dy with a
stroke or blow.

Q. How come steel glasses to be better for the sight than any other
kind? A. Because steel is hard, and doth present unto us more
substantially the air that receiveth the light.

Q. How doth love show its greater force by making the fool to become
wise, or the wise to become a fool? A. In attributing wisdom to him that
has it not; for it is harder to build than to pull down; and ordinarily
love and folly are but an alteration of the mind.

Q. How comes much labour and fatigue to be bad for the sight? A.
Because it dries the blood too much.

Q. Why is goat's milk reckoned best for the stomach? A. Because it is
thick, not slimy, and they feed on wood and boughs rather than on grass.

Q. Why do grief and vexation bring grey hairs? A. Because they dry,
which bringeth on greyness.

Q. How come those to have most mercy who have the thickest blood? A.
Because the blood which is fat and thick makes the spirits firm and
constant, wherein consists the force of all creatures.

Q. Whether it is hardest, to obtain a person's love, or to keep it when
obtained? A. It is hardest to keep it, by reason of the inconstancy of
man, who is quickly angry, and soon weary of a thing; hard to be gained
and slippery to keep.

Q. Why do serpents shun the herb rue? A. Because they are cold, dry and
full of sinews, and that herb is of a contrary nature.

Q. Why is a capon better to eat than a cock? A. Because a capon loses
not his moisture by treading of the hens.

Q. Why is our smell less in winter than in summer? A. Because the air is
thick, and less moveable.

Q. Why does hair burn so quickly? A. Because it is dry and cold.

Q. Why is love compared to a labyrinth? A. Because the entry and coming
in is easy, and the going out almost impossible or hard.

* * * * *

PART IV

DISPLAYING THE SECRETS OF

NATURE

RELATING TO

PHYSIOGNOMY

* * * * *

CHAPTER I

SECTION 1.--_Of Physiognomy, showing what it is, and whence it is
derived._

Physiognomy is an ingenious science, or knowledge of nature, by which
the inclinations and dispositions of every creature are understood, and
because some of the members are uncompounded, and entire of themselves,
as the tongue, the heart, etc., and some are of a mixed nature, as the
eyes, the nose and others, we therefore say that there are signs which
agree and live together, which inform