Page:Hudibras - Volume 2 (Butler, Nash, Bohn; 1859).djvu/30

224 He knew whats'ever's to be known, But much more than he knew would own. What med'cine 'twas that Paracelsus Could make a man with, as he tells us; What figur'd slates are best to make, On wat'ry surface duck or drake; What bowling-stones, in running race Upon a board, have swiftest pace; Whether a pulse beat in the black List of a dappled louse's back; If systole or diastole move Quickest when he's in wrath, or love; When two of them do run a race, Whether they gallop, trot, or pace; How many scores a flea will jump, Of his own length, from head to rump, Which Socrates and Chærephon In vain assay'd so long agone; Whether his snout a perfect nose is, And not an elephant's proboscis;