the temperature or mediocritie beginneth to impugne and fight with his contrarie which is more weake vntill it see the vtter dissolution of the same Of the wicked motions of the Minde CHAP. 2. What be passions of the minde THe passions motions or perturbations of the soule which otherwise may be called the accidents of the spirit are strange or sodaine insurrections and rebellious alterations of a tumultuous troubled soule which with draw it from the light of reason to cleaue and adhere vnto worldly vanities VVherein consists the cure of the spirituall maladies As the cure of the bodyes griefes consists chiefely in the knowledge of those causes which engender them so in like manner for the cure of spirituall maladies we must search out the causes from whence they do proceed And as the causes of the bodyes griefes are two outward and inward so the causes of spirituall diseases are likewise two outward and inward The outward are disgraces iniuries hatred miserie losse of honour and such like accidents which wee call outward because they arise out of our bodies able to stirre vp a world of troubles in our Spirits The inward causes of spirituall maladies are two fold the one corporall which presently at the first bickering doe torment the body the other meerely spirituall rightly termed the passions of the soule which torment the soule it selfe The Physitian therefore that will cure these spirituall sicknesses must inuent and deuise some spirituall pageant to fortifie and help the imaginatiue facultie which is corrupted and depraued yea hee must endeauour to deceiue and imprint another conceit whether it be wise or foolish in the Patients braine thereby to put out all former phantasies VVhich are the chiefest passions of the soule The chiefest spirituall passions are voluptuous Loue Iealousie Anger Choler Sorrow Feare and Enuy. VVhat is Loue Loue is an affection whereby the minde lusteth after that which is either good indeed or else that which seemes vnto it to be so Among other causes which besot men towards this affection of Loue I finde idlenesse to be one of the principall which being taken away the force of loue presently decayeth according to that of the Poet Otia si tollas periere Cupidinis arcus Next I finde that mortification of the flesh weakeneth nature and consequently subdueth lust Last of all time and age doe conquer this tyrannous motion but indeede the Grace of God which enlighteneth the eyes of our vnderstanding to regard and meditate on the holy Scripture is the most soueraigne and comfortable water of life which cooleth and alayeth the fierie stings of vnlawfull loue VVhat is the cause of loue The cause of loue among fooles is beauty but among good men the vertues of the minde are the principles of loue for they are euerlasting and when all other things as beauty and riches do decay yet they become more fresh more sweet and inestimable then before Hence it is that wee are counselled to chuse wiues not by our eyes but by our eares that is not by prying into their fairenesse of bodies but by inward contemplating of their honest deedes and good huswiueries Ordinarily the most beautifull and goodly sort of men and such as are decked with bodily gifts are most deformed and vicious in their soules There is alwayes a great combat betwixt chastitie and beautie so that wee seldome see faire women to be honest matrons the reason is because they prefer the phantasticall pleasures of their bodily senses before the true and right noble vertues of the minde such as the Spanyard saith are like an apple which is faire without and rotten within La muger hermosa es como la mancana de dentro podrida y de fuera galana Shew me some other meanes to remedie the stinges of vnlawfull loue Forasmuch as examples are the most familiar meanes to edifie and arme a diseased minde against the assaults of inuisible temptations I will lay downe some which our moderne Writers haue recorded for true The Passion of Loue hath beene so violent and vehement in some that the wisest as Salomon haue turned to be Idolaters and braue Martialists as Hercules and others haue become fooles or mad men Saint Augustine Libr. 11. Trinitat cap. 4. rehearseth a story of one in his time that had such a strong and strange apprehension of his mistresse body imprinted in his braine that he imagined himselfe really present with her and committing of carnall copulation with her so sensibly that his very seed did spend in the said imaginary act vt ei se quasi misceri sentiens etiam genitalibus flueret that I may vse his owne words For the cure of this beastlike and slouenly sinne I will content my selfe with three famous examples There dwelt in Alexandria a dame of great beautie and of greater learning called Hippatia which publikely read vnto Schollers It came to passe that one of her chiefest Schollers became so inamoured of her that the ardent desire of loue compelled him to discouer vnto her his passion entreating her to pittie his languishing state Hippatia a very wise woman and loath to cast away so worthy a Scholler by a cruell disdaine bethought her selfe of this subtill and sodaine remedie she out of hand prouided her of a filthy bloudy and mattry smock and after shee had inuited him to her chamber fayning her selfe willing to giue him contentment shee tooke vp her peticote and shewed him her flowry contagious smocke speaking vnto him after this manner My friend I pray thee see here how thy iudgement hath beene abused see what thing thou louest so precious examine more straightly what motiue induced thee to loue such filthy trompery ouer-cast and disguised with a glozing beautie At these words the young man began to be ashamed to repent himselfe and thenceforth to become more wise and sober It is reported of that great Scholler Raimundus Iullius that falling in loue with a faire Gentlewoman he pressed her very earnestly to respect him Shee to dispatch and to ease his passion concluded to lye with him but when shee came shee presently shewed him her left dugge most vgly to behold by reason of a canker which had almost rotted it At which hideous sight his courage sodainely quailed and cooled in such sort that his lustful loue was conuerted into a charitable loue to study for some extraordinary Physicke to help her A Lawyer of Tholouza for his further learning hauing trauailed into Italy was at length insnared with loue at Venice Whereupon he often passed by the doore of his mistresses house and made many tokens of his good will towards her Hee attempted by the assistance of Bawdes to corrupt her with gifts and in the end with much adoe found means himselfe to impart his loue vnto her The Gentlewoman with bitter threatning repulsed him All which could not cause him to desist from his idle exterprize so vnbrideled was his affection so violent his motion But at the last perceiuing
the heart and the spirits tempereth the humours ingendereth good bloud breaketh flegme conserueth nature and maketh it mery as the Princely Prophet speakes wine reioyceth the heart of man Being moderately drunk it forceth the soule to partake with the body so that both of them together being full of animall spirits might ioyne in one pleasing sound for the glorifying of their Soueraigne Benefactor VVhat is the vse of white wine White wine drunk in the moring fasting cleanseth the lungs Being taken with red Onions bruised it pearceth quickly into the bladder and breaketh the stone But if this kind of wine be drunk with a full stomack it doth more hurt then good and causeth the â—eat to descend before it be fully concocted VVhat is the vse of Rhenish wine Rhenish wine of all other is the most excellent for it scoureth the raines of the back clarifieth the spirits prouoketh vrine driueth away the headache specially if it doth proceede from the heat of the stomack VVhat is the vse of Mascadell Malmesie and browne Bastard These kinds of wines are only for married folkes because they strengthen the back yet I wish them to be very chary in the drinking thereof least their often vse fill the raines and seede vessels with vnnaturall accidentall windy puft or as the Logicians speak with aduenticious heat which in time will grow to a number of inconueniences VVhat is the vse of Sack Sack doth make men fatte and foggy and therefore not to be taken of young men Being drunke before meales it prouoketh appetite comforteth the spirits marueilously and concocteth raw humours How shall I know whether hony or water be mingled with wine Vintners I confesse in these daies are wont to iuggle and sophistically to abuse wine namely Alligant Muscadell and browne Bastard but you shall perceiue their deceit by this meanes take a few drops of the wine and powre them vpon a hot plate of yron and the wine being resolued the hony will remaine and thicken If you suspect your wine to be mingled with water you shall discerne the same by putting a Peare into it for if the Peare swim vpon the face of the wine and sink not to the bottome then it is perfect and vnmingled but if it sinke to the bottome water without doubt is added vnto it Shew me a way to keepe Claret wine or any other wine good nine or ten yeares At euery vintage draw almost the fourth part out of the hogshead and then rowle it vpon his lee and after fill it vp with the best new wine of the same kinde that you can get Your caske ought to be bound with yron hoopes and kept alwayes full How might I helpe wine that reboyleth Put a piece of cheese into the vessel presently a wonderfull effect will follow Or else put a bunch of Peniroyall Organy or Calamint about the hole at which the new wine coÌ„meth forth but if your wine be new you will haue it quickly purged you must put halfe a pint of vinegar in euery 15 quarts of new wine Shew me how to seperate water from wine Doctour Liebault a learned Phisitian of Fraunce saith that if it come to passe that wine haue water in it and that we finde it to be so to seperate then this water from this wine you must put into the vessell of wine melted Allom and after stopping the mouth of the said vessell with a spunge drenched in oyle to turne the mouth of the vessell so stopped downward and so the water onely will come forth or else cause a vessell of Iuy wood to be made and put therein such quantity of wine as it will be able to hold the water will come forth presently and the wine will abide pure neat Some do vse presently to change the wine so watered and to draw it out into another vessell and then to put a pint a halfe of salt to euery fifteene quarts of wine others doe boyle the wine vpon the fire so long vntill the third part be consumed and the rest they vse three or foure yeares after Shew me a way how a man may drinke much wine and yet not be drunke To drinke great store of wine and not to be drunke you must eate of the rosted lungs of a Goat or otherwise eate sixe or seauen bitter Almonds fasting or otherwise eate raw Coleworts before you drinke and you shall not become drunk How many sorts of Drunkards are there So many men so many mindes The soule being once depraued and depriued for want of grace of her vniforme and melodious harmony becommeth tainted with diuers and discording affections insomuch that in their very drinking they shew of what base alloy they are composed Some kind of Drunkards we see laughing out of all measure others we see weeping Some are dumbe some talkatiue Some hop and daunce some on the contrary lie still as if they were without feeling One more watchfull then the rest drinks more then twentie deseruing well the garland of Bacchus Another sleepes and wallowes like a filthy Hogge One flatters another fights In briefe one is Lion drunk another Sow drunk One apish drunk another Parrot drunk How to make them which are drunk sober You must make them eate Coleworts and some manner of confections made of brine or else drink great draughts of vinegar Shew me a way how to make Tossepots and drunkards to hate wine Cause a Drunkard to drinke with white wine the blossomes of Rie gathered at such time as the Rie blossometh or else take three or foure Eeles aliue and let them lie in wine till they die and afterward cause this wine to be drunken off by such as are giuen to be drunk or else take a greene Frog which is ordinarily found in fresh springs and let the same lie in wine till she die otherwise marke diligently where the Owle haunteth that so you may get some of her egs frie them and giue them the drunken gallant to eate But in vaine labours the Phisitian to cure the bodies intemperance while the soule sleepes in sinne while the reasonable faculties lie troaden and trampled vnder these worldly pleasures Awake then thou sensuall man and shoote inwardly into the lightsome cause of health which is no other then sobrietie fashioned after the spirituall image of the Trinitie But if thy nature be so sterne if thy soules aduantage be no solide reason in thy iudgement to conuert thy brutish liuing yet let examples of the bodies griefes terrifie thy lustfull thoughts from such vaine dregs Looke but on the countenance of a drunkard and is not he disfigured Doth not his nose seeme rotten withered or worme-eaten Doth not his breath stinck his tongue falter Is not his body crazed subiect to gouts and dropsies It is written of olde Father Ennius that by emptying of bottels he got the gout and many other dolours As Mounsieur du Chesne out of Celius Rhodiginus translated these verses into French Le bon
vapours of the feet that else should vanish away in the head and eyes Also you must if you can possibly sleepe in your chaire and let your head be meanely couered according to the time For as too much colde so too much heate doth astonish the minde and spirits Of early rising CHAP. 2. What are the commodities of early rising EArly rising is healthfull for the bloud and humours of the body and a thing good for them that be studious of waighty affaires for the animall spirit is then more readie to conceiue Yet notwithstanding it is not amisse to consider and serue the time and place because if the aire be corrupt as in plague time or enclined to moistnesse as in raynie and mistie weather or thundring it is better to abide either in bed with some light or to sit in the chamber by some sweet fire Of Dreames CHAP. 3. What are Dreames DReames are either tokens of things past or significants of things to come And surely if a mans minde be free from cares and he dreame in the morning there is no doubt but the affaires then dreamed of will truely come to passe How many sorts of dreames be there There be three sorts of Dreames To wit diuine supernaturall and naturall Diuine dreames are they which were sent by inspiration from God to his Prophets and faithfull seruants and as God is the Author of trueth so are they true and certaine Supernaturall dreames are placed in the middest betweene the diuine dreames and the naturall for they may happen without being precisely sent from God and their cause comes not onely by the sole deprauation of humours as naturall dreames doe but by the rauishment of the spirit which wakes while the body reposeth and which being oftentimes holpen by the inspiration of some good Angel or Genius doth represent by such Dreames things which commonly come to passe These kind of dreames chance in the morning when the braine is more free from the vapours of the meate which before had dulled it Among many examples which I haue read of this one seemes most strange vnto me Two friends trauailing together to a certaine Citie by the way at a little village parted the one to his friends house and the other to an Inne Hee which lodged at his friends house saw in his dreame his companion defiring him that he would come to help him or else he was to be killed by his hoast which when he saw he awaked rose out of his bed and was about to goe to the Inne but comming to himselfe and thinking how it might be a false dreame returned to his bed and slept then againe his friend appeared vnto him and seemed to request him more earnestly that he would succour him but he making no account likewise of this dreame slept againe to whom in like manner the third time his companion with a great complaint desiring him because hee had neglected to helpe him in his life time that now he would at last not denie to seeke reuenge on the murtherer saying that his murthered body was brought out of the gate of the Citie vpon a Cart couered ouer with dung to hide the offence By this meanes God disclosed the murther which well might be termed sera numinis vindicta Naturall dreames are they which represent the passions of the soule and body the imaginations of such dreames come to passe either by reason of outward causes or inward the outward are vaporous meates which ingender corrupt and burnt bloud For the vse of Coleworts Beanes Pease and Pottage causeth sorrowfull and troublesome dreames like as Garlick and Onions being eaten at supper doth make a man to dreame of terrible things The inward causes of which dreames are euill humours specially melancholicke which through the blacknesse thereof doth darken the light of the vnderstanding which is seated in the braine and there-hence as a candle imparts light vnto the whole body and there they imprint troublesome dreames To hinder a man from dreaming let him auoid bad and windie meates let him purge melancholy and at conuenient season if neede be let him bleed Likewise it is expedient to temper and correct the humours by sound antidotes and preparatiues to vse revulsions and deriuations to withdraw some of the fumes and vapours which ascend vp into the head filling the braine with many such troublesome conceits The fourth Section Of Euacuations CHAP. 1. How many kindes of Euacuations are there EVacuations are either naturall or artificiall the one vsuall as exercise vrine fasting and venerie the other compelled as by Bathes bloud-letting Purgations vomites glysters What be the commodities of Exercise Exercise is that which maketh the body light increaseth naturall heate and consumeth superfluous humours which otherwise would clotter and congeale within the body For in euery concoction some excrements are ingendred which being left alone may be the rootes of diuers sicknesses Now the thicker sort of excrements are auoyded by sensible euacuations But the thinner may be wasted and purged by exercise At what time is it best to exercise It is best to exercise when the body is fasting and emptie least after meats by violent and vehement motions digestion be hindered and putrifaction follow In Sommer exercise is to be vsed an houre after Sunne rising for feare of a double heate In Spring and Haruest time it is to be vsed about an houre and a halfe after Sunne rising that the morning colde may be auoided for as the heate at mid-day is hurtfull so the morning colde especially in Autumne is to be eschewed What kinde of Exercise is good Walking if it be not too slow is a commendable exercise and may be vsed in hot moneths specially of cholericke persons To hang by the hands on a thing aboue your reach so that your feet touch not the ground is good To climbe vp against a steepe hill till you pant and fetch your breath often with great difficultie is a fit exercise to be frequented in colde seasons Olde men must content themselues with softer Exercises least that the small heate which they haue should be spent They must onely euerie morning haue their ioynts gently rubbed with a linnen cloth To be briefe they must be combde and cherished vp with fine delights Vnto what complexion doth Exercise most appertaine Vnto the flegmaticke rather then the cholericke What exercise should short winded men vse They must vse loud reading and disputations that thereby their winde pipes may be extended and their pores opened Of Vrines CHAP. 2. What is Vrine VRine is the clearer and lighter part of bloud proceeding from the raines which if a man forceth to suppresse he is in danger of the collicke or stone What colour of vrine is most commendable That Vrine is most laudable which is of colour somewhat red and yealow like golde answering in proportion to the liquour which you drinke Teach me to prognosticate by Vrines White vrine signifieth rawnesse and indigestion in the
his purpose frustrate and hopelesse he fell into a frantick humour one morning among the rest in the Church of Saint Marke casting himselfe through the Guard endeuoured to murther the Duke but this amourous foole as God would haue it was resisted and led into prison The matter was examined very straightly and at the last it was found that Loue had made him mad The wise Senate vpon graue deliberation dismissed him committing his cure to that famous Physitian Pracastorius who at that time dwelt in Venice This learned man vndertaking his charge and cure disguised a Courtizan like the Gallants mistresse to lye with him a whole night and to yeeld him his amorous contentment vntill he was weary Then hee caused him to be well couered with clothes till he fell into a sweat His phantasie and lust being thus partly pleasured hee proceeded to other remedies to purge him of his melancholicke humours so that at length he restored him to his former state I write not this to the intent it should serue for a precedent the same being diameter-wise repugnant to our Makers Commandement but because our Physitians should counsell the youthfull amorous to marry rather then to burne in vnlawfull desires and the amorous marryed to content himselfe with the wife of his youth giuing her due beneuolence and satisfying his burning lust vpon her body whom God had ioyned with him for that purpose for surely by this carnall copulation the vaporous fumes of the seede are taken away from the Patient which doe infect his braine and lead him into melancholy By how much the more and longer they continue in the body so much the more thoughts doe they engender which at last will turne to folly or madnesse What is Iealousie Iealousie is a doubtfull quandarie of the minde for that the soule suspects a corriuall or copartner in the thing beloued Our ignorance in discerning spirits and the discording tunes of our soules affections occasion this strange breach or suspicious scruple in our Consciences Wherefore yee husbands beginne betimes to admonish your Wiues of the soules saluation Let no day escape without prayers and thanksgiuing vnto the Lord. Ioyne together as true yoak-fellowes in Gods seruice daily prostrating your selues before his omniscient presence least Sathan creepe into your carelesse hearts and minister iust cause of Iealousie vnto you If the head gets in the whole body followes If the head be well the body can hardly be distempered so if Husbands doe their duties towards GOD their Wiues will imitate them in time and conforme their liues according to the square of vnitie O noble vnitie which shapest this indiuiduall vnion betwixt man and wife not onely in their bodies constitutions but in their soules coniunctions firme stable neuer to be remoued Bone of my bone flesh of my flesh Tu nostra de carne caro de sanguine sanguis sumptaque de nostris ossibus ossa geris As Adam spake to Euah Away therefore yee iealous Italists with your golden lockes with your artificiall chaines with your straight mewings If Pasipâ—ac cannot haue the company of a man she will yeeld her body to a wanton Bull. If Ariostoes Queene be restrayned one way shee will satisfie her appetite another way with a deformed dwarfe Qui era tanto dotto per mettre la Regina sotto There is no locke nor chaine comparable vnto the feare of the Lord whose wrath is a consuming fire The very thought of Hels torments terrifies the conscience more then all the worldly deuises of flesh and bloud What is Anger Anger is a vehement affection because it sees things fal out contrary crosselike to reason Why doe some looke red and others pale when they be angry Some when they are angry become red because their bloud ascendeth vp into the head and these are not so much to be doubted Others wax pale when they are angry because the bloud is retyred vnto the heart whereby they become full of heart very dangerous What is Choler Choler is a fiery passion of the minde because it seeth all things fall out contrary to reason or wit there are two sorts of Choler abounding in euery man the one open the other hidden wherof this latter is more dangerous From both of them being terrible ebullitions motions of the spirit all the body the bloud and humous become heated and chafed insomuch that they grow to be sulphureous kindeling of fiery feuers pleurisies gall in the stomacke yealow iaundises tumours Erisipelaes itch and innumerable other maladies as well externall as internall whose chiefest and specifique cure consisteth that Christian Vertue Patience as for other Phisicke to coole the violence thereof I leaue to greater Clerkes What is sorrow Sorrow is an affection of the mind whereby it is oppressed with some present euill and languisheth by little and little except it finde some hope or other to remedy the griefe thereof What is the effect of Sorrow Sorrow stifleth vp the purer faculties of the soule causeth a man to fall into a Consumption and to be weary of the world yea and of himselfe How many kindes of Sorrowes are there There be two kindes of sorrowes the one deepe and heauy the other short and temporarie The former is properly termed Sorrow the latter Mourning VVhat be the causes of both these kindes Their causes are outward and inward The outward are grieuances which happen vpon diuers occasions eyther for the losse which Husbands receiue by reason of their Wiues deaths or by reason of some deare friends death which in nature wee loue extreamely or else by reason of the shipwracke or discredit of our name fame and goods To these outward causes I adioyne the depraued dyet of the melancholicke which engender melancholicke humours as those euill weedes and seeds which our Farmers gather among their corne grinding the same with the rest into bread or malt Out of these corrupt seeds malignant vapours arise vp into the head which intoxicate the braine whirling about the imaginatiue facultie straying vp and downe along the memorie and eclipsing the light of the vnderstanding The inward causes spring from melancholick or burnt bloud contained within an inflamed braine and there-hence tainting the veines and whole body Of this blacke and enraged bloud which originally proceeded from the diuersities of vapours or exhalations there grow diuersities or diuers sorts of Sorrowes which diuersly work vpon the functions of the imagination For if it be true that the soule is in the bloud and dispersed through euery part of the same as God is wholy in the world and wholy in euery part of the same then surely must it follow that the variety of the bloud doth change and diuersifie the vnderstanding and also that the actes of the vnderstanding soule doth change the humours of the body so that out of these diuersities of tainted humours there are ingendred strange and wandring phantasies caused by reason of such blacke bloud smoake and sweat which
APPROVED Directions for Health both Naturall and Artificiall Deriued from the best Physitians as well moderne as auncient Teaching how euery Man should keepe his body and mind in health and sicke how hee may safely restore it himselfe Diuided into 6. Sections 1. Ayre Fire and Water 2. Meate drinke with nourishment 3. Sleepe Earely rising and Dreames 4. Auoidance of excrements by purga 5. The Soules qualities and affections 6. Quarterly monethly and daily Diet. Newly corrected and augmented by the Authour The fourth Edition LONDON Printed by T. S. for Roger Iackson and are to be solde at his Shop neere the Conduit in Fleetestreete 1612. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE MY GRATIOVS MOTHER in Law the Lady Lettice VVife to the valerous and Heroicall Knight Sir Arthur Chichester Lord Duputie of his Maiesties Kingdomâ— of Ireland MADAME it hath euer beene a customary fashion among Students to chuse out some noble Personage eminent for vertue vnder the glory of whose name their Bookes might walke vp and downe on the worlds Theater secured from that spitefull Spirit of Detraction whose blustering blasts of Blasphemie I lately endeuoured to coniure and conuict After the like manner to be somwhat in the fashion loe here I submit before your eyes of Grace this saplesse Worke of mine that the starry influence of your auncient loue may reflect vpon the darkest parts therof where perhaps the distance of Climate with-holds your directest beames I know your Ladyship is stored with far more precious presents onely Dutie herein seemes to free me from Presumption in dedicating the blossomes of my youthfull Studies to One who is as wise as I am mindfull as fauourable as I am faithfull and euer will continue At your Ladiships command WILLIAM VAVGHAN A Table declaring the Contents of the Sections and Chapters of this Booke The first Section Chiefe causes and Rules for preseruation of man health Chapter 1. OF Ayres for pleasure health and profit Fol. 1 Chapter 2. Of Waters with their kindes 9 Chapter 3. Of Fire and what kinde is best 12 The second Section Food and nourishment what 's good and bad Chapter 1. OF Bread and Drinke of all kindes Fol. 13 Chapter 2. Of Wines of all kindes and how to choose the best 19 Chapter 3. Of Dyet drinkes for the sicke and healthy 28 Chapter 4. Of Cyder and Perry with the vse thereof 31 Chapter 5. Of Flesh and which is best and how to preserue it sweet 33 Chapter 6. Of Fish of all sorts and which is best 40 Chapter 7. Of Milke Butter Cheese and Egges 44 Chapter 8. Of Sauces best and most sauory 49 Chapter 9. Of Hearbes with their vses 54 Chapter 10. Of common Fruits with their vses 56 The third Section Sleepe Earely rising and Dreames Chapter 1. OF Sleepe with the commodities and discommodities thereof Fol. 58 Chapter 2. Of Early rising 60 Chapter 3. Of Dreames 61 The fourth Section Euacuations Chapter 1. OF Exercise and which is best Fol. 64 Chapter 2. Of Vrines 67 Chapter 3. Of Fasting 68 Chapter 4. Of Venery 69 Chapter 5. Of Bathes 70 Chapter 6. Of Excrements and Bloud letting 72 Chapter 7. Of Purgations with the vse of Tobacco 74 Chapter 8. Of Vomits 82 Chapter 9. Of common sicknesses 84 The fift Section Infirmities and death Chapter 1. OF the causes of hot infirmities and of cold Fol. 87 Chapter 2. Of the wicked motions of the minde 89 Chapter 3. Of the age of man and how his life is deuided 112 Chapter 4. Of the foure Humours 121 The sixt Section Restauration of Health Chapter 1. OF the foure parts of the Yeare Fol. 123 Chapter 2. Of Monethly Dyet 129 Chapter 3. Of medicines and meanes to prolong life 138 Chapter 4. Of Mirth and the effects thereof 141 Chapter 5. Of daily Dyet 143 FINIS NATVRALL AND ARTIFICIAL DIRECTIONS FOR HEALTH The first Section What be the causes of the preseruation of Mans health CHAP. I. THE causes of the preseruation of mans health be foure The first Aire Fire and Water The second meate and drinke and such as we vse for nourishment The third mirth exercise and tranquillity of the body The fourth auoydance of excrements vnder which Phlebotomie purgations vomits vrine sweat bathes carnall copulation and such like are contained temperately What is Ayre Aire naturally by it selfe is an element hot and moist whereupon the whole constitution of our liues dependeth The attraction of this naturall body is so necessarie vnto vs that if any one of the instruments of our bodies be stopt we cannot choose but forthwith be strangled In respect whereof the choosing of a good ayre must for the preseruation of health obtaine the chiefest place Which is the best ayre That which is a mans natiue soyle and Countries ayre is best This by the Philosophers is approued in this principle Euery mans naturall place preserueth him which is placed in it And by the Poet confirmed Sweet is the smell of Countries soile Also a good Aire may be knowne both by his substance as when it is open pure and cleane free from all filthy dunghils noysome channels Nut trees Figge trees Coleworts Hemlocks Mines and Forges for these haue a contrary quality vnto the animall spirit and make men to fall into consumptions and by his qualities as extremity of colde heat and moysture What is the cause that the Aire changeth so oft The Aire receiues sundry alterations not onely according to the sundry aspects of the starres and of the heauenly planets but also by reason of the diuersities of Countries and of the particular situations of some places as well vpon the water as vpon the land Doe but marke how feauers rheumes plagues are ingendred by reason of troubled aire and of low marshie grounds And on the contrarie how our health is continued refreshed and recouered in drie or sandie Countries What shall a man doe if the Aire be either too hot too cold or too corrupt He must vse cold things to keepe away the heat and hot things to expell the cold He must adde dry things to moyst and moyst to dry To depart thence into another place were not amisse For oftentimes it is seene that sicke folkes doe recoure their former health onely by change of aire But if the aire be corrupt and that a man cannot remoue thence very quickly hee must artificially rectifie it by perfuming his Chamber with Iuniper Rosemary Bay tree or vvith wood of Aloes and then by sprinkling vineger here and there in his chamber In briefe a man in such cases must get him a Nosegay composed of Roses Violets Maioram Marigold and such like And when hee goeth abroad he must hold in his mouth eyther the pill of an Orenge or a peece of the root of Angelica Likewise he must haue an especiall regard that his Chamber be at least once a day neatly swept Our Mariners lately returned from their East Indian voyage confesse that their onely remedy against the Callentura the Scuruie and other
is crept into the humour of melancholy Some of extreame sorrow haue turned mad famishing themselues to death some imagined themselues to be Vrinals of glasse expecting when they shold be broken through some accident some thought that they were become Owles and therefore feared to be seene abroad in the day time Among these sorrowfull sots I cannot but remember a Gentleman of Venice with whom I was familiarly acquainted at the Citie of Noua-palma in Italie about nine yeares past This Gentleman by reason of crosses hauing fallen into a sorrowfull discontentment began to scorne all of his rancke and grinding the world as it were into oatmeale would eyther be aut Caesar aut nihil eyther a Monarch or a Mole-catcher And to this end he studyed by what meanes hee might aspire to the Empire At the last hauing wearied his braine with the losse of many a nights sleepe to his bodyes annoyance hee imparted his mind vnto me whereupon to put him out of dumps by degrees I aduised him to leaue off his solitary walkes and to betake himselfe to reading or to some outward exercise thereby to banish away his inward thoughts or rather doating Dreames This counsell of mine hee accordingly followed for a time but at length he fell into his wonted phantasies and persisted so strongly therein that hee wrote very learned letters and pathetical vnto the Electours for his aduancement into the throne Emperiall very earnestly soliciting me to become his Agent in the businesse What is the reason that men imagine such impossible and vaine things When God with-drawes his Spirit from the sinfull Sonnes of Adam then the world the flesh and the Diuell glad of such aduantage and opportunitie doe mutually conspire against them diuersly seduce their brittle thoughts and wils Some they possesse with imaginations according to the course of the liues which they lead Others imagine of sorrow discontentment such strange matters that not onely the spirit is assayled as I haue written but also the body is assaulted that it becomes vnprofitable vnto al seemly actions And that so violently that it procures and prefers Death it selfe Now since you haue discoursed of naturall and Melancholicke Sorrowes tell mee what harme hapneth by the other sorrow which wee terme mourning This latter kinde of sorrow being accidentall chanceth to our conceit by Desteny which is no other then the will of God the Father limitting the end of all things by measure number and waight not blind-foldly as the Poets fained of Fortune but necessarily and prouidently Vpon the death of some deare neare friend our mindes are deeply touched that we manifest the effects therof in our very outward countenance and apparrel by reason of the weaknesse of flesh and bloud which can in no wise brooke a sodaine or violent alteration but commonly such mourning is short and momentarie according to that Maxime of the Philosophers nullum violentum est perpetuum No violent thing can last long which likewise may be confirmed by the obseruation of our outward habits Impletur lachrimis egrediturque dolor The more teares wee shed the lesse is our sorrow for teares cause wearinesse wearinesse procures sleepe and sleepe asswageth sorrow new obiects also comming in by processe of time to affect the Patient Neuerthelesse for all this neque mihi cornea fabra est my heart is not so rigorous and hard as to condemne vtterly our mourning vse when we haue lost our dearest friends nay I commend it highly so that it be accomplished with moderation and accompanied with Hymnes and Psalmes to GOD for the honour of his mercy with charitable Epitaphes for the memorial◠of the deceaseds honesty and with cheereful almes-giuing for a monument of Christian charitie But what is the reason that some were black and some white at the funerall of their friends The morall is this that the blacke betokeneth the corruption of the body The white signifieth the soules freedome out of the bodies prison Happy is that soule which can contemne the frailety of the flesh loathing to deface the handie-worke of God Happy I say and fraught with true magnanimitie is that spirit which can make profitable vse of his visitation not grudging not murmuring not mourning out of measure These restoratiues I ministred to my selfe at the death of my deare Wife who of late was sodainly stricken dead with lightning as I haue shewed at large in my worke called the Spirit of Detraction coniured and conuicted And because I am fallen at this present into a mourning veine I will reiterate my Christian farewell wishing that the same might become a precedent to an afflicted spirit in the like case Adieu thou Seruant of Christ thou Patterne of Pietie Adieu thou Map of Gods miracles Adieu my Ioy my Loue my Comfort Adieu and rest thee hence-forth among the Heauenly Roses rest in peace for euer free from the thornes of malice Adieu againe and againe Adieu deare wife for a while and welcome sweet Iesus my Sauiour for euer What is Feare Feare is a griefe which the minde conceiueth of some euill that may chance vnto it Why doe fearefull men looke pale The reason why fearefull men looke pale and wanne is because nature draweth away that heat which is in the face and outward parts to relieue and comfort the heart which is welnigh stifled and stopped vp How many sorts of fearefull persons are there There be two sorts of fearefull persons the one Naturally fearefull the other Accidentally fearefull Among those which are naturally fearefull I range children who are subiect to this passion by reason of the sodaine commotion of the humours and of the bloud descending into the sensitiue organs be-dazeling their sights with a false suffusion Likewise I place aged people in the number of the most naturally fearefull which by the meanes of their ouer-spent naturall moisture and wasted braines doe againe play the babies and as the Latinists say repuerascunt and as the Greekes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thirdly I account Women by nature fearefull whose sexe as the weaker vessels is much defectiue and impotent in courage euer doubtfull and distrustfull almost of their owne shadowes Fourthly superstitious persons as Papists who by reason of their naturall fragilitie doe forge a thousand phantasies in their braines To these I adde the melancholicke as a kinde of humourous darke spirits which because they shoot inwardly abhorring outward obiects doe feare the very noise of reeds and fall of leaues Now it is time that I discourse somewhat of that feare which is Accidentall no lesse penetrating into the mindes of men then that which is Naturall and chiefly when God doth manifestly cooperate and worke together with it whereof no mortall man can well declare the solide and true cause The first Accidentall feare is that which befalles to multitudes at once yea euen to a whole campe of hardic souldiours which kinde of feare is termed Panick etymologized of Pan because he being Bacchus his Lieutenant in the
Indian war with Art and politick stratagems almost beyond wit surprized them with great feare and wonder Secondly malefactours terrified with the guilt of their euill consciences doe imagine a world of feares And no meruaile seeing that all creatures serue to reuenge sinne committed against the Creator Offenso Creatore offenditur nobiscum omnis creatura Somtimes this Accidentall feare proceedes of sicknesse sometimes it comes by a false suggestion or alarum as that feare wherewith a Gentleman of Padua was possessed when his youthfull haire in one night conuerted into gray and hoarie onely by a false report that hee should be put to death the next day after What is Enuie Enuie is a griefe arising of other mens felicitie It maketh a man to looke leane swart hollow eyed and sickly Doe these affections hurt the soule as well as the body Yea doubtlesse For if the body be replenished with these diseases the soule cannot be whole nor sound And euen as vices cause disorders and diseases both in the body and soule so likewise they cause the one to destroy the other whereas there should be an vnitie and harmony not onely of the corporall qualities among themselues and so of the spirituall among themselues but also of their ioint qualities one with another And no meruaile seeing that God hath sowed and planted the seeds and sparks of affections to moue vs not onely into our soules but also into our bodies How doe the temperature of the bodily affections and the soules affections agree together There is great concord betwixt the bodies qualities and the soules affections insomuch that as our bodies are compacted of the elemental qualities namely of moysture drinesse heat cold So among the soules affections are some moist some dry some hot some are cold This we might see by instance made The affection of mirth is hot moist whereas sorrow is cold and dry The one is proper to young men and the other to olde men who are cold and dry Why is there so great a diuersitie among men There be diuers reasons alledged of this by men of diuers professions First the Diuines say that originall sinne and temptation of wicked spirits make men vicious faith and grace make them righteous and holy Politicians and Statesmen holde that bad company and ill education cause men to be ill disposed the Astronomer hee saith that they which are borne vnder Iupiter shall be wise and fortunate vnder Mars souldiers vnder Venus adulterers vnder Mercury Merchants or very couetous vnder Taurus industrious vnder Libra iust men vnder Aries wise Counsellors vnder Aquarius fishers S. Augustine on the 63. Psalme tels of a Mathematician who said that it was not a mans owne will which made a leacher but Venus a murtherer Mars not his owne proper will made him iust but Iupiter The naturall Philosopher auerreth that they who excell in imagination are fit to be Linguists Artizans Poets and Painters the meanes to descry whether they be imaginatiue or no is thus if he be well conceited of himselfe if hee loues to goe richly attired and oftentimes looketh in a looking glasse if hee playes well at Chesse Cards and Dice c. They that excell in vnderstanding are fit to be Iudges they who haue the faculty of memorie wil proue good Atturnies and practicioners in Law and Physick Physitians hold that men be diuersly affected according to the diet which they vse as Venison Conies and Hares-flesh make men melancholick and consequently enuious and froward those meates which ingender good bloud make men of a sanguine complexion and free hearted Excesse of meat make men riotous and drunkards Of the Age of Man CHAP. 3. Into how many ages is mans life diuided MAns life by the computation of Astrologers is diuided into seauen ages ouer euery one of which one of the seauen planets is predominant The first age is called infancie which continueth the space of seauen yeares And then the Moone raigneth as appeareth by the moyst constitutions of children agreeing well with the influence of that planet The second age named childhood lasteth seauen yeares more and endeth in the fourteenth of our life Ouer this age Mercurie which is the second sphere ruleth for then children are vnconstant tractable and soone enclined to learne The third age endureth eight yeares and is termed the strippling age It beginneth at the fourteenth yeare and continueth vntill the end of the two and twentieth During which time gouerneth the planet Venus For then we are prone to prodigality gluttonie drunkennes lechery sundry kinds of vices The fourth age contayneth twelue yeares till a man be foure and thirtie and then is he named a young man Of this age the Sunne is chiefe Lord. Now a man is wittie well aduised magnanimous and come to know himselfe The fift age is called mans age and hath sixteene yeares for the continuance thereof subiect to Mars for now a man is cholerick and couetous The sixt age hath twelue yeares that is from fiftie till threescore and two This age is termed although improperly olde age of which Iupiter is master a planet significant of equity temperance and religion The seauenth and last by order of these ages continueth full 18. yeares ending at fourscore to which few attaine This age by the meanes of that planet Saturne which is melancholick most slow of all other causeth man to be drooping decrepit froward cold and melancholick Why did men liue longer before the floud then they doe now The principall reason why men in those dayes liued longer then we do is because they had not then any of the causes which ingender in vs so many maladies whence consequently ensueth death Their liues were vpholden by the course of the heauens with the qualities of the planets stars being at that time farre more glorious and gracious then now There were not so many meteors comets and ecclipses past from whence now diuers innumerable circumuolutions proceed We must also vnderstand that our first Parents were created of God himselfe without any other instrumentall meanes And againe the earth in those dayes was of greater efficacie to bring foorth necessaries for mans vse then it is in this crooked and outworne age The soyle was then gay trim and fresh whereas now by reason of the inundation which tooke away the fatnesse thereof it is barren saltish and vnsauorie To conclude they knew the hidden vertues of hearbs and stones vsing great continence in their dyets and behauiours They were ignorant of our delicate inuentions and multiplied compounds They knew not our dainty cates our marchpanes nor our superfluous slibber sauces They were no quaffers of wine or Ale nor were they troubled with so many cares and vaine glorious pompes Tell me the certaine time wherein man must of necessitie die To die once is a common thing to al men For that was ordained as a punishment of God for our fore-parents when they transgressed his commandement with longing
It dulls the spright it dimmes the sight It robs a woman of her right Of Vomites CHAP. 8. What is a vomite A Vomite is the expulsion of bad humours contayned in the stomack vpwards It is accounted the wholesomest kinde of Phisick for that which a purgation leaueth behind it a vomite doth root out VVhich are the best vomites Take of the seeds of Dill Attripplex and Radish three drachmes of Fountaine water one pound and a halfe seeth them all together till there remaine one pound straine it and vse it hot Or else make you a vomite after this manner take three drachmes of the rind of a Walnut slice them and steepe them one whole night in a draught of white wine and drinke the wine in the morning a little before dinner VVhat if the vomites worke not If they work not within an houre after you haue taken any of them sup a little of the sirupe of Oximel and put your left middle finger in your mouth and you shall be holpen VVhat shall I doe if I vomite too much If you vomite too much rub wash your feet with hot and sweet water and if it cease not for all this apply a gourd to the mouth of the stomack Sometimes without any Phisick at all one shall fall to a customarie vomiting And then it proceedes eyther of the colde complexion of the stomacke or of hot complexion If of colde complexion you may helpe it by making a bagge of Wormewood dry Mints and Maioram of each a like one handfull of Nutmegs Cloues and Galingall halfe a drachme of each one Let all of them be dried and powdred and put betwixt two linnen cloathes with Cotton interposed and basted And then let them be applied vpon the stomack Or else you may apply the said hearbes alone dried on a hote Tilestone and put betwixt two linnen cloathes vpon the stomacke Let them fortifie their stomackes with the sirupe of Mints or of Wormewood or eate Lozenges called Diagalanga If vomiting proceedes of hote complexion you may cure it by a playster applied to the stomacke of oyle of Roses Wormewood Mints and Barly flower with the white of an Egge Some in such a case take the water of Purselane in their drinke to quench their thirst Of Common sicknesses CHAP. 9. Shew me how to cure such common sicknesses as daily annoy our bodies ALL sicknesses whatsoeuer spring out of the head distempered and there-hence they arise in one of the foure humours which by the distemperature of the head become likewise distempered so that all sicknesses abound eyther of the bloud depraued or of choler infected or of flegme coagulated or of melancholy empoysoned Or perhaps they spring by the mixt corruption of two or more of these humours Wherefore it behoueth vs to be wise in the very beginning of our sicknesses and to preuent their theeuish intrusion Aboue all vomites or purgations I see none comparable to Stibium or Antimonie prepared which I dare boldly commend as a most soueraine and cheape remedy for agues dropsies fluxes and distillations vnto the poorer sort The taking whereof I wish to be onely three graines infused for a whole night in a glasse of Sack with a little Suger or cleare Ale and to be drunke vp the next morning As for rich men let them fee the Physitian least that noble trade decay for want of maintenance according to that olde saying Stipends doe nourish Artes. The Seminaries of diseases after this manner rooted out by Antimonie Let euery particular griefe be suited thereafter for agues let them coole the liuer with Ptisans Endiue or Succorie waters For the stone let them take Goates bloud dried into powder in a hote Ouen or otherwise as they please within their pottage or liquour seeing that the hardest Adamant is dissolued with this kinde of bloud why may not the stone in mans bodie be likewise bruised therewith For the Gout let them exercise if they can or else â—e let bloud very often in the place affected or let them reserue Horse-leaches for that purpose I might here commend diuers locall medicines as oyles of Roses of Mirtilles of Cammomill or wilde Mallowes of Turpentine or such like I might aduise them to lay emplaisters on the goutie ioynts made of Mellilote of vnguentum Populeum of the flowers of Cammomill of red Roses with Beane flowre I might wish them to apply the Colewort leafe and then to stop the fluxe with that precious and admired salue commonly called Paracelsus his stiptick playster which I haue found by experience to heale any wound whether it be olde or greene sooner in one weeke then any other in a moneth by reason of the binding drying and strengthening vertue which it hath being likewise able to stop the concourse or falling of humours into the sore This salue I praise aboue all others as that which breeds none but good flesh and as Apothecaries say it wilâ— keepe forty yeares without putrifying But indeed because all sicknesses proceed from the braine it were fit to purge the superfluous moisture thereof once a moneth either with a drachme of Pilles Imperiall or of Pillulae sine quibus or of Pillulae Cochiae From the braine they flow into the musckles of the backe and from thence they descend into the feet which is termed Podagra or to the hucklebone which is called Sciatica or else from the backe into the hands and then it is called Chiragra For a preseruatiue against the plague let them now and then take Pillulae communes or the aboue said Antimony which is also good against poison drunke whereby they may note that whatsoeuer helpes the one helpes the other The fift Section Of infirmities and Death CHAP. 1. What be the causes of hot infirmities THE causes of hot infirmities be sixe The first are the motions of the minde as loue anger feare and such like The second the motions of the body as immoderate carnall copulation vehement labours strayning hard riding The third long standing or sitting in the sunne or by the fire The fourth cause of infirmities is the vse of hote things as meates drinkes and medicines vntimely vsed The fift closing or stopping of the pores which happeneth by immoderate annointing bathing or otherwise thickning the skinne so that the holes whereby the sweat and fumes doe passe out be stopped The sixt putrifaction of humours by distemperature of meats and long watchings What be the causes of colde infirmities The causes of cold infirmities be eight the first is the cold aire the second is too much repletion the third is want of good meate the fourth is the vse of cold things the fift is too much quietnesse the sixt is opening of the pores the seauenth is oppilation in the veines or arteries the eight is vnseasonable exercise VVhat is the chiefest cause of death The chiefest and vnauoidable cause of our deathes is the contrarietie of the Elements whereof our bodies be compounded For the qualitie which is predominant ouer