A bird in ſtéede of an eye lydde, hath a heler to couer and kéepe the ſight:[1] and cloſeth ye eye with a web, ordained therfore in the vttermoſt parts of the eye: & for that the kinde of the eye is watrie & moyſt, therefore it néedeth ſuch a keeping. Alſo euery bird cloſeth the eye with the nether lydde. Alſo euery foure footed beaſt that wanteth eye lyddes, is féeble of ſight, as it fareth in Fiſh, Hares, and ſuch other, as Ariſtotle ſaith li. 4. &c.
¶Of the browes. Chap. 9.
THe browes be called Supercilia, becauſe they be ſet aboue the eye lids, and they be furniſhed with much haire to the intent to helpe the eyen, to put off the humour and ſweate that commeth downe from the head. The middle ſpace betwéene ye browes, bare without haire, is named Intercilium, as Iſidore ſaith lib. 11. The browes helpe the eye lyds, as ſaith Conſtantine, to kéepe that no griefe nor hurt come to yt eyen from without. Alſo they adorne and make the perſon to ſeeme honeſt and faire. For no man is ſéemelye without browes. Browes haue a vertue hid, that ſheweth outward the paſſions of the ſoule, as ſaith Ariſtotle. For when the browes be ſtraight as lynes, they ſignifie womanly ſoftneſſe, either lightneſſe of head. Alſo hanging browes ouer meaſure, betokeneth an enuious man. As Ariſtotle ſaith lib. pri. Alſo high browes & thicke of haire, ſignifie hardineſſe. And euen-long browes with little haire, ſignifie cowardneſſe. Alſo if they be thick with long haire, ſomewhat ſhaddowing the ſight, they betoken paſſing exceſſe of heat. Alſo if they be much fleſhie, and lyttle haire, they ſignifie harde and blunt wit, for the colde that hath maſterie in the principall members. Alſo, if they bée without haire they ſignifie corruption of yt bloud within: as it fareth in leprous men: either waſting of kindly humors, as in Ethykes and ſuch other:[2] eyther ſtopping of the veynes of the humours, as it fareth in them that are gelded. And we ſee that they ware and grow againſt age, inſomuch that they let the ſight, except they be cut or ſhorne, as ſaith Ariſtotle. lib. 3. Alſo he ſaith there, that in them that vſe much the ſeruice of Venus, hayre of theyr browes fayleth, or turneth white. That is for waſting of moyſture, and for default of vertue, and for increaſing of colde of the brayne: for too much drineſſe bréedeth baldneſe, and paſſing colde hoareneſſe, as it is ſayde afore.
Of the Forehead. Cap. 10.
THe Forhead is called Frons, & hath that name of the holes of the eyen, as Iſidore ſaith. And the forhead ſheweth outward the imagination and diſpoſition of the thought by gladneſſe or heuineſſe. Conſtantine ſaith, that of verye truth and ſoothneſſe, the forhead is aboue halfe rounde, and not full hard neither full ſofte. And that is néedefull that it be temperate yt it hurt not, neither griue the place that is nigh to the eyen. It is ſafely warded and couered with the ſkinne to defend it ſelfe, and to continue the other lymmes of féelyng, and to hight or adorne all the head. The vertue and worthineſſe of all the beaſt ſhineth namely in the head.
The Philoſopher ſaith, that the forhead of a man and woman, is the ſeate of ſhame and of worſhip. And that is for the highneſſe of the vertue imaginatiue. By the vertue imaginatiue, things that be ſorrowfull either gladde, ſeemely either vnſéemelye, are ſodaynly brought to the perſeueraunce of reaſon, and there they be déemed. Alſo the forehead is the tower of defence of all the ſinnewes that come downe from the brayve, to make the féelyng ſomewhat perfect. Within the hollowneſſe of the Forehead commeth downe ſinewes to all the lymmes and inſtruments of the nether powers. By the ſeruice of which ſinewes in the houſe of reaſon, is iudgement made of all things that is felt and knowen.
And therefore Gregory ſaith, That the forehead is the worthieſt part of the vtter head, wherein is ſet the print
