All things whatsoever doedo grow in length, breadth, and depth, that is, are
propagated, nourished, and augmented to maturity, the same things doedo all=
soalso decrease, that is, are diminished in facultyesfaculties, dyedie, and are wholly demo=
lished, as is manifestly evident in all vegetables and animallsanimals: wherefore man
allsoalso having arrived at full growth admittsadmits of decrement, that is, old age, whereby
his strength is gradually diminished even till the approach of death: now the
cause of old age is the same as is of a lampelamp decaying, and shining obscurely
the oyleoil being allmostalmost consumed: For as there are three things in a lampelamp, the -
match, fattnessefatness, and flame, soeso in man the vitallvital parts, bowellsbowels, and ligaments
are the match, fattnessefatness the radicallradical moisture, flame the naturallnatural heat; all
the difference is that the flame of a lampelamp shines, the naturallnatural heat not at all,
it not being fire, but onelyonly heat, and that fattnessefatness is oyleyoily, the radicallradical mois=
ture viscous, as being of a seminallseminal principle: As allsoalso a lampelamp is extinguished
through want of oyleoil, soeso man by old age, without any other disease, falls
into a marasme, and aged consumption, and lastly death: They relate -
of the Eagle, that in old age being hindredhindered by a crooked beakebeak it would
be famished to death, if it were not restordrestored by nature as it were to -
youth by casting the beakebeak: SoeSo Harts seem to grow young againeagain by
throwing ofoff their horneshorns, serpents their skinnsskins, and crabs their shells; -
not indeed really, because the consumed radicallradical moisture is not restored
to them, but as to appearance: that which can make a man grow young
againeagain is nothing, but death itselfeitself, and the beginingbeginning of æternalleternal life
ensuing: as to externallexternal formeform, and the restaurationrestoration of strength in -
some measure, together with the taking away of wrinkles and gray -
haireshairs, some there are that say a remedy may be found, which Lully
affirms of the Quintessence, Arnold of præparedprepared gold: But here -
the Philosophers say, that an old man, to become young, must be -
shuttshut up with a certainecertain tree in a house of dew, and then heehe will
eat of the fruit of the tree, and soeso recover youth: It is scarce be=
leivdbelieved by the vulgar that such trees are now in the nature of things:
Of Myrobalans, the fruit of a tree, PhysitiansPhysicians write wonders, as if -
they could performeperform such a thing, take away gray haireshairs, purify the
blood, and prolong life: but these things are doubted by many men,
unlesseunless they are saydsaid to effect it by accident, as allsoalso other things, which
purge the massemass of blood from fæcesfeces mixdmixed with it, and dye gray hairehair
with blacknesseblackness, with which Myrobalans are reported to colourcolor the
hairehair and ball of the eyes. Marsilius Ficinus in his booke of præser=
vingpreserving the life of students, writes, that in order to attaineattain to long life
it is coḿodiouscommodious for a man daylydaily to suckesuck the milkemilk of some certainecertain
beautifullbeautiful and young woman, instead of which others doedo coḿendcommend
the eating of vipers flesh:

but indeed these means are themselves
more rigid than old age, and scarce to be used by one of a thousand, -
though they Should not be without certainecertain effect: It is written by Para=
celsus in his bookebook of long life, that a sickesick man may attract to him=
selfehimself the health of another by imagination alone, as allsoalso an old man
youth, but this Author seems in this to use his imagination onelyonly, not
experience: It is thing certainecertain of the Psylli who have two balls of the
eye, and of witches, that they bewitch children and cattle by aspect alone,
from whence that of VirgillVirgil: Nescio quis teneros oculus mihi fascinet agnos:
but these things are done without contact, whereby the tree restores the -
old man to youth: for this tree hathhas sweet fruit, ripe and red, which doedo
easily turneturn into pure blood, being of easy digestion and excellent nutri=
ment, soeso as to leave nothing superfluous or fæculentfeculent in the body: but -
the old man abounds with white phlegmephlegm, and is of a white colourcolor and -
hairy, which humor, colourcolor, and hairehair are changed by eating these -
fruits, and become red, as those are of young men. For this reason say the
Philosophers, the Stone is first old, that is white, then young, that is, red, because
this is the colourcolor of youth, as that of old age: It is added, that the old man -
ought to be ShuttShut up with the tree, not in the open aireair, but in a house, not
dry, but moist with dew. It is accounted a miracle for trees to Spring or vegetate
in a close place, but if it be moist, there is noeno doubt of their long duration:
for the nutriment of a tree is moisture, and airy earth, that is, fattfat, which
can ascend into the trunketrunk and boughesboughs, and there produce leaves, flowers,
and fruit: in which naturallnatural workework all the Elements doedo concurreconcur, fire -
giving the first motion, as the efficient, aireair tenuity and penetrability, water
lubricity, earth coagulation: for aireair returns into water, and water into -
earth, if any of their superfluity ascend: By fire I meanemean the naturallnatural
heat, which being propagated with the seed dothdoes by the power of the StarrsStars
as it were a Smith fabricate and formeform fruit like to those things from whence
the seed arisetharises: But a dewy evaporation is not onelyonly good and expedient to moisten
the tree, that it may more easily yeildyield fruit, but allsoalso the old man, that by
those fruits heehe may become young againeagain, that is to say, the dewy evapo=
ration mollifying, filling up, and restoring his wrinkled and dry SkinneSkin
with temperate heat and moisture: for PhysitiansPhysicians doedo advisedly and with
great utility enjoyneenjoin and præscribeprescribe warmewarm baths in the marasme and -
*aged consumption: but if the thing be well considered that tree is the -
*daughter of the old man, which as Daphne is transmuted into a vegetable
*of the like sort, and therefore the old man dothdoes not without reason expect
*youth from it, which caused it to be effected . . . . . . .