CHAP. I. Of Medicine in general.

PHysick, both upon the account of its object, and the necessity of it, is a most Noble Art.

It wholly consists of Practice; for all the parts of it are directed to Healing: And therefore it is an Art, and not a Science; the end whereof is Contemplation: And consequently, Trea­tises that are made up of Hypotheses, or Suppositi­ons, belong rather to Phylosophy than Physick.

But it must be acknowledged, that there are some Diseases incurable, therefore out of the reach of Physick; yet it is necessary to treat of them, that they may be known as such, and foretold, that the Art may not be disgraced.

It's said to be Conjectural only, by reason of him that exerciseth it, who can only guess at Diseases and their Causes, the Quantity and Virtue of Medicines, and the particular Proprieties of the Body; for it has as much certainty in it as many other Arts; and to speak the Truth, what Certainty is there, besides the first Truths, and Matters of Faith.

It is commonly divided into five parts, viz. Phy­siology, that Treats of Natural Things: Hygiene, that Treats of Things non-natural, or Things ne­cessary for the preservation of Health; but yet some­times hurting it: Pathology, that Treats of Things contrary to Nature: Semeiotice, that shews the Signs of Things contrary to Nature: Therapeutice, that Treats of the general way of Cure, by Chyrur­gery, Pharmacy, and Diet.

But Physiology does not properly belong to Phy­sick, and therefore ought not to be accounted a part of it; yet because it is usually proposed in Treatises of this kind, I will briefly do so.

Things that are called Natural are seven, viz. Elements, Temperaments, Humours, Spirits, Parts, Faculties, Actions; and among these, are to be reckoned some other things which are treated of in Physiology, as Age, Sex, and the like.

Elements are the most Simple Bodies, of which all other Bodies are first composed, and at last dissolved. The union or conjunction of the Elements in the Body is called mixture; and a Body made up of the Ele­ments, is called mixed.

The Elements are Four, viz. Earth, Water, Air and Fire. The Chymists add Salt, Sulphur, and [Page 3]Mercury, tho' improperly; for in some Bodies, for instance, Gold, burnt Talc, Glass, you cannot find either of the three; and in other mixt Bodies you may find more, as in the Humane Blood, Flegm, Salt, Oyl, Spirit and Earth; and if we should allow that Salt, Sulphur and Mercury may be drawn from some Bodies by the force of the Fire, it does not therefore follow, that they were in them before as first Princi­ples; for perhaps they were produced in them by the Fire: Moreover, they are not perfectly Simple Bo­dies.

Temperament in general, is a convenient propor­tion of the Elements among themselves, or is a sy­metrical proportion of the Qualities.

A Quality is a certain disposition of insensible Par­ticles, constituting sensible Parts; it is divided into First and Second. These Four are called the first, Heat, Cold, Moisture, Dryness; and that which ex­ceeds the rest, denominates the Temperament.

The first Quality among Physicians is termed Ac­tual and Potential; Actual, which is perceived im­mediately by touching, as Heat in Fire, Coldness in Water, and the like. It's said Potential, when it is not immediately perceived by touching, as Heat in Pepper, Coldness in Lettice.

The second Qualities are Colours, Sounds, Smells, Tasts, Gravity, Levity, Hardness, Softness, Smooth­ness, Roughness, Rarity, Density, and the like.

An equal Temperament with respect to weight, consists in an exact mixture of all the first Qualities. An equal Temperament with respect to Justice, as they term it, is improperly called equal; for it's such a proportion of the first Qualities as the Nature of the Mixture requires, whether they are in an equal de­gree or not.

Temperament is divided into Partial and Total. A Partial Temperament is that which is allotted to [Page 4]every part; as the temperament of the Brain, Heart, or the like. A Temperament that is called Total is ascribed to the whole Mixture, and is made up of such as are partial, as the Temperament of this or that Man.

Temperament is also divided into innate and ac­quired. The innate Temperament is that which na­turally belongs to a Man; the acquired is that which comes in the course of years, by reason of things non-natural, or contrary to Nature.

All the Parts of the Body, according to themselves are hot and moist; yet with respect one to another, some are said to be hot, cold, moist and dry. The Heart, Blood, Spirits, Arteries, Veins, Lungs, Spleen, Liver, are counted hot; but the Heart is reckoned the hottest.

Parts that are counted Cold, are the Bones, Carti­lages, Tendons, Membranes, Ligaments, Spinal Marrow, and the like.

The moist parts, are the Blood and other Humours, the Brain, and Spinal Marrow.

The dry parts are the Bones, the Cartilages, Ten­dons, Ligaments, Heart, Lungs, Nails, Hair.

The signs of a hot and dry Temperament of the whole, are a quick and hard Pulse, a dry habit of the Body, a brown Complexion, crisped Hair, of a brown or black Colour; for Heat feeds on the moi­sture of the Body, melts the Fat, and drys up the Humours. The Appetite and Digestion are small, there is a proneness to Anger, the Sleep is short and disturbed by reason of the heat of the Spirits; Ve­nery is excessive, by reason of the Acrimony of the Seed; the Wit is Sharp, and the Body Active, be­cause the Spirits are pure. The Italians and Spaniards are so Constituted.

The signs of an hot and moist Temperament, are a large Pulse, but not frequent nor hard; a Fat ha­bit [Page 5]of the Body, but not very Fat; because that proceeds from Frigidity and Moisture. The Com­plexion is florid and clear; the Hairs are sometimes curled, and sometimes not, and not very Black; the Appetite and Digestion are pretty good; the Sleep moderate and quiet, the Mind chearful; and Venery moderate.

The signs of a Cold and Moist Temperament are, a small and soft Pulse, a white and smooth Skin, a soft and fat habit of Body, the Hair Yellow, and most commonly strait, the Appetite great, and the Dige­stion good; the Sleep very much, a drowsie Disposi­tion, Wit small, an unfitness for Motion, Venery small. And this is the Temperament of most of the Northern People.

The signs of a Cold and Dry Temperament are, a small Pulse, and somewhat hard; the Skin some­what rough, the habit of the Body dry, the Hair thin, Appetite and Digestion small, Sleep shorter than in the Cold and Moist Temperament, little or no inclination to Venery.

But it is to be noted, that you must not expect all these signs precisely in these four Temperaments, yet there ought to be most of them; and according to the number of them, you must judge of the excess in this or that Quality.

CHAP. II. Of the Sexes, Ages, and the various Temperaments of them.

ACcording to the diversity of Sex and Age, the Temperament is also divers.

Sexes differ according to the different Conformati­on and Temper of the Genital Parts.

Sex is twofold, Masculine and Feminine. The former is most commonly hotter than the latter; which appears caeteris paribus, by the Pulse, that are larger and more frequent, by the habit of the Body, which is dryer, by the greater firmness of the Parts, by the Actions that are stronger and more perfect, by a greater disposition to a Fever, and a less quan­tity of Crudities; all which, as they proceed from a greater heat, so they vindicate it. Nor does Wo­mens growing sooner, contradict what has bin said, because this is rather to be ascribed to the softness and ductility of the Parts, than to Heat: Nor would it make any thing against us, if we should grant they have more Blood than Men; for if it should be so, it would not follow that they generate more Blood; but that they do not consume so much. They being more salacious, and more prone to Anger, proves nothing; for one may come from their Pride, and the other from the weakness of their Minds; tho' we confess that some Viragoes may be hotter than Men.

Age is the various seasons of Humane Life, where­in some notable change is observed. They are eight: Infancy, which continues to the third year. Childhood, from the third to the tenth. Puberty, from the tenth to the eighteenth year. Adolescency, from the eight­teenth to the twenty fifth. Juvenility, from the twen­ty fifth to the thirty fifth. Virility, from the thirty fifth to the fiftieth. Old Age, from the fiftieth to the sixty fifth: Decrepid Age takes up all the rest of the time of Life.

The Causes of Ages is the divers proportion of the Native Heat, at this or that time of Life, by reason of natural things, or things preternatural; so that the Ages in all are not circumscribed within the said terms of years; but they happen in some sooner, in some later; and some grow Old sooner than others.

Infancy is the most Moist of all, which appears plainly from the flexibility and softness of the Mem­bers; all other Ages, the farther they recede from Infancy, the dryer they are. But it is not the hot­est of all; for the greatest heat would not suit with moisture; for it would either dissipate it, or extin­guish it. Heat therefore increases till Virility, and then it is at its height; for the habit of the Body, by continual action of the Heat, is dryed, and presses the mouths of the Arteries, and makes them narrower; so that on this account the thicker part of the Blood is kept from the Parts which it ought to moisten; the Serosities are not purged off, but are daily kept up more and more in the Vessels, they suppress the Fire of the Heart, and at last extinguish it. The abundance of this unconcocted Humidity is the cause of Hoariness in Old Men; and their Baldness arises from the defect of the matter of Hairs; which is a fat Vapour, or at least, because such a Vapour does not come to the Hairs, by reason of a constriction of the Pores. But in the mean while, we must not in­fer, that Old Men are moistest; for their Blood does not penetrate and moisten the parts of the Body, tho upon the account of the Excrements that are put off upon certain parts of the Body, as the Nostrils, Eyes, and the like, they may seem most moist.

From what has bin said it appears, that the next cause of Death in Old Men, is too great a Serosity of the Blood; but the dryness of the Body is the remo­ter Cause, and want of Heat the most remote; and therefore Old Men are best preserved by hot and dry things, as with Wine, and the Spirits of it, and the like; which revive the languid Heat, and dry up the Serosities.

CHAP. III. Of the Native Heat.

IT may not be incongruous to add something con­cerning the Natural Heat to the Temperaments; according to the variation whereof, the Tempera­ment varies much.

The Natural Heat is nothing else but a quick and confused Motion of a subtile Matter, or certain Fire that is not Lucid, such as we perceive in Lime when it is sprinkled with Water, in several Chymical Fer­mentations, in Horse-dung, and in Herbs heapt up together and putrifying; yet is it hot, and differs only from our common Fire in degree. This moti­on arises hence, viz. because a subtile Matter insi­nuating it self into the Blood, cannot move freely in it, and therefore is forced to exert its power upon the Particles of the Blood, and to agitate them con­fusedly; so that it has the same Causes with Fer­mentation, and therefore we may well think it pro­ceeds from it.

Fermentation is an intestine Motion among the heterogeneous Parts of any Body, whereby that in some sort, is rarified and fired. It is effected in this manner, viz. A subtile Matter passing through some humid and fluid Bodies, meets with rigid Particles which are not very flexible, which swim in them, and because they cannot accommodate themselves to the Pores, occasion a Confusion; so that then the sub­tile Matter insinuates it self in a large quantity to fill the Pores, and so it rarifies the said Bodies; as more Men, for instance, can be contained in a Room, when they are quiet and lie still, than when they move disorderly; this is every where seen in humid Bodies, [Page 9]as Wine that is quiet all the Winter, will Ferment so much in the Spring, as to break the Vessel if there be no Vent, the subtile Matter being put into a mo­tion by the approach of the Sun. But all Rarefacti­on of a Liquor is not properly Fermentation, but only that which is from an intestine Principle, or an Heterogeneity of Parts, and a diversity of the Pores, by reason whereof the passage for the subtile Matter is rendered more difficult, and consequently there is no Fermentation in Water, or in another Liquor more homogeneous, rarifying over a Fire; for it boils up only by being forced by a great quantity of sub­tile Matter from abroad, and not from any internal Cause.

The Natural Heat, or subtile Matter, resides in the Ventricles of the Heart, especially in the Left, and rarifies the Blood as it passes by. It is kept up by a subtile Matter, which is continually brought to the Heart, from the Nourishment, Chyle, and Blood.

We are hotter in Summer than in Winter; for our Pulse are then quicker and stronger; our Thirst is greater, and we then more desire Cold Things, and Digest them without offence, and are injured by Hot Things, and are prone to Fevers; and we perceive no shaking or shivering after Meals, as in the Winter. We are Colder in the Winter, because a serous Hu­mour abounds then in the Blood, by reason Tran­spiration is less, and the Fire of the Heart is lessen'd by the Cold Air that is breathed in; but the Digesti­on is best in Winter, and we grow fatter then, by reason of the moderate Heat; for great Heat dis­solves Fat, and dissipates the Ferment of the Sto­mach; and therefore in Fevers, and in Summer, we grow Lean, and have but small Appetites.

Moreover, in Sleep our inner-parts are not hotter than when we are awake, yea they are not so hot, as appears by the Pulse, that are then more languid [Page 10]and less, and by the paleness; and this is agreeable to Reason; for the Blood does not then pass so fre­quently through the Heart, and consequently does not heat so much; and our Sweating a Nights does not contradict what has bin said, for that proceeds chiefly from Vapours retain'd by the Coverings, and condensed upon the Body.

The Natural Heat is sometimes suddainly raised, as by Anger, or Joy, the Animal Spirits on this ac­count flowing oftner into the Fibres of the Heart, move the Blood oftner, and increase the Fire of the Heart: This Heat is also increased by the motion of the Body, and by the use of Spices and Wind.

It is destroy'd chiefly three ways, viz. by suffoca­tion, dissipation, and want of repair; it is suffoca­ted by too much Blood; as a small Fire by too much Wood, or by the Viscosity of the Blood, or the Co­agulation of it by Cold or Poison. It is dissipated by too great Labour, or violent Sweats. It cannot be repair'd when there is want of Meat and Drink, or when the Aliment is weak, or by reason of a com­pression of the Vessels, or the thickness or viscidity of the Blood. In Old Men the Natural Heat dies, partly because it is oppress'd with Serum, and partly because in a long tract of Time it is dissipated.

CHAP. IV. Of an Humour.

AN Humour is a liquid Substance in the Body of an Animal, bred according to Nature, by Meat and Drink; it is twofold, Nutritious and Excre­mentitious.

Nutritious Humours, are Humours apt to be turn­ed into our Substance. They are innumerable; but the chief of them are these four, viz. Blood strict­ly taken, Flegmatick Blood, or Flegm; Choleric Blood, or Choler; Melancholy Blood, or Melan­choly.

Blood strictly taken, is the redder and more tem­perate Portion of the Mass of Blood; they that have abundance of it are chearful, and comely.

Flegm is the whiter and cruder Portion of the Mass of Blood, of a Cold and Moist Temperament. Those that abound with it, are Slow, Sleepy, Pale and Fat.

Choler is the thinner Portion of the Mass of Blood, of an hot and dry Temperament: They that have it in abundance, are Angry, Agile, Witty and Lean.

Melancholy is the earthy and gross Portion of the Mass of Blood, of a cold and dry Temperament. They that abound with this Humour, are Sad, Fear­ful, and Black.

Chyle is a liquid Mass bred in the Stomach and Guts from Meat and Drink; I say in the Stomach and Bowels, because some Chylification is made in these, tho' chiefly in the Stomach; but we shall speak more particularly of Chylification among Natural Actions.

The Chyle is expelled from the Stomach partly by the Muscles that contract the Belly, and partly by the impulse of the Liver; and partly by the Pe­ristaltic motion of the annular Fibres of the Stomach, successively contracted from the upper Orifice to the lower. The Chyle being thrust from the Stomach into the Guts, is further elaborated there, by the fer­ment of the Stomach which it brings with it, and by the Bile and pancreatic Juice, which entring into the Duodenum, and mixt with the Chyle, are fermented together; and together with the Chyle, pass into the lacteal Veins, which are innumerable small Vessels, [Page 10] [...] [Page 11] [...] [Page 12]so very small that they can't be seen, unless they are full of Chyle; they come out of every part of the Intestines and Mesentery. Caspar Asellius found them out in the year 1622. in dissecting a live Dog well fed. Presently after their rise, they aim at the near­est part of the Mesentery, whereunto the intestine from which they arise is knit; then they go the rea­diest way to such glandules of the Mesentery as are nearest to them; but in their passage sometimes, many little Branches meeting, grow into one great Trunk, viz. before they insinuate themselves into the gland, to which we said they were going; but in their very entrance into the glands, or a little be­fore, this Trunk separates again into new Branches, more, and smaller than the other, which are oblite­rated in the very substance of the gland: Out of the gland there spring again new capillary Veins, which by and by meeting together, make one Trunk again as before; which being carried towards the beginning of the Mesentery, in their march join to themselves, others of the same kind meeting them, and so grow larger and larger, and at last very many enter into the great or middle gland of the Mesentery, in the same manner they entred the smaller, and some pass over its Superficies, and by and by they all empty themselves into the common receptacle of the Chyle, that lies under the said gland. This receptacle is seated under the Celiac Artery, and emulgents at the Vertebrae of the Loins, whence there springs a Duct, that presently enters the Diaphragm, with the Ar­teria magna, where it begins to be call'd Ductus Tho­racicus. This Duct having pass'd the Midriff, it marches further up under the great Artery, till about the fifth or sixth Vertebra of the Thorax, where it turns a little aside from the great Artery to the Left Hand, and so below the intercostal Arteries and Veins, under the pleura and gland thymus, it ascends to the [Page 13]left subclavian Vein, into whose lower side it opens, just there where the left jugular Vein enters into it on the upper side, so that their Mouths face one an­other; but it opens not into this Vein with any large Orifice, but by six or seven little ones, being all co­vered together in the interior Cavity of the Subcla­via, with one broad Valve looking towards the Cava from the Shoulder, whereby here is granted to the Chyle and Lympha a free passage out of the Ductus Chyliferus into the Subclavia; but their return, or of Blood with them out of the Vein into the Duct is prevented. This Duct ending thus in the subclavian Vein, the Chyle that it conveys into it, passes with the Blood, returning by the Cava into the right Ven­tricle of the Heart.

The Chyle in the Stomach and Guts keeps in some sort, the Colour of what is eaten: So Cows and Sheep, because they feed on Grass, have a greenish Chyle. The Chyle of a Man is most commonly of an Ash Colour; but in the lacteal Veins, and the Thoraic Duct, 'tis quite White.

An excrementitious Humour, is an Humour that is not fit to be converted into our substance: 'Tis divi­ded into Natural and Preternatural; the Preternatu­ral belongs to Pathology.

The Natural excrementitious Humour, is that which has not an inimical quality.

Excrementitious Humours are partly generated in the Blood, because our Nourishment has some Par­ticles which are apt to become Excrementitious, but partly because the Blood loses much of its subtile Parts, by being often rarified in the Heart, and by nourishing our Vital Fire; and on this account, ma­ny of its Parts are render'd unfit for use, and do hurt, unless they are eliminated from the Mass of Blood, for the Flegm stops the passages: The Earth, or the Caput mortuum, coagulates; the Water hinders the [Page 14]inflammability of the Blood; and the Sulphur by adustion, becomes bitter and acrid.

Moreover, divers excrementitious Humours are evacuated in divers places; and meerly according to their diversity, as to magnitude or figure, in this or that emunctory, and in the particles of this or that Humour, without the help of any fictitious Faculty: And this will not seem strange to any one, who sees that meerly by a diversity of the Pores and Parts, a wholesom and unwholsome Herb grow near together in the same Ground; and one sort of Juice slows in the Tree, another in the Bark, and another in the Leaves and Fruits.

A Natural excrementitious Humour, is divided in­to useful and unuseful; a Natural excrementitious Humour is useful, when of it self it is some way serviceable to the Body, as Milk, Seed, Menstruous Blood, the Mothers Blood, yellow Choler, Melan­choly, Serum, the Humour of the Pericardium, the acid Humour of the Stomach, Spittle, Pancreatic Juice, Lympha, and the slime of the Guts.

The Natural excrementitious Humour is unuseful, when of it self it is no way serviceable to the Body wherein it is bred; as Urine, Sweat, Tears, Snot, the Blood of a Woman in Labour, the Blood of the Hemorrhoids, and the Wax of the Ears.

Milk is a portion of the Chyle, separated by the glands, into the milky Tubes, for the nourishment of the Infant.

The milky Tubes are Vessels properly belonging to the Breasts, and they come from their innumera­ble Glands, and terminate in the Paps with many holes; they are incompassed here and there with Ner­vous Fibres from the small rope of the Arm-pit, that these being inslated, they may be contracted to press out the Milk.

The Matter of Milk is Chyle, and not Blood, as many heretofore have thought, and that it was turn'd White in the Breasts; but it does not stay there long enough to be elaborated; and beside, the Parts are not formed for such an use. Moreover, a piece of Succory eaten before, has bin drawn out with it, and also the Bran of Bread eaten before: A Purging Medicine taken by the Nurse, is presently mixt with the Milk, and Purges the Child; and sometimes when it does not the Nurse, Saffron and Burnt Wine, and other things taken by the Nurse, communicate the tast and smell to the Milk in the space of half an hour, or less; and the Nurse presently after drinking a large draught, finds a chillness and fullness in her Breasts; which could not be if Blood were the Mat­ter of Milk: Besides, a Woman would consume away if Blood were the Matter of Milk; considering, that a Woman in Health affords daily a Quart of Milk. Moreover, Fat Women have more Milk than Lean, and yet the Lean Women have most Blood, and their sanguiferous Vessels are larger: But you will say, that Blood is sometimes sucked out of the Breasts, and that in Women that give Suck, the Veins of the Breasts are more Turgid than at other times; and therefore Blood is the Matter of Milk. To the first I answer, That Blood is not sucked without Vio­lence; and therefore this does not prove that it is the Matter of Milk. Secondly, The greater disten­sion of the Veins of the Breast prove nothing also, be­cause this is to be imputed to the greater motion of the Blood upwards, by reason of the compression of the lower Arteries by the Womb.

I suppose the Thoracic Duct is the passage of the Chyle to the Breasts, from whence some small branches are reflected about the Calvicles, towards the Breasts.

Women with Child have Milk in their Breasts, and especially in a few days before Delivery, not because the menstruous Blood regurgitates from the Womb through the Epigastric Vessels to the Breasts, for these do not at all communicate one with another; and Circulation refutes this: Besides, some Virgins have Milk, yea Men and Children; and many Animals which have not the Courses; but the reason is, for that in Women with Child, the Child growing big, the Womb is wonderfully expanded, and so the san­guiferous Vessels of the lower Belly are press'd; and therefore the Blood regurgitates upwards, and there­by its quantity and heat, opens the Pores of the Glands of the Breasts, and causes the lacteal Tubes to expand more; and for the same reason, the re­ceptacles of the Chyle are more pressed, and the Chyle is more forceably driven upwards, and so opens more the glands and passages of the Breasts, and the lacteal Tubes.

The Milk after Delivery flows more freely; for the Chyle that used to be carried to the Womb for the Nourishment of the Child, regurgitates upwards, the passages of the Womb being stopt: Besides, the Infant sucks; and how much that conduces to the production of Milk, none will wonder that reads in History, that Milk has bin drawn to the Breasts of Virgins, by continual Suction alone.

The Milk at length ceases, either because the Child is wean'd, or because the Nurse is with Child, and then the Chyle begins to return to the Womb, for nourishment of the Foetus; and continues this course till the Womb being more distended, towards the end of gravidation, presses the Vessels of the Chyle.

The cause that Children newly born, Old Women, and Men, have Milk in their Breasts, are the large­ness of the passages of the Breasts, the laxity of the Glands, and the abundance of Chyle.

Seed is a whitish Humour turgid with Spirits, bred in the Stones, and Prostatae, and further elaborated for Generation in the carrying Vessels, and the small Se­minal Bladders. The Matter of it is Blood carried on both Sides, from the Trunk of the Aorta, in a strait Passage by the Arteries to the Stones, and there put off thro the small Glands that are only visible by a Microscope upon the tubulous Substance of the Stones; this is confirm'd by the artificial Division and Dispersi­on of the Arteries in the Stones, and Prostata, and by the Straitness of them, together with the Wreathing of the corresponding Veins, and the Multitude of Valves, for these are so framed, that the Blood may pass quicker to the Stones, than from them, and that the nobler Part of the Blood may the easier sweat throught to the tubulous Substance of the Stones from the small Glands and Arteries every where join'd to it, for the making of Seed. Moreover, it appears hence, viz. because those that are of a Sanguine Complexion abound most with Seed,

But some will have the nervous Juice to be the Mat­ter of it, for these Reasons, because they perceive ma­ny Nerves in the Testicles, and that the taking away of a great Quantity of Blood, does not so much wea­ken a Man, as the Loss of a little Seed, and that after Coition, the Head akes, and that such as are given to Venery, are subject to Distillations from the Brain on the Spinal Marrow. And lastly, because the Testicles are white, not red▪ To the first I answer, that the nervous Juice is either Animal Spirit condensated, or another Humour: But the Nature of a Spirit which hath Particles that quickly fly away, cannot conden­sate into a Seminal Humour, and the nervous Juice can be no other Humour, for if it were, it wou'd stop the Passage of the Nerves. To the second I answer, this is manifest to Sense, and they convey a great many Spirits, which ought to be in the Seed, without which [Page 18]the Blood could not pass through those innumerable and narrow Tubes which are in the Testicles, nor be changed into prolific Seed, which ought to be made by the various Motion of the Spirits, and the Particles of it, and the working of them among themselves. To the third, fourth, and fifth, I answer, that it may be easily understood that this happens only by the Loss of Animal Spirits; for the Testicles being emptied, the Nerves proportionably, at least those which are near, are also emptied, and then by Reason of the greater Facility of the Motion towards them, Spirits flow more abundantly into them, and so the other Parts, and also the Brain are robb'd, and upon this Account the Fibres are disordered, and the Brain becoming cold, condenses the Vapours, and puts them off on the Spine. To the sixth I answer, that all the Parts and the Testicles also are nourished with Blood, and yet all are somewhat white.

Seed begins to be generated about Puberty, because the Heat of the Glands of the Testicles being then greater, opens more the Arteries and small Vessels, and drives the Blood better through them, and the Nerves are readier to carry Spirits.

The Seed is of an Ashy Colour in the Tubes of the Testicles, but whiter in the Head of the Epydidimidis, it is made in the Testicles and Prostatae, and is conveyed by the carrying Vessels by a very small and winding Duct to the Seminal Bladders, wherein it is kept, and further elaborated, till by Titillation the Nerves and Fibres about the Sides of them, being much inflated, press out the Seed, which is then very turgid with Spi­rit, into the Urethra, through the Holes of the Gland that stops the Seminal Bladders.

The Stones are the Shop of the Seed, and therefore Eunuchs have not Seed, but some Titillation they have, by reason of a certain Humour that drops from the Prostatae into the Urethra, but this is not true [Page 19]Seed. And yet Eunuchs may have Seed in the Semi­nal Vessels sufficient for Copulation once or twice, and may impregnate a Woman.

Those which do not indulge themselves in Venery, and live chastely, do not generate much Seed, for the Passages are narrowed by degrees, and the Seminal Matter turns back, and nourishes and makes fat the Loins and other Parts.

Women have prolifick Seed, if by that you under­stand the Eggs whereof their Testicles are full, which being made fruitful, and expanded by the Man's Se­minal Air, break out of the Cups wherein they are chiefly contain'd, into the Fallopian Tubes, and from thence into the Cavity of the Womb.

That Humour which Women emit in Copulation, is not true Seed, because that is ejected without, about the Clytoris and Orifice of the Privities, and never in­to the Womb; this is manifest in big-bellied Women, the Orifice of whose Womb is always close shut, and cover'd with a yellow Mucilage. And besides, many Women conceive, and yet, as they say, have not emitted that Humour: Moreover, it has seldom the Consistence of Seed, nor is it Spirituous, because Whores copulating often in a Day, are not weakened by the Excretion of it, nor is it elaborated as Seed, for it is not generated in the Organs of it, but in the Glands.

The Furrows of the Womb emit this Humour, or certain Ducts opening into the Sheath from the Prosta­tae or other Glands of the Womb, by Reason of Ti­tillation, and the Constriction of the Fibres of the Womb, which happens in Coition.

And yet this Humour is profitable, because it per­petually moistens the Sheath, and perhaps it conduces to the Elevation of the Man's Seminal Spirit or Air from the Sheath to the Cavity of the Womb, and from thence to the Eggs to make them fruitful.

Menstruous Blood, is Blood abounding in the Bo­dy, which is evacuated by the Womb Monthly.

The chief Cause is the abounding of the Blood at a certain Time, Heat and the easie Dilatation of the Womb also help. That a Plenitude is the Cause may be proved, for that they that have most Blood, eva­cuate most this way, and then rustic Women, that consume much Blood by Labour, have little or no menstruous Flux, and those who have lost much Blood by Venefaction, have few or no Courses at all: Men also who do not abound with Blood, by Reason of La­bour and more Heat, have no such Flux. But there are some Women who Monthly evacuate Blood by the Nostrils, Hemorrhoids, or other Parts. Those Wo­men that are hot have the Courses sooner, but in a less Quantity, and not so long as those that are cold.

Some say the Cause of the Courses is a certain Saline Ferment of the Womb, being gradually deposited on the Substance of it, whereby the Womb collecting much Fire in it self, is turgid, rarefied, and dilated, grows hot, and evacuates the more fluid Blood, until that Ferment is carried off, and this Ferment they say is manifest from those things which move the Courses, for they consist of much volatile Salt.

According to these Causes the Courses begin to slow about the fourteenth Year, because the Body then ha­ving in a manner its due Magnitude, the Blood begins to abound, and to be luxuriant in the Womb and other Parts, and hence the Breasts grow big, the Womb is less wrinkled, and does not press its Arteries so much, and a greater Heat exagitates the Blood more violently, dilates the Arteries, and opens them.

The Courses ordinarily stop about the fiftieth Year, partly by the Defect of Blood and Heat, and partly upon the Account of the Narrowness and Driness of its Passages.

The menstruous Blood is brought first to the Sheath of the Womb, and not to the Bottom of it, for it sometimes flows in Women with Child, and if it shou'd drop from the Bottom, it wou'd putrifie, and injure the Child and its Nourishment, and so occasion Abortion.

The menstruous Blood does not stagnate in the Vessels of the Womb, but circulates as the other Bood does, for otherwise it wou'd become venomous, but it is thinner and hotter than the other Blood, and therefore being taken inwardly it forces the Courses.

About the Time of the coming of the Courses, Pain and Tension and Heat are felt about the Spine and Hy­pogaster, because the Blood can't at first break through the Arteries. This menstruous Blood is Ar­terial, for only Arteries lead to the Womb; when it can't be expell'd by the Womb, it is sometimes eject­ed by the Lungs, Gums, Nostrils, or the like. It seldom slows in a Woman with Child, because it does not abound in them, partly because it is spent for the Increase of the Womb, and partly because Part of the Mothers Chyle goes to the Child.

Yellow or natural excrementitious Choler is a yel­low and bitter Humour, secreted from the Mass of Blood into the Gaul Bladder, or Porus Bilarius, it is separated by the Impulse of the Blood of the Vena por­ta, into the Glands of the Liver, which it passes through, by reason of the special Conformity of them, with its Particles, as to Magnitude and Figure, and it enters the Branches of the Gaul Bladder, and of the Porus bilarius, dispersed among the Branches of the Ve­na porta, which absorb the Choler from the Extremi­ties and Pores of the said Gland. But Choler may come partly to the Gaul Bladder by the cystick Arte­ries, being strain'd through the small Glands placed betwixt the Tunics of the Bladder. From the Gaul [Page 22]Bladder and Porus Bilarius, 'tis driven by a Constricti­on of the Fibres, into the Ductus Cholidochus, inserted obliquely into the Duodenum.

The Choler which comes from the Porus bilarius, is thicker, more feculent, and paler, than that which is in the Gaul Bladder, and the Choler in the Gaul Blad­der; by reason of its Thinness, sweats through, and tinctures the neighbouring Parts.

Particles of the Chyle and Blood that are Salinosul­phureous, are the Matter of the Choler, being nearly joyn'd with the Serum, and by the further Coction in the Heart render'd acrid, and turn'd to Choler; which, by reason of their small Quantity, are not bitter, till they are separated, and for this reason fat things in­crease Choler, and such as are hottest are most chole­ric.

The Use of it, according to the Opinion of some, is to dilute the Chyle, as well in the Intestines, that it may the easier pass the Mouths of the lacteal Veins, as in the thoracic Duct, and they say, that the thinner and sweeter Part of it accompanies and heats the Chyle, lest coming too cold to the Heart, it shou'd stop the Rarefaction in it: And they say, that the grosser Part of it is evacuated with the Excrements, which it tinges and dilutes, but it may be well doubted whether Choler can accompany the Chyle in the Tho­racic Duct, and whether all of it shou'd not rather be expell'd with the Excrements by Stool, for the Chyle in the thoracic Duct, and in the other lacteal Vessels is sweet like Milk: And on the contrary, a great Quantity of Milk will grow bitter with a few Drops of Choler, yet it is certain that Choler does continually drop from the Ductus Cholidochus into the Duode­num.

But it is supposed that the chief Use of Choler, is to ferment the Chyle that passes from the Stomach, the pancreatic Juice being mixt with it in the Duodenum, [Page 23]that the Dissolution of the Chyle, which was imper­fect in the Stomach, may be perfected in the Intestines; and it appears to Sight, that Choler dropt upon Dough, ferments it: Moreover, it melts and cleanses Crudities from the Guts, it heats them when they are chill'd by things taken in, it drives away Putrefaction from this Sink of the Body, and kills Worms, and ex­pells them; and is also the Cause of the peristaltic Mo­tion, whereby the Chyle is moved through the In­testines, and the Excrements are evacuated, as it con­tinually irritates and provokes the Spirits from the Brain to the Fibres of the Guts, as we see in divers other Cases, for the Intestines, Heart, Veins, Arte­ries, Urinary Bladder, Stomach, Gaul Bladder, the Membranes of the Brain, and the like, have a certain proper Perception, whereby their Fibres are succes­sively stimulated to contract and dilate, and so we see the Guts of an Animal dissected, and yet warm, creep within themselves; and the Heart cut up, beats; and the Muscles of a dead Beast, touched with an acrid and pungent Liquor, contract.

Natural excrementitious Melancholy, is that Part of the Humours that is so terrestrial, that it cannot nourish; it is commonly defined, a black and acid Hu­mour, separated from the Blood in the Spleen, pro­per to contract the Stomach, and to excite Appetite; but there is no such black acid Humour in the Stomach, nor in the Spleen; and perhaps the Capillary Arteries can't admit of so gross an Humour; the Spleen of a liv­ing Dog has been cut out, and yet his Appetite has not been lessened, and he has grown fat: Moreover, the Spleen sends nothing to the Stomach, for this ought to be done by the short veiny Vessel, which is a Vein, viz. of the Spleen Vein; but the Valves hinder, as ap­pears by Inflation; and it is repugnant to Circu­lation, for no Vein brings to any Part, except the Vena Porta, and the Vein of the Lungs.

The Serum is the most watry Humour of the Blood, when it is separated, it has other Particles mixt with it, as saline, acid, and others, according to the Di­versity whereof, it is called Lympha, Spittle, or is otherwise named, and so it is never pure. It serves as a Vehicle for the Blood and other Humours, to nou­rish the innermost Parts, by entring, expanding, and loosening the Pores. There is great Quantity of this Humour in the Body, by reason of the great Quantity of Liquids that we dayly take in.

The Humour of the Pericardium, is a serous Hu­mour contain'd in the Pericardium, the Matter of it is Serum, mixt sometimes with a little thin Blood that it brings with it, and is therefore somewhat like the Water, wherein Flesh has been washed, and some­times it is like a Gelly, some nutritious Particles be­ing mixt with it: From whence this Humour comes is disputed; some say it is a Vapour, which exhales from the Heart, and is cooled and condensed in the Pericardium. Some will have it come from the Glands of the Thymus that hang from the Throat to the Peri­cardium, but it comes both Ways, but especially by the Lymphatick Vessels; it does not come only from the Thymus, because the Thymus in Infants is proporti­onably the greatest, and in Progress of Years, is so lessened, that at the Time of Virility, and in the following Ages you can scarce find any thing besides Vessels and Nerves: The Use of this Humour is to cool and moisten the Heart, that it shou'd not be dry'd up by its continual Motion, it cools the Heart, as Water contain'd in a Pot does the Bottom of it, viz: by taking from it the Particles of Fire which easily pass through the strait Pores of it.

As the Humour of the Pericardium is always renew­ed, so in like manner it is evaporated from the Peri­cardium, and is received into the Lungs, or Veins of the Throat, or Thymus.

Spittle is a serous Humour, that drops from the salivary Ducts, these Ducts are Vessels of their Kind, four of them are most noted, the two uppermost that take their Origine with various Branches from the parotid Glands, and at the Jaws run under the Skin with a manifest Orifice into the Mouth. The lower­most also proceed with divers Branches from maxillary Glands, whereof one that is greater, before it reaches the common Trunk, is carried under the digastric Muscle of the Jaws. The lower End on both sides un­der the Tip of the Tongue, near the Fore-Teeth, where are some Teats placed. The Matter of the Spit­tle is carried to these Glands by the Arteries: It di­stils, moreover, in all the Mouth, as from the Glands under the Tongue, and from the Almonds which have two clear Bladders placed near them, that receive the Serum, from the Glands, and pour it out into the Mouth: There is also, on both sides, a common large oval Sinus, that opens into the Mouth, which con­tains in its Fringe, two greater Sinus's, and several others, that are less, with other Glands, each where­of hath a small perforated Sinus in the Middle.

By moistening the Tongue, Mouth, Palate, Oesopha­gus, and Aspera Arteria, it quenches Thirst, helps swallowing, and begins Chylification in the Mouth, for it participates of the Nature of the acid Humour of the Stomach; that is, it has some saline acid Particles incorporated with Serum, and therefore a Bolus of chewed Bread exposed to the Sun, turns to Chyle, and Pieces of Flesh sticking in the Teeth, grow white, yet Spittle alone is not sufficient for Chylification: It ex­tracts a Tincture from Meats, and carries it to the Organ of tasting, and therefore without Spittle there wou'd be no Tast.

The Spittle returns continually, with or without Chyle, to the Heart by the lacteal Veins.

When we smell or see any thing that is pleasant, or greedily long for any thing, the Spittle waters the Mouth more plentifully, because the Nerves of the wandring Pair, do not only send Branches to the Ducts and salivary Glands, but also some to the ol­factory and optick Nerves; upon which account a great Influx into these, affects also the Nerves of the wandring Pair, and so by a Contraction of the small Fibres, the Salivary Ducts are narrowed, and the Spittle is ejected.

The rouling about of a Bullet, or the like, in the Mouth, quenches Thirst, because by moving the Tongue, we narrow the Ducts, and so press out the Spittle.

Just as we are about to vomit, Spittle flows more abundantly from the Mouth, because the Stomach participates with the Maxillary Glands by the Branches of the Nerve of the sixth Pair, and its inner Tunick is continued to the Jaws and Palate, and so they are contracted by Sympathy, and cast forth their Humidi­ty, and in the same manner vomiting is provoked by irritating the Membrane at the Beginning of the Oeso­phagus.

The acid or digestive Humour of the Stomach, is an acid Humour, that distills continually from the Tu­nics of the Stomach; it may be proved there is such a thing, because 'tis often found in the Stomachs of Dogs that have been dissected, after they have fasted a while; and sometimes we belch it up in a Morning, though we are well, and after due Chylification, and the Teeth are often set on Edge in vomiting by this mixt with the Meat, and by taking Acids Chylificati­on is further'd, and therefore there is an Acid in the Stomach, which is the Cause of Chylification. But you will say that I have only proved that there is an acid Juice in the Stomach, and not that it is natural; it may proceed from Chylification vitiated, as we [Page 27]often see it happens in a Morning after Surfeiting. Moreover, an Acid is the Cause of Obstructions and Coagulations in the Body, and it irritates the Nerves, and the like: And consequently 'tis not naturally in the Stomach. I answer, 'tis certain that some acid Hu­mour must be generated in the Stomach, because there is scarce any Aliment that does not contain some Acid, and therefore the Generation of it is natural, though sometimes this Juice is too acid, or there is too great a Quantity of it, and then it much injures the Body: So Choler, though it be natural, if it be too much heighten'd, or abound too much, occasions Dis­eases.

And 'tis probable that such a Juice sweats continu­ally into the Intestines through their glandulous Tu­nic.

The Matter of it is a serous Humour, mixt with acid Particles, but it is not natural excrementitious Melancholy, as was wont to be said; for it is thicker than that. Those acid Particles are made by the like in Aliments taken in, and therefore Acids eaten increase the Acid of the Stomach.

The pancreatic Juice is a serous Humour that is poured out of the Pancreas into the Intestine.

The Pancreas is a certain Body of many Glands, co­ver'd with a common membrane of Vessels and Nerves, the branches of them being fastened among themselves; it is transversly placed under the Stomach: One of the extremities of it is extended to the Spleen, the other is bound to the intestinum duodenum, and descends a little with it. The Pancreas has an excretory Vessel proper to it, consisting of many Branches, each whereof has annext to it, the Glands of the Pancreas; yea, it does in some sort receive them: It is commonly call'd the pancreatic Duct, and it is wont to be inserted in the same mouth with the ductus choliclochus, obliquely into the intestinum duodenum, or the beginning of the Jejunum.

The Blood being carried by the Arteries, and force upon the Glands of the Pancreas, conveys the pancre­atic Juice through the pores of them into the branches of the Duct; and from these branches it distills into the greater Duct, and thence into the Intestine, in a small quantity; for it can scarce be seen, when the Duct is bound in a living Dog. It has a sub-acid Tast, by rea­son its acid saline Particles are diluted with Serum; and when the Choler is poured on it, it occasions a Fermentation. The use of it is to ferment the Chyle with the Choler in the Intestine: Moreover, it attem­perates the Choler, that it should not hurt the Inte­stine; and it dilutes the Chyle.

Lympha is a lympid serous Humour, contain'd in the Lymphatic Vessels. These Lymphatic Vessels are very small and pellucid, and they arise almost from every part of the Body, and absorb the Liquor of them; and that they may pass the safer, they here and there encircle the greater Vessels (as may be seen in the Limbs and Vena Porta near the Liver) like Ivy.

As far as we can learn by the Constitution of the Valves, and by Ligature and Inflation, the Lymphatic Vessels that are below the Diaphragm, chiesly end in the common receptacle of the Chyle, the rest above the Diaphragm, are inserted at the concourse of the Jugu­lar with the Axillary, into the upper part of the thora­cie Duct, and Pericardium; and there they discharge their Lympha by manifest passages, defended with a Valve; here and there they cannot be seen, because on the account of Tenuity, the parts under appear through those Vessels, and we can't easily distinguish them, espe­cially if the parts are white; but sometimes the Lym­pha is a little red or yellowish, and then they appear the better, and also after the Death of a Creature; for then the Vessels are more distended, by reason the motion of the Lympha is slow.

The use of the Lympha is to dilute the Chyle in the Receptacle, that it may the easier ascend through the thoracic Duct; and in the Jugular Vein, it renders the venous Blood that is deprived of its own Serum more fluxile, that it may the easier rarifie in the Heart; and it restores the humour of the Pe­ricardium.

The slime of the Guts is a viscid and glutinous Mat­ter that covers the Guts within; the Stomach has some of it, but it is most in the Guts. The Matter of it is a phlegmatic Humour, carried by the Arteries to the glandulous Tunick of the Intestines; and being sepa­rated through it from the Blood, sweats into the Ca­vity of the Intestines.

The use of this Slime is to defend the Nervous Tu­nic against the acrimony and roughness of the Choler, and of things taken in; and probably because it par­takes of Acidity it conduces to Chylification.

When Choler, or a purging Medicine is very Acrid, the Slime is melted or rubb'd off, to the great preju­dice of the Patient; for Gripes and the bloody Flux are occasion'd thereby.

Sweat is a serous Humour breaking through the su­dorisic Vessels of the Skin, in form of Water. These Vessels are small Tubes in the Pores running out to the Cuticle, and each of them has a Gland under, through which the Serum, the Matter of Sweat is separated, they may be seen with a Microscope.

Sweat by reason of salt Particles mixt with it, is Salt. The efficient cause of natural Sweat is Heat, viz. Of the Sun, of the Fire, Exercise, Coverings, and the like, whereby the Blood is more agitated and diffused through the habit of the Body; and the mouths of the Arteries near the Skin are more opened, and the se­rous Particles that are more flexile, and that stick less to others, run out of them; and if there be any Hu­midity in the Skin, they carry it off with them through [Page 30]the Pores of the Skin; but because they do not pass free enough, and quick enough, many of their parti­cles being heapt together, are condensed into drops for otherwise they would pass by insensible Transpi­ration, as always some thin part does in Sweating. From what has bin said, it appears that plenty of Se­rum, and a moderate apertion of the Pores, conduce much to Sweat; but that too great an apertion of the Pores, because it does not at all hinder the Flux of the Serum, conduces most to insensible Transpiration, and too great a Constriction of the Pores hinders Sweat­ing; but when 'tis once begun, it much increases it: And hence Sweat occasion'd in Winter by Exercise, is much more than in Summer.

We Sweat more sometimes after cleansing the Face, because the Pores are freed from the Sweat that ob­structs them. Sweat is suppressed by sitting near the Fire, because the Pores are thereby enlarged, and the Vapours fly away insensibly; and this is also the reason why Sweat sooner goes off when we sit still in the Sun, than under the Shade of a Tree; and also why he Sweats more that runs in the Shade, than he that runs in the Sun.

We Sweat most in the Arm-pits and Groins, because those parts being most cover'd, the Vapours are more retain'd. We Sweat when we Sleep, because then we are either oppressed with Clothes, or at least, cover'd with them all over; and because the animal Spirits in Sleep do not sufficiently flow to the outer Parts and Muscles, and so the Vapours stay about the Skin, or by reason of the covering do not sufficiently fly away.

Smiths and Rustic People seldom Sweat, because by their Filth the Pores are shut. Our Hands and Feet Sweat most, because in them the Arteries are carried straiter to the Skin, and their Mouths are more open there, that the Blood may return to the Veins, and [Page 31]on this account the Serum is put off there more plen­tifully. It has bin observed, that a person Drinking plentifully of Spanish Wine, has render'd his Sweat like it; but this proceeded from too great a quantity, whereby the heat of the Heart being almost suffocated, cou'd scarce change it.

Our blessed Saviour in the Garden Sweat Blood, partly out of Love to us, and his most holy Father; his Blood did so Ferment that it could not be con­tain'd in the Arteries, and partly by reason of Sor­row unto Death, there was so great Horrour and Col­lision of the Parts, that Blood was violently press'd out of the Pores.

But ordinarily Blood does not Sweat out of the Pores, because it is too ramous; but yet sometimes naturally, some small particles of Blood do accom­pany Sweat, and then the Sweat discolours the Linen, especially in the Arm-pits.

Urine is a serous Humour strain'd in the Reins, which comes with the Blood (which it diluted) to the Reins by the Arteries of the Kidnies, but is sepa­rated from it as superstuous, and that continually, as part of the Blood is continually driven to the Reins to nourish them. It is strein'd in the Reins in the follow­ing manner; the Blood mixt with the Serum forces up­on the glandulous substance of the Reins, and by this impulse, presently some thin particles are separated through the Pores of it into many small Tubes, whereof chiefly consists the inner substance of the Reins; and from these ending for the most part in eight or nine papillary Caruncles, they pass into the Pelvis, and thence into the Ureters and Bladder; the rest which came to the Reins, returns partly to the Vena Cava by the emulgent Veins, and dilutes, and carries the Blood as before.

Besides, the Serum of the Blood Choler is mixt with the Urine, and tinctures it of a yellowish Colour, and [Page 32]also other particles from the Mass of Blood: For it­stance, some nutritive particles of Blood rubb'd off or melted, Sulphureous, Saline, fixed, incorporated with terrestrial Particles, and the like, which by washing the parts it carries off.

Some say, that part of the potulent Matter, or of another Liquor taken in, is the Matter of Urine; and they say, it does not come by the Arteries, but by some nearer way: For instance, presently from the Stomach or Bowels, by some special Ducts running to the Ureters or Bladder, and they tely on these rea­sons, viz. We presently make Water after drink­ing, especially of the Spaw-Waters, and the Urine has sometimes the colour and tast of what we take in, These Reasons indeed are probable, but they do not prove the thing for which they are used; for first, such passages have not hitherto been found out by Anatomists; and the making of Water so soon after Drinking, may be understood without the suppositi­on of such passages; and in this manner, because a potulent Liquor drank plentifully, presently increases the flux of the Scrum to the Reins, partly because flow­ing presently from the Stomach to the Intestines, and from thence to the lacteal Veins, it thrusts forwards the Chyle, previously existing as well in them as in the thoracic Duct, and so the Serum is increased in the Mass of Blood; partly because large Drinking distends the Stomach and Bowels, and so presses the sanguiferous Vessels of the Bowels, and so the Blood, with its Serum, abounds in other Vessels; and there­fore to make free passage for it self, it puts off its Se­rum, which by reason of its tenuity, easily passes the Reins; and indeed, though the Drink must pass be­fore it be evacuated through the Stomach, Guts, lacte­al Veins, thoracic Duct, and other parts, that it may come with the Blood to the Reins, yet it may be easily understood how it comes to pass, that we make [Page 33]Water so soon after Drinking. For first, that which we void by Urine presently after Drinking, is not the Drink; for if it were, it wou'd retain the Smell and Tast, especially when some odoriferous and tincturing thing is taken in; and it wou'd appear crude and un­concocted, as that we evacuate by Urine the second or third time after Drinking. But that which was before in the Thoracic Duct, or in the Veins or Arte­ries is thrust forward by it: And then the potulent Matter runs its Course soon enough; and 'tis very probable that the Blood in any healthy Man, finishes its Course in a Quarter of an Hours time, so that 'tis no such strange thing that we make Water so soon af­ter Drinking, yet 'tis not so very soon as is said, un­less the Bladder were distended with Urine before. As to the Smell and Colour, which sometimes the Urine has from things that are taken in, as we see when Asparagus or Madder are eat, these are not also sufficient Proofs for particular Passages, for this may be because things taken in do not continue long enough in the Blood, so as to wholly put off their Qua­lities in it; and this is so much the more, by how much the said things that are odoriferous, and that give a Tincture, are more aperitive: Moreover, some Historians relate, that a Person, after drinking a large Quantity of Spanish Wine, has sweat it out in Co­lour and Tast as before, and therefore it may be as reasonably expected that we shou'd shew particular Passages in this Case, as for the Urine, when it has the Qualities of the Liquor taken in, and yet there are hi­therto no such Passages found out for the Sweat.

But I wou'd not be so understood, as that I wou'd wholly reject particular Passages, for that there are such is very plausible, and I hope they will be found out at one time or another, by the Industry of the mo­dern Anatomists.

The Urine falling continually from the Reins through the Ureters to the Bladder, is retain'd in it, until by the Quantity or Quality, it stimulates to Ex­cretion. It is evacuated by a Contraction of the Mus­cles of the Belly, and of the Fibres of the Bladder, whilst they being irritated, the Spirits flow more plentifully into them; and how great the Contracti­on of the Bladder is, may be seen in the Dissection of a Beast; which, when it is vastly expanded, after Evacua­tion of the Urine, sinks into a very small Compass: Lest the Urine shou'd flow out when we are sleeping, or in­voluntarily, a great round Muscle is placed before the Neck of the Bladder, call'd Sphincter; such an one a is at the End of the right Gut, for retaining the Ex­crement; and therefore to make Water, we contract the Belly and Bladder so much, as to somewhat over­come the Action of the Sphincter, which is perpetua Contraction.

The Urine cannot return again from the Bladder to the Ureters, because they are obliquely inserted within the Membranes of the Bladder, and so when it lyes up on them it shuts their Passages.

In a Calf, and the like, all the time they are in the Womb, the Urine is evacuated through the upper Part of the Bladder, but not so in an Humane Foetus, which either voids it into the Womb, or it is kept it the Bladder all the time the Child is in the Womb.

We make more Water in the Winter than in the Summer, and so being placed in cold Water, because by the Stoppage of the Pores insensible Transpiration is hindred, and the Serum is diverted to the inner Parts.

Tears are a serous Humour, flowing from the Eye of those that weep: The Matter of them is a Vapour; and salt Serum, continually brought through the Arte­ries with the Blood, to the weeping Glands, to lu­bricate and moisten the Eye, and through them se­questered [Page 35]into the weeping Ducts, which are very nu­merous in the Eye-lids.

Serum flowing in too great a Quantity to the Eye: Also Collyria sometimes running through the Nostrils and Palate, through the weeping Gland, placed in the greater Angle of the Eye, that is very spongy, and through three or four Holes of the Bone of the Nose, are tasted in the Mouth; through these Holes the Rayes of the Sun enter partly the Nostils, when looking on the Sun we sneeze.

Our Eyes water upon the account of a Moat, Ash, Smoak, Onions, Garlic, and the like; because by reason of these, Pain being occasion'd in the Eye, there is a greater Flux of Blood than is usual, and a proportionable Separation of Serum; or because, by reiterated Contractions of the Belly, then intervening, the Bowels press more the Aorta, and the Blood, with its Serum, is more moved upwards, and for the same reason in other Pains; in Trumpeting, Cough­ing, sneezing, drinking, and the like, our Eyes water.

In Sorrow Tears flow, partly because by reason of a lesser Influx of the Spirits, the Pores of the Eye fall down, and the Vapours gather together; partly, be­cause now and then, by reason of interluding Love or Joy, without which there is no Sorrow, the Blood being driven generously through the Body, puts off its Serum more largely on the weeping Ducts.

Snot is a clammy and viscid Humour sticking to the Nostrils; the Matter of it comes from the internal Ar­teries of the Nostrils; or it may be a flegmatic Hu­mour pour'd out of the Arteries upon the Brain, and may pass from thence through the Os Cribrosum into the Nostrils, and grow thick there by the Cold, or by alternate Expiration and Inspiration of the Air, whereby its thin Particles are dry'd up; for the Ma­millary Processes are hollow to the Ventricles that are [Page 36]before: And part of it may be also a Vapour conden­sed in the Nostrils; but it does not come, as is said, through the Hole of the Bone of the Skull to the Pa­late, for here are no Passages for it, but all the Hu­mour coming from the Ventricles to the Infundibulum, and pituitary Gland, is refunded through the Mem­brane under the Gland that is pervious with many small Holes, into the jugular Veins that are placed on each side of the Cella turcica.

If we expire, or inspire strongly, the Mouth being shut, the Snot is carried with the Air to the Nostrils from the Palate; and so on the contrary.

The Blood of a Woman in Child-bed, is Blood whereby the Woman is purged in her lying in. Child­bed is the Time from Delivery, to the Purification of the Woman.

The Water of a Woman in Delivery, is that which flows from the Womb at the Time of Delivery: The Matter of it is the Urine, Sweat, and superfluous Chyle of the Child contain'd in the Amnion, it flows out when the Child, by kicking, breaks the Mem­branes, and sometimes a long while before the Child is born; but it is better not to break so, for by lubri­cating the Passages, it facilitates the Birth.

The hemorrhoidal Blood is a Portion of Blood abounding, which is carried off by the hemorrhoidal Arteries, and it serves in Men as the Courses in Wo­men.

A Spirit is the thinnest and most agile Part of the Body; the Matter of it is the finest, that is, the most sulphureous Part of the Blood: That there is such a thing as Spirit, may be proved; because, if you bind or cut off the Nerve of any Part, so as that the Spirit can't come to it, the Motion and Sense of it presently perish.

Spirit is commonly divided into animal, vital, and natural; but I suppose there is but one Spirit; which, [Page 37]because it performs animal Actions, is animal; which moves when it flows into the medullary Part of the Nerve, which serves for Motion; it gives Sense when it flows upon the Membrane which serves for Sense, and it is vital as it performs vital Actions, and natural as it performs natural Actions; and so the rest without any specific Distinction. Animal Spirit is ge­nerated in the Head only, by Separation from the Blood when it forces thro the Branches of the carotid Arteries, upon the external Substance of the Brain and Cerebellum, that is more lax than the rest; presently the finest Particles recede from it into the Pores of the Brain and Cerebellum.

The Spirit makes its Excursions from the Brain three ways: First, By the Command of the Mind. Secondly, 'tis expell'd by the Contraction of the Heart, that forces the Blood upon the Brain and Cere­bellum; and new Spirits being presently separated from it, force by the wole Diastole of the Brain, and partly by the Systole, the animal Spirits previously existing in the Brain, into the Beginning of the Nerves; and this Motion of the Spirits is moderate and slow, and thereby the Tension of all the Muscles is equal; and hence it is manifest, why by every Pulse there is a Concussion of the whole Body, tho this may also pro­ceed from the Blood continually thrust into the Arte­ries. 'Tis manifest also, why one Arm being cut off, the other grows strong thereupon, and why to one of two antagonist Muscles the other is convulsively drawn, and which way it is drawn, it carries the Part with it: viz. because then the said Parts are puffed up and extended with a greater Quantity of Spirits. Thirdly, The Spirit flows from the Brain when any Part is irritated; for then, by the Motion of the small Fibres of the Nerves, the Pores in the Brain are opened; and so in Respiration, in the Motion of the Heart, in the peristaltic Motion, and the like; where­in [Page 38]there is a certain natural Irritation, and so it flows when some Member being tickled or irritated, is some­times otherwise drawn, but then the Irritation is pre­ternatural. But by reason of such an Apertion of the Pores of the Brain, this Efflux of Spirits is such, that it does not only fall upon the Nerves of the Part irrita­ted, but also upon the neighbouring Nerves; and this is the chief Cause of Sympathy, which is observed in divers Parts; for Instance, betwixt the Reins and Stomach, by reason whereof, those being irritated, vomiting is occasion'd; and so betwixt the Colon and the Stomach, as when that is affected the Patient vo­mits.

The Spirits serving involuntary Actions, come chiefly from the Cerebellum, and the medullary Furrows from the Cerebellum, to the Nerves of the wandring Pair, shew this; and this is the Reason why, in an Apoplexy, the Pulse and Respiration do not quite cease, which is partly performed by those Nerves.

The Spirits, in their natural State, being about to cause Motion, are not fired like Gun-powder in the Brain, or exploded thence: For if so, Motion cou'd not be restrain'd at any Time when we wou'd.

The Spirit conduces somewhat to the Nutrition of the Parts, by separating their Fibres, and the Sides of the Pores from one another, and so by making way for the Blood.

CHAP. V. Of Parts in general.

A Part is a Body cohering to the Whole, fitted for the Function and Use of it; I do not add, join­ed by the common Life, as some do, that they may [Page 39]exclude the Hair, Nails, Humours, and Spirits, which are all truly Parts; for as to the Hairs and Nails, they shew Life as other Parts do which are nourished, and they grow with all Dimensions, accor­ding as other Parts do, by receiving Nourishment in­wardly, and by applying it to Parts that are defici­ent, and not only by placing it at the Root, for the Nails have small Arteries, and the Hairs are hollow, and for the most part triangular, as the Microscope shews, and in the plica polonica they sweat out Blood: It matters not that the Hairs grow upon tabid People, and on such as are dead, for in them there is a Dissolu­tion or Colliquation of the Body, which makes the Hairs grow most, by yielding an agreeable Nourish­ment, viz. a sat Vapour exhaling from the Body, as appears from the Inflammability, the fat Fume, and Odor of them; also from that oyly and clammy Mat­ter that sticks to the Hairs, if they are not frequently cleans'd. Lastly, They are profitable; for, by keep­ing the Pores of the Skin open, they conduce to the Expulsion of a sooty Excrement, as when a Stick is fixt in the Earth, the Earth about it is dryer. On the Eye-lids, they defend the Eyes, and those on the Head defend it, and the like. The Nails are to strengthen the Fingers, and render them capable to apprehend small things.

But the Humours and Spirits do not grow, do not live, nor increase vitally, but only by the Appositi­on of new Matter, as Rain-water is increased in a Tub, and yet notwithstanding the Humours are Parts; and indeed, the most noble and most necessary, as well as the watry Humour of the Eye, which almost all allow to be a Part, tho it is not nourished and grows.

All the solid Parts are of themselves white, as ap­pears by the washing and Maceration of them in Water, whereby they put off the Tincture of the Blood, with which they are all nourished.

First, Parts are divided into fluid and solid; the fluid are the Blood and Spirits, the solid all that are distinct from them.

Secondly, They are divided into organic, and in­organic.

An organic Part is a Part which requires a special Conformation, for performing the Action it is peculiar­ly design'd, as the Eye, Ear, Nose, and the like.

An inorganic Part is a Part which does not require a special Conformation for performing the Action it is peculiarly designed, as simple Flesh, a Membrane. I say, the Action for which it is peculiarly design'd, because, as to the common Actions, in all the Parts, for instance Nutrition, no determinate Conformation is required.

Thirdly, A Part is divided into Principal and Mini­string: The principal Part is that which bestows some­thing on the whole Body, that is absolutely necessary to Life. The ministring Part is that which does not bestow any thing on the whole Body that is absolutely necessary to Life.

The principal Parts (at least among the Solids, for among the Fluids, Blood and Spirits are such) are the Brain, which bestows Spirits on the whole Body, and the Heart, which bestows Blood on the whole Body; for if the Heart should not give Blood, the Brain would presently suffer an Eclipse of all its Actions, and other Parts could not live without this; and if the Brain should not supply the Heart with Spirits, whereby it is successively constringed, Death would soon follow. The other Parts minister, especially those which carry, for instance, the Veins, Arteries, and Nerves: The Stomach, Liver, Lungs, and Stones, are falsly accounted by some, principal Parts, for they do not supply any thing that is absolutely ne­cessary to Life; for we live many Days fasting, or only with nourishing Glysters, and divers know how [Page 41]to stop their Breath a great while, and the Liver sup­plies no more than other Parts, and the Testicles, tho they make Life more perfect, yet are not abso­lutely necessary to Life, as is evident in Eunuchs and Geldings.

Fourthly, A Part is wont to be divided by the Schools, into similar and dissimilar. A similar is such an one whereof all the Parts appear, at first View, of the same Substance. A dissimilar is such an one where­of all the Parts do not appear, at first View, of the same Substance. I say, at first View, because other­wise, many that are wont to be reckon'd similar, are not such, for there are very few wherein you shall not observe a diverse Substance.

A Bone, a Cartilage, a Fibre, a Membrane, the Cuticle, Skin, Hair, Flesh, a Tendon, a Gland, Fat, a Nerve, an Artery, a Vein, lymphatic Vessels, the lacteal Veins, and the like, are counted similar Parts.

Fifthly, a Part is divided into spermatic, sanguine, and mixt; a spermatic Part is wont to be defined a Part, whose Matter is wholly, in its first Formation, Seed. A sanguineous Part is a Part, whose Matter is wholly, in its first Formation, Blood. A mixt Part is a Part, which is made, in its first Formation, of an equal Portion of Blood and Seed. I say, in its first Formation, because it is certain, that in the adult they chiefly consist of Blood, wherewith they are all nourished.

A Bone, a Cartilage, a Nerve, a Fibre, a Tendon, a Membrane, an Artery, a Vein, the Marrow of the Brain, the Hairs, Nails, and the like, are counted spermatic: Also the fourfold Flesh, viz. the Flesh of the Muscles, which is generated of Blood, lightly concreted, and is red and fibrous: The Flesh, or Pa­renchyma of the Viscera, which is the proper Substance of each of them, as of the Reins, Spleen, Liver, and Lungs; the Vessels whereof it strengthens, and fills up [Page 42]their void Spaces, the particular Flesh of every mem­branous Part, as that of the Stomach, Intestines, Womb, Bladder, and the like. Lastly, the glandu­lous Flesh, which constitutes the Glands. The Flesh is counted mixt, but whether all the Parts of it are such, so as that some of them are only compounded of Seed, and others only of Blood, and others of equal Parts of both, I much doubt.

Sixthly, A Part is wont to be divided, from its Of­fice, into animal, vital, and natural: An animal Part is a Part that is principally design'd for the perform­ing animal Functions, such are the animal Spirit, the Brain, spinal Marrow, Nerves, Eye, Ear, Nose, Tongue, with the Palate, the membranous, and nervous Parts, and the like, which conduce to animal Actions.

A vital Part is a Part principally contrived for vital Functions; such are the Heart and Lungs.

A natural Part is a Part principally contrived for natural Functions; Such are the Stomach, Guts, Li­ver, Spleen, Pancreas, Genital Parts, and the like.

CHAP. VI. Of a Faculty in general, and of the Species of it.

A Faculty in general, is an internal Principle that formally produces Actions.

Three more general are commonly allowed, viz. The animal Faculty, the vital Faculty, and the natu­ral Faculty; but I allow only two of them, viz. the animal Faculty, and the natural, as every Action that is not animal, is truly natural.

An animal Faculty is a Faculty producing animal Actions: This is wont to be subdivided, as the ani­mal [Page 43]Action, into the sensitive, appetitive, and mo­tive Faculty; and the sensitive again into external and internal: But all these do not differ really among themselves, and a parte rei, are the very Soul, consider­ed as the Efficient of this or that Operation.

The natural Faculty is a Faculty producing natural Actions: It is as various as natural Actions are, and is a parte rei, Blood and Spirits, and other Dispositi­ons of the Parts, as to Magnitude, Figure, and the like, as they produce natural Actions.

CHAP. VII. Of Action in general, and its Species, but especially of the internal and external Senses.

ACtion in general is a certain Operation, which is produced in us, either by the Mind or Body: It is divided into animal and natural. An animal Action is an Action that is produced by the Soul, and is fivefold, viz. the Understanding, the Will, Sense, sensitive Appetite, and animal Motion.

Sense is twofold, external and internal. Internal is threefold, viz. common Sense, Fancy, and Memory. External is fivefold, viz. Sight, Hearing, Tasting, Smelling, and Touching.

All these animal Actions are not really distinguished from the Soul, nor consequently among themselves; for the Understanding is the Soul, as it independently, from the Body, produces certain Thoughts; and the Will is the Soul, as without Dependence on the Body, it exercises those Affections, which we call the Opera­tions of Will; and the Sense is the Soul, as it knows some things by means of a corporeal Organ; and it is internal, if the Organ of it is the Brain, and external [Page 44]if any other Part be the Organ: It is Sight, if the Or­gan of it be the Eye; and Hearing, if the Organ of it be the Ear: It is the common Sense, as in the Brain, but especially in the middle Part of the Medulla oblon­gata, it perceives whatever moves the Organs of the external Senses; this is only conversant about things present. It is Fancy or Imagination, as it perceives sensible Objects at a Time wherein they are not per­ceived by the external Senses, and forms Images and Representations of them, otherwise called Phantasms. It is Memory, as by the Footsteps of the Spirits im­pressed upon the Brain, it is determined for Remem­brance. Lastly, The sensitive Appetite is the Soul, as upon occasion of a certain Motion of the animal Spirits in the Brain, it is disposed to have these Affections we call Passions, for instance, Love, Desire, Hope, Fear, Hatred, and the like: The Action also, whereby the Soul moves the Spirits, is really the Soul it self.

CHAP. VIII. Of animal Motion, and of the Species of natural Action.

ANimal motion is a motion performed by the Will, whereby the animal Spirits which always run about the Brain are in readiness for an influx, and presently flow into the beginnings of the Nerves, and there protrude the Spirits previously existing to the Muscle, which blow up the Fibres of it, and so make it shorter and more compact; and so the Member into which it is in­serted is moved.

Natural Actions are various: The chief are the motion of the Heart, the Pulse, the Circulation of the Blood, Respiration, Hunger, and Thirst, Chylification, Sangui­fication, [Page 45]the peristaltic Motion, Nutrition, Accreti­on, and Generation.

The motion of the Heart is Muscular; for it is con­stringed on every part by the duct of the Fibres, it is lessened and grows hard in its motion, in the same manner other Muscles do. It is two-fold, viz. Dila­tation or Diastole, in respect of which the Heart is meerly passive; and Contraction or Systole, which is the action of the Heart.

Both the Auricles of the Heart together, as the Ven­tricles of it, have their Systole and Diastole; but the Systole of them is the Diastole of the Ventricles; and so on the contrary. The Diastole of the Auricles does not so much depend on the rarefaction of the Blood, as the quantity of it; for the Blood is forced into them by great Veins. The Diastole was before the Systole, or otherwise there would have been no Systole; and it partly depends upon the quantity of the Blood, and partly upon the fermentation and rarefaction of it by some subtile matter in the Heart, whereby the sides of the Heart are expanded. The Systole of the Heart is made by the influx of the Animal Spirits.

The Pulse is an alternate dilatation and constriction of the Artery, by reason of the Bloods being forced in­to the Arteries. There are at least two Thousand Pulses in an hours time, in every healthy Man, as any one may find by numbering them; but they are much al­tered by the Passions of the Mind: They are quick in People that are angry, and in those that are chearful; and when we are labouring and running: They are slower in such as are sorrowful fearful, and the like. In Children the Pulse is quick, because the Heart is ten­der, and soon irritated, and their Arteries are easily dilated, and their Blood is thin, and soon rarifies.

The Circulation of the Blood is a motion whereby the Blood continually flows thro' the Arteries from the Heart, and returns to it again by the Veins. This [Page 46]Circulation of the Blood is so obvious, that none needs doubt of it; for in bleeding in the Arm, a Quart of Blood, yea, the whole Mass may be drawn away, and it cannot be supposed that so much Blood was contained in the Arm. Circulation also is mani­fest from the Valves of the Veins, which are so dispo­sed as to remit the Blood to the Heart, but not on the contrary.

The manner of Circulation is as follows; the Blood is carried from the Vena cava, ascending and descend­ing, to the right Auricle of the Heart, and thence to the right Ventricle of the Heart, and after it has been rarified in this Ventricle, it is conveyed into the Artery of the Lungs, and from thence into the Vein of the Lungs, and the left Auricle of the Heart, and so into the left Ventricle of the Heart, and then, after another Rarefaction of it there, it is driven into the Arteria Aorta ascending, and descending, and di­spersed thro' the whole Body; and from thence again it is carried as before, thro' the corresponding Branches of the Vena cava, into the right Auricle of the Heart immediately, by Inosculation of the Branches, and Transudation from the Artery, into the adjoyning Vein, or mediately thro the middle Flesh, betwixt the veiny and arterial Branches, and thro' the Sinus's and their Branches in the Brain, where the Blood is ab­sorbed from the Carotide and vertebral Arteries; and from these it is carried to the Juguiars.

It is manifest that the Blood circulates thro' the Flesh, because, when it is pressed, it grows white, the Blood then flying away; but when that returns, it looks red as before. Moreover, in blushing, the Face looks red, the Blood flying to it. The Blood en­ters the Flesh by the fine simple and porous Tunics of the capillary Arteries, or thro' the Extremities of them.

In a Foetus the Blood is otherwise circulated; name­ly, in part, from the Vena cava, thro' the foramen [Page 47]ovale, it passes into the Vein of the Lungs, nor does all pass thro' the right Ventricle of the Heart, but enters from the Artery of the Lungs into the Aorta, a mem­branaceous Tube being stretched from that to this, and so it does not pass again thro' the left Ventricle of the Heart. Another part goes the ordinary way. This other Motion of the Blood is rather in a Foetus than those that are born; in whom, after some Days, the said Passages are shut.

The End of Circulation is the Nutrition of the Parts, the heating of the Body, and the Generation of the vital and animal Spirits, and to preserve the Blood from Coagulation.

A certain Time cannot be set for the Circulation of the Blood, for it is less in hot People than in cold; because in these, by reason of a quicker Rarefaction of the Blood, the Heart is sooner irritated to constricti­on, whereby the Blood is driven out. The Time is also less in such as are in Motion, than in those that are quiet; because in such, by a Contraction of the Mus­cles, the Vessels are, by turns, more straitned, and the Blood flows quicker. Lower thinks the Blood cir­culates in an Hour. The Quickness of the Circulation of the Blood appears hence, viz. if one of the Caro­tide Arteries be only cut, all the Blood will flow out in the 12th. Part of an Hour, and if so, how soon would it run out if the Aorta were cut?

Respiration is a Motion, whereby the Air is alter­nately drawn into the Lungs, and expelled out: It consists of Inspiration and Expiration. Inspiration is partly made by the Dilatation of the Breast, and part­ly by the elastick Force of the Air, and partly by the Pressure which it has from the Weight of the incum­bent Atmosphere. The Breast is dilated chiefly by the internal and external intercostal Muscles. Expi­ration is made by the Constriction of the Breast and Lungs, also by the Heat and Rarefaction of the Air in the Lungs.

Respiration is a spontaneous Action, because it is perform'd when we know nothing of it, but it is it some sort voluntary, because we can quicken or retard it as we will.

The chief End of Respiration is Voice; to perform which there is need of Air: Besides, by this means some fuliginous and adust Particles are carried off. Those whose Lungs do not move freely, as crooked People, and the like, are subject to Consumptions; because their Lungs not being sufficiently dilated and contracted, cannot well free themselves from the fuli­ginous Vapours of the Blood, and other acrid and gross Particles, upon which account they are subject to Ob­structions, and at length to Corruption.

Divers can continue under Water a notable while without breathing, because they know how to fill themselves with Air before, and because they are less hot; but some say that they have a way of putting their Hands to their Mouth, and so to separate the Air from the Water.

Hysteric Women are said to live a long while without breathing, yet I suppose they do breath, tho the Standers by do not perceive it, or at least, the Air passes of its own accord, into their Lungs, and out again, and this perhaps may suffice for them.

The Motion of the Brain is the constant Motion of it made alternately by the Systole and Diastole, ac­cording to its Substance, and independent from the Meninges.

Hunger is a troublesome Sense of Vellication in the Stomach, whereby we are disposed to crave for some solid thing to take it off. This Vellication proceeds from an Acid in the Stomach.

We are more hungry in the Winter than in the Summer; because then the Ferment of the Stomach is more acrid, and, by reason of less Transpiration, more plentiful.

That an Acid is the Cause of Hunger is proved, be­cause Acids increase it, and restore it when it is lost, and those things take it away, which destroy or at­temperate an Acid; for instance, Crabs-eyes, Harts­horn calcined, Pear's, fat things, Spirit of Wine, and the like: If Hunger be continued long, it at length lessens of its own accord, because the Acid is dried up, or overwhelmed by other Humours drawn from the Stomach.

Some think that Hunger is occasioned by Suction, whereby the Veins suck from the Liver, the Liver from the Guts, the Guts from the Stomach; but this is so vain, that it is scarce worth refuting, for there is no Suction in the Parts, much less such a continual one.

Thirst is a troublesome Sense of Vellication in the Mouth and Jaws, whereby we are disposed to crave for some liquid thing to take it off; the Cause is Sicci­ty, or a salt Humour or Vapour.

We sometimes put off Thirst by holding in our Mouths a leaden Bullet, or the like, not because Hu­midity flows from these, but because, by the Motion of them and the Tongue, the salivary Ducts are more opened, and the Spittle flows out.

Liquid things take off Thirst, by moistening and diluting the saline Particles.

Spirit of Wine quenches the Thirst of Travellers at the Beginning, by opening the salivary Ducts, and by helping the Propulsion of Moisture, but it afterwards increases it.

Chilification is the Conversion of Meat and Drink into Chile; it is chiefly made in the Stomach and Guts, but it begins in the Mouth.

The efficient Cause of Chilification is partly Spit­tle, but especially some acid Humour. It is made in the following manner: Hard Meat is first chewed by the Teeth, and often turned about in the Mouth by the Motion of the Tongue, and by the Jaws and Lips, [Page 50]and is moistened with Spittle, and then is conveyed to the Stomach, partly by the Weight of it, and partly by the Contraction of the annular Fibres of the Oefo­phagus. If the Meat is solid, it is slowly dissolved in the Stomach; but if it is liquid, it is soon digested. The Stomach presently embraces the Meat on every side with its Fibres, and both its Orifices, at least the upper, is somewhat contracted, but both of them are somewhat shut, even when the Stomach is empty, lest any thing should regurgitate from the Guts to the Mouth, or the indigested Meat should fall into the Guts. This Closure is made by many carnous and nervous Fibres, wherewith both Orifices are composed in the manner of a nervous and carnous Ring, the Meat being included in the Stomach, is impregnated with Spittle, and the acid Humour that sweats out of the Sides of the Stomach, and sometime after it is be­dewed with the Spittle and an acid Humour, it becomes spongy and porous in the Stomach, because now its Parts are fermented by subtle Matter; afterwards it appears torn into small Pieces, and at length the whole is reduced to the Consistence of Cream, and then Chylification is fi­nished in the Stomach: But all Meat, and every Part of it does not turn to Chyle in the Stomach altogether: but the softer and finer, a little and well chewed is turned to Chyle soonest, Caeteris paribus; and there­fore that which is eaten first may not be first digested, because it may be grosser and more viscid. Things boyled, Caeteris paribus, are sooner digested than ro­sted things, and such things as are not smoaked, soon­er than such as are: Milk or Broath is digested in the Space of an Hour, and in a great measure distributed: Bread is pretty soon dissolved, so are Pot-herbs and Pulse; but Fish and Flesh require longer Time: That Meat which is dissolved, does not stay in the Stomach till all be so, but that which is first dissolved is first conveyed to the lower Orifice, and transmitted thro' [Page 51]it. That this is so, the opening of many Dogs after eating, makes appear, and we judge that it is so in Men; but seeing Chylification is so various it cannot be limited to a certain Time, for some Peoples Sto­machs are so strong, that the Chyle is perfected in in three, four, or five Hours at most; whereas on the contrary, the Stomach of some is so weak, that eight, ten, or thirteen Hours are required to perfect Chylification: But generally speaking, seven Hours are sufficient: But the certain Sign of Chylification is the craving after more Meat.

A further Chylification and Fermentation are made in the Guts; for first, the Chyle carries to the Guts from the Stomach, the digestive Humour well mixed with it, and new Spittle, and an acid Humour, con­tinually slow to the Stomach, and so a new ferment of it is continually generated, and passes from the Sto­mach to the Chyle expelled; yea, it is probable, that some acid Humour continually flows from the Mese­raick Arteries, as in the Stomach, upon all the Guts that are near it.

Digestion is better made in the Night when we sleep than in the Day when we are awake, at least the As­sumption being equal, and other things alike; for in Sleep, the Blood and Spirits, being not so much car­ried to the external Parts of the Body, the Stomach receives more Acid and Heat, and is the more nearly contracted, and so the better embraces the Meat; and consequently the Supper, which is contrary to Custom now adays, ought to be a fuller Meal than the Dinner; and tho' the Time betwixt Dinner and Supper, is less than betwixt the Supper and the next Days Dinner, yet you must know, that that which is eaten at a large Dinner, is often not fully digested before Supper, and so the Stomach has a double Task.

Chylification is also better in Winter than in Sum­mer, and therefore we are sooner hungry in Winter, [Page 52]we eat more, and grow fat; and this Reason confirms, because in Winter the Acid of the Stomach being less resolved, abounds more.

Sanguification is the Conversion of Chyle into Blood; this is done in the whole Body, but especial­ly in the Heart, and in the left Ventricle of it, where­in the Particles of Chyle are much rarified and agitated with the Particles of the Blood.

The Cause of Sanguification is our Heat or natural Fire, which remaining after the foregoing Fermentati­on of the Blood in the Heart, insinuates it self present­ly into the Pores of the other Blood coming into the Heart, mixed with the Chyle, in the Passage whereof, when it meets with some Particles that disagree with it, Fermentation arises among the Particles of the Chyle, and with the Blood in the Heart and Arteries, where­by they are lessened by degrees, rendred flexible, and disposed to Redness.

That Heat is the Cause of Redness, and conse­quently, the Author of Sanguification, none will de­ny, who sees Quinces, that before were white, Beer, and other things, to grow red by boyling, and that some chymical Liquors poured upon one another fer­ment and become red.

But there are some, notwithstanding, will not have Sanguification to be made by any Fermentation in the Heart, denying that the Blood is so rarified and agita­ted in the Heart by a subtle Matter, for these Rea­sons; First, because in this case so great a Quantity of Blood would fall upon the Ventricles of the Heart, as would endanger the breaking of them. Secondly, Because the Blood does not stay a sufficient Time in the Heart for such a Rarefaction, and if it were put upon a Fire, it would not rarifie so soon. Thirdly, that the Heart being pricked, the Blood comes out frothy. To the first I answer, that so much Blood does not enter into the Ventricles, as to fill them with its Quantity; for the Auricles, which [Page 53]are as it were the Measures of the Ventricles, are not so great; besides, the fleshy Walls of them have their Expansibility, to which, when they are extend­ed, the Heart is irritated, and presently contracts, and so there is no Danger of a Rupture. To the se­cond I answer, that it ought not to continue long, be­cause the Blood is in a manner previously endued with sufficient Heat, as we see Milk rarified, being removed from the Fire, subsides a little, and being put on again, presently rarifies more; and the reason why Blood does not rarifie so soon on the Fire as in the Heart, is because the subtle Matter, whereby it is ve­ry apt to rarifie, is lost, when the Blood is drawn out. To the third I answer, that this may be, because so soon as it comes out of the Heart, much of the subtle Matter flies away; and therefore, upon the whole, we suppose, that Sanguification is perfected in us by Fermentation.

The peristaltick Motion of the Guts is a Motion whereby the Stomach and Guts are continually and successively straightened from the Beginning to the End, and creep amongst themselves like Worms. This is proved by our constantly seeing it in the Dis­section of living Animals. Perhaps some will say, that this is a Convulsion and preternatural, but I think this ought not to be suspected, because it also appears in a Dog, a very small Apertion of the Belly being only made, which may be done by less Pain than will cause a Convulsion, especially if the Dog be young. Besides, those annular and carnous Fibres in the Tu­nicks of the Intestines, that have so many Nerves, shew the same; also the Protrusion of the Chyle and Faeces thro' the Guts, which would be otherwise very diffi­cult, by reason of so many Turnings and Windings, and so be the Cause of Putrefaction, and slow Nutri­tion.

This Motion is made by a successive Inflation, and Contraction of the annular Fibres, by the animal Spi­rits, and also by the Retraction of the right Fibres.

Nutrition is the Conversion of the Aliment into the Substance of the living Body, whereby the living Bo­dy, according to all its integral Parts, keeps propor­tionably the same Quantity; and therefore the Re­stauration ought to be precisely as much, as the Dimi­nution is.

Nutrition is necessary to all Animals, not only in respect of the Augmentation of their Parts, while they are little Embryo's, but also in respect of their Conser­vation after, during Life; because their Bodies being in a natural Consumption, or Exhaustion, would inevi­tably be soon resolved into their first Elements, unless the Providence of Nature had ordained a continual Re­novation or Reparation of Parts, by Substitution, and Assimulation of fresh Matter in the room of those Par­ticles dispersed and consumed.

The efficient Cause of the perpetual Consumption of our Bodies, seems to be what all Philosophers unani­mously hold it to be, the vital Heat of the Blood, therein first kindled, by the plastick Spirit continually renewed by the vital Spirit, and by the Arteries dif­fused to all Parts of the Body, that they may thereby be warmed, cherished, and enlivened. This vital Heat continually glowing within us, and principally in the Ventricles of the Heart, consisting in a certain Mo­tion of the various Particles of the Blood, and in some Degree, analogous to Fire or Flame, I cannot conceive how it is possible for it to subsist or continue, for so much as one Moment of Time, unless it be maintained by convenient Fuel, which is thereby un­cessantly fed upon, and by degrees consumed, for it is of the Nature of all Fire, how gentle, or mild soever, to generate and conserve it self, only by preying up­on, and destroying the Matter wherein it is genera­ted. [Page 55]This vital Heat therefore, without Intermission, agitating, dissolving, and consuming the minute and most easily exsoluble Particles of the Body, must be the efficient Cause of the perpetual Consumption of our Bodies; so that in truth we have one and the same Cause both of our Life, and of our Death; and to speak more properly, our very Life is nothing but a continual Death, and we live because we die; for we live so long, as while this internal vestal Heat is kept glowing in the Blood, and when it ceases to glow, ei­ther for want of convenient Sustenance, or by violent Suffocation, the Life is instantly extinguished.

The Matter consumed, I humbly conceive to be, for the greatest part, the fluid Parts of the Body, chiefly the Blood and Spirits which are most easily ex­soluble, and somewhat, tho' but little of the Substance also of the solid Parts; for Experience teaches, that divers Animals, Bears, Dormice, Swallows, and the like, sleep the whole Winter, without receiving any Supply of Aliment, and yet have all the solid Parts of their Bodies as large and firm, when they awake again in the Spring, as when they first betook themselves to their Dens and Dormitories, and the reason hereof seems to be this, that their vital Heat be­ing all that time calm and gentle, consumes their Blood and Spirits but slowly, and very little of their solid Parts, as a Lamp burns long, when the Oyl that seeds it is much, and the Flame but little and calm. We have Examples also of Leucophlegmatic Virgins; who, from a gradual Decay of Appetite, have fallen at length into an absolute Aversion from all Food, and endured long Abstinence without either Miracle or Imposture, and yet notwithstanding, have not been emaciated in Proportion to the Time of their fasting; whence it is probable, that in our Bodies there is not so rapid and profuse an Expence, or Exhaustion of the Substance of the solid Parts, as heretofore many learn­ed [Page 56]Physicians have imagined to be made by the Activi­ty of the vital Heat.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to make an accu­rate Computation of the dayly Expences of this vital Heat; for so great is the Difference among Men, in respect of Temperament, Diet, Age, Exercise, the Season of the Year, and various other Circumstances, that a definite Calculation cannot be made of this Dis­pense, no not in those who keep to the strictest Rules of an ascetic Life, weighing themselves and their Meat and Drink, as Cornaro is repored to have done dayly. We may indeed conjecture, from the static Experi­ments of Sanctorius, that the Expence is great, for in­stance, if fourty Pounds of Meat and Drink be suppo­sed sufficient to maintain a Man of middle Stature, so­ber and of good Health, for ten Days, and about twenty Pounds be assigned to the Excrements voided by Stool and Urine in that Time, the other twenty Pounds may be reasonably ascribed to insensible Tran­spiration; but still this is meer Conjecture.

As to the Restauration, the efficient Principle is certainly the very same with the generant or for­mative; because Generation cannot be effected with­out Augmentation, and Augmentation is Nutrition: And I conceive, that Life consists in, and depends upon a continual Generation of the vital Spirits out of the most subtle, active, and volatile Parts of the Blood, and that Nutrition consists in Reparation of what is consumed by Apposition and Assimulation of consimu­lar and congenerous Matter. The material or consti­tuent Principle I take to be a certain mild, sweet, and balsamic Liquor, analogous to the White of an Egg, and they are mistaken, who think that the Parts of the Body, being in Substance diverse, the Parts of the Ali­ment also ought to be equally diverse, as if Nutrition were really nothing but Selection, and simular Attra­ction of convenient Aliment, and that there were not [Page 57]required in every single Part, a Concoction, Assimula­tion, Apposition, and Transmutation of one Matter common to all; for first, it is a difficult Questi­on, whether there be in Nature any such thing as Attraction or not, and to prove simular Attraction is yet more difficult, so that the very Foundation of this Opinion is meerly precarious. Moreover, it is evident, that the Aliment common to all the Parts, is simular, not heterogeneous, it being the proper Work of the plastic Power still remaining in every Animal, as to form all the various Parts out of the same homo­geneous Matter at first, so to augment and repair them all during Life, out of like Matter, by trans­forming that into the Substance of every Part, which is indeed potentially all Parts, but actually none, as out of the same Rain-Water all sorts of Plants receive their Nourishment.

As to the manner how this homogeneous Matter is by the plastic Power accommodated to the Refection of all the various Parts of the Body; most probable it is, that this admirable Work is gradually done by Distri­bution, Apposition, Affixion, or Agglutination, and Assimulation, or Transmutation; all which Acts must be successively performed, before the Operation can be compleat; for the Succus nutritius being prepared first in the Stomach and Guts, and then in other Parts, to that end ordained, must be distributed, brought home, and apponed to all Parts, that need Refection; then from Contiguity by Apposition, it must be ad­vanced to Continuity by Affiction or Agglutination, and in fine, made of the same Substance with each Part by Assimulation or Transmutation, which is the Per­fection, or ultimate Term of Nutrition.

Generation is a Production of Nature, whereby one living Creature is formed in the Similitude of another.

Generation is performed in the following manner, the virile Seed is injected into the Sheath of the Womb, [Page 58]and from thence is elevated a certain seminal Air or Spirit, which flies thro' the inner Mouth of the Womb, to the Bottom of it, and thence to the Fallopian Tubes, and so to the Testicles or Ovaria of the Woman. Some think that the most spirituous Portion of the Seed is imbibed by the Substance of the Womb, and so conveyed with the Blood, to the Ovaria, to fecundate them: But our way is the easier and short­er, at the same time the Woman, by reason of Plea­sure and Titulation, is wont to emit a certain serous Humour, which may conduce to Conception, tho' it be not Seed, by diluting and rarifying the virile Seed, and by rendring the Separation of the seminal Spirit more easie, and by elevating it to the Ovaria, and so the seminal Air being raised from the virile Seed, that which is gross remains in the Sheath, is dissipated and slides out; and that we are generated by this seminal Air, and not by gross Seed, may be proved by Super­foetation, or new Conception in those that are with Child; for in such the Mouth of the Womb is close shut, so that nothing but a Spirit can pass. Moreo­ver, this may be proved by some that generate, tho by reason of the Brevity and Debility of the Penis, never cast their Seed into the Bottom of the Womb, which certainly cou'd not be, if the Air alone of it were not sufficient for Generation; and do we not see that a Cock generates without the Ejection of Seed, and meerly, as I may say, by touching the Fundament of the Hen with a moistened Penis, and yet this Place is far distant from the Ovaria in a Hen; what therefore can conduce to the breeding of Eggs, may consequent­to the Generation of Men? This seminal Air there­fore being conveyed from the Bottom of the Womb thro' the Fallopian Tubes, into the Ovaria, there insi­nuates it self into one Egg or more, as they are nearer to its Entrance, or more disposed to receive and nou­rish it; and hence it is, why all the Eggs are not fe­cundated [Page 59]at once, and ordinarily but a few; and why not always at the first Congress. The Eggs are best fe­cundated, when a Woman is nearest the Time of her Courses, by reason of the greater Porosity of her Womb and Testicles, whereby the seminal Air is the easier received into the Eggs. The Eggs are contain­ed in membranous Cups like Acorns, and indeed very loosly, so that they may be expelled out of them by the Breath only. The fecundated Egg being turgid and rarified by the seminal Spirit, can no longer con­tain it self in its Cup, but falls from it of its own ac­cord into the Fallopian Tube, and from thence, by a successive Constriction of all the Fibres, it is forced into the Bottom of the Womb.

CHAP. IX. Of things nonnatural in general.

THings nonnatural are things necessary for the Pre­servation of Health, but hurt it when ill apply­ed; such are the ambient Air, Meat and Drink, Sleep and Watching, Motion and Rest, things to be evacua­ted and retained. These things indifferently do good or Hurt, as they are well or ill applyed: But we must understand, that what is good for one, may be hurt­ful for another, according to the Nature and Custom in divers People, whereunto much is to be attributed in the Use of nonnatural things; yea, the same thing may do good at one time, and hurt at another.

We do not consider Air here simply and by it self, but as it encompasses us, that is, as it has various Cor­puscles mixed with it, and as it can affect us with them: But it generally affects our Bodies, either ex­trinsically, that is, by insinuating it self into the Pores [Page 60]of the Skin, or intrinsically being breathed in; and either way variously, as it is by it self diverse, or by being mixed with other things, so if there is much Water mixed with it, it may moisten us much, and if it be very subtle, it may heat us much, and if it be mixed with narcotic things, as in some places it is, it may make us drowsy, yea, induce a deadly Sleep: If it be infected with a pestilential Contagion, or with any other ill thing, it may occasion the Plague, or some other Disease.

It is disputed by some, whether Air or Aliment af­fects us most; but because the manner of both is di­verse, it cannot be so exactly judged of, yet it is certain, we are much affected by both, and indeed more conti­tinually by the Air, than Aliment; for we can scarce continue a Moment without Air, for unless it attempe­rate the Heat of the Blood, it will be soon choaked; but we are more sensibly and vehemently affected with Aliment, by reason of the Grossness and Density of it.

If you ask what Air is most proper for the Preserva­tion of Health, I say, a pure and limpid Air, that is ventilated with wholesome Winds, and free from na­sty Exhalations, from Carcases. and Sinks, and the like; and such an one I judge proper for any healthy Man: But when any Quality exceeds its contrary, it requires an Air that is excessive in the contrary, so a hot Air is proper for a Man that is very cold, and cold Air for one that is very hot, and for Diversity of Ages, Diversity of Air is proper, for with them the Tempera­ment is changed, and therefore with the virile Age, which is most temperate and perfect, a temperate Air best agrees.

To the Air are to be reduced Winds, Regions, and Stats, for by these the State of the Air is much chang­ed. The Wind is nothing else than the Air, toge­gether with Exhalations and Vapours adhering to it, agitated about the Earth, the Wind is useful in moving [Page 61]the Air about, and thereby preserving it from Putre­faction, and it dissipates Filth that is mixed with the Air. Sailers reckon twenty four Winds, some twelve, others 16; but the chief of them are those four which are called Cardinal, namely, the North, which is cold and dry, the South, which is hot and moist, the East, which is hot and dry, the West, which is cold and moist. The South Wind is the most unwholesome, because it occasions a Dullness of the Senses, and bur­thens all the Actions and Parts. The North is also bad, next to that the West, but the best of all is the East, especially breathing in a Morning, for then it is purer, because it breaths from a Place where the Sun is. The West is also good, if it blow in the Even­ing.

A Region is a Part of Earth, where there is a great Difference in the first Qualities, by reason of a more right or oblique Motion of the Sun-beams. Regions are chiefly five, viz. the Aequinoctial placed under the Zodiack, the North lying in a Space betwixt the Cir­cle of Cancer and the Arctick Pole, the Meridian in the Space betwixt Capricorn and the Antarctick Pole, the Oriental and the Occidental.

CHAP. X. Of Meat and Drink.

MEat is a solid and gross Aliment, that chiefly takes off Hunger; it is said chiefly, because the thinner Part of it may quench Thirst, as thick Drink may appease Hunger. How great the Necessity of both is, and how easily we are hurt by them, every one knows.

All Aliment is either taken from Plants or Animals, but that nourishes less than this, because this has a Matter more agreeable to ours; namely, of almost the same Aliment and Chyle, and more agreeable to our Parts and Pores; and therefore easier adheres to them. Minerals do not nourish, because they have Parts too much disagreeable to ours, and cannot adhere to them, by reason of their Rigidity; but indeed, Chymists say, that aurum potabile protracts Life; but if this be true, it does it upon another account, and not by non­rishing; namely, by strengthening the Blood, and discussing its superfluous Humidity, and by raising the languid Heat in old Men.

Some Meat is of good Juice, that is, nourishes much; some of ill Juice; some is easily digested, some more difficultly; and some is easily corrupted in the Stomach, other not, and of those which are easily di­gested, and of those which are not easily digested, some are of good Juice, some not: All Meat that soon dissolves, soon nourishes; but all of it does not nou­rish much, because it may be of an improper Juice; for such things as nourish much, ought to participate of Grosness and Viscosity, which, Caeteris paribus, are slower dissolved.

Meat of the best Juice, of easie Digestion, and of the fewest Excrements, is best, and the contrary worst.

Bread is made of various Corn, but the best of good Wheat well fermented before, whereof the finest is called White-bread, made of the finest Meal, the purest, softest, and lightest, and freed from all the Bran, and this is most nourishing. The next Degree is not free from all the Bran, but only from the grosser. Houshold Bread has all the Bran and Flower mixed to­gether confusedly. There is also a sort of Bread that is courser, which consists more of Bran than of Flow­er, and this nourishes laest. Among all these Kinds, [Page 63]the Houshold-bread is the most wholesome; because, by reason of the Bran joined with it, it does not ob­struct so much, and loosens the Belly, and moderate­ly nourishes; but the finest, and the next Sort, cause Obstructions by their Viscidity, the coursest nourishes least, but more or less, according to the Bran: This is most used by poor People, and so is Rye-bread, which is harder, black, and offends the Stomach.

Of the Flesh of four-footed Beasts, Veal is the best, next to that Mutton and Kid; of Fowl, Chicken, Ca­pons, Pidgeons, Patridges; of Sea Fish, Cod-fish; of River Fish, a Pearch, a Gudgeon, a Pike. Of those things that come from Animals, Eggs and Milk are the best; of Fruits, Raisins and Figs: But these that are said to be the best and most healthful, are not good for every body, nor does any agree with every body; but every one must find out what best agrees with him: For those that have a good Stomach, or labour much, as Country-men, Soldiers, and Sailers, Beef and Pork is best, because they want a solid and gross Blood, which nourishes much, and does not so soon wast.

Fish are suspected by many, but undeservedly; for they make good Blood of a moderate Consistence, and are easily digested.

The manner in eating ought to be such, that the gross ought to be eat first; for though I suppose that there is a Confusion of all things taken into the Sto­mach, and that the Order of Assumption does not continue long, yet the grosser being taken first, may be sooner worked upon by the Acid of the Stomach. We ought to eat when we are hungry, and when the Stomach is empty; but some are hungry when their Stomachs are full, by reason of too great Quan­tity of the Acid, and in this Case the Hunger must not be taken off by Meats, because it is not natural.

I cannot say in general how often we ought to eat in a Day, for such as are cholerick may eat three or [Page 64]four times a Day moderately; such as are phlegmatic may eat once a Day, because they bear Hunger better, and do not consume so much Blood. Such as are me­lancholy may eat twice or thrice a Day. We ought to eat so much at a time as will take off Hunger without burthening the Stomach, or so much as the Stomach can concoct without leaving Crudities behind it; the Quantity of the Meat is to be varied according to the Constitution, Strength, and Age; so one Quantity is proper for Youth, another for Age, another for a weak Man, another for a strong Man, another for a healthy Man, another for a sick Man, another for a cholerick Man, another for a flegmatic Man, and such a Quantity for one that exercises his Body, and less for one that exercises his Mind: But it is better to eat somewhat too much than too little; and therefore it is better to indulge the Appetite somewhat, for so the Stomach will be accustomed to bear sometimes small Excesses, and to concoct something more.

And as the Quantity of Meats ought to be adapted to the Constitutions, so the Quality ought to be so too, according to the Diversity of Tempers, Age, Time, and Custom; so those that are hot and dry ought to use cooling and moistening Diet, so Children require more tender Diet than Youths or Men, and a cooler Diet ought to be used in Summer than in Win­ter. Meats boyled sooner turn to Chyle than rosted Meat; but rosted Meat nourishes more, because it more abounds with nutritive Juice, as may be seen by cutting it with a Knife; for the hard Crust without keeps in the Gravey, which is dispersed in the Broath of boyled Meat; therefore rosted Meat is most proper for Labourers, and boyled Meat for those that live a se­dentary Life.

Drink is a thin and liquid Aliment, chiefly used to quench Thirst. The chiefest kind of Drinks are Wa­ter, Wine, and Beer. It is disputed concerning Wa­ter, [Page 65]whether it nourishes; but I say it nourishes; for it is not a simple Element, and many Men live pretty well that drink only Water, and seem to be refreshed by it; and we see that Water alone nourishes a long while, and that Fish increase, being kept in Troughs; and so Plants and Fruits are nourished by Water. There are many Species of Water, there is Rain-wa­ter, Well-water, Fountain-water, Lake-water, Snow-water, and Ice-water. The best Water is that which is limpid and Sweet, or rather without any Taste or Colour, so that the Goodness of Water is to be judged of by the Absence of Colour, Taste, and Smell. Some think that the lightest Water is best, but this is not to be judged of by the Scale; for often ill Water weighs less than good; but the meaning is, it sits lighter up­on the Stomach and Bowels. Fountain-water is the best, if it be strained thro' good Earth; next to it Rain-water, which is lighter, thinner, and clear­er, but is worse, by reason of diverse Vapours and Exhalations, which are mixed with it. Well-water is very unwholesome, because it is counted to stag­nate, and is not agitated by the Rayes of the Sun, and if the Well be covered, it is much worse That which is taken out of the midst of a River is better, if it be clear, and if the Stream be rapid. The Wa­ter of a Lake is very ill, by reason of the Stagnation. Worst of all is Ice or Snow-Water; for it is very im­pure and crude. In short, the best is the pure, clear, and subtle Water; which being set on the Fire, soon heats, and taken thence, is soon cool. Let the Foun­tain be situate towards the East, and run to the North. The Water which runs on pure Earth is better than such as runs upon Stones.

It is good for hot, fat, and fleshy Men, and mixed with Wine for such as use much Labour and Exercise: And tho' it does not nourish much, yet it refreshes, and is a Vehicle for the Food; it excites Appetite, and [Page 66]opportunely given in burning Fevers, it does good; for it is very contrary to the Nature of a Fever, for it refreshes and moistens the Body; but it is bad for such as have weak Stomachs, and that are troubled with Convulsions. Ill Water is corrected by beaten Pep­per, or with Anise-seeds, and for sick Men boyl there­with Cinnamon, and the like. Honey-Water or Me­theglin has great Vertues, it takes away Thirst, cures cold Infirmities of the Brain, Nerves, and Joints. It is good against Coughs, cuts and expells gross Flegm, moves the Body, and purges the Passages of the Urine.

Wine is expressed from the Grape. There are va­rious Differences of it according to the Colour, Smell, Grossness, Tenuity, and Age. Wine is hot and dry; the best Wine is that which tastes rough, and sweetish. Sweet Wine nourishes much, is a Friend to the Breast, but soon increases Choler: Rough Wine, on the con­trary, is injurious to the Breast, and binds much: Fra­grant Wine refreshes the Spirits much, but afterwards it disorders the Head. Yellow Wine is hotter than white; it is aperitive, and forces Urine. Red Wine strengthens the Stomach, and other Parts, and makes laudable Blood; but if it be gross, it breeds gross Blood, nourishes more, and causes Obstructions. That which is thin is more aperitive than that which is gross, it sooner passes, and does not nourish so much. New Wine is not so hot as old, but generates Wind, unless it loosen the Belly. Old Wine disturbs the Head: Rhenish Wine, by reason of its great Tenuity and Crudity, stirs up the Humours into a Flux, and sepa­rates them from the Mass, and occasions the Gout.

Of all the Liquors we drink, Wine may justly claim the Superiority; for it is more wholesome, and by reason of its subtle and penetrating Substance, it mixes better with the Mass than Water and other Drinks: Be­sides, it is very pleasant and grateful to the Pallate, it re­stores the radical Moisture, and chears the Heart, and is [Page 67]the most certain Prop and Maintainance of our Life; and therefore our Fore-fathers called the Vine Vitis, quasi vita, as if it were the Tree of Life: But the Use there­of is to be regulated by these 12 following Instructi­ons; 1st. When the Wine is strong and full of Spirit, we must always mix Water therewith; 2dly. Never drink Wine after Dinner nor Supper, till the Con­coction of the Food be ended; for then it helps Nou­rishment, penetrating more easily the Body; whereas at first it will hinder Digestion. 3dly. You must have a care that you do not drink Wine cooled with Snow or Ice-Water, for it is very pernicious to the Brain, Sinews, Breast, Stomach, Kidneys, and Bladder. 4thly. You must avoid drinking Wine fasting, be­cause it troubles the Understanding, occasions the Cramp, and is exceeding hurtful to the Brain and Nerves. 5thly. It is not convenient to drink a large Quantity of thin Wine after moist Fruit. 6thly. If at the same Table both strong and small Wine are used, begin with the small, reserving the strong for the last, which comforts the Mouth of the Stomach, and helps Digestion. 7thly. By how much the Food is more cold and gross, by so much the more need is there of strong Wine: But when the Food is more subtle, hot, and digestable, let the Wine be weak; and therefore such as feed on Beef and Fish are to drink stronger Wine than such as feed on Pullets, and the like. 8thly. Such as use much Wine, ought not to eat much, for Wine serves instead of Meat and Drink; and therefore Nature cannot easily digest them both. 9thly. Wine that is weaken'd with Water is whole­somer than that which is naturally weak; for the la­ter more easily putrifies. 10thly. Such as have a weak Brain and hot Stomach, and dwell in sultry Coun­tries, ought to drink a little Wine, mixing Water therewith: But if cold, more Wine and less Water will not be amiss. 11thly. You must observe the Sea­son [Page 68]of the Year, for in Winter drink very sparingly, but strong Wine; in Summer more largely, but small and mixed with Water. 12thly. You must consider the Age, for as Wine is very bad for Children, so it is most proper for old Men, seeing that it qualifies and allays their cold Complexion; and therefore Plato de­nies Wine to Children, gives young Men leave to drink it moderately, and allows old Men a more plen­tiful Use thereof, saying, that young Men, before they are twenty two Years old ought not to drink any Wine, because that will add Fire to their Fire.

Good Wine ought to be clean, pure, and clear; it must be of an excellent Odour, for such Wines in­crease the subtle Spirits, nourish excellently, and breed good Blood; it must taste pleasantly, but most not be sharp nor sweet; for if sweet, it inflames, ob­structs, and fills the Head; if sharp or sowre, it hurts the Nerves and Stomach, and begets Crudities.

Wine, if used discreetly and moderately, does communicate innumerable Benefits, both to Body and Mind; for as to the Mind, it is rendered more secure and calm, the Spirits are strengthened, and dilate themselves, Joy and Gladness are augmented, sad and unpleasant Thoughts are banished; it clears the Un­derstanding, excites the Wit, takes away Melancholy, incourages the Spirits, and enlivens them; it is very nourishing, resists Putrefaction, helps Digestion, and breeds good Blood, cuts Flegm, expels Wind, pro­vokes Sleep, excites Appetite, fattens healthy Men, opens Obstructions, concocts crude Humours, and is the Theriaca magna of the Ancients.

New Wine is of difficult Digestion, offends the Bowels, causes Wind and the Bloody Flux.

Old Wine is hot and dry, and the older it is, the more Heat it acquires. The best is odoriferous and full of Spirits: It is naught for Copulation, because it dries up the Seed. It is naught for young Men and [Page 69]cholerick Persons; but good for old Men, especially in the Winter.

Beer and Ale are common and familiar Drinks in England, and no doubt it is profitable and wholesome, as Experience shews: But the different Preparations, or Brewing thereof, make no small Difference in the Drink. The Difference of Waters also, whereof it is made, is greatly to be considered; therefore, accor­ding to their Natures, you must judge of the Drink; also the Difference of the Corn or Grain is to be consi­dered; as Drinks made of Wheat-malt nourish most. Some People mix Wheat and Barly together: Others mix some Oats with Barly for Malt: Generally in Ale are used no Hops, or less Hops than in Beer; there­fore Ale is more nourishing, and loosens the Belly.

Cider is a cold Liquor, it is very pleasant indeed, but is windy; it is said to be good for the Scurvy. Be­cause Meat and Drink are of so great Importance with respect to the Preservation of Health, and Cure of Dis­eases, as well as for Sustenance, I shall here particular­ly, tho briefly, discourse of the various Sorts of Meats, Fruits, and Herbs, which are generally used for Diet.

Beans Cleanse and fatten, but are windy, therefore occasion Cholick Pains, and disturb the Head. The French is the best and least windy.

Pease are not so windy as Beans, Green Pease are very pleasant to the Tast, provoke Appetite, are good for Coughs and an Asthma; but they are injurious to many, by reason of their Windiness.

Rice binds the Body, cures Fluxes, Pains in the Stomach, and Griping in the Guts, but being used too long, causes Obstructions and Wind.

Asparagus is quickly boyled, nourishes more than all other Herbs, is good for the Stomach, purges the Breast, provokes Urine, and cleanses the Kidneys from Gravel.

Capers excite Appetite, remove Obstructions of the Liver and Spleen, kill Worms, and are good for phleg­matic and melancholy People.

Artichokes are pleasant to the Taste, provoke Urine, and make it stink, as Asparagus does; but they are windy, and injure the Head and Stomach.

Cabbage loosens the Belly, is good for Stoppage of Urine and other Obstructions: but it is windy, and causes a stinking Breath, and increases Melancholy.

Sampier beink pickled, preserves the Stomach, and is good for the Reins.

Lettice is easily digested, breeds Milk, and provokes Sleep.

Parsly provokes Urine, the Courses, cleanses the Reins, and removes Obstructions and Wind, but is bad for the Head and Eye-sight.

Garlick is good against Poison, the Worms, pro­vokes Urine, and is good for a Dropsie and Shortness of Breath; but is injurious to the Head and Eye­sight.

Carrots breed Milk, provoke the Courses and Urine, and open Obstructions; but they are windy.

Onions increase Appetite, attenuate the Humours, make a good Colour, and increase Seed; but they are bad for the Head and Eyes.

Parsnips provoke the Courses and Urine, and re­move Obstructions; but they are windy, provoke Ve­nery, occasion the Itch, and breed bad Blood.

Leeks provoke Urine and the Courses, and expel Wind, they are good for the Lungs and Stomach, but they offend the Head.

Radishes provoke Urine, expel Gravel, and increase Milk; but they cause stinking Belshes and Wind.

Quinces help Digestion, stop Fluxes and vomiting, and strengthen the Stomach.

Apples comfort the Heart, open the Breast, and are pectoral.

Pears provoke Appetite, and strengthen the Sto­mach, and loosen the Belly: But Bergamots are the most wholesome, but being eaten before Meals they breed Wind and occasion the Cholick.

Oranges that are sweet, eaten before Meals, are good for the Stomach. Sowre Oranges quench the Thirst, and excite Appetite; but sowre, or Sevil Oranges bind the Body, cool the Stomach, and con­tract the Breast, and the sweet increase Choler.

Lemons excite Appetite, stop vomiting, cut gross Humours, are good in malignant Fevers, and kill Worms. An Ounce of the Juice drank in Wine expells Gravel: But they cool the Stomach, occasion the Cho­lick, and cause Leanness, and breed melancholy Hu­mours.

Filberts eaten at the Beginning of Dinner are good against Gravel; but they are hardly digested, cause Wind, and Pains in the Head.

Walnuts fasten loose Teeth, they preserve against Poison and the Plague; but they must be eaten at Break-fast, and are good after Fish; they kill Worms, and being preserved, they loosen the Belly, and are pectoral: But they hurt the Throat, cause Coughs, when they are dry, and cause the Head-ach. The Shade of a Nut-Tree is very injurious; for it sends out ill Vapours that offend the Head.

Apricocks quench Thirst, excite Appetite, and pro­voke Urine; the Kernels kill Worms, and are excel­lent for the Heart-burning; but they cause Fluxes of the Belly, and putrifie quickly, and breed gross and viscous Flegm.

Peaches are good for the Stomach, and loosen the Belly. The best are those that are odoriferous, well­coloured, and fully ripe, so that they come clear from the Stone; they must be eaten before Dinner, and good Wine must be drank after them; but they soon corrupt, occasion Wind and ill Humours.

Olives cleanse the Stomach from Flegm, and excite Appetite, and stop vomiting, the Pickle is good to wash the Mouth; for it fastens loose Teeth, and strengthens the Gums.

Plums purge Choler, extinguish Heat, take away Thirst in severish People, but they injure a cold and weak Stomach, are bad for flegmatick Persons, and such as are troubled with the Cholick.

Cucumbers are very cooling and refreshing in the Summer, they provoke Urine, and are good for the Reins and Bladder, and a hot Stomach; but they are apt to corrupt, and to breed ill Humours, if they are not quickly concocted by the Stomach.

Strawberries extinguish Heat, take away Thirst, provoke Urine and the Appetite: But they soon cor­rupt in the Stomach, and are very injurious to para­lytic People, to such as are troubled with Convulsi­ons, and those that eat many of them are often seized with malignant Fevers.

Melons are very refreshing, they cleanse the Body, provoke Urine, quench Thirst, and excite Appetite, and are excellent for the Gravel and Stone: But they occasion Wind and Gripes, and being corrupted, ma­lignant Fevers.

Flesh is more nourishing than all other Food, for it is easily turned into Blood, and affords great Nourish­ment. You must always take notice, that Flesh, Herbs, Fruits and Corn are to be chosen in high Places, such as are refreshed with wholesome Winds, and re­created with the warm Beams of the Sun, where there are no Ponds, Lakes, and standing Waters; for in such Places they are quickly corrupted. The Flesh of all those Creatures which live in Fens and standing Pools are to be avoided, as Ducks and Geese. The Flesh of Creatures too old are naught, hard, dry, si­newy, and of small Nourishment, and hard to be di­gested; and on the contrary, such as are too young [Page 73]overabound with Moisture, and are full of Superflui­ties, tho' easily concocted in the Stomach.

Salted Flesh occasions gross and melancholy Hu­mours, and bad Juice; for it dries much, and nourishes little. Fat Meat is easily digested, but breeds many Superfluities, and therefore is of small Nourishment; it takes away the Appetite, and hinders Digestion. The leaner nourishes better, and generates fewer Su­perfluities; and therefore the midling betwixt both is most wholesome.

The Flesh of Birds is lighter, dryer, and easier di­gested than that of four-footed Beasts, and therefore more agreeable to those that exercise the Mind more than the Body, for they are digested more easily, and breed Blood that is clear, clean, and full of Spirits, and fit for the Exercise of the Mind.

The Flesh of wild Creatures, and such as frequent the Woods is better than that of tame, and the Blood which is bred by eating them, will have fewer Super­fluities, by reason of much running and Exercise, which they are accustomed to; and because they live in a more dry Air, especially such as frequent the Moun­tains, and their Flesh will keep longer uncorrupted; for they have less Fat; and therefore generate fewer Superfluities, nourish better, and breed a more sound Blood; but tame Creatures are more moist than wild, by reason of their little Motion, and the Moistness of the Air they live in.

In moist Times and Complexions, the Flesh that in­clines to Dryness is most proper; and so on the con­trary.

The Flesh of gelded Creatures is best, because it is most temperate; for it is more hot than the Female, and colder than the Male.

The Flesh of black Creatures is lighter and sweeter than that of white.

The Flesh that sticks to the Bone is of best Nourish­ment; and Flesh of the right Side is better than that of the left, and the fore Part is to be preferred to the hin­der; because the fore Part is hotter and of easier Di­gestion, but the hinder Part is more cold and more gross; the Flesh near the Heart is better than that which is farther off; for being strengthened by the Heat of the Heart, it is more fit to nourish.

That Flesh which is dry must be boyled, the moist roasted.

The Flesh which is roasted is fatter, of greater Nou­rishment, tho' more hard of Digestion than boyled, which tho' of less, yet is of better Nourishment; and therefore more wholesome. At Dinner boyled Meats are best, at Supper roasted. Fryed and broyled Meats generate nauseous Humours and Crudities in the Sto­mach, and are of difficult Digestion, tho very nourish­ing.

Lamb breeds good Nourishment, is easie to be di­gested, and is good against melancholy Humours, and is proper in hot weather and in hot Countries.

Beef affords great Nourishment to those that labour much, and breeds much Blood.

Veal nourishes much, and generates good Blood, and is easily digested.

Kid is an excellent Nourishment, and very easie to be digested.

Deer are of great and good Nourishment, and are good against the Palsie and Cholick, and make such lean as are too fat.

Mutton breeds good Blood, makes good Nourish­ment, and is easily digested.

Brawn made of the Flesh of tame young Bores is a delicate Meat, having not so much excrementitious Moisture, as Bacon or Pork, but the hard or horny Part is difficultly concocted.

Rabits are a good Nourishment, they consume the superfluous Moisture, and Flegm in the Stomach. The Flesh is whiter, and not so dry as that of a Hare; and therefore nourishes better, and is easier digested.

Young Hares are very sweet and pleasant to the Sto­mach, they are good for such as are too fat, and cause a good Colour and Beauty in the Face. The Blood of a Hare fryed and eaten is good against the Bloodyflux, inward Imposthumes, and the Gravel in the Kidneys. The Brains of a roasted Hare cures the trembling of the Members, and facilitates the Breeding of Teeth in Children.

Bacon and Pork yield a good Nourishment, but is injurious to such as live easie; they cause the Gout, especially the Flesh of a sucking Pig, and it causes the Cholick, and the Stone in the Kidneys.

Amongst the Parts of Birds and Beasts, some are better than others; for all the Extremities, as the Head, the Neck, the Feet, the Tail, in respect of the rest, are hard, of little and gross Nourishment, and hard to be digested: But better and more savory are the Parts about the Wings, Back, and Breast.

Butter is good for the Lungs, and nourishes well.

Cheese that is new, fattens, tastes pleasantly, and is not injurious to the Stomach. Cream Cheese is most wholesome; but it must be eaten the same Day it is made in. Cheese is only to be eaten to shut up and close the Mouth of the Stomach, and we must beware we eat not too much of it, especially of old Cheese; for it occasions Thirst, inflames the Blood, and causes the Stone.

Milk is good for the hectic Fever, takes off the Heat of Urine, cures Coughs, and opens the Breast, but it is naught for those that are troubled with the Cholick, and the Stone.

Whey is good for such as are of a hot Constitution, it quenches Thirst, and provokes Sleep.

The different Nature of Birds is discerned by the Time, the Age, the Food, the Place, and the Air; because at such Time as Birds couple, as well dome­stick as wild Fowl, they thereby grow lean, and feed little. Some Birds are best in the Summer, at which time they eat Corn; others in Autumn, because they eat Grapes, Figs, Apples, Berries, and the like. Other Birds are best in the Winter, as Thrushes, Blackbirds, wild Geese, Cranes, and all water Fowl.

Some live on VVorms; but most eat Corn, as Pid­geons, Doves, and the like: In short, some are nou­rished on Land, others in Rivers, some in Lakes, and others in Sea, and a great many Birds feed on Herbs; and it is observable, that the Flesh of wild Fowl has al­ways the Taste of such things as the Birds feed on, as of Ants, VVorms, Fish, Slime, and Mud.

Mountain Fowl are always to be preferred before the rest; besides gelding or cutting a Fowl makes it fat and sweet, as appears in the Flesh of Capons.

The Flesh of young Birds is always better than that of old.

A Duck is the hottest of all tame Fowl; the VVings and Liver are the best; but of hard Digestion and gross Nourishment; but is good in cold weather for hot Stomachs, and such as labour much.

Capon nourishes better than all other Fowl, and ge­nerates good Blood.

Pidgeons afford good Nourishment, breed excellent Blood, and are good for old and flegmatic Men. They strengthen the Legs, and cure the Palsy; but they are not good for hot Constitutions.

Pheasants are very agreeable to humane Nature, comfort and strengthen the Stomach, yield great Nou­rishment, and fatten exceedingly.

Hens nourish the Body wonderfully, are easily digest­ed, and breed good Blood: But old Hens are of hard Di­gestion. The Flesh of a Cock is dryer, hot, and sulphure­ous.

Turky is a good Nourishment, the Flesh is whitest and best, and excells all others in VVholesomness; for it is easily digested, and breeds good Blood.

I arks, if they are fat, nourish well, and are easily digested, they are best in Autumn, and in VVinter.

Blackbirds nourish sufficiently, when they are fat and young; but they are of hard Digestion.

Geese; the best Parts of them are the VVings and Liver; the Flesh of young Geese affordeth good Nou­rishment, and fattens those that are lean. If you feed Geese with Milk, their Liver is much more pleasant, and digests and nourishes well enough; but their Flesh is of hard Digestion.

Plovers are an excellent and wholesome Food, and afford good Nourishment; only they are of a melan­choly Juice.

Eggs of a fat Hen fed with Corn, and trod by the Cock, and fresh laid, are the best; next to these is a Pheasants Egg; but those of a Goose or Duck are naught, because they have a strong Smell, and are of hard Digestion; and therefore a young Hens Egg is beyond all. Let it be small, long, and fresh. Eggs are of a copious Nourishment, they are good for old Men, excite Venery, and open the Breast. Potched are best.

Young Sparrows afford good Nourishment, excite Venery. Mountain Sparrows have a wonderful Vertue against the Stone in the Kidneys and Bladder; but are of difficult Digestion, and cause Melancholy.

Peacocks; the best are bred in good Air, young and tender, they nourish enough, but are of hard and slow Digestion, and breed melancholy Blood.

Partridges breed good and slender Nourishment, and easily digest, they fatten and dry up the Moisture of the Stomach, and contribute much to the Preservation of the Health, and the Flesh is better than that of a Hen. It is said, they cure the Pox and the Falling [Page 78]Sickness, being eaten a whole Year together; but old Partridges are of a very hard Substance, and of a ve­ry bad Taste, and injure Melancholy People, and bind the Body.

Stares nourish well, and as they say, cure the Pox, continuing to eat every Day throughout the Year, one Stare and no more. But old Stares are of hard Digestion.

Quails are good for melancholy Men, are very nou­rishing and pleasaing to the Taste: But some say, they cause Fevers, the Cramp, and Falling Sickness, where­with they say this Bird is troubled.

Thrushes nourish very well, and are easily digested, the Mountain Thrushes are the best.

Turtles nourish excellently, and are easily digested; they strengthen the Stomach, and quicken the VVit; roasted with Cloves and Juice of Oranges are very good in the Bloody Flux, and for all other Fluxes.

Fish, in respect of Flesh, are of less Nourishment, are gross, flegmatic, cold, and full of Superfluities. The old nourish more than the young, and those that live amongst Stones and Rocks are the best. Fish are of hard Digestion, and the sign of their Indigestion is Thirst; seeing they all cause Thirst if they remain long in the Stomach; nay, sometimes they corrupt. Concerning Fish, you may observe these following Rules: 1st. That all Fish should be eaten hot. 2dly. You must eat less of Fish than of Flesh. 3dly. You must not eat them too often. 4thly. You must not eat Fish after great Labour and Exercise; for then they easily corrupt; nor must they be eaten after other other Food. 5thly. Fish and Milk are not proper to­gether, nor are Eggs to be used with it. 6thly. Great and slimy Fish pickled are better than fresh. 7thly. You must observe, that the clearer and deeper the VVater is, the better are the Fish that are nourished therein. 8thly. Sea Fish are wholesomer than fresh­water [Page 79]Fish, hotter, and not so moist, and their Nou­rishment comes near that of Flesh. 9thly. Amongst the Sea and River Fish, those are best which live in rocky Places, next to these in sandy Places, in sweet, clear, and running VVater, where there is no Filth: But those Fish are naught which live in Pools, Lakes, Marshes, and in any still and muddy Water. 10thly. Amongst all the Fish both in Sea and Rivers, those which are not too big are the best, and which have not a hard and dry Flesh, that taste and smell well, are crisp and tender, and have many Fins and Scales. 11thly. Fish are cold and moist; and therefore naught for cold Constitutions, but good for cholerick Men. 12thly. The best way of dressing Fish is to broyl it, to boyl it is the next way, to fry it is the worst.

Eels are of a delicate Taste and good Nourishment, but offend the Stomach, and are of hard Digestion, and being used too often, breed the Stone in the Kid­nies and Bladder, and occasion the Gout and Convulsi­ons. In short, whoever eats much of them indangers his Life.

Carps are the most noble of all Fish, and of a very pleasant and grateful Taste, and nourish well, in what manner soever they are eaten.

Crabs are good for consumptive People, they nou­rish very much, provoke Urine, and cleanse the Kid­neys; but they are of hard Digestion.

Lampreys are of excellent Nourishment, excite Ve­nery, and are of a most delicious Taste; but they are of hard Digestion, bad for gouty People, and for such as are troubled with Convulsions.

Pikes nourish very much; but are of hard Digesti­on.

Oysters provoke Appetite, and they are a very pro­per Diet in many Cases.

Sturgeon nourishes well, and excites Venery; but is of hard Digestion. Of the Spawn or Row of this Fish Salted [Page 80]is made Cavyare, which provokes Appetite, and makes the Drink relish.

Lobsters fatten and nourish much, and their Broth cures Shortness of Breath; but they are cold and fleg­matic, and of a hard Digestion.

Sprats being boyled as soon as they are taken, yield good Nourishment and taste pleasantly; but they oc­casion VVind.

Tench are very nourishing, but of hard Digestion.

Salmon is pleasant to the Palate, easily digested, and affords good Juice.

Soles, Plaice, and Turbet are highly commended amongst Sea Fish; for they have a delicate Flesh, they yield good Nourishment, are not easily corrupted, and are easily digested.

Gudgeons are the best of all small Fish, wholesome Aliment, easily digested, and may be safely given to sick Persons.

Pearch have soft, moist, and tender Flesh, but they nourish little, and are full of excrementitious Juice.

Cod-fish, if fresh, is of good Juice, and easily con­cocted; but when it is dry, it is of hard Digestion, and of gross Nourishment.

Barbels: The little ones are better than the great, and such as are caught in stony Places, and not in muddy Ponds; they are very pleasant to the Palate; but their Flesh is hard and not easily digested.

Trouts: The biggest are best, and such as are bred in sweet VVaters. The River Trout nourishes well, good for young and cholerick, but naught for decrepid and flegmatick Men.

Vinegar: The best is that which is made of the best VVine. It is cutting, digestive, and openining. It is very good to extinguish the Heat of Choler and Thirst. It strengthens the Gums, excites the Appetite, re­moves Obstructions, helps Digestion, and is good for [Page 81]hot and moist Stomachs, and resists Putrefaction; therefore is good in the Plague time: But it breeds melancholy Humours, injures the Nerves, makes lean, offends the Breast, and being used too much, makes Men look old and withered.

Honey is abstersive and opening, provokes Urine, and cleanses its Passages. It is good for old and fleg­matick Men of a cold Constitution, and is pectoral. Democritus being asked how a Man might keep himself in Health; Answered, by Oyl without, and Honey with­in. It heats the Stomach, moves the Body, resists Corruption, and turns to good Blood; but it occasi­ons VVind and the Gripes.

Oyl of Olives is very sweet, and agreeable to Na­ture. VVhen it is two Years old it is best, it ought to be made of ripe Olives.

Oyl of sweet Almonds is next to it in Goodness. Oyl fattens, and a good Quantity of it is excellent to bring up Poyson by Vomit; but if it be eaten too of­ten, it lessens the Appetite.

Salt, of all Sawces, is best; without which no Food is good. It is put into Victuals for three Rea­sons: 1st. That thereby the Food may descend easier into the Stomach. 2dly. To make it more savoury. 3dly. Because it resists Putrefaction; consuming, by its Dryness, that Moisture, whereby Putrefaction might have been occasioned. It excites the Appetite, and di­gestive Faculty, and prevents nauseating. It dissolves, attenuates, and dries up the superfluous Moisture, provokes the Bowels to evacuate the Excrements, and is therefore used in Glisters and Suppositories; but things too much salted generate Melancholy and Va­pours, breed ill Nourishment, dry up the Blood, cause Scabbiness and Itch, Ring-worms, and other such Hu­mours and Breakings out in the Face and Body, and stops the Passages of the Urine.

CHAP. XI. Of Sleep and Watching.

SLeep is the Cessation of the external Senses from Operation; the Cause of Sleep is the Remission and Subsidence of the Fibres, wherewith the Brain is chiefly formed, so that the Motions imprinted upon the Organs of the five external Senses cannot be duly propagated to the Seat of the Soul, and be known there, as we see that a Motion upon a slack String of a Vio­lin is not so readily promoted, as when it is wond up hard. The said Remission of the Fibres in the Brain arises from a Defect or Dullness, so that the animal Spirits do not sufficiently expand those Tubes; and so after Labour we are inclined to Sleep, by reason of a Defect of the Spirits. In like manner, after the taking of Opium or other Narcoticks, we are dispo­sed to sleep, because they seize the Spirits by their vo­latile Oleosity. Lastly, we are inclined to sleep after eating or drinking; because then the Humidity of the Brain relaxes the Fibres, and perhaps, because the Va­pours somewhat hinder the Spirits: But some, when they drink much, cannot sleep; because the Spirits are thereby heated and inraged.

All Creatures, by long Fatigues and VVatchings, waste and consume themselves; and therefore stand in need of Rest and Sleep, the Advantage and Good whereof is, that it reheats and corroborates the Mem­bers, concocts the Humours, augments the natural Heat, fattens the Body, heals the Infirmities of the Mind, and mitigates and allays Troubles and Sor­rows: For whilst we sleep, the Faculties of the Mind repose themselves. Sleep also facilitates the Digesti­on of the Food which lies in the Stomach, and not only [Page 83]concocts it there, but also distributes it thro' the Parts of the Body; for the natural Heat concenters in the inward Parts, whereby the Food is better concocted. Lastly, Sleep removes all Lassitude and VVeariness, caused by overmuch watching; and therefore it is cal­led a Rest from all Labour.

But we must avoid long and superfluous Sleep, which is no less pernicious than the other is good; for it chills the Body, weakens the natural Heat, and breeds flegmatic Humours, whence afterwards proceeds much Sloath and Laziness, and sends many Vapours to the Head, which are oftentimes the immediate Cause of Rheums and Catarrhs, and is very destructive to gross and fat Bodies. In brief, it is neither good for the Body nor the Mind, nor for Business. He who sleeps too much is but half a Man, Sleep rendring him in all Points like a dead Man except his Digestion of the Food; for he neither sees, hears, speaks, or under­stands, and is absolutely deprived of all Reason; which, for the Time, is a perfect Death. Superflu­ous Sleep moreover, both in sound and firm Bodies generates Shortness of Breath, and is a constant Fore­runner, and Preparative to an Apoplexy, Lethargy, Palsy, and Numness, and it hinders the seasonable Evacuation of the Excrements, causing them to remain longer in the Vessels and Guts. Sleep ought to be ta­ken at such a Time as the Stomach is free from all smoaky Food, the Vapours whereof arriving at the Brain, are congealed and made heavy, and then falling down, they obstruct the Members.

But on the contrary, too much watching, and want of Sleep generate over much Heat in the Brain, cause Anguish of Mind, and a bad Digestion; for by watch­ing, the natural Heat is weakened, which occasions Crudities.

Sleep is good for flegmatic Persons; because it con­cocts the crude Humours, whence afterwards is gene­rated [Page 84]good Blood, whereby a Man becomes more warm, the natural Heat being increased by the Plenty of Blood. Sleep moreover is very useful in choleric Persons, both to quiet the Mind, and to correct the Con­stitution of the Body: But it is most of all requisite in melancholy Men; for by Sleep they acquire a com­petent Stock of Heat and Moisture, things very contra­ry to their Constitution.

Sleep, in the Day time, and after Dinner, is not to be allow'd, unless a Man has accustomed himself to it, or has not rested well the Night before, or perceives a kind of Lassitude or VVeariness thro' all his Limbs; in these Cases he may sleep after Dinner, especially if his Stomach be weak and cannot digest the Food: But post-meridian Sleep ought to be taken in a Chair, and not to be above an Hour long.

In long Days Sleep may be taken in a Chair, if the Strength be decayed. Some indeed forbid sleeping a­days, especially after Dinner: But I think it is not in­jurious; for so the Spirits, weakened by Labour and Cares, are refreshed; and I cannot indeed see why it is worse than nocturnal Sleep, only it hinders Sleep a­nights, and makes the Nights seem long and tedious. The ordinary Time for Sleep is seven Hours; for that Time seems sufficient for perfecting Digestion, and refreshing the Spirits: But some require more Sleep, some less; so Children require more, and old People, choleric, and dry; because it moistens and restores the Spirits: But fat and flegmatic People should not sleep much. Such as labour much ought to sleep long. It signifies little on what side you lye at first going to sleep. It is injurious to sleep with an empty Stomach. Sleeping on the Back hurts the Reins, and hinders Breathing, and furthers Diseases of the Nerves.

The Signs of sufficient Sleep are a Lightness and Agility, which spreads its self over all the Body, and chiefly the Brain, whereas Heaviness of the Body, and [Page 85]unsavoury Belchings, signifie that more Sleep is requi­red. To conclude, moderate Sleep restores the ani­mal Faculties, helps concoction of the Victuals, and crude Humours, causes a Forgetfulness of Labour, and of all sorrowful Thoughts, mitigates the Grief of the Mind, moistens all the Members of the Body, restores all the wasted Faculties, augments the natural Heat, increases radical Moisture, clarisies and strengthens the Sight, takes away Weariness, refreshing the tired Body, and stops Fluxes and Rheums: But if immode­rate, it makes the Head heavy, troubles the Mind, weakens the Memory, and all the animal Faculties, makes the Body cold, multiplies Flegm, extinguishes the natural Heat, induces a nauseating, makes the Face pale, and is hurtful to all slegmatic Diseases.

Waking is an Intension, or rather an Extension of the Soul and Faculties thereof, to all the Parts of the Body; which, when it is moderate, stirs up and ex­cites all the Senses, disposes and orders the vital Facul­ties to their Operations, expelling and driving forth all the superfluous Humours from the Body; but if im­moderate and excessive, it generates Diseases of the Head, corrupts the Temperature of the Brain, causes Madness, kindles the Humours, excites sharp and acri­monious Infirmities, makes Men look pale and lean, and weakens the concoctive Faculty, dissolves the Spi­rits, fills the Head with Vapours, makes the Eyes hol­low, increases Heat, causes Crudities in the Stomach; therefore let Sleep and Waking be always moderate, and if a Man cannot sleep, let him take at least some Repose with his Eyes shut, which in some sort may supply the place of Sleep.

CHAP. XII. Of Motion and Rest.

MOtion is here Labour and Exercise, as walking, playing at Ball, running, riding; they excite natural Heat, and consume all the Crudities of the Body.

Some Exercises are strong and wearisome, and others moderate and gentle; the temperate Exercise is that which contributes much to the Health; for it corro­borates the natural Health, wastes the Superfluities, en­livens Youth, chears old Age, and hinders Fullness, fortifies the Senses, renders the Body light and agile, strengthens the Nerves and all the Joints; for by Ex­ercise all the Parts become more robust; it consoli­dates the Members, helps Digestion, keeps the Passa­ges of the Body clear and open, so that the smoaky Vapours of the Spirits may find a better and more free Issue.

The gentle Exercises are fishing, fowling, and such like Divertisements, which clear the Mind: And, as moderate and temperate Exercise does wonderfully contribute to Health, so overmuch Idleness is very pernicious.

Frictions are also exceeding useful; for they hinder the Humours from falling into the Joints, and being used in the right Time, that is, when the Superfluities shall be evaporated from the inward Parts, they help Digestion, recreate the Body, and open the Pores, whereby the moist Humours, and Vapours of the Bo­dy obtain an easier Passage; also draw the Blood to the outward Parts, and confirm the natural Heat.

Exercise is to be used so long as the Body can bear it, without growing too weary, that is, till you wax hot, [Page 87]having a fresh Colour, and begin to sweat, which, as soon as you perceive, change your Cloaths, and dry well all the Members, and put on other Cloaths, and if it be necessary, lye a little in Bed and rest your self, till you shall be refreshed, and recover new Strength.

Shooting with a Bow is counted a proper Exercise for the Breast and Lungs; bowling for the Back and Reins: But riding on Horeback is the best Exercise of all, and may serve instead of all.

The Time for Exercise is before Meals, having first evacuated the Excrements of the Belly and Bladder; for it is usually very bad and destructive to exercise the Body presently after Meals, and this is the Source of divers Infirmities; but Labourers and Country Peo­ple, by continual Custom, labour without Injury, as soon as the Meat is out of their Mouths.

After violent Exercise, one ought to beware of catching cold; for the Motion and Exercise having opened the Pores of the Body, the cold easily enters therein, bringing along with it Catarrhs, and diverse other Infirmities.

Friction or rubbing is to be used in the Morning, after having been at Stool, which must be performed on the extream Parts of the Body; begin at the Knees, and proceed to the Feet, then the Thighs, then from upper Ribs to the lower, then from the Shoulders down the Back, and lastly, from the Arms to the Hands. You must use a Napkin or Towel, gently rubbing your Body, till the Skin wax something red. In old Men the Motion of the superiour Members, as the Arms and the Shoulders, is most necessary, because it diverts and prohibits the Humours from falling into the lower Parts.

It is proper for every Person to pull off his Shoes and Stockings himself, without the Help of a Servant; for this is some sort of Exercise, and stirs up the Heat and Spirits. By the by, the binding the Stockings [Page 88]hard with Garters causes several Pains, and hinders the Heat, Blood, and Spirits from circulating and de­scending into the Joints, upon which account they are weakened, and apt to receive divers Distempers.

In the Morning, as soon as you are up, rub well your Head, and comb it with an Ivory Comb, from the Forehead upwards to the Crown, then with a rough Cloath or Sponge rub your Head,; for hereby the Superfluities which are lodg'd there will be expel­led, and the Spirits rarified, and the Passages of the Head opened, and the Memory and other Faculties of the Mind corroborated, and the Sight strengthened. It is also good to shave the Beard often, because it chears the Man; so does the washing of the Face and Hands; the Eyes are also to be washed with fresh Wa­ter, and the putting the Eyes into cool fresh Water, open, wonderfully clears and purifies the Sight; af­terwards dry them very well with a clean Towel. Take care also that your Teeth be very clean, which for want of well rubbing and cleansing, causes a naughty and stinking Breath, and the Filth of the Teeth mixed with the Food, breeds Corruption, and renders it putrified: Besides, rotten Teeth send to the Brain an infectious Vapour. It is good sometimes to wash the Mouth with Wine.

No Exercise is proper after Dinner, but a quiet Composure and Stillness of the Body is most requisite, especially for an Hour after Dinner, after which a lit­tle walking is not amiss to digest and jog down the Victuals to the Bottom of the Stomach. Lastly, Those Exercises are best which are performed in the open Air, rather than in Houses, in the Sun rather than in the Shade.

Those that by some Accident or other cannot walk, let them ride, or be carried in a Horse-litter, so that they may in some manner exercise themselves before Meals; for by Idleness, and over much Rest, all the [Page 89]Faculties of Body and Mind are enervated, and Cru­dities, Obstructions, and infinite Numbers of Dis­eases are occasioned; and Idleness is reckoned the chief Cause of cold Diseases, it makes Men negligent, sloathful, ignorant, and makes the Body fat, lazy, weak, and causes a pale Complexion, extinguishes the natural Heat, increases Flegm, and fills the Body with Superfluities; it occasions the Gout, Catarrhs, Ob­structions, and the falling Sickness; therefore when at any time you are necessitated to be in Idleness, or by some Business or Incumbrance are forced to abstain from all manner of Exercise, you must, instead there­of, observe a slender Diet, and use that Food which is of most easie Digestion, and Broaths, which, without any Trouble or Difficulty, are digested and distribu­ted thro' all the Body, and cause a Slipperyness of the Belly.

Superfluous Rest being therefore so very injurious, and Sloath and Laziness the Cause of so many grievous Diseases, as we see those in Prisons always fall into Diseases, it behoves us to use moderate Exercise, whereby Superfluities may be removed, the Causes of so many Diseases. Moreover, we ought not to neg­lect the Exercise of the Mind, for as the Body with Exercise is rendred strong and robust, so the Mind is nourished by Studies, and acquires fresh Vigour; and many, by a continual Exercise of the Mind, have freed their Bodies from great Diseases. The Exercises of the Mind are Speculation, singing with musical Instru­ments, the Study of History, Divinity, and the like; for these things delighting the Mind, feed it in such sort that all the Virtues become more strong, and better enabled to resist and overcome Infirmities; and these Exercises performed at due Times, that is, after a perfect Concoction of your Victuals, both nourish and corroborate the Mind, and render the Memory quick and lasting. But if these Exercises of the Mind are [Page 90]used out of season, they hinder Digestion, and heap up and contract many Superfluities, and occasion vari­ous Obstructions, and putrid Fevers.

To conclude, Hippocrates affirms, that moderate Ex­ercise is above all things most necessary for flegmatick People, and for such as are of a cold and moist Consti­tution, and that for hot and cholerick Persons, Rest is very fit and commodious. Moreover, all learned Physicians agree, that both Exercise and Rest, if mo­derate, are a special means to preserve Health, and prolong Life.

CHAP. XIII. Of things to be evacuated.

THings to be evacuated and retained are the Excre­ments of the Belly, Urine, insensible Transpira­tion, the Courses, and the Seed; for these evacuated in due Time, and in due Quantity, conduce much to the Preservation of Health, otherwise they injure the Health. The Excrements of the Belly not evacuated in due Time, occasion cholic Pains, and cause stink­ing Vapours in the Stomach and Mouth. These Ex­crements, in their natural Estate, are somewhat soft, and stick together, the Colour is brownish, and they do not stink very much.

The Urine, when it is right, is of a yellow Colour, of a moderate Thickness, with or without a Sediment. When there is a Sediment it is white, light, and equal, and the Quantity is equal to the Liquors taken in. When it is retained too long, either by the Fault of the Reins, or of the Bladder, or because the Matter of it is not sufficiently separated, it occasions a Dropsy, Fainting, sleepy Diseases, a Palsy, and the like.

If insensible Transpiration be hindred, the Skin be­comes filthy, the Itch is occasioned, a Dropsie, a Fe­ [...]er, and the like. Insensible Transpiration is made thro' the Pores of the Skin and Mouth. It is manifest by the inspection of the Breath in Winter-time, when it condenses, when it comes out, that very much is emitted by insensible Transpiration. It also ap­pears by the many drops it makes; also if we touch with the Finger any polished Metal, it will presently be considerably moistened; and if so much be done by so little a part, and in so short a time, how much do we think is evaporated by the whole Body in the space of one day? Yet it does not seem so great, as San­ctorius affirms he has found by the Static Art; for he would make us believe, that insensible Transpiration alone is greater than all Evacuations taken together; for if the Meat and Drink of one day weigh eight pound, he says, that about five of them flies away in­sensibly. He says also, that the Urine of one Night is wont to be half a Pint, and the Excrements of the Belly four Ounces; and that forty Ounces at least, are evacuated by insensible Transpiration; so that as much is evacuated by insensible Transpiration in one day, as is carried off by Stool in fifteen.

The Courses ought to flow in Women at Fourteen Years of Age, and in such as are not past Fifty, unless they are with Child, or give Suck; in which cases the cause of the Courses cease; and they ought to flow every Month; and the quantity of them ought to be proportioned to the quantity and heat of the Blood: For a certain quantity generally speaking, cannot be limited; for some have a great many, and some but a few, nor do they continue upon all alike; for some have them two days, some three, some four, some six or eight days. They that have them too much are weakened, are subject to Faintings, and waste. Those in whom they are suppressed become Hysterick, breath [Page 92]difficultly, look Pale, and lose their Appetites

Venery, if it be duly used, conduces to Health, but when it is immoderate, it emaciates, and weak­ens the Nerves, Head, and whole Body, dissipates the Spirits, and wonderfully shortens the Life. It is most conveniently used by such as are sanguine, and of a full Habit of Body, in the Morning after Sleep; for then the Seed is more elaborated, and abounds more, Digestion being perfected, and a Distribution being made.

CHAP. XIV. Of the Passions of the Mind.

THE chief Passions of the Mind are Mirth, Sad­ness, Anger, Love, Hatred, Shame, Hope, De­spair.

Mirth is a Delight arising from some Good, we sup­pose we have obtained. This above all the rest con­duces to Health, at least if it be moderate; for in it the Spirits pass pleasantly in the Brain, and in all the Nerves: But immoderate Mirth is injurious, and some­times deadly.

Sorrow is a Pain arising from the Apprehension of Ill befalling us. In it the Spirits in the Brain and Nerves move very weakly, and sometimes a Weight in the Breast, Suffocation, and Death it self are occasi­oned by it.

Anger is the Desire of Revenge, upon the Ap­prehension of some Injury offered us. In Anger the Spirits are wont to be violently moved in the Brain.

Love is the Desire of an Object which we apprehend to be good and convenient. In Love both the Blood [Page 93]and Spirits, within and without the Brain are moved pleasantly.

Hatred is the Apprehension of an Object, which we judge hurtful or inconvenient. Hatred is Sorrow for the Good, and Mirth for the Ill of another.

Fear is a sinking of the Mind by reason of the Ap­prehension of some imminent Ill.

Shame is a great Opinion, or Apprehension of Scandal.

Hope is a Desire of some future Good that seems difficult to be obtained; but yet possible.

Despair is an Affection of the Mind arising from the Apprehension of Good, which we judge impossible to be obtained.

The Passions of the Mind have great Power, and do much contribute to the changing of the Body; be­cause they make a Stirring and Motion in the Humours, and in the Spirits. And these immoderate and sud­den Motions are raised from the Center of the Body to the Circumference, as Anger, Joy, and the like, or from the Circumference to the Center, as Fear, and the like, from whence proceed great Motions of the Spirits; and therefore we ought carefully to avoid such Passions, seeing they dry the Body, and alter it too much, troubling it and changing it from its natu­ral Constitution; and therefore Plato called these the Infirmities of the Mind, viz. Anger, Joy, Sorrow, Melancholy, Anxiety, or Anguish, Exclamation, Fu­ry, Violence, Brawling, Contention, Hatred, Envy, Perplexity, Fear, Shame, unpleasant Thoughts, un­bridled Desires, Boldness, Incontinence, Importuni­ty, Ambition, Distrust, Hope, Despair, and the like; all which Passions, besides the great Hurt they do to the Body, do also very much offend the Mind; for Anger and overmuch Sorrow afflict the Spirits, dry the Bones, extenuate the Flesh, inflame and burn the Body, put­ting it into Confusion, out of its natural Estate, [Page 94]whence afterwards proceed many Evils, as Catarrhs and Fluxes in the Joints, and the like: But these Pas­sions, when they are moderate, are sometimes good for Men, and do not a little contribute to their Health: For Example, Anger excites and increases the natural Heat, and oftentimes it is good to be angry, to repair that natural Heat, and therefore, in cold Diseases, it is to be stirred up: as on the contrary, in hot, it is to be avoided. Joy and Gladness strengthens the Di­gestion, and this is the chief and truest reason why Men, more than all other Creatures, are exposed to Crudities: Because the Beasts, and irrational Animals, tho' they eat to Satiety, nevertheless do not hinder the natural Virtue which concocts the Food. But Men, by diverse Thoughts, and Perturbations of Mind, di­vert the Virtue of its Operation, and tho' they eat mo­derately, yet they fall into Crudities, whence proceed many Diseases; and therefore a Man, by all possible means, ought to avoid sad Thoughts, and dolorous Subjects, and all other things which may any ways di­sturb the Mind; for to have a chearful Mind is good in all Diseases. You must keep your self also from frequent weeping, from great Fury, and from an Appetite or Desire of Revenge; for these things weak­en the Brain, and hinder the Digestion, and alter the natural State of the Body; for Fear withdraws the Spirits and the Blood, attracting them inwardly to the Heart, whence the Members grow cold, the Body pale, causing Tremblings, the Voice is interrupted, and the whole Force of the Body is deficient. Many have perished by overmuch Fear and Sorrow.

Rutilius being denyed the Consulship, which he ear­nestly sought after, suddenly expired. Marcus Lepi­dus also died for Grief, and many have died by Excess of Joy; but none of Anger, and some have died of Shame. For which Cause these Passions of the Mind ought always to be used with Moderation, and chiefly [Page 95]Joy. In short, nothing is more necessary for the Preservation of Health, than to live merrily, nor to trouble ones self, or be angry. That Man therefore that loves Health, let him delight in Gardens, fre­quent green and pleasant Places, let him converse with merry and jocund Friends, with Musick and Songs; for by these things the Spirits are restored, and as the Strength of a Man is increased by good Victuals, Wine, sweet Smells, so by Tranquility, by avoiding of Cares and troublesome Affairs, which render a Man sad, and by frequenting merry Companions the Man is refreshed. Likewise it is good to hear and read pleasant Discour­ses and delightful Subjects. No less pleasant and wholesome it is to enjoy a sweet and clear Air, to walk sometimes in the Fields, to rise betimes in the Morn­ing, than which there is nothing in the World that chears and glads the Heart of Man more, and does also wonderfully contribute to Health. To conclude, in Trouble and Adversity, let a Man defend himself from Dejection of Mind, and in Prosperity from ex­tream Joy.

CHAP. XV. Of things contrary to Nature.

THings contrary to Nature, or preternatural, are things opposite to the natural Constitution of a living Body. They are three, a Disease, the Cause of a Disease, and the Symptom; under which every thing contrary to Nature is comprehended.

A Disease is a Constitution contrary to the nature of a living Body, whereby all the actions are not right­ly performed. This Constitution proceeds from an undue temper, conformation or union of the Parts, [Page 96]whereby some action is performed ill, or at least not rightly modified, and hereby we are rendred incapa­ble to perform all the actions aright. It is said, where­by all the Actions are not perform'd aright; because an obstruction of all the actions is not required to a Dis­ease; but it is said to be a Disease, if any one of them be hurt.

When we say a Disease is a Constitution contrary to Nature, it does not include the Constitution of old Men and Children, tho in it the actions are not right­ly performed; because such Ages are agreeable to the course of Nature.

The living Body, and the solid and fluid parts of it are the subjects of a Disease.

A Disease is divided essentially into three species; into a Disease from an undue temper, or similar; into a Disease from an ill formation, or organick; and in­to a Disease occasioned from the solution of the Conti­nuum. It is also otherwise variously divided according to its accidental differences, into universal, particular, contagious, not contagious, epidemic, endemic, long, short, acute, not acute, benign, malignant, great, small, simple, compound, primary, secundary, symp­tomatic, hereditary.

A Similar Disease, or a Disease proceeding from an undue temper, arises from an inconvenient temper of the first qualities, as a Disease from a hot or cold in­temperies of the Brain or Stomach, or the like.

An Organick Disease is a Disease arising from an ill Formation of the Part. It is fourfold, arising from an undue Figure, magnitude, number, and Situation of the Part.

A Disease proceeding from a solution of the Conti­nuum is a hurt of the Function of a Similar, or Orga­nick Part. It is fourfold, viz. a Contusion, a Wound, a Fracture, and an Ulcer.

An universal Disease is that which affects the whole Body, as Cachexy, Anasarca, and the like.

A particular Disease is that which affects only part of the Body, as a Pleurifie, and the like.

A contagious Disease is that which is conveyed to another by some Effluvia.

Diseases called Pandemij, are Diseases of the same Species, which invade many at the same time, and in the same Region.

An Epidemic or Popular Disease, is a Disease ari­sing from some common Cause, and seizes many at one time and place, but is not restrained to one Re­gion, as the Plague, Quinsie, Pleurisie.

An Endemic Disease is a Disease arising from some common cause, that is proper to some Region or Re­gions, as the Scurvy to Holland, Denmark, Swedeland, Norway; the French Pox to India, the Bronchochele to the Alpes, the Plicae Poloniae, and the like.

Sporadic Diseases are Diseases of different kinds, which invade many at the same time, and in the same Region, as a Pleurisie, and Ophthalmia.

From the Time Diseases are short or long. A Dis­ease is short that soon comes to its end; as a Diary, a burning Fever, and the like. A Disease is long, when it does not come to its end in a short time, as a Drop­sie, Palsie, and the like.

A Disease is Acute, when it comes to its end in a short time with danger. An extream Acute Disease ends in three or four days at farthest; as a Pestilen­tial Fever, or the like. It is said to be peracute, when it lasts seven days.

A benign Disease is that which has its wonted symp­toms, as a Tertian Ague; or a burning Fever, that has its ordinary symptoms.

A Disease is malignant, when the symptoms are worse than is usual.

From Magnitude a Disease is said to be great or small. The Magnitude of a Disease may be two ways considered. First, with comparison to the Person af­fected; and so a Disease small in it self may be ac­counted great, in a weak Man or a Child. Secondly, Disease is called great which soon dejects the strength, and kills; and the greatness of it may arise from the nobleness, or great use of the part afflicted.

A simple Disease is an Obstruction of some Vein or Wound, or a cold Intemperies of the Stomach, or the like. A compound Disease is similar, with organit, similar with common: For instance an hot Intempe­ries with a Wound. Organic with common; for in­stance, the Magnitude of the Foot increased with a Wound. Similar with organic and common, as a Wound of the Hand with a great and hot swelling.

A Primary Disease is a Disease produced by some Cause, which is not a Disease in the same Body.

A secundary Disease is a Disease produced by some Cause in the same Body, as the cold Intemperies of the Brain occasioned by a cold Intemperies of the Stomach.

An idiopathic Disease is a Disease proceeding from the proper Vice of the Part, as an Obstruction of the Reins by a Stone.

An hereditary Disease is a Disease imparted to the Child by the Parents, obnoxious to such a kind of Disease, upon account of the Fault of the Seed, or of the Nutriment of the Child. I say obnoxious, for it is not necessary the Parents should actually have the Disease, or that they should ever have it. Perhaps it is prevented by a contrary Course of Diet, or the like, it is enough if there be such a Disposition.

The Time of the Disease is the Time wherein some notable Change of the Disease is observed. The uni­versal Time is that which distinguishes the Course of the whole Disease. It is fourfold, the Beginning, In­crease, State, and Declination; these four Times are [Page 99]absolutely accounted in every Disease, whether it tends to Life or Death, whether it be cured by Medi­cines, or not: But these Times are went to be very unequal; because one Disease runs its Course much sooner than another, and consequently passes all the Seasons sooner.

No one dies in the universal Declination of a Dis­ease, at least of that Disease, whereof that is the De­clination; for the Cause of the Disease is expelled and overcome, yet he may die in the Declination by some other Disease joined with it, or coming upon it, or by Defect, or Want of things requisite to Life.

The particular Time of the Disease is that which di­stinguishes the Course of the Paroxysm. The Pa­roxysm is the Exacerbation coming by turns in Dis­eases. The Period is the Time of Exacerbation and Remission in some Diseases. The Type is the Order of Intension and Remission: But every Disease has not a Type or Period, as an Atrophy, Palsy, Eliphantia­sis, and the like; for they continually afflict.

A Relapse is the Return of a Disease cured, after a short time.

The Cause of a Disease with Physicians, is a thing contrary to Nature, effecting a Disease. It is divided into procatarctic, antecedent, and continent. The procatarctic Cause is the Cause that is evident to any one. It is twofold, internal and external. The in­ternal are all the Passions of the Mind, Anger, Sor­row, Mirth, Pain, and the like. The external are a Stone, a Sword, a Knife, a Stick, Air, Meat and Drink, and the like.

The antecedent Cause is a Cause not evident to every one, which being taken off, the Disease does not presently cease, such is the Abundance of Blood, which causes an Inflammation in some Part; being re­moved by bleeding, the Inflammation does not pre­sently cease.

The containing Cause is that which being taken of the Disease presently ceases.

A Plethora is too great a Quantity of Blood.

A Cacochymy is an ill Quality of the Blood.

A Symptom is an Effect of a Disease, as Thirst of a Fever: A Symptom ought to follow a Disease as its Cause; either nearly or remotely. A Disease may be also a Symptom, so is a Fever following an Inflamma­tion.

A Symptom is divided into three general Species, viz. The Action Hurt, the Fault of things evacuated and retained, and the Quality of the Blood changed.

The Action is hurt when it is not as it should be. There are three Kinds of Action hurt, viz. abolished, diminished, and depraved. The Fault of things er­creted and retained is fivefold, viz. of the Substance, of the Quantity, of the Quality, of the manner of Ex­cretion, and of the Time of Excretion.

The Quality of the Body changed, is a Quality con­trary to Nature, in the solid Parts of the Body, flow­ing from a Disease: It is sensible and insensible.

CHAP. XVI. Of the Signs in general, and of some of the Species of them.

ASign, among Physicians, is a manifest thing that leads us to the Knowledge of something that is hidden. It is divided into diagnostic, prognostic, and commemorative; and these are subdivided into healthy and unhealthy. I do not add neutral; be­cause I think there is no such thing as a neutral Consti­tution; because every one is either sick or well.

A diagnostic Sign is moreover inseparable and pro­per, and also inseparable and proper together. The diagnostic is that which signifies something present. The prognostic is that which signifies something that is future. The commemorative Sign is that which signi­fies something that is past. The healthy Sign is that which signifies Health present, future, or past. An unhealthy Sign is that which signifies a Disease present, past, or to come. An inseparable diagnostic Sign is that which signifies some Constitution, and cannot be separated from it. A proper diagnostic Sign is that which agrees only to one. This Sign is truly pathogno­monic; for it signifies the proper Nature and Essence of the Disease from whence it flows: But it is ordina­rily not one simple Sign, but a Heap of many toge­ther; for instance, a pricking Pain in the Side, with a Cough, and Difficulty of Breathing, a Fever, and a a strong Pulse, of a Pleurisie.

An healthy diagnostic Sign is a natural Pulse, and a natural Urine. An healthy Prognostic is the Concocti­on of the Excrements in Diseases. An healthy Com­memorative Prognostic is a Firmness of all the Actions; for that signifies present Health. An unhealthy Diag­nostic is an Hurt of the Action, as a Swelling with Redness, and a beating Pain, of an Inslammation. An unhealthy Prognostic is spontaneous Lassitude. An unhealthy commemorative Sign is a Cicatrix; also the Weakness of those that recover.

Signs are generally taken from the Causes, as the Fountain, or from the Effects; that is, from all those things which any way follow Health, the Disease, or the Causes of it. Some will have the Essence of a thing to be added here, and so they say that a Piece of the Lungs being cast up, an Ulcer of them is bred, or Part of the thick Guts being cast out by Stool in a Disente­ry, they say they know the gross Guts are affected: But in the Cases mentioned, the Sign is not taken [Page 102]from the very Essence of the thing, as distinct from the Causes and Effects, but meerly from the Ef­fects.

The prognostic Sign, both healthy and unhealthy, serves much for the Honour of the Physician; for a successful Prognostication gives him great Authority, and makes the sick better trust him: But he must be careful that he be not too free or rash in his Prognosti­cation, lest he get Disgrace.

A Disease may be known by four Signs: First, By the Species of what is excreted, so a Disentery is known by the small Parts of the Intestines evacuated by Stool, a stony Constitution by a sandy Urine. Se­condly, By the Nature of the Place, so a Disease or ill Constitution from Worms is known by Pains torturing the Belly. Thirdly, from the Propriety of the Pain, so an Inflammation is known by a beating Pain. Fourthly, By proper Accidents, so a burning Fever is known by a violent Heat of the whole Body, and by the Blackness of the Tongue, and a great Thirst; a Pleurisie by difficult breathing, with a Cough and Fe­ver. There are also besides three more Signs that are less principal, viz. a Proclivity of the sick to a certain Disease; so an hysteric Passion is known in some Wo­men by their Disposition that way. The evident Cause foregoing the Disease, so a hot Disease is known in those that use a hot Diet, those things that do Good or Hurt; so a hot Disease is known, by be­ing exasperated by hot Medicines, and mitigated by cold.

The Cause of the Disease is known chiefly by seven Signs: First, By the Temperament, and so by a hot Temperament we may know the Cause of the Disease is hot. Secondly, By the Colour of the Skin, so by the yellow Colour of the Skin, you may know that Bile is the Cause. Thirdly, By the Age, so by Old Age you may know the Cause is cold; by Youth you [Page 103]may know it is hot. Fourthly, By the Species of the Pain; so Bile is known by a burning Pain. Fifthly, By the evident Cause, so by high and plentiful feeding, and a sedentary Life, you may know that too great a Quantity of Blood is the Cause, so by a cooling Reme­dy doing good, you may know that the Cause is hot.

The Signs of a Plethora are, a tumid Habit of the Body, an Expansion and Tension of the Veins, a red Colour of the whole Body, especially of the Face, a full Pulse, an Unfitness for Motion, a spontaneous and tensive Lassitude in the whole Body, a voluptu­ous Life, Suppression of usual Evacuations, and the like.

The Signs of Cacochymy are diverse, as the Speci­es of it are diverse, the chief whereof are choleric, me­lancholy, flegmatic, sanguine, and serous, and they are in the whole Body, or only in Part of it. The Signs of a bilious Cacochymy, are a yellow Colour of the Skin, especially of the Face, an high colour'd Urine, quick Palse, choleric Excrements, choleric Pustles, a Pricking in the Habit of the Body, an hot and dry Diet, Relief by cold and moist things, and the like. The Signs of a flegmatick Cacochymy are, a white Colour of the Skin, a soft and tumid Habit of the Body, flegmatic Excretions, a pale Urine, much Sleep, Relief by hot and dry things, a cold and moist Diet.

The Signs of Wind are, a Tension and Tumour without Gravity, which does not pit upon pressing with the Finger, a wandering Pain, an Eruption, or belshing of Wind, a flatulent Diet, and the like.

The Part affected is known by five Signs. First, By the Action hurt, so a Disorder of the Ear is known by Deasness. Secondly, By the Situation of the Disease, so you may know the Spleen is affected by a hard swe [...] ­ling on the left Side. Thirdly, by the Propriety of the Pain, so you may know a Membrane is affected by [Page 104]a pungent Pain; you may know a Parenchyma is affect­ed by a heavy Pain. Fourthly, By proper Accidents, so by Anxiety you may know the Stomach is affected, and by fainting you may know the Heart is affected. Fifthly, by things that are evacuated, as you may know the Lungs are affected by small Particles of the spongy Flesh cast up by coughing; you may also know the Bowels are affected by the Excrements com­ing out of a Wound of the Belly, so that things evacu­ated are not here to be understood only of those things which come from the Substance of the Part affected, but also things contained in it. Moreover, as to things evacuated, three things are further to be consi­dered, which do most distinctly shew the affected Part, viz. the Propriety of the Substance excreted, and so by Froth cast up, we may know the Lungs are affect­ed. 2dly. By the Magnitude of the Substance excre­ted, so a grosser Tunic of the Guts being voided by Stool, we may know a gross Gut is affected. Lastly, By the Manner of Evacuation, so an Artery hurt is known by the impetuous Efflux of the Blood.

A Symptom that is manifest is known by it self, but that which is obscure is best known by some more ma­nifest Symptom of the same Disease; and remotely and obscurely by the Disease, and the Cause of it, so by the wasting of the Body, as by the most remarkable Symptom, we know that Nutrition is lessened, and so a Fault of Sanguification by an ill Colour of the Bo­dy, and a weak Constriction of the Heart, by a weak Pulse.

By four Signs especially you may know whether the Disease will be cured, or will kill, viz. By the Species of it, the Magnitude of it, with a respect to the Strength of the sick, by the Motion of it, and the Manner of it, so for instance, a Disease that is known to be deadly by its Species, is a Consumption, a Wound of the Heart, the Plague, a Cancer, and the [Page 105]like: A Disease on the contrary, which is known by its Species to be curable, is an Ephemeral Fever, and the like: A Disease which is known to be deadly by its Magnitude, is either great in its self, or compa­ratively so; because it is to last long, especially if it be also malignant. A Disease is known to be deadly by the worst and most grievous Symptoms. Lastly, a deadly Disease is known by its Motion, for instance, if it be long, tho' only moderate, it is dangerous and great; for such an one wastes the Strength by de­grees, and at length kills.

As to the Length and Shortness of a Disease, they may be known chiefly by three things. First, By the Species of the Disease, so an Apoplexy, Plague, an ephemeral Fever, are known to be short; a quartan Ague, Palsy, and the like, are known to be long. Secondly, By the Magnitude of the Disease, so you know a Disease in it self great, or comparatively so, does not last long. Thirdly, From the manner of the Disease, so you may know a Disease will not last long, that has unusual and violent Symptoms. The Prognostics taken from these Signs are not a little con­firmed by the Season of the Year, so Diseases in the Autumn and Winter are wont to be longer than Dis­eases in the Spring and Summer, by reason of the Te­nuity of the Matter, and the greater Apertion of the Body.

A critical Sign is that which signifies a Crisis. It is wont to be reckoned threefold, demonstrative, prog­nostic, and commemorative.

A critical demonstrative Sign is a great Looseness, or a large Hemorrhage at the Nose, as they make some Change in the Disease. A critical prognostic Sign is a great Pain of the Head, Redness of the Face, as they signifie a Hemorrhage of the Nose. A commemorative critical Sign is the better Disposition of the sick, after the Crisis is made.

A Crisis is the sudden Change of a Disease, either for Life or Death, it is divided into good and bad, al­so into perfect and imperfect. A good Crisis is for Life, a bad Crisis for Death. A Crisis that is perfect, perfectly carries off the Disease.

A Crisis is not perfect in our Country, because our Region is cold, and the Humours are cold, but the chief reason is, because the Practice in these Parts is such, as does not commit much to Nature; but we do at the Beginning carry off, or at least lessen the Cause of the Disease, by bleeding, or gentle purging, or by Medi­cines that move Urine or Sweat, or the like. Yet, notwithstanding, a Crisis does sometimes happen here; for sometimes we see, that Fevers are sometime carri­ed off by Sweat, a Looseness, or bleeding at the Nose.

The Cause of a Crisis is a violent Influx of the ani­mal Spirits into the Fibres of some Part, whereby the Part contracting it self, expels the Cause of the Dis­ease, or our Heat, or the Motion of the Blood, where­of the Cause of the Disease consists, is detruded to cer­tain Parts; and if this or that Protrusion of the mor­bisic Matter be such, that thereby it be wholly elimina­ted from the Body, the Crisis is perfect. The Anci­ents assigned certain Days for a good and perfect Crisis, and so much depended on them, that they did not fear a Relapse, when the Crisis happened on any of these Days; and some of these Days they called Indices, or Contemplabiles, because then they were to see whether the Signs of Concoction did appear in the Excrements, and so promise a good Crisis: Others they called In­terdicentes, in which no Crisis was made; but there was a Provocation of Nature to a Crisis. Lastly, Of these they called some void Days, wherein no Crisis was made, nor was there any Provocation of Nature to it. These they also called medicinal, because they counted it lawful to give Medicines at this Time. [Page 107]But seeing it appears from their Writings, that a good Crisis has been made of any Day, and because there is no reason why those Days should be only cri­tical, we attribute no more to them, than we do to climateric Years, that so much terrifie rich and cove­tous Men, and to bissextile Years, that frighten Wo­men with Child.

There are such great Differences of the Pulse among Authors, that it is impossible to distinguish them; wherefore I shall only set down those that are useful in Practice, and these Differences are four, great and small, strong and weak, equal and unequal, frequent and rare. A great Pulse is when the Artery beats much, long, broad, and deep, a small Pulse is, when the Artery does not beat much, nor long, broad, and deep; you must always understand proportionable to the Body; for the Pulse of the Body may be great with respect to it, tho' it be really less than in a Man. The Cause of a great Pulse is a great Quantity of Blood, or a great Rarefaction of it in the Arteries. A great Pulse, as to it self, fignifies Strength, and is a good Sign, and on the contrary, a small Pulse signifies Weakness, Death, or at least a long Continuance of the Disease: But you must not think that a great Pulse is always best; for it is to be suspected sometimes, as in those that are plethoric; for the great Constriction of the Heart oftner proceeds from too great an Irrita­tion of it, than from the Strength of the Faculty; wherefore a moderate Pulse is best.

The Pulse is strong when the Artery strikes the Fin­ger hard upon touching. The Pulse is weak, when the Artery strikes the Finger weakly. A strong Pulse proceeds from a strong Constriction of the Heart, and from a strong Course of the Blood into the Arteries; and therefore is a good Sign; namely, it shews Strength, and a brisk Influx of the animal Spirits in­to the Heart, it shews also the Shortness of the Disease; [Page 108]for where such a Pulse is, the Body the easier cleanses it self from the morbific Matter. An equal Pulse is when the Pulse equally strikes the Finger touching it. A frequent Pulse is when it frequently strikes the Fing­er touching it. The Causes of a frequent Pulse are a Disposition of the Blood to rarifie presently in the Heart, the Tenuity of it, and the previous Rarity. A rare Pulse flows from contrary Causes, it is ill in Youth, com­mon in Age, but worst, when it is weak as well as rare.

A Pulse proper to a hot Temperament, is wont to be great and frequent, and often strong. A Pulse proper to a cold Temperament is small, slow, and weak: A Pulse proper to a dry Temperament is rate and somewhat hard. A Pulse proper to a moist Tem­perament is somewhat great, rare, and soft. From what has been said, it is easie to judge of Pulses proper to compounded Temperaments, as hot and dry, hot and moist, cold and dry, cold and moist.

Childrens Pulse are very quick, and somewhat soft; for their Blood is very thin, and their Heart is very tender. In Youths and Men, the Pulse is very great, and very strong, in Women the Pulse is quick and soft, sometimes great, but most commonly small, for their Heat is weak. Old People have a rare and weak Pulse, by reason their Heat is languid. In the Spring the Pulse is wont to be strong, great, and moderately quick, for the Blood abounds by reason of the forego­ing Winter, and the Heat is moderate. In the Sum­mer the Pulse is quick, somewhat great, and strong, because the Blood rarifies better, and the Heat is more. In Autumn the Pulse is inconstant and weak, be­cause the Heat is lessened, and by reason of the frequent Variation of the State of the Air. In the Winter the Pulse is small, weak, and rare, for in Winter the Heat languish­es by reason of Serosity, and is lessened by the Air. In Sleep the Pulse is languid, rare, and small, for the Heat is then small: But when any one awakes, the Pulse is increas­ed, [Page 109]and is very unequal, because the Spirits rush from the Brain into the Nerves of the Heart. In Anger the Pulse is great, strong, and frequent; because the Spi­rits are carried plentifully and violently into the Heart. In Sorrow the Pulse is small, weak, and rare, because the Spirits languish in the Brain. In Mirth the Pulse is moderately great, strong, and equal. The Pulse proper for Love is more difficultly known; for it is compounded of several Pulses, of diverse Af­fections of the Mind; yet any one may know Love by the Pulse, if Signs of Diseases being absent, the Pulse is very unequal and inordinate; for the Spirits are wont to move very irregularly both in the Brain and out of it; for sometimes they are merry, and some­times sad, sometimes they fear, and sometimes they hope well.

CHAP. XVII. Of the Ʋrine as a Sign, of the Indication, the Indi­cant, and the thing indicated.

WE treat only here of the Urine, as an Effect, shewing its Cause in the Body, and so taken, it shews the Temper of the Body, or something particu­lar about the Parts of it, thro' which the Serum con­tinually flows; for by them it is varied in Substance or Quality; but the Inspection of the Urine is best after Chylification is perfectly made, and therefore it is best to see it after Sleep in a Morning. You must put it into a clear and thin Glass, that is round at Bottom; but it must not be viewed after Coition, Watching, Purging, or after Use of Medicines that affect the Urine, and it must not be viewed as soon as voided, nor too long after; but as soon as it is cold, and has a Sediment. You ought to view it in a clear Air.

If any one shall bring to a Physician, with Design to deceive him, the Urine of a Brute, or any thing else, instead of Man's Water, the Cheat is best disco­vered by the Smell.

Every Disease cannot be known by the Urine, tho' Piss-prophets pretend they are able to know all by it; for a Giddiness of the Head, a Wound of a certain Part, a Palsy, Luxation, and many other Diseases cannot be known by it, tho' something may be brought to the Reins and Bladder from every Part: But the Constitutions, Good or Ill of those Parts, wherein the Urine is perfected, generated, or somewhat altered, are chiefly known by the Urine, as of the Viscera ser­ving for Concoction of the Blood, Heart, Ureters, and Reins; therefore I say that Urine is a very gene­ral diagnostic Sign, and more general than the Pulse, because it often discovers the Disease, the Cause of it, and the Part affected; but the Pulse does not so; for by the Urine we know Diseases, as Ulcers, Wounds, Obstructions, and the Intemperies of the inner Parts; by the Urine we know the Causes, as Viscidity, Cru­dity, Choler, Stones, Sand, Clods of Blood, and the like. By the Urine we know the Part affected, as the Bladder affected by Scales or fetid Pus mixed with the Urine. We know the Reins are affected by Caruncles, Blood and Pus coming away with the Urine. We know that the Bladder of the Gaul is affected by the Urine being pale for a long while: But none of these are found by the Pulse, yet the Pulse is a more cer­tain Sign of Life or Death, for it shews the primary Causes of Life, whether they are well or ill, as the Influx of the animal Spirits from the Brain to the Heart, the Temper of the Heart, Blood, and the Con­comitants of them.

Urine also often shews Death, as an Ischury by the Defect of it in a Leucophlegmatia, by the Aquosity of it; in an Ulcer of the Bladder, by Pus mixed with it, in [Page 111]the Plague, by the Blackness of it, and its variegated Colour, and the like: But we must not prognosticate any thing rashly by the Inspection of the Urine: For sometimes, in the most dangerous Diseases, and when the Pulse are ill, the Urine appears good, and yet the Patient dyes notwithstanding; wherefore it is very fallacious.

The chief Colours which are observed in Urine, are these four, white, red, yellow, black. The general Causes of Colours in Urine are the Heat continually boyling, and working upon the Aliment, the Sto­mach, and Guts, and upon the Chyle mixed with the Blood. That Heat is the Cause of the Colour in Urine is very manifest from Fevers, the Heat of the Air, Labour, long Retention of it in the Body, and the like; and we see that by Heat Beer grows redder, and that Rhenish Wine carried into Spain looks more yellow, and Urine boyled over the Fire grows very red.

White Urine is twofold, one thin, called watery, the other thick, called milky. The Cause of a watry Urine is weak Heat, as in such as are cachectical, and hydropical, large Drinking, too short a Continuance of it in the Body by reason of the Laxity of the Pas­ages; for so such a due Chylification and Sanguificati­on cannot be made, as to tincture the Urine. An Ob­struction of the Passages, as we see in a Stone of the Kidnies. Lastly, Choler, by reason it is carried to the Head by being thin and light, as we see it is some­times very suddenly in Fevers, and then it betokens a Delirium. The Cause of a milky Urine is the Mixture of some white Humour with it, as Flegm, Seed, Pus, and the like.

A yellow Urine is caused by a due Concoction of the Chyle with the Blood. A red Urine is made by the Mixture of Blood with it, or by a greater Coction. Blood is mixed with the Urine, either upon the ac­count [Page 112]of the Tenuity of it, or by reason of a Rupture of a Vessel in the Reins, or Bladder, or the like. A black Urine, and other Species of it, signifie the Adusse on or Corruption of the Humours in the Body. The Urine often changes Colour, and so when 'tis voided red, being exposed to the Air, it sometimes, a little after, turns brown or yellow, and this comes to pass by the divers Reflection of the Light.

The Urine never smells pleasantly unless some odo­riferous thing be taken in, as Musk or the like, yet the natural Smell is not very stinking tho strong and sulphureous, and if it be without, it argues Debility of Heat, or that the Urine has not continued long enough in the Body. If the Urine stink much (unless stinking things have been taken in, as putrid Cheese, Garlic, or the like) it signifies the Corruption of some Humour, or the Ulceration of some Part, especially if Pus be mixt with it. But Urine that has Pus mixt with it, does not necessarily stink, for often Pus it self, coming from an Impostume, scarce smells, and much less when it is mixt with Urine. But it is mani­fest from Experience, that Matter made in the Reins or Bladder, stinks much, and is gross and viscid.

The Taste of the Urine is salt and nitrous, as is the Serum whereof it is chiefly constituted, if it has any other Tast, it proceeds from the Mixture of another Humour, and signifies that such an Humour abounds in the Body. But you will say, it is below a Physician to taste: Urine I answer, the Physician need not taste the Urine, for the Patient himself may do it.

The Quantity of the Urine is either the Abundance or Paucity of it. The Quantity in the natural State, is proportionable to the liquid Matter taken in, yet somewhat less, perhaps about a third, for some Part of it continually passes into Nourishment, and some Part is evacuated insensibly, or by Sweat, or by Spit­tle, and some ought to remain in the Blood to dilute it, or to be a Vehicle for it.

a great Quantity of Urine, unless it be occasioned by Cold obstructing insensible Transpiration, or by rea­son of taking Diureticks, Dropsie, Rheumatism, or by the Crisis of a Fever, whereby the Cause of the Disease is carried off, signifies a Debility of the urina­ry Passages, and the Laxity of them, and as the Ef­fect, the future wasting of the Body, as in a Diabetes. A small Quantity of Urine, unless it proceeds from a Defect of liquid things taken in, signifies great Heat dissipating the Serum, by insensible Transpirati­on, Sweat, or the like, and is often seen in Fevers; or it signifies an Obstruction of the urinary Passages, a Dropsie of some Part, a Rheumatism, Catarrh, or the like.

The natural Consistence of Urine is like that of Beer, moderately and duely boyl'd and fermented.

A gross Urine arises from a Defect of Serosity, or by some thick thing mixed with it, as it happens sometimes at the Beginning of Fevers, and in Children that eat too much.

A thin Urine proceeds from an Obstruction of the Urinary Passages, and so by reason of the Stone in the Kidneys it is thin, or by reason of the Weakness of the natural Heat.

That which is contained in the Urine is that Body which is observable in the Substance of the Urine. It is universally threefold, the Hypostasis, which sub­sides to the Bottom; the Eneorema which is suspended in the Middle, and the Nubecula which is on the Top: Of these none ought to be in the Urine of a well Person, but the Hypostasis, which signifies that Concoction is made, and if it be of a whitish, and of a round Figure, and equal, it is best.

That which is particularly contained in the Urine is either a Stone, Sand, Matter, Blood, Caruncles, Fat, or a brawny Sediment; and most of these signifie a Disposition to the Stone in the Kidnies, or in the Blad­der. [Page 114]Fat signifies a wasting of the Body, and is often seen upon the Top of the Urine of consumptive Peo­ple. As to the Sand, it is not as some think always Fragments of a greater Stone, but a certain Concrete of Salt in the Urine.

Because the ordinary People, and some of the better Sort have been a long while, and are still much abused by Quacks, Empericks, and some methodical Phisicians, who pretend to the Knowledge of all Diseases, by the In­spection of the Urine, I shall here make appear, that there is no certain Knowledge of many Diseases to be gathered from the Urine alone, and that it is better for the Physician to see his Patient once, than to view his Urine twenty times: And several learned Physicians have likewise written diverse Tracts therein, discover­ing the Dangers of taking Physick prescribed only by the Sight of the Urine, to the end that they might dis­possess Men of that fond Opinion of a Physician's dis­cerning Diseases by it, wherewith they have been so long time deluded; and one of these, in shewing the Falshood and uncertain Judgment of Diseases by the Urine, hath set down the ingenious Confession of a dy­ing Physician, made to him, being then present with him some three or four Days before his Departure, who being requested to leave to Posterity that Skill whereby he had been so much admired and esteemed for judging Women to be with Child by their Urine, made this Answer; I have, said he, with great Ap­plause, exercised it, and found, by much Experience, that it is a great Cheat; and therefore not worthy to be counted an Art, and unfit to be communicated to Poste­rity. Another of them makes also this fair Confession. Says he, I have been so fortunate herein, that I have seldom failed in my Predictions of determining a Wo­man to be with Child by the Urine, as I have made them believe, when the Messenger has been able to cer­tifie me of the State of the Woman's Body, and could [Page 115]answer me to certain other Questions touching other Signs of Conception. Above all the rest, I was once magnified by a Counsellours Wife, for this cunning Cheat; she meeting with two other Doctors, she told them to their Faces, that I was the cunningest Doctor in all the Town; for I had told her, by her Water, that she was with Child, and just how long it was since she conceived of it: But had the Woman that brought the Urine, shewed me no more than the Urine did, I should scarce have ventured to have pronounced her to have been with Child: But I, said he, am more to be blamed for my jugling, than she for her Credulity.

Notwithstanding what has been said, the vulgar Sort are so strongly prepossessed by reason of their Ig­norance, that Physicians can discern, by the Urine, the Disease, the Conception, the Sex, the Parties Age, with many other such Absurdities, that I fear it will be a hard Matter to dispossess them of that Opinion; and Physicians, the more to blame they, have intimated and pretended so much to this Knowledge, that they will hardly acknowledge their Errors, and relinquish this Cheat: But when it shall appear that the Urine is deceitful, and the Physician that pretends Knowledge of Diseases thereby, and gives his Judgment by such Fallacies and Jugling, as shall be shewed in the ensu­ing Discourse, let the ignorant chuse whether he will believe his lying Oracle or no, and let the Physician chuse whether he will be honester than to use such Deceit. Yet I hope the one will blush to have been so deluded, and the other to have his conjecturing disco­vered, the Urine giving no certain Knowledge of most Diseases.

Diseases are either acute or chronical,; acute are a Pleurisy, Peripneumonia, Frenzy, Iliac Passion, Fe­ver, Small Pox, Pestilence, and the like. Chronical Diseases are such as proceed from the ill Temperature of the Humours, and Disposition of the Constitution [Page 116]of the Body, such are a Consumption, Dropsie, Me­lancholy, Gout, Palsy, Falling Sickness, Cachexy, and the like; but for the most part, the common fort of People come or send their Water to Physicians for acute Diseases, and acute Diseases have always a hot and burning Fever joined with them, and the Urine, for the most part, in a burning Fever, is of a high red Colour, and such an Urine being brought to the Physi­cian to cast, as they call it, and being of a red high Colour, he presently conceives it to be a sharp and vi­olent Disease, and then knows for certain that there is a Fever joined with it, and so he is quickly prepared to give his Judgment of it, and needs now do no more but give a Description of a Fever to make the Messen­ger believe that he perceives a Disease in the Water, ye he comes to the true Knowledge of the Disease by some such Parly and Expostulation with the Messenger, as shews the Symptoms and Affects of the sick Party. Now the Description of a Fever, and indeed one De­scription will serve for any Fever, and for all sharp and violent Diseases, is to reckon up the Symptoms and Signs of a Fever, which he knows before he looks upon the Water: They are these, Oppression of the Stomach, Want of Appetite, a great Pain in the Head and Back, and the like. Now the saying so makes the Messenger think that the Doctor perceives by the Urine that the Party is so affected, yet it is no such Matter; for a high colour'd Urine is not always the infallible Sign of a Fever; but suppose it were, yet the Symptoms and Companions of a Fever, as Heat, Thirst, Pain in the Head, and Want of Sleep, Op­pression of the Stomach, Want of Appetite, and the like, are not to be seen in the Water.

These things being premised, I hope thou wilt be the better able to judge of that which follows, and per­ceive how easie a thing it is to give Judgment of Dis­eases by the Urine, tho' it be not there to be seen, and [Page 117]will perceive the Fallacies that uphold this Custom, and so learn to distinguish betwixt an honest, learned, plain-dealing Physician, and a chearing Caster of Wa­ter.

The Messenger, whether Man or Woman, you must note, is one who is as it were made out of Wax, and the Physician can mould him into any Form that shall fit his Purpose best, and make him, by impertinent Que­stions, as he thinks, to tell him any thing concerning the sick Party, that he shall desire to know.

The Urine, if brought out of the Country, is for the most part in a Glass Bottle: But if ones in the City, it is brought in an Urinal or Viol, it is red and high coloured; and therefore the Piss-prophet rips up all the Symptoms of a Fever, as before, and the Mes­senger presently answers that the Party is just so affect­ed, as I said: But as yet he has not named the Dis­ease, and perhaps omitted something, which is ex­pected he should have named, and the Messenger is ready then to ask him, if he perceived nothing else in the Water; to whom he answers, yes, if you'll give me leave to tell you; and perhaps the Messenger asks if he do not perceive a Stitch, then the Piss-pot Lectu­rer answers, looking upon the Water, as if it were there to be perceived, yes, I well perceive the Stitch, and some Cough too, and he says, when the Cough take; the Party, the Party is much pained in the Side; and because he did not first name the Stitch, he tells the Messenger, that we first use to declare the Cause of the Disease, before we come to every Passion, or Ef­fect of the Disease, or before we name it. He further adds, that he was not come to speak of the Stitch, because he had named the Oppression of the Stomach, and the Obstruction of the Spleen and Mesentery, and that the Stitch was nothing else, but a slatulous and windy Humour proceeding thence to the Part affected. And now having been so happy in his Predictions of [Page 118]the Disease, and rightly determined it to be a Pleuri­sie, so now he proceeds to the Prescription of such Remedies as may cure this Pleurisie, and yet here he is as far to seek, tho' he know the Disease to be a Pleu­risie, as if he knew not the Disease at all, nor had seen the Urine, because he does not therein perceive the Scope and Grounds of prescribing fit Remedies, in every Respect, proper to the Disease, according to the Rules of Art, the which Scope and Grounds are these, namely, the Parties Age, the Sex, the Consti­tution of the Body, and the Strength of it at this Time, with divers other Accidents, as whether the Party be bound in his Body, or have a Flux, or the like; all which, nor any one of them can be discerned by the Urine, and so he must needs err in his Prescrip­tion, if the Messenger refuse, or be unable to give him a full account of the Case; for if not knowing the Age of the Party, he should order such a Quantity of Blood to be taken away from a Youth, suppose Ten or Twelve Ounces, in a Pleurisie, the Disease in Hand, as should be taken from a Man in his full Strength, the Party might perish thereby: Or if he should take but four or five Ounces of Blood from a lusty young Man in this Disease, he would do him no good, and so he might perish on the other hand. He may like­wise err in the Dose, by proscribing more or less than is proportionable to the Party's Age. He may like­wise err as much by not knowing the Sex, if he should in the forenamed Disease prescribe Blood-letting to a Woman, when she has her natural Courses upon her; for thereby there may be a Solution of the Dis­ease without bleeding. He may likewise err, if not knowing the Sex, he should prescribe purging Physick for a Woman with Child; he may also err upon the Account of the Constitution of the Patient, and Time of the Disease. Many Ways more may be shewen how he may err, and how most Physicians do err, that pre­scribe Physick by the View of the Urine only.

In the next place I shall shew how many Ways these false Prophets have to deceive the People, and to make them believe that they discern all things by the Urine, namely, the Disease, the Parties Age, Sex, Strength, Constitution of the Body, and the like. Suppose the next Messenger to be some Nurse, or Ten­der of sick Persons; who is commonly versed, and ac­customed to carry sick Persons Urines to Physicians; and as the Piss-lecturer is taking the Urinal out of the Case, he asks the Nurse how long the Party hath been sick; and she, out of Modesty and good Manners, can do no less than answer him to this Question; for she thinks this Question to be Words of course, and that he can gather nothing from hence touching the Parties Disease; so she answers him, a Week, a Fortnight, two or three Days, more or less, and hence he collects and has a strong Presumption, that it is an acute Dis­ease. Having askt this Question, and lookt upon the Urine, he says this Party has a great Oppression of the Stomach, has no Appetite, a great Obstruction of the Liver and Spleen, is very hot and thirsty, and has a great Pain in the Head, and can take no Rest, and was seized in the manner of an Ague, first cold, then hor, as he said in giving his Judgment on the last Urine; and indeed, this Description will serve for any acute Disease, whether it be the Pleurisie, the Small-pox, Measles, a Fit of the Stone in the Kidnies, Quinsy, Frenzy, the Iliac Passion, or any other acute Disease, wherewith a Fever is always complicated; or whether it be a simple Fever, which is primarily the Disease it self; but yet he will not always use the same Descrip­tion; because divers Messengers may come to a Physi­cian, and may stay, for Companies sake, to go away together, and may fall to questioning each other, what the Doctor said to them, and so may think, if he should use the same Description to them all, that he could say nothing else; therefore he sometimes varies [Page 120]his Description, and sometimes is shorter in the same; and then, if he find, by an Expostulation with the Messenger, that he has omitted any thing that he should have spoken to, he says, it proceeded from such a Cause as he had already named, and that he should have come to speak of that anon. He is sometimes likewise larger in his Description, as herein relating how the Party is affected, from whom this Nurse comes, and she is as ready to take him up for the same, and says, it is true indeed, that the Party can take no Rest, has no Appetite to Meat, and was seized in the manner of an Ague, but complains not of his Stomach at all, but cries out, my Head, my Head, and com­plains altogether for want of Rest; he replies, that the Pain of the Head is the chief of the Passions that the Party is affected with, but yet that it proceeded from the Obstruction of the Stomach, and Oppilation of the Liver and Spleen, which send choleric Fumes to the Brain, which inflame the animal Spirits, and cause this Pain that hinders Rest, and that if Rest be not obtained, the Party will rave and be frantic. Thus, having answered this Objection, he now begins to touch the Urinal, to see if it be settled: But finding it not settled enough to his purpose, to shew those things he must find out of it, he sets it down again very ten­derly, saying, it must yet settle a little better, and then he falls to question the Nurse concerning some­thing that may shew the Sex, for he must find out that by the Water too, and therefore he asks her what the Party used to do in the Time of Health, and this is a Question that may, she thinks, as well be answered without giving him any Light of the Sex, as the former Question, which was how long the Party had been sick, of giving him any Light of the Disease. But you shall hear what he collects from thence; she answers, he demanding what the Party uses to do, that the Party uses to do little, save only to go up and down [Page 121]the House, to work about the House, to walk up and down abroad, to keep a Shop, to labour, or the like; and from all these he makes several Observations; for if she say that the Party uses to do little, save only to go up and down the House, he presumes that it is the Mistriss of the House, or one of her Daughters, or some Gentlewoman in the House; for certain it is a Womans Water; for they should, and commonly do keep their House, and their Work is to walk up and down the House. But if she say the Party uses to do such Work as is to be done in or about the House, it is most likely that it is a Maid Servant; but if she say to walk abroad, he then presumes it is a Man's Water, and that it may be the Master of the House, or his Son, or some other Gentleman's, whose EMployment is on­ly to walk abroad and take his Pleasure. But if she say to keep a Shop, he supposes it to be the Mistriss thereof, or the Apprentices; or if she say that the Party uses to labour, he imagins it to be a Man-Ser­vant; so by her Answer to this Question, namely, what the Party uses to do in time of Health, he dis­cerns the Sex, and now taking the Urinal again in his Hand, for by this time it has stood long enough to settle, he says that it is a Womans Water, if the An­swer to the Question, what the Party used to do in Time of Health did infer as much; that she has a burn­ing Fever, and is so dangerously sick, that will hardly re­cover, unless such and such speedy Means be used; and this Danger he always pretends in every violent Dis­ease, tho' there be no deadly Sign at all, but not to the sick Parties; for that they cannot endure to hear of, but secretly to the Messenger, or some near Friend or By-stander, if he be present with them; and then, if the Party live, his Judgment will not be so much as questioned for saying the Party will dye; but be mag­nified for that he has recovered her of a dangerous Dis­ease; nay, to be sure, be happy in his Predictions and [Page 122]Prognosticks concerning Life and Death of the Patient; for they must always have a Hint of that, tho' the Thoughts of Death be unwelcome; but he always says if such and such Means be used, she may happily re­cover; and now he has performed his Part well enough to the Nurse in his Prognosticks concerning the Event of the Woman's Sickness, from whom she is come. He has told her how the Woman is affected, what the Disease is, and what will be the Event, and the Nurse is reasonably well satisfied herewith: But yet he has omitted something that she will be sure to tell him of; for since she has undertaken the Matter, she will not go without her Errand; and therefore asks him if he perceives nothing else by the Water? And he imagines well enough what it is else that he should perceive in the Water; for when that Question is propounded, it is to know whether the Woman be with Child or no: He answers, that there are many more things to be perceived by the Water, but not at all times, as whether a Woman be with Child or not, which is that you look for; but it is not now to be seen in this Water; because her Body is all out of Tem­per, and her Water troubled and discoloured, yet he thinks her with Child, and well he may, if she her self think so: But he further tells her, that he could have certainly told if she had brought her Water in the Time of her Health; and so she is satisfied for that Matter, and confesses that she is with Child indeed. Having thus satisfied her in all these things, told her that it is a Woman's Water, in what manner she was sick, what was her Disease, that it was likely she was with Child, which proves true, and that she would scarce recover: He asks her whose Water it is; but she will not tell that by any means; for she was for­bid to discover it, and indeed she was sent only to hear his Opinion of the Water, the which if she like, he may perhaps hear further from the Party; but if [Page 123]not, she is ordered to go to another Doctor, and so if she like not his Opinion neither, from him to another, until she comes to him that hits the Disease rightest, as she conceives by the Water, and it is a great chance if he be not the greatest Fool and Knave of all the three. This is the Man that must be made choice of to cure the Woman, and this is thought great Po­licy in making Choice of an able Physician; it there­fore behoves him to be a Crafts Master in this Art; fore else you see here, he is like to be choused of his Pati­ent, and to have his Skill call'd in question; for if he can­not find the Disease by the Water, they soon conclude he does not know how to cure it; the Nurse tells him indeed, that she came to hear his Opinion of the Wa­ter, and that the sick Party would send to him again, when she had heard (she should have said if she liked it) what was his Opinion, and I think he has fitted her; and now he tells the Nurse, that she should make haste home, and bids her be sure to deliver his Opinion as he told her, and to tell some of her near Friends how dangerously sick she is, and that he would, if she think good to make use of him, use the best Means that Art affords to recover her, and now he bids her make all the Haste that may be; but yet before he lets her go, he thus bespeaks her; really Nurse I com­mend thee that thou wilt do thy Errand handsom­ly, and make a Physician find the Disease out by the Water, and not be gulled to tell how the Party was affected, as many a Fool would have done: But I hope I have shewed thee truly, how the Party is affect­ed, and what is her Disease, and given thee such Sa­tisfaction as will content them that sent thee, here is for thy Pains, because thou hast put me to it so hand­somely, and so gives her (fearing lest he should have erred, that she may maintain his Credit, and in hopes of receiving a better Fee for being sent for) the Groat or Six-pence; nay, if it chance to be a Six-pence, in­deed [Page 124]she shall have it all, and so he shall be sure to have his Message well done, and perhaps she will tell him that which she denyed before, if not, she will magnifie him for his Skill, and he shall be sure to hear further from the Party, and have the casting of all the Waters she can bring him. So now he sends her away, and laughs at her, and the Devil at them both: He laughs at her, because he has cozened her, and the De­vil that he has cozened them both, by making her to believe that he discerns all those things by the Water that he told her, and making him to back his pretended Knowledge with such horrid Cheats.

In the next place I shall discover the great Simplici­ty of such as send their Urine unto a Physician without any Instructions how the Party is affected, and the desperate Hazard that they put their Lives in, who adventure to take Physick prescribed only by the Sight of the Urine.

Sometimes a Messenger is sent, and has no Know­ledge of the Disease, nor of the Party that is sick; and now the Piss-prophet must shew his Skill or never. He takes the Water to examine it, and thinks to question with the Messenger, as with the former, how long the Party has been sick, whose Water it is, and to put in such other Questions as may shew such Circumstances as will discover the Disease, and guide him in prescri­bing fit Remedies for the same: But the Messenger cannot tell whose Water it is, much loss the Constitu­tion of the Body, the present Strength at this Time, or whether the Party be bound or loose in his Body, with divers other such Circumstances, all which are so necessary for him to know, as that without the Know­ledge thereof he cannot safely prescribe any Physick; and yet this Messenger cannot tell him one Word, for he says he was not told, but was only hired to bring him the Water, and to bid him send something to help the Party, and all that he can say is, that such a Man's [Page 125]Servant came to him to get him to come, but does not tell him whose Water it was, nor how long the Party had been sick, and now in God's Name, what shall he do in this Case? For it is presumed that he knows the Disease by the Water, and all the Circumstances be­longing to the same, which are requisite to guide him in prescribing fit Remedies; and this base Fellow has pretended as much, and endeavoured to nurse up Folks in this Folly, as much as other Physicians have done before him, and has given his Judgment of Diseases by the Sight of the Urine, and backt his pretended Knowledge by such Fallacies as I have spoken of, with­out which neither he, nor any Physician in the World can give any Judgment of a Disease; nor come to the Knowledge of such Circumstances, unless the Messen­ger tells them, as may guide them in the prescribing of safe Medicines every way proper for the Disease. However it be, something must be done, tho' at random, and therefore, looking upon the Water, he perceives it to be very gross, thick, and turbid, in all Places alike, of an intense, high, dark, red Colour, and from thence he conceives, according to the foppish Piss-maxims, and Rules of our great Piss-prognostica­tors, there is a great Commixture of superabundant Humours, which the Substance of it, as they say, be­ing gross, thick, and turbid, shews, and that Nature is not yet able to concoct these Humours; for then there would be some Separation in the Urine, and it would not be in all Places alike, but would have a Se­diment in the Bottom, and be transparent in the upper Part. He conceives also, that the Patient has a great Fever, for that the Colour shews, being red and high, and that there is great Danger; for it is of an high dark red Colour, tending to Blackness: But yet he cannot tell what manner of Fever it is; for he cannot discern by the Urine, as common People suppose the Passions, and Affects of the sick Party, that determine [Page 126]the Disease, and should guide him in prescribing fit Remedies; and therefore he cannot tell whether it be best to bleed, to purge, or to give a Glister, or whe­ther the Body will bear any of these, or whether he had best give an Anodyne, or some cooling Julep, or some cordial Antidote, to expel noxious Humours from the vital Parts. Now which of these Methods he had best use he knows not. But however the Matter is not great; for the Patient ventures but his Life, and why should not he venture his Skill? He now therefore pronounces the Party to be lick of a bastard Pleurisie, or a Fever, and that he would hardly recover; further adding, that he should have been blooded a Week ago, and that he fear'd it should now be too late, yet he or­ders it to be done; for if any thing in the World re­cover him, it must be that; if that do it, it is but hab­nab: But yet however, he must put it in Practice; so now he hastes away the Messenger to get a Surgeon, and tells him where, and in what Quantity the Blood must be taken away. And now, it is a Question whether the Disease, or the Life be let out by this Blood let­ting. But perhaps, instead of bleeding he prescribes some purging Potion, and so sets the Disease and the Medicine together by the Ears, and leaves the Success to Fortune, and now whether the Party lives or dyes he cares not; for if he dyes he has taught them to blame their own Negligence in not sending any sooner. But if Nature be of such Force, that she is able to with­stand the Conflicts between the Disease and the Anti­dote, and stand up and take part with the Medicine, so that the Party recover, he shall receive more Praise, as being the only Cause of the Patient's Recovery, than Almighty God, who in his Providence has been plea­sed, by the Work of Nature, more than by any Skill of his, to spare and recover him. And thus the Peo­ple overvalue the Means, whereby as they suppose, they have been recovered, tho' used so desperately, as has been described above.

And now I hope you perceive, by these few Instan­ces, how a Man may deceive the wisest Messenger that you can send to a Physician with the Water, and shew you the Disease by the same, altho' it be not there to be found; and how great Danger they put their Lives in, that adventure to take Physick prescribed by the Sight of the Urine only; and so I have done with all acute and violent Diseases, and am now coming to speak of chronical, lingring, and Diseases of Continu­ance, wherein I mean to shew how these Piss-prophets give Judgment of them by the Water, tho' in these Diseases it shews less than in acute and violent Dis­eases. But before I come to examine some few Urines, to shew how they give Judgment of chronical Diseases, I must let you understand, that in chronical Diseases, such are the Dropsie, Gout, Palsie, Falling-sickness, Scurvy, French-pox, Green-sickness, Coughs, Head­ach, the Urine is no way faulty, but represents the Urine of the healthful, and yet the Physician, such an Urine being brought to him, must sentence the Party that made it to be sick, upon no other Proof, but only this lying Strumpet and false Witness, the Urine sub­orned by the beguiled, and self-conceited Vulgar, and connived at by the Piss-justice or Judge, before whom it is brought, who is corrupted for a Testar, and is contented to accept of her Evidence for Truth, when he knows it to be a palpable Lie that she comes to af­firm.

And as in these chronical Diseases, the Water, for the most part, seems not to import any Disease at all, yet the Party may be irrecoverably sick; so likewise the Urine is oftentimes of a high red Colour, and seems to import a high Fever, when the Party is not sick at all. It may be also of a good Colour and Con­sistence in a violent Disease, for the Confirmation whereof many Instances may be brought.

Now I come to shew how they come to know cer­tainly whether it be a chronical Diseases or no, tho' the Urine shew no such thing, namely, by the same Question that was propounded in giving Judgment upon Urines in acute and violent Diseases; and the Question was this, the Piss-monger asks the Messenger how long the Party has been sick; by Answer whereun­to he is certified whether the Disease be chronical or violent, for if the Piss post says a Week or less, then he presumes it is a violent Disease: But if he say that the Party has not been very well a good while, which is commonly their Answer in chronical Diseases, he is confirmed the Disease is chronical, and when he has once received this Answer to the forenamed Question, let the Water be what Colour soever it will, he knows how to give an Answer that shall please the Messenger, and will find the Disease.

Assoon as the Piss-prophet hears a knocking at his his Door, he trudges in Haste to see what is the mat­ter, and looking sharp, as if he had greater Busi­ness than to examine a Piss-pot, he finds there three or four Piss-Messengers at once with their Urinals un­der their Aprons, whom he ushers into the Hall, and looks very sternly upon them, and asks them very ha­stily (to the end he might dash them so far out of Countenance, that they may not be capable of con­ceiving whether he err or no in giving Judgment on their Waters; and to make them the more ready to tell him whatsoever he shall demand of them) what they would have with him, where they live, whose Water it is that they bring, and the like, and they are all ready to present their Waters, looking who shall be dispatched first: But before he takes any of their Urinals, he sounds them, to know how far he shall be puzzled with them, dispatching those first, that he finds he shall be least troubled with. To the first there­fore he says, where live you? And she answers, in such [Page 129]a Place, naming it. He further asks her whose Wa­ter it is, he asks her also who is her Mistress; to which she answers very orderly, and is now ready to put forth her Urinal unto him; but he does not take it, nor does he ask her any more Questions, for she will be ready to tell him whatsoever he shall demand; he comes therefore to the second, and asks her where she dwells, and she having told him, he likewise asks her whose Water it is that she has brought, and she says, a Gentlewoman's, who desired her to bring it unto him, and she is ready to give it him; but he refuses it: He goes now to the third, and asks her where she dwells, and that she is contented to tell him; but when he asks whose Water it is, she pauses here, and makes a Doubt whether she had best tell him or not, therefore answers, that it is her Friend's; then he asks her what Friend it is, and whether it be a Man's or a Woman's Water, and she tells him that he should perceive that by the Water when he looks upon it, and holds forth her Urinal, in Hope that he will dis­patch her first; but he refuses to take it, for he is like to be more puzzled with her, and it will require more Time and Art to answer her than both the other, and therefore she shall tarry to be the last answered for that Trick; he now therefore takes the Urinal of her that told him it was her Mistresses Water, and singles her out from her Fellows, bids her follow him into an­other Room; for he must not let several Messengers hear what he says to each other; because he may chance to stop two Gaps with one Bush, and to give the same Answer and Description of the Disease; and indeed one Description will as well serve for all chro­nical Diseases, as a Description of a Fever for all vio­lent Diseases; he having therefore took the Maid into another Room, bids her come to the Light, and as he is taking the Urinal out of the Case, perceiving it to be of a subcitrine, or pale Colour, which seems not to [Page 130]import any Disease, he presently says, Maid, thy Mi­stress goes up and down; and she answers, yes Sir, and imagins no less now, but that I perceive the Idea or Shape of her Mistress in the Water, and thinks that I can tell any thing else by the same, so that I shall not now need to trouble my self in asking her any more Questions; for she tells me that her Mistress goes up and down indeed, and that I had said very right, and tells him that her Mistress desired that he would certi­fie her whether she were with Child or no, so now he sets down the Urinal in the Window, and tells her it must stand so a little while and settle, and then he will tell her presently. In the mean Time he falls to parly with the Maid, and asks her whether her Mistress has had any Child or no, and how long, if she has, it is since she had one, and she says, a Year, a Year and an Half, or almost two Years, and indeed most child­ing Women go a Year, or near upon, and many a Year and Half, and some two Years, before they con­ceive with Child again, especially if they nurse their Children themselves. He likewise asks her, if she can tell if her Mistress has her natural Courses Monthly or no, or when she had them; to which she answers, that her Mistress bids her tell him that she hath not had them this ten Weeks, and therefore says she thinks she is with Child, but would desire him to resolve her, and he may quickly do it, without any more looking upon the Water; for the Tale that the Wench has told, shews plainly that she is with Child, and the sudden stopping of the Courses in a married Woman that enjoyed them Monthly before, is the most certain Token in the World that a Woman is with Child. It is likewise the aptest Time for a Woman to conceive immediately after she hath had them, nor can he, nor any other Physician tell, but by this Token agreeing with other Signs of Conception, which the Water shews not, whether the Woman be with Child or no, [Page 131]and yet for Fashions Sake, he takes the Urinal in his Hand again, and falls to p [...]ering into it, as tho' he lookt for some little Child [...] and says now to the Maid, that her Mistress is not very well in her Stomach, hath no Appetite to Meat, is ill in her Stomach in a Morning, and apt to vomit a [...] Meat, and says, that she is a quarter gone with Child, as the Maid told him; he further says, that she is with Child of a Boy, and to say so he has an even Lay, yet, lest it should prove false, he says, looking upon the Water very earnestly, that if it had been brought when it had been warm, or when she had been quick with Child, he could have told her certainly whether she were with Child of a Boy or Girl; but he verily thinks it will be a Boy. So now, if it chance to be a Boy indeed, it will be granted that he knew for certain that it would be a Boy, and he shall be accounted one of the rarest Doctors in the Town; but if it chance to be a Girl, the Flam that he gave the Maid, and the Truth of his Predictions in determining the Gentlewoman to be with Child, and telling her how long she was gone with Child will help to bear up the other; so that be shall not have his Shill one jot abated thereby. He now therefore tells the Maid, as if she were but just come in, that her Mistress is not very well in her Sto­mach, has no Appetite to her Meat, is inclined to vo­mit after her Meat, and is a quarter gone with Child, and he thinks of a Boy, and that it is very convenient for her to take some corroborating Electuary to strengthen and settle her Stomach, tho' she be with Child; nay, he says, that it would be good, not only for her self, but for her Child also; and he bids her tell her Mistress that it will make her Child prosper the better within her, and make it the more lively, so that it will help it self, and make her Delivery the more easie, and will also make the Child wise and un­derstanding. So now he is sure to get a Fee for him­self, [Page 132]and a Feeling for his Apothecary; for what Woman would not have her Child prosper within her, and be easily delivered of a wise Child? He therefore, upon the second Application, prescribes an Electuary of Marmalade, or some other Confection of Quinces, with some Species or Conserves to disguise it, tho' Marmalade alone would have done as well, and is in­deed proper to stop vomiting, and strengthen the Sto­mach; but whether it will make a wise Child I know not.

Having dispatched this Maid, he calls in the second Messenger, and says to her, come good Woman, give give me thy Urinal, and tells her (the Urine being of such a Colour as imports not an acute Disease, that is, of a high red Colour) that this Gentlewoman walks up and down, has a crude Stomach, no Appetite to Meat, and is, if she feed liberally, ill after it; and by reason of the ill Disposition of her Stomach, is of­ten pained in the Head; and here the Woman stops him before he run any further (for otherwise he may chance to reckon up most of the Symptoms that ac­company chronical Diseases, till he hit upon that which the Messenger lookt for) and says, she is trou­bled with a great Pain in the Head indeed, but does not much complain of her Stomach; and then he replies, that the Pain of the Head proceeds from the Stomach, and that the Stomach is always accessary to the Dis­eases of the Head, and that he named the Illness of her Stomach first, because it was the Cause of her Dis­ease, and having once given a Description of the Dis­ease, he will be sure to make it good, whether it be true or false; for if he had said that she had been trou­bled with an Obstruction of the Liver, and Pain in the Head, the Messenger should say, no Master Doctor, she is troubled with an Illness and Pain in the Stomach, he will say it is very true indeed, and I should have told you so, had you not interrupted me, for it comes [Page 133]from the Head; for the Stomach and Head do mutu­ally offend each other, and what can she say to the contrary? And if, when he has given a Description of the Disease, she says, Sir, she is much as you have said; but do you not perceive she has a very weak Back? to which he answer, yes marry has she, and something else too, which I shall tell you presently: And then he takes the Urine and looks upon it, and shakes it together, and sets it down in the Window to settle, pretending it will shew him something else anon; in the mean Time he gathers, by Conference with the Messenger, whether it be a married Wo­man's or a Maiden's Water, and then he takes the Uri­nal and says, if it be a married Woman's, that she has a very weak Back indeed, and that she is troubled with the Whites, which is a Disease that very many Women are troubled with that complain of weak Backs. But if the Water chance to be a Maiden Gen­tlewoman's Water, who is either troubled with a Pain or Heat in her Back, and the Messenger asking if she be not troubled with one of them, he presently con­jures them both in the Water.

But as to the Gentlewoman that is married, he says, that she has a very weak Back, is troubled with the Whites, and that this Disease has hindred her being with Child; for the Messenger has told him before, that the Gentlewoman has not had a Child within three or four Years, and that she will have no more Chil­dren, unless she were freed of them; and now he must think upon something to cure this Gentlewoman, for he is sure she will send to him again to help her to an­other Child: And now he is ready for the third Mes­senger, that said, she came from a Friend of hers. He has made this Gossip tarry till the last; because he was afraid she would prove a cross Piece of Flesh to deal with; and therefore he handles her gently; for the wildest Colts are often tamed by gentle Means. [Page 134]He says, Mistress, I have made you tarry, but you shall not altogether lose your Labour, I pray you fol­low me, and so be conducts her into his Parlour, where his Man is waiting for him, with a Tankard of Ale and a Tost with Nutmeg and Sugar for his Morn­ings Draught; then he sits down in his Chair, and says, here good Woman, I drink to you, and then bids her drink a hearty Draught; then he bids her mend her Draught, and tells her, that Nutmeg and Sugar in Beer in a Morning will make her Water sweet, and thus are the perverse Dispositions of cross Messen­gers better corrected, than the Malignity of Scamony with Anis-Seeds, or Rhubarb with Spike; besides, he having drunk his Mornings Draught, which will much enable him to see clear, he now says, come good Wo­man, how long has your Friend been sick? she says, he hath not been very well a good while, and so of­fers him the Urinal: But he refuses to take it, and says, because I have made you stay so long, I will shew your Friend's Disease by the Urinal Case, and never look upon the Water at all, and yet I will tell you the Disease as well as he that shall pore and peep into the Water a Month. He now therefore takes the Urinal Case of her, and looks as wistly upon it as if it were the Urinal, and the Water in it, and presently pro­nounces that the Party goes up and down, is not Heart sick, but is faint in the Body, has a bad Sto­mach, lingers and pines as it were, is joyless and me­lancholy, and takes no Pleasure in any thing; and now the Woman wonders to hear him say so, by look­ing only upon the Urinal Case, and yet what he says is as true as if he had lookt in the Urine. And thus the Messenger is soon caught, for he askt her before he took the Urinal Case of her, how long her Friend had been sick, and she told him that he had not been very well a good while; from which Answer I shall shew both the Sex and the Disease; for this Word, he, shews [Page 135]him the Sex, and these Words, hath not been very well a good while, shew him that it is a chronical Dis­ease, and how the Party is affected. The latter Part of her Answer, viz. A good while, shews that it is a Chronical Disease, and the former Part of the Words, namely, hath not been very well, does imply, lyes not by it; and that therefore he goes up and down; he has no Appetite to Meat, is faint in his Body, lingers and pines as it were, is joyless and melancholy, and takes no Pleasure in any thing, as he told her before, and so are all they that have not been very well for a good while. But the Woman never dreams that he gathers all this from her Answer; because he looks up­on the Urinal Case; but thinks rather that the Urinal infected the Case, or else that he can conjure. But he will make her wonder more anon; and now he adds, that it is a Man's Water, to which she answers, it is indeed. He further asks her how old the Party is, and according to her Answer, as the Parties Age shall agree with hers, he says that it is her Husband's Water, at which she marvels more than at all the rest, and says, it is indeed. And now she is ready to put Finger in Eye, and asks him if he be not in a Consumption, and tells him, for he did not name it, that he has a very great Cough, and asks him if he did not perceive it, then he tells her, that this Cough proceeds from an ill Stomach, which he had [...]ed, that sends a Rheum in­to his Head, which descends thence upon the Lungs, and causes the same, and now he comes nearer to the Matter, and tells her her Husband is inclined to a Con­sumption, but yet that he hopes he may be recover'd, and savs, he will use the best Means that may be to restore him; he also asks her why she so long deferred the coming to a Physician? and she says, that her Husband had thought to have wore it out, as they all think to do. And now he bethinks himself of aurum potabile, some Liquor of Life of a great Price, some Consumpti­on [Page 136]Powder of twenty or thirty Shillings an Ounce, or some such Receipt, which no body has but himself, than which there is no greater Secret in the World.

And by these Fallacies and deceitful Juglings, and far worse Shifts than I have here set down, has this base Custom of giving Judgment of Diseases by the Sight of the Urine, been underpropt and supported, or else it had long ago been abrogated and fallen to the Ground; for there is no Knowledge of any Disease to be gathered by the Urine, sufficient to guide the Phy­sician in prescribing Medicines to cure the same; and yet such a base Custom has been upholden and encou­raged by our best Physicians.

CHAP. XVIII. Of Glisters, Vomits, Purges, Bleeding, Leeches, Baths, Frictions, Ligatures, actual and potenti­al Cauteries, Cupping-glasses, and Issues.

A Glister is of good Use in Physick, and it serves to mollifie the Excrements, to discuss Wind, and to cleanse the Bowels from viscid Humours, tho' their Vertue, as most suppose, reaches no farther than the Guts, yet a Woman has been disordered in her Head by a Glister of Wine injected. Some say, that Opium in Glisters procures Sleep, and Sennertus ad­vises, in his Chapter of a Frenzy, when the Patient is very weak, to mix Opiates with Glisters. The Quan­tity of the Glister is commonly prescribed to fifteen or eighteen Ounces, which is often too much, when the Guts are filled with Excrements or Wind, or when the Patient is short of Stature.

Glisters, according to Galen, may be substituted for purging Medicines. When Purges do not their Office, [Page 137]Physicians commonly inject a Glister; but some think that a Suppository made of Honey and half a Dram of Salt is better in this Case.

Glisters made of Oyl of sweet Almonds are counted very effectual in the Cholick. A Glister of Tabacco is very proper to empty the Bowels. Let two Pipes be filled with Tabacco after the usual Manner, then light them, and turn the Mouths of their Heads one upon the other, then put the smaller End of one up the Fun­dament, and holding the small End of the other in your Mouth, you may blow the Smoak up into the Guts.

A Vomit works by moving inordinately the Fibres of the Nerves of the Stomach. A Vomit does not only evacuate from the Stomach, but also from the small Guts, the Ductus Cholidochus, and from the pancreatic Duct. But all do not equally bear Vomits; those who are narrow breasted, that are subject to an Asthma, spitting of Blood, vomit with great Danger: But they are of excellent Use when the Appetite is languid, and when the Stomach nauseates and when the ante­cedent Cause lurks in the Stomach; nor is vomiting so very dangerous a Remedy, as is commonly thought; for Reason and daily Experience shews the contrary. But frequent and difficult vomiting loosens the Tone of the Stomach, weakens the Bowels, and hurts the Head.

No purging Medicine purges electively, or is desti­ned for evacuating some particular Humour, but works upon all the Humours, and therefore it is vain to think that Cholagogs purge only Choler, Phlegma­gogs only Flegm, Melanagogs only Melancholy, Hy­dragogs only Water. It is also vain to think that a Purge is appropriated to the Head only, or to the Li­ver or Spleen only, or the like; for every Purge circulates with the Blood, and is carried to every Part, and works upon it.

Purging is proper for a Cacochymy, to carry off the ill Humous. The Strength ought to be good, which may be known by the Pulse; the Age, the Sex, the Temperament, the Habit of Body, the Custom, and the like; the middle Age bears purging best. In­fants and Old Age are purged difficulty. If Children are to be purged, the Cathartic must be given to the Nurse, for so it is suckt in with the Milk, and works more kindly. Men bear purging better than Wo­men: But some Women, especially such as have a Stoppage of their Courses, bear strong Purges. In the purging of Women you must take notice, that they must not be purged when they have their Courses upon them, and big bellied Women are not to be purged rashly; for there is Danger of Abortion. The safest Time of purging them is from the fourth Month to the seventh; but now a-days big bellied Women are purged at any Time with gentle Purges.

An hot and moist Temperament, and a fleshy Habit of Body bear Purges best.

We must take notice in prescribing a Purge, whe­ther the Body be much bound, and if so, it is best to give a Glister first.

Some say that the Humours must not be purged till they are concocted or prepared by previous Medi­cines: But our modern Practice is contrary to this. The Dose of a purging Medicine is to be found out by Experience, for the Propriety and Condition of Bo­dies are various; we must therefore ask the Patient whether he has taken a Purge at any Time when he was sick, and whether it wrought enough, and accor­ding to Desire or not; if you understand that the Pa­tient is easie to work upon, then use the more gentle means, or a smaller Dose.

Some add Narcotics with Cathartics, and it has been found by Experience, that after a gentle Sleep, a most successful Exclusion of Humours has followed. [Page 139]For a Pain in the Stomach, or the Cholic, the fol­lowing Pills are very proper.

They allay the Pain in an Hour, and afterwards evacuate the Humours.

Pills are the longest in working, Powders next, then Electuaries; but the quickest of all are Poti­ons.

Melancholy and mad People require strong Purges.

It is ill to feed freely after a Purge hath done work­ing, and it was usual with the Ancients to omit their Dinner on the Day they took a Purge.

If a Purge work not in four or five Hours, advise stirring about, and if there be no Fever, give two or three Pills of Aloes, hot Broath, half an Ounce of white Tartar finely powdered in Broath, or a com­mon Glister.

Those who have been subject to the Falling-sickness, Palsy, Stone, Hypochondriac Melancholy, such as have had the French-pox, inveterate Itch, Scabs, Le­prosie, or Scurvy, and those that have some usual Eva­cuation stopt, as the Terms, Hemorrhoids, an old Ul­cer, or a wonted Flux, or have a considerable Member cut off; these and such like, if they will consult for their own Safety and Life, ought to purge while they are in Health, to prevent Diseases.

It is very proper after Purges, especially in hyste­ric and hypochondriac Cases, in the Cholic and the like, to give an Anodyne at Bed-time.

Bleeding is a very ancient Remedy, used by all Na­tions, and there are few Diseases wherein it is not in­dicated, if the Strength be sufficient; but especially when the Quantity of it is too great, or when it is ex­travasated upon some Part, or coagulated. The Anci­ents [Page 140]were wont to reckon three Sorts of bleeding, one for Evacuation, another for Revulsion, and the third for Derivation: But I admit but of one, and that is of Evacuation, and that does all; for when Part of it is evacuated, the rest is better contained in the Vessels, and circulates better, so that Fluxion is prevented, and an Inflammation, and the Veins being emptied, that Blood which is extravasated is the easier recalled, as in a Quinsy, Peripneumonia, Pleurisy, and other Inflammations.

Some reckon there is a great Difference about the Veins that are to be opened; for they think that some above others do evacuate a certain Part, and therefore they have called some Veins Cephalic, some Hepatic, some Ischiadiac, and the like: But one would think these neither understand Anatomy nor Circulation; for otherwise they would know that the Veins communi­cate with the Arteries, and like so many Rivulets, take their Rise from the same Fountain; and therefore it is no matter of which side the Vein is opened, or which it is, only that which is largest and the most commo­diously opened is to be chosen: But in an Obstruction of the Courses, a Vein of the Foot must be opened; because thereby the Flux of them is promoted, and such Obstructions are often turned this way.

The Veins which are wont to be opened in the Head are the Jugular, the Temporal, the Vein of the Fore­head, and that under the Tongue; in the Arm, the Cephalic, Middle, and Basilic; in the Hand, the Salvatella and Cephalic; in the Foot, the Ischia­diac.

In opening these Veins, Care must be taken that the Nerve or Tendon lying under be not hurt, lest Con­vulsions, and other grievous Accidents, or Death should follow. Care should be also taken that the Ar­tery lying under be not hurt, for so an Aneurism will be occasioned, and in closing the Wound you must not [Page 141]leave any Blood in the Lips of it, lest an Inflammati­on should arise; but you must wash it well out, and bind it up. Care must be also taken that a Vein be not opened rashly in the Plague, Small-pox, Petechial, and Malignant Fevers, lest the Malignity should strike in and kill the Patient, nor in the State of Fevers, nor in the cold Fit of Agues, nor in great bellied Wo­men, especially at the Beginning or End of their go­ing with Child. Moreover, Women with Child must not be blooded in the Foot, in the Arm there is less Danger; and now many Women are wont to bleed when they are with Child, thinking that it is good for the Child's Health, and indeed it often succeeds very well.

Too much Blood must not be taken away at a time. You never ought to take away above a Pound at one time, nor so much but in extraordinary Cases. The common Quantities are seven, eight, nine or ten Ounces, and it is better to repeat bleeding, than to take away too much at a time.

You ought not to bleed till the Blood turns to a better Colour, as the Custom of some is; for sometimes that which come out first is red, and that which follows is of another Colour, and if you would continue bleeding till the Colour change better, the Patient's Life will be endangered; and you ought never to bleed till the Pa­tient faints, as is the Custom of some. It is best to receive the Blood in Porringers, that the exact Quan­tity of it may be known.

Old Men and Children do not bear bleeding well, yet sometimes they must be blooded in a Quinsey, Pleurisie, or the like.

More Blood may be taken away from fleshy People than from fat; also from such as are thin, if they have not been rendred so by a spare Diet and much Labour, for such have most Blood.

Some Physicians give a Glister before bleeding, but it is not necessary.

Many will not bleed in the Dog-days, as if there were something special then that opposed it: But the Heat of that Time, and the Dissipation of the Strength thereby are the only things to be minded, for if the Weather be then temperate, or if Necessity urge, you may bleed.

The Jugular Veins may be safely opened notwith­standing the Prejudice of the common People, be­cause the Veins are large, and there is neither Nerve nor Artery under them.

It is thought proper to sleep an Hour or two after bleeding, to recover the Strength, tho' it has been formerly reckoned hazardous.

It is certain that bleeding is profitable against a Plethora, whether already compleat, or but a begin­ning; for the Mischiefs of a Plethora cannot be better taken awak or prevented by any other Remedy; yet we should avoid this Evacuation as much as we may, because the Blood thereby becomes more sulphureous, and less salt, and therefore almost all Persons are apt thereupon to fall into Fevers, and to grow fat. Moreover, bleeding being a great Remedy, if it be prostituted to every little Occasion, it will become less profitable when there is need to use it for great Diseases, to which this may be added, that according to the vul­gar Observation, the more familiarly any one uses bleeding, the oftner he shall need it, because Blood being often let to avoid a Plethora, the rest of the Mass will the sooner rise again to a Plethora, far otherwise than some think, who fear lest the Store of the Blood should be wasted by bleeding, seeing on the contrary by this means its Quantity becomes larger, tho its Crasis be worse; for thus the Blood being spoiled of its balsa­mic Salt, and of its Salt that preserves it from Putrefacti­on, is instead thereof saturated with a fatening Sulphur.

Galen says, that Old Age does not forbid bleeding; you shall open a Vein in Men of seventy, says he, if the Disease require it; for there are some even of this Age that have much Blood, and are brisk, wherefore you ought not only to have regard to the Number of Years, which some do, but also to the Habit of the Body, for there are some that cannot endure bleeding at sixty, whereas there are others that can bear it at seventy; however less Blood must be taken from these than from young People. If therefore a brisk old Man be afflicted with a Pleurisie, Peripneumony, a burning Fever, or the like, there is no doubt but he may and ought to be let blood, seeing without that Remedy, such Diseases can hardly ever be cured, and if they are not able to endure the Remedy, they must necessarily perish. An old Man of seventy three Years of Age has been let blood sour times in three Days, and lost thir­ty Ounces of Blood; and tho' the Ancients thought Infancy and Old Age could not bear this kind of Reme­dy, yet it matters not what the Age is, but what the Strength is; therefore if a young Man be weak, it is bad to let him blood, but a lusty Boy, and a hearty brisk old Man do safely admit of bleeding; a Child seven Weeks old was taken with a cruel Pleurisy, the Signs whereof were a violent Cough, an acute Fever, and when he was laid down in his Cradle, or held in Arms, if he were touched never so lightly on the right Side, after having coughed a little, he would cry very vehemently, with Difficulty of breathing; in this case two Leeches were applyed to the bending of the right Arm, and two Ounces of Blood were taken away, which Remedy was of that Efficacy, that the Child was quite cured the same Day of this dangerous Dis­ease.

An Idiosyncrasy, or the singular Property of each ones Nature, makes some to endure any bleeding well, and others neither that which is large nor indifferent; [Page 144]yea, some are afraid and discouraged at the very men­tioning of it, and swoon as soon as they are pricked.

He that would determine the Quantity of Blood that is to be let, ought to consider the Country, the Strength and Plenitude of the Body. In hot Countries that are near to the Meridian, large bleeding is not so well born as in the middle Climates. The French, especially in Paris, bleed very largely; but colder Countries that are nearer the North, seem not to bear such large Evacuations of the Blood so well, whether the Fevers be acute, continual, or intermittent.

Letting of blood may breed a Custom; thus the Aethiopians, who use often to scarisie their Foreheads, their Forehead itches, and Blood is redundant; as likewise does the Shoulder Blade and Arm in those who have been used to be scarified or bleed in those Parts; for the emptied Part draws from the whole, and Nature endeavours to unburthen her self by that Part which uses to be opened.

If in the Middle of a Disease, or at the Beginning, Blood begins to flow out of the Womb, Physicians lay so great Stress upon the Benefit of that Region, that tho' it slows out at an usual Time, meerly symptoma­tically, they dare not use any other Evacuation which may stay that Fluxion, whence it comes to pass, that in the Cure of acute Diseases, they often incur great Danger by such Scruple, as when in the Beginning of a Pleurisie, or Peripneumony, or burning Fever, the Terms begin to flow, there are few who do not let slip the Opportunity of letting blood, or if in any acute Disease they dare do it, they do it in the Foot, indu­ced, as I suppose, by the Benefits of that Region, and being affrighted by the Dangers that are wont to happen, upon the Suppression of the Terms; but it does not become Artists to receive any Matter so indi­stinctly: That Evacuation of Blood by the Womb which is natural, is indeed profitable unto Women up­on [Page 145]many Accounts, and is generally suppressed with great Prejudice; yet that Evacuation is not always made with a like Benefit; and therefore it is neither stopt always with the same Danger; but the like hap­pens commonly in this, as in other Evacuations; we must therefore consider not only from whence the Blood flows, but whether it flows seasonably, that is, whe­ther at that time, when there may be made a Crisis of the Disease, and when the Terms use to flow, or whe­ther at neither of these times, but while the Disease is yet crude, and the Month is not yet quite come about, or whether it be come about, but the Disease is not ripe for a Crisis, or whether it be ripe for a Crisis, but the Month is not yet come about; for if the first happens, you may esteem the Evacuation to be very seasonable, and that the menstrual Evacuation of the Body, and the Solution of the Disease have happily jumpt upon the same time; you shall therefore give way to such an Evacuation, if it be made entirely, if not, you must help it by all means; therefore you shall open no Vein, or if you do, it must be in the Leg. But if the Evacuation be seasonable upon neither Ac­count, then matter it not, but let blood where, and as much as the Disease requires, abating only so much of the Quantity as you think may be supplied by the Fluxion that casually happens; therefore if it be a Pleurisie, let blood in the Arm, not mattering tho' it flow out of the Womb, if the Evacuation come before the usual Day of the Month, and yet happen fitly for a Crisis of the Disease, the Rule of a seasonable Crisis shall be observed to let it alone if the Flux be large enough, if not you must help it; but you must not hinder or divert it upon any Account, nor must you attempt another Evacuation, and if it be unseasonable for the Disease, but comes at a due Time of the Month, if so be the Disease be indifferent to upper or lower Evacuations, as suppose the Stone in the Kidnies, or [Page 146]be without a certain Seat, as a Fever, Blood shall be let out of the Leg, if there be need to let it: But if the Disease require Evacuation by the upper Parts, and be urgent, the Physician may bleed alternately above and below.

Bleeding by a large Orifice helps more than bleed­ing by a straight, when the Quantity of the Blood that is let is equal, because it has made a more sudden Change in the Body, when the Blood is poured out by a large Hole.

Some esteem so much the first time one is let blood, that they will not use it but in great Cases; because they think, that like an unusual and first Remedy, it may cure a Man of great Diseases, and this vulgar Opinion seems to be justified by what Hippocrates writes of the first Eruption of the Terms, and the first Co­pulation; and Celsus says, if any Kind of Disease hap­pens in Infancy, and ends neither when a Man comes to Maturity, nor upon the first Coition, nor in a Wo­man upon the first flowing of her Terms, the same is generally of long Continuance.

It is discussed by some later Physicians, how long we must abstain from Meat after bleeding. Galen, af­ter having bled a young Man sick of a Synochus with­out Putrefaction, gave some Food two Hours after. Others have said that we may allow Victuals one Hour or two after bleeding, tho not much: But this is a thing for the Physician to guess at, according to the Quantity of Blood that is let, and the Strength of the Patient's Faculties; for Galen stayed two Hours, be­cause he let blood very plentifully, whereby his Strength and Spirits were weakened, so that he fainted away. But we that bleed far more sparingly, and do not so much diminish the Heat, Spirits, and Strength, have no reason to tarry so long.

In the Diseases of Children, and of Women with Child, the Physician consults well for himself, and his [Page 147]Patients, if he be present when they are to be bled; for those who are intrusted with that Operation, be­ing too bold, do suffer the Blood to issue out too large­ly, and if any unfortunate thing happen, it is present­ly ascribed to the Physician.

When a Fillet is tyed about any Member, and the Vein that uses to be found in that Part does not ap­pear, but something that is round is felt deep under the Skin, of which you doubt whether it be a Vein or not, presently loosen the Fillet, if it be a Vein, it also growing lax, will fall down, and be no longer percei­ved by your Finger till you bind the Member again: but if, when the Fillet is loosened, that which you touched feels as it did before it was tyed, then use not your Lancet, for it is not a Vein but a Tendon, or the Head of a Muscle, or something beside a Vein, and the Arteries beat where they are, whereby both their Situation and Depth become manifest, even to a mean­ly experienced Artist.

If when you have occasion to bleed, the Vein do not appear, a large Cupping-glass, with much Flame is to be fixed upon the Part, and that will make the Vein shew it self.

In bleeding there often happens a swooning or faint­ing away, which uses to cause greater Fear in those who are present, yea, in Physicians that are young Practitioners, than Harm to the Patient: This hap­pens not thro' the Fault of the Artist, but the Softness of the Patient's Mind, which too readily disturbs the Spirits; but this may be easily prevented, if the Pati­ent lye along, and hold some Water or Wine in his Mouth whilst the Vein is cut and the Blood flows out; if he faint notwithstanding, stop the Blood by laying your Thumb upon the Orifice, and sprinkle his Face presently with cold Water. If the fainting continue, pinch his Nose also, and when the fainting is over, taking off your Thumb, let as much Blood be taken [Page 148]as seems good to the prudent Artist, and cease not to bleed as the over-fearful use often to do.

We use Leeches where Bleeding and Cupping-glasses cannot be applied, as to the Nose, Lips, Fingers, and Toes, Womb, Anus, and the like; also to Chil­dren and others from whom but a little Blood ought to be taken.

The best Leeches are in clear Water, of moderate Bigness, and of a liver Colour, the Belly reddish, the Back greenish with golden Streaks; the rest are venom­ous, especially those that are brown, thick-headed, and that live in impure Waters. These little Animals have little sharp Teeth, whereby they bite and stick to the Skin of Men and other Animals. That they may suck the greedier, anoint the Part with a Drop of Pigeons Blood, or of the Blood of a Chick, or rob the Part gently, or prick it a little, and hold them with a Rag, and not with the naked Hand. When they stick, if you design to bleed freely, you must cut off their Tails, for so the Blood will drop from them; you must take care that none of their Teeth remain in the Part, for so the VVound is made incurable, and Death often follows; it is therefore better to let them suck till they are satiated, and till they fall off of them­selves, or you may sprinkle Salt upon their Heads to hasten their falling off, and instead of them you may apply others to evacuate a sufficient Quantity of Blood.

Our Surgeons and Apothecaries provide Yearly a great Stock of them, and keep them in Glasses, casting in a little Sugar sometimes to nourish them. But it may be doubted whether they are made better by this means, perhaps they become more virulent, and worse hereby. It is false, that being applied to the Anus, they suck away melancholy Blood from the external or internal hemorrhoidal Veins; for first, that Vein has not more melancholy Blood in it than any other, [Page 149]neither do they carry it from the Spleen, as the Anci­ents thought; yea, the Spleen is not the Receptacle of Melancholy, as the Ancients thought.

If Leeches are to be applied to the hemorrhoidal Veins, first let the Fundament be fomented with a De­coction of Mallows, or the like.

Cupping-glasses are made of Glass or Horn, or the like; they are to be applied to carnous Parts, and stick close to them: They must not be applied upon Tendons or Arteries. They are to be applied after the Part is well rubbed with a linnen Rag. Those that work without Fire are either made of Horn or Wood, and a Hole is in the End of them, through which the Air is drawn, when they are placed upon the Part. Those which are applied with Fire have a little Flax in them, which is to be fired just as they are about to be put on: But lest the Flax should burn the Flesh, it is fastened to the Bottom of the Cupping-glass with a little Wax or Turpentine. Those which are without Scarification draw out only the Blood and Humours from the neighbouring Parts, so as that they may the better transpire through the Skin: But such as are applied with Scarification sensibly evacuate many Ounces of Blood and Humours, and much more if a Cupping-glass be applied before the Scarification. The Use of Cupping-glasses is very effectual in many Cases, especially to draw out any malignant thing from the Body: But they are more painful than bleed­ing.

Frictions are made with hot Cloaths, with and without Pain, and till the Skin is red. The Ancients used them for Revulsion, supposing that so the Blood and other Humours about to flow to the Head might be drawn to another Part, suppose the Back or Arm; but Frictions do not operate so powerfully in this Case, as to hinder the Flux of any Humour to the Head, or if they do any such thing, it is of so little Duration [Page 150]and Efficacy that it does not deserve the Name of Re­vulsion; therefore I think Frictions serve chiefly to make the Blood flow more plentifully to the Skin, and to carry off any ill thing mixed with it through the Pores of the Skin: They also ease small Pains of the Head, and asswage an Epileptic Fit; such as are strong and painful are proper for sleepy Diseases.

Frictions are also very proper for old Men; they hinder the Humours from falling upon the Joints, and help Digestion, and if performed in due Time, that is, having eased the Body of its Excrements, they chear the Body, and corroborate the natural Heat, and excite the vital Faculties; whence the Distribution and Concoction of the Food is more easie and ready. They are very proper for old Men in the Summer and in the Autumn, having first voided the Excrements of the Belly and Bladder.

The Use of Ligatures is rare now a-days, for they do not that which many expect from them, they are sometimes used in violent Hemorrhagies, so the com­mon People are wont to bind the Fingers of a VVoman that has too many of her Courses with Silk, and the Arms and Legs for bleeding at the Nose.

An actual Cautery is a red hot Iron of a certain Fi­gure to burn some Part of the Body; it is used to stop hurt Arteries, and a Flux of Blood. It is also used for a Caries of the Bones, and to make Issues: But this is counted a cruel Remedy, and is therefore sel­dom used, especially seeing the thing can be done by a potential Cautery.

A potential Cautery, or an Eschareotic is of great Use in Physick for opening the Breast, Imposthumes, and for taking off proud Flesh; but Care must be ta­ken of the Nerves, Tendons, and great Vessels. Care must be also taken that the Caustic do not lye long, or dissolve so much as to corrode the neighbouring Parts. To prevent this, Plaisters with Holes in them are first [Page 151]to be applied to the Part for a Defensive, and the Caustic is put into the Hole, or it is kept close by half a Nut-shell bound hard on.

Blisters are also of the Nature of a Caustic, and work much after the same manner, only they are weak­er. They are of great Use in malignant Fevers and sleepy Diseases, and in other Diseases, when we would evacuate some acrid Humour from the Blood: But in the Application of them care must be taken of the Tendons and Nerves.

Issues are certain small Ulcers mady by Art in divers Parts, they are made either by an actual or potential Cautery, or they are cut. They are frequently made in the Limbs, and sometimes, tho rarely, in the Neck. In making of them have a care of the Beginning of the Muscle, chuse the Middle or the End of it, but al­ways let the Place be betwixt two Muscles, as in the Arm betwixt the Deltois and Biceps; in the Thigh in the Inside the Distance of two transverse Fingers above the Knee.

Issues evacuate noxious and superfluous Humours, whilst they distill betwixt the Muscles, or are carryed about them with the Arterial Blood; therefore they are of great Use, and prevent Diseases.

A Seton is a silken Thred, or a Skein of Silk waxed, and with a Needle, conveyed through the Flesh. It is made in the Neck, betwixt the first Vertebra and the fifth, also in the Legs and Arm; at the Beginning you must provide against an Inflammation; therefore apply Digestives. The Skein must be dayly moved till the Disease ceases; it works more powerfully than an Issue, but is much more troublesome, and there­fore is seldom ordered till that has been found inef­fectual.

The general Ends of Issues is the Evacuation of Mat­ter offending and dayly accruing.

Issues as well as Blisters drain out whatsoever Hu­mours are fixed within the Skin, and anticipate morbi­fic Humours that are wont to be carried to other Parts that were before weak and long afflicted, and so free sometimes one Part, sometimes another, and like a Bullwark defend them from the Enemy; hence the Matter, whether arthritic or nephritic, or colical, yea sometimes the paralitic or the scorbutic Matter as it passes out of its Fountains to its Nests, or diseased Parts is often intercepted, and so is carried out. Is­sues also, like VVater-furrows, made to drain the Ou­ziness of the Earth do by little and little drain out the Humours that are settled in any Part or Region of the Body, and are there doing Harm, and so they either prevent or cure a morbific Disposition.

From these various ways of helping, whereby Is­sues are wont in general to profit, it is easily gather­ed for what Diseases they are chiefly requisite; for tho there be almost no Disease to which this Remedy is ei­ther hurtful or unprofitable, yet it seems more neces­sary in some Cases than in others, it is commonly pre­scribed for almost all Diseases of the Head both inter­nal and external, for the convulsive Motions of In­fants and Children, for their Ophthalmy and strumous Humours; nor is this Remedy in less Repute for Dis­eases of the Breast, as also for those of the lower Bel­ly: But however profitable and benign it be of it self, it is not agreeable for all; for there are two Sorts of Men, who tho they are diseased, may not have Issues, namely, because it evacuates too much in some, and in others less than it ought, and in the mean time is very painful. First, it is not convenient when it eva­cuates too much, or spends the Moisture of the Spirits. It has been observed in some, that an Issue made in any Part of the Body pours out an Ichor immoderate in Quantity, and vitious in Quality, which is thin and stinking, and often colours the Pease and Coverings [Page 153]black, and by the too great Flux thereof, the Strength and Flesh are wasted; for the corruptive Teint of the Issue being communicated to the Blood, does in some sort deprave the whole Mass, whereby it is rendred less nutritious. Secondly, Issues are forbidden, some on another, and indeed, on a different Account, namely, because when they evacuate little or nothing, they vex and pain very much the Part wherein they are made; for such as are of a choleric and hot Temper have the their Mass of Blood thicker, and less diluted with Serum than it should be, and the Frame of it too strict; and such a Solution of Continuity be­ing made and continued for the Issue, the Blood it self sticks in the Passage, and so being extravasated, causes a very painful Inflammation, and in the mean while, seeing such an Issue pours out but very little Ichor, it is as unprofitable as troublesome.

For Diseases of the Breast Issues between the Shoul­der-blades, as also in the Arm or Leg are good to eva­cuate and anticipate the Humours that are flowing to­wards the Lungs, as also to call out those that are al­ready deposited there.

We know by Experience how an Issue made in the Thorax it self, between the Rips, does sometimes more immediately derive the tabific Matter from the Lungs. Aquapent orders the making two Issues in the Hollow under the Middle of the Collar Bones against Distillations upon the Breast.

By an Issue in the Groin is sometimes happily cured, a great Lumbago or Pain in the Loins, when it would yield to no other Remedy, also an inveterate Sciatica; for the glandulous Emunctories that are in that Place imbibe very many Recrements of the Blood and ner­vous Liquor, which if they be forthwith and continu­ally sent from them by a fit Emissary, must needs con­tribute much to free the neighbouring Parts from any morbific Minerals. Such have Issues made in the Groin [Page 154]as are not married, and such as are well in Years. They are approved for the Cholic and Pains of the Blad­der, for the Gout, and a stubborn Itch.

Some in England are of Opinion that an Issue dis­poses to Barrenness, on which Account married Wo­men, and such as design Children, are strictly for­bid the Use of them, and certain barren Women that had Issues are alledged; it were easie to mention many more barren Women that have no Issues, and many fruitful Women that have.

Let the Bandage of the Issue be moderately tyed, for a loose Bandage keeps not the Pea in the Issue, and a too strict one presses out all the Moisture, and causes the Issue to become quite dry. A Lady wore an Issue in her left Arm for many Years with very great Benefit, but by a too strict Bandage the Place of the Issue was so compressed, that there seemed to be nothing but Skin and Bone, and upon leaving the Fillet off, and by applying only a strengthening Plaister, the Issue ran very well.

Before an Issue is dryed up, you must consider the Age, the Constitution of the Body, the Matter offend­ing, the Part sending, and the Part receiving. If an Infant being troubled with the Falling-sickness, for in­stance, an Issue be made in the Nape of the Neck, and a regular Diet withall be prescribed the Nurse, and fitting Medicines given, whereby the Fuel of the Dis­ease may be substracted, and the Head strengthened, so that there be no Suspicion of the Return of the Ma­lady for a Year together, the Issue may be safely clo­sed up; for if it should be continued any longer, the good Juices may flow out as well as the bad, and the Part may be debilitated. In a Man of middle Age, his present State is to be compared with the former, which if it be become better, and while the Issue has ran he has not suffered a Relapse, it may by little and little be obliterated in the Nape of the Neck, or in [Page 155]the fore Part of the Head, by lessening the Pea by de­grees, and a new one may be made in the Arm for Se­curity, which also for a while may be dryed up. But let old Men wear them to the last, namely, those whose natural Heat is weak, and in whom there flows out Plenty of Matter. VVe must consider also in VVo­men with Child, whether the innate Heat be so brisk, as altogether to consume the morbific Matter, or whe­ther the offending Matter find some other VVay. From all which we may infer that there is no definite Time of wearing an Issue, and that Death does not always follow closing them up.

The Ancients practised Scarification far more con­fidently and frequently than we now a-days, who use it in no other Cases than in the Application of Cup­ping-glasses, and in the Cure of Gangreens: But it is of wonderful Efficacy to ease all Pains that invade the outward Part of the Body: One being afflicted Night and Day for many Months together with venereal Pains in his Leg, and could be eased by no Medicines, was cured by the Help of Scarification.

The Aegyptians use to scarifie the Skin in very ma­ny Places.

Baths, as they are very profitable used aright, so they are dangerous used amiss: For some are to be bathed gently, some more strongly. The Ancients were wont in Baths to use hard Scrapers made of Stone, or of some Metal, or of the hardest Woods, to cleanse off the Filth from the Skin: But those who are to be used more gently, must dry their Bodies only with wiping them with Sponges or linnen Cloaths.

Bathing wears off Lassitudes, for it supples the Joints, and loosens the Skin; wherefore whether a Man be troubled with spontaneous or nonspontaneous Lassitudes, he can use nothing better than a Bath, un­less there be either such a Fullness or Badness of Hu­mours, that it is fitting to bleed or purge first. [Page 156]Bathing after a long Journey takes off Weari­ness.

CHAP. XIX. Of Alexipharmics, Cordials, Diaphoretics, Diure­tics, and Anodynes.

THose are reckoned for Cordials that assist the Heart labouring in any kind; wherefore one is said by Authors notably to strengthen the Heart, another to keep it unhurt by any Putrefaction, others to relieve a weak oppressed Heart, to cure its Tremor or Fainting, and to preserve it from Corruption. Moreover, be­cause in the Plague, Small-pox, and malignant Fevers, the Heart is believed to be seized or beset with Poyson or Malignity; therefore the Remedies that are wont to help in these Diseases are not called simply Cordi­als, but Alexiteries, and Alexipharmics. This Opi­nion concerning both Cordial and Alexiterial Medi­cines seems to rise from hence, in as much as the Heart is commonly believed to be the Beginning of all Life and Heat, and that therefore our Health and Death depend on its immediate Affection, hence what things soever recreate the Soul are supposed to do it, as they are benign and friendly to the Heart.

As to Cordials, by which the too strait Frame of the effervescing Blood is loosened and opened for the set­ting at Liberty the febrile Matter, and other Recre­ments, those are of Affinity with some Diuretics and Diaphoretics, yea, sometimes they are of common or reciprocal Use, in as much as the vitiated Crasis of the Blood sometimes cannot be relieved, unless its Frame being first unlocked, there lye open an Exit for discharging the Serum by the Reins, or the Pores of [Page 157]the Skin. Saline Medicines do chiefly execute all these Intentions of Cure; for the opening of any Body, whe­ther liquid or solid, is hardly performed but by a sa­line Key; for commonly all Concretion or Compacti­on is from a Salt of one Sort, and the Dissolution from some of another Sort that snatches into its Embraces the first Salt; therefore we reckon Salines among Cor­dials, no less than among Diuretics and Diaphoretics; because there is the same Reason in all. In the first Rank Cordials indued with a volatile Salt offer them­selves, and are justly preferrable to all the rest, as Spirit of Harts-horn, of Blood, of Sal-armoniac, the Spirit of Sculls, the Salt of Vipers, and the Powder of Toads; such Remedies as these have recal­led many from the very Jaws of Death.

The second Place among Saline Cordials is of Right owing to Remedies indued with an Alcalizat Salt; for these are commonly reputed notable Cordials; of this Sort are the Bezoar Stone, Pearls, Corals, the Bone of a Stag's Heart, the Horn of the same, the Powder of Ivory, the Eyes and Claws of Crabs, and other Pow­ders of Stones and Shells, which common Experience witnesses to be often given with Benefit. To this Clas­sis of Cordials are Bole-armenic, Lemnian, and seal­ed Earths, and other chalky Medicines deservedly re­ferred, but not upon the Account that they succour the labouring Heart, but because they destroy the pre­dominancies of an acid or fixed Salt, either in the Bowels or in the Mass of Blood, and correct the Enor­mities produced thereby.

Acid Medicines, or such as are indued with a fluid Salt are to be reckoned in the List of Cordials, for these are esteemed by most to be notable Alexiteries against the Pestilence, wherefore in the Cure of ma­lignant Fevers, Treacle and Bezoartic Vinegars are highly cryed up, yea, Vinegar or acid things are usu­al Ingredients in Waters distilled for the same Use: [Page 158]For the same Reason Spirit of Vitriol, the Juice of Ci­tron, Sorrel, Pomgranates, and the like, are reckon­ed for Cordials, and Alexiteries, and that indeed just­ly; because these do excellently dissolve the Combi­nations of fixed Salts with adust Sulphur; and there­fore, by such Remedies as these, the Coagulations and Extravasations of the Blood that use to happen in ma­lignant Fevers are often prevented or cured. For the same Reasons for which the foresaid saline Medicines are reckoned for Cordials, others also, whose Basis is a fixt Salt, are reputed such, or are put into their Compositions; for seeing Salts of divers Sorts are bred in our Body, and they commonly pass from one State to another, hence not one Kind of Salt, but Salts of different Kinds ought to be given according as the In­tention is. A nitrous Salt is also justly numbred amongst Cordials, and is accounted a famous Antipu­retic, in that it takes away Thirst, and bridles the febrile Heat.

Moreover, some Medicines have the Name of Cor­dials, because they exert their Virtues upon the Spi­rits, and more immediately than upon the Blood. These Medicines are fitly enough reduced to two Heads, and as they are gentle or rugged, attain the same Scope, namely, they either erect and confirm the animal Spirits by cherishing, and as it were, gently and softly stroaking of them, or else by vexing, and as it were, spurring of them, they drive them into quicker, and sometimes more regular Motions. The Cordials of the first Sort, as soon as they are swallow­ed, nay sometimes, being but tasted, exert their Vir­tue, and by a grateful Appulse, recruit the Spirits that reside in the first Ways; then by the Continuity of these, the same Ovation being communicated succes­sively to the other Spirits, shortly undulates through the whole Frame of the sensitive Soul, so that both the Brain, and also the Praecordia being irritated with a [Page 159]fuller influx of the Spirits, exulting as it were, they perform their Functions more briskly and chearfully. For this purpose serve the Waters commonly called Cordial; also the preparations of Musk and Amber, and the Aromatic Powders that are mixed with them. Such things as have a grateful Savour or Smell, or are pleasant to look upon, inasmuch as they recreate the Animal Spirits, are reckoned also among Cordials. In the mean time, other Cordials of this Classis, the first ways and mass of Blood being almost untouched, seem to operate first of all in the Brain; of which sort are some Cephalics, as Sage, Betony, Rosemary, Ver­vain, and the like. There are another sort of Cor­dials that operate in a different manner, and help wholly on another Account: These do not gently che­rish the Animal Spirits, and cause them to be expand­ed equally, but rather irritate them, and make them run and be carried this way and that way; and being thereby rouzed, they leave their former Disorders, and of their own accord return into regular Order. Thus it is usual in Swooning, Fainting, Oppression, or Spasm of the Heart; and in almost any other fail­ings, languors, or irregularities of the Spirits, to give inwardly Spirits of Harts-horn, of Soot, of Sal Armo­niac, or Tincture of Castor, or Assa Fatida, with other Liquors: Or to hold to the Nose these and the like, as especially Volatile Salts, and Empyreumatical Chymical Oyls. Besides, it may be sometimes good in suddain defections of the Soul, to sprinkle Cold Water on the Face, to pinch the Nose, to shake the Body very much, and sometimes to strike a Box on the Ear: Such Administrations as these give help, inasmuch as they Rouze up the Animal Spirits, being oppressed or distracted, or imployed other ways than they should, and Command them to their former Offices.

Great Caution is needful, that Men indulge not themselves too much in the use of Cordials; for ma­ny [Page 160]eminent Men and Women, from the more frequent use of these, fall into this sad Custom, that it has be­come necessary to take a Draught often in a Day, ei­ther of some generous Wine or Spirit, or some strong Water; yea moreover, Nature being a little accu­stomed to extraordinaries, remains not long content with the same, and therefore they increase them daily, and repeat them oftener; so that at length the Sto­mach can bear, or digest nothing moderate, but still desires stronger and hotter; and the other Viscera, es­pecially the Liver, are so dryed and parched thereby, that the Blood being lessened as to its quantity, and depraved as to its Crasis, Diseases and Death super­vene. There are sundry occasions that bring Men in­to this bad Custom of sipping Cordial Liquors; as sudden Faintings, which are perhaps occasioned by Grief, toilsome Labour, vast Sweats, or acute Pain; also when one has eaten something that agrees not with his Stomach, and causes a weight and nauseousness, or when a Swooning, or Stupor, seems to be impendent through a spasmodic disposition, yea for many other causes it is usual to guzzle vinous Spirits; and then after that, such Cordials being taken sometime, begin to be agreeable, and delight, the Mass of Blood be­ing a little more freely expanded, and kindled by eve­ry taste of them, the whole Hypostasis of the Soul is thereby amplified, and excited into a kind of Ovation; which subsiding again, the Soul remembring that Com­placence, and being not content with her present State, affects the same again, and craves after more; where­fore upon every trouble of Body and Mind, as soon as the Spirits sink a little, a Cordial Draught is pre­sently desired to raise them again; and so the Fabrick of the Body is shattered: Nor does this evil Custom prevail only among Drunken Companions, but some­times learned Men, and fine and ingenious Women, that they may the more improve and exhilerate their [Page 161]Genius, sip often hot Spirits and Waters, or Aqua Vita, tho' it is improperly called so, and thereby un­dermine their Health.

When the Stomach languishes, thick Alexipharmics are more commended than Liquid, that they may stay there the longer. When the Heart is affected, Liquid are better, because they penetrate more speedily.

In Hypochondriac Cases, Cordials are sometimes to be used.

The Ancients used Leaf Gold with many Medicines, but to what purpose, unless to please the Eye, I know not; for its substance is too solid and compact to be resolved and brought to act by our Heat.

No great trust is to be had to Bezoar Stone; for if the Faculties that are ascribed to it, are granted to be true, yet because its dearness makes many that sell it en­deavour to counterfeit it, we can hardly have any but what is adulterated; for the Writers of Indian Affairs say that it is very rare, and dearer among the Indians, than with us.

Harts-horn is not much worse than the Bezoar Stone, or Unicorns Horn, against Poisons, and poisonous Di­seases; for it defends the Heart from malignant Va­pours, it cuts the toughness of Humours, it opens ob­structions of the inward Viscera; and by its penetra­ting quality resists the putrefaction of the Humours.

Treacle is also a great Cordial, and very proper against Poison. Many that have been subject to Swoon­ings, without evident cause, have bin cured by it.

Many doubt whether precious Stones have any Cor­dial Vertue.

Among Alexipharmics, Tormentil and Bole are worst for those that have a dry Belly; for they cause Obstructions.

Sulphureous Spirits kindle the Sulphur of the Blood; Volatile Urinous ones rarifie it, and acid Spirits tame, dull, or blunt it. All these used inwardly, restore [Page 162]the heat and motion of the Blood, increase and invi­gorate its Balsamic Oleous Parts, whence Apople­ctic, Hysteric, Cordial Spirits, and the like, revive the Spirits, remove Fainting, and recall the languish­ing Faculties: But seeing both these, and the rest, are very active, they are all of them to be given warily; for being given unseasonably, they fill the Head, and intoxicate, they deject the Appetite, and make Men Pthysical and Hydropical.

Diaphoretics, as to the way of their working and operations, have great Affinity with most Cardiacs, commonly so called, insomuch that many of both kinds are of a common or reciprocal use; and seeing they differ chiefly, only as to their greater or lesser efficacy, when we are bound to pass from one Genus to the other, generally we need only increase or lessen the Dose, and chuse the fittest time for administring them.

As to the various kinds, and preparations of the Matter, whereof Sudorific Medicines are made, they are generally either the integral, or elementary Parts of some mixed Body, viz. Either natural Concretes are given in their whole Substance, either simple or ex­tracted, as when the Leaves, Roots, or Seeds of Car­duus, Contrayerva, Angelica, or the like, are taken in Powder, Decoction, Conserve or Magistery; or Dia­phoretics consist of the Particles of this or that Ele­ment, viz. spirituous, sulphureous, or saline, either simple, or some prevailing over other: As if a Salt, Spirit, or Oyl be extracted from Carduus, or other vegetable, mineral, or animal Body, and be reduced into the Form of a Medicine, either by it self, or with other Preparations.

We will briefly run over all, or at least the chief Species of them. First, Diaphoretics, whose Vertue consists in the Integral Particles of the whole Concrete, being unequally mixt, seem to be indued with some [Page 163]one Element more eminent than the rest, viz. a Sa­line, and to owe their Vertue chiefly to it. Now that Salt upon which the hydrotic Vertue depends, comes under a double State; for in some Concretes it is vola­tile and acrimonious, or bitter; in others alcalizate and fixt in a sort; first, in the former Rank are most Vegetables esteem'd Antidotes by the Ancients, such are the Leaves of Scordium, Carduus, Scabious, Per­winkle, the Flowers of Marygold, Camomile, the Roots of Burdock, Zedoary, Galingal, and the like; also the Confections of Mithridate, Treacle, Diascor­dium, the Decoctions of Guiacum, Box, and the like, are reckoned among these. Secondly, The other sort of Diaphoretics which, while they consist of the inte­gral Parts, of the mixt, have an alcali Salt predomi­nant, as Stones, and the bony or shelly Parts of Ani­mals and Vegetables, as Bezoar, Pearls, the Eyes and Claws of Crabs, and the like, whose Diaphoretic Ver­tue proceeds chiefly from an alcali Salt. Hydrotic Medicines also, which after a spagyrical Analysis, owe their Vertue to this or that sort of elementary Parti­cles, being framed out of divers Subjects, and with a different Preparation, are chiefly either spirituous or saline, or both together combined one with ano­ther, or with some sulphureous Particles; for such as are wholly, or for the greatest Part sulphureous, are less proper for this Intention. To the spirituous we refer hot Waters, and all sorts of Liquors indued with a vinous Spirit, such as are commonly distilled by Chi­mistry out of the Fruits or Juices of Vegetables, or ri­pened by Fermentation, or resolved by Putrefaction, as the Spirits of Wine, of the Berries of Juniper and Elder, of black Cherries, and the like. Such vinous Liquors as these being taken inwardly, procure Sweat.

Saline Preparations also of divers kinds, and diffe­rent States are prescribed successfully for the procuring Sweat.

To Diaphoretics, whose Basis are Spirits, with the other elementary Particles combined (as for example, a Dram of Mixtura Simplex in a convenient Vehicle) are referred those which consist of a Spirit; a fixt Salt or Sulphur combined; of which sort are the Tincture of Salt of Tartar and Antimony, the Dose whereof is from one Scruple to two in some Liquor. Moreover, distilled Waters, wherein the spirituous Particles are diluted with the watry, use to be given with Success for provoking Sweat; the Doses of the foresaid Waters may be actuated by the Addition of chymical Liquors or Salts. Medicines of this sort be­ing endued with a vinous Spirit are chiefly, and almost solely profitable for old Men, and for such as are en­dued with a cold Temperament, or are subject to the Palsy or Dropsy. But in a hot Constitution, and where there is a Heat of the Viscera, or a febrile Ef­fervescence of the Blood, they use to do more Hurt than Good, in as much as they rarifie the former, and accend the latter too much. The Diaphoretics which have a saline Basis, as they are of a various Na­ture, viz. accordingly, as it is a volatile, fixed, ace­tous, or nitrous Salt, so they are of a different Use and Operation, whence in some Cases one sort is bet­ter, and in others another, or another. A fixt and volatile Salt are best for those whose Blood is very full of a serous Humour: Besides, if the Liquor that wa­ters the Viscera and Genus Nervosum do at any time wax eager, as it uses to do in Dropsies and Cacochy­mies, and in those who are subject to spasmodic Dis­eases; these Medicines are more profitably admini­stred for procuring Sweat. Diaphoretics also which have a nitrous Salt for their Basis, seem to help in the same Cases, almost as the former, consisting of a fixt and volatile Salt. Diaphoretics, whose Basis is an acid Salt, are chiefly profitable against the Predominancies of a fixt Salt or Sulphur.

Some Medicines that are wholly, or for the greatest part sulphureous, are commonly reckoned in the Num­ber of Diaphoretics, as some natural Balsoms, and some factitious ones, also chymical Oyls, especially those of Guiacum, Box, Camphor, Harts-horn, and Soot; likewise the resinous Extracts of heavy Woods, with many others, which tho of themselves they con­duce little towards the provoking of Sweat, yet be­ing joined with other saline things, they are not alto­gether unprofitable, in as much as in a colder and too phlegmatic Constitution, sulphureous saline Remedies do rarifie the over-watry Blood, and dispose it to a freer Evaporation, no less than spirtuous things.

The Basis of a sudorific Diet-drink are the Decocti­ons of Liquors for the curing of the Pox, and some other chronical Diseases deeply rooted in the Blood and Humours; for very intense and frequent sweating, daily for a long time, is requisite for the Cure of some Dis­eases, viz. not only that the Impurities and Corrup­tions of the Viscera and Humours may be carried off, but also, that the morbific Tinctures that are deeply imprinted thereupon may be wholly destroyed: For this purpose it will not be enough to give some sudori­fic Powder or Bolus now and then, but an entire Diet ought to be ordered for this Intention; wherefore let all the Drink be a sudorific Decoction, after one Dose whereof taken in the Morning, let plentiful sweating be provoked, making use besides of the Heat of a Bath or Hot-house. Moreover, seeing by this means both the Pores of the Skin are unlockt, and Nature al­so is inclined to sweating all the Day after, the Recre­ments of the Blood and nervous Juice will evaporate by Perspiration continued all along by the Use of the same Drink. By this Method, not only the French Pox is safely, and for the most part very certainly cured, but also some other stubborn herculean Diseases are sometimes happily remedied.

All Humours are not profitably lessened and evacu­ated by Sweat, but only some; not Blood nor Choler, but all sorts of Flegm, and all Serum, as well the watry as the salt Muriatic, the acid and sowr. But gluti­nous Flegm, seeing it is not so fit for Motion, ought first, or at the same time, to be incided, attenuated, and made fluid, that it may the more easily be driven forth by or with Sweat. An acid sowr Humour ought also to be prepared for its Expulsion by Sweat. That the mentioned Humours are driven and expelled by the Pores of the Skin, and so by Sweat, appears by the Sweat it self, which sometimes comes forth glutinous, often watry and insipid, sometimes muriatic or brine-like, sometimes also somewhat acid or sowr.

There are but few true sudorific Medicines, and among these Opium is the chief; for the reason why Treacle or Mithridate cause Sweat, is wholly from the Opium that is mixed with them: For these two Electuaries prepared without Opium do not provoke Sweat at all.

The most convenient Time for sweating is the Morning, and that on an empty Stomach; for then the Sweat comes out more easily and plentifully. Note, that after sweating Decoctions, purging is ne­cessary to carry off the gross Excrements.

The Origins of many Diseases happen for want of a due Separation of the Serum; but as to this Sepa­ration, seeing there are Faults of divers Kinds, the Offence is for the most part either in Defect or in Ex­cess; for sometimes the Serum does too pertinaciously adhere to the Blood, and on the contrary, sometimes it parts too soon from it, and in this regard the Blood being not able to contain the Serum, doth spue it out of the Mouths of the Arteries in many Places, and al­most every where, and so depositing it in the Viscera or Habit of the Body, occasions an Ascites or Anasar­ca; and sometimes, sending it off immoderately to the [Page 167]Kidneys, it causes a Diabetes, when the Blood is too tenacious of the Serum; for the most part it is either over-hot through a Fever, having its Frame too strict, and the thicker Particles so incorporated with it, that the thinner cannot easily get therefrom; or being fil­led with scorbutic Salt and Sulphur, it becomes very clammy and tenacious, so that the Serosities difficultly separate from the rest. And seeing the Departure of the Serum from the Blood is hindred or perverted so many ways, diuretic Medicines also are of a different Nature and Operation, which yet may be distinguish­ed, first, as to the End, according to which they re­spect the Mass of Blood, or the Kidneys, or both to­gether. Secondly, as to the matter, in which respect they are either sulphureous or saline; and these again are various, according as the saline Particles are in a State of Fixity, Fluor, or volatility; or are moreover nitrous or alcalizate. Thirdly, As to the Form; these Medicines are of divers Kinds, viz. Drinks, Powders, and the like.

When the Blood, through an Incorporation, and mutual Combination of the fixt Salt with the Sulphur and Earth becomes so thick and tenacious, that the Watry Particles do not easily part from the rest, the Diuretics, which may loosen its Frame, and fuse the Serum, must be of such a Sort as are endued with a vo­latile or acid Salt; for such Particles do chiefly dissolve the Combination that the fixt Salt has entred into. And seeing this Disposition is common, both to the Fever and Scurvy; in the former the most proper Dinreties are both the temperate Acids of Vegetables, and also the Salt of Nitre, the Spirit of Sea-salt, of Vitriol, and the like; likewise those endued with a vo­latile Salt, as the Spirit of Harts-horn, of Sal Armo­niac, the Salt of the Juice of Vipers. In a scorbutical Disposition, when the Urine is both little and thick, the Juices of Herbs and acrimonious and acid Prepara­tions [Page 168]are of notable Use, also the Salt and Spirit of Urine, of Sal Armoniac, of Tartar, and the like.

Sometimes the Blood keeps not its Serum long enough within its Compages, but being subject to Fluxions, or rather Coagulations, it deposites the Se­rum here and there in great Plenty: It raises Catarrhs or Humours in divers Places, or the Blood being habi­tually weak, and inclining to Sowrness, is apt to coa­gulate as to its thicker Particles, so that in the Circula­tion, the thinner being thrown off every where, and falling upon the weaker Parts, cause sometimes cepha­lic or thoracic Distempers; sometimes an Ascites, or Anasarca, and from a like Cause we think a Diabetes also springs; for many dangerous Diseases, which are erroneously ascribed to the Discrasies of the Viscera, arise from this Cause; namely, in as much as the Blood, being of an evil Temper, and liable to Coagu­lation, cannot continue the Thred of the Circulation entire, but in divers Places deposites the Serum that is too apt to depart from it. The Diuretics to be ad­ministred in this Case are such as do not fuse the Blood, but take away its Coagulations, as are those endued with a fixt, volatile, and also an alcalizate Salt. Moreover, those that strengthen and restore the Fer­ment of the Kidneys for these Purposes are sulphure­ous, and mixt Diuretics, the lixivial Salts of Herbs, Shell-powders, the Salt and Spirit of Urine, and the like; Hog-lice, the Roots of Horse-radish, the Seeds of Smallage, Nutmeg, Turpentine, and its Prepara­tions, and the Spirit of Wine: The Vertue of all which is not to fuse the Blood, and to precipitate the Serosities out of its Mass, but to dissolve the Coagula­tions of the Blood, so that its Compages recovering an entire Mixture, and being circulated more quickly through the Vessels, it resorbs the Serum that was eve­ry where extravasated and deposited, and at length de­livers it to the Kidneys to be sent off.

Among the Diuretics endued with an acid Salt, are the Spirits of Salt or Nitre, also the Juice of Lemons and Sorrel; white Rhenish Wine and Cider are of great­est Note with the Vulgar, for these alone fuse the Blood, and precipitate it into its Serosities, as when an Acid is poured into boyling Milk: But this happens not alike to all. In an healthful Constitution the Salt of the Blood is partly fixt, partly nitrous, and partly volatile; also in some scorbutical and dropsical People, it becomes commonly fixt; wherefore in all these Cases, Diuretics endued with an acid Salt are given with Suc­cess: But in catarrhous Distempers, and in some dropsical and scorbutic, when the saline fixt Particles of the Blood are promoted to a State of Fluor, and the vola­tile are depressed, as often happens, acetous Remedies use to do more Hurt than Good, in as much as they yet more pervert the Blood that is already degenera­ted from its right Crasis, so that Medicines indued with a fixt or volatile Salt will be more profitable for these: As for example, ‘Take of choice white Tartar, of Sal-prunella, each a Dram and an half, of Crabs-Eyes one Dram, make a Powder; the Dose whereof is from half a Dram to two Scruples, in a fit Vehicle, once in six or eight Hours.’

That Medicines indued with a fixt or lixivial Salt provoke Urine, appears plainly enough from the vul­gar and empirical Remedy, that is wont to be given for the Cure of Dropsies, viz. it is usual in an Ana­sarca, and sometimes in an Ascites, when the Bowels or Flesh swell very much, by a Collection of Water, to give to drink a Ly made of the Ashes of Worm­wood, Broom, or Bean-stalks infused in White-wine, whereupon it often happens that there follows a plen­tiful Evacuation of Urine, and the Disease is cured. Yet it has been observed, that in some, that Remedy has not proved diuretic, and has rather increased than cured the dropsical Disposition. The Reason [Page 170]whereof appears from what has been said above, viz. that lixivial Salts do not fuse or precipitate either Milk or Blood, and therefore are not Diuretics in their proper Nature. Nevertheless that Effect sometimes follows, in as much as a fixt Salt being taken plenti­fully, destroys the Energy of an Acid and coagulative Salt prevailing in the Blood, so that the Blood being before too apt to be fused, and not able to retain its Serum, but throwing it off in every Place, does by the Advent of a fixt Salt, recover its due Crasis, and there­fore resorbing the extravasated Serum, and conveying it continually to the Kidneys, causes a plentiful Evacu­ation of Urine. As for example, ‘Take of the Salt of Tartar or Wormwood two Drams, of Coral calcined to Whiteness a Dram and an half, of Nutmeg half a Dram; make a Powder. The Dose is two Scruples.’

For the same reason a fixt Salt is given with Success for provoking Urine. A Volatile is also given too, in an acetous Discrasy of the Blood.

It is known that Shell-powders, and some Stones be­ing endued with an alcalizat Salt, do sometimes pro­voke Urine; for in great Stoppages of Urine, the Powder of Egg-shells, of Crabs-claws or Eyes, has been a present Remedy to some. Some sulphureous and spirituous Medicines are also reckoned Diuretics. Most Medicines derived from the Pine or Larch-tree, especially Turpentine and its Preparations, the distil­led Oyls of Juniper, of Nutmeg, of Wax, and other far things taken inwardly, cause in most a plentiful Urine, and that indued with a Smell like a Violet. In some hydropical and scorbutical Persons, the Spirit of Wine and strong Waters, yea, generous Wine it self being drunk largely has promoted the Evacuation of Urine. It is to be noted therefore that Diuretics are not indifferently convenient in any Distemper or Hu­mour for the benefiting of the sick, but one should be [Page 171]used in one Disease or offending Humour, and an­other in another; some indeed are good for evacu­ating Choler, and others Flegm: Proper for Choler are the Juice of Citron, the Emulsion of Barly, Straw­berries, the Spirit of Salt, the Salt of Tartar vitrio­lated, and the like; and for Flegm amongst chimical Medicines, the volatile Salt of Urine, and all volatile Salts, the distilled Oyls of Juniper Berries, of Amber, and the like; yea, and also the Acids com­mended just now for Choler, because they no less alter Flegm (yea, Acids drive it forth by Urine) than do Aromatics, and such as consist of a volatile Salt, as Experience teaches; yet the latter are for the most part observed to be the better, and fitter for restor­ing Health, seeing they not only correct Flegm, but also preserve the Choler in its natural State; but Acids, tho' they incide Flegm, and promote its pas­sing out by Urine, yet they do withall infringe Cho­ler, and carry it from its natural State, and in that respect hurt.

Diuretics are most proper in those Diseases that are firmly rooted, and have their Foundation in a tar­tareous saline Dross, in which it is profitable to evacu­ate by little and little the occasional Cause of the Dis­ease by the urinary Passages; thus in hypochondriac and scorbutic Diseases, we empty out of the Body those tartareous Humours.

Such Diuretics may be safely given to Infants, Chil­dren, Women with Child, as consist of an abstersive Vertue; from an Alcali, and from their kindly acri­mony, they incide and purge out the Filth of the uri­nary Passages, such are the Stones of Peaches, Crabs Eyes, Lapis Judaicus, Nephriticus, the Stones of Fruits, and their Ashes. Hot and dry Bodies are not long, nor vehemently to be forced to purge by Urine, by hot diuretic Decoctions; seeing by their Use an Inflam­mation of the Liver, a Fever, and an Extenuation of [Page 172]the whole Body may follow; on the contrary, the fat, the cold, and such as have a soft and loose Skin, and abound with watry Humours, and thin Juices, are very fit to be purged by Urine.

We must never use Diuretics, especially such as are vehement, in Diseases of the Reins and Bladder, nor in Women that are with Child, lest they cause Abortion.

You must note, concerning cold Seeds, that their diuretic Vertue resides most in their Husks.

Concerning the right Use of opiate Medicines, these four things following are to be observed, viz. before we give a narcotic Medicine, we must first consider the Constitution of the Patient. Secondly, the Disease that he is ill of. Thirdly, in what State the animal Spirits are in respect to both animal and vital Functi­ons. Fourthly and lastly, in what Condition the Blood and other Humours are. As to the first, when an Hypnotic is indicated, see that the Temperament of the Patient, the Habit or Indisposition of his Body, his Custom, or Manner of Life do not contraindicate; as for example, those who are indued with an indiffe­rent Stature, a firm and well-set Body, hot Blood, a lively or sharp Aspect, bear this Medicine best; but they take it more securely, if they have moreover been formerly used to it: But on the contrary, it is not so convenient, yea, sometimes it does a great deal of hurt to them who are over-fat or lean, as likewise to those who being either of a rare Texture, have their Spirits easily dissipable, or of a cold Temperament, and have soft and flaggy Flesh, and are of a sluggish indocible Disposition, and dull and drowsie of themselves: To which Hindrances or Scruples this may be added, and increases the Weight of the rest, viz. if they have ne­ver taken this Medicine before.

The Nature of the Disease is sometimes of great moment, for or against Opiates; in slighter Distem­pers [Page 173]it is the part of a flattering Physician, according to Septalius, to use them. Moreover, in some great ones, their Use is either forbidden, or is held very sus­pected, in the Palsy, Vertigo, Night-mare, Apoplexy, also in the Orthopnea, or Difficulty of breathing, in a Dropsy of the Breast, or Abdomen, in Numness, or Trembling of the Joints, in very malignant Fevers, and in Fits of Agues, or in the Crisis of other Fevers, Narcotics are very often forbid. Moreover, in a Cough, with much and thick Flegm, in an Asthma, and in whatsoever other Distempers of the Breast with Oppression of the Lungs, and in hysterical Fits, and other convulsive ones, they are but seldom to be gi­ven, and not without Caution, and the Advice of a skilful Physician: But in a cruel Head-ach, Catarrhs, Cholick, Pleurisy, ordinary Fevers, vomiting, Dy­sentery, Fits of the Stone, or Gout, and in all Pains whatsoever, Opiates are not only allowed, but we have Recourse to them, as to divine Panaceas.

And as often as we intend to make Use of them, we must also consider in what Tenor the animal Spirits are; for if being fewer, or oppressed, they already flag, and do not spread their Sails enough, certainly, they ought not to be further lessened, and cast down by Opiates; wherefore if so be the animal Faculties be not vigorous, both as to Sense and Discourse, or do not exert themselves brisk enough, or when the Pulse and Respiration have the Turns of their Reciprocations, weak or flower than usual; And lastly, if a Numness with Enervation shall seize upon the Members, with an unwonted Languor, we must wholly refrain from any hypnotic Medicine; but we shall not stick to use them, if they are indicated in great Diseases, and if withall, the animal Spirits be strong enough in these and other respects, or become too much expanded, or immoderately fierce and outragious.

The State of the Blood and Humours is not to be neglected, because sometimes their ill Condition does wholly forbid Opiates, or suffers them not to be used, unless sparingly, and with some Restriction. The Blood does contraindicate their Use, when it offends, either in Quantity or Quality, or Crasis: As to the former, it either abounds or is defective, and in both respects it hinders narcotic Remedies. Nor is there less Fear of Mischief from Narcotics, as often as they are given in Defect or Penury of the Blood; as after great Hemorrhages, long Fasting, or long continued Sickness.

Their dayly and too frequent Use is to be avoided, lest the Concoction of the Stomach be lessened; they must not be given at the Beginning of a Fit, nor pre­sently after bleeding.

The Dose of Opium is ordinary or extraordinary, the ordinary Dose is threefold, low, middle, and high, and it varies much according to the Preparation of the Opium; for the Dose is to be considered as the Opium is mixed and compounded with other things, or as it is simple; for if it be given alone, the Dose must be less; for instance, in grown People, the lowest Dose is ordinarily a quarter or half a Grain, or one Grain, the middle two Grains, or three, the highest is four or five Grains. In a Composition you must consider how much Opium is contained. Two or three Grains may be given, but four or five must not, unless the prece­ding Doses were used without Effect.

It is to be noted, that in Practice Opium is prescri­bed to ease Pain, to take off Watchings, and violent Symptoms, to strengthen the Tone of the Parts, and to thicken the Blood when it is too thin, it is also mix­ed with Cephalics, Hysterics, and other specific Medi­cines, and sometimes with Purges.

The Dose is often extraordinarily increased upon the account of Custom, the Violence of a Disease, and the [Page 175]Diversity of Temperaments. It is well known that the Turks, Persians, and other oriental People, take a Dram at a time, and they are so used to it, that they cannot abstain from it without hazarding their Lives, and incurring grievous Symptoms. But the Europe­ans use it only in Medicine, and in a less Dose; for if they take it freely, great Danger is occasioned. A Person, by taking two and twenty Grains in a bastard Tertian, lost his Life; but Charas says, that he took six Grains, and slept no more than he used to do, and he was so far from being weakened thereby, that on the contrary, he found himself wonderfully strength­ened; he says moreover, that he knew some weakly Men that took thirty six Grains, and were not at all injured thereby. Some People that have been afflicted with violent pocky Pains in the Joints, have taken Lau­danum Opiatum in Pills, beginning at five Grains, and rising to half a Dram; and Authors relate, that some have taken above ten Drams dayly, and yet have kept their Senses very well, so much can Custom do; and a French Embassadour in England took four Ounces of it to make him sleep when he was sick. Schenckius solemnly declared to his Scholars, that he often took a Scruple of Laudanum Opiatum to restrain the Motion of his Blood, for he was often troubled with a spit­ting of Blood and acrid Defluxions, and he said he was not much stupified by it. And I, says Wedelius, have often given in violent Diarrheas and Dysente­ries, and for violent Pains, and in other Cases, ten Grains. But such a high Dose must be gradually as­cended to, and you must first try what a less will do.

For taking off Pain, Opium is the chief Medicine, and for causing Sleep, in doing of which it is of great Use; for immoderate Watchings weaken the Body, occasion Crudities, and weaken the Faculties of the Mind; tho' it must be confessed that it does not al­ways [Page 176]cause Sleep, for some it always keeps awake, and sometimes it takes off Pain, tho' the Patient does not sleep.

It sometimes occasions vomiting in the Morning, in weakly and hysteric Women; but this may be pre­vented by their keeping their Bed long the next Morn­ing.

But whether Opium be proper in intermitting Fe­vers is a Dispute among Authors; if we consult the Ancients, it is certain they used Opiates to take off the Fits of Fevers; so Hippocrates commends the Seeds of Henbane and Mandrakes, and Galen on the same ac­count every where commends Treacle: But concern­ing continual and malignant Fevers, there is yet a greater Controversy. The Ancients allowed that Opi­um was alexipharmic; but if Caution be to be used in this matter in any Disease, certainly in these; for there are many and frequent Instances of the ill Effect of Opium in burning and malignant Fevers. Some di­stinguish betwixt the Times of Fevers, and they say, that Opiates are not proper in the Beginning or State; for by them the Humours are more disturbed, and rendred crude, and retarded, and on this Account the Concoction and Crisis hindred, but in the Declination they are so far from being injurious, that being pru­dently given, they do a great deal of good, by quie­ting all things, and by restoring the Strength, and the Tone of the Blood. But when violent Pains and Eva­cuations are joined with Fevers, as Catarrhs, Coughs, Vomiting, Loosness, and the like, it is necessary to give Opiates.

They are also used in the Plague, and are properly mixed with Antidotes, and Medicines against Foyson: They are also of great Use in the Small-pox and Mea­sles; in a Phrensy they appease the raging Spirits. But Sydenham says, that when the Fever is high, they do no Good in a Phrensy; but that being given oppor­tunely [Page 177]in the Declination of the Disease, they are ve­ry successful.

For Diseases of the Head, they are very proper, especially for the Pains of it, and an Hemicrany. An hypochondriac Man being amongst other Symptoms, afflicted with a great Vertigo, was happily cured with Laudanum Opiatum mixed with Chalybeats. But it is supposed that mad People are rendred worse by Opi­ates; for they rave more after them.

For Catarrhs and tickling Coughs they are very pro­per: But when the Matter that lyes in the Lungs is thick, and difficultly expectorated, they are injurious. The Use of them is suspected in an Asthma, and in a Pleurisy narcotick Opiates must be avoided. In a Consumption they are very proper, if the Disease proceed from a Flux of acrid Humours, or from spit­ting of Blood. But when there is an Ulcer in the Lungs, they stop Expectoration, and therefore are consequently hurtful; for the sick is often suffocated thereby, and therefore in such a Case Respect must be always had to ease Expectoration; for as long as it proceeds well, the Life of the sick is lengthened.

For Diseases of the lower Belly, Stomach, and Hy­pochonders, Opiates are of Use. They are proper for the Cholera Morbus. But if the vomiting is unseasonably stopt, great Mischiefs arise; therefore the Evacuation of the acrid and corrupt Humours must be a while per­mitted. For a Cardialgia Opiates are proper, and for the Hicopps they are of excellent Use. For an Appeti­tus Caninus they are of good Use. They are also pro­per for the Cholick mixed with Purges. For the Iliac Passion, the Bloody Flux, and the Piles, they are also very proper; so are they for the Stone, for vio­lent Pains in the Gout, for hysteric Diseases, and an immoderate Flux of the Courses.

Opium is used outwardly for various Kinds of Pains, to asswage violent Pains of the Head, of the Teeth, [Page 178]and the like. Plaisters applied to the Temples made of Opium, are good for Watchings, Pains of the Head, and Pains of the Teeth. Horstius says, that he knew a violent bleeding, by reason an Artery was wounded, presently and wonderfully stopt, when other things could do no good, by the Application of the Magistery of Opium to the wounded Artery. Crol­lius relates a desperate Hemorrhage of the Nose was cured by stopping the Nostrils with two Pills made of sixteen Grains of Laudanum.

A Person fell into a violent Hemorrhage by drawing of a Tooth, and was cured, when other Means would not do, by Opium.

Opium is also good for Ulcers in the Womb, when Pain is joined with them, for a Pain in the Teeth, a Pill of Laudanum put into the hollow Tooth, eases the Pain.

The Heads and Seeds of white Poppies, whereof Diacodium, also Decoctions, Emulsions, and other hypnotic Preparations are made, are far less indued with a narcotic Sulphur, than the concrete Juice of Opium, and what thereof is in these, is far more pure and harmless; wherefore we do oftener, and more se­curely give Remedies made up of these; for it is not good to ascend to Laudanum, unless, when through the Vehemence of Symptoms, Diacodiats will not do.

The Ancients, who thought that Opium hurt by its excessive Coldness, used altogether hot Medicines to correct it, such as Pepper, Pyrethrum, Saffron, Ca­stor, Euphorbium, and the like. But they were in­duced to correct Opium in that manner, by a false Hy­pothesis, and they made no good Preparation of their Medicines, to speak only of Philonjum Romanum, here­tofore [Page 179]a sufficiently frequent Medicine: Experience has taught, that by the Mixture of so many hot In­gredients, it can hardly be swallowed, but it will burn the Throat, and cause an Heat therein; and being mixed in Glisters, but even to half a Dram, it has, in some, caused a great Heat in the lower Belly and strait Gut.

Opiates, tho they are divine Medicines, and tho they do a great deal of good in many Diseases, yet an imprudent and unseasonable Use of them has been the Death of some. It is commonly known that the prin­cipal Functions of the Soul are much hurt by Narco­tics; some have been made dull and stupid, and others mad, and the reason why Opium is devoured by the Turks in great Quantity, without any Harm, or how­ever without any Danger of Life, is, because its Parti­cles, by frequent Use, become agreeable and familiar; as we observe concerning the Smoak of Tabaco taken in a Pipe; for whereas at the first it uses to cause Gid­diness, and often vomiting or purging, cold Sweats, trembling, and often fainting; yet after a while, we take it without Disturbance, yea, with great Delight; and the reason why a large Dose of Opium adds Cou­rage, and notable Boldness to them, so that they can enter upon a Fight without Fear, I say, the reason seems to be, because this Medicine, by somewhat stu­pifying the Spirits, makes them amazed, so that they can undauntedly endure the Approaches of sensible things howsoever terrible they are.

When Narcotics are given with Purgers, the Quantity of the Purgers is to be increased, because the narcotic Ver­tue blunts them, as if half a Dram of Pil. Coch. minor is e­nough otherwise, let two Scruples, or two and an half be given with a Narcotic, and let Narcotics be given with Purges, that have Digridium or Coloquintida in them, whereby Nature may be sollicited to Expurgation: And if the Purge stop, let it be called out by an acrimo­nious [Page 180]and provoking Glister. Observe this carefully, when you give Narcotics with Cathartics.

Let Narcotics be never taken on the Day before purging or bleeding, because they dull the Spirits, and hinder the Blood from flowing freely; and if they are taken by the Mouth, or injected by Glisters, they hinder the Operation of the Purge.

To conclude, note, that Narcotics do most Good, when Evacuations have went before. Note likewise, that it is best to begin with a small Dose, and to in­crease it as there is occasion.

Children do not bear Narcotics so well as the adult.

CHAP. XX. Of Weights and Measures used in Physick.

DRY things are generally weighed. A Grain is the Foundation of Weight. A Scruple contains twenty Grains; a Dram three Scruples; an Ounce eight Drams. A Pound is twelve Ounces. Liquid things are measured.

The Quantity of Medicines in Magnitude is prescri­bed by Handfulls, Armfulls, or Pugils. A Hand­full is that Quantity which may be held in the Hand, answerable to half an Ounce. A Pugil is either great­er or less. The greater is as much as may be taken in all the five Fingers: The lesser as much as may be ta­ken in three Fingers. The greater is in Weight a whole Dram, the lesser half a Dram.

In Number also the Quantity of Medicines is con­sidered, and that either equally or unequally; for in­stance, three or four Lupins.

Roots, Barks, and Woods are weighed: Leaves are measured by Handfulls; if they are prescribed for [Page 181]Baths, by Armfulls. The Doses of Seeds are for the most part expressed; yet Barly and Rice are measured by the Pugil. Flowers are measured by the Pugil. Small Fruits are weighed, great are numbred. Aro­matics, Gums, and Rosins are weighed. Precious Liquors and distilled Oyls are prescribed by Drops.

• Gr. — A Grain.
• ℈ss. — Half a Scruple.
• ℈j. — One Scruple.
• ʒss. — Half a Dram.
• ʒ j. — One Dram.
• ℥j. — One Ounce.
• ℥ss. — Half an Ounce.
• lb j. — One Pound.
• lbss. — Half a Pound.
• Mj. — A Handfull.
• Mss. — Half a Handfull.
• P. — A Pugil.
• Quart. — Three Ounces.
• Ana. — Equal.
• Q. S. — A sufficient Quantity.

The five greater opening Roots, Parsly, Fennel, As­sparagus, Parsly, Butchers Broom.

The five emollient Herbs, Marsh-mallows, Beets, Mallows, Mercury, Violets.

The five capillary Herbs, black Maiden-hair, white Maiden-hair, Ceterach, Harts-tongue, Polytrichum.

The four cordial Flowers, Borrage, Bugloss, Ro­ses, Violets.

The four greater carminative Seeds, Caraways, Anise, Cummin, Fennel.

The four lesser hot Seeds, Bishops Weed, Amomum, Smallage, Daucus.

The four greater cold Seeds, Citruls, Cucumbers, Melons, Gourds.

The four lesser cold Seeds, Succory, Endive, Let­tice, Purslain.

The Fragments of the five precious Stones, Gra­nates, Hyacinth, Sapphyr, Sardus, Smaragd.

An Apozem or Decoction is a liquid Form of a Medi­cine, made of divers Ingredients, and sweetened with Honey or Sugar, and prepared in sufficient Quantity for four or five Doses, to purge or alter: That is called an altering Apozem which hath a Vertue to al­ter the Body, and things contained in it, especially the Humours, without that visible Evacuation, which is usually called purging.

In the Composition of it six things are diligently to be considered; first, The Matter out of which the Vertues are to be drawn; secondly, The Liquor into which it is to be conveyed; thirdly, The Decoction; fourthly, What things are to dissolved in it; fifthly, The clarifying of it; sixthly, The aromatizing it. In the Matter these three things are to be regarded, the Quantity, the Quality, and the Order of Prescripti­on. Concerning the Quality, the Ingredients are chiefly Roots, Barks, Woods, Leaves, Seeds, Fruits, Flowers, Spices. The Quantity or Dose is as follows. Roots are not to exceed four Ounces, or six at the most. Barks one Ounce, or two Ounces at most, Woods in the same Quantity. Leaves not above eight large Handfulls. Seeds to one Ounce, or an Ounce and an half. Fruits are either the lesser Sort, and they are prescribed from one Ounce to two Ounces; or in Number, and that usually by Pairs.

If they are large Fruits they are prescribed only in Number, either even or odd: If they be of the great­est Sort, as Apples, and the like, they are prescribed by one, two, three, or the like; but if they are less, as Figs, by Pairs. Flowers from four Pugils to six. [Page 183]Spices are best added in the seasoning. Concerning the Order of the Prescription, they are to be prepared by the Apothecary, as they are prescribed by the Phy­sician, viz. first Roots, then Barks and Woods, if any be added; secondly, Leaves; thirdly, Seeds; fourth­ly, Fruits; fifthly, Flowers, and with them the Spices last of all. The Quality of the Liquor is to be varyed, according to the Intention of the Physician; but gene­rally Fountain-Water; the Quantity is seldom pre­scribed any other way than by Q. S. and is ordered to be boyled to one Pint and an half for Apozems, I usu­ally intend it for four Doses. You must not prescribe above twenty Ounces; for they are apt to corrupt. The Quantity of things to be dissolved differs according to the Nature of them. Sweetners are usually dissolved from four Ounces to six at most, so that every Dose of the Apozem may have between an Ounce, and an Ounce and an half in every Dose: But where Syrup and Sugar are mixed together, the Quantity of the Sy­rup is most commonly about three Ounces, and the Su­gar prescribed only with a Q. S. Juices and other strong Liquors, as Vinegar, Aqua Vitae, and the like, are prescribed from one Ounce to two Ounces at the most. In the aromatizing, or spicing, two things are to be considered, the Quality and the Quantity of the Spices: As to the Quality, it is either Spice, yellow or red Sanders, Cinnamon, Ginger, or Saffron: As to the Quantity, one Dram, or a Dram and an half is sufficient.

In a purging Apozem three things are to be consi­dered, the Composition, the Use, and Profit In the Composition two things are to be regarded, first, The Ingredients; secondly, those things that are to be dis­solved in it: The Ingredients are simple Purgers with their Correctives: In these, three things are to be re­garded, the Quantity, Quality, and Order of Pre­scription. In relation to the Quantity, note, that [Page 184]those purging Simples which are only boyled are these; Sena, Polypody, Carthamus, Turbith, Hermodactils, Agarick, Epithymum, Hellebore, Spurge, and the Seeds of Dwarf Elder. Those which are to be infu­sed or but very little boyled, are Rhubarb, Myrobo­lans, Tamarinds, and sometimes Cassia. As to the Quantity, it ought to be double to the Quantity they are given in Substance, if they are the stronger Sort; or treble, or quadruple, if they are of the milder Sort, more especially, the three following are to be chosen, for the Fundamentals of almost every purging Apo­zem.

Things to be dissolved in the strained Decoction are Syrups or Electuaries, viz. Syrups to four Ounces or six Ounces, Electuaries to two or three Drams, and so let an Apozem be made for four Doses.

A Julep is a fluid Medicine composed of an appro­priate Liquor, and Syrup, or Sugar mixed together without boyling, for four or five Doses, either to pre­pare, or alter the Humours, or to strengthen the Body. In the composition two things are to be minded, first a proper Liquor, of which it is to be made; Secondly, what things are to be dissolved in it. In the Liquor two things are to be regarded, the quality and quan­tity: As to the quality, either there is prescribed a single distilled Water, respecting the Disease, and the [Page 185]diseased Part, or else a distilled Water, and a Juice together, or else a Decoction: The quantity ought to be about eight Ounces.

Things to be dissolved are considered with respect to their quantity or quality: As to the quality, either Sugar, some proper Syrup, or Cordial Confection, Pearl, Ivory, or Coral is mixed with it: As to the quantity of Sweetness, one Ounce, or an Ounce and an half. Confections and Powders are prescribed from one Scruple to two.

A Potion is a liquid form of Medicine, made of things proper for Purging, or Cordials; but now a days by a Potion is meant a Purging Potion. The difference of Purging Potions are taken from the diffe­rence of Humours they Purge; hence some are Chola­gogues, some Phlegmagogues, others Hydragogues, others Melanagogues; and others, composed of all these Properties, are called Panchymagogues. In ge­neral three things are to be considered in them; in composition two things are to be regarded, a proper Liquor whereof it is made, and such things as are to be dissolved in it. The Liquor that is fit to dissolve your Medicine for a Purging Potion is to be considered, as to its quality and quantity: In respect of the qua­lity, there is prescribed either a Decoction or Infusion, or some other Liquor serving the intention of the Phy­sician. A Decoction of Sena is generally used, or a Decoction of other Cathartics may be made, accord­ing to the diversity of the Humours, sufficient only for one Dose; and if you dissolve nothing in it, the quantity must be the larger. Things to be dissolved are considered either in quantity or quality. Manna and Cassia are used to Purge Choler gently; Rhubarb for Fluxes; Syrups and Electuaries are also dissolved in it, Syrup of Roses solutive, or Diaprunum, or the like. As to the quantity, half an Ounce, or an Ounce of Syrup is usually added, a Dram or two Drams of an [Page 186]Electuary, an Ounce of Manna. A Purging Potion is very useful for those that cannot take Pills or Bolus's.

An Emulsion is an altering Medicine used to asswage Pain. In it are to be considered the Matter, the Li­quor, and the things to be dissolved in it. The Mat­ter in relation to its quality, are sweet Almonds blanched, the four greater cold Seeds, or white Poppy Seeds, or the like; an Ounce, or an Ounce and an half, or two Ounces of the Matter are generally prescribed. The Liquor is either fair Water, or a Decoction of Barly, or the like. As to the quantity, a Pint, or thereabout, is prescribed; for it will not keep long. An Ounce, or an Ounce and an half of Syrup of Vio­lets, or Maiden-hair, is usually mixed with it; some­times to make it more pleasant, a little Rose-water is added to it. Three or four Ounces of it is a Dose.

A Bolus is a form of Medicine, almost of the con­sistence of Honey, or somewhat thicker. As to the quality of the Matter in general, it is composed of Purgers, both simple and compound. As to the quan­tity in general, a Bolus ought not to exceed six Drams; Cassia, or the Pulp of Tamarinds is generally the Mat­ter of it.

A Linctus is a Medicine of the thickness of Honey, compounded of pectoral Simples, and is used for Dis­eases of the Lungs and Breast: it is usually made of Syrups, Oyl, and Sugar. As take of the Syrups of Jujubes, and Maiden-hair, each one Ounce and an half, of Oyl of sweet Almonds fresh drawn one Ounce, of Sugarcandy two Drams, mix them, by beating them well in a Glass Mortar till they are White.

A Linctus is commonly prescribed to be lickt with a Liquorish Stick. Powders are also sometimes used in a Linctus; as to their quantity, they are prescribed to an Ounce with four times the quantity of the Li­quor.

Vomits are said to be Medicines which evacuate Cho­ler and Flegm, and sometimes Poysons from the Sto­mach and neighbouring Parts. Antimonial Medicines eject Choler, Mercurial Flegm; Asarabacca, and all things made of it evacuate Choler and Flegm.

• Take of Oxymel of Squills one Ounce and an half, Wine of Squills two Ounces, mingle them, make a Vomit.
• Take of the fresh Leaves of Asarabacca, number six or eight, beat them, and pour upon them three Ounces of White Wine, press out the Liquor, and let it be taken with Regimen.
• Take of Salt of Vitriol one Scruple, two Scruples, or one Dram, let it be taken in a draught of Posset Drink.
• Take of the infusion of Crocus Metallorum half an Ounce, one Ounce, or one Ounce and an half; take it in a Draught of Posset Drink with Regimen.
• Take of Sulphur of Antimony grains six or eight, Cream of Tartar one Scruple, mingle them, give it in the Pap of a roasted Apple.
• Take of Mercurius Vitae grains three or six, take it in the Pap of a roasted Apple.

Chymical Vomits made of Vitriol, Antimony, and Mercury are most esteemed.

Salt of Vitriol is much valued, because it seldom causes any disturbance beyond the Stomach, whereas Stybiats sometimes occasion Convulsions of the Bow­els, and Faintings, yet it works dully, and sometimes not at all; wherefore upon taking of Salt of Vitriol, great quantities of Posset-drink must be taken, and it must be forced up with a Feather. Pills are a solid form of Medicine, and round, made of Powders, and sometimes Gums, Juices, tempered with some Clammy Liquor, chiefly prepared to Purge withall. The most [Page 188]usual are, the Stomach Pill, Rudius's Pill, Agaric, Cochiae, Aloephangin. foetid. The Matter is generally Aloes, as the Basis; the Liquor is a Mucilage, or some proper Syrup. The Dose of strong Pills is a Scruple; of moderate, two Scruples, or a Dram; of the gentle one or two Drams.

The Liquor of a Purging Glister is the common De­coction. The Liquor of an altering Glister is made of mollifying things, heating or cooling, according to the intention. As to the quantity of the Liquor, it varies according to the Age of the Party very much; for three Ounces will serve for a Child of Four or Five Months old. A Pint is commonly prescribed for the Adult. Great Men will receive a Pint and an half; but it is to be noted, that for Women with Child, and those that have a Dropsie, or are troubled with Wind; and for Old Folks, three quarters of a Pint will be sufficient, when we would have the Glyster long kept in the Body: The things to be dissolved are either Alterers or Purgers; the Alterers which are ge­nerally dissolved, are Honey, Sugar, and Oyl. Salt is sometimes added, when we design to make the Glyster more provocative. The Purgers are Electuaries, ei­ther Lenifying or Purging, according to the variety of the Humour to be Purged, and the Constitution of the Body.

A Medicinal Wine, is Wine impregnated with the Vertues of divers Simples infused in it to alter the Humours, or Purge: In the composition three things are to be observed, the Wine, the Things to be in­fused in it, and the Things that are sometimes dissol­ved in it. A Purging Medicinal Wine is impregnated with the Vertues of divers Purging Simples. As to the quality of the Wine, it is either new and uncleansed, or else Wine cleansed from the Lees; in relation to the quantity, that must be limited with respect to the Use and Dose. But I usually define the quantity of [Page 189]Wine, and Things to be infused in it thus: A Purg­ing Wine that is to be prescribed is to be used twelve days, either together, or every other day, wherein you must be sure to have twelve several Doses of the Purgers with their Correctors, and if it be needful, sit Alterers; then must you compute the quantity of them all. For instance, suppose them eight Ounces: Now if you would have the Dose of the Wine to be about an Ounce and an half, or two Ounces, prescribe it to three times their weight, and so for other quan­tities as you please; by the same way, you may pro­ceed as you see fit. But if the Wine be purely Purg­ing, made of the gentler sort of Cathartics, it is to be taken four, five, or six times, at due distances. The things to be infused, in respect of their quality, are either Purges only with their Correctors, or else with them are also infused divers Alterers dryed, as Woods, Roots, Barks, Leaves, Seeds, Flowers, Spices.

In relation to the quantity, the number of Doses for which the Wine is Prepared, shall direct you. For instance, a Wine of Sena is desired for twenty Doses. Now the Dose of Sena in infusion is half an Ounce, or six Drams, therefore ten Ounces, or fifteen of it, is to be prescribed. If the Wine be prepared of many Purgers, both gentle and strong, and also Alterers joined with them; this proportion is for the most part to be generally observed. Of the gentle sort let there be one part, of the stronger sort a quarter so much; of Correctors a quarter so much as of Purgers; Alter­ers should be half so much as the Purgers. Things that are to be dissolved in respect of their quality, are either Sugar, or Spices. As to their quantity, for every Pint of Purging Wine, you may add three or four Ounces of Sugar, and two Drams of Cinna­mon.

Medicinal Wines are usually prescribed for long, and cold Diseases, especially in the Winter-time.

Medicinal altering Wines are used with respect to certain parts, as Sage Wine for cold Affections of the Brain, Hyssop and Elecampane Wine for the Breast, Wormwood Wine for the Stomach.

Medicinal Wines are also prescribed against the Stone, to provoke Urine and the Courses. The com­position is the same with that of the Purging Wine.

A Gargarism is a liquid Medicine prescribed for Diseases of the Mouth, Gums and Throat. It is com­pounded of Waters, and proper things to be dissolved in it. As to the quantity, a Pint, or a Pint and an half of Water is prescribed. Of the things to be dissolved in it, namely Syrups, 3 or 4 Ounces; of Honey 1 Ounce and an half, or 2 Ounces; of Vinegar 2 or 3 Ounces.

A Pessary is a Medicine to be put up a Womans Privities in many Diseases of the Womb. It is com­posed of an Ounce and an half, or two Ounces of some loosening Opiat. Two are always prescribed, that when one is taken out, the other should be put in: It is corporated with some Juice.

Note, that some Powders may be added to the Opi­at, either sharp hysterical opening Powders to a Dram and an half, or two Drams, or else Powders of Purgers simple, or compound, to two Drams.

A Suppository is a topical Medicine used to the Fundament, or Anus, three or four Inches in length, slender and round; it is either simple or compound. The simple is made either of the stalk or root of Beets, Colewort, or Marshmallows; the outward Peel being taken off, to which is added some­times Salt, (to augment the provocative Vertue) rub'd on the outside, smoothen'd over with Oyl; also the stalk of a Leek anointed with Butter; or white Soap sharpened like a Suppository; also Honey alone boiled to a hard consistence, for so it becomes more sharp.

The Compound is made of Honey as the Basis, boil­ed till it will not stick to the Fingers, then adding Pow­ders [Page 191]to it near to this proportion: As to one Ounce you may add one Dram, or four Scruples of Powder at most, according as the Powder is lighter in weight, or stronger in operation; which quantity will serve for two or three Suppositories.

A Cataplasm is a sost Topick; it is compounded variously, either, which is most usual of the Mucilage of divers parts of Plants, to which are after added, either Oyls alone, or with Powders. Let there be of Mucilage ten Ounces, or a Pound; of Powders, one, two, or three Ounces; Oyl or things equivalent, three or four Ounces; or else you may express only the quan­tity of the equivalent things, and set down of Oyl Q. S. so that the whole Cataplasm do not exceed one Pound and an half; it may be much less, ac­cording to the bigness of the part, and use. As to the Mucilage, it is made in respect of the quality of boiled Roots, as Marshmallows, Lillies, or the like. The Powders in relation to their quality are Flower of Barly, Beans, Linseed, Fenugreek Seed; or to discuss, Orris, Cumin, Camomile Flowers, and the like; or sometimes Fruits, ripe, or unripe, as Apples, Prunes, Quinces, and the like, roasted under the Embers, or boiled in a fit Liquor, and bruised, adding fit Powders in the quantity aforesaid; as in the Flux of the Belly, and Dysentery, it is made of the Pulp of Quinces and astringent Powders; or sometimes in Fluxes of the Belly, Vomiting, and to strengthen the Stomach, a slice of Bread steeped in Wine, and toasted hot, is prescribed, being sprinkled with one or two Ounces of an astringent strengthning Powder, to be applied to the Stomach.

A Cataplasm for Pain is made of Crums of White Bread steeped in half a Pint of Milk; to which is ad­ded two Yolks of Eggs, half an Ounce of Saffron, and q. s. of Oyl fit for the purpose. Cataplasms are ap­plied chiefly to ease Pain, to soften hard Swellings, to [Page 192]ripen Tumours, and to dissolve the Cause of Inflam­mations. They are usually prescribed of astringent Things, to stop Fluxes, and are profitably made to provoke Urine; of Pellitory of the Wall, and Oyl of Scorpions, applied to the bottom of the Belly; for they relax, mollify, and empty powerfully.

A Pultiss differs from a Cataplasm in nothing else, saving that that is prepared of the Mucilage of Things boiled to Pap, and this is usually made of the flowery part of Things boiled to the consistence of a Pultiss. It is either compounded of the Flower of Pulse, four Ounces being boiled in a convenient Liquor, to which afterwards are added Oyls, or three or four Ounces of Grease, or some other thing equivalent to Oyl, if the case so requires, or of the Crums of White Bread to ease Pain, and ripen; or of a convenient Mucilage and Powders, and Oyls. But this is rather a Cataplasm.

CHAP. XXI. Of the Office of a Physician.

THere is no part of a Physician's Office more illu­strious than Consultation; because by it alone unlearned Physicians are distinguished from the learned; and there is nothing that brings greater advantage to the Sick; but Care must be taken that Differences do not arise out of Hatred, or private Interest. We may indeed sometimes oppose other Mens Opinions, if they seem not good, but respect must be always had to the Laws of Reason and Experience, and we must submit always to the Judgment of the most experi­enced, and to Plurality. These Consultations must be held apart from the Patients, to the end every Man may more freely discover his Fears or Hopes; for Fear is not easily removed out of the Patient's Head, when [Page 193]he is once possessed with it. Besides, if any one of the Physicians have a Spark of Vain-glory in him, he will be apt to magnifie himself before the Patient.

A faithful and true Account of the Diseases, their Causes and Symptoms must be required of the Patient; for Celsus says, that many die thro' their own Fault, especially Women, when their Modesty will not allow them to reveal the secret Diseases of their Bo­dies.

We must not utterly deny a Patient all Remedies, how desperate soever his Case is; for the Strength of Nature is admirable, and she often rallies against the triumphant Enemy, and sometimes in a fresh Combate becomes victorious. Now, since it is so, and since of­tentimes such unexpected Events have convinced us, that as long as there is Life there may be Hopes, we ought to be doing something: Hippocrates himself acknow­ledges that Predictions of Life and Death are not al­ways certain.

Let the Physician be doubtful in his Prognostic, un­less there be most certain, and infallible Signs of Death; Let him be moderate in his Promises, yet let him give always Hopes rather of Health, than foretel certain Death; for when the Patient is given over by the Physician, if he recover afterwards (as he often does, which occasioned the Proverb, viz. that it is better to be condemned twice by the Physician, than once by the Judge) the Physician incurs Infamy.

In some Diseases, great regard must be had to Mens way of living, otherwise they will be hardly cured; and so many good and admirable Cures have been performed.

Let neither the Physician, nor the Apotheca­ry declare what their Medicines are, either to the Pa­tient or to the By-standers; let them only signifie, that they intend to give a Purge, a Vomit, or a Gli­ster, and conceal what these are made of, both because otherwise they may be improperly taken, without the [Page 194]Advice of a Physician, or because when things are known, they are contemned.

Hippocrates bids us observe all the Patient's Errors, whether about Meat or Drink, or about Medicines, or external things; for if through their own Faults they grow worse, the Blame is laid upon the Phsici­an.

We must not use Medicines, but upon urgent Ne­cessity; for sometimes we must rest a while, and do nothing but order a good Diet.

It is not unbecoming a Physician, who is skill'd in the manual Operation, to breath a Vein, when there is no Surgeon to do it, or to set a Limb that is broken or out of joint; for a Surgeon's Work is one of the three Parts of Physick; nor is it disgraceful to make up Medicines: And indeed it were well if Physicians ap­plyed themselves more to Pharmacy than they do.

Let the Physician never prescribe two Medicines at once, and leave the Patient to his Choice, because then he is at a Loss, and can trust neither of them, but blames his Physician for Inconstancy.

A Physician ought not always to contemn the Medi­cines of the common People. Let no Man, says Hip­pocrates, be ashamed, if he be never so learned, to learn something that conduces to the Perfection of his Art, tho from an old Woman.

A Physician must not mix those things which destroy one another by a manifest Contrariety; for example, vitriolated things must not be mixed with nitrous ones, nor aluminous things with Alcalies, and the like.

Some counterfeit Diseases, whose Deceit it belongs to a prudent Physician to detect; now the Diseases that are counterfeited, are usually Swooning, Apo­plexy, Fits of the Mother. Some tye their Arms so strait, that the Pulse can scarce, if at all be felt; when they are called on aloud, they do not answer; if they [Page 195]be prickt a little, or their Ears pull'd, or their Fingers bent, they bear it patiently. The Cheat is discover­ed by asking, whether any Want of Food has preced­ed, Loss of Blood, a Loosness, Vomiting, or immo­derate Sweating, or any Disease; or whether he hath been in a hot Place, or where Coals have been kindled in a close Room, or whether he hath been put in some great Passion. But if the extream Parts are cold, and if a cold Sweat burst out, especially about the Head, Face, and Neck; if the Pulse cannot be felt, or are creeping; if the Breathing be little and cold, if the Colour of the Face be gone, and if he void his Excre­ments, these signifie that the Diseases are not feign­ed: But if there be no such Signs, and if the Cheater shuts his Eyes, and looks as if he were in a Swoon, the Physician must mention some strong Medicines, he must order burning, bending of the Fingers, and pricking of the Body with Needles; for by this means the Cheat may be discovered. Some raise Blisters, Swellings, and Ulcers, by washing the Skin with the Juice of Spurge, or with a Decoction of Spanish Flies, or Wasps, in Water, or by applying scorching Fen­nel, or Turbith, or Powder of Rue: It is usual with Beggars to move Compassion, but the Cheat may be easily discovered, by applying Populeon Oyntment, or the like; because Blisters and Swellings occasioned by such Applications may be easily cured thereby. Some counterfeit Madness; but you may discover them by their Habit, and by the Absence of the Signs of Mad­ness, or Melancholy. Ʋlisses's feigned Madness was discovered by throwing his Son before the Plow; for he lifted the Plow over him. Some, with the Steem of Brimstone, or with some such thing, discolour the Face; Saffron or Rhubarb does the same. Those that counterfeit Pains may be easily discovered, for they bear it better, and do not change Postures, as those do that are in violent Pain. Besides, they that are ve­ry [Page 196]ill of a Disease are willing to admit of any Remedy voluntarily, send for Physicians, and do whatever they prescribe. But if they be but a little sick, or not at all, they refuse such Remedies. Sometimes it hap­pens that a wounded Man, either out of Hatred to him that wounded him, or to get some Money out of him, feigns that some Limb is hurt: In this Case you must touch that Hand or Limb unawares.

When a Physician is first called to a Patient, after he has put the Patient in Hopes of Recovery, let him order something presently, that he may not be thought to practise Physick by Books, especially when he is called after other Physicians; for then all expect some­thing more than others have done before; therefore when you are informed what they have done, begin some other Method, yet such as you think is more ef­fectual, lest if you should repeat the same things, they should think you were called to no purpose. If the Disease be such as may be cured by Diet alone, yet you must prescribe some Physick, which may do no Hurt, or something like Diet, which may do Good, lest they should say you were ignorant, and affirm that Nature cured the Disease. This must be especially done when the Patient never thinks himself safe or well, but when he is taking Physick; and if you do not trifle with him in this manner, he will find others that will tamper with him and spoil him.

A Physician should never visit the sick, unless he be sent for, and his Visits ought not to be too frequent, when he is entertained.

There are some principal things, concerning which Patients should be interrogated, first, what it is that ails him, and how his Head and Stomach, and other principal Parts do; how many Days he has been ill; what made him ill, what Diet he kept; whether he be loose or costive; whether he used naturally to breed bad Humours; whether any natural Evacuation be [Page 197]stopt; whether he be used to labour, or a sedentary Life.

Patients must not always be severely denied what Nature earnestly craves for, for we see that several do not recover till their Appetites are gratified.

You must vary the Course of Diet and Medicines, according to the Constitutions, Climates, Situation of Countries.

There are many things in this Art, wherein for Ur­gency's Sake, it is a piece of Art to depart from Art; for tho there be many good Precepts and Rules, yet none are perpetual, and he that reckons any for per­petual and inviolable, may be a Methodist, but not at all rational; for a rational Physician proceeds not so much by Book as by Experience; for in Cases there is a wonderful Variety.

When the Physician judges some generous Remedy requisite, and the Ratient or By-standers are against it, he ought to acquaint them with the present Dan­ger, the Mischief of deferring it, and the Damage that will follow; thus they that will not yield to Per­swasions, will sometimes obey for Fear of future Evil.

It is much better to be an empirical Physician, that is, one who practises according to Experience, than a theorical one, who practises according to his own Reasonings and Figments; for Experience has long since informed all accurate Observers of things, which happen in our Art, that Empiricks are more succesful in their Practice than Theorists, and such as are Phy­sicians from Books, or their own Speculations: These are so much more miserable in their Folly, because they make others miserable with themselves; but the World will be bubled with cramp Words, and great Brags.

It is unbecoming a Physician to harangue to the By­standers; for it gives the Patient a Suspicion that he [Page 198]would cure indeed, but that he is not able, and there­fore he would supply in Talk what he cannot perform by his Skill.

It is the Part of a Physician, not only to use Medi­cines, and to order the Meat and Drink, but also to take care of all things that must be done or said before the Patient, and of the Chamber, House and Bed, and of all external things, and to dispose of them all, so as they may be most for the Benefit of the Patient.

When the Nature of the Disease is obscure, yet as for the Cure, an Indication is left us, to be taken from the Juvantia & Laedentia, by means whereof, trying the way by degrees, we may conduct the Patient, pro­vided we make not too much Haste, than which nothing is more destructive. I am not ashamed, says Syden­ham, to confess, that when I was not satisfied what I ought to do, I provided best for my Patient and my self by doing nothing; for while I waited for an Op­portunity, the Disease either went off of it self, or put on such a Type, as I knew well enough how to ma­nage. And indeed, more should be left to Nature than is now the Custom to do; for he is much mista­ken, who thinks Nature always needs the Help of Art; for if it were so, she has not taken that Care of Hu­man Kind, which the Conservation of the Species re­quires, seeing there has been no Proportion between the Frequency of Diseases that invade Man, and their Faculties which Men have to drive them away, even in these Ages, when Physick flourished most, and when most Men practised it.

It is found by Experience, that every seven or nine Years a Man undergoes some great Alteration; these are called Climacteric, because they are Steps or Lad­ders, whereby we climb up to old Age: In these Years therefore no great Medicines must be used, and because then Nature uses to do some great thing, the Physician must be quiet.

Many Physicians avoid all Days of Oppositions and Conjunctions of the Moon, unnecessarily; for all the Physician has to do, is to observe the Alterations of the Air.

CHAP. XXII. Of Animals that are of Medicinal Ʋse.

THE Lungs of a Lamb, as well as those of a Fox, are commended for Consumptions, and Diseases of the Lungs. The coagulated Milk of a Sheep or Goat is excellent for dissolving Womens coagulated Milk.

The Horns and Hoof of an Elk are in Use, and both are accounted Specifics for an Epilepsie, Convulsions, Tremblings of the Limbs, Giddiness, Palpitation of the Heart, and hysteric Fits.

The Tooth of a Boar is reckoned a Specific in Pleu­risies and Quinsies; half a Dram or a Dram of it pre­pared, being given in a Decoction of the Flowers of red Poppies, or in a Decoction of Carduus Benedictus. Some give a Dram of the Raspings of it, mixed with Oyl of Almonds and Sugarcandy: But the Raspings of it mixed with a Decoction is best; for it yields a kind of a Gelly. The Stones are a Specific for Barrenness in Women, and an Essence is prepared of them, which is counted good for Impotents, and it is used also to promote and stimulate Venery. The Dung is reckon­ed an excellent Specific to stop Blood. The Urine is good for the Stone in the Kidneys and Bladder.

Of the Blood of an Ass is prepared an Essence, which is reckoned good for the Falling-sickness. The Filth of an Asses Ear promotes Sleep, being applied to the Temples, and is excellent in malignant Fevers, [Page 200]but you must not anoint the Temples with it too of­ten, lest it make the Patient sleep too much. Asses Milk nourishes much, loosens the Belly, and provokes Urine, and is much commended for a Consumption, the Stone in the Bladder, and in the Kidneys; and is better in these Cases than any other sort of Milk what­ever, three Quarters of a Pint of it being drank five or six Mornings, sweetned with an Ounce of Sugarcandy, and the Patient must fast three Hours after; he must also take the same Quantity three Hours before Supper: But in this Course he must abstain from all acid Meats. Asses Milk is also good for the Gout.

Asses Dung gathered in May, is good for bleeding at the Nose, or for Blood flowing from any other Part, a Dram being taken at a time. The Fume of the Dung is al­so good for bleeding at the Nose, and for too great a Flux of the Courses. Or, ‘Take of Plantain Water one Ounce, of Syrup of Myrtles, and of the Juice of Asses Dung, each half a Dram; mix them: This Potion taken in the Morning, and continued for some Days, is an approved Remedy for all Fluxes of the Womb, whether white or red, Ʋni­versals going before.’

The Reins of an Ass powdered, and mixed with Ho­ney, and drank in Beer, are an excellent Remedy for the Strangury. The hard Flesh growing about the Knees of an Ass is reckoned as a great Secret for the making Hair to grow.

The Horns of a Bull rasped is reckoned good for Impotents, especially if it be rasped off in the Time of Coition; so is also the Brain of a Sparrow killed in Co­ition. Bull's Gaul is the most acrid and volatile of all the Gauls of Animals, and is reckoned very proper to take off Spots or Clouds from the Eye; the Tincture of it is reckoned an excellent Cosmetic, and the Gaul [...] [...]d is of great Use in Glisters to provoke the Belly, a Dram being mixed with a Glister. A Plaster [Page 201]or Oyntment made of Aloes, Cow's Gaul, Myrrh, and Oyl of Coloquintida, and applied to the Navel, is much commended to expel Worms in grown People, and in Children. The Gaul of all Sorts of Animals is much commended for Diseases of the Ears, to quiet the Noise, to remove Deafness and Dullness of hearing, being put into the Ear with Cotton. The Spleen of a Cow is much commended for Diseases of the Spleen, viz. the Hardness, Inflation, Pain, and Swelling of it. It is also good for Obstructions of the Courses, and for the Cachexy of Virgins arising thence, for which it is much commended.

Cow's Marrow is frequently used for Diseases of the Nerves; Cow's Dung is frequently used for Burns, in the manner of a Cataplasm, and for Inflammations, and being applied to the Belly, it is an excellent Re­medy for the Cholick, and to expel Wind. It is also applied to the Belly in Dropsies, to lessen the Swelling, and to discuss the Water. It is also used for flegma­tick Swellings of the Parts. It stops Inflammations, and prevents Gangrens. The Water of the Dung, called the Water of all the Flowers, is an excellent Cos­metic, and takes off Spots from the Face. It is also much commended for provoking Urine, and expelling Gravel. Some ordinary People press out the Juice of the Dung, and drink it for the Cholick and Pleurisie, and it is counted a present Remedy.

There is often found in the Stomach of a Cow or Bull, a Stone, which is sometimes pretty large, and sometimes a Stone in the Gaul-bladder, the Powder whereof, especially of that Stone in the Gaul-Bladder, is counted an excellent Remedy for the Jaundice, and to expel Gravel; it also expels Poisons by Sweat, and drives away the Fits of the Falling-sickness. The Powder of the Stone is also an excellent Errhine, but it is best used by being mixed with the Juice of Beets, and applied to the Nostrils, for it presently causes sneez­ing.

The Milk of a Cow, as all other Milk does, consists of three Substances, Whey, Butter, and Cheese; it is an excellent Nourishment, and partakes much of the Nature of the Herb the Beasts feed on; and so if they feed on Water-cress, Brook-lime, Scurvy-grass, Mo­ney-wort, and the like, the Milk will be good for the Scurvy; and if they eat Ground-Ivy, and the like, the Milk will be proper for a Consumption, and Ulcers in the inner Parts.

In the Use of Milk, you must observe to drink it warm from the Cow, for it is soon altered by the Air, and turns sowre, and is very apt to contract Contagi­on, in a pestilential Time, and turns of a Sky Colour or livid.

Milk in general is proper to nourish the Parts; therefore it is very proper for such as have a hectic Fever, or the like. It is also good to correct the Acri­mony of the Humours, and is also an excellent Reme­dy for the Scurvy. It is also very proper for Diseases of the Urinary Passages, namely, bloody Urine, Heat of Urine, and the Strangury. It is also good for the Bloody Flux, especially if Steel be often quenched in it. In this Case it is to be taken by the Mouth, and to be injected in Form of a Glister. But in the Use of it, acid things must be avoided, and to hinder its Coagu­lation, it is convenient to mix a little Sugar with it; for Sugar powerfully hinders the Coagulation, and if a little of it be mixed with it, Butter or Cheese can ne­ver be made.

But Milk is naught for such as have continual or in­termitting Fevers. It is also naught for those that are troubled with Head-aches, Giddiness, the Falling­sickness, and the like: It is naught for Nauseous­ness, Vomiting, a Looseness, and the Cholera Morbus. It must not be used in Swellings of the Liver and Spleen, or in Obstructions of the Mesentery.

Outwardly used, it is an excellent Anodyne. It eases Pain. Flowers of Elder boyled with Milk is reckoned an excellent Medicine to take off Inflammati­ons, and cures an Erisypelas.

Whey moderately loosens the Belly, cools and as­swages the Effervescence of the Blood, and is therefore proper in malignant and burning Fevers, either taken by it self, or mixed with the Juice of Citron. And tho Milk be injurious to hypochondriac People, and to those whose Viscera are not firm, yet Whey is very proper for them, for it qualifies the Acid, and opens Obstructions of the Bowels. It provokes Urine, and is conveniently used in Summer Mornings to attempe­rate the Acrimony of the Blood and Diuretics; and things that purge and open may be mixed with it.

A Decoction of Fumitory being mixed with it, or Fumitory boyled with it, purifies the Blood, cures the Itch, a Heat of Urine, and spitting of Blood.

But Whey is not proper for old Men.

The Pizle of a Bull reduced to Powder, and a Dram of it being taken at a time, is good for a Disentery, and a Pleurisie; and this is one of Helmont's Antipleu­retic Secrets.

A Toad is an Animal well known, upon the Ac­count of the Antipathy that is betwixt it and the Spi­der, against which it defends its self, by the Use of Plantain. The Poyson of Toads is removed by Ri­ver Crabs, Humane Spittle, Harts-horn, sealed Earth, and Smaragd: But Toads are of good Use internally, and externally. Those that are taken in July are best. As to their internal Use, they are dryed, powdered, and taken inwardly to provoke Urine in a Dropsie.

Externally Toads are of excellent Use in the Plague. for Preservation and Cure. The whole Toad may be worn for an Amulet in the Plague, or they may be applied to the pestilential Bubo's; for they are said to draw out all the Venom, and so cure the Sick. The little Bone of the Leg is also said to cure the Tooth­ach, being outwardly applied; also the Falling-Sick­ness and Agues, being applied to the Pulse; and if a dryed Toad be held in the Hand, put under the Arm­pits, or upon the Heart, it certainly cures any He­morrhage. The Powder of a Toad calcined sprinkled upon an ulcerated Cancer does much good. The Oyl of Toads is used successfully for the King's-evil.

A live Dog applied to the Belly, eases the Pain of the Colick.

Dogs Grease is preferred before all other. Some roast a Dog, and use the Dripping in a Consumption with excellent Success: But the white Dung, called Al­bum Graecum, is most commonly used in Physick; and that it should be more effectual, the Dog should be fed only with Bones, and should scarce ever drink. This Dung is of excellent Use for a Dysentery and Colick. It is also used inwardly for a Quinsey, and other In­flammations of the Jaws; and it breaks the Abscess in a Quinsey, being mixed with Honey, and the Part anointed therewith. The Virtue of it is most effectu­al, when it is taken in July, and it is thought to be of so great Use in a Quinsey, that there is no Oyntment or Plaster made for it without Album Graecum or Swallows Nest.

The Brain of a Dog is commended for Mad­ness.

Goats Horns are commonly used for Fumes in Hy­steric Fits, and for Fits of the Falling-Sickness. Goats Blood is reckoned a Specific in a Pleurisy, and for nephritic Pains, and the Gravel, and it powerful­ly expels Gravel. It is also good in Falls, Bruises, and Wounds.

Deers Suet is good in Glisters for Bloody-Fluxes; for it purifies and heals Ulcers of the Bowels, especial­ly if it be dissolved in a vulnerary Decoction, and in­jected for a Glister. If the Navel be anointed with Deers Suet, a Strangury will be soon and certainly cured.

Goats Milk is preferred in Physick, especially for the Cure of the Scurvy and the Gout. The Urine of a Goat is a Specific for the Stone in the Kidneys, and for Preservation from it. The Bladder is said to be a certain Cure for Incontinence of Urine.

Castor is an amphibeous Animal, which lives partly upon the Water and partly upon the Earth. The Fat of it is excellent in Diseases of the Head and Womb, paralytick Limbs are anointed with it, and also the Belly, in the uterine Suffocation, and for After-pains.

The Castor is reckoned by some to be the Stones of the Beast; but this is a vulgar Errour, for the Castor is collected in hairy Bags placed near the Testicles; and therefore that Castor wherein the Testicles and Reins are found, is adulterate: It has a stong and fetid Smell, it powerfully discusses Wind, and is excellent for the Colick and hysteric Fits. It promotes the Courses, and expels the dead Child, and the Lochia: But all Women cannot bear the Smell of Castor.

Castor is also used in sleepy Diseases, in the Apo­plexy, Lethargy, Coma, and the like, and it corrects the Virulency of Opium.

An old Man of fifty five Years of Age fell into a dangerous Lethargy, upon travelling in a very cold Season; and when many things had been used to no purpose, he was happily cured with the following Me­dicine.

It is also good in a Lethargy to apply to the No­strils, a Spunge dipt in Tincture of Castor, and also when People are sleepy by reason of narcotic Vapours, arising from Coals, Wine and Beer Cellars, and the like.

Castor and the Extract of it is usually prescribed in Glisters, for Apoplexies and the Falling-Sickness, when very strong Glisters are prescribed. The Tin­cture of Castor is also prescribed for Apoplexies and Epilepsies mixed with Waters of Lilly of the Vallies, Lavender and Sage.

For a Noise in the Ear, and the like Diseases of the Ear, Castor is an excellent Remedy; Castor being mixed with Cotton, and put into the Ear, or Cotton dipt in the Tincture may be applied to the Ear; but it succeeds better, if the Spirit of Ants be mixed with it; for so it wonderfully cures Diseases of the Ears, and removes a Noise in them; for Spirit of Ants is of it self a Specific for Diseases of the Ears.

The Oyl of Castor is frequently used to anoint para­lytic and trembling Members, and being dropt upon the Tongue, it succeeds well in the Loss of Speech from a Palsy. The Extract of Castor is conveniently used in Glisters, for hysteric Diseases. The Tin­cture of Castor is counted good by way of Preservation from the Small-pox. The Spine of the Back being anointed with Oyl of Castor in the Fits of quartan Agues, the cold fit is thereby lessened.

The Fat of a Cat is counted good to anoint the Na­vel of those that have the Falling-Sickness, and some [Page 207]cut off the third Part of the Tail, and give three Drops of the Blood hot in the Water of Lime Flowers, to those that have Fits of the Falling-Sickness upon them.

Civet is reckoned a Specific in the Colick, the Na­vel being anointed with it; and it is also used by Wo­men for hysteric Fits, the privy Parts being anointed with it.

All the Stag is Alexipharmic, and all things prepa­red from it have the same Alexipharmic and Sudorific Virtues. The volatile Spirit of the Horn is frequent­ly used for malignant Diseases, and for an Epilepsy. The Horn has most Virtue in it when it is ripe and falls off of it self.

Calcined Harts-horn is very proper for a Loosness and the Worms. A Gelly is also made of Harts-horn, and is used in malignant Diseases to resist and expel the Malignity. Half an Ounce, or an Ounce of it may be dissolved in Broath, or in a Draught of Beer. It is also used to strengthen.

Spirit of Hartshorn, with a little Camphor in it, is an excellent Medicine in malignant Fevers.

The Bone of a Stags Heart is nothing else but the Artery hardened; and Anatomists say that such Bones have been found in old Mens Hearts. This is com­monly reckoned very good for the Heart. It is count­ed a Specific against Miscarriage, given with Grains of Kermes, in a convenient Vehicle.

The Pizle of a Stag is an approved Remedy for the Bloody-Flux and a Pleurisy; a Dram of it powdered may be given in Plantain Water for the Bloody-Flux, in Coltsfoot Water, or in the Water of Carduus Be­nedictus for a Pleurisy; or a Decoction may be made of the Raspings of it; it's moreover proper for the Co­lic and hysteric Fits.

Snails are much commended for the hectic Fever, and a Consumption. Amatus Lusitanus cured a certain [Page 208]hectic Person with a Chicken fed with Snails, and with Asses Milk. They are proper for the Gout and such kind of Pains. The Shells are good for a Drop­sy, by forcing Urine; as much of the Powder being taken as will lye on the Point of a Knife, Morning and Evening, in some convenient Vehicle. The Water that drops from the Shells, being strained is counted a good Cosmetic. Live Snails applied, are good for the Falling of the Anus, and for the Swelling and Pain of the Piles.

Ivory is good in Fevers, and to correct an acid Hu­mour, and for the Whites, and to prevent Miscarri­age. It is alexipharmic, kills Worms, and is good for hysteric Fits.

Mares Milk is commended for a Consumption. The Dung of Horses is frequently and succesfully used in Physick. It is used outwardly and inwardly to stop bleeding. It is also good for the Colick.

The Testicles of a Horse are excellent to expel the Secundine, or dead Child, and to provoke the Lo­chia.

They are also much commended for the Colick.

The Hoofs of Horses are used for hysteric Fits.

The Pizle of a Sea-horse is good for the Stone and Cramp.

The Powder of a Hedg-hog is reckoned an excellent Remedy for involuntary Urine, half a Dram, or a Dram of it being taken.

The Breath of a Man clears the Eye-sight, and is good for Inflammations of the Eyes, especially if Fen­nel Seeds have been chewed in the Mouth before. The Nails infused in Wine or Drink, purge and vomit much.

The Spittle of a Man fasting is good for the biting of Serpents, and of other venemous Creatures, and is cosmetic. The Wax of the Ears is good for the Colic, and is very vulnerary.

Womans Milk is much commended for a Consump­tion, especially if the consumptive Person sucks the Woman. Forestus mentions an Observation of a very consumptive young Man, who was so far restored by sucking a Woman, that at length he got her with Child. An Epithem made of Womans Milk and Pop­py Seeds boyled in it provokes Sleep. A menstruous Cloath applied to a gouty Foot eases the Pain, and cures an Erisypelas. The Secundine of a Woman is excellent for expelling the After-birth, and the dead Child, and there is no better Remedy to cause Aborti­on, and it is of excellent Use in difficult Labour. A Spirit exracted from the Secundine cures the Falling-Sickness, and takes off Spots, the Child being present­ly besmeared as soon as it is born. The way of pre­paring the true Spirit of the Secundine is as follows.

Man's Urine expels the Venom of Vipers, and there are some Observations in Zacutus Lusitanus, of Men that have bin Cured of the Biting of Vipers, by taking some Ounces of Urine. It eases the Pain of the Gout. The Drinking Ones own Urine is a preservation against the Plague, and is of great use in Curing the Jaundice, the Dropsie, Cachexy, and a Scirrhus of the Spleen. A Womans drinking her Husband's Wa­ter renders her Labour more easie. A Glister made of a Boy's Urine is reckoned a Specific for the Tim­pany: It may be given alone, or with carminative Plants boiled in it. The Seeds of Daucus, Fennel, and Cummin boiled in Urine, and drunk, is also very good for a Timpany. It Cures Ulcerations of the Ears. The Spirit of Urine is an excellent Medicine; it opens Obstructions, forces Urine, and expels Gravel, pro­vokes Sweat powerfully, and is a Catholick Medicine for intermitting Fevers, before the Fit, Universals be­ing first used. It is excellent for the Scurvy, especially if it be mingled with the Spirit of Scurvy-grass pre­pared [Page 211]by Fermentation, which is also excellent for Hypochondriac Diseases, and for the Cachexy of Vir­gins, a Vomit being first used. Three Virgins have bin lately Cured by this method. Being outwardly applyed it Cures Collick Pains arising from an acid. For an Epilepsy and sleepy Diseases, it is applied to the Nostrils, and taken inwardly, and is of good use.

Man's Excrement is excellent for Inflammations. It eases Pain, mollifies, and discusses. Being applied to Carbuncles and Pestilential Bubo's, it eases the Pain, draws out the Venom, and ripens presently. This has bin approved of in a raging Plague. It is good for the biting of Venomons Creatures; so says Zacutus Lusitanus, Matthiolus, Dioscorides, and Riverius. There is a Serpent in the East-Indies, the Biting whereof is certain Death, unless Man's Dung be applied to it with­in eight hours. The distilled Water of Man's Excre­ment is good for Diseases of the Eyes, the Stone, Dropsy, and Epilepsy; and being taken inwardly, it Cures the Biting of Mad Dogs, Whitlows, and Car­buncles.

Blood taken inwardly stops Bleeding. Blood di­still'd yields a Volatile Spirit, which is proper for an Epilepsy, being given at the New and Full Moon.

Man's Bones are used for the Bloody Flux, and Pal­sy: But the Skull is most frequently used, especially of a Man that dies a violent Death. That which has bin whitened by lying long abroad, has much more Ver­tue than one dug out of a Grave. The Raspings of it taken inwardly are very good for the Falling Sick­ness. I knew, says Etmuller, a Country-man that cured many, both Young and Old, of the Falling Sickness, with this very Remedy.

The Moss that grows on dead Men's Skulls stops Bleeding in any part of the Body, being applied to it.

The Ashes of Hares Down burnt, and taken inward­ly, [Page 210] [...] [Page 211] [...] [Page 212]expels Gravel. The Eye of a Hare hastens Deli­very. The Blood of a Hare is an excellent Remedy for the bloody Flux: A Rag dipt in the Blood of a Hare, and applied to an Erysipelas, Cures it; so says Hel­mont. The Brains of an Hare are used to the Gums to render the bringing out of Teeth easie. The Heart dryed and powdered, is a certain Cure for a Quar­tain Ague, a fourth part of it being taken before eve­ry Fit. The Womb of a Hare dryed is much com­mended for a Dropsy of the Womb, and Barrenness. The Fat of a Hare is very good to draw out Thorns, and other Things that stick in the Flesh. It is also used for Ruptures, the Spine of the Back being anoint­ed with it. The Hairs are used with other Things, to stop Bleeding, and is an ingredient in Galen's fa­mous Oyntment, which is made of equal parts of Aloes, Myrrh, Frankincense, and the Down of a Hare burnt; this is much used for Bleeding, and for the stopping Arterial Blood.

The Tooth of a Wolf is used to rub the Gums of Children, to facilitate the Eruption of the Teeth. The Liver of a Wolf is commended for a Scirrhus of the Spleen, a Dram of it being taken in some proper water. The Guts and Dung of a Wolf are much commended by universal consent of all Authors, for the Collick, a Dram of the Guts or Dung being taken at a time: Some make Girdles of the Guts, and wear it for the Collick. The Skin is also commended for the same.

Mouse Dung is commended for involuntary Urine. The Heads of Mice calcined, and mixed with Honey cure Baldness. The Dung Purges, and is mixed with Supposi­tories. One or two of the Rolls of Dung powdered, and mixed with the Childs Pap, Purges neatly.

The Lungs of a Sheep applyed hot to the Head, is good for a Frenzy. Amatus Lusitanus says, that the Cawl of a Sheep applyed hot to the Belly, is an approved Remedy for the Collick, and Bloody Flux. The Dung is [Page 213]commended for a Quinzy, and the Jaundice; and in­deed all Dungs Cure the Jaundice, especially Goose Dung. A Dram of the Bladder of a Sheep dryed, is commended for involuntary Urine.

Frogs in general, are used in Physick; but the Green are best, and such as live in wholsome and clear Wa­ters. Frogs powdered and taken inwardly, are good to stop Blood; and they are outwardly used for ma­lignant Ulcers, and ulcerated Cancers. Some com­mend them roasted, for a Hectic Fever and Con­sumption. The distilled Water, and the Powder of them, is good for malignant and inflamed Ulcers; and others commend a green Frog calcined, to prevent Fits in Children; as much of the Powder as will lye on the point of a Knife being given to the Child as soon as it is Born, before it has suckt or taken any other thing.

A Rhinoceros is a vast Animal; the Horn in the No­stril is much commended for malignant Diseases: The Dose of it is from half a Scruple to a Scruple. Some make drinking Cups of it, and think they will pre­serve from Poyson, and prevent Drunkenness.

A Serpent, or Viper, is not Venomous unless it be inraged. There are many great Serpents which are not Venomous, and cannot be provoked to Anger by any means. The best time to take them is in the Spring. The whole Serpent is Alexipharmic. The Powder of them is called Bezoardicum animale, and the Spirit of them, and of Vipers, is very proper for ma­lignant Diseases. When there is any suspicion of malignity, you may give a Scruple, or half a Dram of the Powder. It is also of use in malignant Fevers, the Spotted Fever, and the Plague, and provokes Sweat. And Serpents and Vipers are very proper for the French Disease, in whatever Form they are used. They con­firm Health, and prolong Life. The Duke of Bavaria fed Fowl with Serpents, and afterwards eat them, and [Page 214]so came to have Children; and they are commended by others for Barrenness. The Skins which they put off in the Spring are very proper to hasten the Birth, an Oyntment being made of them, or they being worn in the manner of a Girdle. They are also much com­mended to make the Hair grow; the Powder of the Skin mixed with the Powder of River Crabs is very good for the Wounds of the Nerves and Tendons. The same Powder is much commended for Wounds of the Eyes, and for fresh Wounds; a Decoction of the Skins is much commended for the Lowsy Disease. The Ser­pentine Stone is of a stony, or rather bony substance; it is found about the Head of a Serpent in the East-Indies. This Stone being applied to a Venomous Bite sticks, till it draw out the Poyson; when it falls off, they put it into Milk, that it may cast forth the Poyson into the Milk; afterwards they take it out again, and apply it to the Bite, and if any Venom remain, it sticks to the Wound, if not, it falls off of its own accord. A Dog bit by a Viper was lately Cured by this Stone, and the Milk, into which it was cast after the Appli­cation, being given to another Dog, killed him. The Powder is good for all cutaneous Diseases.

As the Conformation of the internal and external parts of a Hog, is much like that of a Man, so the Blood and Flesh is much like the Blood and Flesh of a Man. The Gall of a Hog is good for Diseases of the Eyes and Ears. The Lard is much used to mollifie Humours, and ease Swellings; for which purpose it is often put into Cataplasms, and outwardly applied.

The following Remedy is commended for a violent Cough, especially that which is most troublesome in the Night.

Hogs Dung is excellent to stop any sort of Bleed­ing, especially of the Nostrils. The Juice of the fresh Dung being pressed out, and taken inwardly, or ap­plied to the Forehead and Nostrils, or with Sugar you may make a Syrup of the Juice, or the dry Dung may be used with some proper Water inwardly, or out­wardly, or the hot Dung may be applied to the Fore­head and Temples, just as it is evacuated, or the Sick may smell to it, or the dried Dung may be put up the Nostrils: But which way soever it is used, it does Wonders in this case: ‘Take of the Powder of Hogs Dung dryed, three Drams; of the Powder of Roses half a Dram, to correct the Stink; mix them with the Juice of Plantain, and put it up the Nostrils with Cotton; but the Juice of Nettles is better than the Juice of Plantain in this case.’

The Matrix of a Sow dried in the Smoak, and half a Dram of it being given, is an excellent Remedy for the Epilepsy. The distilled Water of Pork is much commended for the Hectic Fever and Consumption.

A calcined Mole is used for a Leprosy. The Wine wherein a Mole has bin boiled is excellent for the Kings Evil, and a calcined Mole is much commended for cancerous, and scorbutick Ulcers. The Blood of a Mole Cures Baldness, and is counted good for a Gan­green, a Paper being dipt in it and dryed, and after­wards moistened in some proper Water. The Teeth taken out of a live Mole are said to be good for a Gangreen of the Paps, and for the Tooth-ach, and for breeding Teeth. The Blood and Skin of a Mole is a certain Cure for Whitlows.

Vipers are very proper for malignant and venomous Diseases, and for the Pox, and Leprosy. Galen men­tions an observation of a desperate Leprosy that was [Page 216]cured by the Wine wherein Vipers were killed. Vi­pers are also very good for a malignant Itch, and for Barrenness. Helidaeus Paduanus in his Observations, mentions a rare Case of a leprous and barren Woman that was cured of her Leprosy and Barrenness by a Decoction of Vipers. Moreover, Vipers are an ex­cellent Cosmetic, being used inwardly; and therefore the Italian Women drink Viper Wine to beautify the Face; and there is no better Medicine than Vipers used inwardly and outwardly for the King's Evil. The Fat and Oyl of Vipers are commonly used; the Hearts and Livers are reckoned a Specific for the Cure of an Epidemic Dysentery. For the Cure of the Bite of a Viper, there is no better Remedy than a red hot Iron applied so near as to heat, and not to burn. The Fat is excellent to take off Wrinkles from the Face. The best way of preparing Vipers is to take out their Bowels, and to dry them with the Fume of Ju­niper Berries; when they are dryed, powder them, to three Parts of the Powder add Flowers of Sulphur and Myrrh powdered, each one Part, sprinkle upon them some Drops of the Oyls of Cinnamon and Rhodium, and you will have an excellent Animal Bezoardic Pow­der. Or.

Those that desire more Compositions may consult Zwelfer. The Troches of Vipers is now disliked, be­cause there is so great a Mass of Bread mixed with a small Quantity of the Vipers, and therefore the Mo­derns, in the Composition of Treacle, use instead of the Troches, the Animal Bezoardic Powder.

The Fat of Badgers is more penetrating than other Fats, and therefore applied to the Reins in nephritic Diseases, with Oyntment of Marsh-mallows, when we design to ease Pain, or the Oyl of Scorpions when we intend to force Urine or the Stone.

The Unicorns Horn, which is more properly the Tooth of a Fish in Greenland, is frequently used for malignant and pestilential Fevers, the Small-pox, Measles. The Dose is from half a Scruple to one Scru­ple, or half a Dram. It provokes Sweat. A Gelly may be made of it by boyling.

Bears Grease mixed with the Ashes of Mice is an ex­cellent Remedy for Baldness. It's used to discuss and dissolve Tumours, and is much commended for Rup­tures, the Loins being anointed with it about the Spine of the Back, after the Gut is put up, for it prevents the falling again. Some commend the Grease wash'd in Frogs Span-Water to ease the Gout: But it is to be feared it repels the Matter. It is also a very good Cos­metic.

The Fat of Foxes is much in Use for Diseases of the Nerves, Tremblings, and a Palsy. The Oyl of Foxes discusses powerfully, is anodyne, and is proper for the Contraction and Induration of the Nerves and Ten­dons, they being anointed with it. The Lungs are much commended for Diseases of the Lungs, especial­ly for Wounds and Ulcers of them. The Lohoch of Fox-Lungs is is commended for and Asthma and a Cough. The Blood of a Duck is alexipharmic; and the more Ducks feed on Toads, the more alexiphar­mic the Blood is. If you apply a living Duck, the Feathers being pulled off behind, to the Stomach, it will ease the Pain of the Cholick; and it is wonderful, how the Podex of a Bird applied to pestilential Bubo's and Carbuncles, especially of a Hen, does draw out the Poyson, as also from venemous Bites: But the Fowl dyes after the Application.

Goose Fat is much used in Physic, and is more pene­trating than Lard, and therefore is used in paralytic Diseases, and Convulsions of the Nerves. The Peo­ple of Westphalia use the Vapour of the Fat to cure the scorbutic Palsy, wherewith they are often seized. They boil it in Water, and receive the Vapour upon the paralytic Member. The Grease taken with a roa­sted Apple, mollifies the Belly when it is bound. The Feet and Hands being anointed with it are defended against the Inclemency of the Cold. An excellent Lini­ment for a Palsy is made of a Goose in the following manner.

The Tongue of a Goose cures the Strangury, being first dried; and if it be eaten fresh, it cures involunta­ry Urine.

Peacocks Dung is a Specific for the Falling-Sickness, and Giddiness. A Dram of the Powder may be taken at a time, or it may be infused in Wine. It is also gi­ven in Glisters; half an Ounce, or an Ounce may be mixed with a Glister. It stimulates much, if the Epilepsy proceed from a Consent of the inferiour Parts, [Page 219]from the Pancreas or Mesentery. Some say that Men ought to take Peacock Dung, and that Women should [...]ake the Dung of the Peahen.

The Fat of an Eel breeds Hair, and the Skin is reck­oned good for the Falling of the Womb, the Fume of [...]t being received into the Womb.

Crabs are very proper for those that have a hectic sever and are consumptive, and for those that have Ulcers in the Lungs and Reins; and indeed the whole Crab is vulnerary. A Crab is outwardly of much Use, being bruised and applied in the Form of a Cataplasm; or the Juice may be used for a Fomentation, and so the Juice pressed out is an excellent Remedy for the deadach in malignant Fevers, especially if there be fear of a Delirium or Phrenzy.

It is applied outwardly to Wounds with Pledgets dipt in it, and taken inwardly twice a Day, six Ounces at a time, four Hours before eating; an Ounce of Syrup of Maiden-hair may be added to it; or if the sick be thir­sty, an ounce of Syrup of Lemons. Poterius wonder­fully commends the Virtue of this Decoction taken in­wardly, or used outwardly for Ulcers and Cuts of the Nerves and Tendons. Upon which account he says, it ought to be well noted. The Ashes of these Crabs are much commended by the Ancients, and Galen, for the Bite of a mad Dog, with the Root of Gentian.

Crabs are also reckoned very good to prevent Abor­tion; the Woman may take the Juice mixed with Wine, or eat them being bruised in Chicken Broath.

Crabs Stones are commonly called Crabs Eyes, but falsly; for the Crabs Eyes are black, and that which is called Crabs Eyes is nothing else but a slimy Humour coagulated in the Stomach of Crabs. The Crabs Eyes consist of abundance of Alcali. They are good to cor­rect acid Humours, and for the Collic and hysteric Fits, and such-like Diseases arising from an Acid. They are vulnerary, and cure Ulcers, and are very proper for Falls, and a Pleurisy. They provoke Urine, and ex­pel Gravel. They take off the Effervescences of the Blood, and cure intermitting Fevers.

The Gaul of a Carp is commended for Diseases of the Eyes, especially when they are to be cleansed from Clouds, the Stone that is to be found in a Carps Head is good to stop Bleeding, and for the Falling-Sickness, and force Urine and expel Gravel. There are small Stones also placed above the Eyes of a Carp, which are better than that in the Head for an Epilepsy.

Cocle-shells are commended for intermitting Fevers; the Flesh of them are commended for a Consumption and a hectic Fever.

The Jaw of a Pike is counted a Specific for a Pleuri­sy and Quinsy. The Fat is good for Childrens Coughs, their Feet being anointed with it in the Evening.

The Liver of a Lamprey being hanged in the gentle Heat of the Sun, turns into an Oyly Liquor, which is an excellent Specific for Dullness and Weakness of Sight. Forestus mentions an Observation of one, that being wholly deprived of Sight, by reason of sharp Hu­mours, was cured by this Liquor applyed to the Eye­lids. The Dutch frequently use it successfully in this Case.

The Stone that is found in the Head of a Pearch is counted an excellent Remedy to force Urine, to expel Gravel, and to cleanse the Reins, a Scruple or half a Dram of it being taken at a time.

Cutle Bone drys and cleanses much; it is a Specific for a Gonorrhea. The Dose of it is a Scruple, or half a Dram mixed with Conserve of Roses. The Bone cal­cined is mixed with Dentifrices, or it may be made into a Liniment, and being sprinkled with the Juice of Scur­vy-grass, or the Spirit of it, it cures the Scurvy in the Mouth, and is good for Diseases of the Eyes.

A Tench is much commended for curing the Jaun­dice, being outwardly applied. Some apply it to the Navel till it dyes; others to the Soles of the Feet; and some others to the Region of the Spleen; but it is best to apply it to the Liver; for being kept to it a [Page 222]Night, the next Morning that Part which is applied to the Flesh appears yellow and swelled, and then they say the Jaundice is certainly cured.

The Fat of a Trout is much commended for Chaps in any Part of the Body, especially of the Fundament. Some burn Trouts Teeth, and give the Powder in Parsly Water for the Stone: A Dram or two may be taken in Winter-cherry-water.

Bees dry'd and powdered, and mixed with Honey, are counted good for Baldness, the Part being anointed with it. Honey is the Essence of Plants, which the Bees suck from Flowers, and when it ferments in their Stomachs, they vomit it up in the Comb; the thicker Part of it makes Wax. Honey cleanses, being taken inwardly, or outwardly applyed. It cures Wounds and Ulcers, and is good for Diseases of the Lungs, and is frequently mixed with digestive Oyntments.

Honey is good for old Men, but naught for such as are choleric, melancholy, and for Children: but is counted very good for Diseases of the Reins.

Honey differs much according to the Variety of Plants from whence it is gathered. Wax is the gros­ser Part of Honey, and in it the Honey is contained. It is an excellent Diuretic, being used inwardly, and it penetrates, incides, and opens. Outwardly used it is much commended for hard and scirrhous Tumours, and is commonly an Ingredient in Plasters.

Spiders are much commended for the Cure of inter­mitting Fevers. Some apply them to the Wrists, others put them alive into Nut-shells, and put them about the Neck, especially for Quartan Agues. A Country Man used to give a Scruple, or half a Dram of powdered Spiders with good Success, for Fevers. A Spiders Web is commonly used to stop bleeding, and to heal new Cuts, being mixed with Crums of Bread chewed. The simple Oyl of Spiders by Infusion is used to soften Plasters and Oyntments that are applied to [Page 223]pestilential Bubo's, and malignant and ill-conditioned Ulcers; and it is also used to anoint the Pulse, and the Region of the Heart, in spotted and pestilential Fevers, being mixed with compound Oyl of Scorpions, or Oyl of Ambar.

Millepedes, tho' they are contemptible Insects, are of much use in Physick. They abound with Volatile Salt, and are very Diuretic, and a Specific for pre­venting and Curing the Stone, being infused in Beer. They are also good for Diseases of the Spleen and Hypochondres, and for an Asthma, and Obruction of the Lungs. They are very Vulnerary, and are used inwardly for malignant Ulcers, and Cancers. They are also said to be good for the Scorbutic Gout, and for Convulsions.

Cantharides used inwardly, force Urine more than any thing else; but they corrode the Bladder, and cause a Bloody Urine, and therefore it is not safe to use them. They are most commonly used to raise Blisters, their Wings and Heads being plucked off. Some mix five or six with an Ounce, or an Ounce and an half of Leaven, and half an Ounce of the Pulp of Figs; others take a Dram and an half, or two Drams of Cantharides, and mix them with the Crum of Rye Bread, and moisten it with some proper Water; when you would have a more powerful Blistring Plaster, mix Mustard Seed with them. Some think that Vine­gar, or Leaven, lessens the Vertue of the Cantharides, but I have observed the contrary. Some prepare in­dolent Vesicatories with Cantharides, Myrrh, and Mastick. Some prepare Cantharides with a sufficient quantity of Wine, and use them inwardly for the Gout. Wenches use them to cause Abortion, but not without great danger. An Old Man that married a young Wife, took Cantharides to make him Vigorous, but he died the next day after his Marriage. The Oyl [Page 224]of Cantharides is used to provoke Venery, the Penis and Testicles being anointed with it.

The greater and lesser Ants are used in Physick; but those are chiefly to be chosen that have Wings; and they are found near Birch Trees. A Spirit is made of them, which is very proper to strengthen the Body, and is also good for an Apoplexy, Giddiness, and Ca­tarrh: It is Diuretic, and stimulates Venery. You may make the Spirit in the following manner: Put a piece of Cheese into a Cucur bit, and thrust the Cucur­bit into a Hill of Ants, and they will be allured by the Cheese to run in; when you have got enough, take out the Cheese, and pour in Spirit of Wine three Fingers above them, distill it, and add new Ants to the Wine, and so by cohobating often, you will have a good Spi­rit.

The Oyl and Spirit outwardly used is much com­mended to help Hearing. Tincture of Castor mixed with the Spirit, and put into the Ear with Cotton, is very good to strengthen and help the Hearing. The Spirit of Ants, and Spirit of Worms, are much com­mended for the Gout and Diseases of the Joynts, and for ischidiack Pains, and the Palsy, the Parts being anointed with them. Ants Eggs bruised, and an Oyl prepared of them, are much commended for dullness of hearing: But the Eggs are not to be taken inward­ly, for they generate abundance of Wind. A heap of Ants boiled in Water, is an excellent Bath for Diseases of the Nerves and Muscles, and for a Palsy, and the Gout. It also cures Barrenness and the Hip-Gout. The Oyl of Ants made by Infusion provokes Venery, the Penis, Testicles, and the Muscles that erect the Pe­nis, being anointed.

Earth-worms creep forth plentifully in an Evening after Rain. Those are more especially commended, which have red Rings about their Neck, and these are much used in Physick. They provoke Urine, and are [Page 225]good for all Diseases that proceed from an Acid, for the Scurvy, the Scorbutical Gout, and Scorbutical Con­vulsions, the Spirit of them being used inwardly, or the Worms outwardly applied in the form of a Cata­plasm, or the live Worms may be applyed to the part affected, or the part affected may be anointed with the Spirit of Earth-worms mixed with the Spirit of Ants, The Spirit of Worms is best made in the following manner.

Put washed Worms into a Cucurbit so well stopped, that nothing can exhale. Place the Cucurbit to digest, either in Balneo Mariae, or in the Heat of the Sun, that the Worms may putrify and ferment; and this Fer­mentation is sometimes so very great, that it breaks the Glass. The Fermentation being over, the Earthy Part sinks to the bottom, and the Skins swim on the top, the spirituous Liquor is in the middle. Separate this, and distill it, and it will yield a Spirit; this Spirit is an excellent Diuretic.

The Decoction of Worms is much commended by Sennertus, for the bloody Flux. The Powder of Worms is good for the Jaundice, so is the Decoction of Earth­worms, with the greater Celandine, especially if some Juniper-berries be added to it. Earth­worms boyled with Aperitive Plants, are very good in many Diseases, by reason of their penetrating, open­ing, and Diuretick Faculty; and are therefore very good for Diseases of the Spleen, and the Dropsy. The Powder of Worms is very good to increase Milk, a Dram of it being taken at a time alone, or with Fennel­seed. The Oyl of Worms is very good for Wounds and Bruises of the Nerves. The following Oyntment is very good for Wounds or Punctures of the Nerves.

The Water of Earth-worms is good for a Dropsy, but the Spirit is much more effectual, and is also good to provoke the Courses, and open Obstructions of the Womb.