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for it is the hardeſt part of the body, as it were a ſtone ſtrong to beare, and to ſuffer durable, as ſaith Iſidore. And the ridge hath another name, that is called the backe: for therevpon we lye backeward and vpright on the earth, and ſo may a man doe, and not other beaſtes, for other beaſts lye on the wombe, eyther on the ſide: and therefore it is vnproperly ſayd, yt any beaſts haue backes, as ſaith Iſidore. But it maye be called backe, for beating and bearing, for it is beaten with diuers manner of whips: and not onely the backes of beaſtes, but alſo the backs of men that be priſoners, as ſaith he. Or as Remigius ſaith, This word Tergum maye be ſaid of Teros in Gréeke, that is round in Latine: For the ridge of a beaſt hath a manner of roundneſſe, for all the bones in the body be founded in the ridge, as a ſhip on the keele. Conſtantine ſaith and Iſidore alſo, that ye ridge beginneth from the nape of the head, and ſtretcheth néere to the kidneyes: and the ridge is made & compounded of diuers bones and ioynts, and that for foure cauſes. Firſt, for he is the foundation of all other, and thereon all the other bones be ſet, as the ſhippe is on the keele. The ſecond, for it is ye defence and healyng of the inner partes. The third, for it is help and ſuccour of the ſinewes, that come from the brain downward to diuers parts of the body, to giue quick mouing and féeling in euery part. The fourth to beare marrow that commeth down from the braine and to kéep the marrowe, and ſaue it from griefes, within thoſe powers. The ridge boane of a beaſt is made and compounded of many bones, that they may the eaſilyer riſe and ſettle vp themſelues, and bende, and to beare more ſtrongly charges and burthens. And the ridge boanes be called Spondilia in latine, and are hollow, that the marrowe of the ridge bone, that Phiſitions call Nucha, may the eaſilyer be borne and come to the neather members, to make the quicke mouing: and the ſame kinde and vertue is as well in the braine, as in the marrowe of the ridge bone, as ſaith Conſtantine. And therefore it is cloathed with a double ſkinne, as the braine is, as ſaith he. And therefore if this marrowe in the ridge bone, bée in anye wiſe let either hurte, the vertue of féeling is hurt in working and doing, as it is when the braine is hurt, and therefore if this marrowe be hurt, the beaſt dyeth lightly, & therefore kinde maketh the ridge bones hard & ſinewy, & alſo picked and ſharpe, for the more defence of the marrowe, and for the more eaſie withſtanding and putting off, of hurting and wrong. The ſkinne of the ridge is harder and thicker than the ſkin of other parts of a beaſt, and that is for the cauſe aforeſayd, and the ridge ſuffereth many griefes within and without. For without it is beaten and hath many griefes. Within it ſuffereth ſhrinking of ſinewes, to much replection of humours, ſtopping of the veynes and the gates of the ſpirites, ſore pricking and putting, and ſtopping, and griefes of diuers goutes and dropſies.

THe breaſt is the ouer bonie parte betwéene the paypes and teates, and is called Pectus,^[1] becauſe it is next betwéene the head and the paps, as ſayth Iſidore. Iſidore and Conſtantine ſay alſo, that the originall of the breaſt is ſet within the ridge and is very hollow, to kéepe and to ſaue, and to defend the inner members, as the heart and the lunges, with other ſpirituall members. The great hallowneſſe of the breaſt is néedefull and profitable, that the lungs may cloſe and open to coole the hot ſmoake of the heart. And it is bonie and full of ſinewes, for the more ſtrength and ſtronger defence of the members of lyfe. And the breaſt is compaſſed and defended within with ſkinnes, and a manner of fatneſſe to nouriſh and to ſaue kindly heat, and to aſſwage the coldneſſe of boanes of the breaſt plate. Conſtantine ſaith, That in the breaſt be two hollowneſſes departed in twaine with ſome manner ſkinnes: and this departing is néedfull to kéepe the breath in one part of the breaſt, if it happen that it were loſt in the other: and ſo to ſaue and to kéepe the lyfe of

1. ↑ Pectus.