Q. Why do many beasts wag their tails when they see their friends, and a lion and a bull beat their sides when they are angry? A. Because they have the marrow of their backs reaching to the tail, which hath the force of motion in it, the imagination acknowledging that which is known to them as it were with the hand, as happens to men, doth force them to move their tails. This doth manifestly show some secret force to be within them, which doth acknowledge what they ought. In the anger of lions and bulls nature doth consent to the mind, and causeth it to be gently moved, as men do sometimes when they are angry, beating their hands on other parts; when the mind cannot be revenged on that which doth hurt, it presently seeks out some other source, and cures the malady 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 hath 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 grass. Q. Why do grief and vexation bring gray hairs? A. Because they dry, which bringeth on grayness. Q. How come those to be most merry 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 is it 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 very 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 the hens. Q. Why is our smell less in winter than 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 impossible, or very hard. DISPLAYING THE SECRETS OF NATURE, RELATING TO PHYSIOGNOMY. CHAPTER I. SECT. _I Of Physiognomy, showing what it is, and from whence it is derived._