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or (Botanical.com, A Modern Herbal, Mrs. M. Grieve)
"...This is only for friends. Take nine parts of burnt
Tin, seven of
Lead, two of
Cinnabaris. Of
Spanish Soder and
Tartar, one part and a half. Of
the Blood stone one part, of
Painters Red a fourth
part..."
"...The like experiment to these is recorded by Palladius, and by other Greek writers, who show the way, how a Vine may bring forth clusters of Grapes that are white, but the stones of the Grapes black..."
"... And Palladius says, that trees are joined together as it were, by carnal copulation, to the end that the fruit thereof might contain in it, all the excellencies of both the parents..."
"...I have thus far spoken to please and Palate. Now I shall represent some merry Conceits to delight the guests.."
"...but for dainties also. For seasoned with Sugar, and prepared for men's Pallets, and to quench feverish heats, they are carried about everywhere to be sold..."
"...the Palm, or Date tree, and the Damosin tree will grow to be of a larger and better size..."
"...If you preserve and lay up an Dates or Palms, says he (Theophrastus), you must make choice of those which grow in sandy grounds, as in that country which is called Syria..."
"... Pamphilus, a Husbandman prescribes, A certain time wherein to gather Cherries, that they may last long..."
"... The Cherry tree is very kindly to be grafted. And you shall scarce ever have a good and a sweet Cherry, unless it be by grafting upon some other tree, as Pamphilus reports..."
"...and the Cities Hermopolis and Mendes, where Pan is honored for a god, and with him is likewise honored a he-goat, and there, as Pindarus reports, he-Goats have to do with women..."
"...if they are pound with Mastick. Columella says, that the Olives which are called Orchites, and those which are called Panfiae, and the little round Olive called Radiolus, are to be knocked and beaten, and so cast into Brine..."
"...The Quintiles say you must take Panniers or earthen pots, and put into them some fine sifted earth mixed with Dung, that it may be somewhat liquid, and preventing the ordinary season, you must plant therein Cucumber seeds about the beginning of spring, and when the Sun shines, or that there is any heat or rain, they bring the Panniers forth into the air..."
"...Theophrastus shows us, that if a man sow Cucumber seeds in the wintertime, and water them with warm water, and lay them in the Sun, or else by the fire, and when seed time comes, put the whole Panniers of them into the ground..."
"...The beast Hyaena, and the Panther, are naturally at variance, therefore the skin of a dead Hyaena makes the Panther run away, nay, if you hang their several skins one against the other, the Panthers skin will lose the hairs..."
"...A Dog and a Wolf, a Lion and a Panther, an Ass and a Horse, a Partridge and a Hen, are of one bigness, and therefore may couple together, but a Horse and a Dog, or a Mare and an Elephant, or a Hen and a Sparrow cannot..."
Panic - A plant of the genus Panicum; panic grass; also, the edible grain of some species of panic grass. Panic grass (Bot.), any grass of the genus Panicum.
"...But then those taste best that feed on fat things, and eat wheat, millet, and Panick. But such as eat Wormwood, their eggs are bitter..."
"...Some parts of France use Panick, but chiefly Aquitane. But Italy about Po, add beans to it, without which they make nothing. The people of Pontus prefer no meat before Panick. Panick meal now adays is neglected by us and out of use, for it is dry and of small nourishment. .."
Pap - A soft food for infants, made of bread boiled or softtened in milk or water.
"...You shall make your Match thus. In a new test let the best Aqua Vita boil with Gunpowder, till it grows thick, and be like Pap..."
"...Thicken the Liquor either with Pigeon's Dung, finely sifted, or with Gunpowder, that it may be like Pap..."
"...And when we have bound them hard up, set them in the earth. But the bond wherewith they are tied up, must be made of Paper or Parchment..."
"...Used Oil of Paper. Namely, extracting it from burnt Paper..."
"...let the Papills be subtracted, as also the Privities with the Pith of the backbone. Then hang up the body by the feet for three or four hours..."
"... Hecateus says, that the Egyptians grind barley to make a drink, and that the Macedonians drink Brytum made of Barley, and Parabia made of Millet, and rice, says Athenaus. Also wine is made of rice. For says Aelianus, when an elephant fights in war, they give hom not only wine of grapes, but rice also...."
"...Nor is ist far distant from that point, from the supersicies of the glass, called Parabolical, which must remain firm in that place which I said before. Let experiment be made of its vertue, by threads passing from its center, or Iron wire, or hair. And it is no matter whether it be Parabolical or Sphaerical..."
"...That is called a Parabolical Section, that more forcibly farther off and in shorter time, will set matter on fire..."
Paracelsian: Of, pertaining to, or in conformity with, the practice of Paracelsus .
"...Of Charabes...I will deliver to you the way that I use. For the Paracelsians do either conceal it, or not know it..."
The German physician and chemist Theophrastus Philipus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim, b. Nov. 10 or 14, 1493, d. Sept. 24, 1541, who called himself .Paracelsus, was a medical reformer who introduced a new concept of disease and the use of chemical medicines.
"...Paracelsus says, As the yolk and white of an Egg, becomes a chick by the heat of a Hen, so a bird burnt to ashes, and shut up in a vessel of Glass, and so laid under the mixture, will become a filmy humor, and then, if it be laid under a Hen, is enliven by her heat, and restored to herself like a Phoenix..."
"...The Weapon Salve...Given heretofore to Maximilian the Emperor, by Paracelsus, experimented by him, and was always very much accounted of by him while he lived..."
"...But this was a kind of a Moon-Calf, Paracletes said, that if you cut a Serpent in pieces, and hide him in a vessel of glass, under the mud, there will be gendered many Worms, which being nourished by the mud, will grow every one as big as a Serpent, so that of one Serpent may be a hundred generated..."
"...This may seem a Paradox to some..."
"...The same author (Thales) in his 'Parallels,' reports out of Agesilaus, his third book of Italian matters, that Fulvius Stella loathing the company of a woman, coupled himself with a mare, of whom he begot a very beautiful maiden-child, and she was called by a fit name, Epona..."
Parasite - One who frequents the tables of the rich, or who lives at another's expense, and earns his welcome by flattery; a hanger-on; a toady; a sycophant.
"...When the Parasite has new washed his hands and face, cast to him the towel to wipe himself. And when it is wet, it will make his hands and face as black as Coal, that will very hardly be washed out with many washings...."
"...Preserve Beans... Is, to Parch them reasonably well, for so there will be less store of moisture in them, which will cause them to last the longer...."
"... Theophrastus writes, that in Apollonia and Tarentum, they preserve Beans long without any Parching at all. .."
"...And when we have bound them hard up, set them in the earth. But the bond wherewith they are tied up, must be made of Paper or Parchment..."
(See Aconitum, Aconite, Monkshood, Dogs Bane, Theliphonum, Pardalianches, Myoetonon,)
"...Is reckoned Libards Bane, by whose root, powdered, and given with flesh, they are killed. Flesh is strewn with Aconite, and panthers are killed if they taste thereof. Their jaws and throat are presently in pain. Therefore it is called Pardalianches..."
"...The white (Cyprian Powder) is made of crude Parget washed in Rosewater, or other sweet water. And adding Musk, Amber, Civet, and suchlike, it will smell at a good distance..."
"...The Doves, for a preservative against enchantments, first gather some little Bay tree boughs, and then lay them upon their nests, to preserve their young, so do the Kites use White Brambles, the turtles Swordgrass, the Crows Withy, the Lapwings Venus-hair, the Ravens Ivy, the hens Carrot, the Partridges Reed-leaves, the Blackbirds Myrtle, the Larks grass, the Swans Park-leaves, the Eagle uses Maidenhair, or the stone Etites for the same purpose..."
Parmenides of Elea, c.515-c.450 BC, was one of the most important of the pre-Socratic philosophers. His long two-part poem survives in substantial fragments. Parmenides turns philosophy away from questions of cosmos formation to what he sees as a prior question: What must the world be like if it is to be intelligible? The poem argues that the world must be unitary, indestructible, indivisible, and unchangeable. The world as it presents itself to the senses--full of change and variety--is "unthinkable and unsayable." Ordinary beliefs are called mere arbitrary conventions.
"...But Hippon and Critias held that the vapors of the elements were the first beginnings; Parmenides held that their qualities were the principles; for all things (said he) consist of cold and heat. .."
"...Parmenides quite contrary affirmed, that males were especially generated towards the North, as having in them more solidity and thickness, and females especially towards the South, as being more loose and open, according to the disposition of the place..."
"...But let the lamp stand something from the Parement, or the Chickens allured by the light, should pick at it and be burned by it..."
"...The herb called Bears-foot, that which grows on the Hill Oeta and Parnasfus, is very excellent, but elsewhere, of small force..."
Petroselinum, the specific name of the Parsley, from which our English name is derived, is of classic origin, and is said to have been assigned to it by Dioscorides. The Ancients distinguished between two plants Selinon, one being the Celery (Apium graveolens) and called heleioselinon - i.e. 'Marsh selinon,' and the other - our parsley - Oreoselinon, 'Mountain selinon'; or petroselinum, signifying 'Rock selinon.' This last name in the Middle Ages became corrupted into Petrocilium - this was anglicized into Petersylinge, Persele, Persely and finally Parsley.
"...And to be short, in the same manner are extracted the oils out of the seeds of Carrot, Angelica, Marjoram, Rue, Rosemary, Parsley, Smallage and Dill, and suchlike..."
"...And the women of Salerium, in times past, were wont to use the juice of Parsley and Leeks, at the beginning of their conception, and especially about the time of their quickening, thereby to destroy this kind of vermin with them..."
"...There is a kind of spider which destroys the Hart, except presently they eat Wild Ivy, and whensoever they light upon any poisonous food, they cure themselves with the Artichoke, and against serpents they prepare and arm them selves with Wild Parsnip, so do the Ring-doves, Coughs, and Blackbirds use Bay leaves..."
"...The Doves, for a preservative against enchantments, first gather some little Bay tree boughs, and then lay them upon their nests, to preserve their young, so do the Kites use White Brambles, the turtles Swordgrass, the Crows Withy, the Lapwings Venus-hair, the Ravens Ivy, the hens Carrot, the Partridges Reed-leaves, the Blackbirds Myrtle, the larks grass, the Swans Park-leaves, the Eagle uses Maidenhair, or the stone Etites for the same purpose..."
"...Boetius teaches you thus; You shall easily hunt such Partridge, if you cast unto them meal wet in Wine. For every bird is soon taken with it..."
"...Artificers call those pellets which are made of salts, and the forenamed powder and water, Pastils..."
"...Make your Pastils of earth, and double as much Glass. Set it a whole night in the fire of reverberation, and let it melt in a convenient vessel, stirring it with an Iron rod..."
(Ray)
"...When the fisherman sees the Pastinaca, or Ray, swimming, he leaps ridiculously in his boat, and begins to play on the pipe..."
Bishop of Antioch
"...a Magician is nothing else but one that expounds and studies divine things; and it is the general name of wise-men in that country. St. Jerome writing to Paulinus, says, that Apollonius Tyaneus was a Magician , as the people thought; or a philosopher, as the Pythagoreans esteemed him..."
"...Nicander does mightily cry up for an Antidote against Poison, Fountain water in which Gold had been quenched. Supposing, that it imparts some of its Virtue to the water in the extinction. Dioscorides, Paulus Aegineta, and Aetius, affirm the same..."
"...I knew at Venice, R.M. Paulus, the Venetian, that was busied in the same study. He was Provincial of the Order of Servants, but now a most worthy advocate,..."
See: Life of Pasanias (http://www.gmu.edu/departments/fld/CLASSICS/nep.paus.html)
"...For which cause the shepherds there drive away their flocks at that time, and feed them in that part of the country which lies farthest off from that river, as Pausanias writes in his Achaica..."
"... Paxamus says, Wine either grows sour or dead about the Solstices, and when the seven stars set, or when the Dog Star causes heat..."
"... Paxamus, Anaxagoras said, that the saltness of the sea came from the rivers, running through salt places, communicating the quality to the sea..."
"...Which is otherwise called the Indian-hen, being mixed of a cock and a Pea (hen), though the shape of it is more like the Pea then the Cock..."
"...Against the Colick....Civet is most excellent in this disease. For the quantity of a Pea, applied to the navel, and a hot loaf out of the oven clapped over it, presently eases the pain..."
Peach - A well-known high-flavored juicy fruit, containing one or two seeds in a hard almond-like endocarp or stone; also, the tree which bears it (Prunus, ? Amygdalus Persica). In the wild stock the fruit is hard and inedible. Guinea, ? Sierra Leone, peach, the large edible berry of the Sarcocephalus esculentus, a rubiaceous climbing shrub of west tropical Africa. -- Palm peach, the fruit of a Venezuelan
"...What of the Peach, and Almond-peach nuts, fruits our fore-fathers knew not, yet now are they eaten, being pleasant and admirable..."
"...There is a kind of Peach called a Peach-nut, which the ancients never knew of, but has lately been produced by pains taken in Grafting, as I myself have seen..."
"...Take off two young fruitful sprigs, one form a Peach-apple Tree, and the the other from the Nut-peach Tree, but they must be well grown, and such as are ready to bud forth..."
"...There is a kind of Peach called a Peach-nut, which the ancients never knew of, but has lately been produced by pains taken in grafting, as I myself have seen..."
"...And the smaller branches thereof bearing here a Peach, and there a Peach-nut..."
Peacock - The male of any pheasant of the genus Pavo, of which at least two species are known, native of Southern Asia and the East Indies.
"...In former times, white Peacocks were such a rare sight in Colen, that every one admired them as a most strange thing. But afterward they became more common, by reason that merchants brought many of them out of Norway..."
"...For I have seen Hens sit on Geese, Ducks, and Peacock Eggs. And Pigeons sit on Hen Eggs, and a Cuckow to sit upon any of them..."
"...Nature brought forth but one kind of Pear tree. Now so many men's names are honored by it, that one is called Decumana, another Dolabelliana, and another is named from Decumius and Dolabella..."
"...Pears may be long preserved in sodden Wine, especially the Tarentine Pears, and the Musk Pears, and the Gourd Pears. Varro says, that the Pears called Anciana, and Sementina are to be preserved in sodden Wine..."
"...Pearl in the eye...If the Pearl be above or beneath the cornea, make a powder of Sugar-Candy of Roses, burnt Allome, and the bone of a Cuttle Fish..."
"...As the Oyster shell does that brings forth the Pearl. There are also shells, we call the Mothers of Pearl, that inwardly are shining, and of a silver color, like Pearls. All which women use for their art of beautifying themselves..."
"...And into five Pecks of Olives, you must put in four gallons and two quarts of Brine, and two pints and a half of Vinegar..."
"...And into every Peck and a half of Olives, put a quart and somewhat more of whole Salt..."
"...The first way, we read that Medea promised the Argonauts, that if she killed Pelias, she would signify so much to them by night with fire from a watch tower, and by day with smoke..."
Pelican: A retort or still having a curved tube or tubes leading back from the head to the body for continuous condensation and redistillation.
"...Break the vessel, cast away the congealed part, and reserve the liquid, which being circulated in a Pelican for a month, will yield you what you seek..."
"...Then put them in an Alimbeck, and daw out the water and oil, until the Foeces remain dry. Then separate the Oil from the water, and circulate it in a Pelican for two months..."
"...The Greeks say, that in the Temple of Serapis, that is vaulted at Alexandria, there was a Loadstone set, that held a statue of Brass in the air, for it had a piece of Iron in the head of it. But that is false, that Mahomets chest hangs by the roof of the Temple. Petrus Pellgrinus says, he showed in another work how that it might be done..."
Pellitory /
Pellitory of Spain
The common name of the several species of the genus Parietaria, low, harmless weeds of the Nettle family; also called wall pellitory, and lichwort. A composite plant (Anacyclus Pyrethrum) of the Mediterranean region, having finely divided leaves and whitish flowers. The root is the officinal pellitory, and is used as an irritant and sialogogue. Called also bertram, and pellitory of Spain.
"...The root of Pellitory bruised, and put into the teeth, takes away the pain..."
"...Take Saxifrage, Maidenhair, Pellitory of the wall, Parsley, Pimpernel and Ceterach. Distill them in Balneo Mariae, and let the patient drink of it every other day. For it corrodes and eats away the Stone, though never so great..."
"...Salt of Pellitory of Spain..."
"...If you carve any shape upon the bud, the Fig will express it when it is grown. Or else if you carve it into the Fig when it is first fashioned. But you must do it either with a Wooden Pen, or a Bone Pen, and so your labor shall be sure to take effect..."
"...and of a Quince pear, having first dipped my Pen in Mortar..."
"...When the powders are mixed into the form of an Unguent, you may make it up into the shape of birds, or any other things, and dry them in the shade. You may wash them over with a little Musk and Amber upon a Pencil..."
"...If you show a candle, you will think a candle is Pendulons lighted in the air..."
"...And when he ( Ulysses ) desired to know what Penelope and her suiters did, he transfored himself again..."
"The English Physitian", Culpeper, Nicholas, 1616-1654. --"Dioscorides saith, That Peny-royal maketh thin, tough Flegm, warmeth the coldness of any part whereto it is apylied, and digesteth raw or corrupt matter: Being boyled & drunk, it provoketh Womens Courses and expelleth the dead Child and afterbirth, and staieth the disposition to Vomit, being taken in Water and Vinegar mingled together. And being mingled with Honey and Salt it avoideth Flegm out of the Lungs, and purgeth Melancholly by the Stool. Drunk with Wine it helpeth such as are bitten or stung with Venemous Beasts: and applied to the Nostrils with Vinegar, reviveth those that are fainting and swouning."
"...In like manner Winter-cress or ilium, and pennyroyal, though they begin to wither being gathered, yet if you hang them upon a stick about the time of the solstice, the will for a time flourish..."
"...Take the flowers of Sage, Origanum, Mugwort, Savory, Elder, Sage leaves, White Mint, Rosemary, Basil, Marjoram, Pennyroyal, Rosebuds, the roots of Betony, Pellitory, Snake-weed, White Thistle, Aristolochy, Elder, Cretan Dittany, Currants..."
"...it would bring forth herbs that had smooth bluish stalkes, and leaves full of juice and substance, such as penny-wort, Purslane, Senegreek, and Stone-crop..."
"...Take a great or small circle, as you would have your glass, and here and there cut off two part of the circumference, one to the quantity of a Pentagon, the other of a Hexagon, as is clear in the Mathematicks..."
"...Wherefore cut off that part of the semicircle, which is situated from a Pentagon as far as a Tetragon, as it were the band of the circle..."
Pepper - .A well-known, pungently aromatic condiment, the dried berry, either whole or powdered, of the Piper nigrum. &hand; Common, or black, pepper is made from the whole berry, dried just before maturity; white pepper is made from the ripe berry after the outer skin has been removed by maceration and friction. It has less of the peculiar properties of the plant than the black pepper. Pepper is used in medicine as a carminative stimulant.
"...Add to the liver of a sow fatted with figs, Winepickle, Pepper, Thyme, Lovage, Suet, and a little wine and Oil. Aetius..."
"...All his (Hog) intestines were well washed with Wine, and hanging him by the heels, he again poured Wine on him, and roasted him with much Pepper..."
"...How Corn may be long preserved... Perfrigerated Argil is best of all, for it will keep Corn thirty or forty years from corruption..."
"...It remains, that we speak of Perfumes. For they are very necessary for the scenting of skin, cloths, and Powders. And to enrich nobemen's chambers, with sweet odors in winter. They are make either of Waters or Powders..."
"...These Perfumes are often counterfeited by impostors..."
"...Plutark in his Tract, which he calls the Banquet of the wise men, shows that a shepherd brought in the house of Periander, A babe gendred of a man and a mare..."
Pericles, c.495-429 BC, was the political leader of Athens from about 460 to 429, a time at which Athenian culture and military power were at their height. His name is associated with the greatest artistic creations of the age, both in letters and in marble, and he initiated the great public building program that produced, among other structures, the Parthanon.
Pericles was a political idealist. His personal life was austere, although his union with the courtesan Aspasia caused gossip and slander. The historian Thucydides admired his singular control of the Athenian democracy.
The Peripatetic school of philosophy, founded by Aristotle, was named for the prominent peripatos, or covered walking place, that belonged to the school building, the Lyceum, in Athens. The school was a center for critical research and rivaled Plato's Academy. Following Aristotle's death (322 BC), his successor Theophrastus elaborated on metaphysical and psychological theory and stressed the study of the natural sciences. Strato, head of the school from 287 to 269 BC, did some interesting work in physical theory, but the school soon lost touch with Aristotle's major works (either through indifference or unavailability) and began to decline.
"...All the Peripatetics, and most of the latter philosophers could not see how all operations should proceed from those causes which Ancients have set down; for they find that many things work quite contrary to their qualities; and therefore they have imagined that there is some other matter in it, and that it is the power and properties of essential forms..."
"...But this seems to be false. For I remember that I have read in many authors, that this Perpetual Fire was always kept so by the Vestal Nuns, that it should never go out. .."
(Parsley)
"...It grows up easily of itself, for within fifty or fourty days it is wont to appear out of the earth, as Theophrastus and other affirm, as by their writings may be seen. Our Countrymen call it Perroselinum..."
Periwinkle - The common perwinkle (Vinca minor) has opposite evergreen leaves and solitary blue or white flowers in their axils. In America it is often miscalled myrtle. Any small marine gastropod shell of the genus Littorina.
"...But in such places where cattle eat Scammony, Black Hellebour, Perwincle, or Mercury, all their milk subverts the belly and stomach, such as is reported to be in the mountains of Justinum..."
"...So the fish called Ortica, and the Purple, and Muscles, and Scallops, and Perwincles, and Limpins, and all shellfish are generated of mud..."
"...he (Harpagus) delivered the letters to a faithful servant, who went like a hunter, that had caught a Hare. And in her belly were the letters put. When the guts were taken forth, and so they were brought to Persis..."
See: Arsmart
"...Take a certain reasonable quantity of the leaves of Persisatinllrens, called Arsmart, or vulgarly called Watterper which you will dry in the shade..."
"... Columella says, if you would have Parsley to bear curled leaves, you must put your Parsley seed into a Morter, and pound it with a Willow Pestle..."
"...Let your Tin boil in the fire, and when it is very liquid, pour it forth into a great Mortar, and when it begins to wax cold, and to be congealed together again, you must stir it round about with a wooden Pestle..."
"... These are cast among troops of horsemen, or into cities besieged, or into ships with slings, or Iron Guns, which they call Petrels, and diverse ways...."
Rock oil, mineral oil, or natural oil, a dark brown or greenish inflammable liquid, which, at certain points, exists in the upper strata of the earth, from whence it is pumped, or forced by pressure of the gas attending it. It consists of a complex mixture of various hydrocarbons, largely of the methane series, but may vary much in appearance, composition, and properties. It is refined by distillation, and the products include kerosene, benzine, gasoline, paraffin, etc.
"...The make a composition of Colophonia, Saltpeter and Brimstone, Vernish and to this they add a fourth part of Gunpowder, and they add Turpentine rosin, Oil of liquid Vernish , Petroleum, Linseed Oil, and the best Aqua Vita..."
"... Set it to the fire, and melt in it two pounds of Tartar, and as many of White Arsenic. when you see them fume, pour in fifty pounds of old Brass, often used, and let it melt six or sever times, that it may be pure and cleansed. Then add twentyfive pounds of English Pewter, and let them melt together..."
"...Make a vessel of Pewter, or Silver, like to a Urinal..."
"...wrote also of "Alexander and Indian dogs..."
"...Demetrius Phalereus said very well of these men, that which they should have gotten, says he, they did not get, and that which they had in their own possession, they lost, and so whereas they hoped to work a metamorphasis or alteration in the metals, the alteration and change has lighted heavily upon themselves, in respect of their own estate..."
"... And frightened with these Phantasms, would run forsaking all their houses. And thus thieves may steal all their goods. Marbodeus..."
"...these infuse dreams, wherein the Phantasms are broken, crooked, angry, troubled..."
"...To make dark and troublesome dreams, we eat beans, and therefore they are abhorred by the Pythagoreans, because they cause such dreams. Phaseoli, or French Beans, cause the same..."
"...As Florentinus writes, the Pheasant and the Hen agree both in their time of laying, either of them bringing forth eggs one and twenty days after conception..."
"...Quail and Pheasant killed by Hawks, are very tender, but their hearts are found full of blood, and hard within them..."
"...At last, put it into the mouth of the fire. The thin spirits of the Wine, will pass through all, and fall down into the Receiver, and the Phlegm, which cannot get passage, will settle to the bottom..."
"... On the contrary, others exhale earthly and Phlegmatick parts first, and then the hot and fiery, which being fixed in the inmost parts, are expelled at last by the force of the fire..."
"...And Pherecrates, among other things that are to be eaten, makes mention of Grapes that were taken out of Wine..."
"... Philarchus reports of another kind (women that kill whatever they look earnestly on), called Thibians in Pontus, who had two pupils in one eye, and in the other the picture of a Horse..."
"...So does Plutarch and Philarchus mention the Paletheobri, a nation inhabiting in part of the Pontic Sea, where are Enchanters who are hurtful, not only to children that are tender and weak, but not men of full growth, who are of a strong and firm body..."
"...This medicament is good for an army, for it is sweet, and so fills a man and quenches thirst. We had this in an old scholiast, a manuscript upon the book of Heron, in the Vatican Library. I saw the same composition in Philo, in his fifth book of wars, where he describes such like other things..."
Philosopher - One who philosophizes; one versed in, or devoted to, philosophy. One who reduces the principles of philosophy to practice in the conduct of life; one who lives according to the rules of practical wisdom; one who meets or regards all vicissitudes with calmness.
"...St. Jerome writing to Paulinus, says, that Apollonius Tyaneus was a Magician , as the people thought; or a Philosopher, as the Pythagoreans esteemed him..."
But how that may be done, shall be taught in Philosophy, that shows the Nature and manners of living creatures. .."
"...If thou art ignorant of the Philosopher's Stone, learn it from these verses, which I found in an old manuscript..."
"Arctus est hominis, qui constat sex elementis.
Cui p si addideris, s. in. m. mutare si bene scis.
Hoc erit os nostrum constans lapis Philosophorum."
"...I do not here promise any golden mountains, as they say, nor yet that Philosopher's Stone, which the would has so great an opinion of, and has been bragged of in many ages, and happily attained unto by some..."
"...For if the lions at any time light upon the whelps, they tear them in pieces, as being a bastard brood, as Philostratus writes..."
"...See where an Owl lays her eggs, and boil her eggs rare, and give them your child to eat. For if the child eats them before he drinks wine, he will always hate it, and live sober, because his natural heat is made more temperate. Philostratus, in the life of Apollonius..."
"...For in many trees, near to the bark, there is a certain Phlegmatic or moist Humor, that is found to Putrify..."
"...Paracelsus says, As the yolk and white of an egg, becomes a chick by the heat of a hen, so a bird burnt to ashes, and shut up in a vessel of glass, and so laid under the mixture, will become a filmy humor, and then, if it be laid under a Hen, is enliven by her heat, and restored to herself like a Phoenix..."
"...How to make that kind of wine which is called Phthorium, and kills children in their mothers wombs..."
"...That Hellebore which grows in Thassus, as also Wild Cucumber, as also Scammony, are good to make Phthorium Wine, which causes abortions..."
"... Cicero reports, that Pythagoras made a young man more calm by a flower tune, who was a Tancomonite, and was whitled with wine, and mad for a whore, and spurred forward by a Phrygian tune. For being a Corrival, he fought to set the house on fire where the whore was..."
"...Therefore Aristoxenus, in his plays, when he could not prevail with Dorick Music, he changed to Phrygian melody that agreed with them..."
"...The generation of them is so easy, and sudden, that some write it has rained frogs, as if they were gendered in the air. Phylarchus in Athenaus writes so, and Heraclides Lembus writes, `that it rained frogs about Dardany and Poeonia, so plentifully, that the very ways and houses were full of them..."
"...The commissions or copulation's, have diverse uses in Physic, and in domestic affairs, and in hunting..."
"...And there are diverse confections of Wine which you may read of in the most exact writers of Physick, and of matters of Husbandry, which are easy both to be learned, and also practised by those that are well acquainted with the operations of Simples..."
Physician - A person skilled in physic, or the art of healing; one duty authorized to prescribe remedies for, and treat, diseases; a doctor of medicine.
"... Rainoldus, Raimundus, and other Physicians of the best esteem, do attribute to Gold, a power to corroborate and strengthen the heart, to dry up superfluities and ill Humors..."
"...I exclude Pearl, Rubies, Jacinths, Sapphires, Emeralds and leaf Gold from the composition, because, as I have proven before, they have no operation. Especially, thus exhibited. And therefore are used in medicines by none but ignorant Physicians..."
"Physiognomy," that is, of discovering a person's temperment or character by studying outward appearances.
"...For I have already shown in my book Phytognom, how to procure true dreams..."
"... Mingle together the feces of Aquafortis one ounce, Pickle and Curcuma, of each one Drachm, with oil to the form of an unguent, and anoint your face, it will make it black..."
"...With this write what you will on an Egg, and when the writing is dried in the Sun, put it into sharp Pickle. Dry it, boil it, and take off the shell, and you shall read the writing. I put it into Vinegar, and could do nothing of it. Perhaps, he means by Pickle, Capital Lees..."
"... Lentiles, onions, garlick, leeks, Weedbine, Dorycnium, Picnocomum, new red Wine, these infuse dreams, wherein the phantasms are broken, crooked, angry, troubled..."
"...Now we will speak of the sociableness and familiarity which a certain Pie had with a friend of mine. Who by this pretty device did make the Pie so well acquainted with him, and so serviceable to him, that she would fly to him, not only for the supplying of her daily wants, but as it were for love, never forsaking him night or day..."
"...They are such as are very hot, as the Bay tree, the Buckthorn, the Holm, the Piel tree. But Mnestor adds the Mulberry tree, and men conjecture so, because they will presently blunt the ax..."
"...Wine of Pears...Which from the Greek word for Pears is called Apyres, and from the Latin Piery, Palladius says it was thus..."
"...For if you cut open a Sow, that is great with Pig, you whall find the Boar-pigs lying in the right side, and the Sow-pigs in the left side of her womb..."
"...The Pigeon loves the the Kastrel so well, that she loves the Dove-house much the better, where a dead Kastrel is..."
"...For the Pigeons will in their heat of lust be much affected and delighted with the sight thereof, and the young ones which they bring forth, shall resemble the same colors..."
See: Bane
"...Serapio writes, the Pigeons are killed when they eat Corn or Beans steeped in water, wherein white Hellebore has been Infused..."
"...For with a knife they cut the Hazel tree, which they say is the fittest of all to find out veins, especially if the Hazel comes upon any mineral vein. Others use diverse trees, as the metals are diverse. For they use the wands of Hazel for veins of Silver, Ash for Brass, wild Pilch tree for Lead, chiefly White Lead, or Brass, or Gold..."
Pill - The peel or skin.
"...For a Peach being Engraffed upon a bitter Almond tree, the Pill of the fruit thence growing was so bitter, that it could not be eaten until the Pill were pared off..."
"... I use this. Galls are fried in Oil, and they are ground with a little Salt-Ammoniac. And then mingled with Vinegar, wherein the Pills of the Mulberry and Bramble have been boiled..."
"...They take the melted glass out with an Iron. With their Blast they frame an empty Pillar. They open it on one side with their Tongs, and while it is red hot they lay it upon a plain plate of Iron, that is equally made..."
"...Take Saxifrage, Maidenhair, Pellitory of the wall, Parsley, Pimpernel and Ceterach. Distill them in Balneo Mariae, and let the patient drink of it every other day. For it corrodes and eats away the Stone, though never so great..."
"...The Salt of Pimpernel, being taken three days, and the third month, for a man's whole lifetime, secures him from the Dropsy, Pthisick, and Apoplexy..."
"...Because red Pimples use to deform the faces. And specially the whitest. Therefore to take the off, use these remedies. I often, to take off..."
"...For this wipes all spots and red Pimples from the face. Some mingle with this water of Bean flowers, Elder, Poppy, Honeysuckles, and the like. So do they take away all wrinkles and spots coming from the sun, and all the rest. But you may thus take off..."
"...Roll up your paper like a pyramid, as grocers do, when they lap up anything to lay by, or send abroad. Clip the edges even. And taking ahold of the top of it with a pair of Pincers. Set it on fire with a candle..."
"...and the Cities Hermopolis and Mendes, where Pan is honored for a god, and with him is likewise honored a he-goat, and there, as Pindarus reports, he-goats have to do with women..."
"... Three Drachms of Cinnamon in powder, ten of Cypress Nuts, five green Pineapples, two Drachms of Bole-Armenick and Mastick. Powder them all, and infuse them in sharp black Wine, and let them macerate three days..."
"...It is more effectual to use the Decoction of the herb therewith, as Hypocistis, Pills of Pomegranate, and the like. so water Distilled from green Pineapples, will draw in loose breasts, and make them like the round hard, solid breasts of Virgins..."
"...if you will curb soft and loose breasts...as are unripe Services, Sloes, Acacia, Pomegranate Pills, Balanstia, unripe Pine nuts, wild Pears, and Plantain, if they all boil in Vinegar, and be laid to the breasts, or some of them..."
"...In like manner, may plants be generated of the putrified barks and boughs of old trees. For so is, Polypody, and the herb Hyphear generated; for both these, and diverse other plants also do grow up in the Fir trees and Pine trees, and such other..."
"... Fill this with Quicksilver, and lute the joints with the white of an Egg, or some Pine tree Rosin, as it is commonly done..."
"...Take things that are milk white, as Almonds, Pine Kernels, Melon and Gourd seeds, and the like..."
"...And into five Pecks of Olives, you must put in four Gallons and two Quarts of Brine, and two Pints and a half of Vinegar. .."
"... In Aristotle's book of drunkenness, those that drink wine made of barley till they be Drunk, fall upon their backs, they call that wine Pinum ..."
See: Shepherd's pipe
"Stags and Boars are taken with a Pipe."
"...And Plutarch says, that when he (Alexander ) heard Antigenida playing melodies with a Pipe, that they called Harmatii, he was so inflamed, that he rose in his arms, and laid hold of him that sat next to him..."
A small earthen boiler.
"... Let these all be grossly beaten, and boiled in a varnished earthen Pipkin over a gentle fire, for the space of an hour, then let them cool..."
"...The next morning take some old Beans, as least five years old, and boil them for a good space in a new Pipkin. And let the woman when she arises out of her bed, receive the fume into her privities, as it were through a tunnel, for the space of an hour..."
"...And Caesar, sailing towards Nicomedia, was taken about Malea by some Cilician Pirates..."
"...Amphiretus Acantius, being taken by Pirates, and carried to Lemnos, was kept in chains, in hope that his ransom would bring them a great sum of money..."
"...Vulnerary potions...Take Pirole, Comfrey, Aristolochy, Featherfew of each a handful. Of Agrimony two. Boil them in the best new Wine. Digest them in Horse Dung..."
"... Pisanrensis makes three sorts of them (Loadstone), one that draws iron, another flesh, and another that draws and repels iron, very ignorantly, for the fleshy Loadstone is different from this, and one and the same stone draws and drives iron from it..."
(pismires)
"...The Pismire, that little creature, has a sense of the change of the planets. For she works by night about the full of the Moon, but she rests all the space between the old and the new Moon...."
"...Likewise Pismires shun the wings of a Rere-mouse, but her head and heart they do not shun..."
"...Make your saw of the best steel, and arm it well that it be not wrested by extinguishing it. Then make a wooden pipe as long as the iron of the saw, that may contain a liquor made of water, Alom, and Piss..."
"...As Bitumen, it draws fire to it and burns. Pissaphaltum is harder then Bitumen...."
"...oil of Pistaches serve for meat and Physicks..."
"... Take Pit-Salt, put into a glass Retort, treble Luted over, and dried. Set it in Igne reverberationis, where the flames do struggle most violently..."
"...For seeing they pass under the earth, through veins of Alum, Pitch, Brimstone, and the like, therefore it is that they are sometimes hurtful, and sometimes wholesome for the body..."
"...For these causes, Columella and Leontinus the Greek, give counsel to air and purge the houses where the Hens are, and their nests, yes, and the very Hens themselves, with brimstone, and Pitch, and torches, and many do lay a plate of Iron, or some nail heads, and some Bay-tree boughs upon their nests, for all these are supposed to be very good preservatives against monstrous and prodigious births..."
Pitched - Covered with Pitch.
See: Pitch
"...Or else you may take the purple colored Damosins, and lay them up in an earthen vessel well Pitched..."
"...Columella would have dry Figs cast into a Pitched vessel with dry Hay in it and upon them..."
"...if you take Quicksets, or any branches that you would plant, and get out the Pith of them with some Earpicker, or any like instrument made of bone. They will yield fruit without any stone, and without any Kernel..."
"... And if any hair has fallen off, to make it grow again, Torrify Pith upon coals, when it is Torrified, powder it, sift it, and mingle it with water, and anoint the head..."
A disease characterized by fever and leukocytosis that presents in one or more of the following principal clinical forms: Regional lymphadenitis (bubonic plague). Septicemia without an evident bubo (septicemic plague). Plague pneumonia, resulting from hematogenous spread in bubonic or septicemic cases (secondary plague pneumonia ) or inhalation of infectious droplets (primary plague pneumonia). Pharyngitis and cervical lymphadenitis resulting from exposure to larger infectious droplets or ingestion of infected tissues (pharyngeal plague). Plague is transmitted to humans by fleas or by direct exposure to infected tissues or respiratory droplets.
"...And Xenocrates cured mad men with musical tunes, which instruments might be easily made of Horses shank-bones, or the hollow stalks of Hellebore. Thales Milerius used a Harp against the Plague..."
"... The Ancients did applaud Sage very very much for this purpose. And in Coptus after great Plagues, the Egyptians that survived, forced the women to drink the juice of it, to make them conceive, and bring forth often..."
"...Pliny, for want sometimes they are forced to make oil for candles, of the Plane-Tree berries soaked in water and salt, but it is very little as I proved..."
"...This is the reason why many times we see a Cherry tree growing in a Willow, A Plane tree in a Bay tree, and a Bay in a Cherry tree, and withal, that the berries of them have been party-colored..."
"...Beat the Roots and Leaves of Plantaine, and lay them to the swelling when you go to bed, and in the morning you will find your gums well..."
"...if you will curb soft and loose breasts...as are unripe Services, Sloes, Acacia, Pomegranate Pills, Balanstia, unripe Pine nuts, wild Pears, and Plantain, if they all boil in Vinegar, and be laid to the breasts, or some of them..."
Plaster - An external application of a consistency harder than ointment, prepared for use by spreading it on linen, leather, silk, or other material. It is adhesive at the ordinary temperature of the body, and is used, according to its composition, to produce a medicinal effect, to bind parts together, etc. A composition of lime, water, and sand, with or without hair as a bond, for coating walls, ceilings, and partitions of houses. Calcined gypsum, or plaster of Paris, especially when ground, as used for making ornaments, figures, moldings, etc.; or calcined gypsum used as a fertilizer.
See: Emplaister
"... Palladius does thus preserve them from the air. He shuts up every Citron in a vessel by itself. Plasters them up..."
"...Sotion says, the the Pome-Citron must be very well Plastered over with stamped Mortar, that so it may keep one whole year together, without any harm or blemish..."
"... Neither is it hard to generate Toads of women's putrified flowers, for women do breed this kind of cattle, together with their children, as Celius Aurelianus and Platearius call them, frogs, toads, lizards, and such like..."
"...Some put Camphire in his mouth, and when he is set upon the table, they cast in fire. Platira shows that the same may be done with pheasants, geese, capons, and other birds..."
The Greek philosopher Plato was among the most important and creative thinkers of the ancient world. His work set forth most of the important problems and concepts of Western philosophy, psychology, logic, and politics, and his influence has remained profound from ancient to modern times.
Plato was born in Athens in c.428 BC. Both his parents were of distinguished Athenian families, and his stepfather, an associate of Pericles, was an active participant in the political and cultural life of Periclean Athens. Plato seems as a young man to have been destined for an aristocratic political career. The excesses of Athenian political life, however, both under the oligarchical rule (404-403) of the so-called Thirty Tyrants and under the restored democracy, seem to have led him to give up these ambitions. In particular, the execution (399) of Socrates had a profound effect on his plans. The older philosopher was a close friend of Plato's family, and Plato's writings attest to Socrates' great influence on him.
"...Plato in Ione writes, that Empedocles called this stone Magnes, but Lucretius from the country of Magnesia..."
"...And thus you may hang a great many Needles in a chain in the air. Plato knew this virtue, for he speaks of it in Ione..."
"...The Platonicks termed Magick to be the attraction or fetching out of one thing from another, by a certain affinity of Nature..."
"... Musaus discovers, that verse and songs are a most delightful thing to a mortal man. And the Platonists say, that ll things living are charmed by Music..."
"...Indeed I do not know a more admirable remedy. For a Pleurisie..."
"...The gall of a Stellio beaten with water, will make weasels come together, says Pliny. Also, the wise Plinianists write, that with the gall of a Chamaelion cast into water, weasels will be called together..."
Gaius Plinius Secundus, called Pliny the Elder, AD c.23-79, is known for his one surviving work, the monumental Natural History (c.77), a source of much ancient scientific and technical lore. An encyclopedia devoted to the earth and planetary sciences, it deals with zoology, anthropology, psychology, pharmacology, and metallurgy. Pliny's scientific curiosity led to his death by asphyxiation when he approached too close to Mount Vesuvius on its eruption in 79.
"...Pliny has gathered into his books, many things out of the ancient works that were extant in his time..."
"...Pliny writes, that about the beginning of the wars against the Marsi, a maid-servant brought forth a serpent..."
Plotinus, AD 204-70, is generally considered the founder of Neoplatonism. Born probably in Egypt, he studied philosophy at Alexandria for 11 years and then, desiring to learn something of Indian philosophy, joined (243) a Roman military expedition to the east. When the campaign failed, Plotinus escaped to Antioch and made his way to Rome, where he began to lecture. He disliked writing but was finally persuaded (at the age of 50) by his students to write down his ideas in six sets of discourses, each with nine sections (The Enneads). These were published posthumously by his pupil and biographer Porphry.
"...Plotinus calls a Magician such a one who works by the help of Nature only, and not by the help of Art..."
"... I have often engrafted it upon that kind of Damosin tree which bears a Plum like a Goat's stone both in shape and greatness, (it may be it is our Scag tree) and by this means I procured great Apricots..."
"...Also provide for that unripe Medlars, Cornels, Mulberries and Plums..."
The most important Greek writer of the early Roman period, Plutarch, AD c.46-c.120, is primarily known for his Parallel Lives of Greek and Roman political and military leaders. Plutarch's home was at Chaeronea, near Delphi, where he became a priest of the Pythian Apollo, but he also traveled throughout Greece, visited Egypt and Rome, and learned Latin as a tool of research.
See: Life of Numa
"...For being smeared about with garlic (loadstone), it will not draw iron to it, as Plutark has noted, and after him Ptolomaus;..."
"...Zoroaster in his Geoponics says, that sheep killed by wolves, and bitten, their flesh will be more tender, and so the sweeter. Plutarch in Symposiacis gives the cause of it. .."
"...But Empedocles Agrigentinus not thinking that the elements were sufficient for this purpose, added unto them moreover concord and discord, as the causes of generation and corruption: There be four principal feeds or beginning of all things; Jupiter, that is to say fire; Pluto, that is to say, earth; Juno, that is to say air; and Nestis, that is to say, water..."
"...The Poets, and the ancient devisors of Fables, do speak much of that, Hydra Lernaea which was one of Hercules labors to overcome. Which fiction was without all question occasioned by these kinds of monsters..."
"...The Ancients have been very careful and painful in seeking out, how to mix Wine with diverse kinds of antidotes or preservatives against Poison..."
"...It is the common opinion of all physicians, that those herbs, stones, or any other thing, which being ut into a Serpent's mouth, does kill him, is an Antidote against his Poison..."
"...Other properties there are also of places and fountains, which he that would know, may learn out of Theophrastus, Timaus, Poffidonius, Hegefias, Aristides, Meirodorus, and the like, who have very diligently sought out, and registered the properties of places, and out of them, Pliny, Solinus, and such writers have gathered their books..."
Polar line
/ Polar /
Pole
"... This Polar line spoken of, is not always certain in the same place, nor does it stand always firm, but changes, and takes the contrary positions...."
"...And where those lines do cross one the other and meet, those are the Polar points..."
"...It is a common opinion among Seamen, that Onions and Garlic are at odds with the Loadstone. And Steersmen, and such as tend the Mariners Card are forbidden to eat Onions or Garlic, lest they make the Index of the Poles drunk..."
"...Wherefore it is false that Cardanus says, that the Needle in the Compass declines from the Meridian line, because it inclines to the Pole Star in the Little Bears tail..."
Polenta - Pudding made of Indian meal; also, porridge made of chestnut meal.
"...He is washed with plenty of excellent liquor, and half the hog is filled with Polenta, that is, with barley, and barleymeal, wine, oil, kneaded together..." (Trogan Hog)
"...He (Amphiretus Acantius) being loose, escaped in the night, got into a fisher boat, and arrived safe at Acantum. So says Polianus..."
"...Polianus reports, Athenales, when he was besieged by his enemies, poured out of brazen vessels, melted lead upon the engines, that were set to scale the place, and by this were the engines dissolved, but the enemies poured vinegar upon it, and by that they quenched the lead, and all things else that fell from the walls..."
"...Junius Frontinus reports, that Hannibal being sent by the Charthagenians, against some rebels in Africa, and knowing they were a nation greedy of wine, mixed a great quantity of Mandrake with his wines. The quality of which, is between poisonous and sleepy. Then beginning a light skirmish, he retired on purpose, and in the middle of the night, counterfeited a flight, leaving some baggage in his camp, and all the infected wine. Now when those barbarians had took his camp, and for joy, had liverally tasted of that treacherous wine, he returned, and took and slew them all, as they lay dead as it were before. Polinaus the same..."
"...Hence came that proverb, Lupus in fabula, the Wolf come in the nick. Which Plato speaks of in his Politicks..."
"...Aristotle in his Politicks, do we not read that the Lacedaemonians rejected that kind of Music called Chromaticum, because it made those that heard it too effeminate..."
(Cupito)
"...Aelian says, that in the Grecian Gulf, the sharp sighted Cupito is, but I have seen them taken in the Adriatic Sea by the fury of love..."
"...The same story Philes also writes. But Diodorus Siculus and Strabo, say that Sopithes a King, gave Alexander an hundred and fifty of these Dogs, all very huge and strong, and usually coupling with Tygres. And Pollux writes the same..."
"...And the open passages are to carry the sound form the place whence it comes. Hares therefore have long ears standing up high. Pollux. But Festus calls the Hare, Auritum, because of its great ears, and quickness of hearing..."
"...It may be by this craft, as Polyanus the Greek says, Attalus used the imprinted inscription of a beast for sacrifice..."
"...There is a kind of Lote without any inward kernel, which is as hard as a bone in the other kind. Wine is pressed also out of it like mead, that will not last above ten days. Nepos says the same from Pliny, Athenaus from Polybius. .."
"...It is apparent, that Hannibal, as Polybius writes, when the people of Agrigentum were besieged by the Romans, by many and frequent fires by night, did show forth the intolerable fajine of his army, and for that cause many of his soldiers, for want of victuals, fell off to the enemy..."
"...I will relate the cunning of the wife of Polycretes..."
"...The herb Polygonum, or Sparrows-tongue, bruised, and thus distilled, is excellent for the inflammation of the eyes and other diseases. Out of St. Johnswort, is drawn a water good against cramps, if you wash the part affected with it. And others also there are, too long to rehearse..."
"...The herb Polygonum, or Sparrows-tongue, bruised, and thus Distilled, is excellent for the inflammation of the eyes and other diseases..."
"...The Polypi take delight in the Olive tree. And they are often found fastened with their claws about the body of it. Sometimes also, they are found clapping about the Fig tree that grows near the sea, and eating the Figs, says Clearchus..."
"The English Physitian", Culpeper, Nicholas, 1616-1654. --"This is a smal Herb consisting of nothing but Roots and Leavs: bearing neither Stalk, Flower, nor Seed as it is thought. It hath three or four Leavs rising from the Root, every one singly by it self, of about a hand length, which are winged, consisting of many smal narrow Leavs, cut into the middle rib standing on each side of the Stalk, large below, and smaller up to the top, not dented or notched on the edges at all, as the Male Fern hath; of a sad green colour and smooth on the upper side, but on the underside somwhat rough, by reason of certain yellowish spots set thereon: The Root is smaller than ones little finger lying aslope, or creeping along under the upper crust of the earth, browish on the outside, and greenish within, of a sweetish harshness in tast, set with certain rough Knags on each side thereof, having also much Mossiness or yellow hairiness upon it, and some Fibres underneath it, whereby it is nourished. "
"...Theophrastus, speaking of those herbs that resemble the scorpion and Polypus, says, that some herbs have a peculiar kind of form, as the root of the herb Scorpius, called by some Walwort, the root of Polypody..."
"...In like manner, may plants be generated of the putrified barks and boughs of old trees. For so is, Polypody, and the herb Hyphear generated; for both these, and diverse other plants also do grow up in the Fir trees and Pine trees, and such other..."
"...Theophrastus, speaking of those herbs that resemble the Scorpion and Polypus, says, that some herbs have a peculiar kind of form, as the root of the herb Scorpius, called by some Walwort, the root of Polypody..."
POMANDER a perfumed ball.
"...When it is grown hard, make Pomanders of it, and reserve them. You may thus perfume them. Put two pounds of the Pomanders into a bowl, and with a wooden spoon, mix it with Rosewater, till it be very soft..".
"... Sotion says, the the Pome-Citron must be very well plastered over with stamped Morter, that so it may keep one whole year together, without any harm or blemish..."
"...As for example, that the Fig tree may be incorporated into the Plane tree, and the Mulberry tree, and likewise the Mulberry tree into the Chestnut tree, the Turpentine tree, and the White Poplar, whereby you my procure White Mulberries, and likewise the Chestnut tree into a Hazel, and an Oak, and likewise the Pomegranate tree into all trees, for that it is like to a common whore, ready and willing for all comers, and likewise the Cherry tree into a Turpentine tree.."
"...The flesh may be dyed to last so long, or to be soon washed out. If you will haveit soon washed off, steep the shells of Walnuts, and of Pomegranates in Vinegar, four or five days..."
"...Pliny says, that this Chaos, which by the French is called Raphium, was first set forth for a show in the games of Pompeii the Great..."
"... Pliny makes mention of certain Beans that were laid up in a certain Cave in Ambracia, which lasted from the time of King Pyrrhus, until the war which Pompey the great waged against the pirates..."
"...When those of Pompey, his side objected to our soldiers that they wanted of food, they would commonly throw these at them, that they might deceive their expectation. And a little after the army used this and were very healthful..."
"...Magicians: as, amongst the Persians, Zoroastres the son of Orimafius, whom we spoke of before, amongst the Romans, Numa Pompilius; Thespion, amongst the Gymnosophists; Zamolxis, amongst the Thracians: Abbarais, amongst the Hyperboreans; Hermes, amongst the Egyptians and Budda among the Babylonians. Besides these, Apuleius reckons up Carinondas, Damigeron, Hifmoses, Apollonius, and Dardanus, who all followed Zoroastres and Osthanes. ..."
"...Plutarch, in the life of Pompilius, says, the fire that burned in Diana's Temple, was lighted by this glass. That is, by instruments that are made of the side of a right triangle, whose sides are equal..."
"...Against Tetters...Distil water from the roots of Sowredock, and add to every pound of these, of Pompions and Saltpeter, half an ounce. Tartar of White Wine, two ounces. Let them soak for some days..."
"...In like manner, Cucumbers, Gourds, Pompons, and such like, as have the store of waterish juice, feel the state of the Moon. For they wax as she does, and when she wains, they waste, as Athenaues writes..."
"...The Urchin with Pondweed..."
"...quench the whole harness, red hot, in the forsaid water. For so it becomes most hard, that it will easily resist the strokes of Poniards..."
"...Polish a Poniard, Sword or Knife, very well with Powder of Emril and oil, and then cleanse it with chalk, that no part may be dark, but that it may glister all over..."
"... Pontanus, a countryman of ours, has elegantly set down this matter. If you desire, says he, to keep Citrons long without any harm or loss of their vigor, you must ake this course. Pluck off the fruit together with the branches and leaves as they were upon the Tree in the nighttime when the moon shines not all all..."
"...has Pontanus set down in his book called, The Gardens of Hesperides..."
"...Dioscorides says, that the Thracian Stone is bred in a certain river of Scythia, the name of it is Pontus. It has the force of Jet, they say it is inflamed by water, and quenched with oil, like as Bitumen..."
The Greek philosopher Heracleides Ponticus (Heraclides of Pontus), c.390-310 BC, was one of the first to propose that the Earth rotates on its axis. He was a pupil and assistant at Plato's Academy in Athens, later opening his own school in Pontus. Heracleides also propounded a variant of the standard Geocentric World System, whereby the Sun revolves about the Earth and the planets Mercury and Venus revolve around the Sun.
"...The first sort held that all things proceed from the elements, and that these are the first beginnings of things; the fire, according to Hippasus Metapontimus, and Heraclides Ponticus; the air, according to Diogenes Apolloniates, and Anaximenes; and the water, according to Thales Milefius...."
"... And with those Iron markers printers use, when they make stamps upon Brass, commonly called Ponzones, make letters in the wood, half a finger thick..."
Latin, populus, from populus, the people.) Being symbolical of the people, both because its leaves are dark on one side and white on the other, and also because they are never still, but blown about by the least gust of wind. In France, to the present day, the poplar is an emblem of democracy. There are black and white poplars, and the aspen-tree is one of the species
See: Oil of Poplar
"...So the Olive tree, the Sallow, the Linden tree, the Elm, the White poplar tree, they declare the times of the suns standing, when it turns back again from the poles, for then they hide their leaves, and show only their hoar-white backs..."
"...Dioscorides, and others have written, that the bark of a White Poplar tree, and of a black, being cut into small pieces, and sowed in dug lands or furrows, will at all times of the year bring forth Mushrooms, or Toadstools that are good to be eaten..."
"The English Physitian", Culpeper, Nicholas, 1616-1654. --"The white Poppy hath at first four or five whitish green Leavs lying upon the ground, which rise with the Stalk, compassing it at the bottom of them, and are very large, much cut or torn in on the edges, and dented also besides: The Stalk which is usually four or five foot high, hath somtimes no Branches at the Top, & usually but two or three at most bearing every one but one Head, wrapped in a thin Skin, which boweth down before it be ready to blow, and then rising and being broken, the Flower within it spreadeth it self open, and consisteth of four very large White round Leavs, with many whitish round threds in the middle, set about a small round green Head, having a Crown, or Star-like cover at the Head thereof, which growing ripe becometh as large as a geat Apple, wherein are contained a great number of smal round Seed, in several partitions or devisions next unto the shell, the middle thereof remaining hollow and empty. All the whol Plant, both Leavs, Stalks and Heads, while they are fresh, yong, and green, yield a Milk when they are broken, of an unpleasant bitter tast, almost ready to provoke casting, and of a strong heady smel, which being condensate is called Opium. The Root is white, and woody, perishing as soon as it hath given ripe Seed.
See: Oil of Poppy
"...In a Lohoch. Take the heads of Poppy, and cut them crossways, with a tender hand, lest the knife enter too deep. Let your nail direct the issuing juice into a glass, where let it stand a while, and will congeal. The Thebane Poppy is best. You may do the same with Nightshade, Henbane..."
"...You must bore through a bough, or through the whole stock of a Damosin tree. And fill it up with Scammony or the juice of Black Poppy wrapped up handsomely in paper, or some such covering. And when the fruit is ripe, it will be operative both for sleep and Purgation..."
"...But if it chance to burn your skin, take Populeum and oil of roses or violets, and anoint the place, and the pain will be gone..."
Porphyry, AD c.232-c.305, was a philosopher who helped found Neoplatonism.. He studied in Rome under Plotinus, whose writings he edited, and whose biographer he was. Even more than Plotinus, Porphyry saw philosophy as a means to salvation and emphasized purification through asceticism. His commentaries on Aristotle's Categories, particularly the introduction (Isagoge), became the standard text on logic in the Middle Ages.
"...Porphyry and Apuleius, great Platonicks, in an oration made in the defense of Magick, do witness, that Magick took her name and original form from Persia..."
"...And so Porphyry says, "that the place is a principle of generation, as a father is..."
Porphyretick
Marble / Porphyr
Marble /
Porphyr /
Porphyry-stone
"...soften them all with Rose water and Gum-Tragacanth, and grind them on a Porphyretick Marble..."
"...The ancients say, that the stones called Prochites and Astroites, laid upon some other plain stone, will move of themselves, if you put Vinegar to them. The way shall be this. Let a plain well polished, on the outward surfaces, Porphyr Marble stone, lie beneath..."
"...Infuse the small filings of Steel in water of separation. Take a triple quantity of this, and add thereto liquid Pitch, or soot of Turpentine, to make it blacker. And cover the vessel. Grind this on a Porphyry-stone, write, and they will vanish and fall away..."
A small metal vessel in which children eat porridge or milk, or used in the nursery for warming liquors.
"...Make the Lye of two parts of the ashes of the Ceruse tree, one of Lime, and half a Porringer of Alom..."
Simon Portus
"...And Simon Portus, a very learned philosopher of Naples, did help me to the sight of one of them, and the picture therefore is yet reserved, and it is to be seen..."
"...Oil of Eggs is made by another art. Take fifty or sixty Eggs, boil them till they are hard. Then peal them, and take out the yolk. Set them over warm coals in a tinned Posnet, till all their moisture be consumed, still stirring them with a wooden Spattle..."
"...There is another sleight in Husbanding of Pot Herbs, whereby they may be produced fitter to be eaten..."
See: Vulnerary Potions
"...You must take green Nuts, and pluck them out of their shells, and so let them be soused in Honey. And the Honey wherein they are Soused, will become very Medicinable, insomuch that if you make a Potion of it, it will be very helpful to cure the arteries, and the jaws..."
"...For by drinking a certain Potion, the man would seem sometimes to be changed into a Fish, and flinging out his arms, would swim on the ground..."
Potters
Clay / Potters Earth
/ Potters
Chalk
"...Or, take Brimstone three parts, four parts of Potters Earth powdered..."
"...You must take some Potters Clay, or soft Mortar, and fashion it to the bigness of a Citron that is at his full growth..."
"...Democritus does first cover them over with leaves, and then he makes Morter of Clay or of some Potters Chalk with hair chopped into it with which he smears the Quinces...."
"...If you mingle the ashes of Oxen's shank-bones, well burnt in Potter's ovens, or White Brimstone..."
"...Calcine the Talk, and put it in an earthen pot, and set it in the hottest part of a Potters Oven, to stay there six days..."
"...mingle the Powders of Harts Horn burnt, the stone Amiantus, Salt-Ammoniac, Myrrh, Frankincense, Mastick, with Honey. And it takes away all wrinkles..."
"...Now we come to making sweet Powders, which are either simple or compound. They are used in stuffing sweet bags and in perfuming skins and compositions..."
Pox: A disease by pustules or eruptions of any kind, but chiefly or wholly restricted to three or four diseases, the smallpox, the chicken pox, and the vaccine and the venereal diseases.
See: French Pox.
"...Remedies against the Pox..."
"...The Magistery of Guaiacum...Is a excellent remedy against the Pox, and is thus Extracted..."
"...Moreover, in India, and chiefly in the country of the Prarsi, it rains liquid honey..."
"...Palladius put the ripe grains well purged into a Date pail, and presses them out with a screw Press, then boils them gently to half..."
"...If you will haveit soon washed off, steep the shells of Walnuts, and of Pomegranates in Vinegar, four or five days. Then press them forth by a Press, and dye the face..."
"...And having so cut off the Pith from passing upward, you must fill up the hole with a stake of Willow or Prickwood..."
"...Let the Papills be subtracted, as also the Privities with the Pith of the backbone..."
"...Take equal parts of them all, and boil them in Rainwater, and Foment the Privities..."
Proclus, c.410-485, was a Neoplatonist philosopher (see Neoplatonism) who succeeded Syrianus as head of the Platonic Academy in Athens. Proclus gave a new logical dimension to Neoplatonist thought, introducing a detailed schematization of the levels of reality between "the One," which is beyond and yet the source of knowing and being, and the world of appearances. His writings, many of which are extant, include commentaries on Plato's dialogues and on Euclid's Elements and formal expositions of Platonic theology, including the Elements of Theology. Wrote book, Sacrifice and Magick.
"...Now we will show how to mix and compound many simples together, that the mixture may cause them to be more operative. Proclus, in his book of Sacrifice and Magick, says that the ancient priests were wont to mix many things together, because they saw that diverse simples had some property of a God in them, but none of them by itself sufficient to resemble him..."
"... Marianus the deputy opposed him. And there being a fight at sea, by an engine made by Proclus a most excellent man, for he then was famous for his philosophy and Mathematicks..."
"... Aristotle in his Problems shows, How we may have cucumbers all the year long..."
"...Aristotle says, that such creatures are wont to bring forth many young ones at one birthing, especially such as have many cells or receipts for seed in their womb, do most commonly produce monsters. And in his Book of Problems, he says, that large four-footed beasts, as Horses and Asses, do not produce them so often..."
"... Alexander Aphrodisous in the beginning of his Problems, inquires wherefore the Loadstone only draws Iron. And is fed or helped by the filings of Iron. And the more it is fed, the better it will be..."
"...The ancients say, that the stones called Prochites and Astroites, laid upon some other plain stone, will move of themselves, if you put Vinegar to them. The way shall be this. Let a plain well polished, on the outward surfaces, Porphyr Marble stone, lie beneath..."
"...that magick was begun in Persia by Zoroastres the son of Orimafius; or, as more curious writers hold, by another Zoroastres, surnamed Proconnefius, who lived a little before...."
"... Marbodeus says, it ("Loadstone") grows among the Proglodites and Indians. .."
"... Prometheus found out, that Fire would keep a year in the Cane Ferula. .."
"...Mark them, and lop them round about, and Prune them well..."
"...The roots of old Grass, and Raisins, and the leaves of a wild Pear tree bruised, and the root of the Bramble, and Whey of Milk, burnt Acorns, Prunes roasted, and the decoctions of Chinches, and pot shards red hot, all of these put severally into Vinegar, will make it tart..."
"... The Salt of Pimpernel, being taken three days, and the third month, for a man's whole lifetime, secures him from the Dropsy, Pthisick, and Apoplexy..."
"...For being smeared about with Garlic, it will not draw Iron to it, as Plutark has noted, and after him Ptolomaus; The Loadstone has in it a poisonous Virtue, and Garlic is good against Poison..."
"Ptolemy"
One of the most influential Greek astronomers and geographers of his time, Ptolemy, AD c.100-70, propounded the Geocentric World System that prevailed for 14 centuries. Little is known of Ptolemy's life, but he made astronomical observations from Alexandria, Egypt, during the years AD 127-41 and probably spent most of his life there.
"... For finding the Meridian line, as Ptolomy and other Geometricians teach how, and setting up a point on it, that the Steel Needle may turn freely upon the top of it..."
"... Dinocrates the Architect began to vault the Temple of Arsinoe with Loadstone, that therein her image of Iron might seem to hang in the air. Both he and Ptolomy died, who commanded this to be made for his sister..."
"...What should I here rehearse, how many kinds of Toadstools and Puffs we have produced? Yes, of every several mixture of putrified things, so many several kinds have been generated..."
"...For with some characters fraudulently invented and bound under the wings, they thrust through the head of a Cock with a Bodkin, and staying awhile, they pull it forth again, and the Pullet flies away without any wound or loss of blood..."
"...But tender Pullets will not be made fat in forty days..."
See also: Beans , Fetches, Lupines
Pulse crops, or grain Legumes, are various leguminous plants in use around the world as human foods and as forage plants and fodders for domesticated animals. The term pulse refers specifically to the seeds of these plants, but other plant parts are also often eaten.
"...Pulse called Lupines, may be long preserved,"
"...Oil is made of the seed of Cameline...it is made for lights, but those of Lomardy make great plenty of a golden colored oil of a seed like to this, called Dradella. It has plaited leaves as wild Rochet, which they sow among Pulse..."
Pumice
/ Pumice-stone /
Pumex-Stone
"...When it is come to temper it should be, cast upon it two ounces of Borax, and let it alone till it dissolve into smoke. Then cast it into your mold, and let it cool. When it is cool, rub it with a Pumice-stone, then with powder of Emril. When you see that the supersicies is perfectly polished and equal, rub it over with Tripolis..."
"...The Arabian-Stone is like the spotted Ivory. Burned, it is good for Dentifrices. Also of Pumex-Stone very profitable Dentifrices were made. Pliny..."
"...a rank of Brambles one within another, and after the Aquinoetial day, cut them off a little with the ground, and having first loosed the Pith of either of them with a wooden Punch..."
"...Goats and Does are never Purblind, because they eat certain Herbs..."
"... Plutarch relates, that there was a physitian with Drufus, who when he had first eaten five or six bitter Almonds, he always conquered at the duel of Drunkenness. The powder Purflex-stone will do as much, if the drinker takes that first. .."
"... Put Snails in an earthen vessel, in the open air, that they may be kept hungry three days, and pine for want of meat, and be Purged..."
"...For if there is any Lead mingled with it, all your labor is lost. How it must be Purged and known, I taught elsewhere..."
"...Figs that shall be Purgative if you pound Hellebore and Sea-Lettuce together, and cast them upon the Fig tree roots..."
"...So the fish called Ortica, and the Purple, and Muscles, and Scallops, and Perwincles, and Limpins, and all shellfish are generated of mud..."
"...But of old were made Dentifrices of the shells of Purples, and others like Trumpets burnt..."
"The English Physitian", Culpeper, Nicholas, 1616-1654. --"It is good to cool any heat in the Liver, Blood, Reins, and Stomach, and in hot Agues, nothing better; It stayeth hot and Chollerick Fluxes of the Belly, Womens Courses, the Whites, and Gonorrhea, or running of the Reins, the Distillations from the Head, and pains therein proceeding of heat, want of sleep, or the Phrensie. The Seed is more effectual than the Herb, and is of singular good use to cool the heat and sharpness of Urine, and the outragious Lust of the Body, Venerious Dreams, and the like, insomuch that the overfrequent use hereof, extinguisheth the Heat and Vertue of Natural Procreation. The Seed bruised and boyled in Wine and given to Children, expelleth the Worms. "
"...it would bring forth herbs that had smooth bluish stalkes, and leaves full of juice and substance, such as penny-wort, Purslane, Senegreek, and Stone-crop..."
"...For the bleeding of teeth, I have often made trial of Purslaine, so much commended..."
See: Corruption
"... I shall begin therefore with Putrefaction, because that is the principle to produce new creatures, not only from the variety of simples, but of mixed bodies..."
"...as we have shown before, that new kinds of living creatures may be generated of Putrefaction..."
See: Corruption, Putrefaction
"...and now that we may not further protract our speech, we shall from ancient examples show how fruit by Immersion into several things, may be long kept from Putretude..."
"...Some preserve fruit in Chaff, which by its innate frigidity, either keeps the frosty rigor unmelted, or by its genuine dryness keeps all things from Putretude ..."
"...Get a Sphaerical Cylinder, or Convex diffection of a Pyramidal Concave, the portion of which segment is not known..."
"...The operations of a Pyramidal Glass turned..."
"...But a Pyramis cut obliquely, did show men without proportion, and very darkly..."
"...If you wrap up filings of Iron in a paper, as Druggists do, like a Pyramis. And put a Loadstone near it. All the filings together will receive the same force, as a long piece of Iron does..."
"...certain little flying beasts, so called, because they live and are nourished in the fire, and yet they fly up and down in the air. This is strange, but that is more strange, that as soon as ever they come out of the fire, into any cold air, presently they die..."
King of Epirus (Epyrotes)
Pyrrhus, b. c.318 BC, king of Epirus, was a brilliant general who won battles at such a high cost that the term Pyrrhic victory was coined to describe a ruinous victory. Pyrrhus's talents brought him success neither in Greece nor in Italy, where Roman will and power were more than his match. Driven from Epirus as a youth, he regained his throne in 297. He consolidated the Epirote monarchy and warred successfully with his eastern neighbor, Macedonia. He left Greece for Italy in 280, when the Greek colony Tarentum sought his aid against Rome. With about 25,000 men and 20 elephants he defeated the Romans twice in battle. When they refused to negotiate with him, he proceeded to Sicily, pushing back the Carthaginians, then Roman allies, from Syracuse. Returning to Italy, he fought an inconclusive battle at Beneventum in 275 and then withdrew to Epirus. Further conflict with Macedonia led to his death at Argos in 272 BC.
"...the Romans by these engines put to flight the Elephants of Pyrrhus, King of the Epyrotes, and so got a great victory..."
"... Pliny makes mention of certain Beans that were laid up in a certain Cave in Ambracia, which lasted from the time of King Pyrrhus, until the war which Pompey the great waged against the Pirates. .."
Pythagoras of Samos, c.560-c.480 BC, was a Greek philosopher and religious leader who was responsible for important developments in the history of mathematics, astronomy, and the theory of music. He migrated to Croton and founded a philosophical and religious school there that attracted many followers. Because no reliable contemporary records survive, and because the school practiced both secrecy and communalism, the contributions of Pythagoras himself and those of his followers cannot be distinguished. Pythagoreans believed that all relations could be reduced to number relations ("all things are numbers"). This generalization stemmed from certain observations in music, mathematics, and astronomy.
"...The most noble philosophers that ever were, Pythagorus, Empedocles, Democritus, and Plato, forsook their own countries, and lived abroad as exiles and banished men, rather than as strangers; and all to search out and to attain this knowledge; and when they came home again, this was the science which they professed, and this they esteemed a profound mystery..."
"... Cicero reports, that Pythagoras made a young man more calm by a flower tune, who was a Tancomonite, and was Whitled with Wine, and mad for a Whore, and spurred forward by a Phrygian tune..."
"...St. Jerome writing to Paulinus, says, that Apollonius Tyaneus was a magician, as the people thought; or a Philosopher, as the Pythagoreans esteemed him..."
"...The Pythagoreans used some tunes for sleeping and waking..."
"...Ovid has very elegantly set down this generation of putrefaction, under the fable of Pytho, that the earth brought forth of its own accord, many living creatures of diverse forms,..."
"...Pythocaris, a musician, when he sang earnestly swift notes to his pipe, is said to have made Wolves become more tame..."
"...The same also will be happily performed by the foul moisture of the Serpent Python, and by the wasting thereof. For the salt gives force, and the fat toughness. And these are the best and choicest that I have tried in this kind..."
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