ABSTRACT
A' S we have handled the natures, and delivered the figures of the great beafts, fo alfo muft we L notdifdainin a perfed Hiftory to touch the fmalleft : For Almighty God which hath made them all, hath difTeminated in every kinde both of great and fmall beafts, feeds of his Wifdom,
Definition o f a Majefty, and glory. The little Moufe therefore is juftly tearmed, Incoladomus noftr*, an inhabitant Moufe. in our own houfes, Et rofor omnium return, and a gnawer of all things. And therefore from the found
of her teeth which fhe maketh in gnawing, fhe is called Sorex. Although we fhall fhew you afterwards, that Sorex is a fpecial kinde, and not the name of the general. Wherefore feeing there be many kindes of Mtfe, and every one of them defireth a particular tradate, I thought g o o d to begin with the Vulgar little Moufe,and fo to defcend to the feveral fpecies and kindes of all, according to the method of the Philofopher, A notioribus ad minsfs nota, from things that are moft known to
The feveral them that are left known. In Hebrew it is called Achar u . where the Septuagints tranflate it names. jvf«>/; the Cbaldce, Acbera; the Arabians, Fer, or Phar; from whence cometh the Saracen word t a-
ra. The Perfians, An Mus ; the Latines, Mus; the Italians * Topo, or Sorice, Alforgio, O Rato, Vi cafa% although RatJ fignifieth a Rat,both among the Germans,Frencb^nd Englifh^The Spaniards cal the little Moufe,Ratt; and the great Rat, Ratz; the French the little Moufe, Sourit; which word feems to be derived from the Latine> Sorex, and the great Moufe they call Ratt. The Germans the great ones Ratz, and the little one Mufs; the lllynans and Poloniaus, Myfs, which is the Gieel{ word; and the great one they call Sczurcz; the Venetians call the Rat Pantegana, of Pontu the vulgar Gree\ name, and the Romans, Sourco.
