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is called Podagra in the féete,[1] is called Cirogra in the hands, and is bread and commeth of great humours and rawe, gathered in the ioynts. Therefore the ioynts of the toes & fingers waxe hard, and be made as it wer knotty. And ſuch ſickneſſes bée called Longa artherica, & are bred in the hands. And ſcarcely to be cured or healed, if it hath long indured, as it is ſayde Super Aphoriſ. Manye other diſeaſes occupie oft the handes, as blaines and ſuch other: but this that is ſayde ſhall ſuffice at this time. Saue onely this woulde bee noted, which is ſpoken in Aphoriſin. that a woman vſeth not the left hand and the right all alike. Uppon which word Galen ſaith, that males worke alyke with both the handes, which we neuer ſawe, neyther heard of no woman. And that commeth of default of her kinde. For except ſhée is ſtrong to worke with the right hand, ſo much ſhe maye the leſſe with the lefte hand. Males haue ſtrong ſinewes and brawnes in either ſide: and they haue ſtronger heat then women: and for that cauſe it happeneth oft, that they worke with the left hand, & with the right hand alſo.
¶Of the fingers. Chap. 29.
THE fingers be called Digiti[2] in Latine, & either they haue that name of Decem, that is the number of tenne in Engliſh, for they be tenne, other of this word Decens, in Engliſh ſeemely. For they be ſéemely ſet and ioyned, and they haue among themſelues a number & order right faire, as ſaith Iſidore. The firſt is called Pollex, the thombe: for that among other hée hath moſt vertue and might. The ſecond is called Index and Salutans, and is called Demonſtratiuus, the ſhewer. For with him we gréet, and ſhew, and teach all thing. The third is the middle finger, and is called Impudicus alſo.[3] The fourth is called Annularis, the ring finger: for thereon the ring is borne. And alſo he is called Medicus or Medicinalis, the leech. For with him they doe Colerium about the eye. Colerium is a principall medicine for ye eie. The fift is the little finger, and is called Auricularis, the eare finger, for with him we clawe and picke the eares, as ſaith Iſidore. Conſtantine ſayth, that the fingers bée compoſed and made euerye each of thrée bones cheined togethers. And the foure fingers be cheined and bounde to the ſayde combe of the hande: and the thombe is ioyned with the inner cheining of the arme. The neather péeces and knobbes of the fingers be greater and broader then the ouer, as the bearer is ſtronger then the thing that is borne. They ought to be broader and more ſtedfaſt, as ſaith Con. li. 3. Ariſto. ſaith, that the moueablenes of the fingers is conuenient to take & to hold. And the fingers be proportioned in ſlenderneſſe & length & departed a ſunder. In the ends they be warded with nailes. And the more euen that they be, and the more bending and pliant: the more couenable they be and able to diuerſe works. They be but little fleſhie, for caſineſſe of moouing and of touching and groping. For nothing in the bodie knoweth and déemeth ſo eaſily betweene things that bee touched and felt, as the ends of the fingers. And that may hap is through the quicke liuelineſſe of the ſinewes, that be bend againe in the ouermoſt parts of the fingers: and for ſoftneſſe and ſmoothneſſe of the ſkin in the vttermoſt parts of the fingers, as ſayth Conſtantine, and the fingers haue theſe propertyes: they be greater afore meate then after. And therefore a ring that is ſtraight on a finger, and may ſcarce bee taken of afore meate, may eaſily bee taken of after meate, as it is ſayd Super Aphoris. Ariſtotle ſayth. liber. 8. that water ſoules haue betwéene theyr toes and clawes, as it were a ſkinne, and their dwelling is in waters. And foules with toes, and clawes diuided, and cloaue footed, dwell properlye nigh water, and bée fed with meat that groweth on the land. And theſe foules eate no fiſh, neither liue with rauine, as doe foules with crooked toes & clawes, that eat all beaſts yt they may hunt & take: & they liue by bloud, & yet they eat not each other: but they ſpare foules of their owne kind. And ſo do not