De Magnetica [...] Plantarum p. 639

mouet; cum hæc omnia & in alijs plantis repe-
riantur. {ὂρχιδες μελισσόμορφοι, καὶ ἀνθρωπόμορφοι.} Qui Orchides
apiformes, & anthro-
pophoras vidit, quarum
illæ muscarum apumque,
à quibus nomen sortitæ
sunt, imaginem; hæc for-
mam hominis nudi, ca-
pite, brachijs, & pedibus;
imò quod mirum dictu,
sexum perfectè menti-
tur; quod naturæ specta-
culum, cum in Botano-
trophæo Henrici Cor-
uini Pharmacopæi Ro-
mani celeberrimi huius
sæculi Botanici, non sine
admiratione fuissem in-
tuitus, quæ de Boromez à diuersis circumferebantur, vt crederem,
facilè inductus sum; quod autem pelle lanigera sanguineo succo re-
ferta turgeat, nouum non est, cum & punica mala, & certum malo-
rum genus, aliaque quàm plurima, (quæ quomodo phytomagnetica
arte produci deberant, supra in phytomagnetismo diximus) vt san-
guinaria huiusmodi succo abundent; omnia denique hæc Persicum
pomum certi generis referat cuius extrema superficies alba lanugine
inducta, dum inciditur, liquorem sanguinis instar fundere videtur.
Scribit Manardes arborem Indicam esse, ex cuius fructibus sanguis
Draconis exprimitur, quæ fructu suo perfectissimam Draconis effi-
giem referat, cuius humor intrinsecus sit sanguis Draconis, quo nos
vtimur. {Plantæ, floribus, semine, folijs, varias animalium partes referunt.} Præterea sunt Plantæ, quæ floribus, fructibus, folijs, truncis,
radicibus, singulas corporis partes, oculos, aures, caput, manus, pe-
des perfectè referunt, ita psylij semen pulicem, cynocephala caput
canis, semen Echij serpentis, Antirrinum caput hominis Napelli
flos cranium mortui præseferunt, Nihil igitur hæc difficultatis pa-
riunt. Id quibusdam mirum videtur, quomodo dicta Planta Boro-
mez herbas circumsitas, quas non tangit (supponimus enim caule
in aëre leuatum fulciri) depascatur. Hoc, dum multi capere non
possunt, ad consuetum ignorantiæ asylum confugientes, magnetica,
/vel

since all these things may be found in other plants too. Anyone who has seen bee- and man-orchids, of which the former bear the image of the flies and bees from which they take their name, the latter having the form of a naked man with a head, arms and feet; indeed, strange to say, even the sex is perfectly imitated; since I had, not without amazement, witnessed this spectacle of nature in the botanical garden of Henricus Corvinus the Roman pharmacist, the most distinguished botanist of our time, I was easily persuaded to believe what was being published by different authors about the Boromez. That it should swell with a woolly skin filled with blood-like juice is nothing new, since both pomegranates and a certain sort of apples, and a great many other things, (I have already described in 'phytomagnetism' how they should be produced by the phytomagnetic art) abound in bloody juice of this kind; and in fact a certain kind of peach would represent all these things, its outer surface being covered by a white down, and when cut into it seems to pour out a liquid which is the image of blood. Manardes writes that there is an Indian tree, from whose fruit dragon's blood is pressed, which in its fruit provides the most perfect image of a dragon, whose internal fluid is the dragon's blood which we use. Moreover there are plants which in their flowers, fruits, leaves, trunks and roots perfectly recall individual parts of the body, such as eyes, ears, head, hands and feet; thus the seed of fleabane represents a flea, cynocephala a dog's head, the seed of Echium a snake's head, Antirrhinum a man's head, and the flower of monkshood the skull of a dead man; so these things present no difficulty. What seems mysterious to some is how the Boromez plant feeds on the surrounding herbs without touching them (for we suppose it to be held up in the air on a stalk). Many people cannot grasp this, fleeing to the usual refuge of ignorance,