Magiae Naturalis by John Baptista Porta.pdf - Gnomicon

cannot abide either to hear or see. And this the Pigeons know well enough. For wheresoever the Kastrel remains,
there also will the Pigeons remain, thinking themselves safe because of their protector. Hence Columella says, that
there is a kind of Hawk which the common people call a Kastrel, that builds her nest about houses, that is very good
to keep away Hawks from a Pigeon house. If you take the Kastrel's young ones and put them in diverse earthen
pots, and cover the pots close. And plaster them round about. And hang them up in sundry corners of a Pigeon
house. The Pigeons will be so far in love with the place, that they will never forsake it. Hither belongs that notable
disagreement that is between Garlic and Loadstone. For being smeared about with Garlic, it will not draw Iron to it,
as Plutark has noted, and after him Ptolomaus; ThLoadstonene has in it a poisonous Virtue, and Garlic is good
against poison. But if no man had written of the power of Garlic against the Loadstone, yet we might conjecture it to
be so, because it is good against the Viper, and mad Dogs and poisonous waters. So likewise those living creatures
that are enemies to poisonous things, and swallow them up without danger, may show us that such poisons will cure the
bitings and blows of those creatures. The Hart and the Serpent are at continual enmity. The Serpent as soon as he
sees the Hart , gets him into his hole, but the Hart draws him out again with the breath of his nostrils and devours him.
Hence it is that the fat and the blood of Harts, and the stones that grow in their eyes are ministered as fit remedies
against the stinging and biting of the Serpent. Likewise the breath of Elephants draws the Serpent out of their dens,
and they fight with Dragons; and therefore the Members of Elephants, burned, drives away the Serpent. The Storks
drive out the Contryes where they are, Lizards, and the sundry kinds of Serpents, and other noisome things in the
fields; and the entrails of them all are good against the Storks. The same is done also in Egypt by the bird Ibis. The
Indian Rat, called Ichneumon, does harness himself with some of the Lote-tree and so fights against the Asp. The
Lamprey fights with Serpents, and with her biting, kills the Basilisk, which is the most poisonous Serpent that is. So
also the crowing of a Cock affrights the Basilisk, and he fights with Serpents to defend his Hens. The broth of the
Cock is a good remedy against the Poison of Serpents. So the Snail and the Eagle. The Stellion, which is a beast like
a Lizard, is an enemy to the Scorpions, and therefore the Oil of him being putrefied is good to anoint the place which
is stricken by the Scorpion. A Swine eats up a Salamander, without danger, and is good against the Poison thereof.
The Hawk is an enemy to the Chameleon, and his Dung, drunk in Wine, is good against the Poison of the
Chameleon. Likewise out of the sympathies of plants, we may gather some secret, which is helpful against some kind
of hurt. The Herb Corruda, whereof Sperage comes, is most fitly planted where Reed grows, because they are of
such likeness and nearness; and both of them are inciters to Lust. The Vine and the Olive tree do joy in each other
company, as Africarus writes both of them are commodious for men's uses. in like manner the Morhenne loves the
Hart , and the Partridge love each other; and both these are good for the one and the same remedy. So the fish
Sargus and the Goat. A Dog is most friendly to a man; and if you lay him to diseases part of your body, he takes away
the disease to himself, as Pliny reports.
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