Natural Magick.

of them with their hands open,veer their belly, they seem to mumble some Verses*and the Rods fall down , and where they fall, they bid those men to dig that wouldfind Treasures. The cause is, for that the Rods seem co stand fast in their hands, andyet have no hold at all, and they seem always ready to fall; and if they remove ne-ver so little from their place, they presently fall down. Also, there are in menzarms and hands pulsations of Arceries, which although they seem immovable, yecthey do move the hands unseen , and make them to tremble: Yec tome Metal-Ma-sters who report that these forked Rods area great help to them in finding out ofMires: For with a Knife they cot the Hazel-tree, which they fay is the fittest of all tofinde out Veins, especially if the Hazel come upon any Mineral Vein. Others usedivers Trees, as the Metals are divers; for they use wands of Hazel for Veins of Sil-ver, Ash for Brafs,WildePilch tree for Lead,chiefly white-Lead, or Brass, or Gold:then they take the Rod by both ends, and clinch their fists, but they most hold theirfingers clinched upwards toward heaven; and that the Rod may be lifted up therewhere the ends meet, thus they wander here and there through Mountainous places,and when they set their foot upon a Vein, the Rod will presently turn about, and dis-cover a Vein in any place; when they come off from it, the Rod will be quiet, andthey say the Veins have so great force, that they will bend the Boughs of Trees thatgrew neer, towards them, as Agricola writes more largely.

Another merry conceit remains, that three Schroles of Paper not touched, (hall chance

their places.

This cannot be done bur an ignorant man will admire it. Make three long Schrolesof Paper, or of linen, and let them be one longer then another, equally; for all ofthem being made equal at the lower end, and turn’d about equally, they take one theothers place, and change their situation; put the longest in the middle or in the firstplace, they change their situation ; if the longest be put last, they hold as they were.No man but will think this to be done by the Divel, yet this proceeds from no ethercause, but because in the end of the revolution, the longer remains, and the last fromwhence it riseth stays behinde. Aristotle in his Problems seems to mean this, whythe Section of a Paper , if any man cut it off straight from the plain basis in measuring,it will be straight when it is turned about; but if it be bended, it will be twisted?whether this falls out, that when the rounds of another Section are placed on the* larrtc plain, that Section declining, is not equally opposite,but somewhat less: where-fore when yon part them, those rounds that are contain'd in the seme plain, will makea line, that belongs to their own order, &c. Some were deceived, who thought thisproceeded from the force of words, and they answered all questions by it as from anOracle: for if they changed their places , all should go well and prosper, otherwisethey should have ill success; and they would not change their superstitious belief,with reason and experience, because they had so believed many years. If you willhave

Money to turn about upon a point,

I oft have seen Impostors that to cheat women used this fraud, that two Schroles ofPaper, or feme other light matter upon a plain, should lift up the/nselves, and movealone. If you search in Barley, you shall finde a small ear oswildeOates, that is blackand wrested, like the foot of a Locust ; and if you binde this with wax to the top ofa Knife, or point of a Stile, and shall sprinkle softly some drops of water upon them,when it feels the wet, it will twist like a Harp string, and the Paper will rise, and sowill Money turn on the point of a Stile. If we will

Discover theft,

we may do it thus, and recover what is lost. There are many superstitions for these,that standby Natural reasons, and Cheaters ascribe them to the venue of Words.There is the Eagle stone, so called, it is as one great with childe; for shake the stone,and it rings in the belly: If then any one powder this , and put it int© good breadbaked upon the Embers, and give it to a Thief, the Thief cannot swallow it, when

he