Q. Why is it esteemed in the judgement of the most wise, the hardest thing to know a man’s self? A. Because nothing can be known that is of so great importance to man, for the regulation of his conduct in life. Without this knowledge, man is like the ship which has neither compass nor rudder to conduct her to port, and is tossed by every passion and prejudice to which his natural constitution is subjected. To know the form and natural perfection of man’s self, according to the philosophers, is a task too hard; and a man, says Plato, is nothing, or if he be any thing, he is nothing but his soul.
Q. Why is a man, though endowed with reason, the most unjust of all living creatures? A. Because only man is desirous of honour; and so it happens that every one covets to seem good, and yet naturally shuns labour, though he attain no virtue by it.
Q. Why is man the proudest of all living creatures? A. By reason of his great knowledge; or as philosophers say, all intelligent beings have understanding, nothing remains that escapes man’s knowledge in particular; or it is because he hath rule over all earthly creatures, and all things seem to be brought under his dominion.
Q. Why have beasts their hearts in the middle of their breasts, and man his inclining to the left side? A. To moderate the cold on that side.
Q. What is the cause that the suffocation of the matrix, which happens to women through strife and contention, is more dangerous than the detaining of the flowers? A. Because the more perfect an excrement is, in its natural disposition, the worse it is when it is altered from that disposition, and drawn to the contrary quality; as is seen in vinegar, which is sharpest when it is made of the best wine. And so it happens that the more men love one another, the more they fall into variance and discord.
Q. How come women’s bodies to be looser, softer, and less than men’s; and why do they want hair? A. By reason of their menses; for with them their superfluities go away, which would produce hair; and thereby the flesh is filled, consequently the veins are more hid in women than in men.
Q. What is the reason that when we think upon a horrible thing, we are stricken with fear? A. Because the conceit or imagination of things has force and virtue. For Plato saith, the fancy of things has some affinity with the things themselves; for the image and representation of cold and heat is such as the nature of things are. Or it is, because when we comprehend any dreadful matter, the blood runneth to the internal parts; and therefore the external parts are cold, and shake with fear.
Q. Why doth a radish root help digestion, and yet itself remaineth undigested? A. Because the substance consisteth of divers parts; for there are some thin parts in it, which are fit to digest meat, the which being dissolved, there doth remain some thick and close substance in it, which the heat cannot digest.
Q. Why do such as cleave wood cleave it easier in the length than athwart? A. Because in the wood there is a grain, whereby if it be cut in length, in the very cutting, one part naturally separateth from another.
Q. What is the reason, that if a spear be stricken on the end, the sound cometh sooner to one which standeth near, than to him who striketh? A. Because, as hath been said, there is a certain long grain in wood, directly forward filled with air, but on the other side there is none, and therefore a beam or spear being stricken on the end, the air which is hidden receiveth a sound in the aforesaid grain, which serveth for its passage; and seeing the sound cannot go easily out, it is carried unto the ear of him who is opposite; as those passages do not go from side to side, a sound cannot be distinctly heard there.