The Digital Ark: Early Modern Collections of Curiosities in England and Scotland, 1580-1700
Oviedus ( - )
References in Documents:Gua
numbi. By
numbi
. a Sun-beam; because ofClusius , Ourissia, i. e
his radiant-colours. By the
; beSpaniards , Tomineius
cause (
b)
b)
Læt
c. 7.
out of
J. Lerius
as
he from
he from
edus
Tomino's, a weight so called by the
of 12 Grains.
sorts of them.
the top of his
Breast, to the end of his Tail he is two inches
long. But his
Trunk or Body alone, is not above ¼ of an
inch in
length. The other Parts are answerable. His
colour various: on
his Wings and Tail, a dark-brown;
on his Belly, a
yellowish-Red; on his Breast, White; on
his Back, Green, mixed
with glorious golden Rays.
The Huming-Bird is every where ill pictur'd: even in
Mr.
those Birds, at least, whereof he had the sight, are most
a)
tus Gallus &
Linschot
l. 2. p. 249
curiously and exactly represented. He is said to have a
loud, or shrill and sweet Note, emulous of that of a Nightingale. (a)
He moves his Wings swiftly and continually,
whether flying, or
sitting on a Flower. (b) b)
Barb
thrusting his Bill into a
Flower, like a Bee. (c) For which
purpose c)
twice as long as his Bill.
Which
because he took his Description from the Picture
only.
to be so, as a Part more apt, by its length, and
flexibility,
to thrust and wind it self to the bottoms of the
deepest,
and most crooked Flowers: in which, and not the upper
and open parts of Flowers, it is, that the Honey-Dew
which these Birds, as well as Bees, do suck, is usually
lodg'd.
His Feathers are set in Gold by the the
Thrygians
d)
On. Zoic
at a great rate. (d) The
ficial Images. (e) e)
Orn
Sand shot at them out of a Gun. (f)
g)
as a thing known to himself, and many f)
of Barb
curious and credible men
with him in
are there a sort both of Caterpillars and of Butterflys, which g)
lib. 5
are transform'd into this Bird:
and that in the time of
Transformation, there is plainly to be
seen half a Caterpillar or
half a Butterfly, and half a Bird, both
together.
Nest of Cotton-Wooll, and layeth Eggs. That a Caterpiller should produce a
Bird; and a Butterfly too, the like;
and yet this Bird lay Eggs to produce its own kind, are
three
greater wonders than any thing that hath been said
of the Barnacle. But we will rather suppose these
men
were themselves deceived, than that they designed to de
ceive others.
This Plant, as it grows in
scribed by
der the Name of
Platanus, absurdly received by some, as
himself noteth; by
calls it Pacoeira; by Musa, from a)
tus
the Arabian Mous. It grows three or four yards in height,
and ¾ of a yard (a) in compass.
Yet this Trunk, so great,
is (b) but annual.b)
long, and more than ½ a yard broad. The
Figs grow
toward the top of the
Trunk, near the shape and bigness of
a midling Cucumer, sometimes one or two (c) c)
them. Of a
soft melting substance, and a sweet and most
delicious Tast.
In
with their Mandioca-Flower; boiled, or fryed (d) d)
Butyr.
b)
Houswifery and Houshold-stuff.
of the Root of the
Hyjucca Mexicana. They first pound it,
and press out the Juyce; which is of a noxious (say some,
of a deadly) quality: and the
Pulpof the Root is reduced
e)
De script.
Hort. Farnes
Out of
Out of
nerdes
and
Oviedus
to a
Cake. These
Cakesthey fry, or rather bake over a gen
tle fire, and so set them in the Sun to dry, for their
Bread.
The thicker
Cakes, called
Cassavi, and eaten by the poorer
sort. The thiner, called
Sciam Sciam, by the
Rich. (
e) In
f) all the Ships that were bound from
f)
Americ. l. 4.
c. 28
with
Cassavi-Bread. That is, instead of
Bisco't.