Of the (generation of ^Animals . H

jecture whether hehath begotten a Cow-calf or aBulchin, serif he leip ;ffby thetight side, it is certain that he hath begotten a Bulchm ; if by the leftside, then aCow*calf. Wherefore the Ægyptian? in their , HietAglyphicks ) when they wonld signi-fie a woman that hath brhught forth a daughter,they make the charadter St likeness ofaBuil looking toward the left side ; but to signifie the birth of a fon,they make rm cha-racter as looking toward the right side.Bnt if you desire to have a male generated, -d-fricams , Colttmella , and Didymus counsel you to knit up the left Hone ot the Sire; if afemale, then to knit up his right stone ; at such times as he is to be coupled forgeneration. But because this would be too muchto do, where there is great storeof cattel, we may assay it by another means. Northern blasts help much to theconception of a male, and Southern blasts to the conception of a female, as Tlinyreporteth : the force of the Northern air is such, that those beasts which are wontto procreate females only, this willcaufe to bring forth males also. The Dams atthe time of their copulation, must be set with their noses into the North: and ifthey have been used to coition still in the morning, you must not put them to it inthe afternoon, for then they will not stand to their mate. Aristotle , a man mostsubtile, and exquisitely seen in the works of nature, willetb us, that about the timeof gendering, we should wait for some Northern blasts in a dry day, and thenlet the flock feed against the winde, and so let them fall to copulation: if wewould procure females to be generated, then we must so wait for Southern blasts,and let them stand with their heads towards the South as they are In copulation; forso not only Arstotle counselleth, but Columella and tÆliantu also: for it is a rulethat tÆltanm, Phny^ Ajrtcanm and Dtdjmut do all give, that if the cattel, as soonas they have been covered, do turn themselves toward the Southern winde, thencertainly they have conceived females. There is also some cause of the procreation ofa male, or of a female, in the begetters themselves; nay further, feme causethereof may be the force and operation of some waters: for sometimes the waterscause that a male or female be generated. There is, not far from the City Pana, acertain River called Milichus; and not far from that, another River called Chara-dius; whereof if the beasts drink in the Spring-time, they commonly bring forthall males: for which cause the Shepherds there drive away their flocks at that time,and feed them in that part of the Country which lieth farthest off from that River -as Paafanias writeth in his Achaica.

Chap. XXII.

Of divers experiences that may he , and have been pratlifed upon divers living Crea-tures.

'J'Here remain now certain experiments of living Creatures, both pleasant, and ofsome use, which we have thought good here to set down,to save a labour of seek-ing them any further. And first,

How to make Horses have white spots on them.

It is a thing required in the art of trimming of Horses, to be able to cause whitespots to grow in some parts of them ; for crafty Horse-conrsers are wont to coun-terfeit white spots in the forehead, or left thigh, or right shoulder of an Horse,thereby to deceive such men, as are wont to geffe at the goodneffe and qualities of* horse,by the conjecture of such marks. And this their counterfeit practise hathbeen detected by this chance; that the hair of a horses skin being galled off in anyP p C> after a while hoary hairs have grown up there of themselves; and it is notunlikely hut that this chance taught them that practise. The manner of the doing1C j to shave off the hair in that place where you would have a white spot;

and then rub off, or cut the upper skin, and so you shall there have a white p«ch.But Oppianm speaking of the same experiment, shews that it is to be done by fire.There be some Horses, faith he, that are full of white round spots socerntingled

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