immediately laid claim to the Soveraignty of Physick and Philosophy set up for a new Hypothesis and a new Sect and with the true Spirit of an Enthusiastick Reformer very rudely and unjustly insulted and vilify'd all the great men that preceded him in either Study especially Aristotle and Galen This Insolence arm'd abundance of Volunteers against him and engag'd divers learned Pens on both sides in the Controversie amongst whom Doringius made one whose Book de Medicina Medicis whether we consider the Matter Method or Design of it must be accounted as it really is a Polemical not a Historical Piece For those few Historical Remarks which he premises seem rather to serve as an Introduction to his Argument and to shew the Antiquity and Excellence of the Sect which he undertakes the defence of than to make any part of the Original Design Neander of Bremen seems to promise something more perfect and compleat as our Author relates his design or rather the Title of his Book But I have never seen this Book as our Author likewise confesses he never had when he wrote his Preface and therefore I can only observe concerning it that this Piece cou'd afford our Author no Method or Assistance in the prosecution of his Excellent work hitherto After these the learned Conringius Professor at Helmstadt fell upon much the same Argument which he treated of in several Lectures to his Scholars and promis'd to publish compleat to the World but was prevented by death It was afterwards publish'd in Quarto under the Title of Hermanni Conringii Introductio ad universam Medicinam with tedious Notes by Christopher Schelhammer his Scholar and afterwards Professor in the same University which serve rather to swell the Bulk than raise the Value of his Author and to make him more Voluminous than Useful or Compleat The whole Work is divided into several Chapters or Lectures concerning the Nature Constitution and Invention of Med'cine or the Art of Physick Of the Physick of the Asclepiadean Family and the several Antient Schools of Physick Of the several Sects and their Authors The rest of his Chapters he bestows upon the several Members of the Faculty viz. Physiology Pathology Pharmaceuticks Semeioticks Diaeteticks Anatomy Botany c. each apart wherein after a few slight hints of the use of 'em in general he proceeds to ennumerate and censure the Authors that have written of 'em whether Antient or Modern Had this design been rightly and exactly prosecuted 't is probable our Author had been in great measure prevented For tho the Method in which they proceed be very different yet the matter wou'd have been in the main coincident But whether Conringius who perhaps intended these Lectures only as private directions to his own Scholars for the choice of Authors in the course of their studies who therefore might rest satisfy'd in the single Authority of their Master did not think himself oblig'd to dilate on those matters or Authors which he recommended to 'em or cautioned 'em of Or whether coming out after his Death from the Notes taken by his Scholars during his Reading these Lectures were mutilated by a hasty transcription Or which at last 't is most reasonable to believe that these Lectures were only Sketches of his design rough Draughts of a Piece which wou'd have made a very different Figure had the Author liv'd to have filled up his Design and given the Finishing Strokes The view which he gives of the Physick of any Age or Persons is very confus'd short and imperfect His Characters of Authors superficial arbitrary and sometimes unjust Nor is his Performance much mended by the hevy labours of his Disciple Schelhammer whose Partiality and want of Judgment absolutely incapacitate him for the business of a Historian or a Critick His Passion for Aristotle and Galen is most remarkable in him they are his Spectacles of Philosophy and Physick without which the can't see any thing nor comprehend how others shou'd Upon this account he bears an irreconcileable grudge to the English Physicians particularly to Dr Willis for not submitting their Reason upon all occasions to his two Oracles and having us'd his own understanding to leading-strings all his Life he wonders at the Boldness and Presumption of any one that dares trust his to its own Legs I suppose we need no other line to fathom the depth of this Gentleman's capacity and to assure us that no great burthens of Learning are like to reach us that way But if we consider his Favourites the Cobweb Spinners upon Aristotle and Galen and the plundering Compilers of tedious Dutch Systems of Practice which he values by the Bulk we have no great reason to be ambitious of his Favour but rather to take his censure for a Complement and be proud of being out of his good Graces Besides these and the Chronology of Wolfgangus Justus which our Author says he has not seen tho in the fourth Book of this Volume in the Chapter of Diocles Carystius he taxes him with a considerable mistake there are some other small Pieces of Heurnius Vanderlindan c. which afford some scatter'd hints but such as are no bar to our Author's pretensions as the first that has regularly trod this Path in which no continued traces appear to guide him I shall not attempt to forestal the satisfaction of the Reader with a tedious account of our Author's Performance and Merit on this account But I must be so just to him as without trespassing upon any man's patience to observe that Mr le Clerc is the first that has given us a distinct view of the state of Physick in the fabulous Ages of the world He has taken exact care to settle the age of the several reputed Inventers of it and from a confusion of Traditions absurd fabulous or uncertain so judiciously to extricate the truth as with a great measure of certainty to deliver to us no contemptible account of the growth and encrease of Physick during those dark times As his light encreases his prospect clears up and the second Book gives us a succinct but a well digested account of the Progress of the Science under the management and cultivation of the Philosophers till the time of Hippocrates whose Reputation and Abilities grew to such a heighth as to overtop and obscure all that went before him and even to cast a damp and a cloud upon the Merits of all that have succeeded him for so many Ages to this day His third Book is entirely taken up with the History and Physick of Hippocrates which he has so far exhausted that scarce the works of that great man himself can give us so just an Idea of his Merit and Abilities He has with great accuracy and diligence distinguished the genuine Works of Hippocrates from the spurious and with as great Art and Judgment extracted a compendious System of the Philosophy and Medicine of that Father of Physick From whence if we have not the means of surveying
Physick to be to this day very uncertain We may allow Monsieur di Capoa to have prosecuted the History of Physick so far as he has trac'd the Rise and Progress of it But besides that he loses the Character of a Historian choosing rather to combat as an Adversary the opinions he dislikes than to set 'em in their full light and spinning his own reasonings to much greater length than those are of which he opposes he omits abundance of things of great importance to the History of which he treats The chief use of his Book is to disabuse those that are prejudic'd in favour of the Antients Nor are this learned Mans works of small use especially in that Country where every thing that 's new is indifferentâ—y condemned for that reason 'T is apparent from what has been said that no body has yet written this History as I have already remarkt and that the Piece I now send abroad is the first that precisely handles this matter This makes me hope that the World will give me some grains the more of allowance and looking upon this only as an Essay will pardon more easily those faults they may find in it Nor in reality do I offer it for any more than an Essay my Subject yet as I may say but putting forth its buds in this little Volume which amounts not to a sixth part of the whole â—nd which had not seen the light but by this Specimen to try the relish and sound the opinions of my Judges that I may take my measures thereby in the Sequel This may suffice to stop the mouths of those that may object that I promise much and perform little that my Book does not make good its title that the Mountain is in labour of a Mouse If I thought they were of that opinion for whose judgments I ought to have a deference I wou'd immediately resign to some body else But if they think more favourably of me I shall persist in hopes to improve as I proceed by the instructions I may receive And I perswade my self that Greater Wits instead of accusing me of presumption in attempting a work that requires more learning than I am Master of will be fo just as to make some reckoning even of my weak endeavour and treat me at least as Quintilian does a certain Author whom he ranks among the indifferent ones * Dignus vel hoc proposito ut ilium sâ—issâ— omnia illa credamus He deserves says he the credit of knowing all that he ought to have known for undertaking to write of so great variety of things tho for no other reason than the boldness of the design I shall not amuse my self with the several uses that may be made of the History of Physick the title alone sufficiently shews what is to be expected I shall only take notice that one may see as t were with the cast an Eye by means of this History the prinâ—ipal Reasonings and most considerable Experiences that have been found out from the beginning of the World either for the prevention or cure of Diseases The Books which Physicians daily write are filled with their own proper Experiences or their particular Reasonings or those of others to which if they approve 'em they endeavour to give a new turn but we seldom see there those that are not for their Palate or at least we are not permitted to see the fairest side of ' em 'T is not so with this History which is obliged to penetrate into the very soul of every age and evâ—ry Author to relate faithfully and impartially the thoughts of all and to maintain every one in his right not giving to the Moderns what belongs to the Antients nor bestowing upon these latter what is due to the former leaving every body at liberty to make reflections for himself upon the matters of Fact as they stand related This at least is my own Idea of the History in hand and the end I proposed to my self in writing of it I have disengaged my self as much as possible from all prejudice on this occasion and have examined all the Authors that have come to my hands by their own writings and not by any written or verbal reports of 'em or their works I am convinced particularly in the case of Hippocrates that 't is dangerous to relie upon the testimony of another This ancient Physician having deservedly and upon many accounts gain'd the esteem of all the World and being lookâ—d on as a compleat Model every Author has made him the complement of his own discoveries or if any one were so tenacious as not to part with an invention which he thought he had a just title to he has immediately met with crowds of Opponents that have used their utmost efforts to shew that Hippocrates either said or saw it before a weakness not absolutely overcome to this hour I have declin'd taking any party or declaring for or against the opinions I report or if I have at any time taken more liberty it has been very rarely As to the disposition of my work the first part as I have said is the only one I publish at present which contains chiefly the Physick of Hippocrates that being of greatest importance in this Volume The rest which respects the the State of Physick before him and after him not being so considerable tho all of use to the History The first part seems to contain nothing but what is fabulous or very uncertain Yet even there among the Fables of Esculapius and other deified Physicians amidst the weak Essays of the first Men to secure or disengage themselves from distemper we discover the tracks of Medâ—cines in in most places yet esteem'd the principal such as Bleeding and Purging the antiquity of which is thereby establisht We may see likewise in the second Book that 't is not absolutely true that from Esculapius or his Sons to Hippocrates there was a sort of interregnum in Physick and that the six or seven hundred Years intervening between these two great Men were not time lost as some pretend On the contrary it shews that during this interval the Foundations of rational Physick were laid the Dissection of Animals introduced and a new method of enquiry into the causes of distempers brought into play for all which we are obliged to the Philosophers Pythagoras Alemaeon Democritus and others therein mentioned From Hippocrates to the Period that closes the 4th Book which I call the first History of Physick we find nothing new the term being very short We only observe that the Philosophers of that time the chief of which were Plato Aristotle and Theophrastus push'd on a little further in imitation of their Predecessors their Anatomical discoveries especially Aristotle The Practical Foundation laid by Hippocrates and his predecessors remained very little altered in all that Time There remains only the Physick of Hippocrates which as I have said is the most considerable part of this first Volume
we should have had no occasion to complain of his brevity The letter directed to Dionysius is yet more merry than t'other He desires him to come to his house while he should be with Democritus For all the letters run upon this voyage of which it seems he was to inform the whole world before hand and to have an eye over the conduct of his wife * That shâ— play no pranks in his absence she has been very well brought up by her father says he but the Sex is frail and had need be kept within their duties in which a friend may succeed better than relations c. We 'll content our selves with these two samples by which the reader may judg how they agree with the gravity of Hippocrates As to the letters which Democritus and Hippocrates wrote one to another there are two of the former in one he speaks of the voyage that Hippocrates made to see him and to give him Hellebore having been call'd to that purpose by Democritus his fellow Citizens who took him for a mad man because he liv'd in a solitary place and laughed and did not mind those that came to see him You found me says Democritus writing of the order of the World of the disposition of the Poles and the course of the stars and you judg'd thereby that those that sent for you were fools and not I. Thereupon Democritus delivers in two words his opinion in Philosophy concerning the Images or Species diffused thro' the air of which his books as he says makes mention He tells Hippocrates afterwards that a Physician ought not to judg of his Patient by the aspect only for in that case he Democritus should have run the risque of passing for a mad man in his judgment He concludes with telling Hippocrates that he had sent him back the book which this Physician had written concerning madness which book is immediately annexed after this letter It consists but of one page which is nothing but a repetition of some lines of Hippocrates's book of the falling sickness which is likewise cited in this The second letter or the second book of Democritus address'd to Hippocrates is intituled of the nature of man which is the title of a book written by Hippocrates which has been ascrib'd to Democritus as we have already observed This book or letter is very near twice as long as the former It contains an enumeration of the principal parts of the body and the offices they perform There is nothing in it that deserves our observation except what he says of the Spleen that it sleeps and is good for nothing which opinion we shall see confirmâ—d (d) See the Chapter of Aristotle and that of Eratistratus hereafter There is but one letter of Hippocrates to Democritus now extant which is much shorter than the two abovementioned In the beginning of it he tells him that if the Physicians at any time succeeded in this art the people ascribed it to the Gods but if they miscarried they used to lay the blame upon them I have says Hippocrates got more scandal than honour by my practice and tho' I am advanced in years yet I have not attained to perfection in this art and even Aesculapius himself the inventer of it never carried it so far After this he takes occasion briefly to mention his journey to Democritus testifies for him that he is far from being mad and desires him to write to him often and to send him the books he had composed The letters of Hippocrates to Damagetus give a more particular account of his conversation with Democritus when he went to cure him one of them is very long in it he gives Damagetus an account of his voyage and all that happen'd to him till his return We have already seen in the preceeding book the occasion of this journey and the success of it I shall say no more of it for fear of being thought too prolix only give me leave to remark that these letters have nothing of the stile of Hippocrates It may be easily imagined that the pretended madness of Democritus and the journey with Hippocrates undertook with a design to cure him afforded matter enough to make a sort of a Romance To conclude I don't know who this Damagetus was The letter to King Perdiccas is of the same stamp with the rest that is to say equally spurious We there find as well as in that which is address'd to King Demetrius some Anatomical observations and some maxims relating to Physick which however don't deserve to be taken notice of except a few that are drawn out of the writings of Hippocrates The small book of Purgatives contains some necessary precautions to be observed in the taking of them It seems more probable that it is a collection of precepts given by Hippocrates upon this subject than a genuine work of that ancient Physician The life of Hippocrates written by Soranus contains besides what has been said in the beginning of this book an account of his countrey his extraction the time of his birth his studies and his masters in short an abridgment of the most remarkable things that happen'd to him in the course of his profession till his death Hippocrates says Soranus having lost his father and mother quitted his own countrey and fixed in Thessaly (e) We shall hereafter speak of this Physician Andreas in his book of the Original of Physick maliciously reports that the reason of it was because he had set the Library at Cnidus on fire Others write that the occasion of this journey was to learn the practice of other places and to furnish himself with an opportunity of understanding his profession better by the different cases that daily came before him But Soranus of Cos pretends that Hippocrates was influenc'd by a dream to make his abode in Thessaly He made himself continu'd this Author to be admir'd by all Greece through which he travell'd and practis'd Physick One day amongst the rest being call'd conjointly with Euriphon another Physician but older than himself to a consultation about Perdiccas son to Alexander King of Macedonia whom they gave out to be sick of a hectick feaver he soon found out that this Prince's mind was more indisposed than his body and as he carefully watched all his actions observing that he chang'd colour at the sight of Phila Mistress to the King his father he judged that he was in love with her and found the means to cure him by letting this fair one know the dangerous effects of her beauty He was also desired by the people of Abdera to come and cure Democritus of his madness and to free their City from the plague After this Soranus informs us how he refused to come to the Illyrians and even to the Court of Artaxerxes where this latter sickness raged how he hindred the war which the Athenians were going to make upon the Inhabitants of Cos by calling the Thessalians to their relief
minutely all the particular passages and beauties of it we have at least the advantage of a more entire and uniform View and may make a better Judgment of the whole So that tho from thence we don't learn the practice of Hippocrates yet we may there see what occasion we have for it and be readily referred to any thing which we shall think fit to examine more minutely If therefore a work of this nature does not immediately make us able Physicians it makes us better Criticks and consequently t'other also if we will imploy our Judgments for the enlargement of our Knowledge and not perversely abuse it to snarl at one another The last Book of this Volume contains the account of the State of Physick from Hippocrates to the Age of Alexander the Great in which nothing of moment occurs except some few Innovations in Physiology by Plato Aristotle and Theophrastus no considerable Memoirs remaining to us of the Practice or Opinions of the profess'd Physicians after Polybus the Son-in-law of Hippocrates till Chrysippus who begins the next Volume One thing I think my self oblig'd to acquaint the Reader with that neither the Author nor the other Gentlemen concern'd in this version may be held responsible for errours of which I perhaps alone am guilty which is that in translating the first Book I have taken the liberty to add some few Marginal Notes which I thought of use to the Illustration of that part of the History and which I have therefore caus'd to be distinguish'd from the Authors which are referr'd to by Letters as mine by these marks * †It may perhaps be further expected that I should say something according to custom for myself and the Gentlemen concerned with me in this Version and apologize for what we have done For my part I see no reason for 't if we have done our Author justice an Apology is altogether unnecessary if not 't is insignificant We have thrown away our pains as the Reader will his and therefore I shall trust to the Merits of Mr Le Clerc for an Excuse if they will not serve I despair of any better and shall shift without as those concern'd with me must do likewise If we give the Reader any satisfaction 't will be double to us and we ask no more The Author's Preface â—Ivers learned Men before me have design'd 〈◊〉 the History of Physick but none as yet put 〈◊〉 execution none at least that has come to my â—â—â—wledge Vossius intended it and we find in 〈◊〉 of his posthumous pieces entituled De Philoâ—â—phia several things concerning the Antient â—â—â—sicians the writings left by 'em and the time 〈◊〉 which they lived but it seems to be a Plan only 〈◊〉 that a very defective one of a larger work Cap. 2. paragraph ultimo 〈◊〉 its Author in one place gives it the title of 〈◊〉 History of Physick in express terms Meibomius and Reinesius German Physiâ—ians well known by their works both promised â—he same History but were prevented by Death At present I know no man that has any such deâ—â—gn the learned Monsieur Dodart excepted a â—â—mous Physician of Paris whose work upon this â—ubject is expected with impatience If that apâ—â—ars suddenly whatever disadvantage I may â—eet with from this clashing I shall think it an â—onour to me and esteem my self happy in jumpâ—â—g with a Man of his merit in the same design The late Monsieur Menage likewise wrote the History of the Antient Physicians but there is abundance of difference between a History of Physick that is a collection of all that relates to their â—ersons the titles and number of their writings â—nd a History of Physick that is to set forth the â—pâ—â—ions of the Physicians their Systems and Meâ—â—â—ds and to trace step by step all their discoveries This was in my opinion not within the reach of Monsieur Menage who was no Physician tho his great learning sufficiently warrants to me his success in the other method Tho yet I know not whether that were printed or not Petrus Castellanus Greek Professor at Louvain published before Monsieur Menage a small book of the Lives of the Physicians both antient and modern printed in 1618 but he has omitted several both of the one and the other and says very little of any in particular Neander a Physician of Bremen printed likewise in 1623 a book wherein he treats of the Origine of Physick its Antiquity and Nobility of the Sects of its Professors of its intervals during which it was neglected of its Revivals and of the Works of those Physicians that contributed to it in which the Author has hit the true design of such a History if he has not contented himself with generalities too loose as has Doringius another German Physician who wrote a little Book in 1611 concerning Physick and Physicians the Rise and progress of their Art c. Scarce has this Author fill'd three pages of a Book in Octavo in a large Letter with all that he says of Hippocrates by which we may judge how his performance answers the title I have seen Doringius's Book but cou'd never see Neander's Nor have I seen a piece of Wolfgangus Justus called the Chronology of the Physicians both Antients and Moderns printed in the last Age. Among those Authors that treat of matters relating to the History of Physick we ought to rank the famous Civilian Tiâ—aqueau This learned Man in his thirty first Chapter of his Book concerning Nobility which alone wou'd make a reasonable Volume takes occasion to start the question Whether the Art of Physick derogates from Nobility or not Where after determination for the Negative he shews that Persons of the highest Rank have practised this Art that a great many Physicians have been canoniz'd for Saints that several Poâ—es Emperors and Kings have â—ractised Physick as well as many Queens and other Ladies of great Quality nay and divers Gods and Goddesses and almost all the antient Philosophers and Poets and beside the particular List of the Individuals of these several conditions he gives at last a general Catalogue of almost all the known Physicians rang'd Alphabetically All the aforecited Authors have written to the advantage of Physick and left the Antients in peaceable possession of the honour they have acquir'd and maintained till thâ—se latter ages Monsieur Lionardo de Capoa a Neapolitan Physician of great reputation is the only one who in a Book published by him wherein he treats of the Rise and Progress of Physick made it his principal aim to shew the uncertainty of it overthrowing the Systems of almost all particularly the Antient Physicians for amongst the Moderns he seems to side with those that espouse the Cartesian Philosophy and Chymical Principles explained after his own Sense at least he allows these two to be the foundations of the true Physick which ought to be establisht But the Physicians that ground their practice upon them being very few especially in Italy he concludes
Characters which were kept in the most secret places of the Temples of Aegypt Thus far Manetho To examine whether this second Mercury be different from Cicero's or not is not to our present purpose Iamblichus says also (c) De Myster Aegypt lib. 1. That there were Columns in Aegypt fill'd with Writings containing the Doctrines of Mercury The same Author remarks elsewhere That Pythagoras and Plato receiv'd abundance of light from what they read in Aegypt upon the Pillars of Mercury (a) Plato in Timao Critia Galen contra Jalian lib. 1. PLATO himself in two places speaks of Pillars upon which the Aegyptians and other ancient People writ their Laws the History of their Times and the most remarkable things invented by ' em What we shall say in the following Article of the Pillar of Isis will be a confirmation Whether all that has been related of these Columns and the Extracts made from 'em so much boasted of by the Aegyptian Priests were true or nor the Fame of em suffic'd to bring forth aburdance of Writings or Books which passâ—d for Copies of these Extracts and were taken for the legitimate Works of MERCVRY Iamblichus reckons (b) Thâ— the Books of the Ancients were very short yet the number here is manifestly very much amplified Some have reduc'd these Books to so many lines or short paragraphs 6525 of these Books Of some of these there remains no more than the Title others have been preserv'd entire There are yet some Manuscripts to be found in curious Libraries which treat of Chymistry of which we shall have occasion to take further notice as likewise of the famous Table of Emerauld of Hermes in the Second Part of this History in which we shall prove That if HERMES were the Inventor of Chymistry 't was not of Medical Chymistry Among the Books of Mercury of which the Ancients make mention and which relate to Physick there were some already suspected even in the time of Galen (c) De simplic Medicam facult lib. 6. in principio Such was that which he says was attributed to the Aegyptian Mercury which contain'd the Thirty six Herbs of the Horoscopes These he says were meer trifles only that amus'd the Reader to the loss of his time We have spoken before of the Hicrogliphical Books of MERCVRY which the Aegyptians kept with so much care in their Temples It was undoubtedly one of these Books which Diodorus calls in the singular number the Sacred-Book without naming the Author by which all the Physicians of Aegypt were oblig'd to regulate their practice So that observing the precepts of that Book they were justified tho' the Patient died but if they deviated from 'em never so little his death was imputed to 'em and they punishâ—d as Murtherers Clemens Alexandrinus goes farther (a) Stromat lib. 6. There are says he which are most considerable two and forty Books of HERMES thirty six of which contain the Aegyptian Philosophy which they oblig'd their SACRIFICERS or PRIESTS and PROPHETS to read The other six they caus'd their (b) A sort of Priests so callâ—d from their wearing lâ—ng Clâ—aks or because they carried upon certain occasiâ—ns the Bâ—d of Venus These Pastophori were thâ—â—â— that practis'd Physick in Aegypt PASTOPHORI to learn as belonging to Physick The first of these continues he treats of the STRUCTURE of the Body the second of DISEASES the third of the INSTRUMENTS requird the fourth of MEDICAMENTS the fifth of the DISEASES of the EYES the sixth of WOMENS DISEASES If these Books were really MERCVRYâ—s we can't deny him to have reducâ—d Physick to in Art He began with the Structure of the Body or Anatomy supposing it most natural to begin with the knowledge of the subject upon which we are to be employ'd After this he describ'd the maladies or changes which â—â—sal this Body The third and fourth Books 〈◊〉 of the Instruments and Medicaments neâ—â—â—sary for cure that is of Surgery and Pharmacy After these he proceeded to the Eye in particular whose diseases are very numerous â—â—d require a peculiar care Hence he treats â—â—trately of those Distempers of Women that are distinct from those of Men and require a different cure Nothing cou'd be more exact (c) See Conringius de Medicin Herm cap 3. but there is great reason to suspect that these Books were written many Ages after HERMES at a time when Physick had made great advances â—nd there is no doubt to be made but that the Aegyptian Priests fatherâ—d upon their HERMES some spurious piece of their own or of 〈◊〉 able Physician If the matter did not speak for it self the aforecited Iamblichus starts the suspicion by telling us That the Aegyptian Writers being perswaded that Mercury was the Inventor of all things usually gave him the honour of their own Productions or did themselves the grace to put his Name to their Books At this time no track or foot-step remaining of those Books of which Clemens Alexandrinus makes mention we know no more of the pretended Physick of HERMES than the generals already given If some other Books ascribâ—d to him which have remain'd to our days were genuine we might clearly from them infer that the Physick of HERMES was in great measure grounded on Astrology and Magick (a) See the passage corrected by Selden de diis Syris syntagm 1. Ita humanitas semper memor humanae naturae originis suae in illâ divinitatis imitatione perseverat ut sicut pater ac dominus ut sui similes esseut Deos secit aeternos ita humanitas Deos sâ—os ex sui vultus similitudine sig raret Asclep Statuas dicis ô Trismegiste Trismegist statuas ô Asclepividesue qa tenus tu ipse diffidas Statuas aâ—imatas sensu Spiritu pleâ—â—s â—â—â—taque facientes talia Statuas futurorum praeâ—â—â—as ea quae â—orâ—è omnis vates ignoret in multis varâ—is praedicentes imbeciâ—l tates hominibus facientes easque curantes tristitiam laetâ—tiamque promâ—ritis c. There is a passage which justifies our assertion in the Book call'd Asclepius which was anciently taken for one of HERMES's of which the Latin Version now extant among us is imputed to Apuleius This passage mentions certain Statues that gave and cur'd Diseases and told things to come and did divers other prodigious things The Book of the thirty six sacred Herbs of the Horosâ—â—pes cited by Galen as before however supposititious is at least a proof that it was the common opinion that MERCVRY did not confine himself to Physick otherwise they wou'd never have father'd such Books upon him The Title of this Book agrees very well with what Origen writes (b) Contra Cels lib. 8. That the Aegyptians say there are thirty six Damons or Gods of the Air which divide the Body of man among 'em into so many parts And adds That the Aegyptians had in their Language names for all these Daemons and that invoking any of 'em according to the part affected
go in our bodies after the same rate as they do in the world Urine is form'd in the bladder like rain in the second region of the air and as the rain proceeds from Vapours that arise from the earth and being condens'd produce clouds so urine is producâ—d from exhalations arising from the aliments that find their passage into the bladder Others relate that Heraclitus put this question to the Physicians whether it were possible to press the bowels of any one so as to get out all the water that was contain'd in them which the Physitians affirming to be impossible he expos'd himself naked to the Sun and afterwards manag'd himself in the Stable as is related above the consequence of which was that he was devour'd by Dogs as he lay in the dung being so weak that he was not able to help himself In short others have deliver'd this story otherwise and affirm that Heraclitus was cur'd of this swelling and dy'd long after this of another distemper The most remarkable opinion he held I mean that relates to Philosophy was this that Fire was the beginning of all things that every thing came from Fire and that every thing is done by Fire We shall have occasion hereafter to make some reflections upon this opinion He is reported to be the author of this Sentence (b) Vide Atâ—eâ—â—um that there were no such blockheads and fools in the world as Grammarians except Physicians Democritus was born in the 77th Olympiad He applied himself to Physick as he did to all other Sciences and was so desirous to become learn'd that he spent all his patrimony in travelling to see the most celebrated and famous men abroad He had been in Egypt Persia Babylon and the Indies where he convers'd with Philosophers Geometricians Physicians Priests Magicians and Gymnosophists Diogenes Laertius has given us the Titles of several Books written by Demceritus concerning Philosophy in general and Geometry He likewise compos'd some about Physick in particular the first is intitul'd Of the nature of man or of the Flesh which in all probability is the same that we find under the same title among the works of Hippocrates He writ another Treatise about Plagues which is cited by Aul ' Gellius under this title Of the plague and pestilential diseases A third treated of Prognostics a fourth of Diet or the method of regulating nourishment a fifth of the Causes of distempers and of things that were proper or contrary to the body by considering the time In some other Books he endeavour'd to find out the causes of Seeds of Trees of Fruits and of Animals There is in short another which is intituled (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Seâ— the Chapter of Theophratius lib. 4. about the Stone that is to say according to the Chymists about the Philosophers Stone Some Greek Books that treat of Chymistry are still remaining which carry his name and are many-scripts in the Library of the Louvre But learn'd men look upon them to be spurious as we shall see more largely hereafter Pliny likewise cites in abundance of places Democritus â—s Books concerning Plants in which he seems to have principally considerâ—d their Magical or Supernatural Virtues Democritus says this Author who was more devoted to the Magicians than any one since Pythagoras relates more incredible and monstrous Stories than even he did The Reader may consult the 17th Chapter of the 24th Book of Pliny to see more of this Among other things we may find there a remedy or composition to have sine Children This composition is made of Pine-apples bruisâ—d with honey myrrh saffron and palm-tree wine adding to this a drug or simple call'd by him Theombrotion and milk According to this Authorâ—s direction a man must drink of this immediately before he goes to his Wife and she likewise must drink of it as soon as she is derivered and all the while she suckles her Child Pliny speaks in the same place of an herb which Democritus call'd by a Greek name that signifies (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bashful and contracts its leaves when a man touches it Throphrastus likewise makes mention of this plant which is the same with what we now call the sensitive plant which is very well well known If there was no more superstition or Magick in the other places of Democritus than there is in this Pliny wrong'd him when he accusâ—d him of it But t is evident from what this Author adds that the Books of Democritus were full of these trifles and Tatian a Christian Rhetorician and disciple of Justin Martyr has likewise observ'd that Democritus writ nothing but fabulous stuff (c) Lib. 11. cap. 3. Columella cites two Books of Democritus one of which was intitul'd of Agriculture and the other of things that have an Antipathy to one another One may judge of the contents of this latter Book by the following citation Democritus says Columella affirms that Caterpillars and other insects that destroy the greens in gardens dâ—e immediately if a woman that has her menses walks two or three â—â—â—ns over the bods with her fâ—â—t baâ—â— and â—air disheveled But it must be observ'd that the same Columella (f) 〈…〉 elsewhere tells us that the Books that in his time were attributed to Democritus were written by one Dolus or Bolus Mendesius an Egyptian and who perhaps is the same with him whom (g) Lib â— c. 7. Galen calls Horus Mendesius (h) 〈…〉 Celius Aurelianus makes mention of two other Books that went under Democritus's name but he look'd upon them to be spurious One treated of Convulsive diseases and the other of the Elephantiasis In the former of these Books we meet with a remedy against madness which consisted in a decoction 〈◊〉 Origarum that was to be drunk out of a round â—up fashionâ—d like a Bowl In the second he advises to bleed those that are infected with an Elephantiasis and give them of a certain herb which he does not name We shall conceive a more advantageous Idea of Democritus by what remains to be told of him The same thing in a manner happen'd to this Philosopher which befel Heraclitus He retir'd like him to a solitary place that he might be more at liberty but there was this remarkable difference between them that whereas the former wept continually at the follies of mankind the other laught incessantly (i) See the Letters at the end of Hippocrates's works This strange behaviour made his Countrymen of Abdera take him for a fool so they sent to Hippocrates desiring him to come and cure him This Physician arriving there found him employâ—d in dissecting of Animals and enquiring the reason of it he told him 't was to discover the effect of folly which he lookt upon to be the cause of the bile By this Hippocrates discover'd that the world was exceedingly mistaken in their opinion of him and after a long conversation wherein among other things Democritus told
less noble by the mothers side as being the 19th descendant from Hercules He was not content with learning Physick under his Father he had Herodicus above-mention'd for his Master in that faculty He was likewise the disciple of Gorgias the Sophist Brother to that Physician and according to some of Democritus the Philosopher as we gather from the above-cited passage of Celsus But if he learnt any thing of this latter t was in all probability by the conversations chiefly which he had with him when he was intreated by the Abderites to come and cure this Philosopher It is likewise credible that he was a follower of Heraclitus as we shall see hereafter If Hippocrates was not looked upon to be the first inventor yet all antiquity gives him this honour at least of being the first that re-established it after Esculapius and his Sons It may also be affirmâ—d that by the great reputation he acquir'd he has effac'd the glory of all that preceeded him except the God of Physick himself so that in the History of Physick we cannot conveniently stop any where between the God and him or make any considerable Epoch but in passing all at once from one to the other altho there was above seven hundred years difference between them Pliny makes Hippocrates the author of Clinic Physick which we have ascrib'd to Esculapius for 't is not probable that it was so long before the custom began of visiting the Sick in their bed but what distinguishes this Physician so eminently from those that came before is that according to the observation of the same author (b) Primus Hippocrates medendi praecepta clarissimè tradidit lib. 26. cap. 2 he is the first that clearly laid down the precepts of Physick reaping great advantage from the knowledge of the age he liv'd in and making Philosophy servicable to Physick and Physick to Philosophy (c) Lib. de decenti habitu We ought to joyn says the same Author Philosophy with Physick and Physick with Philosophy for a Physician that is a Philosopher is equal to a God Upon this account the (d) The Greeks called 'em 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reason or Ratiocination and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Opinion or doctrine The Empâ—i al Phâ—sician◠〈◊〉 claim to him likewise Dogmatick or Reasoning Physicians call'd so in opposition to the Empirics have unanimously own'd him for their head as being the first that assisted reason with experience in the practice of Physick The Philosophers mention'd by us in the preceeding Book were well enough vers'd in the art of reasoning but wanted experience or practice Hippocrates is the first person who possess'd both one and the other This may seem to contradict what I have already advanc'd upon the credit of Celsus viz. that Hippocrates separated Physick from Philosophy For a Salvo to this seeming contradiction we need only suppose that Hippocrates who was descended of a Family where he as it were suck'd in Physick with his Milk finding this Art in the hands of Philosophers who had lately engross'd it to the prejudice of the Asclepiadae thought there was no better way to support the declining honour of his house than by using his utmost efforts besides the knowledge deriv'd to him by tradition to acquire all that learning which gave these new Physicians so great a reputation in the world But after he had made himself Master of it he openly declar'd that altho the lights of Philosophy were very serviceable to give a man a just Idea of things and to conduct methodically and in the right way such as design'd to carry arts to perfection yet however that Philosophy was not sufficient of itself to perfect a man for all professions if he did not descend to the particulars which did not belong to its jurisdiction that Philosophy had nature in general for its object but that Physick in a special manner applies itself to nature as it had a relation to man whom she consider'd under the different circumstances of health and sickness that it did not follow that a man must be a Physician because he was a Philosopher unless he had study'd humane body in particular and instructed himself in the several changes that befall it and in the proper methods to preserve or restore that since 't is impossible to acquire this knowledge without long experience he ought to employ his whole time this way and quit the general name of a Philosopher for that of a Physician tho this oblig'd him by no means to forbear Philosophizing in his profession And this is what Hippocrates meant by joyning Philosophy with Physick and Physick with Philosophy CHAP. II. Of the Philosophy of Hippocrates IF we may believe (a) De Nat Facult lib. 1.8 2. De deecret Hipp. 5. Methâ—d med lib. â—e Element 9. Galen Hippocrates no less deserved the first place among the Philosophers than the Physicians He likewise affirms that Plato has rejected none of Hippocrates's opinions that the writings of Aristotle are only a Comment upon the Physiology of the latter and that Aristotle is nothing but the interpreter of Hippocrates and Plato from whom he borrow'd his Doctrine of the first qualities â—ot cold dry and moist T is true Hippocrates seems in some places to declare for the four Elements air water fire and earth This at least must be acknowledg'd that in his Book of the nature of man he opposes those Philosophers who only maintain one But he establishes another system in his first Book of Diet where he makes mention of no more than two principles fire and water one of which gives motion to all things and the other nourishment and encrease These contradictions with some others that we shall take notice of hereafter proceed from the many interpolations in the works of Hippocrates The passage we cited last is one of those which anciently were suppos'd to belong to another Author What is more certain and of greater importance to the business in hand Hippocrates makes it appear in most of his Writings that he acknowledges a general principle which he called nature to which he ascrib'd a mighty power Nature is of it self sufficient to every animal and that in all respects She performs every thing that is necessary to them without needing the 〈◊〉 instruction from any one how to do it Upon this foot as if nature had been a principle indued with knowledge he gives her the title of just he ascribes a (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For Power Faculty or Virtue It is sometimes employ'd to signify the heighth of ' em virtue or virtues to her that are as it were her Servants (d) Lib. de alimento There is says he one only faculty and there are more than one 'T is by these faculties that all operations are perform'd in the bodies of animals They distribute the blood the spirits and heat thro all parts which by this means
in the Chapter of that Philosopher Several passages may be taken out of the first Book of Diet to confirm what we have advanc'd In a word says he in one place of this Book the Fire has disposâ—d all things in the body in imitation of the Vniverse c. But while we are upon the Philosophy of Hippocrates lest the Alchymists shou'd take it ill at our hands we must by no means omit this passage in the first Book above-mention'd viz. that those that work in Gold beat it wash it and melt it by a gentle Fire because a violent fire is not proper for such a business 'T is pretended that Hippocrates here had an Eye on the mystery of the Philosophers Stone of which we shall have occasion to speak in the second part of this History And this may suffice for his Philosophy Let us now descend from the general principles of bodies to the particular principles of the human body and leaving all Philosophical reflections let us see what observations we can find in Anatomy there for those properly belong to the History of Physick Those that are minded to see more particularly how far Hippocrates carried his Philosophy may consult the Books de Flatibus de natura hominis the first de natura pueri de dieta and some others But the Reader ought to be inform'd that the above-mention'd treatises are suspected to be spurious and not to belong to him His opinion concerning the seat of the Soul is to be found in the following Chapter CHAP. III. Of the Anatomy of Hippocrates 'T Is a difficult matter to give a just extract of the Anatomy of Hippocrates for three things hinder us from knowing so much of this subject as it is necessary we shou'd In the first place we find several contradictions in the writings of Hippocrates or rather in those that are ascrib'd to him Secondly tho we shou'd heap together all that he says of each part 't would be an imperfect account and not very coherent Lastly tho so many faults had not crept into the Text as there have or there were less disagreement in the original MSS. yet his stile is so concise and there are some places in him so obscure as being frequently expressed in terms peculiar to himself that are not to be found elsewhere that 't is extreamly difficult for one to understand him aright tho he is never so great a master of the Greek Language For this reason we should very much regret the loss of one of Galen's Books intituled The Anatomy of Hippocrates if we had not just reason to suspect this Author of partiality when he engages for the interests of this antient Physician sufficient proofs whereof we shall see below that purely belong to Anatomy The helps that a man might expect to find upon this occasion from the modern Commentators is but inconsiderable If any light is to be had from them we ought rather to trust the antient interpreters than those of our Age because it is to be feared that the latter full of their new discoveries imagine they see them every where like those that can discover in Homer the most hidden mysteries of all Arts and Sciences or those quick-sighted Genelemen that can find the Philosophers Stone in all Books whatever let the matter they treat of be what it will That we may not be charg'd with being guilty of this prepossession which we have condemn'd our selves we will faithfully set down all that we cou'd find relating to this argument in the works of Hippocrates and take particular care not to omit the least thing about which the Anatomists of the following ages have had different opinions or pretended to make any discovery that so we may give every man his due and rob none of the praise that really belongs to them I will not pretend to confine my self to a certain order but indifferently set down every thing as it comes to hand and refer the Reader that expects a continu'd description or a greater insight into the nature connexion situation of the parts of the body to a full treatise of Anatomy which he will find in the Chapter of Galen (a) De locis in homine The nature of the Body says Hippocrates is the principle or foundation on which all the reasoning of Physick is built One wou'd be apt to infer from hence that he had a mind to recommend Anatomy as one of the principal means by which we may discover the nature of the body What helps to confirm this conjecture we find that immediately after he teaches what is the situation composition and use of the several parts 'T is undeniable that Hippocrates wou'd have us study the nature of the body but we may discover by some other places that he thought we cou'd arrive to the knowledge of it no way so well as in the practice of Physick for he laughs at those who fancy'd themselves to be great Physicians because they knew something in Anatomy (b) De Prisc medâ—cin Some Physiciansiand Philosophers says he pretend that a man can't understand the art of Physick unless he knows what man is what is his first formation and after what manner his Body is made But for my part I am of opinion that all that has been said or written about nature by these people belongs more to the art of Painting than it does to Physick and am perswaded that a man can't know nature clearly but by the means of Physick as those that are well skill'd in that art will soon perceive Here he seems to address himself to the Philosophers that preceeded him and to these of his own time who as we have observ'd had thrust themselves into this profession and were the first that began to instruct themselves in Anatomy It has been remarked above that the Asclepiadae the Predecessors of Hippocrates had other helps of knowing the humane body besides Anatomy As for Hippocrates 't is probable that he did not neglect this latter way as being related to Philosophy which he had carefully studied There wou'd not be the least pretence to doubt of this if the little Book or fragment attributed to him and intituled little Book or fragment attributed to him and intituled Anatomy was really of his writing but this is not certain since Erotiam who has given us a Catalogue of Hippocrates's Books makes no mention of it Be it as it will we shall see anon how far he advanc'd in this Science either by Anatomy or any other method which we have touch'd upon in the Chapter of Asclepiadae Hippocrates owns in one place that the (c) Lib. de Aliment Veins come from the Liver which is the origine and fountain of them as the Heart is of the Arteries In another place he maintains that the Veins and Arteries proceed equally from the Heart (d) Lib. de Carnibus There are two hollow Veins that come from the Heart one of which is call'd the
Artery and the other the Vena Cava At that time all the Blood Vessels were indifferently call'd Veins and the word Artery properly signify'd the (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aspera arteria or the Wind-pipe Nay Hippocrates gives the name of Veins to the Ureters and seems to bestow the same appellation upon the Nerves as we shall take notice below besides there are but few places where he formally distinguishes the Arteries from the Veins and where he calls them Arteries which may render the credit of those books or at least of those passages suspicious where this distinction is to be found The Artery adds he immediately after contains more heat than the Vena Cava and is the receptacle of the Spirits There are other Veins in the Body besides these two As for that which is reported to be the largest of all and next to the heart it runs thro the Belly and the Diaphragm and dividing itself into two streams visits either Kidney towards the Loins Above the heart this Vein divides to the right and to the left and ascending to the head distributes itself to either Temple We may continues he joyn the other Veins to this that are also very large but to speak all in a word all the Veins that are dispers'd thro the whole Body come from the Vena Cava and the Artery Here are already two opinions concerning the Origin of the Veins and Arteries There is a third likewise to be found in two several passages in Hippocrates whether in respect of the Origin of the Veins or in respect of your distribution (a) Lib. de Ossium naturâ de Natur. humanâ The largest veins of the Body are says he dispos'd after this manner There are in all four pair the first pair come out behind the head and descending down the back part of the neek on each side of the spine come to the Hips and Thighs pass on thro the Legs to the outside of each Foot For this reason in all pains of the Back and Hips bleeding in the veins of the Hams and external Ancles are of great relief the second pair coming likewise from the Head run behind the Ears down the Neck they are callâ—d the Jugulars and run within the Spine down the Loins where they divide on either side towards the Testicles and Thighs and the inside of the Hams from thence through the inward Ancles to the inside of the foot For this cause in all pains of the Testicles and Loins bleeding in the veins of the Hams and internal Ancles is very serviceable The third pair come out of the Temples and run along the Neck towards the Shoulders and Lungs from thence one turning from the right a little towards the left runs under the Breast to the Spleen and Kidneys the other likewise turning from the left to the right runs under the Breast to the Liver and Kidney And these two branches terminate in the Rectum The fourth part coming out of the fore part of the Head and Eyes run under the Lungs and the Clavicles and from thence thro the upper part of the Arm pass over the bending of the Elbow to the back of the Hands and Fingers and thence they return again thro the palm of the Hand on the inside of the Elbow and under the Arm to the Arm-pits and upon the surface of the side one to the Spleen and the other to the Liver At length both branches running over the Belly terminate in the privities To salve the contradiction between these two last passages it may be urg'd that the Book of the nature of the Bones from whence this latter is drawn is not Hippocrates's but Polybius his Son-in-Law's Neither Galen nor Erotian take notice of this Book among the works of Hippocrates They have not so much as taken notice of the name tho they seem to have explain'd certain words found in it There is a passage of (b) De Generat Anim. lib. 3. cap. 3. Aristotle wherein this Philosopher speaking of the Origin and destribution of the Veins and relating the several sentiments of the Physicians thereupon cites these very words of this Book of the nature of the Bones which we have translated and cites them as Polybius's This proof were sufficient but it removes not all the difficulty for we read the very same words in the Book of Human Nature which Galen maintains strongly to be Hippocrates's pretending to prove it by the Authority of (c) Platon Phaedr Plato who as he says has quoted a passage out of it tho others have ascrib'd this Book to Democritus Nevertheless Galen himself (d) De Hippocrat Platon decreâ— l. 6. c. 3. But Pelops Galen's Master was of another mind maintaining that Hippocrates held as himself also did that the Veins and Arteries as well as Nerves had their Origine from the Brain denies this later opinion touching the origin and destribution of the Veins to be Hippocrates's or even Polybius's but affirms that it must have been foysted surreptitiously into the Text. But this is not probable for we find the same opinion in the Book de locis in Homine There is another difficulty relating to the Book of the flesh or of the principles from whence was taken what we said in the first place that the Veins and Arteries came out of the Heart Aristotle in the afore-cited passage after having remarked that almost all the Physicians consented with Polybius to bring the veins from the Head concludes they were all in an error not knowing that they came from the Heart and not from the Head If Hippocrates be the Author of that Book of the Flesh wherein this opinion of Aristotle is plainly laid down how is it likely this Philosopher should not know it Why should he not as well have read the Writings of Hippocrates as those of Polybius From hence we may infer that this Book is no more Hippocrates's than that of the Nature of the Bones Perhaps Aristotle chose rather in this place to cite Polybius or Synnesis of Cyprus and Diogenes Apolloniates Physicians of small reputation in comparison of Hippocrates than to cite Hippocrates himself whose Name we sind but in (e) Politâ—c li. 7. cap. 4. one place of his Works and there mentioned only en passant perhaps I say he has omitted to quote him out of malice or envy Plato shew'd more honour having made honorable mention of him in several places Perhaps the Book in question was not Hippocrates's for neither do we find the Title of it in the List that Erotian gives of his Works Of the description of the HEART Amongst the Anatomical Books ascrib'd to Hippocrates there is none written with more exactness than that of the Heart which being very short we give you here the entire Translation of it The Heart says the Author of this Book is of a Pyramidal figure its colour is a deep red It is encompassed on all sides with a clos'd Membrane
(w) De Loc. in Hom. All the Veins communicate and run one into another for some are joyn'd immediately together others communicate by small veins which run from the Trunk of one to another and which serve to nourish the flesh (x) De Natur. hom There are a great number of different veins which come from (y) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So read all the MSS. says Foesius Yet Galen reads 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the Vena Cava the Ventricle or Belly by which the nourishment is conveyed into all the parts of the body The same nourishment passes also from the great veins as well internal as external to the belly and the rest of the body These veins supply one another reciprocally with nourishment those without to those within and those within to those without (z) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epidem lib 6. sect 6. The flesh draws from the belly and likewise from without and our senses discover to us that all the body is transpirable from within to without and from without to within Hippocrates speaks in another place of the (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De Diet. acut See the whole passage at length in the Chapter of Blood letting rest of the blood and spirits in the Vessels which supposes a precedent motion We have both related and render'd as exactly as possible the foregoing passages concerning the motion of the blood spirits and nourishments in the body because they seem to point at the most considerable Anatomical discoveries of our Age. Hippocrates did unquestionably acknowledge a sort of circulation of the blood and humours the aforecited passages are in express words He uses also in another place a term by which the Greeks used to signifie (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib. de humor in prin the reflux of the Sea to express the return of the humours from the skin to the centre of the body It is necessary here to avoid a fallacy in giving to Hippocrates the honour of a discovery reserved to our Age to make the following Remarks It is apparent that this ancient Physician held this flux and reflux or this circulation to be made thro' the same Vessels which carry'd and brought back indifferently from the Centre to the Circumference and from the Circumference to the Centre again As for what escaped the known Vessels it pass'd according to him (c) De morb lib. 4. thro insensible channels and ways undiscoverable which yet were open as long as the Animal liv'd according to the principles laid down by him and related by us that all consents conspires and agrees together in the body or that all is transpirable from within to without and from without to within If these Principles served his turn in this case the attraction spoken of before and the faculties subservient to Nature brought him off easily for the rest that is that the motions of the blood and humours were usually determined by necessity and attraction (d) De Nat. â—uer The blood says he which by the order of nature descends but once a month to the Womb flows thither every day while the (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Seed or Faetus therein contained draws what is necessary for it according to its strength and has its respiration greater or less at first the respiration of the Faetus being very small little blood comes from the Womb but as by this respiration increases the Faetus draws more blood and it descends in greater quantities into the Womb. Nor does the Faetus only draw but all the parts likewise (f) De Morb. lib. 4. The Ventricle or Stomach says Hipporates elsewhere is a fountain which furnishes all the body when it is full but when it is empty it draws in its turn from the body which exhausted it The Heart the Spleen the Liver and the Head are the fountains which supply the other parts and in their turns draw from them There are in Hippocrates a hundred passages like these some of which we shall take notice of in the sequel The Office of Nature or the Faculties is according to him to regulate the attraction and provide for all the necessities of the Animal Nature as we have observed or its Faculties nourish and make every thing to grow and increase We shall add but a word or two more upon the subject of the motion of the blood in the Veins and Arteries by which we may judge of the Idea Hippocratet has had of it There are says he (g) De loc in Hom. This Book is by universal consent agreed to be genuine two other (h) By this name Hippocrates understands as well the Arteries as Veins veins which beat continually these veins are the only ones in the body that contain no blood for the blood turns from ' em Now that which turns away or returns is a contrary motion to that which comes forward on that side so that the first retiring or withdrawing from these veins and that which comes from above endeavouring to descend they do not agree but push one another by turns and mix and circulate one with another which produces the pulsation or beating of these veins We say nothing at present of the extraordinary motions of the blood and humours we reserve them for the next Chapter I know that some of the greatest (i) Riolan and several others Anatomists and Physicians of the Age Men very learned in the Languages and all sorts of Literature have done and yet do believe that the aforecited passages go abundance further We shall have occasion to examine their Opinion in the Second Part of this History Of the BRAIN (k) Lib. de Gland Galen supposes this Book to be spurious The Brain is reckoned by Hippocrates among the Glands because it appeared to him of the same nature being white fryalble and spungy as they were And he believed that the Brain sucked up the superfluous humours of the body like the other Glands which being all of a spungy nature imbibe says he moisture easily But there is this further of the Brain That the Head being hollow and round draws incessantly like a sort of Cupping-glass the moisture from the rest of the body which rises in the form of a vapour after which it being over-charged it sends it down to the lower parts especially the Glands from whence come Defluxions and Catarrhs Hippocrates in some other places makes the Brain (l) Lib. de Morb. sacro the Seat of Wisdom and Vnderstanding altho' as we have seen before he lodges the (m) Lib. de Corde Soul which is the same thing with the (n) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnderstanding in the Left Ventricle of the Heart Hippocrates takes notice elsewhere that the Brain was (o) De loc in hom cloathed with two Membranes the one thick and the other thin We shall have further occasion to speak of the Brain and its Membranes when we
Flatib all that incommodes Man but this is too general He thought that the blood in good condition nourished and that it was the fountain of the vital heat that it caus'd a fresh colour and good health That the yellow Bile preserv'd the body in its natural state hindering the small Vessels and secret Passages from being stopp'd and keeping open the Drain of the Excrements He thought it actuated the Senses and help'd to the concoction of the Aliment The black Bile was a sort of Ground which serv'd as a support and foundation for other humours The Flegm servâ—d to supple and facilitate the motion of the Nerves Membranes Cartilages Joints and Tongue and other Parts Besides the four first qualities which Hippocrates attributed to the Humours as moisture driness heat and cold it is apparent that he believed they had or might have abundance of others which all had their use and were never hurtful but when one prevailed over the rest or was separated from them Take his own words (e) De prisâ— Med. lib. 2. in the Chapter of Alcmaeon The Ancients says he did not believe that the dry the cold the hot or the moist nor any other like quality incommoded a Man but that whatever exceeded or prevailed of any of these qualities and which Nature cou'd not overcome was that which incommoded the Man and that which they endeavoured to take away or correct so of the sweet the most sweet was the strongest as of the bitter or sowre that which was most bitter and most sowre in short the highest degree of every thing These are says Hippocrates the latest discoveries of the Ancients in the body of Man and which were hurtful There are really in our bodies bitter sweet sowre salt rough and insipid and abundance of others which have different faculties according to their quantity or quality These different qualities are insensible and do not hurt so long as they are in due mixture but if these humours separate and lodge apart then their qualities become at once both sensible and inconvenient From what Hippocrates has here said we may gather that he did not suppose the Matters we have spoken of to act only by what the Philosophers callâ—d first qualities so far from that that he says a little after That 't is not the hot that is of any mighty power but the sowre the insipid c. whether within a Man or without a Man whether in regard of what he cats or what he drinks or what he applies outwardly in what manner soever concluding that of all the faculties there are none less active than heat and cold What we have said of the separation of the humours from one another relate to what Hippocrates says in divers places that the humours move This motion which is the cause of several distempers expresses sometimes by a term it signifies (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 impeâ—◠〈◊〉 â—â—â—dine incenli a Fury like that of some Animals that grow Lustful at certain times There are other passages by which Hippocrates seems to impute Diseases (g) Lib. de affectâ— nib lib 〈◊〉 de Morb. to two of these humours only the Bile and Pituita as they offer'd either in quantity or quality or place But as he speaks elsewhere of two sorts of Bile these two humours may be split into three and with the blood make four (h) Lib. 4. de Morb. In some other passages he adds a fifth which is Water of which he supposes the Spleen to be the Spring as the Liver and the Brain are of the Blood the Bile and the Pituita Some of his Commentators make this Water the same with the Melancholy to which Hippocrates seems to substitute it I cannot see how to reconcile their opinion with the Idea he had of that humour he look'd upon 't as we have said before as a sort of Lee of the rest of the humours which will by no means agree with water Nor are they nearer their point for making two sorts of Melancholy one of which we have been speaking and another which ought rather to be call'd black Bile which is only the yellow Bile turn'd black as he supposed by being over-heated and burnt this having nothing in common with water The only support of the opinion in question is that he says in the same passage that this water is the heaviest of all the humours I see no reason why we shou'd not object that this is another System (i) It is ascrib'd to Polyblus his Son-iâ—-â—aw See Book 4. Ch. 1. since it has been always suspected that Hippocrates was not the Author of that Book This water might be something like what Hippocrates elsewhere calls Ichor by which he meant any sort of clear thin Liquor form'd in the body of a Man whether sound or unsound So he calls by this name what runs from a malignant Vlcer and speaks in several places of sharp and bilious Ichors and burning Ichors (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We find yet a third System of the Causes of Diseases in another book Intituled Of Winds or Spirits which is mixâ—d with the Works of Hippocrates but most suppose it not to be his The Author of this book uses sometimes the word Wind sometimes Spirit with this difference That the latter signifies the Spirits or Air and Wind inclosed in the body but the former the Wind without from whence nevertheless he derives that within by means of the Air drawn by respiration and the Air contain'd in the Food we take This book upon reading seems to be one of the most rational and coherent of all Hippocrates's Works He looks upon the Air and the Spirits to be the true Causes of health and of diseases even in preference to the humours which here are only collateral Causes as the Spirits mix with ' em But this later opinion may be reconcil'd with that which we have before allow'd to be Hippocrates's concerning the effects of the humours only alledging that all that has been attributed to them in relation to health or sickness supposes an impulse of the Spirits as the first movers and that therefore Hippocrates nam'd them as we have said before that which gives the motion There is according to Hippocrates as great a variety of external Causes of health and diseases as there is of things without the body of Man which may act upon him as there is of diversity in his Conduct and of accidents in the course of his Life From this Hypothesis it is plain that Health and Sickness in general depend upon the following Causes On the Air which surrounds us what we eat and drink sleep watching exercise what goes out of our bodies and what is kept in and upon the Passions In this number likewise are rank'd those foreign bodies which occur and are sometimes useful yet may often dissolve cut or break the union of the Parts of ours Poisons and venemous
in the Legs from whence it rises to the belly and diffusing it self in the Intestines makes a great noise there after which the Patient vomits up sowre putrid phlegm but this evacuation gives him no ease on the contrary he falls into a delirium and feels a pain so troublesome and uneasie in his bowels and by times a pain in his head so violent and fixâ—d that he has neither his Understanding nor his Sight but very confusedly he sweats plentifully and his sweat smells ill but it gives him ease The colour of the Patient is the same as in a Jaundice and this distemper is not so mortal oftentimes as the precedent one The fourth sort takes its rise from (a) You 'll see in the Catalogue of the common distâ—mpers at the end of this Chapter what Hippocrates understood by white phlegm white phlegm and comes after Fevers that have continued a long time This distemper begins with a swelling in the face it tends afterwards to the Abdomen which swells also The Patient has a pain upon him like that after hard Exercise and his belly feels sore as if it was press'd with a great burthen The feet swell also If Rain falls on the ground he can't bear the smell of it and if by chance he 's expos'd to the Rain and smells this smell of the ground he immediately falls This distemper has some intermissions but lasts longer than the precedent one its continuance is for six years We don't find that our Modern Practisers nor even those amongst the Ancients that came after Hippocrates have describ'd any particular distemper attended with so many accidents or symptoms all at once and we must confess those we are come to specifie are so many in number that one would think it impossible for all to happen in one and the same disease And that that 's yet more particular in it is that Hippocrates or the Author of the Book we have quoted makes four or five sorts of each of these distempers which appear so different one from the other that we cannot apprehend why they are rank'd under the same general name 'T is that is the reason that the Physicians of After-Ages that easily knew a Dropsie for example a Consumption a Pleurisie by the Characters which Hippocrates gave of each yet knew nothing of the two diseases in question We may infer from thence either that the Typhus and thick disease are no longer in being and that no body now is affected with them or that no body at all ever was and that they are feign'd distempers and only describ'd to please a humour or fancy We ought not to rest satisfied with the first conjecture tho' 't is not impossible that some diseases may cease to be as well as they pretend new ones arise This question shall be treated of hereafter There 's rather a probability that those that describ'd this distemper did it to deceive us You shall see after what manner one may presume the thing came to pasâ— First We must know that the (a) Prosper Maâ—â—aâ—â—â— a Roman â—hysiciâ—â— that writ a Commâ—ntaâ—y on Hippâ—crates about the beginning of this Age is almost the only person of another opinion greatest part of the Authors as well Ancient as Modern do agree That the Book wherein these diseases are describ'd is not of Hippocrates's writing but belongs to some of the Works of the Cnidien Physicians who are mentioned in the foregoing Book That which confirms this opinion is what Galen particularly remarks viz. That these Physicians reckon'd up four sorts of Jaundices three sorts of Consumptions different from those that are specified in the Catalogue of the diseases of the first Class and that they multiplied after the same manner the sorts of several other distempers without reason or necessity T is then in the same Book that we find all these distinctions which is an argument that it was after their usual manner of writing Hippocrates was so far from using the same way that he (b) De diaetâ in acâ—tis lib. 4. himself has blam'd 'em for making too nice a distinction of Diseases as if a distemper ought always to be call'd by a different name because it differs from another in a little trivial thing when 't is the same as to the Essentials or Charactaristicks by which the genus and species of them are really distinguish'd 'T is the same mistake that Galen found fault with the Empiricks for who for want of method had a greater regard to the symptoms or accidents of which there might be an infinite variety than to the distemper it self whence it came that they multiplied diseases ad insinitum The same defect in method which was the cause that the Cnidiens made distinctions when there was no necessity for it produc'd that disorder and confusion you find in the description of the Typhus and thick Disease In one word the fault of these Physicians lay in this That they joyn'd the symptoms of many diseases to one alone not distinguishing those that were proper to certain particular distempers and inseparable from them from those which are common to many Lastly It may be that the fault was in the Copiers and that these ancient Pieces having pass'd through an infinite number of hands have been confusedly mix'd with observations different from them without the Authors having any share in the disorder We may add to these distempers that that 's call'd the great distemper of the hollow veins and that that 's nam'd the vomiting of the veins on the Brain these names which were ill imposed or that did depend on the particular Idea which these ancient Physicians had of the Body having been neither better retain'd nor known than those mentioned before CHAP. X. Distempers of the fifth Class or which have names that are no longer known and at the same time have no description given of them which is the reason we can speak nothing of them but by conjecture HIppocrates makes mention of a distemper which he calls the (a) Proâ—â—â—â—tic lib. 2 subâ—sâ—nem Pthinick Discase The likeness between the words Pthinick and Pthisick has given occasion to some Interpreters to believe that he treated of a Consumption in this place But the more Learned agree that there 's a fault in the Greek Text and that instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we ought to read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Phaenician Disease Their opinion is founded upon this viz. That they find this last word in the Commentators of Hippocrates who add That he understood by it a distemper common in Phaenicia and in other Eastern Countries which seems to be nothing else but an Elephantiasis That which confirms this Explanation is That Hippocrates treats in the same place of distempers that have a near relation to it such are the Leprosie Tetters and the distemper callâ—d Leuce I 'll only make this remark viz. That Galen who is the Author of a Commentary might be deceiv'd in
for his whose names are not met with in Erotian â—s Catalogue Tâ—ese Books are that of Affections and other of internal Affections and two others of Diseases Besides those mentioned by Erotian Galen speaks also of an Addition to the Book call'd Mochlicus which is the Book we now have of the nature of the Bones He saw likewise the Title of the Book of the Glands which past for Hippocrates's though Galen thought it spurious He acknowledg'd likewise the Book entituled Tht Seven Months Birth the following which is of the Eighth Months Birth being but a part of the former Galen seems also to speak of several Books of Diet whereas Erotian quotes but one And although that he believed not that the prenotions of Cos were Hippocrates's 't is apparent that they pass'd commonly for such in his time and that the seventh Book of Epidemick diseases was likewise generally received tho Galen lookt upon 't as manifestly spurious Suidas the latest Greek Author speaks this of the books of Hippocrates at the end of the passage before cited The first says he of the books of Hippocrates contains the Oath the second his Predictions the third the Aphorisms a work above human capacity The fourth contains that admirable collection which goes by the name of Hexecontabiblos that is to say consisting of sixty Books which contain all the rest that relates to Physick and Philosophy We have yet remaining as many as Suidas reckons those whose Titles are found neither in Erotian nor that I know of in Galen are the following The Book of the Nature of a Woman of what relates to Virgins of the Seed of the flesh of Superfaetation of the time of Childrens breeding of teeth of the Heart of the Sight of the Eye of Anatomy of the manner of drawing dead Children out of the womb of the Physician of decent habit and of Precepts We find at the end of the Collection of Hippocrates's works certain pieces under the name of (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 strange pieces These consist of Letters supposed to have been sent or received by Hippocrates or written upon his account of an Act of the Senate of the Athenians in his favour two discourses mentioned by Erotian by the name of the Speech of the Embassy or Deputation and of the Speech before the Altar of which the first is attributed to Thessalus the Son of Hippocrates the sccond to Hippocrates himself of his Life and Genealogy written by Soranus of a little book of Purgers and another of the manner of giving Hellebore We shall not trouble the Reader with all the Criticks have said concerning the distinction of the true Writings of Hippocrates from the counterfeit or supposititious We shall only take notice that several were already suspected in the time of Galen and Erotian himself amongst those which they give us the list of Some of these Books have been ascribed to the Sons of Hippocrates others to his Son-in-Law or to his Grandsons or to his Disciples or to his Predecessors as the book of Articulations and of Fractures which some have thought to have been writ by his Grandfather who was of the same name tho others have maintained that this first Hippocrates wrote nothing They have likewise ascrib'd them to other Physicians who lived either before or at the same time with him and to the Philosophers as Democritus who is suppos'd to be Author of the book of the nature of man Galen with abundance of reason imputes this fathering of Books and Titles so frequent among the Antients to the Covetousness of the first Copyers and he tells us that the considerable summs which the Kings Attalus and Ptolomy who vied who should have the finest Library gave to those that brought them the writings of great men gave occasion to this falsifying of Names and Authors and to the confusion we find in the disposition of antient works As we have said we shall not amuse ourselves with the judgment of the Criticks Those that have a mind may consult Mercurialis who has written particularly upon that subject It will be of use however to take notice that to those suppositions which we have spoken of must be attributed the contradictions found in some of the opinions of Hippocrates some being directly opposite to others In the second place we observe that (b) See the Chapter of the signs of Diseases these books of Hippocrates which are of the best reasoning are the most suspected We must further take notice that those pieces before call'd Strange which are annexed to the works of Hippocrates are most part of them and perhaps all of them spurious as we shall shew more particularly in the following Chapter As for the Style and Language of Hippocrates which is the third thing to be examin'd we must not wonder that Capito and Dioscorides did not always understand Hippocrates tho they were native Greeks Erotian who liv'd under Nero had composed a Glossary that is a Dictionary of the Obscure and Obsolete words us'd by him or â—at least of those which had not been of a long time in use in the Greek tongue By this Glossary which is yet extant we are informed that several Authors had employ'd themselves upon the same subject before him amongst which he names the following Xenocritus a Grammarian who he says was the first that wrote upon that subject Callimachus disciple of Herophilus Bacchius Philinus an Empirick Apollonius Cittiaeus Apollonius Ophis Dioscorides Phocas or rather Phacas Glaucius another Empirick Lysimachus of Cos Euphorion Aristarchus this was in all probability the famous Grammarian Aristocles Aristopeas Antigonus and Dydymus both of Alexandria the later also a Grammarian Epicles Lycus Neapolitanus Strato and Mnestheus To these we ought also to add Galen whose Glossary is yet remaining We have (c) See the Chapter of the Anatomy of Hippocrates at the beginning already observed that the Style of Hippocrates is very concise which makes it frequently difficult to understand him To this may be added that 't is otherwise very grave and Erotian observes (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the Phrase of Hippocrates is the same with Homer â—s His language seems to be properly Ionique and Aelian pretends as we have seen (e) See Book the Chapter of Democritus before that Hippocrates us'd this Dialect in Favour of Democritus whereas being himself of Cos his Dialect should have been the Dorick But Galen observes (f) In lib. Hippocrat de fractur Comment 1. that the language of Hippocrates inclines somewhat towards the Attick and he adds that some have said that he writ in old Attick Be it how it will it appears that there was a considerable change in the Greek Tongue during the space of four hundred years which might have elapsed between Hippocrates and the first that wrote a Gloss upon him by the difficulty these Authors met with altho they were Greeks as well as himself to understand what he meant by such
died faster than others as conversing more with the Sick In this case I do not see what honour Hippocrates should gain The second difficulty is that if Hippocrates were at Athens at that time he must be born long before the Eightieth Olympiad which is the time of his Birth according to Soranus by which account he must be but thirty year old in the second year of the Peloponessian War and of the Eighty seventh Olympiad the time of that Plague and consequently he could not have Sons old enough to practice Physicks and a Daughter married to a Physician his Scholar To come nearer to the matter we must follow the account of Eusebius who says that Hippocrates flourished in the eighty sixth Olympiad or of Aulus Gellius who ranks him with Sophocles Euripides and Democritus who according to him were a little older than Socrates All Authors agree that Socrates was born about the end of the seventy seventh Olympiad Democritus was but a year older but Euripides was born the seventy fifth Olympiad and Sophocles the seventy third Olympiad We ought therefore to make Hippocrates at least as old as the Tragick Poet that what is said of him concerning the Plague of Athens may be true for by this account he would be fifty years old and consequently it was not impossible for him to have Sons that practised Physick But it is more likely that what Aetius and Galen or the Author of the book concerning the Theriaca which is amongst his Works deliver is false and that they impute to Hippocrates what (a) See above Book 2. p. 225. Plutarch with more appearance of truth ascribes to Acron who lived long before Hippocrates If there were any other Plague which came from the side of Illyria we know nothing of it However it were the Decree of the Senate of Athens another piece of the same nature of the former but more recent speaks of a Plague which came into Greece out of the Barbarous Countries wherein Hippocrates and his Scholars did very great service and it is added therein that the King of Persia sending for him into his Dominions which were infected with the same disease and promising to load him with Honours and Riches he despised his offers and refused to go looking upon him as Barbarian and an enemy to Greece whereupon the Athenians in recompence of the useful advice he had given them and of his Affection for Greece in general honoured him with an initiation in the grand Mysteries as they had done Hercules before gave him a Crown weighing a thousand peices of gold the freedome of Athens and the right of being maintained all his life at the publick expence in the Prytaneum granting further to all the youth of the Isle of Cos the liberty of coming to Athens and being brought up and instructed with the youth of that City This was the purport of the decree of the Senate of Athens What relates to the measures taken to invite Hippocrates into Persia is supposed by the testimony of divers letters which are pretended to be written upon that subject by the Ministers of Artaxerxes King of Persia to inform him of the great reputation of Hippocrates and to advise him to send for him and by Artaxerxes himself in pursuance of this counsel or by Hippocrates who answers haughtily to all the promises that are made him that he has in his own Countrey whereupon to live that he was not allowed to possess the riches and grandeur of the Persians nor to cure Barbarians that were enemies to Greece There are also other letters expressing Artaxerxes his resentments of Hippocrates's conduct and terrible menaces to the Inhabitants of the Isle of Cos in case they refused to send Hippocrates to him to be chastized and the answer of those generous Islanders who were not at all frighted at them protested they would not deliver up their Citizen whatever might happen What makes the credit of these letters still more to be suspected is that Thessalus when in his speech he upbraids the Athenians with the obligations the Greeks had to his father would undoubtedly not have failed to have turn'd these letters to his honour if there had been any truth in them But allowing some shew of truth to those pieces which we have here examin'd we must not pass the same judgment upon the other letters supposed to be written or received by Hippocrates or others upon his account They are certainly the work of some half-learned Greek composed out of wantonness or out of design to get money Some of these to whom Hippocrates writ were Philopaemen Dionysius of Halicarnassus Cratevas Damagetas King Demetrius and King Perdiccas without reckoning Democritus and Phessalus the son of Hippocrates As for Philopaemen 't would be hard to think that he meant the famous General of Achaia because he was not born till about a hundred years after the death of Hippocrates Much less can we think that the Dionysius he has spoken of was the famous Historian of Halicarnassus who liv'd under Augustus But to what King Demetrius could Hippocrates write since in his time there was none such in the world The first of the name being Demetrius Poliorcetes the son of Antigonus one of the successors of Alexander whom Hippocrates could no more have seen than the former The same may be said of Cratevas who liv'd at the soonest but in the age of Mithridates and Pompey as we shall see hereafter The Author of these letters having heard of a famous Botanist of that name or having seen his works thought he might very well make Hippocrates write to him without informing himself whether he or Demetrius or the rest aforegoing lived in his time or no. We find another ridiculous Anachronism at the head of Marcellus Empiricus his book supposed to be directed to Maecaenas by the same Hippocrates But though we had not these convincing proofs of the spuriousness of these letters we need only read them to be satisfied they were not Hippocrates's And I think a learned modern Physician too modest when he says (b) Vix divino sine dignas Epistolas Rhodius in Scribon larg that they scarce deserve to pass for the productions of the e divine old man We may very boldly pronounce them scandalously unworthy For example what could be more impertinent than the order that Hippocrates gives to Cratevas to gather him all the herbs he could find without specifying any one c This Title was commonly given to Hippocrates as we shall see below to send them to him because he is sent for to take care of Democritus Add to this the Sentence which he subjoyns that it were to be wished that Cratevas could as easily pluck up the bitter roots of covetonsness of money or avarice so that they should never shoot up again as he could pluck up the roots of the herbs he desired of him Had Hippocrates been as great a babbler in his medical writings as he is in these letters
In the seventh Book of Epidemical Diseases there is mention just made of one Pythocles of whom it is reported that he gave his Patients water or milk mingled with a great deal of water To these we may joyn the (c) See the Phaedrus of Plato and Xenophon of the sayings and deeds of Socrates Physician Acumenus a friend of Socrates of whom Plato and Xenophon talk very advantageously All that these Authors report of his opinions is that he looked upon a walk in the open air to be much better (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We have translated these words after the sense of Mercurialis which seems to be just than in Portico's and other covered places There remains an ancient Physician named Aegimius of Velia or Elis who according to Galen was the first that writ about the Pulse altho' the title of his Book was about (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cal. de differ Puls lib. 4. Palpitation because at that time Pulse and Palpitation signified the same thing as we may gather from some passages in Hippocrates where the latter of these words signifies exactly the same with the former If this Aegimius was not cotemporary with the abovementioned he lived at farthest in the time of Diocles or Praxagoras of whom we shall speak in the following Book THE HISTORY OF Physick PART I. BOOK IV. Of what happen'd relating to this Art from the death of Hippocrates to Chrysippus exclusively CHAP. I. Thessalus and Draco the Sons of Hippocrates Polybus his Son in law some others of his descendants and some persons of the same name with Hippocrates HIppocrates left two sons Thessalus and Draco who followed the profession of their Father and a daughter that was married to one Polybus who was likewise a Physician His two sons had each of them one to whom they gave the name of their father and this name was in such esteem in the family that there were no less then (a) Suidas See the Chapter of Praxagoras below seven one after another who bore it who were all Physicians Hippocrates's eldest son was of greatest reputation He spent the greatest part of his life (b) Galen in lib. Hippocr de nat hum Comm. 1. in the Court of Archelaus King of Macedonia To him as likewise to his brother and even to their children were attributed some of the Books found in the Collection of Hippocrates ' even before the time of Galen who calls Thessalus an Admirable man (c) Galen ibid Polybus also rose to great reputation and continued to teach the scholars of his father-in-law There are yet some books remaining under his name one of which treats of the means of preserving health others of diseases and one of the nature of the seed which agrees almost in every thing with Hippocrates 'T is very probable that these books likewise are suppositious Those which were found amongst the works of Hippocrates and which were anciently ascribed to Polybus do him more honour being as we have observed before of all the books father'd upon Hippocrates those wherein the reasoning is most exact and most coherent From one of these books entituled of the nature of the Foetus is drawn the greatest part of what we have before laid down concerning the manner of conception or of the formation of the Foetus in the Womb. We find likewise in the fourth book of Diseases which has been laid with almost universal consent to the same Polybus a very Ingenious System of the causes of Diseases drawn from the four humours established by the Author which are (d) See upon this Book 3. the Pituita the Blood the Bile and the Water Galen testifies for Polybus that he never deserted the opinions of Hippocrates nor made any alteration of him any more than Thessalus but this seems not probable especially of the former if the book we have cited be truly Polybus's we see already in it some difference in the System and we find further that the opinion concerning the passage of part of the drink into the Trachaea Arteria which is as we have observed maintained in more than one place of Hippocrates's works is vigorously opposed We must not confound the sons of our Hippocrates with those of whom (e) Aristoph in Nubibus 〈◊〉 Galen quod â—nimi mores sequantur temper cor p. Cap. 4. Athâ—naeuâ— l. 3. Aristophanes Galen and Athenaeus speak so brutish and lewd that they gave occasion to the people of Athens to call all persons of that infamous Character the sons of Hippocrates These were the sons of one Hippocrates an Athenian who was himself esteemed a man of no worth There is yet another Hippocrates among the Greek Authors who wrote of Veterinary or the Physick of Beasts which are collected into one Volume or rather the Collectors have made bold with the name of the great Hippocrates and have father'd works upon him in which he had no concern CHAP. II. Prodicus Dexippus and Appollonius disciples of Hippocrates Ctesias his Kinsman HIppocrates was not contented to teach Physick only to those of his own family As he practised Physick (a) Galen affirms this and it may be gathered out of the Maxims of Hippocrates that have beeâ— cited out of a principle of humanity and not purely for profit or glory he imparted his knowledg to strangers being the first of the Asclepiades that did it so that Physick which was before confin'd within the limits of one Family was afterwards communicated to all the world and might be learn'd by any that would apply themselves to it We have seen already the Oath he exacted of his Scholars One of the most considerable of these was one Prodicus of Selymbra (b) Plin. l. 29 C. 1. who is said to have invented the use of unguents in Physick to have first anointed the body with those compositions for preservation of health and for the cure of distempers This Medicine became so common among the Antients that they proceeded even to the abuse of it especially after they had introduc'd Liquid perfumes or sweet-scented Oyls of which Virgil makes this complaint (c) Casia was a sort of Spâ—e infused in Oyl of Olives to persume it Et Casia liquidi corrumpiturnsus Olivi These being used as well for pleasure as necessity and lewd women and effeminate men making the greatest consumption of them this abuse grew so scandalous that sober persons were afraid to use them lest they should be taken to use them to the same purpose that they did For this reason 't was that the Philosopher Aristippus who found these sweet Oyls serviceable to him made such imprecations against those Debauchees that brought a scandal upon the use of perfumes But Pliny seems to confound this disciple of Hippocrates with his master The Unguentarie medicine being a branch of the Gymnastick it is without doubt the invention of (d) See Book the 2 Herodicus and not of Prodicus
the Membrane of the Ear be indisposed we cannot hear for the same reason we cannot see when the Tunicle of the Eye is in the same Condition (a) De generat aninial lib. 2. cap. 6. The Nose is divided into two Channels by a Cartilage It has two veins which are joined to the Brain but they come from the Heart these go into the Channel which is the Organ of smelling as it receives the External Air and all that is diffused thro it The Flesh as we have observed already is the Organ of Feeling The Tongue of Tasting being soft and spongy and of a Nature approaching to that of the Flesh (b) Hist An. lib. 1. cap. 11. The Eye reaches into the Brain and is situated on either side under a little vein (c) Ib. cap. 9. The humour which is in the Eye which causes vision is what we call the sight (d) De Gen. An. lib. 2. cap. 6. The Eye of all the Organs of sensation has this peculiarity that it is moist and cold or that it contains a humour that is moist and cold which is not there at first or which is not at first in its perfection but is separated or distill'd from the purest part of the moisture of the Brain by the Channel that goes to the Membrane of the Brain 'T is very plain from what has been said that Aristotle allow'd the Nerves no part in the production of sensation Nor indeed could he acknowledge the Nerves or their office retaining the Idea which he had of the Brain The Diaphragme which he calls Diazoma or the Membrane which separates the lower Belly from the Breast has according to Aristotle no other business than to divide these two Cavities that the upper which is the Seat of the Soul may not be infected by the vapours which rise from the lower This is the sum of what we could collect from the writings of this Philosopher concerning Anatomy And we may observe that both he and Plato call'd indifferently by the name of Veins the Veins properly so call'd and the Arteries that they did not give the name of Artery to any thing but the Wind-pipe which they call'd (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rough or unequal in opposition to the Arteries properly so called and by the Antients named 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 laeves Arterlae smooth Arteries Aspera Arteria from whence we may infer that when we find in (f) See the next Vol. lib. 1. cap. of Erasistratus Hippocrates the word Artery in the sense of the Moderns that this word has been foisted in or that the Books in which 't is found are not Genuine The only place that I know of wherein Aristotle seems to give the name of Arteries to the Arteries properly so called is in his Book of the Spirit wherein he says that the Skin is compos'd of a Vein an Artery and a Nerve Of a Vein says he because the Skin yields Blood when 't is prick'd Of a Nerve because it can extend it self Of an Artery because 't is transpirable Aristotle seems here to have designed the real and true Arteries and to allot to them only Spirit according to the opinion of Praxagoras and Erasistratus of whom we shall speak hereafter which opinion perhaps they borrowed of him Perhaps also this Book was none of Aristotle's We must make one observation more concerning the Anatomy of Aristotle which is that he never dissected any thing but Brutes and that in his time they durst not Anatomize a Humane body Which he insinuates himself in these words (g) Hist An. lib. 1. cap. 16. The inward parts of mens bodies are unknown for we have nothing certain thereupon but we must judge of them by the resemblance which we suppose them to have to the parts of other Animals which answer to each of them I am surpriz'd (h) Anthropograph lib. 1. cap. 4. that Riolan should maintain the contrary and more that he should endeavour to prove it from passages of Aristotle which are nothing to the purpose but he is not the only one whose Prejudice and Bigotry for the Antients has caused to make such false steps We shall have occasion to say something more upon this subject in the first Book of the next Volume Aristotle wrote also some Books of Plants of which there are some yet remaining but he treats of them rather as a Philosopher than a Physician He was born in the ninety ninth Olympiad and he dyed the 3d year of the hundred and fourteenth Olympiad aged by this account about sixty three He was the Son of a Physician and of the family of the Asclepiades He belonged also to Physick another way which is not much for his honour (i) Diogenes Laertius Hesychius Milesius in vita Epicuri Epicurus reproaches him with having spent his patrimony while he was young in debauchery and that after he had been some time a Souldier he betook himself to selling (k) We shall consider in the sequel the meaning of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used by Diogenes Laertius on this occasion of Antidotes about the Markets till Plato's School being open'd he applied himself to the study of Philosophy under him CHAP. VI. Theophrastus THeophrastus who succeeded Aristotle took upon him the management of his School and after his death did something likewise towards Physick The most considerable of his works which remain to our times are his Books of Plants But as Plants may be consider'd either as a part of Agriculture of Natural History or of Physick Theophrastus as well as Aristotle seems to consider them chiefly as a Naturalist and seems rather to have examined their Growth and Termination and the parts whereof they are composed than their Medicinal properties altho sometimes en passant he touches upon them too But he having describ'd several we shall be obligâ—d to take farther notice of him upon this account with Dioscorides There are yet some small pieces of his remaining concerning the Vertigo Swooning Sweat and the Palsie of which he treats rather as a Philosopher than a Physician that is he is inquisitive after the Causes of these Distempers only without speaking of any Remedies He says that Vertigoâ—s come when some strange spirit or superfluous moisture goes into the Head or as he expresses it about the Head whether this comes from any sort of Food as from Wine or from any other humour or from turning the Head round For adds he the place about the Brain or the Brain an usual manner of expression among the Greeks is naturally moist and when any foreign Spirit gets in it does violence after it is got in and forces the natural moisture into the veins causing it to turn round so that this Spirit has the same effect as if any body turn'd the Head round it being indifferent whether it be done inwardly or outwardly The Palsie arises from a chilness or privation and want of Spirits or