cometh out of the Oven which afterward shall bee burnt or buried in the earth or the leaves of Scabious or Sorrel rosted or two or three Lilly roots Rosted under embers beaten and applyed Quest Is it lawful to depart from our own place and habitation in time of Plague Ans Provided a man be not tyed by the Relation of a Husband to a Wife a Father to his Children a Master to his Family a Governour and Over-seer of good Order in the place he lives in and bee otherwise free hee may fly For 1 THe departure of some may bee a means in an Infectious aire to keep the Infection from violence much fuel where fire is kindled increaseth the fervour and violence of the fire multitudes of people to an Infected place are as fuel to the fire of Pestilence 2 Such by escaping provide for their own safety without prejudice to others for what prejudice can it be that such as are not by any particular Bond tyed to them that tarry to leave those that are Infected 3 The departure of some may make much to the benefit and advantage of such as tarry for they have the better opportunity of sending succour to them this was one Reason why the people would not have David go into the field that hee might succour them out of the City 4 It is permitted to such in time of Persecution to fly yea and in time of War why not in time of Plague the Plague is an immediate stroke of God whereby such as he hath appointed to death are stricken Answ I grant it to bee an extraordinary disease but not immediate The kinde of the disease and the effects thereof on mans body do shew that it is no more immediate than many other diseases if because such as are appointed to death are strucken with it means of escaping it might not bee used no means for avoiding any Judgement might bee used For the Infection of it let experience determine that case Object 2. Is it a fruit of faithlesseness to shun the Plague Answ No more then to shun other dangers men may indeed upon distrust fly but that shews the frailty of the person not the unlawfulnesse of the action Object 3. If some fly all may fly and so the sick left without succour Answ 1. Some are more bound to venture the hazard than others as Magistrates for keeping good orders Ministers for feeding the soul near of kindred for looking to their bodies such as are under command as Children and Servants 2 Others are not so subject to Infection as Aged 3 Others are not of such use but may better bee spared as the poorer and meaner sort A discourse of fleeing or stay in the time of Pestilence whether lawful for Ministers or People By Bishop Hall HOw many hath a seduced conscience led untimely to the Grave I speak of this sad occasion of Pestilence The Angel of God follows you and you doubt whether you shall fly if a Lyon out of the Forrest should pursue you you would make no question yet could hee do it unsent what is the difference Both instruments of Divine Revenge both threaten death one by spilling the blood the other by Infecting it who knows whether hee hath not appointed your Zoan out of the lists of this destruction you say it is Gods visitation What evil is not If war have wasted the confines of your Countrey you save your throats by flight why are you more favourable to Gods immediate Sword of Pestilence every Leprosie by Gods Law requires a separation yet no mortal sickness when you see a noted Leper proclaim his uncleanness in the street will you embrace him for his sake that hath stricken him or avoid him for his sake that hath forbidden you If you honour his Rod much more will you regard his Precept if you mislike not the affliction because hee sends it then love the life which you have of his sending Fear the Judgement which he will send if you love it not hee that bids us fly when wee are persecuted hath neither excepted Angel nor Man Whether soever I fear our guiltinesse if wilfully wee fly not But whither shall wee fly from God say you where shall hee not both finde and lead us whither shall not our destiny follow us Vain men wee may run from our home not from our graves Death is subtil our time is set wee cannot God will not alter it alass how wise wee are to wrong our selves because death will over take us shall we run and meet him because Gods decree is sure shall wee bee desperate shall wee presume because God changeth not Why do not we try every knife and cord since our time is neither capable of prevention nor delay our end is set not without our means in matter of danger where the end is not known the means must bee suspected in matter of hope where the end is not known means must bee used Use then freely the means of your flight suspect the danger of your stay and since there is no particular necessity of your presence know that God bids you depart and live You urge the instance of your Minister how unequally there is not more lawfulness in your flight then sin in ours you are your own wee our peoples you are charged with a body which you may not willingly lose nor hazard by staying wee with all their souls which to hazard by absence is to lose our own wee must love our lives but not when they are Rivals with our souls or with others How much better is it to bee dead then negligent then faithlesse If some bodies be contagiously sick shall all souls bee wilfully neglected there can bee no time wherein good counsel can bee so seasonable so needful every threatning finds impression where the minde is prepared by sensible Judgements When will the Iron hearts of men bow if not when they are heat in the flame of Gods affliction now then to run away from a necessary and publick good to avoid a doubtful and private evil is to run into a worse evil then wee would avoid he that will thus run from Ninive to Tarshish shall finde a tempest and a Whale in his way not that I dare be an authour to any of the private visitation of Infected beds I dare not without better warrant no whoever said wee were bound to close up the dying eyes of every departing Christian and upon what-ever conditions to hear their last groans if we had a word I would not dilate of the success then that there were cowardliness which now is wisdome is it no service that wee publickly teach and exhort that we privately prepare men for death and arm them against it that our comfortable Letters and Messages stir up their fainting hearts that our loud voices pierce their ears afar unlesse wee feel their pulses and lean upon their Pillows and whisper in their ears Daniel is in the Lyons den is it nothing that Darius
distemper 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Morbus epidemicus an universal or popular Disease Thus much for the name in the next place take notice there are two sorts of Plagues the one simple the other putrid The simple Plague is the very influence of the striking Angel executing the vengeance of God on the bodies of men This kinde of Plague ariseth from no distemper of blood putrefaction of humours or influence of Stars but falleth meerly from the stroke of God's punishing Angel such were the Plagues of old as you may read in Exodus 12. Numb 11.16 25. also 2 Samuel 24. 2 Kings 19. whereof some die suddenly without any precedent or foregoing complaint or conceit of infection Others again though they be sick before they die yet their first taking hath been after an extraordinary manner Some whereof I have talkt with who have ingenuously confest they at their first infection felt themselves manifestly stricken being sensible of a blow suddenly given them some on the head and neck others on the back and side c. sometimes so violently that they have been as it were knockt down to the ground remaining for a time sensless whereof some have died instantly others in a short time after and those that did recover escaped without humane help or means For this kinde of Plague as it is rare so it is by all art of man incurable Therefore no method but Repentance no medicine but Prayer can avert or heal this stroke Of all Antidotes for the body that Triacle is the best esteemed which is made of the flesh of earthly Serpents but for the soul that only which is made of the blood of the brazen Serpent which was lifted up on the Cross for our sins He that by a lively faith applieth the benefit of our blessed Saviours sufferings to the Plague-sore of his soul shall undoubtedly recover if not health here yet heaven hereafter The putrid Plague is a popular Feaver venemous and infectious striking chiefly when first seizing the body at the very heart and for the most part is accompanied with some swelling which is either called a Blain a Botch or Carbuncle or else with spots called Gods Tokens This comes of putrefaction of blood and humours in the body which it pleaseth God sometimes to make the instrument of his punishing justice mixing it with the simple Plague before-mentioned This putrefaction may be caused by the influence of the Stars who do undoubtedly work upon all sublunary bodies For Astrologers are of opinion that if Saturn and Mars have dominion especially under Aries Sâ—gittarius and Capricorn a Plague or Pestilence is shortly to be expected Or if these two before-named most malevolent Planets be in opposition to Jupiter according to the Poet Coelitus imbuitur tabe difflatilis aura Mars quando objicitur falcitonensque Jovi When Mars in opposition is to Jove The Air will be infected from above The winds likewise are led into their motions by the Starry-course the Planets especially the Sun by extracting the earths exhalations which are the substance of the windes do set them so on work And the windes some are naturally wholesom others unwholesom The South-winde blowing from the Meridian is of nature hot and moist and full of showers Now when by the influence of the Stars this winde bloweth long and bringeth continual rain it causeth much moisture in all airy and earthly bodies and so much the more by how much the milder it is This moisture being in such abundance cannot be digested nor attenuated by the Suns beams or heat and therefore setling together it must needs putrifie and that so much the sooner because the heat of the Sun not being able to extract all doth inflame what remains by which inflammation the putrifaction becomes the greater In this manner are the windes in cause and moreover they do sometimes transfer the contagion from one Region to another as Hippocrates affirmeth the Plague to be brought over the Sea from Aethiopia into Greece by the South-winde Now if the Stars be pestilentially bent against us neither Arts nor Arms Perfumes nor Prayers can prevail with them who have neither pity sense nor power to alter their motions appointed them by the Omnipotent Creator But he that commandeth their course and altereth them at his pleasure he that made the Sun and Moon stand still for Joshua and drew the Sun ten degrees back for Hezekiah and caused the Stars to fight in their courses against Sisera he and he alone is able to heal all infections that can arise from their influences Other causes there are also of this putrid Plague namely corrupt and unwholesom feeding all sorts of unsavory stenches proceeding either from Carrion Ditches rotten Dunghils Vaults Sinks nasty Kennels and Streets strewed with all manner of filth seldom cleansed Wherefore I cannot but justly applaud the prudence of the right Honourable the present Lord Mayor in taking so much care and giving such strict order that the kennels and streets be very frequently swept and kept sweet every one throwing fair water before his own door thrice a day to cool as well as cleanse A good primary way for prevention of any ensuing general infection he wisely advised that said Principiis obsta Hinder beginnings These foetid smells as I said are the maintaining causes of the contagion after it is begun Corpora foeda jacent vitiantur odoribus aurae If stinking bodies lie then hence I see The Air will with their stench corrupted be So likewise the unseasonableness of the weather Quum tempestiva intempestivè redduntur saith Hippocrates When the weather is unseasonable for the season of the year being hot when it should be cold very hot one day and in the like measure cold the next moist when it should be dry and so on the contrary Now this kind of Plague is by Art curable in as many as God pleaseth to bless the means to For this therefore I intend to prescribe a course of Physick such as both my much reading and also my practice and manifest experience in this Sickness hath preferred to my best approbation wherein I will first open the way of preservation after that shew the signes of being infected and lastly the course of cure Who are most subject to infection IN the way of preservation it is first necessary to be considered Whether the Plague be infectious or not and then who are most or least subject according to natural reason to receive this infection This putrid Plague is as I have said in the definition venemous and infectious best known by experience By venom or poyson the Reader is to understand something that hath in it a dangerous subtle quality that is able to corrupt the substance of a living body to the destruction or hazard of the life thereof This working is apparent in this Sickness by his secret and insensible insinuation of himself into the vital Spirits to which as soon as he is gotten he sheweth himself
the like he must be well purged which none but a Physician can safely prescribe and that upon examination of his body and urine But as a general Rule all do appoint some purging Medicines twice or thrice in a week to keep the body free from the increase of superfluous humours to which purpose the Pills of Ruffus which may be had commonly in any Apothecaries shop are very apt and good But those that cannot take Pills may have this syrrup made for them which for its excellent vertue in this case is called The divine Syrrup Recip Cort. Citri Rad. Cappar Berber Santal Rub. Citrin Spodii ana drach 1. Carriophil Borrag Bugloss Mellissa Cichorei ana unc 1. Acetosae Hepaticae Marrubii ana unc ss Thymi Epithymi Scariolae Rhabarb fol. Senae Rad. Polypodii ana drach 1. Succorum Absynthii Fumariae Ebuli Plantaginis Myrobalanorum Chebul Citrin ana drach 6. cum Sacchari li. 2. ss fiat syrupus s a. cum Aceti succi Cydoniorum q. s reddatur dulcè acidus Take two or three spoonfuls of this more or less as it works but keep very warm for it causeth sweat as well as seidge In an old Manuscript I finde this called St. Ambrose his Syrrup the same a little altered is in Rhenodaeus his Dispensatory and he hath added two drams of Diagridium Let men of judgement do as they please I like it best as I have set it down Rhenodaeus gives it this title not acknowledging any Author Syrupus qui c. It is a syrrup that cleanseth the body from superfluities and by consequence doth strengthen and comfort the heart brain liver and all other members Always observing that you must forbear to take this syrrup that morning that you take your purging Medicine Women with childe must be kept soluble only with milde Suppositories and gentle Clisters wherein a little new-drawn Cassia is to be used or else a milde Potion made with some pectoral decoction and a little Cassia for stronger Purgatives will endanger abortion but these ought to be directed by a good Physician Young children also with a Violet-comfit for a Suppository dipped in sweet sallet-oyl or else a little Cassia newly drawn dissolved in a small draught of chicken-broth or a little Manna in the like broth or in posset-drink Beware of bathings especially in open standing waters within the Region of the air infected If Urine or Menstrua stop repair speedily to the Physician for counsel flie Venus as far as you may for in these times she hath but an ill name Sweat coming easily of it self and within doors the house being well aired is good so it exceed not but abroad it is dangerous Lastly it is good to keep open all issues and running sores because nature will labour to expel any venom to such a Common-sewer The fourth Point is Exercise and Rest As it is not good for us to addict our selves to laziness lest we thereby increase those superfluous humours which are never wanting in bodies to foment diseases so neither must we use as little as may be too great a violence in our labours or exercise because it consumeth the best juices we have in our bodies and spoileth our radical moisture whereas moderate and convenient exercise ad ruborem tantum non ad sudorem if used in times and places and seasonable doth stir up nourish and preserve the greatest and best assistant to life natural heats helping concoction and evacuation The best Exercise is walking with a little stirring of the arms the time in the morning and the place either in a pure air abroad or in a purified air at home in some large room where is little or no company by the heats of their bodies and breaths to distemper and corrupt the air But at all times beware of taking cold for great colds and rheums do easily turn to putrid Feavers and they as easily prove Pestilent The fifth Point is Sleep and Watching Sleep either immoderate or unseasonable hindereth digestion and causeth crudities quells the vital and dulls the animal spirits Watching also over-much dryes up and inflames the good blood and weakens all the powers of nature Let your sleep therefore be seasonable and not superfluous not upon your dinner unless custom commands it and then take it but napping for half an hour or so sitting in a chair upright Three hours at least after a light supper go to bed where let five or six hours suffice for sleep lie conveniently warm the chamber-doors and windows being shut to exclude the night-air but beware of sleeping or lying on the ground or grass for the nearer the earth the more deadly is the air And the immediate stroke of the cold vapours rising from the ground is very dangerous at all times The sixth Point of Diet is passions of the minde All kindes of passion if they be vehement do offer violence to the spirits yea though they be of the better and more natural sort As laughter if unbridled doth run even life out of breath and greatly perplexeth the body insomuch as the breast and sides are pained the breath is straitned and sometimes the soul it self is as I may say laughed out of her skin For so it is recorded of Chrysippus that only upon the sight of an Ass eating figgs he brake into such an unmeasurable laughter that he fell down and died And Zeuxis that excellent Painter who made a most curious beautiful picture of the Spartan Hellen upon the sight of a very ill-favoured old woman burst out into such a profuse laughter that he laughed himself to death Now this is a disease of the Spleen called Risus Sardonius with which there be many of my acquaintance not long since grieved But sometimes immoderate joy lives not to the age of laughter when it bindes the vital spirits so close together that it choaks the heart instantly for so Sophocles the Tragedian receiving a wonderful applause of the people for the last tragedy he wrote was so overjoyed at it that he became a Tragedy himself and died upon it The like is recorded of one Rhodias Diagoras who when he saw his three sons all at one time crowned with victory at the Olympian games ran to meet them and while he embraced them in his arms and they planted their garlands on his head he was so overcome with joy that he turned their Ensignes of victory into the Penons of his Funeral On the other side sorrow afflicts the heart disturbs the faculties melts the brain vitiates the humours and so weakens all the principal parts yea sometimes sinks the body into the grave As Adrastus King of the Argyves being told of the death of his son was taken with so violent sorrow that he fell down and died immediately Anger is also so furious a passion that it violently disturbs the spirits and faculties as appears by the shaking and tossing of the body to and fro the fiery sparkling of the eyes the colour
Jehosaphat too much failed herein he heard the Prophet say that Ahab should fall at Ramoth Gilead and yet he would accompany him thither it had almost cost him his life yet hath God his wayes and means to deliver the righteous in the forementioned cases and all other cases whatsoever As 1. By visible preservations of them from external judgements as Ebed-melech was preserved 2. By taking them from the evil to come This was before exemplified in good Josiah 3. By ordering the judgement so as it proves a means to them to honour God the more and to do more good to such as are better prepared to accept the good which they do Thus was Ezekiel carried away to Babel in the first Captivity that he might prophesie in Babylon to the Jews there who were counted good Figgs in comparison of the Jews that were at Jerusalem who were as evil Figgs 4. By making the judgement a means of their peace honour and eternal prosperity in this world Thus the captivity of Daniel and his three companions and of Esther and Mordecai was a means of higher honour and greater advancement than they could in all probable conjectures have attained unto in their own land They were also thereby special Instruments of doing much good to the Church and their names by that means are more honourable to this day in the Church of God 5. By taking them by an external judgement from earth to heaven where they live being dead yea by making the judgement a means to free them from eternal damnation of such as by some extraordinary judgement dyed for 't is said of them many sleep the Apostle saith When we are judged we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world Blessed be that sword though it be the sword of a mortal enemy that openeth a passage in the body for the soul to enter into heaven And blessed be that sickness though it be the Plague that thrusteth the soul out of the bodies prison to celestial glory and eternal life and they may say we had perished if we had not perished Be not affrighted O ye righteous ones be not affrighted over-much at the judgements though they be terrible judgements which fall out in the world though by reason of the multitudes of wicked ones among whom ye live in this world ye be every one forced to complain and cry Wo is me that I sojourn in Mesech that I dwell in the Tents of Kedar and to wish and say O that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men that I might leave my people yet can the Lord single you out and when he comes to sweep with the beesome of destruction set you aside and as a few precious Jewels in the midst of a great heap of rubbish sift them out and preserve them safe to himself when the rubbish is cast away It is said of Christ that he will thorowly purge his floor and gather his wheat into his garner but will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire Men when they fan their corn cannot do it so thorowly clean but that some chaffe or tares will remain with the wheat and some wheat be cast out with the chaffe witness the offal that remains after the best fanning that men can make but God's fanning is a thorow fanning not a grain not a Saint shall be over-slipt This is indeed most properly meant of the last fanning of the world at the day of Judgement yet in the mean time doth the Lord take notice of every one of his to provide for them and in the most common and general judgements doth that which in his wisdome he seeth to be fit for them When Elijah thought he had been left alone in Israel God knew many more yea he could tell the just number of them Thou mayest therefore O faithful one say of the Lord He is my refuge and fortress my God in him will I trust Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the Fowler and from the noysome pestilence c. In the midst of Judgements pronounced against sinners that are obstinate God doth reserve and proclaim Mercy unto sinners that are penitent When a consumption is decreed yet a remnant is reserved to return Isa 10.22 23. The Lord will keep his Vineyard when he will burn up the Thorns and the Bryers together Isa 27.3 4. When a day of fierce anger is determined the meek of the earth are called upon to seek the Lord Zeph. 2.3 When the Lord is coming out of his place to punish the Inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity he calls upon his people to hide themselves in their chambers until the indignation be over-past Isa 26.20 21. the Angel which was sent to destroy Sodom had withall a Commission to deliver Lot Gen. 19.15 God made full provision for those who mourned for publick abominations before he gave order to destroy the rest Ezek. 9.4 6. men in their wrath will many times rather strike a friend than spare a foe but God's proceedings are without disorder he will rather spare his foes than strike his servants as he shewed himself willing to have done in the case of Sodom Gen. 18.26 Moses stood in the gap and diverted judgements from Israel Psal 106.23 Yea God seeks for such Ezek. 22.30 and complains when they cannot be found Ezek. 13.15 And if he deliver others for them certainly he will not destroy them for others However it go with the world and with wicked men it shall go well with the righteous there shall be a sanctuary for them when others stumble and they shall pass through the fire when others shall be consumed by it Psal 3.10 11. Isa 8.14 15 16. Zech. 13.8 9. Reasons hereof are God's Justice He will not punish the righteous with the wicked he will have it appear that there is a difference between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not Gen. 8.23 Mal. 3.18 Gods love unto his people hee hath Book of remembrance written before him for them that fear him and think upon his Name And they shall bee mine saith the Lord of Hosts In that day when I make up my Jewells and I will spare them as a man spareth his own Son that serveth him Mal. 3.16 17. Here is a climax and gradation of Arguments drawn from love in a great fire and devouring trouble such as is threatned Chap. 4.1 Property alone is a ground of care a man would willingly save and secure that which is his own and of any use unto him But if you add to this preciousness that Increaseth the care A man will make a hard shift to deliver a rich Cabinet of Jewels though all his ordinary goods and utensils should perish but of all Jewels those that come out of the body are more precious than those that onely adorn it who would not rather snatch his Childe than either his Kasket or his purse out of the flame Relation workes not
coming and going now red now pale so that all the humours appear to be enflamed especially choler and the spirits hurried this way and that way sometimes thrust outward and presently haled in again by which violent motions an unnatural heat in the spirits and corruption in the humours are ingendered Hereupon many times follow burning Feavers Palsies violent Bleedings loss of Speech and sometimes Death it self Nerva the Emperor being highly displeased with one Regulus fell into such fury against him that he was stricken therewith into a Feaver whereof he died within a few dayes after Wenceslaus King of Bohemia in a rage conceived against his Cup-bearer would needs kill him presently with his own hand but his indeavour was his own deaths-man striking him with a Palsey that shook him shortly after into ashes Valentinianus the Emperor in a fierce fury would needs destroy the whole Country of Sarmatia but his unruly rage brake a vein within and his own life-blood ended his bloody design Fear likewise gathers the heat and spirits to the heart and dissolves the brain making the moisture thereof shed and slide down into the external parts causing a chilness and shaking over all the body and falling upon the gullet makes one to swallow when they should speak It abuses the fancy and sences brings a Lethargy upon the organs of motion and condemns the heart to deadly sufferings As Cassander the son of Antipater upon the sight of Alexander the Great 's Statue was stricken with such a terror that he could hardly make his legs leave trembling so much as to carry him out of the place This Fear hath in it a very strange operation having bereav'd several of their senses on others diseases as a Feaver c. which Feaver hath afterwards turn'd into the Plague so that this Fear though it doth not arise from danger of infection yet it will draw it on how much more then doth the fear of the same cause work it Instead of bringing Examples for the proof hereof I shall only give you a Reason for it Fear of all Passions is the most pestilently pernicious for it enforceth the vital spirits to retire inward to the heart by which retiring they leave the outward parts infirm as appears by the paleness and trembling of one in great fear So that the Walls being forsaken which are continually besieged by the outward air in comes the Enemy boldly the best spirits that should expel them having cowardly sounded a retreat In which withdrawing they draw in with them such evil vapours as hang about the outward Pores even as the Sun draws towards it the vapours of the Earth And hence it is that fear brings infection sooner then any other occasion This therefore and all other passions by a wise watching over our selves be beaten off whensoever they but offer to set upon us But these are diseases of the soul whose Physicians are Divines They must purge out the love of this world and the distrust of Gods providence minister the Cordials of Faith Hope Patience and Contentedness and ordain the strict Diet of holy Exercises We that are Physicians to the Body are but Chyrurgions to the Soul we can but talk of Topical Remedies Thus have I run through the first part of my Method which is the way of Preservation now shall I discourse on the second part which is as followeth The Manner Signs and Symptoms of such that are infected by the Plague IT s usuall manner is at the first infection to strike at the heart which is apparent by the sinking and languishing of the vital faculties the whole strength of the body is likewise suddenly turned into weakness the vital spirits being greatly oppressed and discouraged whereas the animal faculty commonly remains for a while in good plight and perfect in the use of Sense Understanding Judgement Memory and Motion The Natural faculty also is not so presently hurt but there is concoction and all other functions performed by the Liver Stomack Guts Reins Bladder and other parts as nature requires though indeed in a little time the venom being very strong these and the brain are also overcome as appears by the symptoms that follow as Lethargies Frenzies Vomitings Fluxes c. Take notice therefore that as soon as the venemous matter strikes to the heart the Contagion hath now found out the Prince of the vital parts who if he want armour of proof to resist either of natural strength or forged out by Arts Cyclops the Physician is presently taken Prisoner by his venemous enemy who soon after takes possession of the arteries and veins In this conflict the Pulse which useth to be the truest intelligences of the heart 's well or ill fare becomes now languishing little frequent and unequal Languishing by reason that native heat lessens and a heat contrary to nature increaseth little because oppressed frequent from natures strife unequal partly from the Fever and partly from the malignant vapour that besiegeth the heart Concerning the Pulse thus writes Rodericus à Castro concerning the Plague that was at Hambrough Manus duns Medico porrigunt Pulsum quodam modo retrahuntur cum tremore quod à veneno sit cor ipsum pungente signum mihi diutina experientia indubitatum est ut eo solo saepissime pestilentem affectum cognoverim That he observed the sick stretching out their hands to the Physician to feel their Pulse they would after a certain manner pull them back again with trembling which might be from the venom pricking the very heart which was an undoubted signe he saith by daily experience by which alone he oftentimes knew a person infected pestilentially From this ground did I finde another that never failed me If in reaching out the hand the former signe appeared not then if I suspected it to be the Plague I would touch the Pulse something hard and if it were the Plague the hand would not fail to tremble and twitch back The reason is the stopping of the course of the pulse drives the venom something back to the heart by which is caused a kind of sudden Passion The next signe is the enemies Ensigne hung out at the windows the eyes I mean for then they will be various in turning and sometimes fiery shining the looks sad and the face changing colour which shew that the radical humours begin to vaste and the spirits to wax dry and enflamed Then followeth lightness or giddiness of the head drowth and bitter taste in the mouth which proceed from the superfluity of choler aggravated by the mixture of the venemous vapours vomiting likewise of vicious matter being according to the redency of any of the humours of flegme sometimes waterish of choler sometimes yellow or greenish of melancholy leaden or blackish But this is from the virulency of the venom vexing the veins and fibres in the coat of the stomack not from any strength of nature to expel the poyson as it appeareth in that no ease but