thout all biting,
sharpness, or fretting; insomuch as some of them put upon the back of
your hand will, with a little stay, pass through to the palm, and yet
taste mild to the mouth. We have also waters which we ripen in that
fashion, as they become nourishing; so that they are indeed excellent
drink; and many will use no other. Breads we have of several grains,
roots, and kernels; yea and some of flesh and fish dried; with divers
kinds of leavenings and seasonings: so that some do extremely move
appetites; some do nourish so, as divers do live of them, without any
other meat; who live very long. So for meats, we have some of them so
beaten and made tender and mortified,' yet without all corrupting, as a
weak heat of the stomach will turn them into good chylus; as well as a
strong heat would meat otherwise prepared. We have some meats also and
breads and drinks, which taken by men enable them to fast long after;
and some other, that used make the very flesh of men's bodies sensibly'
more hard and tough and their strength far greater than otherwise it
would be.

"We have dispensatories, or shops of medicines. Wherein you may easily
think, if we have such variety of plants and living creatures more than
you have in Europe, (for we know what you have,) the simples, drugs,
and ingredients of medicines, must likewise be in so much the greater
variety. We have them likewise of divers ages, and long fermentations.
And for their preparations, we have not only all manner of exquisite
distillations and separations, and especially by gentle heats and
percolations through divers strainers, yea and substances; but also
exact forms of composition, whereby they incorporate almost, as they
were natural simples.

"We have also divers mechanical arts, which you have not; and stuffs
made by them; as papers, linen, silks, tissues; dainty works of
feathers of wonderful lustre; excellent dies, and, many others; and
shops likewise, as well for such as are not brought into vulgar use
amongst us as for those that are. For you must know that of the things
before recited, many of them are grown into use throughout the kingdom;
but yet, if they did flow from our invention, we have of them also for
patterns and principals.

"We have also furnaces of great diversities, and that keep great
diversity of heats; fierce and quick; strong and constant; soft and
mild; blown, quiet; dry, moist; and the like. But above all, we have
heats, in imit