especially if it be much eaten and if such as doe eat it be of melancholy complexion for in those saith he it breedeth melancholy diseases as cankers scabbes leprie fevers quartaines and such like And Isaak Iudaeus is of the same judgement For which cause Sco. Sal. reckoneth biefe among those ten sorts of meats that ingender melancholy and be unwholesome for sicke folkes the verses are these Persica poma pyra lac caseus caro salsa Et caro cervina leporina bovina caprina Atra haec bile nocent suntque infirmis inimica But all these authors in mine opinion have erred in that they make the biefe of all countries alike For had they eaten of the biefe of England or if they had dwelt in this our climat which through coldnesse ex antiperistasi doth fortifie digestion therfore requires stronger nourishmeÌ„t I suppose they would have iudged otherwise Yet do I not thinke it wholesome for sicke folkes but for those that be lustie and strong Or els we may say that those famous Physitians ment of old biefe or very salt biefe For there is great differeÌ„ce of biefe touching age for young biefe is tender and pleasant in eating and old biefe is more tough and unsavorie Againe Oxe biefe is better than Bull biefe except it be for those that would looke big And cow biefe if it be young as Irish men thinke is better than both But by master Eliotes judgement Oxe biefe not exceeding the age of foure yeare is best of all As for veale is greatly commended in Schola Sal. because it doth nourish much for so they say Sunt nutritivae multum carnes vitulinae Whose judgement Galen approveth where he saith that the flesh of a sucking calfe of six or eight weekes old being rosted doth nourish much and is easily digested But our use is to kill calves at three weekes or a moneth old at which time they must needs bee full of superfluous moisture yet that superfluity is very well abated by rosting Therefore veale is better rosted than sodden And should be rather little ouer rosted than under For this is a generall rule in Philosophie and Physicke that meat rosted is drier than boiled Which is confirmed by Galen in these words Quae assantes aut in sartagine frigentes mandunt ea corpori siccius dant alimentum quae vero in aqua praecoquunt humidius As for salt biefe which is much used in some places of England whether it be kept in brine or hanged up in the smoke called Martlemas biefe because it is commonly killed about that time of the yeare is in the verses before alledged out of Scho Sal. reckoned unwholesome and to breed grosse and melancholie bloud And as I have often proved in my selfe is very hard of digestion Yet biefe light poudered is more wholesome than fresh biefe Because by the salt it is purified and made more savorie And this much I know that in cholericke stomackes as it is commonly in youth biefe is more conuenient than chickens and other like fine meats Because fine meats in hot stomacks be as it were over-boiled when the grosser are but duely concocted The good ordering of Biefe and other victualls I refer to good Cookes CHAP. 131. Of Mutton MVtton is commended of the most part of Physitians save Galen who saith that it maketh il iuice for so he writeth of lambe and mutton jointly Agni carnem habent humidissimam ac pituitosam Ovium vero excrementosiorest ac succi deterioris But how much Galen is deceived if hee speake generally of the Mutton of all countries experience proveth here in this realm for if it be young and of a wether it is a right temperate meat and maketh good juice And therefore it is used more than any other meat both in sickenesse and in health Yet is it not like good in all places in England Nor the sheepe which beareth the finest wooll is not the sweetest in eating nor the most tender But as Galen speaketh of all kindes of flesh so of mutton Carnes castratorum sunt praestantiores Senum autem pessimae tum ad coquendum tum ad succum â—onum generandum tum ad nutriendum Wherefore Rammes mutton I leave to those that would be rammish and old mutton to butchers that want teeth As for lambe is moist and flegmaticke and not convenient for aged men or for them which have in their stomackes much flegme except it be very dry rosted But mutton contrary to veal should be rather under rosted than over For it is seldome seene that any man hath taken harme by eating raw mutton so light and wholesome it is in digestion CHAP. 132. Of Swines flesh SWines flesh is most commended of Galen above al kinds of flesh in nourishing the body so it be not of an old swine and that it be well digested of him that eateth it And that it giveth more stedfast and strong nourishment than other meats he proveth by experience of great wrastlers who if they eat like quantity of any other meat and withal use like exercise shal feele themselves the next day following more weake than they were when they fed of Porke Moreover the flesh of a swine hath such likenesse to mans flesh both in savor and tast that some have eaten mans flesh in stead of porke Yea swines bloud and mans bloud be so like in every thing that hardly they can be discerned And the inward parts of a swine as is proved by Anatomie be very like to the inward parts of a man But notwithstanding this similitude and strong nourishment yet I thinke swines flesh no good meat for students and such as have weake stomacks to be commonly used For as that worthy Arabian Rhâ—zes writeth Crassa caro multum sese exercentibus convenit iis vero qui vitam in maiore otio ac quiete degunt subtilis extenuans So then it followeth that swines flesh is good wholsâ—m for their bodies that be yong whole strong occupied in labor and not disposed to oppilations and for them that desire to be faâ— But for students that flesh is better which is temperate of complexion easie of digestion and ingendereth good bloud Neither is al swines flesh so commeÌ„dable but that which is yong and best of a yeare or two old Aâ—so better of a wilde swine than of a tame because as Galen saith the flesh of swine fed at home is more full of superfluous moysture for want of motion beside they live in a more grosse ayre than those that live wilde But our use in England is for the more part to breed our swine at home except it be for the time of mast falling for then they feed abroad in the woods which kinde of feeding in my judgement is most wholesome wherefore brawne which is of a bore long fed in â— stie can in no wise be wholesome meaâ— although it be young
and salt And the marrow of Biefe is best to bee eaten If it bee of a Deere it is good to annoint any place where ach is This also is one of the twelve things that maketh fat as appeareth in the verses aforesaid The Marrow that commeth downe the backe bone is of like nature to the braine CHAP. 153. Of the Fat. THe fat of flesh alone without leane is unwholesome and cloyeth the stomack and causeth lothsomenes better is leane without fat than fat without leane Yet have I known a countryman that would feed onely of the fat of Bacon Beefe or Pork without leâ—â—e but that is not to bee marvelled at considering that many of them have stomackes like the bird that is called an Ostridge which can digest hard Iron CHAP. 154. Of the Feet THe feet being well boyled and tender in a whole stomacke digest well and doe make good iuice and passe forth easily Galen commendeth the feet of Swine But I have proved saith M. Eliot that the feet of a young Bullocke tenderly sodden and laid in souce two dayes or three eaten cold in the evening have brought a cholericke stomacke into a good digestion and sleep and therwith hath also expulsed salt flegme and choler And this I have found in my selfe by often experience alway foreseene that it be eaten before other meat without drinking immediately after it All this I have taken out of M. Eliot because hee hath written most pithily of this part Yet one thing will I note of mine owne experience that the fat which is left upon the water of the seething of Netes feet called commonly foot seame is passing good for the stiffenesse or starkenesse of the Synewes or joynts for the Crampe and such like And if you mix a little Aqua vitae withall it is a very good oyntment for any ache for the Sciatica or cold goute as I have often proved CHAP. 155. The Preface to Foule HItherto I have spoken of the flesh of Beastes and their parts usually eaten Now I will intreat of Birds and their parts concerning dyet And if comparison bee made between both generally whether is lighter of digestion I say that the flesh of birds is much lighter than the flesh of beasts And again that the flesh of those foules which trust most to their wings and doe breed in high countries is lighter then the flesh of such as seldome or never flye and be bred at home Yet the tame birds as Isaack saith do nourish more than the wylde and be more temperate CHAP. 156. Of Capons Hennes and Chickins THe Capon being fat and young is praised above all other foules because as it is easily digested so it maketh little ordure and much good nourishment The flesh will bee more tender if it be killed a day or two before it bee eaten it is commodious to the brest and stomacke Hens in winter are almost equall to the Capon but they doe not make so strong nourishment The flesh of them is without superfluity as Haly and Mesues write and is soone turned into bloud And they have a marveilous property to temper mans complection and humours and their broth is the best medicine that can bee for Leapers And Avicen affirmeth that the flesh of young Hens augmenteth understanding and cleareth the voice and encreaseth the seed of generation That hen is best which as yet never layed egge And a fat hen ful of egges is not the worst The Poet Horace in the person of the Epicure setteth forth a way to make a hen tender upon the sodaine in this wise Si vespertinus subito te oppresserit hospes Ne gallina minus responset dura palato Doctus eris vivam misto mersare Falerno Hoc teneram faciet If guestes come to thee at unwares In water mixt with wine Souce thou thy henne she will become short tender nesh and fine Chickins in Sommer especially if they be cocktels are very convenient for a weake stomacke and nourish well neither is there any flesh lighter of digestistion than a chicken or more agreeable with all natures as well in sicknesse as in health yet would I wish those that bee in good health not to use themselves much to such fine meats but rather accustome to feed on grosser meates til need require As for chickens upon sops they are no meat for poore schollers unlesse they can get them CHAP. 157. Of Cocke THe flesh of a Cock especially if it be old is hard of digestion but the broth wherein it is boyled looseth the belly and if you boyle therewith Polipodium or Cartamus it purgeth ill humours Galen saith Galliâ—arumius simplex retinendivim possidet vti gallorum veterum subducenilâ— If you list to still a Cocke for a weak body that is in a consumption through long sicknesse or other causes you may doe it well in this manner Take a red cocke that is not old dresse him and cut him in quarters and bruse all the bones then take the rootes of Fennell Darcely and Succory Violet leaves and Borage put the Cocke into an earthen pot which is good to stew meates in and betweene every quarter lay of the rootes and herbes Corans whole Mace Annise seeds liquorise being scraped and slyced and so fill up your pot Then put in halfe a pint of Rose water a quart of white Wine or more two or three Dates made cleane and cut in peices a few prunes and raysons of the Sunne and if you put in certaine peeces of Gold it will be the better and they never the worse and so cover it close and stop it with dough and set the pot in seething water let it seeth gently for the space of twelve houres with a good fire kept still under the brasse pot that it standeth in and the pot kept with liquor so long When it hath stilled so many houres then take out the earthen pot open it streine out the broth into some cleane vessell and give thereof unto the weake person morning and evening warmed and spiced as pleaseth the patient In like manner you may make a coleyse of a capon which some men like better CHAP. 158. Of Fesaunt FEsaunt exceedeth all foules in sweetnes and wholsomenesse and is equall to a Capon in nourishing but is somewhat dryer and is of some men put in a meane betweene a henne and a partrich It is a meate for Princes and great estates and for poore schollers when they can get it CHAP. 159. Of Partrich PArtrich of all foules is most soonest digested and hath in him much nourishment It driveth away the dropsie it comforteth the stomacke it maketh seed of generation and encreaseth carnall lust and it is said that customable eating of this flesh comforteth the memory Wherefore it were a convenient meat for students such as be weak and I would that every good student twise in a weake instead of his commons might have a
ere now Drinke wine and have the Gowt drinke none and have the Gowt As who should say that it maketh no matter what a man eateth or drinketh for all is one so his stomake be to it But this opinion is both repugnant to reason and common experience For who so hath commonly an aking head if it proceed of a hoate cause shall feele that by drinking strong drink the pain will be encreased And who so hath a hoat stomack or inflammation of the Liver shall plainly perceive that by hoat wines spices it will become worse And who so hath a wound or sore to bee healed shall find that by eating fresh Beefe Goose garlick Pigeons and Eeles such like the cure 〈◊〉 not come so fast forward as otherwise it 〈◊〉 What meaneth this but that meates and driâ—kes doe alter our bodies and either temper thâ—m or distemper them greatly And no marvaile seeing that such as the food is such is the blooâ— and such as the blood is such is the flesh Wherefore I say to the Gentleman that hath the Gout for poore men seldome have it because for the more part it groweth through excesse and ease I say that although the forbearing of wine and women and other things noysome in that disease doe not utterly take away the Gowt yet it will abate qualifie and abridge the paine and make it much more tolerable And so I thinke of all other diseases whatsoever And to prove that good diet may preserve a man from sicknesse I need to use no other example than of Galen himselfe who by the meanes of his temperate diet as he witnesseth after he passed the age of 28 years untill the time of his death he was never grieved with any sicknesse except the grudge of a Fever of one day that happened only by too much labour and lived as Sipontinus writeth 140 yeares and dyed only through feeblenesse of nature His dyet stood chiefly in three points which I will here declare that such as would live long in health may endeavour to follow it The first point was Nunquam ad satietatem comedere aut bibere The second Crudum nunquam gustare The third Odorificum semper anhelitum spirare â—hese three points whosoever will carefully 〈◊〉 if hee be of a â—ound constitution may live 〈◊〉 in perfect health I say if he bee of a â—ound constiâ—ution for some are so corrupt from their 〈◊〉 that if Esculapius as Galen speaketh were ever at their elbow to advise them in their dyet yeâ— could they not live out halfe their daies And some that bee of a â—ound constitution by nature doe yet through intemperancy so corrupt their complexion that either they live not untill they be old or else their old age is most fulsome and lothsome Whereof hath risen that saying not so common as true Intemperanter acta inventus effaetam parit senectutem In this number chiefly be Courtiers Lords Ladies Gentlemen and Gentlewomen though not all yet many moe than of the common people For these commonly live not so long as the inferior sort As for learned men if they be Students indeed through rest of the body and immoderate musing of the minde they are not commonly so long lived the more it is to bee lamented as the vulgar sort Wherefore that noble Philosopher Theophrastus when he dyed is reported to have accused nature for that shee had given long life to Ravens and Crowes whom it nothing availed and had given but a short time to men whom it behoved to live much longer to the end that mans life might be perfectly instructed with all manner of arts and disciplines But I trust your honour being chiefly moved by a speciall gift of Gods grace and partly following these and such like advertisements will so diet your selfe that you may live long to the glory of God to the benefit of the common-wealth and to the comfort of your friends which God grant according to the good pleasure of his will And so I end beseeching your honour to take this my dedication in good part And although the worke bee most unworthy of so worthy a Patron yet because it is an exercise of learning whereof your honour hath beene alwaies a speciall favourer my trust is that you will vouchsafe to give it your protectioÌ„ and the rather for that it is the fruit of your owne soile I meane the testimony of a dutifull minde of the tenant towards his Lord and Master 1584. Your Honours most humble Oratour Thomas Coghan Authoris carmen Sapphicum ad Lectorem depromptum ex Ecclesiastico Cap. 30. vers 14 15 16 17. QVisquis optata fruitâ—â— salute Sit licet pauper tamen hic potenti Diviti praestat mala quem flagellat Invaletudo Praestat argento superatque fulvum Sanitas aurum super atque censum Quamvis ingentem validaeque vires Omnia praestant Vita languescens prâ—perantâ— morte Pâ—iâ—r est multo requiesque dulcis Anteit longe miserum dolâ—rem Corporis aegri Si sapis quaeres igitur salutem En tibi portus patefit salutis Hunc â—â—ne 〈◊〉 â—â—uere salute Vivâ— valeque To the Reader BEcause this Treatise chiefly concerneth the dyet of our English nation I have thought good most gentle Reader first to declare the situation and temperature of this our countrey of England and next to set downe the reason and order of the whole booke Touching the situation if we consider the division of the whole earth habitable into foure parts that is Europe Africke Asia and America then is England a parcell of Europe and situated on the West side thereof yea so farre West as of old time it hath beene thought Cornelius Tacitus witnessing the same in the life of Iulius Agricola that beyond England dwelled no Nation Nihil nisi fluctus saxa And as the Poet Horace speaketh ultimos orbis Britannos Whereas now through the providence of God and travaile of men there is found further in the West as it were a new world a goodly countrey named America or new India for largenesse plenty wholesome and temperate ayer comparable with Affrike Europe or Asia Againe if we respect the division of all the earth into five parts called in Latine Zonae correspondent to the division of the heavens by five circles that is to say the Equinoctiall circle the two Tropickes the one of Cancer the other of Capricornus the circle Articke and the contrary Antarticke which are briefely and plainely set forth by the Poet Ovid in the first booke of his Metamorphosis in this manner Vtque duae dextra coelum totidemque sinistra Parte secant Zona quinta est ardentior illis Sic onus inclusum numero distinxit eodem Cura Dei totidemque plagae tellure premuntur Quarum qua media est non est habitabilis aestu Nâ—x tegit alta duas totidem inter utramque locavit Temperiâ—mque dedit mixta cum frigore flamina Then
it is worthy and most fit for students I will recite verbatim Dicere solebat Scipio Nunquam se minus otiosum esse quam cum otiosus neâ— minus solum quam dum solus esset Of this saying Tullie speaketh as followeth Magnifiâ—â— veâ—o vâ—x ac magno viro ac sapiente digna quae declarat illum in oâ—â—o de negotiis cogitare in solâ—tudine secum loqui solitum vt neque cessaret unquam interdum colloquio alterius non egeret Itaque duae res quae languorem afferunt caeteris illum acuebant tium solitudo Leasure then and solitarinesse are two of the chiefest things appertaining to studiâ— which two who so hath obtained and is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Isocrates speaketh that is to say discendi cupidus let him him observe these rules following Mane cito lectum â—uge mollem discute somnum Templa petas supplex venerare Deum Those things presupposed which I have spoken of in the preparation of exercise of the body this golden lesson of Lillie is next to bee observed And if you goe not to the Church yet forget not venerare Deum And for this purpose no time is more convenient than the morning Which the Prophet David every where witnesseth in his Psalmes namely Psalme 5. saying Quoniam ad te orabo domine mane exauâ—ies vocem meam mane astabo tibi videbo quoniâ—m non Deuâ— volens iniquitatem es tu And for studie how much better the morning is than other times of the day the reasons following may declare First of all there be three Planets as the Astronomers teach most favourable to learning that is Sol Venus and Mercury these three in a manner meeting together when night approacheth depart from us but when day draweth neare they returne and visit us againe Wherefore the best time for studie is early in the morning when the Planets be favourable to our purpose Againe when the Sunne ariseth the aire is moved and made more cleare and subtill and the blood and spirits of our bodies doe naturally follow the motion and inclination of the Aire VVherefore the morning or sunne rising is most fit for study Aristotle therefore in his Oeconomikes not without great cause biddeth us to rise before day and saith that it prevaileth greatly both to the health of the body and to the study of Philosophy VVhose counsell that famous Oratour of Greece Demosthenes diligently followed as Tullie reporteth of him Dolere se â—iebat Demosthenes si quando opificum antelucana victus esset industria whose good example I wish all students to follow having alwaies in minde this short sentence Aurora Musis amica and not to imitate the practise of Bonacius a young man of whom Poggius the Florentine maketh mention This Bonacius was wont to lie long in bed and when he was rebuked of his fellowes of so doing he answered smiling that hee gave eare to certaine persons who contended and disputed before him For as soone as I awake said hee there appeareth in the shape of women Solicitudo and Pigritia Carefulnesse and slothfulnesse Carefulnesse biddeth mee to rise and fall to some work and not to spend the day in my bed Contrariwise slothfulnesse biddeth me lie stil and take mine ease and keepe me from cold in my warme Couch Thus while they vary wrangle I like an indifferent judge inclining to neither part lie harkening and looking when they will agree and by this meanes the day is overpassed or I beware This young mans practise I leave to loytering Lurdâ—ines and returne againe to diligent students who having used the preparation aforesaid must apply themselves earnestly to reading and meditation for the space of an houre then to remit a little their cogitation and in the meane time with an Ivory Combe to kembe their head from the forehead backwards about forty times and to rub their teeth with a coarse linnen cloth Then to returne againe to meditation for two houres or one at the least so continuing but alwayes with some intermission untill toward noone and sometimes two houres after noone though seldome except we be forced to eate in the meane season for the Sunne is of great power at the rising and likewise being in the middest of the heavens And in that part also which is next to the midst which the Astronomers call the ninth part and the house of wisedome the Sunne is of great vertue Now because the Poets doe account the Sunne as Captaine of the Muses and Sciences if any thing bee deeply to be considered wee must meditate thereon especially the houres aforesaid As for the residue of the day is convenient rather to revolve things reade before than to reade or muse of new Alwayes remembred that every houre once at the least wee remit a little while the earnest consideration of the minde neither should we meditate any longer than we have pleasure therin for all wearinesse is hurtfull to health wearinesse of the body is evill but wearinesse of the minde is worse and wearinesse of both worst of all For contrary motions draweth as it were a man in sunder and destroyeth life But nothing is more hurtfull than studying in the night for while the Sunne shineth over us through the power thereof the pores of the body are opened and the humours and spirits are drawen from the inner parts outward And contrariwise after the Sunne setteth the body is closed up and naturall heate fortified within Wherefore to watch and to be occupied in minde or bodie in the day tâ—me is agreeable to the motions of the humours and spirits but to watch and to study in the night is to strive against nature and by contrary motions to impaire both the body and minde Againe by continuall operation of the aire opening the Pores there followeth exhalation and consumption of the vitall spirits wherby the stomacke is greatly weakned and requireth a renewing and repairing of the Spirits which may best be done in the season when naturall heaâ— returneth from without to the inward parts Wherefore whosoever at that time shall begin long and difficult contemplation shall of force draw the spirits from the stomake to the head and so leave the stomack destitute whereby the head shall be filled with vapors and the meat in the stomacke for want of heate shall be undigested or corrupted VVell therefore saith Erasmus Nocturnae lucubrationes longe periculosisâ—imae habentur Notwithstanding I know that such as bee good Students indeed having alwayes in minde that notable saying of Plinius Omne perire tempus quod studio non impertias doe spare no time neither night nor day from their bookes VVhereof Plinie himselfe hath given a goodly example in that by his owne testimonie he wrote that most excellent work called the Historie of nature Noctibus et succisiâ—is temporibus Yea Galen in his old age as hee writeth was
For beside that it is hard of digestion as common experience proveth it must needs breed ill iuice in the body considering the want of motion and grosse feeding thereof for which cause wee use commonly to drinke strong wine with brawne to helpe digestion And we eat it before other meats that it may lye lowest in the stomacke where digestion is strongest and we eat it in the cold time of the yeare when wee are best able to digest grosse meats as Hip. saith Ventres hyeme ac vere natura calidissimi somni longissimi VVhich use of England is confirmed in Schol. Sal. on this wise Est caro porcina sine vino peior ovina Si tribuis vina tunc est cibus medicina Which is to be understood as Arnoldus affirmeth in his commentarie upon the same especially of rosting pigs and brawne For young pigs commonly called rosting pigges though they be commonly eaten and accounted light meat yet they are not very wholesome by reason of their overmuch moisture and they breed in our bodies much superfluous humors wherefore they need good wine as well as brawne the one because it is over hard and grosse the other because it is over moist and slimy But physicke teacheth the cooke that flesh which is inclined to drienesse should be sodden the flesh which is inclined to moisture should be wel rosted Wherefore porke pig veale and lambe is better rosted than boyled Yet if a man be costive and would saine be soluble let him make poâ—age with fresh porke and none other herbe but Mercurie and by eating thereof as I have often proved hee shall be easily loosed As for Bacon is in no wise commended as wholesome especially for students or such as have feeble stomackes But for laboring men it is convenient according to the Latine proverb Crassa crassis conveniunt For the country woman when her sicke husband would eat no fat bacon thought he was past all eating for when the Physitian advised her to dresse him a chicken What master Doctor sayd shee doe you thinke hee will eat of a chicken when as he will eat no bacon as yellow as the gold noble And indeed in such kinde of men it forceth not much how wholesome meat be so it fill the belly and keepe strength For as the Poet Virgil writeth Labor improbus vincit omnia Yet a gamond of bacon well dressed is a good shooing horn to pull down a cup of wine But all sorts of swines flesh were and are abhominable to the Iewes because it was forbidden by God to be eaten of them as being unclean In so much that seven brethren and their mother were most cruelly put to death because they would not eat swines flesh But it is lawfull for the faithfull to eat all kinde of meat And although swine be uncleane beasts yet their flesh maketh cleane nourishment as Galen thinketh CHAP. 133. Of Goats flesh GOates flesh either of male or female is dispraised of Galen Quia praeter succum vitiosum acrimoniam etiam habet Yet kid is commended of him next unto porke But Avicen and the sect of the Arabians prefer kid flesh before all other flesh because it is more temperate and breedeth purer bloud as being in a meane betweene hot and cold subtill and grosse So that it can cause none inflammation nor repletion And is therefore a good meat for those that have weake stomackes and use meane exercise But it is not convenient for labourers because great labors would soone resolve the iuice engendered thereof Isaak Iudaeus maketh foure differences in age as well of goats as of other kindes of beasts That is to say Lactens adolescens Iuvenis decrepitus And hee most commendeth sucking Kids For this rule is generall that flesh of a drie complexion is better neere calving time than farder from it Wherefore Kids and calves be better than Goats and Oxen because their drinesse is abated with the moisture of their youngnesse But flesh of beasts of moist complexion is better and more wholesome in age than in youth for a great part of their over much moysture is dried away as they doe increase increase in age wherefore weathers of a yere old are lesse clammy and more wholesom than sucking lambs And likewise porkes of a yeare or two old are better than young pigs But generally all beasts and birds that be in the fourth age before mentioned that is decrepiti are tough and unwholesome For most true is that English proverb yong flesh and old fish doth men best feed Againe generally Castrati sunt meliores CHAP. 134. Of Hare HAre flesh beside that it is hard of digestion maketh grosse and melancholy bloud and is one of the foure kindes of flesh which breed melancholy mentioned before in the chapter of biefe wherefore it is not for the goodnesse of the flesh that this silly beast is so often chased with hounds and hunters but for pastime Yet thus much I will say to the commendation of hares for the defence of the hunters toile that no one beast be it never so great is profitable to so many so divers uses in Physicke as the hare parts therof as Math. sheweth For the liver of the hare dried and made in powder is good for those that be liver sick and the whole hare skin and all put in an earthen pot close stopped and baked in an oven so drie that it may be made into powder beeing given in white wine is wonderfull good for the stone as well in the raines as in the bladder The gaule of the hare mingled with sugar doth take away Flewmes of the eyes and helpeth dimnesse of sight The kidnies of the hare eaten raw especially while they are hot doe marvellously helpe those that have the stone and beeing boyled they are of like force The stones of the Hare are wholesome to bee eaten of them that have griefes of the bladder The bloud of the Hare while it is warme boyled with barly meale and eaten helpeth the flixe presently The dung of the Hare is good for the same purpose The haires of the Hare burned and applyed doe stanch bloud but chiefly the haires that grow under the belly pulled off while the Hare is alive and put into the nostrilles doe stop bleeding at the nose The ancle bone of the foot of an Hare is good against the crampe This much touching medicine Now concerning diet Rasis that famous Arabian saith that Hares flesh being rosted is wholesome for them that have any kinde of fâ—ix But our use is to rost the hinder parts and to boyle the fore parts or to bake the whole But howsoever it be used Galen saith that Caro leporum sanguinem quidem gignit crassiorem sed melioris succi quam bubula ovilla The opinion which some hold that every hare should bee of both kindes that is male
Partrich to his supper Neither doe I marvell considering the goodnesse of the flesh that Gentlemen be at such cost to keep hawkes and take such toyle to kill Partriches and Fesants For beside the pleasant pastime in hawking the flesh of these birds is very precious and every morsell worth gold CHAP. 160. Of Woodcocks WOodcocks are of a good temperature meetly light in digestion and the flesh of them is very wholesome They come into England at the fall of the leaf and depart againe at the spring but whence they come or whither they goe it would trouble a good Doctor to define When the woodcocke goeth the Swallow commeth but the Swallow is like a feined friend that forsaketh us in adversity for when cold beginneth she returneth againe over the sea into hot Countries and as Plinie iudgeth into Affrica So may we guesse likewise that Woodcockes come out of cold Countries as Denmarke Norway Swetia or else from those regions which have summer when we have winter and contrarywise CHAP. 161. Of Pigeons PIgeons are very hot and moist wherefore they are not good for those that be cholericke or inclined to any fevers but to them that be flegmatick and pure melancholy they are very wholesome and bee easily digested They should be taken when they be ready to flie so killed that they may bleed wel Arnoldus saith that they be better baked being stuffed with soure grapes than rosted because the soure grapes doe qualifie and temper the heat of them Wherefore cunning cookes have devised to stuffe them with grapes also when they bee rosted The old doves for their very great heat drought and hardnesse of digestion are to bee eschewed yet the Turtle dove is commended in Scho. Sal. and is said to nourish well and to engender good bloud Which Avicen also affirmeth where hee saith that there is no foules flesh better than a Turtles or a hens nor more subtile but I thinke hee meaneth of young Turtles CHAP. 162. Of Quailes QVailes are commended in Scho. Sal. to be wholesome yet Isaak Iudaeus affirmeth that they are worse than any other foule and that they engender the crampe experience proveth them to encrease melancholy therefore they are no good meate for students although they were the meate that God rained from heaven to feed the Israelites withall in the desert But God gave them a sowre sauce to their meat for while the fleâ—h was yet betweene their teeth before it was chewed even the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people and the Lord smote the people with an exceeding great plague God defend this Land from such a sauce for all the sweet meates that be so plentifull in it CHAP. 163. Of Blacke Birds BLacke birds or Ousiles are greatly commended for lightnesse of digestion and that they make good nourishment and little ordure and they be one sort of the fourteene kinds of wilde foules reckoned most wholesome in Schola Salerni where also are named certaine other sorts of birdes as the Stare or Shepstare which unlesse it be taken before it flie from the neast is bitter in taste Also the Moore hen the Wagtaile the little Robin red brest all these aforesaid are briefely contained in the verses following Sunt bona Gallina capo turtur sturna columba Quiscula Phasiades merulae simul ortygometra Perdix frigellusque orex tremulusque amarellus CHAP. 164. Of Larkes LArkes as they bee delicate in eating light of digestion and of good nourishment so are they medicinable for as Dios writeth Assa in cibum sumpta caeliacos adinvâ—t which Master Eliote expoundeth to be the collicke CHAP. 165. Of Sparrowes SParrowes bee hard to digest and are very hot and stirre up Venus especially the cocke sparrowes Being boyled in broth they are restorative and good for weake and aged persons Mulieres nonnulle salaces hoâ— parant in cibis maritiâ— suis ut sint procliviores ad libidinem CHAP. 166. Of Goose GOose is hard of digestion but being yong and fat the wings be easie to digest in a hot stomack and nourish competently but the greene goose is better than the stubble goose and I speake of tame geese for wilde geese are much worse yet a Lankashire man will finde fault with neither being fat and well rosted The swan is much like in nature to the goose CHAP. 167. Of Ducke and Mallard DVcke and Mallard wild or tame be hard to digest and make ill juice saving that the braunes on the brest bone and the necke is better than the remnant They feed oftentimes of frogs and todes wherefore their flesh must needs be unwholesome CHAP. 168. Of Plover PLover is thought to bee a dainty dish and right wholesome yet it is slow of digestion nourisheth little and encreaseth melancholy likewise is to bee said of the Lapwing The Teale is some 〈◊〉 better CHAP. 169. Of Peacocke PEacockes if they be old be hard of digestion and so are Turky cockes likewise but the chickens of either of them about halfe a yere old are good and wholesome CHAP. 170. Of Crane CRane is hard of digestion and maketh ill iuice but being hanged up a day or two before he bee eaten he is the more tender and lesse unwholsome CHAP. 171. Of Bustard BVstard being fat and kept without meat a day or two before he be killed to expulse his ordure and then drawn and hanged as the Crane and after rosted or baken is a good meat and nourisheth well if he be well digested CHAP. 172. Of Heron. HEron Byttour or Shovelar being young and fat bee lighter digested then Crane And the Byttour sooner than the Heron and the Shovelar sooner then any of them But all these foules must bee eaten as venison with much spice and have good old wine drunke after them and so shall they bee more easily digested and the iuice comming of them be the lesse noyfull Other foules also are used to be eaten which I omit because I finde little written of them and these which I have mentioned be most common therfore now it remaineth that I speake of the parts and members of the birds aforesaid CHAP. 173. Of the Wings THe wings braines and neckes of Geese Capons Hens Fesant Partrich and small birds being fat are better than the legges in digestion and lighter in nourishing Of wilde foule and Pigeons being fat the legs are better than the wings The braines of Ducke Teale and Wigeon except which is better to digest than the residue CHAP. 174. Of the Gysar THe gysar or stomacke of a Goose or Henne being made fat with wheat branne and milke or water and wheate branne made in powder or else well sodden is good for the stomacke in making it strong to digest and nourisheth competently CHAP. 175. Of the Liver THe liver of a Capon Hen Fesant or Goose being made fat with milke mixt with other meat is not onely easie to digest but also maketh good
very well to that of Cornelius Celsus Sanus homo qui bâ—ne valet suae spontis est nullis obligare se legibus debet ac neque medico neque alipta egere Hunc oportet varium habere vitae genus modo ruri esse modo in urbe saepiusque in agro navigare venari quiescere interdum sed frequentiuâ— se exercere But some man may demand of me how this may agree with that saying of Scho. Salerni Si tibi deficiant medici medici tibi siant Haec tria mens hilaris requies moderata dieta Whereunto I answer that a moderate dyet is alwayes good but not a precise dyet for a moderate diet is as Terence speaketh in Andria Vt ne quid nimis which alwayes is to be observed But if a man accustome himselfe to such meates or drinkes as at length will breed some inconvenience in his body or to sleep or to watch or any other thing concerning the order of his life such custome must needs bee amended and changed yet with good discretion and not upon the sodaine quia repentinae mutationes noxam imbecillitatemque pariunt as Hip. teacheth He therefore that will alter any custome in dyet rightly must doe it with three conditions which are expressed by Hip. Mutatio ipsa quidem non parum conducit si eius recta fit translatio hoc est st fiat sanitatis tempore per otium neâ— fit repentina and this much of custome CHAP. 206. Of Time THe fifth thing that is to be considered in meates is the time which standeth chiefely in three points that is to say Time of the yeare Time of the day Age of the party Concerning times of the yeare no better counsaile can be given than that of Schola Salerni Temporibus veris modicum prandere juberis Sed calor aestatis dapibus nocet immoderatis Autumni fructus caveas ne sint tibi luctus De mensa sume quantum vis tempore brumae For the better understanding whereof it is necessary that we know the foure seasons of the yeare and their temperature That is to say the Spring time Summer Autumne or fall of the leafe and Winter The spring time beginneth in March when the Sunne entereth into Aries and is in temperature not hot and moyst after the old opinion but in a meane without all excesse as Galen proveth and the equall mixture of the foure qualities in it to wit of heate and cold moyst and drith is the cause both of the meane temperature and also of the wholesomenesse thereof for of all seasons of the yeare the spring time is most wholesome as Hip. teacheth Yet it cannot bee denyed but that the beginning thereof doth participate with Winter and the end with Summer Wherefore in the beginning of the Spring the dyet should bee according to Winter And in that sense Hip. ioyneth Winter and the spring together in like dyet Ventres hyeme ac vere natura calidissimi somni longissimi per ea igitur tempora plus cibi dare oportet si quidem plus nativi caloris habent Quo fit ut copiosiore alimento egeant But Scho. Sal. in the first verse aforesaid meaneth the latter part of the Spring wherein wee should eate but a little meate much like as in Summer yet not so much as in Winter nor so little as in Summer But as the time is temperate so then to use a temperate dyet And that which we doe eate at that time especially should bee of good nourishment because then bloud chiefely encreaseth and such meates such bloud and such bloud such state of body Now what meats be of best nourishment I have declared before and here againe I say that generally flesh is of greater and better nourishment than fish Quia piscium alimentum est frigidum humidum as Fuchsius teacheth CHAP. 207. Of Summer SVmmer beginneth in Iune when the Sunne entreth into Cancer This season is naturally hot and dry because therein heat exceedeth cold and drynesse moysture In this time of the yeare by reason of the heat of the ayre without the pores of the body are more open whereby the spirits and naturall heat are the more resolved and wasted and by that meanes the vertue digestive is infeebled so that the stomacke and inner parts then are not so well able to digest as at other times Wherefore to eate much meat in Summer is hurtfull according to the second verse Sed calor aestatis c. But wee must eate a little at once and often as Galen teacheth Quia accessione alimenti majore indigent vt pote per id temporis cute perspirabili exhausti quia vires exolutae sunt ac dejectae And that which wee eate should bee rather boyled than rosted Pottage or brothes made of cold herbes as Lettuse Endive Succory Violets are then good to bee used Drinke in more abundance Wine allayed with water to hot complexions much to cold natures lesse CHAP. 208. Of Autumne AVtume or the fall of the leafe beginneth in September when the Sun-entreth into Libra This season of the yeare is variable and the ayre changeable in heat or cold Wherefore it is not cold and dry after the old opinion but of unequall temperature as Galen proveth And the distemperature thereof is the very cause Quae maxime Autumnâ—â— morbiferum facit as hee avoucheth in the same place The dyet most convenient for this season is to eat somewhat more in quantity than in Sommer and more often rosted meates and to drinke some deale lesse and a little stronger And especially wee must beware of Sommer fruites which are most plentifull at this time of the yeare for as much as they make ill juice and winde in the body But how they may bee eaten with lest hurt I have shewed before in the treatise of fruits CHAP. 209. Of Winter WInter beginneth in December when as the Sunne entereth into Capricorne This season by nature is cold and moyst for therein cold doth surmount heat and moysture drought by reason wherof the heat of our bodies within is greater and the vertue digestive stronger for the coldnesse of the aire without environing our bodies about must needs keepe in and unite and fortifie the inward heate ex antipe ristasi as the Philosopher speaketh that is to say by position of the contrary Wherefore digestion being stronger one may eate as much as he will that is to say more than in other seasons and not onely more but also meats of grosser substance as Biefe Pork and such like Quia vires validae sunt And this also is approved by Hip. Ventres hâ—eme â—ere natura calidissimi c. alledged before in the spring And meates rosted are more convenient for this time than sodden and flesh and fish powdred is now better than in Summer As for herbs and fruits especially raw at all times are to
then would they bee at no cost but let nature worke And if the patient were like to dye then would they bee at no cost because it were but vaine So Parcatur sumptui made no Doctor to live in that country But let them goe with their desperate destiny and let me returne to the second way of preservation from the pestilence which consisteth in correcting and purifying of the ayre wherein we continue if there be no remedy but needes you must or will abide where the plague is then first of all humble your selfe before God and desire of him mercy and forgivenesse of your sinnes And if it bee his will that hee will vouchsafe to preserve and defend you from all infection And if his will bee otherwise yet that you are willing to abide his visitation patiently and readily if his good pleasure bee so to depart out of this wicked world That done have alwayes in minde and practise in your life this short lesson following Aer esca quies repletio gaudia somnus Haec moderata iuvant immoderata noceut Ayre labour food repletion Sleepe and passions of the minde Both much and little hurt a like Best is the meane to finde For in these six points as it were in so many lute strings resteth the whole harmony of mans life Wherein moderation beareth the burthen of the song Which if it be not kept but that excesse be taken in any one of them there must needs follow great disturbance in our bodies Nam omne nimium naturae inimicum Wherefore you must avoid all excesse and superfluity specially in eating and drinking sleeping and waking in travaile and women and seek by all meanes to maintaine and keepe your naturall and accustomed evacuation and to be merry and pleasant following herein the example of Socrates who by his continency and good order of dyet escaped the plague at Athens never avoyding the City nor the company of the infected when as the greatest part of the City was consumed And touching the ayre first looke that the house wherein you dwell bee kept cleane and sweet and all things in it as neate as may be Open not your windowes toward the West or South but toward the East or North. And come not forth of your house untill an houre or two after the Sunne rising and take your house againe as long before the sunne setting And it shall bee good specially at night and in the morning to perfume your house or chamber with frankinscense or Iuniper or storax Calamita or Ladanum or if you will not be at cost with dryed Rosemary or as poore folkes use to doe in great townes with rushes or broome or hey layed upon a chafing dish and coales and the windowes and dores being close shut up for the time Or to heate a bricke or slate stone in the fire and when it is hot to take it out and poure vineger upon it and to receive the fume with open mouth But among all things that purifie the ayre either within the house or without none is better than fire for fire by nature doth consume corruption and as Holerius saith Inspiratus halitus ignis est antidotus contra pestem et putredinâ—â— And it is well knowne how that Hippocrates delivered the City of Athens from a great Plague onely by causing many great fires to be made in sundry places within the City and round about it Wherefore it shall be good to make fires oftentimes in your chambers hals courts or streets And if you list you may cast into the fires Iuniper Bayes Rosemary Spike Firre or Cypresse wood and such like The third and last point of preservation from the Plague is to use such things as doe resist poyson and doe fortifie the heart and vitall spirits For this venomous vapour which breedeth the Pestilence in mens bodies is conveyed together with the ayre or breath first to the Lungs or Lights and from thence by the Arteriavenosa to the heart which is the fountaine of life from whence it is derived and dispersed by the veines and arteries into all parts of the body And first it assaulteth the spirits next the humours and lastly the very firme substance of the whole body And after it hath once possessed the body the force of it is such that commonly within three or foure dayes it groweth to extremity and sometime sooner if the body abound with superfluous humours chiefely with choler and bloud For the Sanguine sort are soonest taken with this infection next to them the Cholericke thirdly the flegmaticke and last of all the Melancholike because the cold dry humour is the least apt to inflammation putrefaction for that the conduits be strait by which the poyson should passe And this is the reason why youth which representeth the Sanguine complection and middle age which representeth the cholericke and women which represent the flegmaticke complection are sooner infected than the aged sort which represent the Melancholike complection Howbeit sometime if the pestilence bee outragious it spareth no complection nor no age as it came to passe in my time in Oxford when as divers old folkes men and women above 70. yeares old dyed of the plague But now to arme the heart against this infection when you have occasion to goe forth of the house having first eaten or drunken some what for it is not good to goe forth with empty veines or else having received a fume as is before said you shall put into your mouth a Clove or two or a little Cinamome or a peece of Setwall or of an Orenge pill or best of all a peece of the roote of Angelica or Elecampane and take in your hand an Orenge or a posie of Rew or Mynt or Balme Or else carry with you a handkerchiefe or spunge drenched in white Vineger of Roses if you can get it if not in common Vineger especially white But if you would make a perfect mixture and passing for this purpose you shall take Rose water white Rosevineger strong white Wine or Maluasie of each like much and spice it well with Saffron or Setwall made in powder or the powder of Orenge pills drench a linnen cloth or spunge therein and carry it about with you And if you wash your face and hands in the same and drinke a little thereof it will doe the better And for the better strengthening of the inward parts against all infection you may easily compound this mixture following which is highly commended by Marsilius Ficinus Take of red Sanders halfe an ounce of chosen Cinamon three drams and halfe of Saffron halfe a dram all made in fine powder which powder you may spice your meates withall at all times And after meate it shall bee very good to use Coriander seeds prepared and fasting also after Avicen who highly commendeth them in this case The common people saith Hollerius use to steepe Elicampane rootes in Vineger and to