To these Instances may be added, the Plague they sometimes suffer from a kind of Mice (they call Leming, Leminger, Lemmus, &c.) in Norway, which eat up every green Thing. They come in such prodigious Numbers, that they fancy them to fall from the Clouds; but Ol. Magnus, rather thinks they come from some of the Islands. Hist. l. 8. c. 2. If the Reader hath a mind to see a large Account of them, with a Dispute about their Generation, a handsome Cut of them, with the Prayers, and an Exorcism against them used in the Church of Rome, I shall refer him, (it being too tedious to recite in these Notes) to Musæum Wormian. l. 3. c. 23.
Quare patimur multa mala à creaturâ quam fecit Deus, nisi quia offendimus Deum?——De pœnâ tuâ peccatum tuum accusa, non judicem. Nam propter Superbiam instituit Deus creaturam istam minimam & abjectissimam, ut ipsa nos torqueret, ut cùm superbus fuerit homo, & se jactaverit adversus Deum,——cùm se erexerit, Pulicibus subdatur. Quid est, quòd te inflas humanâ superbiâ?——Pulicibus resiste, ut dormias. Cognosce qui sis. Nam propter superbiam nostram domandam——creata illa quæ molesta sunt: populum Pharaonis superbum potuit Deus domare de Ursis, de &c. Muscas & Ranas illis immisit, ut rebus vilissimis superbia domaretur. Omnia ergo per ipsum——facta sunt; & fine ipso factum est nihil. August. Tract. 1. in S. Johan.
But although the infinitely wise Creator hath put it in the Power of such vile Animals to chastise us, yet hath he shewed no less Wisdom and Kindness in ordering many, if not most of them so, as that it shall be in the Power of Man, and other Creatures to obviate or escape their Evils. For, besides the noble Antidotes afforded by Minerals, Vegetables, &c. many, if not most of our European venemous Animals carry their Cure, as well as Poison, in their own Bodies. The Oil, and I doubt not, the Body of Scorpions too, is a certain Remedy against its Stroke. A Bee, Wasp, or Hornet crushed and rubbed, and bound upon the Place, I have always found to be a certain Cure for the Sting of those Creatures. And I question not, but the Flesh, especially the Head of Vipers, would be found a Remedy for their Bites.
Our Viper-Catchers have a Remedy in which they place so great Confidence, as to be no more afraid of the Bite [of a Viper], than of a common Puncture, immediately curing themselves by the Application of their Specifick. This though they keep a great Secret, I have upon strict Enquiry found to be no other than Axungia Viperina, presently rubbed into the Wound. This Remedy the learned Doctor tried himself with good Success in a young Dog that was bitten in the Nose. Vid. Mead of Poisons, p. 29.
And as to the means to escape the Mischief of such noxious Animals, besides what may be effected by the Care, Industry and Sagacity of Man; some of them are so contrived and made, as to give Warning or Time to Creatures in danger from them. Thus, for Instance, the Rattle-Snake, the most poisonous of any Serpent, who darts its poisonous Vapours to some distance, and in all Probability was the Basilisk of the Ancients, said to kill with its Eyes, this involuntarily gives warning by the Rattle in its Tail. So the Shark, the most rapacious Animal of the Waters, is forced to turn himself on his Back, (and thereby gives an Opportunity of Escape) before he can catch his Prey.
[e] Hæc sola Naturæ placuerat esse remedia parata vulgo, inventu facilia, ac sine impendio, ex quibus vivimus. Posteà fraudes hominum & ingeniorum capturæ officinas invenire istas, in quibus sua cuique homini vœnalis promittitur vita. Statim compositiones & misturæ inexplicabiles decantantur. Arabia atque India in medio æstimantur, ulcerique parvo medicina à Rubro mari imputatur, cùm remedia vera quotidie pauperrimus quisque cœnet. Plin. l. 24. c. 1.
Non sponte suâ ex tellure germinant Herbæ, quæ contra quoscunque morbos accommodæ sunt; sed eæ voluntate Opisicis, ad nostram utilitatem producta sunt. Basil. Ascet. Tom. 2.
Consult here, [Book X. Note (z), (aa), (bb).]
[f] Among poisonous Vegetables, none more famous of old than Hemlock, accounted at this Day also very dangerous to Man, of which there are some dismal Examples in our Phil. Trans. Wepfer, &c. But yet this Plant is Food for Goats, and its Seeds to Bustards; and as Galen saith, to Starlings also. Neither is this, so pernicious a Plant, only Food, but also Physick to some Animals. An Horse troubled with the Farcy, and could not be cured with the most famed Remedies, cured himself of it in a short Time, by eating Hemlock, of which he eat greedily. Vid. Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 231. And a Woman which was cured of the Plague, but wanted Sleep, did with very good Effect eat Hemlock for some time; till falling ill again of a Fever, and having left off the Use of this Remedy, he [Nic. Fontanus] endeavoured to procure her Rest by repeated Doses of Opium, which had no Operation, till the Help of Cicuta was again called in with desired Success. Mead of Pois. p. 144.
And not only Hemlock, but many other, if not most Plants accounted poisonous, may have their great Use in Medicine: Of which take the Opinion of an able Judge, my ingenious and learned Friend Dr. Tancred Robinson, in a Letter I have of his to the late great Mr. Ray, of Nov. 7. 1604, viz. According to my Promise, I here send you a few Observations concerning some Plants, seldom used in Medicine, being esteemed poisonous, which if truly corrected, or exactly dosed, may perhaps prove the most powerful and effectual Medicines yet known. Having then given an Account of some of their Correctives, he gives these following Examples, viz. 1. The Hellebores incorporated with a Sapo, or Alkaly-Salts alone, are successful Remedies in Epilepsies, Vertigo’s, Palsies, Lethargies, and Mania’s. Dos. a ℈j. to ʒss. 2. The Radic. Assari, Cicutæ, and the Napellus, in Agues and periodical Pains. Dos. ℈j. to ʒss. 3. The Hyoscyamus in Hæmorrhagies, violent Heats and Perturbation of the Blood, and also in all great Inflammations. Dos. ℈j. to ʒss. 4. The Semen Stramonia is a very good Anodyne, useful in Vigilia’s, Rheumatisms, Hysterick Cases, in all the Orgasms of the Blood or Spirits, and where-ever there is an Indication for a Paregorick. Dos. ℈j. to ʒss. 5. Elaterium thus corrected, may be given from gr. x. to xv. in Hydropical Cases, without any sensible Evacuation or Disturbance. So may the Soldanella and Gratiola in greater Doses. 6. Opium corrected as afore-mentioned, loses its Narcotick Faculty, and may be given very safely in great Doses, and proves more than usually prevalent in Convulsive Cases, Fluxes, Catarrhs, and all painful Paroxysms, &c.