not finally remaine wholly frustrate if therefore we grant an induction of a new forme we must withall grant an expulsion of that that before was inherent for as much as two formes of diuers kindes are vnsufferable together in the same subiect whereupon doth follow the corruption of the whole compound But if we shall make a more diligent and narrow inquirie into the causes of this dissolution we may find plentie of reasons ministred to confirme this trueth Now the first cause naturall of naturall death is contrarietie in the compound for all corruption presupposing alteration which is onely betwixt and by meanes of contrarie qualities contrarietie of the inherent qualities being the onely cause of alteration is also cause of the compounds corruption which is farther manifested by exprience for so we see things wherein is least disagreement to be of longest continuance and the immateriall substance of the creatures spirituall voide of all contrarietie vncapable also of corruption so that the inherence of contrarietie is one special cause of the compounds dissolution Man therefore whose bodie consists of the euer-iarring elements Fare Aire Water Earth hath also an vnresistable home bred cause of dissolution Furthermore the consent of al Philosophers and reason it selfe hath set downe this trueth as vndeniable that mans life and the chiefe maintenance thereof consisteth principally if not wholly in the due and iust proportionable temperature of the foure first qualities Heat Cold Drinesse Moisture and till their disproportion there is no danger of death or any growing sicknesse whereupon Auerroes hath this definition of sicknesse That it is nothing els but the vnnaturall disproportion of those foure qualities whereby the part whereinto the same is incident is disabled to performe its naturall functions whereout ariseth this collection as necessarie being almost all one with those things foresaid viz. that the disproportion of the foure first qualities and their swaruing from their iust temperature is cause of their subiects dissolution but in euerie man wee see a declining from his engrafted natural complexion which also increaseth more and more according as his ages are altered therfore mans dissolution cannot bee auoided where by the way wee must not let passe the saying of the Philosopher that mans life consisteth in heat which also is thereby prooued because in the presence thereof if it be not excessiue we see a kinde of claritie and vigor as it were newly infused at its departure the wonted or rather farre greater recourse of languor But we are not so to vnderstand that saying of the Philosophet as if heat were the sole onely cause of life for euen by Aristotle his own witnesse the temper of the foure first qualities is the truest most proper continent cause of life but the meaning is that our naturall heate is the chiefe instrument of the soule to exercise the vitall functions as nutrition augmentation and such like yet so tempred that it exceed not the proportionable measure of our naturall moisture the food and nourishment of our heat And hence is that of Ficinus that our life as light consisteth in heat whose foode and maintenance is of an aerie and fatte moisture not vnlike vnto oile whose immoderate excesse and impuritie or defect are all wasters of our vitall heate so that there was as great necessitie of moisture as of heat in the performance of our natutall vitall functions whence came the necessitie of nourishment for our congenerate heat hauing a consuming action vpon our moisture the resistance thereof being altogether vnable to withstand the heats assaulting action Nature that like a kinde mother is neuer wanting to the necessities of her of spring hath bestowed on our soule a faculty whereby to restore our decaied moisture through the assimilation of the nourishment applied vnto the wasted substance Now the especiall meanes of this decay as is aforesaid is our heats assaulting action whereby the soule continually engendreth of our humiditie new spirits for maintenance of the vitall and sensual actions which being wasted by their neuer-ceasing operation as nothing is able long to continue without interchangable rest haue of necessitie a supplie from our humiditie and our moisture also equally decaied hath the like supply made by nourishment which wee receiue lest there should follow a sudden destruction hence therefore that is from the necessitie of continuall nourishment we inferre a decay of naturall moisture for otherwise whereunto is nutrition directed But heere remaineth a doubt for if there be restitution of the lost naturall moisture made by the receipt of nourishment whence commeth death the end of nature for our heat hauing alway what to feede vpon either by nature or by this outward supply of nourishment and death neuer assailing vs but by the banishment and extinguishing of this naturall heate where is this necessity of ending our life The answer is that the impurity of the outward nourishment inwardly applied by degrees tainteth that naturall ingendred humidity and by its continuall mixture at length wholly corrupteth it For as in the mingling of water with wine the greater the infusion of water is the more is the infeebling and weakening of the wines force till at length it be cleane oppressed and extinguished so is it in the case of nutrition wherein though at first our naturall heat and moisture retaine their purity and naturall quality yet at length by continuall mixture of the alimentary humor there followeth a totall and perfect corruption of their integrity Now if by the restoratiue faculty of the soule there could bee supplie made of as pure moisture as that which was lost the creature might for any thing in nature be preferued aliue for euer And therefore Ficinus beside the iust proportion of moisture vnto the heat requireth also purity and incorruption in the moisture for as euerie moisture is not a preseruer of the light of a lampe but though oile maintaines the flame yet water doth quench it so is it in the case of our life which principally consisteth in heat for the watrish humidity doth cleane extinguish it And thence it is that old men when they are neerest vnto their end abound with a watrish humour yet are they said to be cold and dry as wanting indeed that moisture which is the fittest for their heat to feed vpon So that the truth of the position is manifest in the particulars namely that euery man hath an end and tearme of indurance which he cannot passe Now this end commeth either by meanes naturall and growing in him or by violent and vnnaturall meanes Whereupon they haue distinguished death into two kinds one Naturall the other Violent Naturall death is where our natiue moisture is by meanes of our haturall heat continually working vpon it consumed dispatched whence followeth a lingring languishing and pining of our naturall heate as wanting what to feed vpon contrary to the subtile opinion of the fault-finding Iulius Scaliger that thought our naturall heat
cause of life nor the best moisture in euery quantity there are one or two requisite conditions annexed first concerning the qualitie that it be not too thinne and fluid such as is the naturall disposition of water but more cleauing and fat such as may resemble the nature of oile for its better preseruation from putrefaction secondly that it haue some competent degree of heat to keepe it from congealing last of all that it be pure not mingled with excrementall superfluities forasmuch as all mixture of superfluities is against nature enemie to good digestion and sound nutrition Those things thus obserued our moisture shall be sufficiently qualified for our liues maintenance Touching the quantitie in a word as is before said it must neither bee excessiue lest the too great quantitie oppresse our heat as wee see infusion of too much oile oftentimes put out the lampe nor yet defectiue lest the deuouring action of our heat too soone consume it but in a competent mediocrity such as the heat may neither ouer-hastily vanquish nor with the violence of excessiue inequalitie too suddenly be extinguished Where briefly wee may see the reason why man is longer liued than other creatures of more vast bodies for though in the large capacitie of their great receiuers they haue a greater quantity of this naturall moisture than is incident vnto mans small body yet haue they it not so well tempered and proportioned to their heat which may well bee gathered by their slowe and seldome breathing So that it is true which the Philosopher hath that the great or little quantitie of the bodie is no sufficient cause of long life And yet this is withall most true that where there is greatest store of humiditie with a competent proportion of heat there is greatest fitnesse naturally for long life And that is the reason why those that in their infancie are most subiect to a languishing diseasednesse are afterward most healthfull and for the most part longest liued For the abundance of their naturall moisture hindreth the too speedy preuailing of the heat by resisting its action and so is it the lesse mingled with forren impurities For as we see the Smiths fire by the moderate sprinckling of water though at first for a time its force is somewhat abated yet it at length hauing ouercome its weake aduersary as in triumph burneth the cleerer and lasteth longer so fareth it in our bodies for our heat not able on the sudden to ouersway our multitude of moisture is the longer hindred from consuming it whence proceedeth long life and after it hath gotten the vpper hand performeth with more facility its naturall functions whence commeth healthfulnesse where wee may also explane that Probleme why children that are too ripe witted in their childhood are for the most part either shortest liued or els toward their old age most sottish according to our Prouerbe Soone ripe soone rotten for hence wee may gather that from the beginning they had but little moisture ouer which their heat soone preuailed for much humiditie is cause of blockishnesse and folly whence is that of Galen that fleame being a cold waterish humour is of no force for ornament of good conditions and Plato doubted not to say that looke how much moisture there is in vs so much also is our folly and thereof it is as the same Plato obserueth that children and women are for the most part most foolish For the glorious light and Sunne-like splendour of the soule is therwith as with a cloud obscured and intercepted which is an euident proofe of the small store of moisture in these quicke witted forward children ouer which the heat so much the sooner obtaining dominion and in processe of time drying the braine the subordinate instrument of vnderstanding either quite destroieth it and so bringeth death or els so corrupts it that it is altogether vnable and vnfit to steed the inner senses in their functions whereon the vnderstanding in this prison of the boby principally dependeth which may no lesse fitly serue for answer vnto that consequent demand why those infants for the most part are soonest able to walke to talke to conceiue to remember and such like the reason is taken from the little quantitie of moisture which may bee gathered by the contrary disposition in the otherwise affected subiects as also by that which we see in daily experience in creatures of other kinds For whereas man by reason of his fluid vnsetled substance hath for the better strengthning of his ioints his bodie swathed and is a long time before he is able to stand or walke or performe any such like his vitall functions we see other creatures almost in the same moment borne and inabled to stand walke and such like for their vnequall quantitie of heat preuailing ouer the little store of moisture soone sitteth them for the performance of vitall actions that being the soules chiefe instrument in the discharge of her duties Now if any man shall aske what this iust proportion is and when they are tempred so as may best be auaileable for long life the answer is that heat and moisture are then well proportioned when neither the moisture with its too great quantity deuoureth the heat nor the ouermuch heat too suddenlie consumes and eateth vp the moisture Yet must the heat haue a kind of dominion ouer the moisture else can it not be able to nourish the bodie For in nutrition the thing nourished by reason of the instrument ordained for that purpose must actually worke vpon that whereby it is nourished And because that euery Agent must be proportioned vnto the patient in the inequality of excesse therefore must the heat being the soules sole actiue instrument of nutrition haue dominion ouer the moisture the subiect matter of that facultie Touching the complexions the question is which of them is best disposed and fitted for length of life To take that for granted which Fernelius doubteth of namely that there are foure if not onely yet chiefely notable complexions we answer that those of a sanguine constitution are by nature capable of the longest life as hauing the two qualities of life best tempred And therefore is compared vnto the aire which is moderatly hot and in the highest degree moist Yet not with that too thinne and fluid watrish moisture but more oily oile it selfe resembling the true nature of the aire Therefore the sanguine complexion is fittest for long life For choler is an humor like vnto fire extreame hot and moderatly drie and so vnsufficient to make supply of moisture to the deuouring operation of that firie heat which is in it In the flegmaticke the copiousnesse of that humour resembling water oppresseth the heat and so hindreth good digestion whence proceed crudities in the stomacke and liuer from whence they are diffused into the veines and so vnto all the parts of the body and at length the body is ouergrowen with corruption Lastly melancholy resembling the earth and its qualities
Egyptians auouched the Fly to be the Hieroglyphick of anger and pertinacie because as Pierius obserueth it is of so cholericke and fierie a disposition and we see in experience men in anger fiery coloured which proceeds from their heats inflaming of the blood Now heat vnproportioned vnto the moisture as is aforesaid quickly consumeth that small store of moisture prouided for its food and so procureth death To these may be added that welknowen Probleme of Aristotle why children breath faster and with lesse intermission then doe better growen men The answer is their great store of heat in comparison of that small measure in the after-ages causeth nature for its better preseruation to draw the aire oftner for the cooling of the hearts heat and that is the reason that men who haue beene anie long time troubled with an ague or any such like distemperature are alwaies verie short winded The contrary Aristotle witnesseth to follow in things contrarily affected for so he prooneth the horse and exe not to haue so much heat in them because they take not their breath so thicke together implying that the cold temper of the heart and other inwards is cause of longer breath which is also euident in reason for the attraction and emission of the aire being ordained onely for the cooling and tempring of the harts heat according to the necessity thereof must breathing be either oftner or more seldome What is the reason that in our youth we are more hungrie and haue a greater desire of meat than in our declining and elder ages The reason is our sound speedy digestion of fore receiued nourishment performed by meanes of our naturall heat whence ariseth a new sucking of the veines and so an incitement of the appetite Whence is it that old men are commonly so iealously suspicious The cause is their incredulity hardnesse of beliefe which it selfe also proceedeth from their much experience of mens wilie practises according to that The burnt child dreadeth the fire For such is the extreme badnesse of our nature that still we go from one extreme vnto another so become of men extremely credulous in our last age extremely suspicious And that indeed was Aristotles remedie who to draw vs from conetousnesse biddes vs incline vnto prodigalitie and yet onely with this condition if we cannot at the first instant after our long custome in the one extreme light vpon the mediocritie betweene both What maketh them so sottishly deuoted to the things of this world that when they are neerest vnto death they are most desirous not only to keepe that which before they had gotten but more more to increase their store The reason is giuen by Aristotle in his Rhetoricks and it is their exceeding great desire of life euen after those many daies which they haue forespent Whēce proceedeth that other inordinate desire of things necessary for life-maintenance they hauing in their experience obserued how hardly things necessary are gotten how easily also they are lost What is the cause why old men are so talkatiue and full of words Either because nature loues to exercise that part most which is least decaied or that knowledge the onely thing old age can bragge of cannot be manifested but by vtterance or that old men the nigher they are to their end they much more desire to haue their memory not onely by children and posterity but euen by the speeches and deedes fore-vttered and performed in their life or that wisedome as all good things naturally communicate their good properties makes them desirous to profit others Whence is that frosty horinesse that vsually lighteth vpon mens heads in the winter and coldest age of their life There are some that imagine it to proceed from the drinesse of those excrements which also they goe about to prooue by the like experiment in bones which after their humour is drawen out by seething grow more and more white till at length they come vnto a perfect and full whitenesse But the vntrue resolution of the doubt propoūded is therby discouered because that men who vse to couer their haire are soner gray-headed than those that vse no couering when as notwithstanding it is manifest that couered haire hath more store of moisture than that which hath beene exposed vnto the iniurious tossing of the winde and the scorching heat of the sunne Therefore I rather allow of Aristotles reason namely the put refaction of that excrementall humour whereof our haire is made for our naturall heat through its vnintermitted operation being disabled fully to digest that excrement sent from within to that outmost couering our skin for the haires nourishment it putrefieth and corrupteth Now that there is such a rottennesse and putrefaction in the haire it is euident by experience of such as by long sickenesse haue become vntimely grayheaded for after the recouery of their disease the feeblenesse of their heate being together with their health restored the haire receiues its former flourishing and that I may so speake vnwasted greenenesse which restitution can be attributed vnto no other cause but only to the through concoction of that vndigested excrement by the restored heat The like whereof we see also in corne and grasse that hauing lost its florishing greenenesse by the continuall beating vpon and ouerwhelming of the waters afterward being by the Sunnes liuely heat cherished and reuiued resumeth its naturall vigour and viridity And that this hoariheadednesse proceeds from a defect of heat it is farther euidenced by a strange example recorded by Scaliger of a man who in one nights space had his head ouergrowen with hoarinesse The cause was this The Prince of Mantoua Francis Gonzaga had vpon suspicion of traiterous conspiracy either against his person or state imprisoned one of his kin alliance that for his age was wholy vncapable of that alteration and vpon the next morrow newes was brought vnto the Prince that his head was all vpon the sudden growen hoarily gray which almost miraculous alteration mooued the Princes minde to grant him life and free vse of his former liberty Now if any man should demand the reason of this sudden change it is giuen by the Philosophers and is nothing else but the extremity of his griefe and feare whence proceeded that withdrawing of the dispersed heat vnto the inward parts and so was the humorous nourishment of the haire for want of concoction turned into rottennesse And thus haue we briefly runne ouer the diuersities of mans ages together with the true causes and properties of the particulars hauing premised the determination of those vsually incident controuersies for our better and more direct proceeding in the principall treatise not as Prolegomena or preface to the purpose but as things essentiall and of the substance of our matter Wherein if I haue either omitted any thing pertinent or admitted ought that is superfluous I hope the eie of fauour wil wincke at my missing as for the malicious seeing I cannot looke for fauourable acceptance I weigh not their verdict onely as the Poet saith Equitem mihi plaudere curo The baser sort I care to please no more One if I please enough is me therefore FINIS