proper office and vertue is to loose and mollifie the belie If these do not suffice adde the herbe called Mercurie vnto them or else take it alone by itselfe But if there be in the body great plentie and abundance of humours we must assay and trye whether they wil be resolued and wasted by abstinence or diet For abstinence saieth Galen is one maner of euacuation And Damascene sayeth if we may cure any maladie or griefe by dyet we were not best to trye anye other waye for all thinges touchinge bodily health will fall out prosperously But if their be such abundance of ill humoures that diette or abstinence is not hable to purge them then must those humours be educed and drawen foorth by easie and light purgacion speciallye in two quarters of the yere Springe and Autumne In sommer the the fittest purginge are Cassia fistula or a Siruppe of Roses solutiue But in springe and Autumne Rhabarbe Agaricke and Sene and also the communelie knowen Electuaries as Lenitiue Diachatolicon Diasabeste foreséene that the Ingredientes be well concocted sod and prepared with suche thinges as belonge and pertaine to the humour then raigning least otherwise the confection shoulde be ouer raginge or endued with any venenositie And the drynesse and heate of Rubarbe Agaricke and Sene maye be mitigated and taken awaye if they be mixed with suche thinges as be moyste and colde of whiche sorte are Plummes Sebestens and cordiall flowers And vnto them it were not amisse to put a little quantitie of Anyse or Cinamome because of the weakenes and imbecilitie of the stomacke And if great extremitie and néede séeme to require to take some purgation or medicinable potion for healthes sake in a great heate let the confect be dronk with the waters or rather with the decoctions of Sorell Endiue Borage Violettes Succorie Hoppes and Raisons accordingelie as it shall séeme expedient by the aduise and counsell of the skilfull Phisicion Prouided alwayes that non of all these whiche are here rehearced nor yet of any other be taken in anye great quantitie For some sayeth Galen are glad when they often and largelie make great Stooles But the more they be emptied the more is their bealie bounde within few dayes afterward whiche to be true not onlye good reason but also daylie experience perswadeth And therfore in suche case it it were better to prouoke siegez by some gentle suppositories of Glisters or Oyle infused at the foundiment or els some other softeninge substance that may dissolue the matter which stoppeth the passage of the ordure in the straicte gutte Colon. But the nature of our Countrey men is rather thē they would willinglie vse those helpes to take confectionate and medicinable drouges downewarde at the mouth then vpwarde at the foundement feare of dishonestie and a certaine shamefastnes enforcing them therunto Of Sleepe ANd because they which are in helth ought to haue a speciall regarde to Sléepe that it neyther be superfluous nor lesse then nature requireth but vsed in due and conuenient moderation to th ende that the commodities whiche come therby may be felte and taken and the harmes comminge by longe watche auoyded we will here briefely entreate of both And first this must diligently be inculcate that neither the one nor the other passe measure For beinge vsed out of measure as Hippocrates affirmeth they bringe so muche hinderance and annoyance to health as nothing more For immoderate and too muche sléepe filleth the body with many humours and retaineth not onely sweate but also all other superfluities maketh the bodie dull and heauie weakeneth and in a maner boyleth all the senses and maketh thē blunt and vnapte to honest exercises euen as if muche store of ashes shoulde be caste vpon fier they couer and quight quenche it out yea Auicen also doubted not to say that it dampnified and hurte the soule or reasonable part of man Contrarily moderate sléepe after meate doth moysten the whole bodie and is thought to humecte euen the very innermoste partes of the bodie to stirre vp and exuscitate the powers and vertues therof to make the actions of the Senses more fresh and lustie to reuiue and quicken the spirites Naturall Vitall and Animall and as it were to refreshe and repaire the whole bodie new agayne Beinge vsed before meate it dryeth vp the bodye while the naturall heate worketh inwardly extendinge his force and violence againste itselfe For sléepe is nothinge else but a pleasant and delightfull detention of the senses and a reuocacion of heate into the inwarde partes of the body where if it finde nourishment ready to work vpon it digesteth and distributeth it into all the veines Arteries and members of the whole bodie The same effect hath it if it finde crude and rawe humours vnconcocte Thus sléepe before meate is commended But if naturall heat finde no alyment or moysture inwardlie then is it too muche incended and tourneth all his violence against the radicall and substanciall moysture of the bodye and for want of other exhausteth it Semblably immoderate and too muche watchinge is as hurtfull to the powers and hindereth the chiefe functions of life for therby natural heate is cooled as Auerrois sayeth like as fier which with too muche moouinge and stirringe is blowen abroade and dispercled Thereby also the spirites be resolued and the power Animall troubled digestion letted the body made apte to Consumptions the braine debilitate and filled with many noysome vapours and fumosities But moderate Sleepe as before is saide strengtheneth the vitall power and maketh the vertue naturall hable to accomplishe and completelie dispatche all her operations whereof the chiefest is digestion and concoction of the meate Furthermore it maketh the vertue Animall to take rest and remooueth and taketh away the weakenes and debilitie that commeth by studie and labor But some will stande in doubte concerninge the measure and time of sléepe whether it ought to be so great and so longe as Hippocrates appointeth it For he sayeth that that Sleepe is laudable and naturall whiche lacketh no parte of the night neither hindreth anye parte of the daye Whiche séemeth to be the custome and maner of men in the auncient time if we beléeue Homere who hath diligently described the maners rytes and studies of men For assoone as the Sunne is downe he wryteth and describeth that men surceassed from their labours and betooke themselues to rest and when the Sunne was risen and vp he alwayes lightlie séemeth to stirre vp and cal men to their busines and vocatiō Whereby he signified and ment that all the night we ought to sléepe and all the daye to watche Neither is it without good respecte and consideracion that the same Hippocrates in an other place wryteth that ventres in winter and Springe are very hoate and sleepe verye longe As concerninge what howers of the daye time are fittest to sléepe in he in his booke entituled De praesagiis affirmeth the morninge to
to the glory of god and the profit of thy neighboure for this age of Consistence is the very flowre and prime of a mans life And by this meanes shalt thou so doo if thou géeue diligent eare to the sounde counsayles of approoued Phisicions by mée in this litle Booke breefely noted the chiefest whereof is Exercise And therefore Galen playnly writeth that all such of his fréendes as tooke diligent and speciall regarde to Exercise were neuer sicke But because not euery kinde of Exercise nor euery time and hower is conuenient and méete for it therefore will I declare bothe the time when it should be vsed and also the particuler kindes thereof Then is it a fit time saieth Auicenna to exercise the bodie when there be no ill humours in the same least exercise by motion and calefactiō should disperse the same through the bodie or cause them to decline and goe to some principall mēbre and part of the bodie and so to putrefie Also when there is in the Stomake or Bowelles no great quātitie of meate vndigested or humours crude rawe least inconuenience might ensue by the conueighance of them into the officiall members before they be throughly boyled and concocted in the Stomake Furthermore to go to the Stoole and exonerate nature before the time of exercise is very holesome Hippocrates his counsaile is that a man shoulde laboure and chafe himselfe before his meale and therfore I thinke it very vnholsome immediatetly after meate to vse exercise because the vehement accidentes of the mind and the stronge mocions of the bodie do hinder digestion and cause Putrefaction but an easie and soft walking that the meate may the better and the sooner descend to the lowest part of the Stomake where the same is better concocted is not to bee misliked but is thought to be very holesome and expedient Therefore when the meate is passed downe from the Stomake and the time approcheth eftsoones to eate then is exercise both fit and profitable In Somer about the Sunne risinge least otherwise the bodie shoulde be annoyed with a double heate and in the beginnyng of the Sprynge and Autumne aboute twoo howers after the Sunne rysing that the coldenesse of the mornynge may be auoyded For as the heate of the noone time of the day is hurtful and noysome so is the colde of the mornyng and namely in Autumne and winter to be eschewed Notwithstandynge a man may exercise himselfe at home assone as he ariseth In winter Auicen counselleth vs to exercise our selues within the house or in some close couert place about noone hauyng the ayre a litle warmed for feare least colde els should take away or hinder that commoditie that exercise bryngeth For nothynge is more hurtful to the vertue Regitiue then cold namely if it be much and at suche time as the body is hoat Now wheras there be sundrie sortes of exercise I will onely recite here suche as I know to be best and most agreable for them vnto whom I namely haue penned and written this compendie And first to beginne with walkynge which if it be soft and not fast nor apace is a weake exercise and may best be vsed in hoate moonthes in the beginnyng of Autumne for at those times heate and drinesse cheifly reigneth And therefore the body ought not to be more inflamed and dried by stronge motion and exercise especially in a Cholerique man For truely there is no time in all the yéere wherein the body ought lesse to be exercised then in Sommer and therefore in hoat Regions and Climates a softe and gentle motion is a greate deale better and more requisite then strong motion because nothyng doth so muche incende and enflame naturall heate as laboure and moouing Often and longe walking vsed without intermission is a stronge exercise and meeter too be vsed in the Springe season because exercise in the Springe time by good reason ought to be greater and stronger then in Sōmer And therfore somwhat long deambulacion being pleasāt withal not wearisome nor excessiue is in my oppinion very méete and apt for this season of the yéere I meane it must be somwhat longe to thend it may with more facilitie resolue suche superfluities as aboute that time were gathered and congeled together duringe the winter precedinge and I would haue it to be somwhat gentle and pleasant least the bodies should be set in a chafing heate with too much Agitacion and stirring especiallie of them that are of a hoate complexion For this kinde of softe and longe continuinge exercise is most agreeable commodious to hoate and moyst bodies A strong and vehemēt walking especiallie vp and downe highe and vnequall places as manytimes to goe vp and downe a ladder or a stiepe hill till a man pant and fetche his breath thicke and often with difficultie is a very good and comendable exercise best to be frequented in cold moyst seasōs There is an other kinde of exercise whereof Galene wrate but not conuenient for such as be graue personages and men muche busied with waightie affaires or for such as haue not their heads in good temperature which is called the Tenise In which kinde of pastime all members and partes of the body are equallie mooued but it is hurtefull to the head by reason of often stowpinge and therfore I counsell all them that delight to playe thereat to stand holdinge theire heades vpright whiche may be easely done by striking and receauing the balle with a raquet There is an other kinde of pleasaunt exercise fittest to be vsed in the countrey in seasonable and tempestiuious times of the yeare called Riding It is highlie to be commended and is good for the head stomacke and intrayles wherby men in the olde time got both health pleasure That exercise whiche Auicen teacheth to draw and bring down humours from the head to the lower partes of the body is very profitable and to be done in this sorte folowyng Tie and make fast a stronge roape to some Beame or post and through the same roape put a good bigge wodden Cudgell ouerthwart and takyng holde with your handes at bothe endes of the Cudgell lift vp and poyse your body so that your feete touche not the grounde and mooue your legges to and fro hangyng still by your handes But the bodie must be very well purged lest when the superfluous humours be drawen downe to the lower partes there be engendred an Abscesse which is some impostume or course of euill humours to some one parte of the body As for wrestling and daunsing which be accompted amonge vehement exercises because they be nothyng agréeable and sitting for a sage Magistrate nor for a serious Student I haue nothynge to say but this by the way I may not omit that those persons which féede vpon grosse meates and suche repast as bringeth stronge nourishment may vse vehementer exercise and stronger ambulations as running wrastling hunting quoytes handeball and to
A Direction for the Health of Magistrates and Studentes Namely suche as bee in their consistent Age or neere thereunto Drawen aswell out of sundry good and commendable Authours as also vpon reason and faithfull experience otherwise certaynely grounded Written in Latin by Guilielmus Gratarolus and Englished by T. N. Imprinted at London in Fléet-streete by William How for Abraham Veale 1574. To the Right honorable Maister Francis Walsyngham Esquier one of the Principall Secretaries to the Duéenes moste excellent Maiestie and of hir Maiesties moste honorable priuie Counsell IN Physicke and curinge of the Sick Right honorable three things onely sayth Hippocrates are to be cōsidered the disease the Pacient and the Physicion who in his office and function in that behalfe is the minister of Arte and the deputie of Nature The Phisicion and the disease do mutually oppugne one an other and striue for maistrie For the Phisicions charge and only care is and ought to be to recure his Pacient with Sicknesse attaynted The Sicknesse cōtrarywise employeth his whole deuoire and bendeth all his force to the destruction spoyle and ruyne of the bodye whereinto he hath made breache and entraunce Now is the Patient all this while the Subiect and partie in whom this conflict and combate is darreigned who if for his part he do wiselye and politikely resist the somonce of his enemie Sicknesse directing the order of his diete and daylie vsage by the Dyal of the Physicions learned prescription and counsell and absteine from thinges hurtfull and inconuenient by practizinge that which is holesome and expedient he is ioygned in commissiō and made as it were felowe in office with the Physicion agaynst all raginge assaultes of Sicknesse Whereby they twaine being thus firmely confederate and linked together the disease and Sicknesse shal be easely driuen to a narowe exigent and glad to disclaime his interest and great hope is to be conceiued of the victorie and vpperhand As contrarywise if the Pacient reuolte from the Physicion wilfully refuse and stubbornely disobey his lore aduise altogether framinge himselfe to serue the humour and will of his Sicknesse litle hope and lesse helpe is to bee expected of his recouery For in flyinge to th one and startinge from thother hee addeth great increase to the disease and prouoketh it to shew the vttermost effect of his tyrannicall force and qualitie vppon the bodie that is so willinge and readie euen at the firste onsette and Alarme to surrendre The Physition for the better atchieuing and compassing of his purpose vseth iii. speciall weapons or Instrumentes whereby and wherwith he worketh his feact supplanteth his aduersarie Diet Medicine or els some actuall woorkmanshippe of the hand called Chyrurgery Which iij. are in the Greeke tearmed by apt and seuerall names more liuely and plainlye expressinge their properties natures operations the fyrste beynge called Diaetetice the seconde Pharmaceutice the third and last Cheirurgice Beside these thre is there none for by whatsoeuer names any remedies for Sicknesse or preseruatiues for health are called by otherwise they are to bee referred to one of these three necessarilie For eyther they belonge to diete either else they are too be done by receipt of medicinable drouges potions and applications or else finallye by the ministerie and artificiall woorkemanshippe of the hand called as I saide Chyrurgerie The best and surest of all these is Diet the which oftentimes of it selfe alone is hable and sufficient to cure the discrased and without which the other twoo cannot well and conuenientlie to purpose be practized Be the Chirurgian neuer so skilfull yet vnlesse the partie passioned vse good respect in daylie diete his cunninge hand not onely turneth to no profitable consequence and effect at all but rather many times the partie is thereby brought into further hazard and daunger Medicines bee their vertues neuer so soueraigne and effectual are not hable to helpe in such extremities as they be employed vnto if Diet be not respected accordingly as Galen in his booke De Theriaca written to Pamphilianus most learnedly aduoucheth Thus is Diet the safest the surest and the pleasantest way that can be vsed and farre to be preferred before all other kindes of remedies vnlesse the disease be of such vehemence quality condition and extremitie that it seeme to requyre some great speciall consideration otherwise and in time of sicknesse is not onely a special harmlesse recuratiue but also in time of health the best and almost the onely preseruatiue And for that I saw the same in this litle Pamphlet so clerkely and compendiously decyphered I haue aduentured to deuest him of his Latine weede and after a homely sorte forced into barbarous Englishe whereby although I haue ministred large occasion to the worlde to thinke in mee some spice of presumption and foly for thus entermedlyng in an Art nothinge appendant to my profession yet do I not mistrust but the equanimitie of the honester sort weighyng my goodwill and meanynge in the balance of reasonable consideration will freendly dispence with my ouersight that way suspēd the sinistre doome of all opinionatiue affection Man is subiect to very many diseases Antiquitie reckened vp in a beadrolle and registred in sundry of their Monuments left behinde them for our erudition and furtheraunce three hundred and odde seuerall kindes of Maladies beside casualties Since when there hath encreased and sprong vp a fresh supply and swarme of many strange and new diseases earst not knowen nor heard of seemyng as it were to denounce defiance and continual warre to al the cunnyng that Phisicions haue VVhich by good counsel and aduise to preuent or maturely to remooue and take away as farre as Arte hath his limitation deserueth in mine opinion to him that beateth his brayne for others auayle in that behalfe no small commendation This caused learned Homere after he had taken a perfect suruey of man and cōpared his state with euery other kinde of Creature to geeue verdict and affirme that man among all Creatures was most miserable Silenus iudged it best either not to be borne at all or els most quickly and out of hand to dye and bee ridde out of worldely thraldome Plini helde opinion that shortnesse of life was the greatest and best gift that euer the Goddes gaue vnto man In Lucian also wee do reade that Pythagoras after he had oftētimes chaunged his sexe and shape and dwelled Pylgrymelike in the bodies of all men women and fourefooted beastes of euery degree and callyng playnely confessed that hee liued a great deale more pleasantly when he was a Frogge then when he was a king And al these although absurd in report yet in sense iarred not far from a truth if that heauenly Philosopher had not otherwise assured our weake consciences of an euerlastyng felicitie after this life layde vp in the storehouse of his mercy for so many as vnfeynedly repose all their affiance trust and ankreholde in him and do frame their liues and
therefore that liue of them selues freely and are not enthralled or mancipated to the inconueniences abouesaide we haue compiled this treatise how and in what sorte they may liue a long life in prosperous health and welfare Furthermore that which in euerie kinde is simple and faultlesse ought alwaies to be preferred before all others And in bodies that same is called simple and faultelesse which is in a very good plight likinge but in the trade of life that is to be accompted best which is free and not in subiection For it behooueth that such a one as would liue longe and neuer be attached with any Sicknes should be exempt and frée from all turmoiling troubles and publique affaires in the Common wealth liuinge onely to himselfe cherishinge his body and tendringe his health For there is no meanes to make that immortall which naturally was begotten created mortall but to make the same to be of longe life and continuance may be done and brought to passe Galene saieth that if he which hath his bodye in good likinge and temperature doe not intermeddle with the laborious cares of worldly busines but geeue himselfe onely to quietnesse and tender regarde of his owne health shall not at all as farre as is possible be arrested and vexed with any maladie neither be preuented with death vntill he haue liued a merueilous long age But who is he not onely among vs Christians but euen among Paymms and Epicures so blockishe and insensate to thinke that he is borne only for himselfe and for his osone priuate commoditie without hauing any respect or regarde at all either of matter or person in the societie of humaine life vnto such as these if any suche be we doo not addresse these our preceptes but vnto those which at such times as they haue cōuenient leisure to surceasse from their charges and offices accordinge as theire callinge and vocation is doo measurably and for healthes sake tender their bodies to thintent they may be the better able to continue about their néedefull and vrgent businesse and not to addicte themselues to voluptuousnes and bellychere as though they beleeued there were non other life but only this fraile and transitorie life and therfore securely to wallow in their disordered and lasciuious appetites tendryng and cockeryng their wanton Carkases for whose toothe and appetite Galen hath fully written their desired diet in his sixe Bookes De tuend Sanitate Where he doth so copiously and so exquisitely depaynt out the Arte that I suppose a man shall vnethe finde any amonge a great many of Princes Potentates who liue fréely without checke at their owne pleasure and ease that doth obserue all his precepts in those bookes mencioned That whiche here wée write shall bée good and auayleable in maner to all Ages Childehoode and extreame Oldeage excepted wherin my counsayle is to all men that what euery man shall finde and by experience prooue best to agrée with his nature the same to vse as neare as he may Of Exercise and Labour BEcause a greate part of Healthinesse consisteth in a conuenient and oportune exercise of the Body as Auicen and before him Hippocrates and Galen affyrme néedefull it is to haue a diligent eye and consideration therevnto It is commended for many speciall causes but namely because it beeyng duely and seasonablie vsed will not suffre the substance of ouermuch meate engendrynge Surphet to clotter and cōgele within the body and also maketh the whole bodye light nymble and actiue Furthermore it kéepeth and merueilously stirreth vp naturall heate restoreth the powers of the whole body and strengthneth all the vertues therof Small and weake heate it encreaseth and dayly dissolueth the superfluities by litle litle gathered within the body and conuaieth the same to such places from whence they be conueniently sent out and expelled It also maketh the membres a greate deale the apter to receyue nourishment because the filth and excrementall matter of the bodie is thereby scattered and auoyded Moreouer it openeth the cunduites of the body the courses or passages wherin the bloud hauyng therto the conuenient ministerie of the naturall powers apoynted for that office is easely receyued and conuerted into the substance of the member whiche continual nourishment is most necessarie vnto mans life For without this vertue present death ensueth This gayne and commoditie is also gotten by exercise that by expellyng superfluous humours it excuseth a man from the vsuall receipt of Purgations and Medicines For wée must be very circumspect and take greate héede as Plato saith in Timaeo that we mooue not the body with medicines and specially Electuaries soluble if wée may otherwise choose because although they doo purge yet doo they inueterate And although there be no poyson in them as in deede in the most of them there is yet are they very paynefull to be taken inwardly because their office is contrarie to nature For they draw away from the membres those humours which the powers of nature doo draw to the same for a nourishment and also because beside the ill humours whiche they draw out they doo for the most part also draw out those whiche be good and the vitall spirites whiche maintayne and comforte life It is not therefore without good cause that the learned wyse Doctours of this Arte haue written so muche and so diligently of Exercise that men therby might shunne and auoyde many sortes of diseases whiche els woulde assault the body by reason of sundry surphets and gurmandise For the substance remayninge after digestion and distribucion of the meate and drynke whiche Nature beynge ouercharged is not able to concocte and euacuate beynge eftsoones encreased by eatyng and fillynge gorge vpon gorge must néedes engendre diseases In this case to auoyde and eschew the recept of purging medicines which serue either to recure the body beynge thereby sicke or els to preserue it from beyng sicke Exercise is a thynge most cōmodious as the causes of maladies doo beginne so dayly hereby to expel the same These noble writers therefore were of this mynde that if the residue of theyr preceptes whiche hereafter shal also by vs bee recited were obserued and kept bodyly health might very well in this consistent Age be conserued yea and not in this age onely but also in the Age whiche goeth before and the Age whiche commeth after a verie few pointes beyng thereto either added or els altered As for any particuler Regiment for old age we do not in this place namelie pursue because beside Galene it is also at large described set out by diuerse other learned Phisicions and namely in a seuerall booke penned and published by that famous and excellent Grayehead Antonius Fumanellus of Verona Thou shalt therefore Gentle Reader with al thy deuoyre and diligence so vse thy selfe that thou mayest passe ouer and lead this flourishing time of thine age by thine owne wisedome and our holesome counsaile in health and welfare
wyll quicklie putrefie And fleshe is better hoate then colde speciallie in winter and Autumne except kiddes fleshe whiche Auicen supposeth to be better and holesomer when it is colde because it then yeldeth no vapoure but Lambe he sayeth is better when it is hoat If the flesh be somewhat fatte tender and verye moyst it is best to roste it and speciallie in winter and the Springe but otherwise it is best to boyle it namely in Sōmer and Autumne because thereby they are of lighter concoction and kéepe away siccitie or drynesse which at those times chieflie reigneth in mans body Of rosted fleshe the inner parte because better moysture is gathered inwardlie is better to be eaten then the vtter part The Spittes or broches beinge of Iuniper maketh al the meate to haue a pleasaunt and delightfull sauoure Rosted fleshe is then best to be vnspitted and taken from the broche when it smelleth sweetest For smellinge is the discouerer and token teller of tast Thus muche of fleshe Now wée speake somwhat of other sortes of nourishment amonge whom wée do affirme the Egges of a Henne Partriche and Phesant to excell any other Dioscorides commendeth them being halfe rosted that is to say meane betwéene rere and hard so that they may be supped because they be then easely digested and increase good bloud Auicen reckeneth them amonge soueraigne and cordiall meates affirmyng the yolke to be of a laudable temperature albeit he sayth in his second Canon that the yolke inclineth to heate and the white to coldenes but the whole to be temperate Serapio thinketh it to be more colde then hoate and not without good reason for the whight of the egge is more colde then the yolke is hoate because the yolke is thought to be temperate or very néere to temperatenes Egges wooulde be eaten before other meates because they are quicklie digested and soone descend from the mouth of the Stomacke and nourish very quickly For they haue all the proprieties that belongeth to good nourishment are soone transmuted into bloud and leaue small superfluities finallye they make subtile and cleare bloud wher by the principall member is nourished For it goeth to the very hart and for the dissolution of the substance of the spirite and cordiall matter it is a present remedie Beyng harde rosted they be of illnourishment heauie to digest causinge stinking fumes in the stomacke and makyng the lower part of the belly stiptick but poched they do asswage and lenifie it Wherefore Galen hath these wordes aboute the beginninge of his booke De Euchym Cacochym Cockels saith he are accompted to be of a grosse iuice and so are Egges whiche are either sodden or rosted harde If they be fried they make il iuice and cause fumes in the stomacke ere they be decocted and do also corrupt other meates with whom they be mingled But beynge measurably sodden and vsed that is to wit somwhat rere they are apt to digest nourish and encrease good bloud so also are poched Egges good to asswage sorenesse rough nesse of the throate In milke and egges there is great abundance of fat and clammie moisture the one appropriate to aliment and nouriture the other to Sperm or séede of generation The Egges or Spaune of fishes are nothyng so calefactiue and nutritiue for so far as the flesh of Birdes is better then fishe so muche are the egges of fishes inferiour in goodnes to the egges of birdes Auicen alloweth the eatinge of Mylke in rype and consistent age better then in adolescencie and therefore he thinketh it good for collerique persons but ill for them that are phlegmaticke Albeit he also sayeth that it is not good for th'entrayles nor for the stomacke and also causeth dimnesse of sight hurteth the teeth annoyeth the sinew engendreth obstructions in the Mesaraike Veines is soone corrupted quickly sowreth and causeth headache Wherefore that all these discommodities may be eschued he woulde that it should be dronke alone and after it is dronke to rest from labour and then to sleepe and to eate nothynge vntill it he descended from the stomacke But cheifly he warneth that in no wise vineigre or sower meates be eaten after it Yet do I counsell them that eate it for feare least it should congele in their stomacks to put a litle suger or Salt or pure hony vnto it and to stirre it all together Salt seasoneth and taketh away the harmes that come by Mylke and all other kindes of victualles so dothe Hony also make Milke muche the better Now the commodities the come by eating of Milke are the moderate deiection and purging of thinges in the bealy superfluous good nourishment and making of wholesome tuyce The pastures wherin the beastes feede whose Milke wée vse is of greate force and validitie to this purpose And whereas there be many sortes of Milke of all others womans Milke is the excellentest because it is very good and beneficiall to mans bodie namely to the brayne for it is thought to increase it merueylously and preserueth agaynst consumption Next vnto it is Goates Mylke for it is temperate and hath in it but small quantitie of Butter Likewise the milke of Camels and Asses whiche by reason of the nature of the beastes themselues hath in it but litle Chéese and therefore doth purge excellently and is very wholesome The Milke of Ryne and Ewes is fatter but if the beast that géeueth it féede in good and wholesome pastures out of Fennes and Marshes and with temperate fodder it is much better thē if thei should féede in small closes or watrie grounds And it should be dronke warme from the vdder or not very longe after it is milked for the ayre doth soone alter it and of good and wholesome maketh it il and noysome But héere may some meruayle why Milke should be forbidden younge men and not to men of ripe and consistent age considerynge that vnto younge infantes it is géeuen by the special benefite of Nature as a most fit and conuenient nourishment But this and such other ambiguous quiddities are els where to be sought for in this smal booke wée write a Regiment how to conserue health and not arguyng disputations The vpper parte of the milke is not to be praysed for it loseth the stomacke and by reason of his vnctuositie is soone turned into yelow choler The Creame or thicke summitie of Milke whiche is gathered after the milke hath been sodden and suffred to stande a night is vnwholesome and hurtefull Butter is very vnctuous and all vnctuous meates especially Butter by the opinion of Auicen is preiudiciall and harmefull to the stomacke For the power and vertue of the stomacke consisteth in the vnion of his partes and in a certaine stipticitie and byndyng whiche is by vnctuous foode hindered and many times quight taken away and destroyed The best Butter is that whiche is made of Cowes milke in May. In hoate and moyst complexions