bernce∣ster, in Saxon Burenceaster, and Bernacester, which I take to have been its primitive names, seems also to have been raised, and to have taken its name, as some have thought, from the same Bishop Birinus, quasi Birini castrum: But I much rather believe it so cal∣led from Bern-wood, or Forrest, mention'd by Bedev 1.690, Florilegus, and Wigorniensisw 1.691, upon the edge whereof it was then seated, nor is now far off it; after which perhaps from St. Eadburg, to whom the Priory there was, and Parish Church is now dedicated, it changed its name to Burgcester, and since that to Burcester, now Bisseter.

116. The Town of Burford, in Saxon Beorford, seems also to have been a place of good Antiquity, but most remarkable for a battle fought near it, about the year 750x 1.692, perhaps on the place still called Battle-edge, West of the Town betwixt it and Ʋpton; between Cuthred or Cuthbert, a tributary King of the West-Saxons, and Ethelbald the Mercian, whose insupportable exactions the for∣mer King not being able to endure, he came into the Field against

him, met, and overthrew him here about Burford, winning his Banner wherein there was depicted a golden Dragony 1.693; in memo∣ry of which Victory, perhaps the custom (yet within memory) of making a Dragon yearly, and carrying it up and down the Town in great jollity on Midsummer Eve, to which (I know not for what reason) they added a Gyant, might likely enough be first instituted.

117. After the Conquest, I find it the Town of Robert Earl of Glocester, base Son to King Henry the First, to whose Son William I have seen an Original Charter granted him by King Henr. 2. gi∣ving to this his Town of Bureford, Gildam & omnes consuetudines quas habent liberi Burgenses de Oxeneford; most of which it has since lost, and chiefly by the over-ruling power of Sir Lawrence Tanfield, Lord chief Baron in Queen Elizabeths time: Yet it still retains the face of a Corporation, having a common Seal, &c. the very same with Henley, as described in the Map, if they differ not in colours, which I could not learn.

118. As for Wudustoke, or Wudestoc, Sax. ƿudestoc (i. e. locus sylvestris) now Woodstock, it seems to have been a seat Royal ever since the days of King Aelfred, it appearing by a MS. in Sir John Cotton's Library, that he translated Boetius de Consolatione Philosophiae, therez 1.694. Nay, so considerable was it in the time of King Aetheldred, that he called a Parliament there, and En∣acted Laws, to be seen amongst that collection of ancient Laws set forth by Mr. Lambarda 1.695. Whence it may almost be certainly conclu∣ded, that here must have been a house of the Kings of England, long before the days of King Henry the First; who yet 'tis like indeed was the first that inclosed the Park with a wall, though not for Deer, but all foreign wild Beasts, such as Lyons, Leopards, Camels, Linx's, which he procured abroad of other Princes; amongst which more particularly, says William of Malmesbury, he kept a Porcupine, hispidis setis coopertam, quas in Canes insectantes natura∣liter emittuntb 1.696, i. e. cover'd over with sharp pointed Quills, which they naturally shoot at the dogs that hunt them.

119. Of the Town of Thame, anciently Tamesforda, I could find little, till about the time of Edward Senior, An. 921, when the Danish Army out of Huntingdon came hither and erected some

kind of Fortification; but at this time it seems it was so consider∣able, that it had the reputation of a Burg; for King Edward com∣ing against it the same year, his Army is said to have besieged the Burg and taken it, and to have slain the Danish King, Earl Toglos, and Earl Mannan his son, his brother, and all others whatever with∣in the Townc 1.697. And again, An. 1010. when the Danes over-ran most of this part of England, we find this Town amongst others to have suffered much by themd 1.698.

120. Chippingnorton, anciently Ceapan-nertune, was also most certainly a Town of note in the Saxons days, as one may gather from its name, it being so called from Ceapan Emere, to buy or cheapen, so that it implies as much as Mercat Norton, or Norton where the people usually cheapened Wares. And Whitney, now Witney, seems to have been a Town of good repute before the Conquest, it being given about the year 1040. to the Church of St. Swithins Winton: with eight other Manors, by Alwinus then Bishop of that See, who for his over-familiarity with Emma Mo∣ther to K. Edward the Confessor, was causelesly suspected of Adul∣tery with her: Of which suspition Queen Emma purging herself and him by the Fire Ordeal, of walking bare-foot over nine red-hot plough-shares without hurt; in thankfulness ('tis said) they each gave nine Manors to the Church of Winchester, which are all named by Mr. Dugdale, Witney being one of those given by Al∣winuse 1.699.

121. And the neighboring Town of Bampton, anciently Bemtune, seems to be of much about the same antiquity, yet neither can I find any higher Record of it, than of Leofric Chaplain to King Edward the Confessor, who An. 1046. upon the union of the Bi∣shopricks of Criditon and Cornwal, and both of them translated to Exeter, whereof he was made the first Bishop, quickly after gave to this his new Church his aet Bemtunef 1.700, to which it belongs to this very day.

122. Which is all I could meet with of the Towns of Oxford-shire before the Conquest (for after long search I could find no∣thing of Deddington, till about the Reign of King Edw. 2. where∣of when I come to speak of the Castle there) concerning which I could have added much more, and brought their History down

to these times, as above in Banbury; only that, and whatever else is worthy notice of them, may be found in some other modern Histories.

123. Yet before we come to the times since the Conquest, let us first remember that the Town of Islip, Sax. Gightslepe; or Gibetslepe, must needs be of good repute in those days; for Camden says ex∣presly, and so do several other Authors, that King Edward the Confessor was born there, which they prove from his original Charter of Restoration of the Abby of Westminster, wherein he gives to this his new Church the Town of Islip, with the additi∣onal Clause of [the place where he was borng 1.701] which though, 'tis true, I could not find in Mr. Dugdaleh 1.702, yet here remaining some foot-steps of the ancient Palace, and a Chappel now put to pro∣fane use, called the Kings Chapel, and the Town still belonging to the Church of Westminster, there is no great doubt to be made of the thing, tradition it self being not like to be erroneous in a mat∣ter of this nature, though there were no such Charter to prove the thing alleged, which yet we have reason to believe there is, or was, though not produced by Mr. Dugdale.

124. In the Chapel above-mentioned, not many years since, there stood (as was constantly deliver'd down to posterity) the very Font, wherein that Religious Prince, St. Edward the Confes∣sor, received the Sacrament of Baptism: which, together with the Chapel; in these latter days being put to some indecent at least, if not profane use, was carefully and plously rescued from it, by some of the Right Worshipful Family of the Browns of Nether Kiddington, where it now remains in the garden of that worthy Gentleman Sir Henry Brown Baronet, set handsomly on a pedestal as exactly represented Tab. 16. Fig. 6. and adorned with a Poem rather pious than learned, which yet I think I had put down, but that it is imperfect.

125. Which holy King Edward was the first to whom was granted the gift of Sanation, only with the touch of his hand, of the Disease called the Struma; or Scrofula, and in English upon this account, the Kings Evil; which as a mark of Gods most espe∣cial favor to this Kingdom, has been transmitted with it, as an he∣reditary gift to all his Successors: Every sacred hand in all Ages ever since, that has held the Scepter of this most happy and now flo∣rishing

Kingdom, having been signally blest by divers and undoubt∣ed Experiments of healing that Disease.

126. Before they touch for this distemper, they have always Prayers read sutable to the occasion, both which when performed, the King forthwith bestows on every Patient, a piece of Angel-gold purposely coined, and put upon a white ribbon to be hung a∣bout the neck; which as long as worn preserves the virtue of the touch, though Dr. Tooker will have it only, Sanitatis symbolum in∣choatae, & Eleemosynae sacrae monumentumi 1.703, i. e. a mark that the Cure is already begun, and a lasting memorial of the Kings chari∣ty and piety to the poor patients.

127. However it be, that this was the custom ab initio, I take to be plain from that piece of Gold of King Edward the Confessor, Tab. 16. Fig. 5. found in St. Giles's field in the Suburbs of Oxon. having the initial letters of his name over the hinder part of the head, and two small holes through it, as if designed to be being on a ribbon for the purpose above-mention'd, the holes being strengthened with Gold Wire fastened round them, and to the piece it self, much after the fashion of the eye of a mans doublet, as exactly described in the Figure, ut supra; which piece was lent me by that courteous Gentleman Sir John Holeman Baronet, in whose possession it now remains at his House near Northam∣pton.

128. From King Edward the Confessors being born at Islip, 'tis easie to collect, that his Father King Aethelred must necessarily have had a Royal Seat there, as in all probability likewise at Hed∣dington near Oxford; for though Tradition now goes, that it was but the Nursery of the Kings Children, whereof there remains yet upon the place some signs of foundations in a Field near the Town, called Court-close; yet it is plain, that King Aethelred did somtimes at least reside there himself, for he concludes a Char∣ter, or some such like Instrument, wherein he grants Privileges to the Monastery of St. Frideswide here in Oxon. of his own Resto∣ration, in English thus, This privilege was idith at Hedinton, and after in Latin, Scripta fuit haec Cedula jussu praefati Regis in villa Regia quae ...... appellatur, die octavarum beati Andreae Apostoli, his consencientibus p ...... qui subtus notati videntur. Ego Aethel∣redus Rex hoc privilegium, &ck 1.704.

129. Beside these, the Kings of England had several other seats within this County (not to mention again that Woodstock was one, or that old Alcester was the seat of Alectus) such as Beau∣mont, just without the suburbs of Oxford, the Birth-place of the valiant King Richard the First. Langley, upon the edge of the Forest of Whichwood, a seat, as Tradition has deliver'd it down to us, of the unhappy King John, who perhaps during the time of his Residence here, might indeed build the Castle of Bampton, which also Tradition informs us was of his foundation. And Ewelm, built indeed by William De la Pool Duke of Suffolk, who marrying Alice the daughter and heir of Thomas Chaucer, had a fair Estate hereabout; but after, upon the attaindure of John Earl of Lincoln, and Edmund his brother, Grand-children to the Duke, it came to the Crown in the days of King Henr. 7. and was afterward made an Honor, by laying unto it the Manor of Wal∣lengford, and several others, by King Hen. 8. All which houses are mark'd out in the Map, by the addition of a small Imperial Crown placed somwhere near them.

130. As all places that gave title to ancient Barons, most of whose Families long since have been extinguish'd, are mark'd with a Coronet; such are, 1. The Baronies by ancient Tenure, which were certain Territories held of the King, who still reserved the Tenure in chief to himself: whereof the ancientest in this Coun∣ty were those of Oxford and St. Valeric, the head of the latter be∣ing the Town of Hoke-Nortone 1.705, both given by the Conqueror to Robert D'Oyly who accompanied him out of Normandyf 1.706. 2. The Barony of Arsic, belonging to Manasser Arsic, who florish'd An. 1103. 3 Hen. 1. the head of which Barony was Coggs near Witney, Summerton and Hardwick in this County, being other members of it. 3. The Barony of Hedindon, now Heddington, given the 25 of Henr. 2. to Thomas Basset in Fee-farm, whose Son Gilbert the Founder of Bisseter Priory, in the first year of Richard the First, was one of the Barons that attended at the Coronation. And these are all the Baronies of ancient Tenure that were heretofore in Oxford-shire.

131. In the beginning of the Reign of King Edward the First, there were several other able men summon'd as Barons to Parlia∣ment, that had not such Lands of ancient Tenure, as those above

had, which were therefore stiled Barons by Writs of Summons to Parliament. The first of these in Oxford-shire was William de Huntercomb (whose seat still remains by the same name in the Pa∣rish of Tuffield) who was summoned to Parliament by the Kings Writ, bearing date the 23 of Edw. 1. The second, I find, was Joh. Gray of Rotherfield, whose Ancestors being of a younger House of Walter Grey Arch-Bishop of York, had Rotherfield given them, beside many other possessions by the said Arch-Bishop: He was summoned first to Parliament the 25 of Edw. 1.

132. And so was thirdly, his next Neighbor Ralph Pipard of the other Rotherfield, in the same year of the same King, their seats having now almost quite changed their names, for those of their owners; one of them seldom being called otherwise than Pipard or Pepper, and the other Grays. Also fourthly, John Baron Lovel, of Minster-Lovel, whose ancestors though Barons by tenure many years before, as seised of the Barony of Castle-Cary in Somerset-shire, yet dis-possest of that I know not by what means, received summons to Parliament whil'st seated here at Minster, 25 of Edw. 1.

133. The fifth of these Barons was Hen. le Tyes, who having a grant of Sherbourn here in Oxford-shire from Richard Earl of Corn∣wall, temp. Henr. 3. which Sherbourn had formerly been a part of the Barony of Robert de Druis, was summoned to Parliament the 28 of Edw. 1. And so was sixthly, John de la Mare of Garsing∣ton, the very same year. To which should be added, the Barons by Letters Patents of Creation, so first made about the 11 of Rich. 2. But of these, whose Barony is now vacant, there is only, seventh∣ly, the Lord Williams, solemnly created Lord Williams of Thame the first of April, 1 Mariae, who had also summons the same time to the Parliament then sitting, but his Patent it seems was never enrolled.

134. For this account of these Baronies, I acknowledge my self beholding to that Learned Antiquary, William Dugdale Esq Norroy King at Arms, in whose elaborate Volumes of the Baronage of England, the Reader may receive more satisfaction concerning them. Yet beside these, as the people will have it, the Manor of Wilcot was the head of a Barony, one of the Barons whereof, as tradition tells them, lies buryed under a fair Monument in North-Leigh Church: But the Writings of the present Proprietor, my

worthy Friend Mr. Cary of Woodstock (whom yet I found incli∣ned to believe some such thing) being at London, whereby other∣wise it possibly might have been proved, and the testimony of the people being too weak an evidence to build upon; I have rather chosen to forbear, then add a Coronet to the place.

135. Beside the Saxon and Danish Fortifications above-men∣tioned, there are others here in Oxford-shire of a later date, either quite rased, or in a manner useless, and some of them too, known but to few; wherefore I have thought fit to give this short ac∣count of them. To pass by therefore the Castle of Oxford, so well known to be built by Robert d'Oyly who came in with the Con∣queror, and the Castles of Bampton and Banbury spoken of before: the first that presents it self to my consideration, is the old Castle of Deddington, formerly Dathingtong 1.707, which I take to be ancient, and the very place no question to which Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, brought Piers de Gaveston the great Favorite of King Edward the Second, and there left him to the fury of the Earls of Lancaster, Warwick, and Hereford, who carrying him to Warwick, after some time, caused him to be beheaded in a place called Blak∣law, in their own presenceh 1.708.

136. Secondly, the Castle of Ardley, the Foundations where∣of are yet to be seen in a little Wood west of the Town, which if any heed may be given to the tradition of the place, florish'd a∣bout the time of King Stephen: and so perhaps thirdly, might Chipping-norton Castle; free leave being given at the beginning of his Reign, to all his Subjects to build them Castles, to defend him and them against Maud the Empress, which at last, finding used som∣times against himself, he caused no less than eleven hundred of these new built Castles to be rased again, which no doubt is the cause we find no more of them, but their bare Foundations and Trenches.

137. But fourthly, the Castle of Middleton, now Middleton-stony, was none of these, for I find Richard de Camvil had Li∣very given him of Middleton Castle in Oxford-shire (which must needs be this) the tenth of King John, as part of his own Inhe∣ritance by descent from his Fatheri 1.709. And fifthly, as for the ru∣ins of old Fortifications at Craumersh, or Croamish Giffard near

Wallengford, I take them either for the foundations of that wooden Tower erected by King Stephen, in the year 1139. when he besieged Maud the Empress, and her Brother Robert Earl of Glocester in Wallengford Castlek 1.710, or else of the Castle of Craumerse, or Croamish it self, built by the same King Stephen at another siege of Walleng∣ford, An. 1153. which Henry Fitz-Empress endeavoring to raise, and bringing King Stephen to great straits, they came at last to an accord concerning the Kingdom of Englandl 1.711.

138. There are some other Antiquities of yet later date, that I have met with in Oxford-shire also perhaps worthy notice, such as that odd bearded Dart, Tab. 16. Fig. 7. having the beards issu∣ing from it, not as usually one against another, but one lower and the other higher, perhaps thus contrived for its easier passage in, and as great or greater difficulty to get it out of a body; which were it not for the too long distance of time, I should be willing to take for the Materis, Mataris, or Matara, the British long Dart, which were usually thrown by those that fought in Essedism 1.712: But the stem of it being wood, and not very hard neither, I cannot af∣ford it to be above 200 years standing, or thereabout: Nor can I add more concerning it, but that it was found somwhere about Steeple Barton, and given me by the Worshipful Edward Sheldon Esq

139. Yet the stone engraven Tab. 16. Fig. 8. dug up in the gar∣den, and now in the possession of the Right Worshipful Sir Tho∣mas Spencer Baronet, a most cordial Encourager of this under∣taking, can scarce be allowed so ancient as that, the Character up∣on it in Rilieve work being certainly China: For unless we may imagin it brought thence in the days of King Aelfred, by Swithe∣lin Bishop of Sherbourn, Qui detulit ad Sanctum Thomam in India Eleemosynas Regis Aluredi, & incolumis rediitn 1.713, i. e. who carryed the offerings of King Alfred to the Church of St. Thomas in India, and returned safe, we can by no means allow it to have been here, 180 years; that Country having been quite lost again to this We∣stern part of the world, till Vasquez Gama was sent by Emanuel King of Portugal to make new discoveries, in the year 1497. In which year, though he recovered the way again to the East Indies, yet Fernandus Andradius discover'd not China till 1517o 1.714. So that

[illustration] table of antiquities

TAB. XVI. ad pag. 356

To the right Worsp.^ll S^r. THOMAS SPENCER Baron! one of the Noblest Encouragers of this Essay This 16.^th Table of some of the ANTJQUJTJES of OXFORDSHJRE cohere of the last was Aug out of HJS 〈◊〉〈◊〉 grounds, in memory of his kindness is thankfully dedicated by R.P.L.L.D

M Bur••hers Sclupsit

provided this stone (which is very unlikely) were brought thence by some of Andradius his company the very first voyage, yet it can be (with us) but 160 years standing.

140. As for the Stone it self it is of an odd kind of texture, and colour too, not unlike (to sight) to some sort of cheese, exact∣ly of the figure and bigness as engraven in the Table; and most likely of any thing to have been one of their Togrâ's, or Stamps, wherein the chief persons of the Eastern Countries usually had their names cut in a larger sort of Character, to put them to any Instru∣ments at once, without further trouble. That they have such kind of stamps, is clearly testified by Alvares Semedo, in his Hi∣story of China: They Print, says he, likewise with Tables of stone, but this manner of Printing serves only for Epitaphs, Trees, Moun∣tains, &c. of which kind they have very many Prints; the stones which serve for this use being also of a proper and peculiar sortp 1.715, as ours seems to be: So that in all probability the letters on this stone con∣tain only the name, and perhaps the office, or other title of some person of Quality, and therefore hard to be found out; and that it was brought hither by some Traveller of the Honorable Family of the Spencers, and either casually lost, or carelesly thrown out as a thing of no value.

141. And thus with no small toil and charge, yet not without the assistance of many Honorable Persons, whose names in due time shall be all gratefully mention'd, I have made shift to finish this specimen of Oxford-shire; which I am so far from taking for a per∣fect History, that I doubt not but time and severe observation (to which I hope this Essay will both encourage and direct) may pro∣duce an Appendix as large as this Book: For that new matter will daily present it self, to be added to some one or other of these Chapters, I am so sensibly convinc'd. that even since the Printing the first Chapter of this Treatise, I have found here at home just such another Echo, as at Mr. Pawlings at Heddington, in the Portico's of the new Quadrangle at St. John Baptist's College. And since my writing the second, my worthy Friend Dr. Tho. Taylor has found so strong a Chalybeat Spring in Fulling-mill-ham-stream near Oseney Bridge, that notwithstanding last hard Winter (when the greatest Rivers were frozen) this continued open and smoaking all the time, tinging all the stones by reason of its not running, nor

mixing with other water, with a deep rusty colour. And third∣ly, since the Printing the 48 §. of Chap. 8. I have seen a Lapis Ranulae taken out from under the Tongue of one Johnson a Shoo-maker (by the skilful Mr. Pointer Chirurgion) here in Oxford.

142. Which is all I have at present to offer the Reader, but that he would take notice, 1. That in Chap. 2. §. 69. where I mention a Well so eminent heretofore for curing distempers, in the Parish of St. Crosses, that it has given it the more lasting name of Holy-well; that I intend not that Well of late erection (though perhaps the water of that is as good) and now most used, but an other ancienter Holy-well behind the Church, in Mr. Nevil's Court before his house. And that secondly, notwithstanding the au∣thority of the Learned Dr. Hammond (with whom a man need not much be ashamed to err) some will have, that he calls the Well of St. Edward in the Parish of St. Clements, rather the Well of St. Edmund, for which I find the very same authority alleged, that Dr. Hammond bringsq 1.716. And lastly to beg of him, that though in general he find me unequal to my design, and many particulars of this Essay perhaps ill placed, and worse expressed, that yet in consideration that this is my first attempt (wherein many Incon∣veniencies could not be fore-seen, which may hereafter be avoid∣ed) he would candidly accept of the sincerity of my intention, with all imaginable endeavor of amendment for the future, in lieu and excuse of my present Inabilities.

FINIS.

Notes

• a 1.1

  De Augm Scient. Lib. 2. cap. 2.
• b 1.2

  Des Cartes Meteor. cap. 10. & Gassend. in Ep. ad Renerium.
• c 1.3

  Philos. Trans. num. 13.
• d 1.4

  De rerum Va∣rietate lib. 14. c. 70.
• e 1.5

  Philos. Trans. numb. 47.
• f 1.6

  Isa. 44. v. 24, 25.
• g 1.7

  Philos. Trans. numb. 13.
• h 1.8

  Des Cartes, Meteor. cap. 10.
• i 1.9

  Matthew Paris, 17 Henr. III.
• k 1.10

  Des Cartes Meteor. cap. 10. & Fromond. Me∣teor. Lib. 6. Art. 2.
• l 1.11

  Sennertus in Epitom. Phys.
• m 1.12

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Meteor. lib. 3. cap. 2.
• n 1.13

  It was observed by an able Sea-man of Bristol, that this wind was the fag-end of a Hurricane, which began in New-England about three hours before it came hither; the Sea-men observ'd that it went directly to∣wards England.
• o 1.14

  Bellarmin. de ascens. ment. in Deum, Grad. 2. cap. 4.
• p 1.15

  Philosoph. Transact. Numb. 13.
• q 1.16

  Philosoph. Transact. Num. 90.
• r 1.17

  MS. Digby, fol. 176.
• * 1.18

  Such ob∣servations of the weather every day of the month through the whole year 1671. were made by Erasmus Bar∣tholine, and are printed inter Acta Medica Tho. Bartholini Obs. 130.
• s 1.19

  Blancani Echometria Theorem 5.
• t 1.20

  Magia Phonocamptica, probl. 5.
• u 1.21

  Nat. Hist. Cent. 3. Numb. 251.
• * 1.22

  Since, New College hath been advanced a Story higher, A. D 1675. this Echo is somwhat alter'd.
• w 1.23

  Jani Jacob. Boisardi, Topographia Romae, p. 65, 66.
• * 1.24

  Magiae Phonocampticae, Praelus. 2.
• * 1.25

  Blancani Echometria, Theoremate, 4.
• * 1.26

  There is much such another as this, in the Ball-Court at Corpus Christi Coll.
• y 1.27

  Nat. Hist. Cent. 3. Num. 249, 250.
• z 1.28

  Comment. in Hippoc. de Aere, aquis, & locis.
• a 1.29

  Hippocr. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• b 1.30

  Id. ibid.
• * 1.31

  Ab amoenitate situs Bellositum dictum.
• c 1.32

  MSS. fol. C. p. 173.
• d 1.33

  H. Spelman Concil. Tom. 1. An. 977. p. 493.
• e 1.34

  Philosoph. Transact. num. 49.
• f 1.35

  Nat. Hist. Cent. 10. num. 914.
• g 1.36

  MSS. in Arch. Bib. Bod. fol. 90, 91.
• h 1.37

  Hist. & Antiq. Univers. Oxon. Lib. 1. pag. 245.
• i 1.38

  Philosoph. Transact. Num. 27. pag. 495.
• * 1.39

  Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. 2. cap. 103.
• k 1.40

  De Aere Aquis & locis super Text. 3.
• * 1.41

  General Description of Hungary, pag. 10.
• l 1.42

  Willis, de Ferment. cap. 2.
• m 1.43

  Willis de Ferment. cap. 2.
• n 1.44

  Willis de Ferment. cap. 12.
• o 1.45

  Willis de Ferment. cap. 8.
• p 1.46

  Nat. Hist. lib. 2. cap. 103.
• q 1.47

  De Miracul. Nat. lib. 2. c. 26.
• r 1.48

  Varenii Geog. lib. 1. cap. 17. prop. 15.
• s 1.49

  Dell' Hist. Natural. lib. 27. cap. 8.
• t 1.50

  Anton. Galataeus de fluminum generibus.
• u 1.51

  Micograph. Obs. 17.
• w 1.52

  De Ferment. cap. 9.
• x 1.53

  Simpsons Hydrolog. Chym part. 2.
• y 1.54

  Sir Hugh Plat's Jewel-house of Art and Nature, cap. 104.
• z 1.55

  Philosoph. Transact. Num. 113.
• a 1.56

  Id. loco citato.
• b 1.57

  Hist. of Colours, Exper. 20.
• * 1.58

  Ibid. Exper. 10.
• c 1.59

  De Thermis Bathoniensibus, sub finem.
• d 1.60

  De Fer∣ment. cap. 11.
• e 1.61

  Hist. of Colours. Exper. 40.
• f 1.62

  Hen. ab Heers Spadacrene, cap. 4.
• g 1.63

  Philosoph. Transact. Num. 21. Vid. Olai Wormii, Musaeum de eodem, cap. 9.
• * 1.64

  At Snowdown-hill, in Carnarvan-shire, there are also such stones. Dr. Merrets Pinax rerum Nat. p. 217.
• h 1.65

  Lib. De Natu∣ra eorum quoe effluunt ex terra.
• * 1.66

  I found another since, near Whites-Oak in the Parish of North-Leigh.
• i 1.67

  Answer to Hydrologia Chym. p. 25.
• * 1.68

  I heard of such another somwhere near Wardington.
• k 1.69

  De Anima Brutorum, cap. 12. De Gustatu.
• l 1.70

  Philos. Transact. Num. 57.
• m 1.71

  Canonibus sub Edgaro. Can. 60.
• n 1.72

  Annotat. ••n Epist. Coloss. c. 2. v. 23.
• o 1.73

  Britan. in Oxfordshire.
• p 1.74

  Lelandi Comment. in Cyg. Cant. in verbo Limenus.
• q 1.75

  De Bello Gallico, lib. 5. sub initium.
• r 1.76

  Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. 17. cap. 6, 7.
• s 1.77

  Kentman. nomenelat. rer. fos. cap. 3. de Margis.
• t 1.78

  Boats Nat. Hist. of Ireland, cap. 12.
• u 1.79

  Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. 17. cap. 8.
• w 1.80

  Cap. 1. De terris.
• x 1.81

  Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. 33. cap. 12.
• y 1.82

  Encelius de re Metal. lib. 2. cap. 20.
• z 1.83

  Ol: Wormii Musaeum. cap. 4.
• a 1.84

  Encel. de re Metal. cap. 20.
• b 1.85

  Kentman de terris, cap. 1.
• c 1.86

  De figuris Lapidum, cap. 6.
• d 1.87

  Boats Nat. Hist. of Irel c. 20. sect. 4.
• e 1.88

  Ol. Wormii Musaeum, cap. 4.
• f 1.89

  De figuris Lapidum. cap. 2.
• g 1.90

  De Lacte Lunae dissertatio Medica. Edit. Anno 1667.
• h 1.91

  Account of his Travels. pag. 92.
• i 1.92

  China illustrata.
• k 1.93

  De Natur. Fossil.
• l 1.94

  Dell' Hist. Natural. Lib. 5. cap. 4.
• m 1.95

  De Lapid. & Gem∣mis. cap. 229.
• n 1.96

  De Figuris Lapidum, cap. 2.
• o 1.97

  Cap. 18. sect. 4.
• p 1.98

  Philos. Transact. Num. 3.
• q 1.99

  Num. 6.
• r 1.100

  Vid. Nich. Stenonis Prodrom.
• * 1.101

  They dig prety good Peats also near the Wyke at Heddington; and in a boggy ground East-ward of Elsfield Church.
• s 1.102

  Ol. Wormii, Musaeum lib. 2. cap. 6.
• t 1.103

  Philos. Transact. Num. 10, 11.
• u 1.104

  Lib 17. cap. 4.
• w 1.105

  Lib. 4. cap. 3.
• x 1.106

  De Ferment. cap. 9.
• y 1.107

  Tit. 2. cap. de Succis efflore scentibus.
• z 1.108

  Tit. 2. cap. Sory, & de succis efflorescent.
• a 1.109

  Kentman. tit. 8.
• b 1.110

  Dell' Hist. Nat. lib. 24. cap. 16:
• c 1.111

  Anton. Neri, lib. 1. cap. 2.
• * 1.112

  There is a Quarry of this South of Wolvercot Church, but the Cement so soft, that it will not polish.
• d 1.113

  De Ferment. cap. 10.
• e 1.114

  Lach. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Sect. 3. cap. 1.
• f 1.115

  Hist. Nat. lib. 37. c. 10.
• g 1.116

  Fossilium, lib. 5.
• h 1.117

  In Prodromo.
• i 1.118

  Encelius, de re Metallica, cap. 7.
• k 1.119

  Nat. Hist. lib. 37. cap. 10.
• l 1.120

  Nat. Hist. loco citato.
• m 1.121

  Musaeum Calceolarium, sect. 3.
• n 1.122

  De figuris lapidum, cap. 2.
• o 1.123

  De Natura Fossilium, lib. 5.
• p 1.124

  In Prodromo, pag. 74.
• q 1.125

  Musaeum Metallicum, lib. 4. cap. 33.
• r 1.126

  Lib. 4. cap. 33.
• s 1.127

  Lib de Simp. Med. ad Patern.
• t 1.128

  De Lapidibus & Gemmis, lib. 3. cap. 56.
• u 1.129

  De Natura Fossilium, lib. 5.
• w 1.130

  Prodromi prop. 1. obser. vat. 1.
• * 1.131

  There are such as these in Spain, Thuringia, and Cappadocia. Aldrovand. lib. 4. cap. 33.
• y 1.132

  In Musaeo Calceolario, sect. 3.
• z 1.133

  Lib. 4. cap. 33. Mus. Metal.
• a 1.134

  De Simp. Med. facult. lib. 9.
• b 1.135

  De Na∣tura Fossilium. lib. 5.
• c 1.136

  Mus. Metal. lib. 4. c. 33.
• d 1.137

  In Musaeo, cap. 7.
• e 1.138

  Nat. Hist. lib. 21. cap. 14.
• f 1.139

  Kircheri Mundus sub terr. Lib. 12. sect. 5. part. 3. cap. 3.
• g 1.140

  De Figuris Lapidum, cap. 2.
• h 1.141

  Philosoph. Transact. Numb. 112.
• i 1.142

  Ibid.
• k 1.143

  Philosoph. Transact. loco citato.
• m 1.144

  Ibid.
• l 1.145

  De Figuris Lapidum, cap. 2.
• n 1.146

  Philosoph. Transact. Numb. 100.
• o 1.147

  Subtilit. Lib. 5.
• p 1.148

  Musaeum Metallic. lib. 4. cap. 65.
• q 1.149

  Musaeum Metallic. lib. 4. cap. 1.
• r 1.150

  Observations Topograph. &c. p. 116.
• s 1.151

  Lib. de Mundo ad Alexandrum.
• t 1.152

  Lib. 4. cap. 1. p. 455.
• * 1.153

  These not being hollow at the top, nor containing any other stone, gravel, or earth, some call the male Belemnites: the three former being of the female kind.
• u 1.154

  De Figuris Lapidum, cap. 5.
• w 1.155

  Nat. Hist. lib. 37. cap. 11.
• w 1.156

  Lib. 37. cap. 10.
• x 1.157

  De Figuris Lapidum, cap. 13.
• y 1.158

  Of this there is a Quarry between Heathrop and Enston, called Broad-stone Quarry, that has great plenty.
• z 1.159

  Prodrom. de Chrystallo. propositionib. 1, 2, 3.
• a 1.160

  Musaeum Metall. lib. 4. cap. 76.
• b 1.161

  De Lapid. & Gem. cap. 304.
• c 1.162

  Nat. Hist. lib. 37. c. 10.
• d 1.163

  In Prodromo.
• * 1.164

  It is much prized by the Painters at London, it having a grit that cuts their colours much better than other Marble. Mr. Aubrey's notes.
• e 1.165

  De Natura Fossilium. lib. 7.
• f 1.166

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Hil∣desheim. sect. 3. cap. 15.
• g 1.167

  De Natura Fossilium, lib. 7.
• * 1.168

  Vid. Buccinum lapideum laeve Fabii Columnae, Aquatilium & terrestr. observ. cap. 22.
• h 1.169

  Vid. Concham imbricatam minimam Aldrovandi. de Test. lib. 3. cap. 43.
• i 1.170

  Rondoletius de testaceis, lib. 1. cap. 25.
• * 1.171

  These made red hot and put into drink, are accounted in this Country a present remedy for a stitch.
• k 1.172

  Philosoph. Transact. Numb. 76.
• l 1.173

  De Testaceis, lib. 3. cap. 69.
• m 1.174

  De Testaceis, lib. 1. cap. 16.
• n 1.175

  De Testaceis, lib. 3. cap. 69.
• o 1.176

  De Aquatil. lib. 4. p. 813.
• p 1.177

  De Te∣staceis, lib. 3. cap. 44.
• q 1.178

  Pinax rerum Natur. Brit. p. 216.
• r 1.179

  De Testaceis, lib. 3. cap. 71.
• s 1.180

  De Testaceis, lib. 1. cap. 46.
• t 1.181

  In Prodromi vers. Angl. p. 75, 76.
• u 1.182

  De Testaceis lib. 3. cap. 40.
• w 1.183

  Dell' Hist. Naturale, lib. 28. cap. 1.
• x 1.184

  Dell' Hist. Naturale, lib. 24. c. 26.
• y 1.185

  Recherches & observations Naturelles: Lettre vingt sixieme.
• z 1.186

  History of the Isles Antilles, or Caribby Islands, chap. 19. art. 13.
• a 1.187

  De Piscibus, lib. 18. cap. 33.
• b 1.188

  Micograph. Observ. 17.
• c 1.189

  Observations Topograph. p. 123.
• d 1.190

  Recherches & Observations Na∣turelles, Lettre 28.
• e 1.191

  De Piscibus, lib. 17. cap. 9.
• f 1.192

  Quint. Curtii de reb. Gest. Alexandri, Histor. lib. 4.
• g 1.193

  See the Cabinet in the Bodleyan Library.
• h 1.194

  Joann. Bauhinus de Lapidibus variis in fine Hist. admirabilis fontis Bollensis.
• i 1.195

  Cap. 246.
• k 1.196

  De La∣pid. & Gemmis, cap. 22.
• l 1.197

  In t••actatu de Canis Carchariae dissecto capite, p. 118.
• m 1.198

  Johannes Bauhinus de Lapidibus variis in fine Hist. admirabilis fontis, Bollensis p. 20.
• * 1.199

  Pinax rerum Naturalium, p. 215. There is another about that bigness in the Repository of the Royal Society, given by the Right Honorable Henry Earl of Norwich, Earl Marshal of England.
• n 1.200

  In Prodromo.
• o 1.201

  Vide Stillingfleti Origines Sacras, lib. 3. cap. 4.
• p 1.202

  Gen. c. 7. ver. 11.
• q 1.203

  Gen. cap. 8. ver. 1.
• r 1.204

  Aquatil. & Terrestr. observat. cap. 21.
• s 1.205

  Hist. Animalium, lib. 4. cap. 5.
• t 1.206

  De Piscibus, lib. 18. cap. 31.
• u 1.207

  Loco citato.
• w 1.208

  Recherches & ob∣servations Naturelles Lettre 26.
• x 1.209

  Musaeum Metallicum, lib. 4. cap. 1.
• y 1.210

  Musaeum Calceolarium, sect. 3. p. 416.
• z 1.211

  Cambden in York-shire.
• a 1.212

  Topograph. Observat. p. 114.
• b 1.213

  Cambden in Somerset-shire.
• c 1.214

  Britannia Baconica in Somerset-shire.
• d 1.215

  Dr. Merret's Pinax rerum natural. pag. 215.*
• e 1.216

  Topograph. Observations, p. 127.
• f 1.217

  Lachmundi 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. sect. 1. cap. 4.
• g 1.218

  Micrograph. Observ. 17.
• h 1.219

  In Prodromo.
• i 1.220

  Philosoph. Transact. Num. 76,
• k 1.221

  Vid. Hen. Huntingdon, lib. 5. & Asserium Meneven. de rebus gestis Aelfredi.
• l 1.222

  Recherches & observat. Naturelles, Lettre 26.
• m 1.223

  Libro citato, Lettre 28.
• n 1.224

  Libro citato, Lettre 26.
• o 1.225

  Mr. Hooks Micrographia, Observ. 17.
• * 1.226

  Dr. Tho. Millington Fellow of All Souls Coll.
• p 1.227

  Mr. Hooks Micrograph. Observ. 14. Schem. 8.
• q 1.228

  Ibidem.
• * 1.229

  Micrographia observ. 14.
• r 1.230

  Essay 1. of the unsuccessfulness of Experiments.
• s 1.231

  Gesner de Figuris Lapidum, cap. 9.
• t 1.232

  Idem loco citato.
• u 1.233

  Andreas Caesalpinus de Metallicis, lib. 2 cap. 44.
• w 1.234

  Nat. Hist. lib. 37. cap. 10.
• * 1.235

  Dell' Hist. Naturale, lib. 27. cap. 8.
• x 1.236

  Nat. Hist. lib. 37. cap. 10.
• y 1.237

  Idem loco ••itato.
• z 1.238

  Lib. 5 cap. 114.
• b 1.239

  Musaeum Metallicum, lib. 4. c. 1. pag. 477.
• c 1.240

  Boetius de Boot, de lapid. & gem. lib. 2. c. 99.
• d 1.241

  Nat. Hist. lib. 37. cap. 10.
• d 1.242

  Vid. Erasmi Colloquium cui Tit. Peregrination Religionis ergo.
• * 1.243

  Nat. Hist. lib. 37. cap. 10.
• e 1.244

  De Natura Fossilium, lib. 7.
• f 1.245

  De Metallicis, lib. 2. cap. 48.
• g 1.246

  Kircheri Mundus subterran. lib. 8. sect. 2. cap. 4. disq. 2.
• h 1.247

  Idem loco citato, disq. 1.
• i 1.248

  Stow's Annals, in the Life of King Arthur.
• k 1.249

  Tho. Fazelli de rebus Siculis Decad. prioris, lib. 1. cap. 6.
• l 1.250

  Dionis Cassii Rom. Hist. lib. 60.
• * 1.251

  Matth. Paris in Reg. Hen. 3. in Anno Dom. 1255.
• m 1.252

  Cambden in Essex.
• n 1.253

  Chartham news, set forth by Mr. Joh. Somner.
• * 1.254

  In the Medicine School.
• o 1.255

  Pont. Virunnii, Hist. Britan. lib. 4.
• p 1.256

  Sueton. in vita Claudii.
• q 1.257

  Dion. Cass. Rom. Hist. lib. 60.
• r 1.258

  Idem loco citato.
• s 1.259

  1 Sam. c. 17. v. 4.
• t 1.260

  Judith 16. v. 7.
• u 1.261

  Baruch 3. v. 26.
• w 1.262

  Vid. Athan. Kircheri Mundum subterr. lib. 8 sect. 2. cap. 4.
• x 1.263

  Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. 7. cap. 16.
• * 1.264

  Phlegon Trallianus de rebus mi∣rabilibus, cap. 11, 12, 17, 18, 19.
• y 1.265

  Fl••ri Hist. Rom. lib 3 cap. 3.
• z 1.266

  Nat: Hist. lib. 7. cap. 16.
• a 1.267

  Idem loco citato.
• b 1.268

  Idem loco citato
• c 1.269

  Lib. 18. cap. 6.
• d 1.270

  Kirch•••• Mund. subterr. lib. 8. sect. 2. cap. 4
• e 1.271

  Io. Cassanio Monastr. de Gigantibus, cap. 6.
• f 1.272

  Jac. Aug. Thuani Hist. Tom. 3. lib. 61.
• g 1.273

  De Gigantomachia.
• h 1.274

  Musaei Wormian. cap. 1•• Intogrum pedem hominis in lapidem versum, spectandum habet Musaeum Calceo∣larium, Ioh. Bapt. Oliv•• 〈◊〉〈◊〉
• * 1.275

  Gesner de Fig. Lapid. cap. 12.
• i 1.276

  Boet. de Lapid. & Gem. cap. 227.
• k 1.277

  Geo. Agricola de Natura Fossilium, cap. 5.
• l 1.278

  Mr. Ray's Topo∣graph. observat. p. 116.
• m 1.279

  Philosoph. Transact. Num. 100.
• n 1.280

  Musaeum Metallicum, lib. 4. p. 518,
• o 1.281

  Cambd. in the North-Riding of York-shire.
• p 1.282

  Catalog. Fossilium, Tit. 16. de Lapid. aerariis à natura effigiatis.
• q 1.283

  Dell' Hist. Naturale lib. 24. cap. 24.
• r 1.284

  Pseudodox. Epidem. lib. 3. cap. 13.
• s 1.285

  Pinax rer. Nat. Britan. p. 125.
• t 1.286

  Car. Clusii Plant. Hist. cap. 13.
• u 1.287

  In Catalog. Plantar. Angl.
• w 1.288

  In Catalog. Plant. Angl.
• x 1.289

  In Appendice p. 339.
• y 1.290

  Jac. Theod. Tabernaemont. Part. 2. p. 400.
• z 1.291

  Horti Eystett. Plant. Vernal. Ord. 9. fol. 5.
• a 1.292

  Valer. Cordi Hist. de Plant. lib. 2. cap. 107.
• b 1.293

  Ioh. Tha∣lii, Harcynia Saxono-Thuringica, p. 13.
• c 1.294

  In Catalog-Plant. Angl.
• d 1.295

  Miscellan. curiosa Med. Phys. Acad. Nat. Curiosorum, An. 1. observ. 102.
• 3 1.296

  Britannia Baconica in Cornwall.
• f 1.297

  Nat. Hist. Cent. 1. Num. 93.
• g 1.298

  Here except the Pardegwin and white Damasin.
• * 1.299

  Hist. Plant. lib. 14. cap. 1.
• h 1.300

  Discourse of Forrest Trees, cap. 30.
• i 1.301

  Tartaro-mastigis Moraviae, part. 1. cap. 17.
• k 1.302

  Camden in Lancashire.
• l 1.303

  Steno in Prodrom. concerning the matter of beds.
• m 1.304

  Philosoph. Trans∣act. Num. 53.
• n 1.305

  Philosoph. Transact. Numb. 18.
• o 1.306

  Britannia Baconica in Cumberland.
• p 1.307

  Mart. Ruland. Lexic. Al∣chemiae.
• q 1.308

  Musaeum Metallicum, lib. 3. cap. 8.
• r 1.309

  Encel. de re Metallica. cap. 22.
• s 1.310

  Account of his Travels, p. 93, 94.
• t 1.311

  Mart: Rulandi Lexicon Alchemiae
• u 1.312

  Nat. Hist. lib. 33. cap. 12.
• w 1.313

  History of Metals, cap. 13.
• x 1.314

  Dr. Brown's Travels into Hungary.
• y 1.315

  Sir John Pettus his Fodinae Regal. cap. 9. & 13.
• z 1.316

  History of Britan. lib. 6. cap. 54.
• a 1.317

  Philosoph. Transact. Numb. 43.
• b 1.318

  Compar. Anatom. of Trunks, c. 3.
• c 1.319

  Philosoph. Transact. Numb. 43.
• d 1.320

  Comparat. Anatom. of Trunks, cap. 8.
• e 1.321

  Philosoph. Transact. Numb. 43. &c 48.
• f 1.322

  Dr. Grew of the vegetation of Plants, cap. 1.
• g 1.323

  Lelandi Itinerarium, Vol. 2. pag. 18, 19.
• h 1.324

  Nat. Hist. lib. 16. cap. 16.
• i 1.325

  Unheard of Curiosities, chap. 5.
• k 1.326

  Britannia Baconica in Cornwall.
• l 1.327

  Discourse of Forest Trees. cap. 3.
• l 1.328

  See Mr. Hooks Micrograph. Observat. 19.
• m 1.329

  De Avibus, lib. 4. tit. 2. cap. 4.
• n 1.330

  Ornitholog. Tom. 1. lib. 2. cap. 10.
• o 1.331

  Hist. Nat. de Avibus, lib. 1. Tit. 1. cap. 2. Art. 4.
• p 1.332

  Vid. Willughbeii Ornitholog. lib. 2 cap. 3 Artic. 8. & Tab. 4.
• * 1.333

  Onomast. Zoicon. Titul. Aves, Classe Conorarum.
• q 1.334

  Vid. Willisium de Ferment. cap. 2.
• r 1.335

  Idem in loco citato.
• s 1.336

  De Generat. Animalium, Exercit. 10. de Ovi cortice.
• t 1.337

  Epist. Cent. 3. Ep, 42. & Epist. Cent. 4. Ep. 63.
• u 1.338

  Miscellanea Cur. Med. Phys. Acad. Nat. Curiosorum. An. 1. observ. 36.
• w 1.339

  Ibid. An. 2. observ. 250.
• x 1.340

  History of Bees, Numb. 59.
• y 1.341

  Georgie. Lib. 4.
• z 1.342

  Hist. Nat. de Insectis, lib. 1. tit. 2. cap. 2. art. 2. punct. 4.
• a 1.343

  Insect. sive Min. An. Theat. cap. 12. de Muscarum usu.
• b 1.344

  Idem. cap. 11.
• c 1.345

  De Piscibus fluviatil. cap. 24.
• d 1.346

  Onomast. Zoicon. tit. Pisces, cap. Laevium.
• e 1.347

  Pinax rer. Nat. Britan. p. 188.
• f 1.348

  Aldrovand. de Piscibus, lib. 4. cap. 13.
• g 1.349

  Rond. de Piscibus lacustribus, cap. 8. & de fluviatilibus, cap. 28.
• h 1.350

  Camden in Pembr. & Cardigan.
• i 1.351

  Mr. Rays Observat. Topograph. &c. p. 430.
• k 1.352

  In Hippoc. de A••re Aquis & Locis, lib. 2. Lect. 14. in text. 2. 3.
• l 1.353

  Sir Hugh Plats App. p. 221.
• m 1.354

  Phi∣losoph. Transact. Numb. 105.
• n 1.355

  Vid. Gesnerum de Cochlearum terrest. divers. specieb. lib. 4. de Aquatil. & Aldrovandum, lib. 3. de Testaceis, cap. 30.
• o 1.356

  Rond. de Testaceis, cap. 16.
• p 1.357

  Lib. 3. de Testaceis, cap. 30.
• q 1.358

  Idem de Testaceis, cap. 31
• r 1.359

  De Subtilitate, lib. 7.
• s 1.360

  Nat. Hist. lib. 17. cap. 4.
• t 1.361

  Hist. Animal. lib. 6. cap. ult.
• u 1.362

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, lib. 17. cap. 17.
• w 1.363

  Hist. Anim. lib. 6. cap 13.
• x 1.364

  Rond. de Piscib. fluviatil. cap. 28.
• y 1.365

  In Hist. Nat. lib. 6. cap. 2.
• z 1.366

  Hist. Anatom. & Med. rar. Cent. 6. Hist. ult. & Epist. Med. Cent. 3. Ep. 28.
• a 1.367

  Miscellan. Curiosa Med. Phys. Germaniae, An. 1. observ. 36.
• b 1.368

  Tho. Barthol. Anatom. Med. rar. Hist. 66.
• c 1.369

  Tho. Bartholin. Hist. Anatom. rar. Cent. 1. Hist. 1.
• d 1.370

  T. Livii Hist. ab Urbe Cond. lib. 24.
• e 1.371

  Miscellania Curiosa Med. Phys. German. An. 2. observ. 215.
• f 1.372

  Jac. Primirosii M. D. de vulgi erroribus, in Med. lib. 2. cap. 13.
• g 1.373

  Nat. Hist. lib. 7. cap. 3.
• h 1.374

  Nat. Hist. lib. 7. cap. 14.
• i 1.375

  Natural History of Ireland, chap. 23. sect. 1.
• * 1.376

  Gul. Piso, de Indiae utriusque re Nat. & Med. lib. 1 cap. 1 p. 13
• k 1.377

  Nat. Hist. lib. 7. cap. 16.
• l 1.378

  Fred. Lachmundi, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. sect. 3. cap. 22.
• * 1.379

  Hist. Nat lib. 7. cap. 52.
• m 1.380

  History of the Civil Wars of England, Scotland, and Ireland, in Anno 1650.
• n 1.381

  Append. ad Hist. D. Petavii, in Anno 1650.
• o 1.382

  Minsh. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in verbo.
• p 1.383

  Matth. Paris sub initium An. 1253. edit. Watsianâ, p. 863.
• q 1.384

  Vid. Watsii Glossarium in Mat. Paris.
• r 1.385

  Perambulation of Kent, in Sandwich.
• s 1.386

  Vid. Spelman. Glossarium in verbo.
• t 1.387

  Historiarum Libro 6. sub initium.
• u 1.388

  Matth. Paris in An. 1258. edit. Wats. p 963.
• w 1.389

  Idem in An. 1255. edit. Wats. p. 904.
• x 1.390

  Matth. Paris edit. Wats. p. 834.
• y 1.391

  Vid. Spelman Glossarium in verbo.
• z 1.392

  Minsh. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in verbo.
• a 1.393

  Matth. 20. v. 3.
• b 1.394

  Inter Reliquias Wottonianas.
• c 1.395

  Phiiosoph. Transact. Numb. 83.
• d 1.396

  Gabr. Fallop. Tom. 2. Tract. 9. cap. 14.
• e 1.397

  Pharmaceut. rationalis, sect. 6. cap. 3.
• f 1.398

  Cerebr. Anatom. cap. 7.
• g 1.399

  Syntag. Anatom. cap. 10.
• * 1.400

  Vid. Guid. Pancirollum, Rer. memorabilium, lib. 2. tit. 21:
• * 1.401

  In Augustanis Monumentis, p. 237.
• h 1.402

  In Anno 1253.
• i 1.403

  Perspectiv. part. 3. dist. 2. cap. 3.
• k 1.404

  Ibid. dist. ultima.
• l 1.405

  In Epist. ad Parisiens. cap. 5.
• m 1.406

  Perspectiv. part. 3. dist. 3.
• n 1.407

  Martial. Epigram. lib. 9. Epig. 22. sive 30.
• o 1.408

  Vid. Histor. & Antiq. Univers. Oxon. Lib. 1. p. 138.
• p 1.409

  Balaei Cent. 4 Numb. 55.
• q 1.410

  In Operis Min. part. 3. cap. 13. MS. in Bib. Bod.
• r 1.411

  In eadem Op. Min. part. 3. cap 11.
• s 1.412

  Contra Necro∣manticos sive de nullitate Magiae.
• t 1.413

  Vid. Hist. & Antiq. Univers. Oxon. Lib. 1. p. 138.
• u 1.414

  Dr. Dee's Annot. in Epist. ad Parisiensem.
• w 1.415

  In Libro Fratris Rog. Bacon. Computus Naturalium, dicto, cap. 2 MS. in Bibl. Coll. Ʋniversitatis Oxon.
• x 1.416

  4^o MS. in Bib Bod. in Musaeo Protobibliothecarii p. 327.
• y 1.417

  Loco citato sub finem Paragraphi.
• z 1.418

  In Operis Minor. part. 3. 4^o. MS. in Bibliotheca Bodleiana. cap. 67.
• a 1.419

  Dr. Dees proposal to Queen Elizab. and her Council concerning the reformation of the vulgar Ca∣lendar. MS. in Biblioth. C.C.C. Oxon. lit. Z. fol.
• b 1.420

  In Praefat. in libros revolutionum.
• * 1.421

  In Operis Min. part. 3. cap. 69. MS. in Bibliotheca Coll. Ʋnivers.
• c 1.422

  4^o MS 79. inter Codices MS. Seldeni.
• d 1.423

  Fol. MS. 176. inter Codices Digby.
• e 1.424

  Quod. vid. inter Codices Digby, 12^o MS. 5.
• f 1.425

  MS. inter Codices Laud, 12^o. B. 23.
• g 1.426

  Lydiati Ep. Astronom. de Anni Solaris mensura.
• h 1.427

  Lib. 1. cap. 4. sub. finem.
• i 1.428

  Periodus debet comprehendere, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Geminus in libro 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• k 1.429

  Vid. Lydiati Solis & Lunae periodum, in Titulo.
• l 1.430

  Jos. Scaligeri Epistolar. lib. 3. Epist. 240.
• m 1.431

  Jos. Sca∣liger. Epistol. lib. 3. Epist. 241.
• n 1.432

  Cosmograph. in Cald. Assyr. & Mesopot. sub finem.
• o 1.433

  Jul. Caesar Scal. Poetices, lib. 3. cap. 16.
• p 1.434

  Jos. Scalig. Epistol. lib. 3. Epist. 232.
• q 1.435

  Ibid. lib. 4. Epist. 446.
• r 1.436

  In Praefat. in Annales Jac. Ʋsserii, Archiep. Armachan.
• s 1.437

  Philosoph. Transactions, Numb. 116, 127, 128.
• t 1.438

  Ibidem. Numb. 128.
• u 1.439

  History of the Royal Society, Part. 2. sub finem.
• w 1.440

  Ibidem.
• x 1.441

  Gasp. Schotti Magiae Univer. part. 3. lib. 7. cap. 6.
• y 1.442

  Mosaical Philosophy; lib. 1. cap. 2.
• z 1.443

  History of the Royal Society, part. 2. sub finem.
• a 1.444

  Philosoph. Transact. Numb. 127.
• b 1.445

  History of the Royal Society, Part. 2. sub finem.
• c 1.446

  In Epist. ad Parisiensem. cap. 6.
• * 1.447

  Baconus fatis concessit, Anno 1292 near 100 years before any of the other pretended Inventions.
• d 1.448

  Vid. Guid. Pancirolli rer. memora••. recens Invent. part. 2. tit. 18.
• e 1.449

  Vid Steph. Forcatulum I. C. de Gallo∣rum Imperio & Philosoph. lib 4. sub finem.
• f 1.450

  Dr. Dees Annotations in Epist. ad Parisiensem.
• g 1.451

  History of the Royal Society, Part. 2. sub finem.
• h 1.452

  Des Cartes Meteoror. cap. 8.
• i 1.453

  Marii Bettini Aerarii Philosoph. Mathemat. Tom. 2. Exodio 5. & ult.
• k 1.454

  S. Sanctorii Medicinae Staticae, Lib. 1. sect. 1. Aphorism. 4.
• l 1.455

  Ibid Aphorism 6.
• m 1.456

  On light Land some count the treading of double Cattle advantagious to it.
• n 1.457

  Nat. Hist. lib. 35. cap. 12.
• o 1.458

  See Mr. Willughby's Voyage through Spain. p. 471.
• p 1.459

  Vid. Comment. in Carmen Phaleucium Johan. Seldeni, before Hoptons Concordance of years.
• q 1.460

  Tract. de Horologiis, Lib 4. cap. 4. MS. in Biblioth. C.C.C.
• r 1.461

  Ranulphi Higden Polyckron. Lib. 7. in Hen. 2. MS. fol. in Bib. Bod.
• s 1.462

  4^o MS. 79. in Biblioth. Selden.
• t 1.463

  Seb. Serlii Architect Lib. 1. de Geom. cap. 1.
• u 1.464

  Wallisii Mechanica sive de Motu, Parte 3. de vecte cap. 6. prop. 10.
• w 1.465

  Vid. Comment. in Carmen. phaleucium, Joh. Seldeni, before Hoptons Concordance of Year••
• x 1.466

  Honorati Fabri Tract. de Homine, Lib. 2. prop. 93. sub finem.
• y 1.467

  History of the Royal Society, Part. 2. sub finem.
• z 1.468

  Philosoph. Transact. Numb. 7.
• a 1.469

  Hist. of the Royal Society, Part. 2. sub finem.
• b 1.470

  Philosoph. Transact. Numb. 61.
• c 1.471

  Philosoph. Transact. Numb. 47.
• * 1.472

  Essay towards a Real Character, in the Epistle to the Reader.
• d 1.473

  Matth. Paris, Hist. Angl. in Anno 1252. pag. 835. Edit. Watsiana.
• e 1.474

  Vid. Johannis Lelandi Col∣lectanea de Viris Illustribus.
• * 1.475

  Vid. Comment. in Carmen Phaleucium, Joh. Seldeni, before Hoptons Concordance of Years.
• f 1.476

  Vid. Pitsci Relationes Hist. de rebus Angl. praesertim de Scriptoribus in An. 1350.
• g 1.477

  Hist. & Antiquitates Ʋni∣versitatis Oxon. per Anthonium à Wood, lib. 2. pag. 275.
• h 1.478

  Ex Itinerario Joh. Bargrave S. T. P. & Praebend. Ecclesiae Christi Cant. MS penes seipsum.
• i 1.479

  Philosoph. Transact. Numb. 98.
• k 1.480

  Ibid. Numb. 53.
• l 1.481

  Wallisii Mechanica, sive de Motu, part. 2 de Calculo Centri gra∣vitatis, cap. 5. Prop. 32.
• m 1.482

  Philosoph. Transact. Num. 98.
• n 1.483

  Vid. Arithmeticam Infinitorum, Prop. 190. cum Scholio sequ.
• o 1.484

  Des Cartes Mus. Comp. p. 5.
• p 1.485

  Musicae Compend. p. 9.
• q 1.486

  Vid. Jo Schroderi Pharmacop. Medico-Chym. lib. 2. cap. 77.
• r 1.487

  Fran. Glissonii Anatom. Hepatis, cap. 31.
• s 1.488

  Gualt. Charletoni OEconom. Animal. Exercit. 9.
• t 1.489

  Tho. Bartholini Historiar. Anatom. Rar. Cent. 2. Hist. 48.
• u 1.490

  Rudbeckii Epist. ad Bartholin. de Vasis Serosis, p. 11.
• w 1.491

  Idem loco citato. Vid. etiam E∣pist. Timoth. Clark, M. D. Philosoph. Transact. Numb. 35.
• x 1.492

  Corp. Human. disquisit. Anatom. Lib. 1. part. 4. cap. 2.
• y 1.493

  Ibid. part. 3. cap. 3.
• z 1.494

  Ibid. part. 4. cap. 2.
• a 1.495

  In Libro de Ferment.
• b 1.496

  Vid. Epistol. Timoth. Clarck, M. D. Philosoph. Transact. Numb. 35.
• c 1.497

  History of the Royal So∣ciety, Part. 2. sub finem.
• d 1.498

  Philosoph. Transact. Numb 7.
• e 1.499

  Vid. Tractat. de Corde, &c. cap. 4. de trans∣fusione Sanguinis.
• f 1.500

  Philosoph. Transact. Numb. 20.
• g 1.501

  Catalogus Aedium Religiosar. in fine Hist. Angl. Ecclesiast.
• h 1.502

  History of Great Britan. lib. 9. cap. 21. sub finem.
• i 1.503

  See Camdens general History of Britan.
• k 1.504

  Taciti Annalium, lib. 14. cap. 31.
• l 1.505

  Ibidem cap. 35.
• m 1.506

  In Libr. Tacit. de Julii Agricolae vita, cap. 16.
• n 1.507

  Taciti Annalium, lib. 14. cap. 33.
• o 1.508

  Jul Caesaris Comment. de Bello Gallico, lib. 4.
• p 1.509

  Tacit. Annal. lib. 14. c. 35.
• r 1.510

  Vid. Ducis Croyiaci & Arschotani Numismata, Tab. 36. & Levini Hulsii Imp. Rom. Numismatum seriem. in Hadriano.
• s 1.511

  Nat. Hist. Lib. 33. c. 4.
• t 1.512

  Maur. Servii Honorat. Comment. in Pub. Virgilii, Aeneid. lib. 8. ad v. 204.
• v 1.513

  Isidori Epi. Hispalensis, Originum lib. 16. cap. 23.
• w 1.514

  Petri Martyris Anglerii de Orbe Novo, Decad. r. cap. 4.
• x 1.515

  ff. De Auro Argento, &c. Leg. Pediculis, §. Ne∣ratius.
• y 1.516

  Institut. de Rerum divisione, §. Si duorum.
• z 1.517

  Q. Septimii Florent. Tertulliani Lib. advers. Her∣mog. cap. 25. & adversus Praxean. cap. 27.
• a 1.518

  Locis supra citatis.
• b 1.519

  Loco citato.
• c 1.520

  Lovis Savot de la Matiere des Medalles antiques, 2 part. chapitre 9.
• d 1.521

  Tacitus in vita Julii Agricolae, cap. 12.
• e 1.522

  Ibidem cap. 31.
• f 1.523

  Julii Caesar. Comment. de Bello Galli∣co, lib. 5.
• g 1.524

  Tacitus in vita Julii Agricolae, cap. 13.
• h 1.525

  Dionis Cassii, Rom. Hist. lib. 39.
• i 1.526

  Taciti Annalium, lib. 12. cap. 34.
• k 1.527

  Strabon. Geograph. lib. 4.
• l 1.528

  Tacitus in vita Agricolae, cap. 15.
• m 1.529

  Fab. Quinctiliani de Ora∣toribus Dialog. cap. 17.
• n 1.530

  An. Lucani de Bello Civili, lib. 2. v. 572.
• o 1.531

  Tacitus in vita Agricolae, cap. 13.
• p 1.532

  ff. Ne quid in loco publ. vel Itinere fiat. L. Praetor ait, §. viarum.
• q 1.533

  Julius Taboet. in Ephemerid. Histor.
• r 1.534

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Gul. Lambard. inter L.L. boni Regis Edoard. LL. 12, 13.
• s 1.535

  Ibidem.
• t 1.536

  ff. Ne quid in loco, &c. L. & §. quibus supra.
• u 1.537

  Nich. Bergier Histoire des grands Chemins de L'Empire, Liv. 2. chapitre 17.
• w 1.538

  Ibid. Chapitre 7.
• x 1.539

  Papin. Surc. Statii Silvar. Lib. 4. in via Domitian.
• y 1.540

  Raph. Holinshed's description of Britan, lib. 1 cap 19.
• z 1.541

  Antiquities of Warwick-shire in Barlick∣way Hundred, pag. 568.
• a 1.542

  See Burton's Commentary on Antoninus his Itinerary. Itinere 7. à Regno Londinium.
• b 1.543

  See Rich. Verstegan's Antiquities of the English Nation, cap. 5. sub finem.
• c 1.544

  Vid. Lelandi Comment. in Cygneam Cantionem in verbo Caleva.
• d 1.545

  Vid. Leon. Bapt. Alberti de re Ae∣dific. lib. 4. cap. 5.
• * 1.546

  Ibidem.
• * 1.547

  Chronicon Hydense MS. inter 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Oxoniens.
• e 1.548

  Vid. Camd. Britan. in Comit. Oxon.
• f 1.549

  Vid. Ptolomaei Geograph. Edit. per Pet. Bertium.
• g 1.550

  Vid. Camd. Britan. in Com. Oxon.
• h 1.551

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.552

  Taciti Annal. lib. 12. cap. 31.
• i 1.553

  Vid. Leland. Comment. in Cygneam Cant. in verbo Sinnodunum.
• k 1.554

  Ex Legibus 12. Tab. de Jure Sacrorum. Vid. etiam Cicer. de L. L. lib. 2.
• l 1.555

  ff. De Sepulchro violato. L. Praetor ait, §. Divus Hadrianus.
• m 1.556

  Vid. Camdeni Britan. in Com. Wilts.
• n 1.557

  Q. Horatii Flac. Carminum, lib. 1. Ode 28.
• o 1.558

  Hom. Odyss. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. v. 471.
• p 1.559

  Hom. Iliad. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. v. 245.
• q 1.560

  Hom. Odyss. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. v. 80.
• r 1.561

  Hom. Iliad. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. v. 257.
• s 1.562

  Ibid. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. v. 801.
• t 1.563

  Vid. Eustathii Schol. in Hom.
• v 1.564

  Aeneid. lib. 11. v. 850.
• w 1.565

  An. Lucani Pharsalia sive de bello Civili, lib. 8. sub finem.
• x 1.566

  Aeneid. lib. 7. v. 5.
• y 1.567

  Plin. Secund. Nat. Hist. lib. 7. cap. 54.
• z 1.568

  L. An. Flori Rerum Rom. lib. 4. c. 12.
• a 1.569

  Hom. Iliad. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. v. 793.
• b 1.570

  Ibidem v. 797, 798.
• c 1.571

  Ibidem, v. 801.
• d 1.572

  Olai Wormii, Monument. Da∣nic. lib. 1. cap. 7.
• e 1.573

  Ibidem lib. 1. cap. 6.
• f 1.574

  Ibidem cap. 7.
• g 1.575

  Vid. Camd. Britan. in Com. Wilt.
• h 1.576

  Mr. Dugdale's Anti∣quities of Warwick-shire, in Knightlow Hundred.
• i 1.577

  Vid. Guliel. Somneri, Dictionar. Saxonico Latino Angl. in verbo.
• k 1.578

  Vid. Spelmanni Glossarium in verbo Bergium.
• l 1.579

  Laevini Torrentii Comment. in Horat. Flac. lib. 1. Ode 10.
• m 1.580

  Ibidem.
• n 1.581

  Saxonis Grammatici Hist. Da∣nica, lib. 8.
• o 1.582

  Olai Wormii Monument. Danic. lib. 1. cap. 6.
• p 1.583

  Dionis Cassii Rom. Hist. lib. 55. sub initium.
• q 1.584

  L. An. Flori Rer. Roman. lib. 4. cap. 12.
• r 1.585

  Suetonius in vita Julii Caesaris.
• s 1.586

  Salmasii Annot. in Sue∣ton. in vita Julii Caesaris.
• t 1.587

  Plin. Sec. Hist. Nat. lib. 36. c. 25.
• u 1.588

  ff De Manumissis Testamento, L. Maevia.
• w 1.589

  Bapt. Portae Magiae Nat. Lib. 12. cap. ult.
• x 1.590

  Fortunii Liceti de reconditis Antiquorum Lucernis, Lib. 3. cap. 6, & 7.
• y 1.591

  Vid. Johan. Bapt. Cassalium de Ʋrbe, & Ritibus Romanorum, cap. 21.
• z 1.592

  Ibidem.
• a 1.593

  Pauli Aringhi Roma subterranea, lib. 3. cap. 22.
• b 1.594

  Sir Thomas Brown's Hydriotaphia, cap. 3.
• c 1.595

  Ibidem cap. 2.
• d 1.596

  Joh. Bapt. Casalius de Urbe & ritibus Romanorum, cap. 22.
• e 1.597

  Vid. Joh. Meursium de funere, cap. 14.
• * 1.598

  Perhaps written 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Ozcfort, (by a transposition of the Letters which many times oc∣curs in words of difficult sound) instead of 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Oczfort.
• † 1.599

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Retânde seems to be a fault of the Scribe: whereas the Author probably intended to have it read 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Tâmize, or Tâmise.
• f 1.600

  Sharif Ol' Edrîsi Geograph. MS. Arab. penes Reverend. Edw. Pocock. S. T. P. & Eccles. Cath. Christ. Oxon. Canonicum.
• g 1.601

  In problematibus Aristot secundum laborem Magistri Walter Burley, ad ordinem Alphabeti. MS. 65. in Bib. Coll. B. M. Magdal. Oxon fol. 12 b.
• h 1.602

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Hip∣pocrat. Oper. sect. 3. cap. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• i 1.603

  Godwinus de Praesulib. Ang. in vita Theodori.
• k 1.604

  Matth. Parker de Antiquitate Eccles. Britan. in vita Theod.
• l 1.605

  Polybii Megal. Historiar. lib. 3. p. 209 Edit. Is. Ca∣saub. An. 1619.
• * 1.606

  Strabon. Geograph. lib. 2. pag. 104. Edit. Casaub. Paris, An. 1620.
• m 1.607

  Jul. Caesaris Comment. de bello Gallic. lib. 6.
• n 1.608

  Decret. de filiis Presbyteror. ordin. & non. c. Proposuit. & de officio, & potest. just. deleg. c. Causam.
• o 1.609

  Decret. qui filii sint legitimi, c. Causam.
• p 1.610

  Julii Caesaris Commentar. de bello Gallico, lib. 5.
• q 1.611

  Strabonis Geographiae, lib. 4.
• r 1.612

  Gul. Somneri Dictionarium Saxonico-Lat-Angl. in verbis.
• s 1.613

  Aelius Spartianus in Hadriano.
• t 1.614

  Camd. Britan. in Oxon.
• u 1.615

  MS. penes Authorem.
• w 1.616

  See Burton's Map of Antoninus his Itinerary.
• x 1.617

  History of Ireland, MS. panes Authorem.
• y 1.618

  In Chronico Johan. Bromton. Abbot. Jornalens, in An. 10. Ed. Sen.
• z 1.619

  Florentius Wigorniensis in Anne 914.
• a 1.620

  Chronicon Jo. Bromton Abb. Jorn. in vita Edmundi Fer. lat.
• b 1.621

  Matth. Westmon. Flores Histor. in An. 1016.
• c 1.622

  Flor. Wigor. in An. citato.
• d 1.623

  Simeon Dunelmensis Hist. de gestis Reg. Ang. in eodem.
• * 1.624

  Ol. Worm. Mon. Dan. lib. 5. Monumentorum inter Ripensia 5. p. 343.
• e 1.625

  Floren. Wigornensis in An. citato.
• f 1.626

  E. Registro de Ensham, MS. penes Reverendissimum Decanum & Capitulum Ecclesiae Cathedral. Christ. Oxoniae.
• g 1.627

  Olai Wormii Monument. Danicor. lib. 1. cap. 7. p. 50. Fig. E.
• h 1.628

  Simeon Dunelmensis, de gestis Reg. Ang. in Anno 1010.
• i 1.629

  Julii Caesaris Commentarior. de bello Galli∣eo, lib. 5.
• k 1.630

  Britannia in Oxfordsh.
• l 1.631

  Matth. Westmonast. in An. citato.
• m 1.632

  Johan. Bromton Abb. Jorn. in vita Aluredi.
• n 1.633

  Tho. de Walsingham Ypodigma Neustriae, sub initium.
• o 1.634

  Olai Wormii Mon. Danic. lib. 1. cap. 3.
• * 1.635

  Idem lib. 1. cap. 6.
• p 1.636

  Idem lib. 1. cap. 5.
• q 1.637

  Olai Wormii Mon. Danic. lib. 1. cap. 10.
• r 1.638

  Ibidem.
• s 1.639

  Doctor Charleton's Stone Heng restored to the Danes, pag. 46.
• t 1.640

  Idem pag. 54.
• u 1.641

  Ol. Wormii Monument. Danic. lib. 1. cap. 12.
• w 1.642

  Stone-Heng restored to the Danes, pag. 48.
• x 1.643

  Saxon. Grammatici Hist. Danorum, lib. 1. sub initium.
• y 1.644

  De quibus vide Olaum Wormium, Mon. Dan. lib. 1. cap. 12.
• z 1.645

  Ibidem sub finem.
• a 1.646

  Stone-Heng restored to the Danes, p. 48.
• b 1.647

  Ol. Wormii Mon. Dan. lib. 1. cap. 12. sub finem.
• c 1.648

  Tho Walsingham's Ypodigma Neustriae in principio.
• d 1.649

  Vid. Chronicon. Norwegicum.
• e 1.650

  Tho Walsingham's Ypodigma Neustriae in princip.
• f 1.651

  Joh. Bromton Abbat. Jornal. in An. 875.
• g 1.652

  Matth. Westmon. in An. 897.
• h 1.653

  Vid. Petri Dasypodii Dictionar. Lat. German. in verb. Regno.
• i 1.654

  Ol. Wormii Mon. Dan. lib. 1. cap. 12.
• k 1.655

  Idem lib. 1. cap. 9.
• l 1.656

  Idem lib. 1. cap. 5.
• m 1.657

  Idem lib. 1. cap. 12.
• n 1.658

  Vid. Chronicon. Norwegicum.
• o 1.659

  Vid. Camd. Britan. in Oxfordsh.
• p 1.660

  Idem in Com. Ebor.
• q 1.661

  Joh. Buxtorfii Lex. Talmud. in v. Markolis.
• r 1.662

  Strabonis Geographiae, lib. 3. pag. 175. Edit. Is. Casaub. Paris, An. 1620.
• s 1.663

  Sam. Bocharti Geog. Sacr. part. 2. lib. 1. cap. 39.
• t 1.664

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. pag. 228. Edit. Sylburg.
• u 1.665

  Ibidem.
• w 1.666

  Max. Tyrii Dissert. Philosoph. 38. p. 384. Edit. Dan. Heinsii.
• x 1.667

  Herodiani Histo∣riar. lib. 5. pag. 114. Edit. Hen. Stephani.
• y 1.668

  Pet. della Valle Viaggi, p. 3 Lett. 1. §. 15. p. 107.
• z 1.669

  Ibidem.
• a 1.670

  Jul. Caesaris Comment. de bello Gallico, lib. 5.
• b 1.671

  Vid. Sexti Pomp. Festi, Fragment. libro 3.
• c 1.672

  Matth. Westmon. Flores Hist. in An. 892.
• d 1.673

  Saxon. Gram. Hist. Dan. lib. 5. p. 46. Edit. Operin.
• e 1.674

  Idem lib. 3. pag. 24. D.
• f 1.675

  Idem lib. 2. pag. 16 C.
• g 1.676

  Idem lib. 8. pag. 83. C.
• h 1.677

  Tho. Bartholini Schedion de Armillis veterum, §. 7. p. 98.
• i 1.678

  Chronicorum E∣thelwerdi, lib. 4. in An. 876. vid. etiam Asserium Menevens. in eodem An.
• k 1.679

  Sax Gram. Hist. Dan. lib. 3. p. 24. D. Edit. Operini.
• l 1.680

  Tho. Bartholin. Schedion de Arm. Vet. §. 4. p. 41.
• m 1.681

  Idem §. 4. in princip.
• n 1.682

  Ibidem.
• o 1.683

  Vid. Laurentium Pignorium de Servis. Et Bartholin. Schedion de Ar∣mill. §. 3. p. 37.
• p 1.684

  Idem §. 3. de Armillarum materiâ, p. 32.
• q 1.685

  Camd. Britan. in Oxf.
• * 1.686

  Will. Malmesburiens. de gestis Reg. Ang. lib. 1. cap. 2.
• r 1.687

  Camdeni Britan. in Com. Oxon.
• s 1.688

  Lelandi Comment. in Cygneam Cant. in v. Hydropolis.
• t 1.689

  Ven. Bedae Hist. Ecclesiae Gent. Ang. lib. 3. cap. 7.
• v 1.690

  Chro∣nologia Saxonica, in An. 921.
• w 1.691

  Mat. Westmon. & Florent. Wigorn. in An. 918.
• x 1.692

  Rog. Hoveden Annal. Part. priori in An. citat.
• y 1.693

  Camd Britan in Com. Oxon.
• z 1.694

  MS. in Biblioth. Cottonianâ, sub Othone A.
• a 1.695

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Gul. Lam∣bard, fol. 82.
• b 1.696

  Will. Malmesburiens. de Henr. 1. lib. 5.
• c 1.697

  Chronologia Saxonica, in An. 921.
• d 1.698

  Joh. Bromton Abb. Jornal. in An. citat.
• e 1.699

  Monastici Anglicani, vol. 1. inter Addenda, pag. 980.
• f 1.700

  E Cod. vet. MS. in Bib. Bod. fol. Med. 120. in princip.
• g 1.701

  Camd. Britan. in Com. Oxon.
• h 1.702

  Vid. Monasticon Angl. vol. 1. p. 59.
• i 1.703

  Gul. Tookeri Charisma sive donum Sanationis, Reg. Ang. coelitus concessum.
• k 1.704

  Monasticon Anglican. Vol. 1. inter adde 〈…〉〈…〉
• e 1.705

  Camd. Britan. in Com. Oxon.
• f 1.706

  Monasticon. Angl. vol. 2. p.
• g 1.707

  Thomas de la Moor in Hist. vitae & mortis Edv. 2. in principio.
• h 1.708

  Ibidem.
• i 1.709

  See Mr. Dugdale's Ba∣ronage of England. vol. 1. Bar. Camvil.
• k 1.710

  Chronica Gervasii Dorobornensis, & Floren. Wigorn. in An. citato.
• l 1.711

  Chron. Gerv. Doroborn. in An. citat.
• m 1.712

  Jul. Caesar. Comment. de bello Gallico, lib. 4.
• n 1.713

  Joh. Bromton Ab. Jorn. in An. 15. Regis Aluredi.
• o 1.714

  Hieronymi Osorii Hist. Lusitan. lib. 11.
• p 1.715

  F. Alvares Semedo, Hist. Chin. part. 1. cap. 6. sub finem.
• q 1.716

  Vid. Hist. & Antiq. Univers. Oxon. lib. 2. pag. 10. col. 1.