A brief description of the nature of the Basilisk, or Cochatrice Salgado, James, fl. 1680. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A60179 of text R16281 in the English Short Title Catalog (Wing S372). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 3 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 3 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2018 A60179 Wing S372 ESTC R16281 12393770 ocm 12393770 61068 2240968259

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 Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 2, no. A60179) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 61068) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 225:18) A brief description of the nature of the Basilisk, or Cochatrice Salgado, James, fl. 1680. [6] p. s.n., [London : 1680?] Stated in a ms. note at the end to be by J. Salgado. Cf. BM. Imprint information from Wing. Reproduction of original in British Library. eng Animals, Mythical. eebo A brief description of the nature of the basilisk, or cockatrice. Salgado, James, 1680 6 543 4 0 0 0 0 0 73.66 D The rate of 73.66 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the D category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2009-01 Assigned for keying and markup 2009-03 Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2010-01 Sampled and proofread 2010-01 Text and markup reviewed and edited 2010-04 Batch review (QC) and XML conversion

A brief DESCRIPTION of the NATURE OF THE Basilisk , or Cockatrice .

Basilisci Prosopopoeia .

Quos viuens vidi , ●e●●i , nunc mortuus , V●i Do Vitam ; dum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 numerosa videt . All men I kill'd that I did see , But now I am Dead one lives by mee .
A brief DESCRIPTION of the NATURE OF THE Basilisk , or Cockatrice .

BEing lately in Holland I met with a Doctor in Physick , who having travelled in most parts of the World , brought a Basilisk , otherwise called a Cockatrice out of Ethiopia ; he commiserating my sad Condition , did bestow it upon me , to the end that by shewing this Rarity to my Honourable Benefactors , I might invite their Charity towards me . But because I found some made it a scruple , whether there was any such living Creature which can kill men by only looking on them ; I thought worth the while to search into the works of many Authors about it , and found that the Romans did call it in Latin , Regulus , that is to say , a little King , the reason why they did call it so , was partly because he wears a Crest on his head , somewhat like a Crown , and partly because he is a terror to all other living Creatures , snatching away their Food from them , and killing them by the penetrating faculty of his Poison .

Aelian saith that it is of a yellowish colour .

Albertus magnus thinks that it is bred out of an Egg , and saith that the shape of his body is somewhat like a Cock , but that his Taile is like that of a Serpent .

Solimus asserteth that the Cockatrice is not only destructive to all other living Creatures , but that it also soils , corrupts and poisons the very Ground on which it goes .

In the time of Alexander the great , there was one of them which lying hid in a Wall , killed a great troop of his Souldiers by the poisonous glances of his Eyes upon them .

I did also search into the works of Pliny who treating of all Animals , doth assert in his eight Book , that there is a Serpent in Ethiopia of the bigness of a Mans finger , which killeth men by his Eye-sight .

The Holy Scripture also maketh mention of the Cockatrice in the 91 Psalm ver. 13. in the 23 of the Proverbs ver. 31. Esaias 11. ver. 8. and also the 14th Chapter ver. 29. and Jeremy Chap. 8. and 7. verse .

That which might be reputed a piece of a Mountebank to some , cannot be esteemed shameful for a Stranger , who being destitute of all Earthly Comfort , doth seek an honest livelihood without doing any injury to no man ; and I hope that my generous Benefactors will not despise this manner of seeking a poor subsistance , but rather that out of their Charity , will help a distressed Stranger who is reduced to very great straights .