the heart and this saith he liueth first and dyeth last the onely storehouse of spirit the originall of veines arteries and sinewes the principal author of respiration the fountaine and welspring of all heate containing within the ventricles thereof a subtile and refined blood which serueth as a burning cole to kindle and set on fire all the other inferiour and smaller sorts of heate and to bee briefe the onely Sunne of this little world And euen in like sort The heauens and the heart finely compared together as the heauens are the principals whereon depend and rest all other elemental generations and alterations so the hart is the first and principall originall of all the actions and motions of the bodie The heauens bring forth their wonderfull effects by their motions heate and influence the heart by his continuall mouing which ought no lesse to rauish vs then the flowing and ebbing of Euripus and influence of his spirits doth put life into all the other parts endoweth them with this beautiful and vermillionlike colour and maintaineth their naturall heate The mouing and light which are in the superiour bodies are the instruments of the intelligences and of the heauens of the intelligences as being the first cause of mouing in others being themselues immoueable of the heauens as first mouing the other and being themselues moued The mouing of the heart and vitall spirit which distributeth it selfe like vnto light throughout and that as it were in the twinkling of an eye are the instruments of the mind and heart of the minde which is a chiefe and principall mouer and yet not moued of the heart as of a chiefe and principall mouer which is moued of the minde It is therefore the heart according to the doctrine of the Peripatetikes which is the true mansion of the soule the onely prince and gouernour in this so excellent and admirable disposing of all things in the gouernment of the bodie Chrysippus and all the Stoikes haue followed the same opinion and doe beleeue that all that region which containeth the parts which wee call vitall is named of the Grecians and Latines Thorax because it keepeth within it as it were vnder lock this heauenly vnderstanding so called of Anaxagoras this burning heate so called of Zeno replenished with a million of sciences this admirable fire which Prometheus stole out of heauen to put soule and life into mankinde this altering spirit whereof Theocritus made so great account Behold how these Philosophers haue diuersly spoken of the seate of the soule It is not my minde to bestow any time in the particuler examination of all these opinions either is it mine intent in this place to enter into any dispute intending to content my selfe with the simple deliuerie of the trueth That the brain is the principall seate of the soule For I assure my selfe that it shall be strong enough to ouerthrow all these false foundations I say then that the principall seate of the soule is in the braine because the goodliest powers thereof doe lodge and lye there and the most worthie actions of the same doe there most plainly appeare All the instruments of motion sence imagination discourse and memorie are found within the braine or immediatly depending therevpon Anatomie manifesteth vnto our eyes The reasons to proue the same The first how that there issue out from the lower part of the braine seuen great paire of sinewes which serue at a trice to conuey the animall spirit vnto the instrument of the sences and doe not any of them passe out of the head except the sixt paire which stretch out themselues to the mouth of the stomacke We see also that from the hindermost part of the braine where the great and little braine doe meete together doth proceede the admirable taile the beautifull and white spinall marow which the Wiseman in his booke of the Preacher calleth the siluer threed how it is carefully preserued within a sacred chanell as Lactantius calleth it From the same men see that there rise a million of little sinewes which conuey the powers of mouing and feeling vnto all such members as are capable of the same Men doe also perceiue the outward sences placed round about the braine The second which are as the light horsemen and messengers of the vnderstanding the principall part of the soule Philo saith that when men come within the view of a princes guard they thinke himselfe not to bee farre off we see all the guard and seruants of reason as the eyes the eares the nose the tongue to bee situated in the head whereupon by consequent we ought to iudge that this princesse is not farre off Experience also giueth vs to vnderstand that if the braine haue his temperature altered The third as for example if it be too hot as it falleth out in such as are franticke or ouer cold as it falleth out in melancholick men it corrupteth presently the imaginatiue facultie troubleth the iudgement weakeneth the memorie which is not incident in the diseases of the heart as namely either in a hectick feuer or when a man is poysoned The soule saith that diuine Philosopher Plato doth not please and content it selfe with that braine which is too soft The fourth too close and compact or too hard it requireth a good temperature If the proportion of the head be but a little out of square so that it be either too great or too little or too coppeld as that which men reade of Thersites in Homer or altogether round and not flat on the sides as naturally it ought to be men may perceiue all the actions of the soule to be depraued and thereupon doe call such heads foolish without iudgement without wisedome all which ought to make vs as well to beleeue that the braine is as much the organe and instrument of all these actions as the eye is the instrument of sight Furthermore this kind of round shape which is peculiar vnto mankinde The fift this head thus lifted vp to heauen this great quantitie of braine which is almost incredible doth shew very well that man hath something in his head more then other liuing creatures The wise Sages of Egypt haue very well acknowledged the same for they did not sweare by any other thing but by their head they ratified all their couenants by the head and forbad the eating of the braines of liuing creatures for the honour and reuerence sake which they bare to this part I thinke also that the falling sicknes was not for any other reason called sacred of the ancients but because it did assaile the soueraigne and sacred part of the body Let vs then acknowledge the braine to be the principall seate of the soule the originall of mouing and feeling and of all the other most noble functions of the same I know well that some curious spirits will aske me how it can bee the author of so many goodly actions seeing it is cold
and that the soule can doe nothing without heate But I answere The cause why the braine feeleth not that the braine hath not any particuler feeling for that it being the seate of common sence must iudge of all such obiects as about which sence is occupied But a good iudge ought to bee free from all passions and euery organe sayth Aristotle must bee without qualitie according whereunto agreeth that that the christalline humour hath no colour the care hath no particuler sound nor the tongue any taste But and if it come to passe that any organicall part decline from his nature as if the christalline become yellow all whatsoeuer presenteth it selfe to the sight of that eye will seeme to bee of the same colour As then the braine neither seeth nor heareth nor smelleth nor tasteth any thing and yet notwithstanding iudgeth very rightly of colours sounds smels and tasts so neither was it any reason that it should haue any particuler sence of feeling which should cause it to feele the excesse of those qualities which are tearmed the obiects of feeling and handling it is sufficient for it to haue the knowledge and discerning thereof As touching the other poynt I affirme that the braine is in very deede hot and that it cannot be called cold but as it is compared with the heart It behoued it of necessitie to bee of this temperature that so it might temper the spirits which were of a fierie nature The causes why the braine is of such temperature thereby the better to continue the kindes of liuing creatures and to preserue them long aliue For and if the braine were as hot as the heart there would day by day arise trouble and sedition amidst the noblest powers of the soule all the sences would be straying and wandring all the motions would bee out of square all our discourses mixed with rash headines and our memories very flote and fugitiue euen as betideth vnto franticke ones Let nothing then hinder vs from acknowledging the braine to bee the most noble part of the whole body This is that magnificent and stately turret of the soule this is that goodly royall palace the consecrated house of Pallas this is the impregnable sort enuironed with bones as with strong walles wherein is lodged the soueraigne power of the soule I meane reason which comprehendeth and compasseth as with imbracing armes the whole vniuersall world in a moment without touching of the same which flieth through the ayre soundeth the depths of the sea and surmounteth at the same instant the pauements of the heauens and which walking vpon their stages measuring their distances and communicating with the Angels pearceth in euen vnto the throne of God and at such time as the body is asleepe suffereth it self by a holy flight or delectable and sweete rauishment to be carried euen to the beholding of God according to whose image it was first framed To be short it is all in all as sayth Aristotle for that by the power it hath it possesseth all as being the place wherein I say this great princesse would rest her self as within her castle from thence to commaund the two inferiour regiments to hold in subiection the two lower forces I meane the Irascible and concupiscible which would euery day be ready to fall away and reuolt And yet I dare be bold to adde further and in stead of hauing named it among the chiefe and principall to say that there is not any other part of the body besides the braine which can truly be called noble and soueraigne and that because all the other parts are made for the braine and pay tribute thereunto as to their king Behold here the strength of my argument Most cleere and euident proofe of the excellencie of the braine which in my iudgement is as cleere as the Sunne in his brightest shine Mankinde differeth not from beasts in any thing but reason and the seate of reason is in the braine It is requisite the more commendably to reason and discourse that the imaginatiue part of the minde should set before the vnderstanding part of the same the obiects whereabout they be occupied altogether simple without mixture without matter and freed from all corporall qualities The Imaginatiue part can not conceiue them of it selfe if the outward sences which are his trustie spyes and faithfull reportsmen make not certificate of the same Hence then rise the necessitie of framing the instruments of the sences the eyes the eares the nose tongue and membranes as well inward as outward The sences the better to take acknowledgement of their obiects haue need of a local motion For man if he should not stirre from one place but abide immoueable like an image should not be able to conuey any store of varietie vnto the imagination It is necessary then for the benefit and perfecting of the sences to haue certaine instruments of motion these instruments are two the sinewes and the muscles the sinewes by reason of their continued coniunction and adherence vnto their originall being like vnto that of the Sunne beames with the Sun doe conuey from the braine that mouing power seated in a most subtile bodie namely the animall spirit the muscles after the maner of good subiects obey vnto their commandement and incontinently moue the member either by stretching it forth or bowing it in as the appetite or imagination shall wish and desire The braine then as is manifest commandeth the sinewes carrie the embassage and the muscles obeying thereunto expresse the intent of the minde And euen in like sort as the skilfull horserider manageth the horse with the bridle causing him to turne on the right hand or on the left as best pleaseth him euen so the braine by the sinewes boweth or stretcheth the muscles These two instruments of voluntarie motion should not know either how to be or vndergoe these their offices if they were not fixed vnto some solide and immoueable body Therefore it was behouefull to raise vp pillers such as are the bones and cartilages from whence the muscles doe rise and into which they do insert themselues againe and for that the bones could not bee ioyned or fastned together without ligaments it must needes follow that they should haue their membranouse coates to couer them withall And all these parts for their preseruation stoode in neede of naturall heate and nourishment this heate and nourishment being deriued from elsewhere must needes haue their passages prepared by certaine pipes and those are the veines and arteries the arteries draw their spirits from the hart the fountaine of the same the veines receiue their blood from the common storehouse of the same which is the liuer And thus returning by the same steps by which wee came hither wee shall well perceiue The conclusion that the heart and liuer were not made for any other thing but to nourish the heate of all the parts the bones and cartilages for rests and props vnto the
and remember anything wee hang downe the head and rub the hinder part which sheweth very well that the imagination lieth before and the memorie behinde Men haue very often marked The fift that if the hinder part of the head be hurt the memorie is lost at the very same time The sixt I will adde further for the more strengthning of the side of the Arabians that the fashion and widenes of the ventricles of the braine doe serue to poynt out with the finger the places of these three faculties The fourth ventricle is somewhat sharpe poynted to the end that formes may be the better vnited and that the reflexe thereof may the more fully cast it selfe vpon the third wherein reason lodgeth the two first are the widest for that they receiue the first obiects which are not as yet refined that in the middest was fittest for reason because it might receiue the images or formes of the two first and hauing forgotten them might seeke them out as it were in her most close and secret place of custodie contriued for that end behinde Finally The seuenth that which hath made the Arabians to stand so stiffelie in their opinion and to maintaine that these three faculties haue euery one their seuerall lodging is because they haue oftentimes obserued that one of these three may be hurt and not the other the imagination is very oft corrupted the reason standing sound and intier and contrariewise how many franticke and melancholike men be there which discourse very excellently notwithstanding their foolish and vaine imaginations Galen writeth two histories of two franticke men the one of which had his imagination troubled and his reason sound the other his reason troubled and his imagination sounde Wee see an infinite number which haue vtterly lost their memorie and yet faile not to discourse very well Thucidides mencioneth that in that great plague which dispeopled almost al Greece there were moe thē a million which forgot euery thing euen to their owne name and yet notwithstanding did not thereupon become fooles Messala Coruinus in his recouerie of a certaine sicknes did not remember his own name Trapezontius was very wise whilest he was young but drawing neere vnto old age he quite forgot all Seeing therefore that one of these faculties may be hurt without the other we must beleeue that euery of them hath his particular place The conclusiō If it were committed to me to giue iudgement in this controuersie I should say that the Greekes had plaide the more subtile Philosophers and that their opinion is the more true but that that of the Arabians will euer be more followed of the common people for that it hath in it a greater shew of euident cleerenes I will not draw on this disputation to any greater length it is enough for me to make it appeare that the minde hath three most excellent faculties al which lodge within the braine and cause man to appeare more admirable then any other creature which inable him also to gouerne all the world and which giue him the title of a sociable and politike liuing creature CHAP. II. That this liuing creature full of the image of God is now and then so farre abased and corrupted in his nature with an infinit number of diseases that he becommeth all like vnto a beast COmming to extoll man vnto the highest degree and step of his glorie beholde him I pray thee the best furnished and most perfect of all other liuing creatures hauing as I haue sayd in his soule the image of God and in his bodie the modell of the whole world The miserie of mankinde And now I intend to set him out vnto thee as the most caitife and miserable creature that is in the world spoyled of all his graces depriued of iudgement reason and counsaile enemie of men and of the Sun straying and wandring in solitarie places to bee briefe so altered and chaunged as that he is no more a man as not retaining any thing more then the very name The minde alone corrupted the body standing sound This alteration is seene oftentimes in the soule alone the bodie standing sound and without blemish as when a man by his malicious will becomming an apostate and reuolt defaceth the ingrauen forme of the Deitie and commeth by the filth of sinne to defile the holy temple of God when through an vnruly appetite he suffereth himselfe to be carried in such headlong wise after his passions either of choler enuie or gluttonie as that he becommeth more outragious then a lyon more fierce then a tyger and more filthie and contēptible then a swine I goe not about to redresse this deformitie I leaue the discourse for the learned Diuines Yea and if a man doe but take some paines in morall Philosophie to reade it he shall finde right holesome precepts for the staying and brideling of these foolish passions The minde corrupted through a corrupt bodie I come to the other deformitie which is violently throwne vpon man and may happen vnto the most religious being when the bodie which is as it were the vessell of the soule is so greatly altered and corrupted as that all the noblest faculties of the same are likewise corrupted the sences seeme all of them to wander and goe astray euery motion to be out of order the imagination troubled the reason foolish and rash the memorie altogether giuen to let slip and flie away whatsoeuer it should retaine The first deformitie deserueth correction as comming of a malicious minde and voluntarie action but as for this which is constrained and violently inflicted by diseases it deserueth to bee weighed of euery one with a tender and charitable compassion The diseases assailing our minde But the diseases which doe most sharply assaile our mindes and captiuate and make them thrall vnto the two inferiour powers are three the frensie madnes and melancholie Looke vpon the deedes of frentike and mad men thou shalt not find therein any thing worthie of a man he biteth he shriketh he belloweth out a wilde and sauadge voyce rowleth about his fierie eyes setteth vp his haire runneth himselfe headlong into euery thing indifferently and very oft murthereth himselfe See how melancholike men do now and then so cast downe and abase themselues as that they become companions to the brute beasts and haue no pleasure to bee any where but in solitarie places I am about to describe him out vnto thee in most liuely manner and then thou shalt iudge what a maner of man he is The liuely description of a melancholike person The melancholike man properly so called I meane him which hath the disease in the braine is ordinarilie out of heart alwaies fearefull and trembling in such sort as that he is afraid of euery thing yea and maketh himselfe a terrour vnto himselfe as the beast which looketh himselfe in a glasse he would runne away and cannot goe he goeth alwaies sighing troubled with
A DISCOVRSE OF THE PRESERVATION OF THE SIGHT of Melancholike diseases of Rheumes and of Old age Composed by M. Andreas Laurentius ordinarie Phisition to the King and publike professor of Phisicke in the Vniuersitie of Mompelier Translated out of French into English according to the last Edition by RICHARD SVRPHLET Practitioner in Phisicke AT LONDON Imprinted by FELIX KINGSTON for RALPH IACSON dwelling in Paules Church yard at the signe of the Swan 1599. TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE SIR THOMAS WEST KNIGHT LORD LA WARE and the right vertuous Ladie Anne his wife IT hath been vsuall and accustomed Right Noble and worthie Sir in all ages and amongst all sorts of people though otherwise neuer so rude and barbarous to adorne and eternize the manners liues conuersation gests birth and sayings of their famous and renowmed with monuments either openlie and in liuely sort contayning and specifying the same or more closely and secretly insinuating as much that so the praise and fame thereof might remaine and liue throughout all ages The course was good and commendable for so the excellent and renowmed deceased had but his due the excellent and renowmed liuing a glorious and beautifull spectacle to stirre them vp vnto couragious and vndaunted perseuerance in still making vsurie of their excellencie and the base vile and abiect persons the spots and blemishes yea the puddle and mudpit of actiue pregnant and nimble nature might rouse themselues from the lolling bed of their continuall snorting and dead sleepe I meane not to blazon and decipher particularly and from point to point the originall antiquite of your Nobilitie The vprightnes innocencie mildnes humanitie bountifulnes and loue in matters concerning your owne priuate affayres and businesses wherewith your Honorable condition is richly set and garnished The vehement suspition of vndermining flatterie the discontenting of your affections leaning to the contrarie and the stirring vp of aduersarie emulation and repining enuie vtterly disswading me Neither yet doe I meane to proclaime and lay abroad your faithfulnes in the actions of Iustice your wisedome in the discerning of things necessarie and swaying of matters most conueniently for the weale publique or your prowes and valorousnes in warlike feates and Martiall affayres howsoeuer the cause of God your Prince and Countrie your birth Dignitie and leisure hath I doubt not put both you and many other godly and religious Noble men within this Realme in minde thereof and stirred you vp amongst other your godly cares and studies to striue to become able and worthie if her sacred Maiestie should at any time call you or them vnto the same But leauing all these and whatsoeuer other praises that might iustly be giuen to the manifold vertues shining both in your selfe as also in your Honorable Ladie holding out the markes of a good profession in the loue of the trueth with sobrietie modestie and a good conuersation notwithstanding the seas of sinne roring round about and ouerflowing almost all estates and persons and that so cleerely in the eyes and mindes of all such as doe not willingly winke and couer the bright light of inward touch with the vaile of wilfull sencelesnes my onely indeuour and drift is to intreate your Honors to receiue with fauourable acceptation and good liking these first fruites of my publique labours as vndertaken for the good of all so especially dedicated and deuoted vnto your particular seruice and vse not so much in respect of any your present necessities through any infirmities that I am priuie vnto as to make way for the shutting out of such as hereafter might creepe vpon you to your vntimely annoyance assuring my selfe that in the reading thereof you shal finde a well stored treasurie of rich and rare Iewels and in the practising of it the comfort of health and contentation in satietie of daies Which the Ancient of daies with all increase of Honor wealth and pietie graunt and giue vnto you and all your succeeding posteritie Your Honors most vnfeignedly affected RICHARD SVRPHLET To the Reader COnsidering gentle Reader the lamentable times and miserable daies that are come vpon vs in this last and weakest age of the world partly by reason of the commonnes and multitude of infirmities partly by reason of the strangenes and rebelliousnes of diseases breaking out more tediously then heretofore and considering herewithall how apt and prone the multitude and common people are to affect nay which is more to dote vpon and runne after the painted crew of seeming Phisitions and pratling practisers both men and women gathering their skill honestie and most precious secrets from the rich mines of brasen-faced impudencie and bold blindnes I could not but admonish thee as thou tenderest thy health and wealth to auoide such noisome vermine and deepe deceiuers And on the contrarie I can but exhort and stirre thee vp to buy and reade this and other such like treatises that so thou maist be the better prepared though not to take vpon thee the cure of thine owne or others their sicke estate to discerne betwixt the ignorant and the learned and the skilfull in word only and those which are skilfull in deede As also that thou maist bee the better able to manifest and make knowne by word or writing the state and true condition of thy disease vnto the profound and long studied in that profession who for the keeping of a good conscience and thy welfare haue not spared their bodies or goods or refused any good meanes whereby they might become fit to furnish thee with wholesome counsaile and due reliefe in the daies of thy distresse Here shalt thou finde by serious suruay great dimensions within small and narrow bounds This volume shalt thou finde stuffed full of Phisicke as teaching by the lesser what is to bee conceiued of the greater and by a few what is to bee followed in many Full of Philosophie as not resting in the things of the bodie but deeply and diuinely laying open the nature of the soule Herein is contained not onely great plentie of precepts but also many controuersies of great moment and difficultie sharply and pithily decided and that with such varietie of authoritie as is not almost in any other to bee found This treatise shalt thou finde full of pleasantnes as both the store of histories and meanes of dispelling the mournfull fantasies of melancholike moodes doe giue thee to conceiue full of delight as maintaining the sight the conductor and conueier of delights vnto the minde full of healthfulnes as teaching the way to auoide the rheume that pregnant mother of so many maladies And finally full of instruction and reliefe for the mitigating of the annoyances and inconueniences of drouping old age as shewing the maner how to square out and piteh downe the firme and durable props of the continuing and long inioying of strong and lustie yeares Which if thou striue and seeke accordingly to attaine then shalt thou be the better able to discharge the duties of thy calling
whilest thou liuest and purchase to thy selfe a million of good witnesses to reioyce and glad thy hart withall in the day of thy death and dissolution Farewell TO THE NOBLE LADIE MADAME DVTCHESSE OF VZEZ AND COVNTESSE OF TONNERA MAdame since the houre that I had the hap to become knowne vnto you you haue done me the honour as to commit your health altogether into my hands and to vouchsafe me as great credit as if I had been a second Aesculapius This affection and goodwill which I acknowledge to proceede more of your kindnes and naturall inclination then of any deserts of mine haue so preuailed with me that neither the loue of my country nor the number of my friends which was not small nor the honourable place of publique Lecturer which I discharged with sufficient commendation in one of the most famous Vniuersities of Europe could stay or hinder me but that passing ouer all difficulties and breaking all these bonds I haue intirely and wholly deuoted my selfe vnto you and haue followed you wheresoeuer it hath pleased you to commaund me I haue wherein I may exceedingly praise my selfe and as hitherto to rest contented with my fortune which hath been so fauourable vnto me as to make all my seruice profitable and well liked of I am verely perswaded Madame that it was Gods will to vse me as the meanes for the lengthening of your yeares and making of your old age more blessed and happie You haue had sufficient triall thereof within these two yeares for being very forcibly assailed with three of the most violent and extraordinarie diseases that euer man hath seene and which were strong enough to haue shaken the best complexion in the world and to haue spilt the prosperous estate of a more flourishing age then yours yet you haue not felt any eclipse of your vigour and lustines This is of God alone which hath opened my vnderstanding to finde out fit remedies and himselfe to giue good successe thereunto to whom I am bound to render all glorie There now remaineth in you onely your three ordinarie diseases which I labour to vanquish day by day by obseruation of good Diet and such gentle medicines as are no way able any thing to alter and hurt the good disposition of your naturall constitution In your right eye you haue some small beginnings of a Cataract but the other is perfectly sound You feele at certaine times some touches of the windie melancholie but so sleight as that they vanish away like the smoke The thing that is most tedious and troublesome vnto you is those pettie distillations and fluxes of humours which fall down vpon your eyes teeth armes and legges Your spirit which is able to conceiue of any thing in the world be it neuer so rare strange hath been very inquisitiue to vnderstand the causes and to know from whence all these accidents should proceede which I haue oftentimes spoken largely of and that both in vulgar and common speeches as also in the artificiall and plaine tearmes of Phisicke In the end my reasons became so well liked of by you that when you had withdrawne your selfe to the Abbey of Marmonster to sport your selfe with the beautie of the place and goodnes of the ayre you commaunded me to set downe the same in writing and to cause them to come to light vnder the shield of your authoritie I cannot with honestie denie it vnto you howsoeuer yet it were meete that so waightie a matter according to the desert should bee garnished with infinite varietie of authorities and proofes from the learned which my memorie could not affoord through my want of bookes I haue therefore fitted vp and made readie three discourses for you touching your three diseases the first is Of the excellencie of the sight and the meanes to preserue it the second is Of windie melancholie and other melancholike diseases the third is Of Rheumes and the meanes for to heale them And vnto these in the ende I haue ioyned a little treatise of Olde age which may bee for your vse against the time to come For there is no shadow of reason why I should as yet call you old seeing you are not incombred with any of the infirmities of old age For is not this one of the miracles of our age to heare your communication so wise and graue to see your vnderstanding and iudgement so sound and vncorrupt your memorie so fresh and plentifull and your sences so absolute as that on your sound eye you vse to reade a farre off the smallest letter that any man can bring vnto you without spectacles Your hearing also continueth very easie and quicke and your taste also as exquisite and daintie as euer it was your heart so couragious and lustie as that notwithstanding all the assaults that euer your windie melancholie could giue vnto it yet it hath not been able at any time so to shake it as that it could make it alter his course your liuer so liberall as that it ministreth store of blood more then is needfull in so much as that we are cōstrained to cause you to tame it once a yeare I will say nothing of the goodnes of your stomack you your selfe know it well enough hauing an appetite at euery houre and disgesting whatsoeuer you bestow vpon it Seeing then the faculties of the soule doe euery one of them so well execute and performe their functions and offices can a man call the instrument thereof ouerworne or old I am perswaded Madame that no man can call you old in any respect if it were not that you are past fiftie and that custome in accounts hath designed the first degree of old age to this number You haue great occasions to praise God for this long and happie life is a certaine testimonie of his loue because the most excellent reward which he promiseth vnto them whom he loueth in this world is that they shall liue long vpon the earth Cheere vp your selfe then Madame you are but yet on the first step of your old age which is ouergrowne with flourishing greene and affoording an vndaunted courage you haue other two behinde and remaining God who hath giuen this strength vnto your bodie and which hath honoured you with so gracious and good a soule vouchsafe to make them as happie as your Ladiship can wish or desire them Your most humble and obedient seruant ANDREAS LAVRENTIVS B The Author to the Reader I Doubt not but that these treatises are in danger to be euill spoken of and bitterlie inueighed against by an infinite number of persons which are borne for nothing else but to carpe and finde fault before they be well knowne Some Phisitions will finde themselues grieued for that I haue made vulgar the secrets of our Art and they will be able to alleadge that the Egyptians which were the first inuentors of Phisicke to the end they might not make so diuine and sacred a gift of God profane and common did write
first Discourse wherein is handled the excellencie of the sight and the meanes to preserue it That the braine is the principall seate of the soule and that in consideration hereof all the instruments of the sences are placed round about it Chap. 1. How that the outward sences being the trustie messengers of the minde are only fiâ—e and all of them placed without the braine Chap. 2 That the sight is the most excellent of all the sences Chap. 3 Of the excellencie of the eye the proper instrument of sight Chap. 4 Of the composition of the eye in generall Chap. 5 A particular description of all the parts of the eye and first of the sixe muscles thereof Chap. 6 Of the sixe coates of the eye Chap. 7 Of the three humours of the eye of the beautie and excellencie of the christalline Chap. 8 Of the sinewes veines arteries and other parts of the eye Chap. 9 How we see as whether it be by receiuing in or sending forth something Chap. 10 How many waies the sight may be hurt Chap. 11 A briefe rehearsall of all the diseases of the eye Chap. 12 A generall and most exquisite order of Diet for the preseruation of the sight in which is shewed very particularly all that may hurt or doe good vnto the eyes Chap. 13 Choise remedies for the preseruation of the sight and the order to be obserued in applying of them Chap. 14 The second Discourse wherein is intreated of Melancholie diseases and of the meanes to cure them That man is a diuine and politique creature hauing three speciall principall powers Imagination Reason and Memorie Chap. 1. That this creature full of excellencie is now and then so abased and altered by an infinit number of diseases as that he becommeth like a beast Chap. 2 Who those should be that are called melancholike and how we ought to put difference betwixt melancholike men that are sicke and those that are sound Chap. 3 The definition of melancholie and all his differences Chap. 4 Of melancholie which is seated in the braine and of all the accidents that follow it and whence ariseth feare sadnes watchings terrible dreames and other accidents Chap. 5 Whereof it commeth that melancholike persons haue particular obiects quite differing whereupon they dote Chap. 6 Histories of certaine melancholike persons which haue had strange imaginations Chap. 7 An order of diet for melancholike men that haue their braine sicke Chap. 8 How to cure such melancholike men as haue the disease setled in their braine Chap. 9 Of another sort of melancholie which riseth of outragious loue Chap. 10 Chap. 11 The meanes to cure those which are follish and melancholie by reason of loue Chap. 12 Of the third sort of melancholie called windie melancholie and the differences thereof Chap. 13 Of the signes of windie melancholie and from whence the accidents which follow it arise Chap. 14 Histories worthie the obseruation of two parties troubled with the windie melancholie Chap. 15 Of the curing of the windie melancholie The third Discourse wherein is intreated of the generation of Rheumes and how they are to be cured Chap. 1. That the braine is the seate of cold and moysture and by consequent the welspring of Rheumes Chap. 2 What this word rheume doth signifie what disease it is and wherein his nature consisteth Chap. 3 The differences of Rheume Chap. 4 The causes of Rheume Chap. 5 A generall order of diet to be obserued in Rheumes Chap. 6 A generall methode to cure Rheumes Chap. 7 The meanes to preserue the teeth The fourth Discourse wherein is intreated of Old-age and how we must succour it Chap. 1. That man cannot continue in one state and that of necessitie he must waxe old Chap. 2 A very notable description of old age Chap. 3 An order of Diet to preserue the life long Chap. 4 What ayre is to be chosen for the lengthening of life and which is most fit for old folke Chap. 5 Generall rules to be obserued in eating and drinking therby to lengthen the life Chap. 6 How we must in particular nourish old folkes and with what victuals Chap. 7 What drinke is most fit for old folke Chap. 8 Of the exercises of old folke Chap. 9 What rules are to be kept in sleeping Chap. 10 How we must cheere vp and make merrie old men putting them out of all violent passions of the minde Chap. 11 What medicines are fittest for old folke and by what skilfull meanes we may helpe to amend the infirmities of old age THE FIRST DISCOVRSE WHEREIN IS INTREATED OF THE excellencie of the sight and the meanes to perserue it That the braine is the true seate of the Soule and that for this occasion all the instruments of the sences are lodged round about it CHAP. 1. THe Soule of man that most noble and perfect forme that is vnder the face of heauen bearing for a signe and token of his excellencie the liuely and true image of the Creator although it bee in all poynts like vnto it selfe not consisting of matter or subiect to any diuision and by consequent whole in all the bodie and wholie in euery part of the same yet the case so standeth that in respect of the diuersitie of his actions of the difference of his instruments wherewith it serueth it selfe and of the varietie of obiects set before it that it may seeme and appeare to the common people after a certaine maner to consist of diuers parts The Philosophers themselues seeing the noblest powers thereof to shine more in one place then in another haue gone about to lodge and as it were to bound the limits thereof within the compasse of one onely member in like maner as the Diuines carried away by the wonderfull things which more cleerely manifest themselues in the heauens then in any other part of the world doe say that the heauens are the throne of God although his essence bee infinite incomprehensible and stretching it selfe through euery thing that is Diuers opinioÌ„s of the seate of the soule For Herophilus beleeued that the Soule was lodged onely in the lowed part of the braine and Zenocrates on the contrary in the vppermost part therof Erasistratus in the two membranes couering the braine called of the Arabians Mothers Strato betwixt the browes Empedocles suborned by the Epicures and Egyptians in the breast Moschion in the whole bodie Diogenes in the arteries Heraclitus onely in the circumference of the bodie Herodotus in the eares Blemor an Arabian and Syreneus a Phisition of Cypers in the eyes because that men in them as in a glasse doe behold all the passions of the soule but all these in my iudgement are nothing els but fantasies and meere fooleries Aristotle his opinion There is a great deale more likelihood in the opinion of Aristotle that great expounder of nature who thought that the soule had his proper seate in the heart because that naturall heate the principall instrument of the soule is found in
muscles and sinewes the instruments of voluntary motion the muscles and nerues for the perfecting of the sences the sences to set before the imaginatiue power of the minde their outward obiects the imagination to carrie along the formes of things voide of substance to be more deeply weighed of reason which thereupon commendeth them to the custodie of memorie her treasuresse Thus euery thing yeelding obedience vnto reason and the braine being the principall seate of reason we must needs affirme that all the parts of the body were made for the braine and must therfore acknowledge it as their chiefe and Soueraigne I will yet adde one other plaine and euident argument which in my iudgement is not common to testifie the excellence of this part which is that it giueth shape and perfection vnto all the rest For it is most certaine that of the shape and quantitie of the braine dependeth the grosnes greatnes smalnes and in a word euery maner of proportion hapning to the head forasmuch as euery containing thing doth conforme it selfe continually vnto the contained as the thing for which it was created and made Ioyntly after the head followeth the backe bone which is framed of foure and twentie vertebres besides the bone called Sacrum and maketh that which men call the truncke of the body If that hole in the head through which the marrow of the backe falleth be great then must also the vertebres bee large Vpon this backe bone doe all the rest of the bones stay and rest themselues as the vpper timbers doe vpon the keele of a ship As by name vpon high the shoulder bones whereunto are fastned the armes aswell on the one side as on the other and the twelue ribs and below the bones of the small guts and hips into whose hollow cauities the heads of the bones of the thighes are inserted so that if all their proportions be duly obserued it will appeare that the greatnes and grosnes thereof is answerable to that of the head and by consequence to that of the braine as the chiefe and principall Vnto the bones are fastned the muscles the ligaments and the most of the other parts of the body doe rest themselues thereupon and within their circuite and compasse are shut and made sure the most noble parts and the bowels In few words the bones impart vnto the whole bodie the shape which themselues haue receiued from the braine This is the same which diuine Hippocrates hath very well obserued in the second booke of his Epidemiques saying that of the greatnes and grosnes of the head a Phisition might iudge of the greatnes of all the other bones and parts also as veines arteries and sinewes Let vs therefore conclude with the trueth that the braine hauing such aduantage against the other parts ought to be esteemed the chiefe and principall seate of the soule CHAP. II. How the outward sences the proper messengers of the soule are only fiue and all placed without the braine SEeing it is most euident that the soule is shut vp within the bodie as it were in a darke dungeon and that it cannot discourse neither yet comprehend anything without the helpe of the sences which are as the obedient seruants and faithfull messengers of the same it was needfull to place the instruments of the sences very neere vnto the seate of reason and round about her royal pallace Now the sences which we call externall are onely fiue Why there are but fiue sences the fight the hearing the smelling the taste and handling of which altogether dependeth our knowledge and nothing as saith the Philosopher can enter into the vnderstanding part of our minde except it passe through one of these fiue doores Some men striuing to shew reason for this number The first reason say that there are but fiue sences because that whatsoeuer is in the whole world is compounded and made of onely fiue simple bodies as the foure elements and the firmament which they call the fift simple nature being much of the nature of the ayre free from all impurities and abounding with shining lights The sight say the Platonists which hath for his instrument these two twinne-borne starres all full of bright straines and heauenly fire which giueth light and burneth not representeth the skie and hath the light for his obiect The hearing which is occupied about nothing but sounds hath for his obiect the beaten ayre and his principall instrument if we beleeue Aristotle is a certaine ayre shut vp within a little labyrinth The smelling participateth the nature of fire for smels haue their being only in a drie qualitie caused through heate and we receiue it for a principle that all sweete smelling things are hot The taste hath moysture for his obiect And handling the earth for his The second Othersome say that there be but fiue sences because that there are but fiue proper sorts of obiects and that all the accidents which are to be found in any natural body may be referred either to colours or sounds or smels or tasts or to those qualities wherabout touching is occupied whether they be those which are principall or those that spring of them The third Some there be which gather the number of the sences to bee such from the consideration of their vses which are their finall ends The sences are made for the benefit of man man is compounded of two parts the body and the soule the sight and hearing serue more for the vse of the soule then of the body the taste and touching more for the body then the soule the smelling for both the twaine indifferently refreshing and purging the spirits which are the principall instruments of the soule But of the fiue sences I say that there are two altogether necessary and required to cause the being and life simply and that the three other serue onely for a happie being and life Those without which one can not be are taste and touching Touching if we will giue credit to natural Philosophers is as the foundation of liuelihood I will vse this word because it expresseth the thing very excellently The taste serueth for the preseruation of the life The sight hearing and smelling serue but for to liue well and pleasantly For the creature may be and continue without them The two first for that they were altogether necessarie haue their meane inward and so ioyned to the member as that it is as a man would say inseparable For in tasting and touching the Phisitions doe make the meane and the member all one The other three haue their meane outward and separated from the instrument as the sight hath the ayre the water and euery such body as is through cleere for his meane Aristotle in the beginning of his third booke of the soule hath plaid the Philosopher in more serious sort then any of all these but yet so darkly as that almost all his interpreters haue found themselues much busied to find out his meaning
in such maner as that he may seeme to haue gone about to hide the secrets of nature and mysteries of his Philosophie not with the vaile of fained fables as doe the Poets neither yet with any superstitious conceit of numbers as Pithagoras his sect were wont to doe but by an obscure breuitie resembling the cuttle fish which to the end that she may not fall into the hand of the fisher casteth vp a blackish water and so hideth her selfe The fourth The sences sayth Aristotle are but fiue because the meanes by which they worke cannot be altered any moe then fiue wayes Aristotle his proofe for the number of the sences The meanes by which we haue the vse of our sences are onely two the one is outward the other is inward the outward is the ayre or the water the inward is the flesh or the membranes The ayre and water do receiue the obiects that are outward either as they are transparent and then they serue the sight or as they are moueable and thin bodies and then they serue the hearing or as moist ones doe receiue and embrace that which is drie and then they be the subiects of smelling The flesh or membranes may be considered of two maner of wayes either according to the temperature of the foure elementall qualities and then they bee the subiects of feeling or els according to the mixture of the qualities drie and moyst and then they are the subiects of relishes for the taste But howsoeuer the case standeth for the reason of this number we see there are but fiue externall sences which are all placed without the braine These are the proper posts and messengers of the soule these are the windowes by which wee see cleerely round about vs. These are the watch or doore keepers which make vs way into their most priuie closet if they performe their faithfull seruice vnto reason then do they set before her a million of delightsome obiects whereof she frameth marueilous discourses But alas and woe is me how oft doe they betray her Oh how many dangers do they inwrap her in and how subiect are they vnto corruption The sences become the cutthrotes of reason It is not without cause that this thrice renowmed Mercurie doth call the sences tyrants and the cutthrotes of reason for oftentimes doe they make captiue the same vnto the two inferiour powers they make her of a mistresse a seruant and of a free woman a drudge and thrall to all slauerie She may well commaund but she shall be obeyed all one as lawes and Magistrates are in an estate troubled with ciuill dissentions Yea tell me how many soules haue lost their libertie through the sight of the eyes How that the sences steale away and rob reason of her libertie Doe not men say that that little wanton that blind archer doth enter into our hearts by this doore and that loue is shaped by the glittering glimces which issue out of the eyes or rather by certaine subtile and thin spirits which passe from the heart to the eye through a straite and narrow way very secretly and hauing deceiued this porter doe place loue within which by little and little doth make it selfe Lord of the house and casteth reason out of the doores How oft is reason bewitched by the eare If thou giue thine eare to hearken vnto these craftie tongues and cogging speeches vnto these cunning discourses full of honie and a thousand other baits doubt not but that thy reason wil be surprised for the scout watch being fallen asleepe the enemie stealeth vpon them softly and becommeth master of the fort The wise Vlisses did not he stop the eares of his companions fearing least they should bee bewitched and besotted with the melodious tunes and sweete songs of the Syrens The licorishnes of the taste surfetting and drunkennes haue they not spoyled many great personages And the sence of feeling which nature hath giuen to liuing creatures for the preseruation of their kinde being the grossest and most earthly of all the rest and so by consequent the most delicate of al the rest doth it not oftentimes cause vs to become beasts Reason then is neuer ouertaken but through the false and treacherous dealing of these doore keepers no man can at any time come within her pallace but by the priuitie of these watchmen for that as I haue sayd in the beginning of this chapter the soule being fast shut vp within the bodie cannot doe any thing hut by the aide and assistance of the sences CHAP. III. That the sight is the noblest of all the rest of the sences AMongst all the sences that of the sight in the common iudgement of all the Philosophers hath been accounted the most noble perfect and admirable Foure things prouing the excellencie of the sight The excellencie thereof is to be perceiued in an infinite sort of things but most principally in foure as first in respect of the varietie of the obiects which it representeth vnto the soule secondly in respect of the meanes of his operation which is as it were altogether spirituall thirdly in respect of his particular obiect which is the light which is the most noble and perfect qualitie that euer God created and lastly in respect of the certaintie of his action First therefore it is out of all doubt The first that the sight causeth vs to know greater varietie and more differences of things then any of the rest of the sences For all naturall bodies are visible and may bee seene but all of them cannot bee felt neither doe they all affoord smels tasts or sounds the heauen the worlds ornament and most noble substance amongst all the rest will not suffer vs to touch the same neither can we heare the sweete harmonie which proceedeth of the concords and agreements of so many diuerse motions There is nothing but the sight which acquainteth vs therewithall soft bodies make no sound neither is there any taste in the earth or fire and yet euery one of these may bee seene The sight besides his owne proper obiect which is colour hath an infinit sort of others as greatnes number proportion motion rest situation and distances And this is the cause why the Philosopher in his Metaphysiques calleth it the sence of inuention as for that by the meanes thereof all the goodliest Sciences and Arts haue been inuented and found out By the meanes of this noble sence it came first to passe that man should begin to play the Philosopher for Philosophie was not begot but by admiring of things and admiratiō sprung not from elswhere then from the sight of pleasant and beautifull things Whereupon the minde raising it selfe on hie toward heauen and rauished with the consideration of so many marueilous things was desirous to know the cause of them and thereupon began to play the Philosopher And yet I will say further that the sight is the sence of our blessednes For the chiefe felicitie
It is the soule alone whereby he is so renowmed The excellencie of mankinde being a forme altogether celestiall and diuine not taking his originall from the effectuall working of any matter as that of plants and beasts doth It is created of God and commeth downe from heauen to gouerne the bodie so soone as the members thereof are made the effects thereof doe sufficiently proue vnto vs the worthines of the same For besides the vegetatiue and sensitiue facultie it inioyeth three speciall powers and faculties which extol and aduance man aboue all other liuing creatures and these three are the Imagination Reason and Memorie Of these The three excellent powers of the soule reason is the principall and chiefe the other two because they are her ordinary handmaides the one to report the other to register and write downe doe enioy the priuiledges of renowmed excellencie doe lodge within her royall pallace and that very neere her owne person the one in her vtter and the other in her inner chamber The imagination The imaginatiue facultie doth represent and set before the intellectuall all the obiects which she hath receiued from the common sence making report of wharsoeuer is discouered of the spies abroad vpon which reports the intellectuall or vnderstanding part of the minde frameth her conclusions which are very often false the imagination making vntrue reports For as the most prudent and carefull Captaines vndertake very oft the enterprises which proue foolish and fond and that because of false aduertisement euen so reason doth often make but foolish discourses hauing been misse-informed by a fayned fantasie The opinions of the Grecians against the excellencie of imagination Some Greeke Philosophers there be which would debarre the imagination of her reputed renowne and excellencie straining themselues to make her as base as the other actions of the sences and I haue in place where read two seuerall opinions to that end the first is of such as thinke that the imagination and common sence is all one the other is of them which affirme that brute beasts haue an imagination as well as men and that either of these two being true there is not any cause why it should be inthronized among the worthies The error of the Philosophers But I will cause it to appeare manifest vnto euery one how fondly they haue suffered themselues to be abused All such as haue applied themselues to play the Philosophers after the most commendable sort and maner doe holde it for granted and out of all question that the imagination is a certaine thing surpassing the common or inward sence which iudgeth of all outward obiects and vnto which as vnto their center all the formes of the other sences doe betake themselues for the common sence receiueth at one and the same instant with the outward sences the formes of things The difference betwixt the imagination and the common sence and that if I may be allowed to vse schoole tearmes with the reall power of the obiect but the imagination receiueth and reteyneth them without any presence of the obiect The imagination compoundeth and ioyneth together the formes of things as of Golde and a mountaine it maketh a golden mountaine which the common sence cannot doe for the inward sence cannot take holde of any thing saue that which the outward sences perceiue but the imagination proceedeth further for the sillie Sheepe hauing spied the Wolfe getteth himselfe by and by out of his way as from his enemie this enimitie is not knowne by the sence for it is no obiect of the sences but it is the meere worke of imagination to know the same This then is a power farre differing from the common sence which in deede is found truely to be in beasts but the other cannot possiblie be found in them in that degree of excellencie that it is in men I would that euery one should see the difference betwixt that imagination which is in men and that which is in beasts The imagination which is in beasts The difference betwixt the imagination of men and that of beasts serueth them onely to follow the motions and passions of their appetite and is not imployed but onely about action that is to say either in following that which may doe them good or in auoiding of that which may annoy them The imagination of man serueth both for action and contemplation The first The imagination of beasts cannot counterfeite any thing further then as it is present and before their eyes The second but man hath the libertie to imagine what he listeth and although there be no present obiect yet it taketh out of the treasurie which is the memorie whatsoeuer may content it The beasts haue their imagination occupied onely when they are exercised The third and not when they are out of worke and labour but man hath the vse of imagination at all times and at euery houre The beast hath no sooner imagined but he moueth himselfe by and by The fourth and goeth after that which his appetite stirreth him vp vnto but man followeth not alwaies the motions of his appetite he hath reason to bridle the same with all as when it findeth out any error therein The imagination of beasts cannot frame to it selfe any mountaines of golde neither yet can it faine the things that are darke and subtile The fift or flying asses as the imagination of man can Finally The sixt the imagination of man seemeth to enter into some maner of discourse with the vnderstanding For hauing beheld a painted Lyon it perceiueth that it is not a thing to be feared and at the same time ioyning it selfe vnto reason doth confirme and make bolde Beholde now how the imagination of man doth magnifie it selfe aboue that of beasts and for what cause I haue set it in ranke a-amongst the excellentest and noblest powers of the minde The Arabians haue so highly commended it The effects of imagination that they haue verely beleeued that the minde by vertue of the imagination could worke miracles pearce the heauens commaunde the elements lay plaine the huge mountaines and make mountaines of the plaine ground and to be short that vnto the iurisdiction thereof were subiect all maner of materiall formes and they called all the three powers of the minde most excellent and renowmed minds and therefore that which is called imagination is the first facultie or power of the minde Of the vnderstanding the second power of the minde The vnderstanding followeth next in order and awaketh at the knocke of imagination it maketh things sensible vniuersall discourseth gathereth conclusions reasoneth from the effects to the causes and from the beginnings euen to the middest and so to the ends and issues of things Of vnderstanding called passible or suffering The Philosophers distinguish this vnderstanding power into a suffering and doing power the suffering is that which receiueth the formes of things pure and
the hicker and with an vnseparable sadnes which oftentimes turneth into dispayre he is alwaies disquieted both in bodie and spirit he is subiect to watchfulnes which doth consume him on the one side and vnto sleepe which tormenteth him on the other side for if he think to make truce with his passions by taking some rest behold so soone as hee would shut his eyelids hee is assayled with a thousand vaine visions and hideous buggards with fantasticall inuentions and dreadfull dreames if he would call any to helpe him his speech is cut off before it be halfe ended and what he speaketh commeth out in fasling and stammering sort he can not liue with companie To conclude hee is become a sauadge creature haunting the shadowed places suspicious solitarie enemie to the Sunne and one whom nothing can please but onely discontentment which forgeth vnto it selfe a thousand false and vaine imaginations Then iudge and weigh if the titles which I haue heretofore giuen to man calling him a diuine and politique creature can any way agree with the melancholike person And yet I would not haue thee O thou Atheist whosoeuer thou art hereupon to conclude Against Atheists which think the soule to be mortall that the soule of man suffereth any thing in his essence and thereby to become subiect to corruption it is neuer altered or changed neither can it suffer any thing it is his instrument that is euill affected Thou maist vnderstand this matter if thou wilt by a comparison drawne from the Sunne for euen as the Sunne doth neuer feele any diminishment of brightnes althought it seeme oftentimes to be darke and eclipsed for this happeneth either by the thicknes of the clowdes or by reason of the Moone comming betwixt it and vs and so our soule seemeth oftentimes to suffer but indeede it is the bodie which is out of frame There is an excellent sentence in Hippocrates in the end of his first book of diet which deserueth to be written in letters of gold A pregnant place prouing the immortalitie Our soule saith he cannot be changed in his essence neither by drinking nor eating nor by any excesse we must impute the cause of all his alterations either to the spirits where with it chiefly hath to deale or vnto the vessels by which it diffuseth it selfe throughout the body Now the instrument of these noble faculties is the braine which is considered of by the Phisition either as a similar part whose health and welfare consisteth in a good temperature or as an instrumentall part and then the health and welfare thereof consisteth in a laudable shape both of the bodie as also of the ventricles of the same That a good temperature and laudable figure are requisite for the actions of the soule And both these two sorts are requisite for the well executing of these three faculties It is most true that Galen attributeth more to a good temperature then to a commendable shape and in one whole booke maintaineth with strong and firme argument that the maners of the soule doe follow the temperature of the bodie as thou shalt see in the chapter following And yet I for my part wil not yeeld so much either to temperature or shape That naturall inclinations may be corrected by studied and laboured ones A most excellent historie of Zopyrus and Socrates as that they can altogether commaund and ouer-rule the soule For such qualities as are naturall and as it were borne with vs may bee amended by those qualities which the Philosophers call acquisite or purchased and gotten by other meanes The historie of Socrates maketh this plaine enough Zopyrus a great Philosopher taking vpon him to iudge and know at the first sight the disposition of euery man as vpon a day he had beheld Socrates reading and being vrgently pressed of all them that sate by to speake his opinion of him answered at last that he well knew that hee was the most corrupt and vicious man in the world The speech was hastily carried to Socrates by one of his disciples who mocked Zopyrus for it Then Socrates by the way of admiration cried aloude Oh the profound Philosopher he hath throughly looked into my humour and disposition I was by nature inclined to all these vices but morall Philosophie hath drawne me away from them And in very deede Socrates had a very long head and ill shaped his countenance vgly and his nose turning vp These naturall inclinations then which proceede of the temperature and shape of the bodie foreseene that these two vices bee not exceeding great as in melancholike persons may bee reclaimed and amended by the qualities which we get vnto ourselues by morall Philosophie by the reading of good bookes and by frequenting the companies of honest and vertuous men CHAP. III. Who they bee which are called melancholike persons and how one should put difference betwixt melancholike men that are sicke and those that are sound and whole ALL such as wee call melancholike men are not infected with this miserable passion which wee call melancholie there are melancholike constitutions which keep within the bounds and limits of health which if we credit ancient writers are very large and wide We must therefore for the orderly handling of this matter set downe all the sorts and differences of melancholike persons to the end that the likenes of names may not trouble vs in the sequele of this discourse That there are foure humors in our bodies It is a thing most freely agreed vpon in Phisicke that there are foure humours in our bodies Blood Phlegme Choler and Melancholie and that all these are to bee found at all times in euery age and at all seasons to be mixed and mingled together within the veines though not alike much of euery one for euen as it is not possible to finde the partie in whom the foure elements are equally mixed and as there is not that temperament in the world in which the foure contrary qualities are in the whole euery part equally cōpounded but that of necessitie there must be some one euermore which doth exceed the other euen so it is not possible to see any perfect liuing creature in which the foure humours are equally mixed there is alwaies some one which doth ouer-rule the rest and of it is the parties complexion named if blood doe abound we call such a complexion sanguine if phlegme phlegmatike if choler cholerike and if melancholie melancholike These foure humours if they doe not too much abound may very easily stand with the health of the partie for they doe not sensibly hurt and hinder the actions of the bodie It is most true that euery constitutions bringeth forth his different effects which make the actions of the soule more quicke and liuely or more dull and dead Phlegmatike persons are for the most part blockish and lubberlike hauing a slow iudgement The effects of phlegme and all the noblest powers of the minde as it
a halfe of Tutia well prepared and of good Aloes a scruple hang these bagges in the waters aforesaid and wash your eyes therewith euery night An excellent water of bread The water of bread so called is very excellent You must make paste with flower grossely sifted and the powder of Rew Fennel and Clarie which they call great Celondine of this paste you must make a loafe and bake in the ouen which so soone as it is baked must be clouen in two and put betwixt two siluer plates or peauter dishes made very close in such sort as that there may nothing breath out and so you shall thence gather a water which must bee kept for the eyes Some also doe much commend the extraction of Fennegreek with Honey The water of blew flowers called Blew-bottles and growing in the corne distilled is excellent good for the preseruation of the sight Some also take the stalke of Fennell a little aboue the roote and cutting it fill it with the powder of Sugar candie whereupon commeth forth a licour which is singular for the eyes I cannot but highly praise this water which I am about to describe A water Take of White wine a pound and a halfe and as much of good Rosewater of Tutia well prepared an ounce of the rinde of Nutmeg called Mace half an ounce put all these together in a glasse violl close stopped and set it in the heate of the Sunne twenty daies stirring it euery day till it become very cleere An oyntment for the eyes There is a singuler oyntment for the preseruation of the eyes Take of Hogs grease very new two ounces steepe it in Rosewater sixe houres after wash it againe twelue seuerall times in the best White wine that may bee got by the space of fiue or sixe houres more adde afterward vnto this grease of Tutia well prepared and finely powdred one ounce of the stone Hematites well washed a scruple of Aloes well washed and made into powder twelue graines of powder of Pearle three graines mixe all together with a little of the water of Fennell and make them vp in an oyntment whereof ye may put a very little in both the corners of your eyes There is great store euery where of other outward remedies which may serue for the eyes as Colliries or Eyesalues and powders which are blowne into the eyes but I finde them not so fit for the purpose as waters Washing of the head The Arabians vse washing of the head the better to preserue the sight but it is not very good in the weakenes of the eyes to trouble the braine but if there be any such thing vsed it may bee done in this sort Take the lye that is made of the Vine ashes of the leaues of Stechados Betonie Eyebright Celandine and Camomill of each a handfull of Agarick and Chebule Mirobalanes tied in a cloute of each two drammes boyle all together till the fourth part be consumed and therewith wash your head Or else take dried Eyebright and make it into ashes then adde thereto the water of Eyebright and make thereof a lye Loe these be the meanes whereby we shall be able to preserue the sight especially if the diminution thereof come by some great moysture of the braine and eyes as is that of my Ladies the Dutchesse of Vzez to whom this whole discourse is particularly dedicated I do not set downe the remedies which are proper to the seuerall diseases of the eyes for so I should spend too much time It was my purpose onely to prepare this generall regiment which might serue as a patterne for the curing of all the rest Monsieur Guillemeau the kings Surgeon hath put forth a very learned treatise wherein are to bee found the most exquisite remedies set downe and vsed by the old and new writers Vnto his booke I referre the reader seeing it is extant in our common language An end of the first discourse THE SECOND DISCOVRSE WHEREIN ARE HANDLED THE diseases of melancholie and the meanes to cure them CHAP. I. That man is a diuine and politike creature endued with three seuerall noble powers as Imagination Reason and Memorie ABdalas the Sarrasin being importunatelie pressed and as it were forced to speake and tell what it was that hee found to bee most wonderfull in all the world answered at last with great commendation that man alone did surpasse all other wonder whatsoeuer An answere in trueth beseeming a great Philosopher rather then a rude and vnlettered man For man hauing the image of God engrauen in his soule The praise of mankinde and representing in his body the modell of the whole world can in a moment transforme himselfe into euery thing like a Proteus or receiue at an instant the stampe of a thousand colours like to the Chamelion Phauorine acknowledged nothing to be great here on earth but onely man The wise men of Egypt haue vouchsafed him such honour as to call him a mortall God Thrice renowmed Mercurie calleth him the liuing creature full of diuine parts the messenger of the Gods the Lord of the things below and fellow companion with the Spirits aboue Pithagoras the measure of all things Synesius the Horizon of things hauing and not hauing bodies Zoroaster in a certaine kinde of rauishment proclamed him the mightie worke and wonder of nature Plato the marueile of marueiles Aristotle the politike liuing creature furnished with reason and counsaile which is all as possessing all things by power though not really and in very deede as Empedocles would haue it to be but by the comprehending and conceiuing of the formes and seuerall sorts of things Plinie the ape or puppie of nature the counterfeit of the whole world the abridgement of the great world Amongst the Diuines there are some which haue called him euery maner of creature because he hath intercourse with euery maner of creature he hath a being as haue the stones life as haue the plants and sence or feeling as the beasts and vnderstanding as haue the Angels Othersome haue honoured him giuing him the title of vniuersall gouernour as hauing all things vnder his empire and iurisdiction as being he to whom euery thing yeeldeth obediēce and for whose sake the whole world was created In briefe this is the chiefe and principall of Gods worke and the most noble of all other creatures But this his excellencie From whence the excellencie of man springeth whereby he is more glorious then all the rest is not in respect of his bodie although the shape thereof bee more exquisite better tempered and of more comely proportion then any other thing in the world seruing as Polycletus his rule for the fashioning of other things and being as a platforme whereby the master builders may frame and contriue their buildings This noblenes I say commeth not of the bodie which consisteth of matter and is corruptible no the extract thereof or that which is indeede excellent therein is further fetcht