Natural Magic (Magia Naturalis)

OF SECRETS

CONTAINED WITHIN THESE BOOKS

Hawk: how it is cross-bred with various birds and different offspring are produced (75); with the falcon, the eagle, the goshawk, and the sparrow-hawk (ibid.); how it may become courageous (504).
Vinegar: how it may be made from various things (208); from figs, palms, pears, honey, and peaches without the use of wine (ibid. & 209); from spoiled wine, from grape-must, and from pressed grape-skins. How it may be doubled in strength (209, 210).
Diamond: directs iron toward the North, just like a magnet (304); its presence does not inhibit magnetic power Porta is debunking the ancient myth, repeated by Pliny, that a diamond can "disenchant" a magnet. (302).
Bronze cannonballs: how they may penetrate more deeply (447).
Air: how it may take the place of bellows; how mechanical devices may be made within it (597); water produced from it (604).
Copper: various ways to make it rival silver (227, 228, 229); how it is calcined original: "comburatur"; literally "burned," referring to the alchemical process of heating a metal to reduce it to powder. (249); how to separate silver from a copper vessel (240).
Armpit odor: how to cure the nuisance of the armpits original: "Alarum tædia"; Porta uses "alae" (wings) to refer to the human underarms and provides recipes for deodorants. (363).
Larks: poison for them (502).
Garlic: how to make the heads larger (125); to prevent them from smelling (140); to make them sweeter (145); how they are preserved (185).
Aloes, Indian: how to extract thread from it (216, 217); how to extract its magisterium magisterium: a highly refined alchemical extract or "mastery" of a substance (397).
Ambergris: how to extract its oil (386) and its quintessence (391).
Amethyst color: how it is produced (250).

Amomum: how to extract its oil (376).
Love: alexiteric original: "alexiteria"; a term for protective medicines or antidotes against poison or contagion. remedies for love (333).
Almonds, sweet: how to make them bitter (94); how they may grow without shells or become tender (131); making bitter ones sweet (141, 142, 143); how to make them grow with inscriptions on them Porta describes grafting or marking seeds so that words appear on the harvested fruit. (147); how they may be preserved for a long time (162); how to extract oil from them (213).
Almond-peach: how it is produced A reference to hybrid grafting. (107).
Ducks: how to intoxicate them so they may be caught by hand (498); how to make their meat tender (467).
Eels: born from mud A reference to the theory of spontaneous generation. (52); bait for them (489).
Anise: how to extract its oil (379).
Animals: how to make them mate more ardently (57); new animals produced from their cross-breeding (55, 56); how to make them fat and more flavorful (471, 472); how to have them roasted and boiled at the same time (477); by what foods they are lured (485); by the allurements of love (490, 491); by sounds (493); by mirrors (495); by scent (496); how they may be caught by hand while drunk (497); their poisons (500).
Mind/Spirit: how to rouse a sluggish spirit to arms (614).
Goose: how a live goose is cooked Porta describes a cruel culinary spectacle where a goose is plucked and roasted alive while being kept hydrated with water and heart-strengthening drugs. (479); how to make its meat tender (467); how to fatten its liver (473).
Bees: how to generate them from an ox original: "ex boue generare"; the ancient Greek myth of "Bugonia," the belief that bees were born from the carcasses of bulls. (48); how to keep them unharmed (177).
Small fish: how they are counterfeited original: "Aphyæ quom. fingantur"; "Aphyæ" were small fry or anchovies. Porta explains how to make "fake" fish for culinary tricks. (482).