If it be thin or unpure the ground shall be either obscure and little or much and that divers and unconcoct And this is the working of these four qualities when they exceed alone But and if two of them exceed together there may result of that sort four other distemperances as hot and dry hot and moist cold and dry and cold and moist Compound distemperatures of qualities Now what alterations these and every one of them doth cause the urine you may easily conjecture if you keep in mind that which I said of the four simple qualities and so adde togethet the alterations And this must you remember therewith that where they both agree in any alteration they cause that alteration to bee the greater and where they be contrary they cause the alteration to be nearer to a mean howbeit somewhat to help you take this brief declaration A temperate man As a temperate man doth make that perfect urine written of before in Chap. 6. so the urine of a sanguine man which is hot and moist shall be yellow or light saffron coloured by the reason of the heat and somewhat gross by reason of the moisture A cholerick man In a cholerick man being hot and dry 〈◊〉 the urine shall be in colour as in a sanguinâ— man but in substance thin by reason of thâ— dryness A melancolike man The urine of a melancholy man whose nature is cold and dry shall be white througâ— the cold and cleer for the dryness A flegmatick man The flegmatick man which is cold anâ— moist maketh urine white through cold anâ— thick by the moisture for as heat and colâ— altereth the colours so dryness and moisturâ— changeth the substance Now if you havâ— remembred all that I have written before then shall you be the meeter and better able a great deal to perceive the reasons 〈◊〉 the tokens which vrine doth give And 〈◊〉 shall your knowledge be the more certaiâ— if you know not only the thing but also thâ— cause of it Now therefore will I wriâ— of the signification of the parts of urinâ— particularly that you may perceive thâ— first and chief commoditie of urine which 〈◊〉 worketh for mans health CHAP. VIII The significations of the parts of Vrine particularly I Told you in the sixt Chapter of this Book what urine was most perfect sound and healthfull of all other And I said that it was the rule and tryall to examine all other urines by so that the neerer that any urine was to it the better it was and the further that it declineth from it the worse it is This I said should be as a generall rule which thing to be true in healthful men you may perceive by that I have written already And that it is also true in sick men Hypocrates witnesseth saying That Vrine is best whose ground is white duly knit and stable all the time that the sickness prevaileth But Galen to supply that that is understood in this saying and so to make it perfect addeth thereto That it must be of colour partie golden or pale and of a mean substance between thick and thin And also in these things is required stableness to make it a perfect Urine for that which is unstable in any part in that it is not perfect Here were a place to speake of the difference of this changeableness or unstableness for there is one sort called ordinary and another called unordinarie and of both these are there divers differences But because they depend of an exacter judgement theâ— unlearned men can well attain unto I overpass them for this time and will declare the other differences of urine whereby it altereth from this mean urine in all parts particularly Substance or urine And first I will begin with the substancâ— of urine the which as I said before is oâ— three kindes thick thin and mean Mean A mean urine is that that is in the middle between extream thick and extreaâ— thin And as it is mean between them iâ— substance so is it mean in signification so it doth betoken of it self only good temperance and health But the other two betoken distemperance and default of concoctâ—on and that diversly according to the diversity of the causes of them as you shall noâ— consequently hear Thin urine First to speak of thin urine either it doth still â— continue thin as it was first made or else it doth sheâ—ly waxe thick and troubled That that doth continâ— still thin doth betoken lack of concoction and so doâ— the other also but yet this that continueth thin beâ—keneth more lack of conoction for it betokeneâ— that nature hath not yet begun to concoct Aâ— therefore is that water a sign of extream crudâ— or rawness in nature But that that waxeth thick it beginneth to cool though it betoken lack of concoction yet doth it declare that nature hath begun to concoct alreadie notwithstanding it is an evill urine for it signifieth that nature hath need not only of great strength to perform that concoction which she hath begun but also that there is required long time to the performance of the same For the which cause Galen calleth this Of all Vrines the worst Thus have you heard touching crudity and concoction what thin urine doth signifie so that all thin urine betokeneth crudity And beside that doth further betoken as witnesseth Hypocrates gatherings or apostumations in the nether parts of the bodie namely if it continue so very long and the patient escape death Thin and white Furthermore if such thin urine have with it a light whiteness it is a very evill sign For if it be in a burning ague it is a token of frensines But if the patient be fransick alreadie and the urine doth so continue it doth most commonly betoken death And if he escape death the which is seldome seen then shall he be long sick and escape hardly Thin urine also betokeneth divers other things as the stopping of the reins and of the water veins And likewise if a man have had much bleeding or laxe or pissing his urine will be white and thin and almost without ground Like manner in old age and long weakness of sickness Also in young children if it continue long it is a deadly sign Yet thin urine doth sometime betoken the end of sickness and recovery of health as in Agues namely quotidians if at the beginning of them and so after the urine did appear thick and troubled and especially if the colour amend therewith Thin and â—axen And if it be thin in substance and of flaxen colour then is it better then thin and white for because the colour is better thoughâ— the substance bee all one so that thoughâ— it betoken some weakness and lack of concoction yet not so much as doth the other for the colour is meanly concoct that is to say naturall heat is meanly increased Thin and golden But if it be thin and golden it
the spring time And those countries that be hot and dry make urine like unto summer And contrariwise cold and moist alter water as doth winter But countries that are drie and distempered between heat and cold make urine like harvest Meats drinks and medicines Also meats and drinks and order of diet causeth urine to alter and medicines also as not only experience reacheth but also Hippocrates witnesseth in the sixt Book of his Epidemies or raining sicknesses in the fift part and the fifteenth sentence as for example Meats of light concoction Those meats that are light of concoction and good in substance cause good and temperate urine with pure contents but contrary meats cause discoloured urine and thin with strange contents Meats of hard concoction Meats that will not concoct make lesser contents and divers in substance Evill meats cause greater contents and in nothing duely formed And as the quality of meats doth alter urine so doth the quantity also For if a man have eaten much and not concocted it his urine shall be thin and white and sometime without ground But if this crudity or rawness in stomack continâ— long the urine will become divers in suâ—stance Drinking of wine and in contents Also wine drunk abundantly causeth â—teration in urine Fasting long But now contrariwise if a man doe sâ— long his urine will appear fiery and saffrâ— coloured and thin with lesser ground Suffering of famine But if a man suffer famine and do nâ— nourish his water shall be thin and whiâ— with a certain glistering and withoâ— ground Labour Moreover exercise and rest changeth â—rine for through excessive labour the uriâ— changeth from light saffron and at lengâ— becommeth saffron coloured with litâ— ground thin and higher coloured then should be And some time there fleete on the top a certain fastness specially aftâ— overmuch wearinesse Rest But idleness and rest doth contrariwiâ— cause white urine with greater and grosâ— ground Sleep Watching Furthermore sleep and watching if thâ— exceed measure they alter urine but theâ— is a difference between both sleepe aâ— watching comming of sickness and theâ— both when they be taken willingly in healâ— For if that sickness cause overmuch sleeâ— â—hen is the urine whitish with substance eiâ—her fully thick or but partly thin and the contents many and undigest Naturall sleep But if that such sleep come naturally the urine is not so white but rather flaxen and the substance mean with greater and well concoct contents Voluntary sleep And likewise they that have watched purposedly and not by reason of sickness their urine is but little changed Watch in sickness But if they watch for any sickly cause their urine will change but little at the beginning but with continuance the contents will be dispersed and at the last clean wasted and the substance of the urine waxeth thinner and thinner by little and little and the colour inclineth either to white and watery or unto golden saffron oylie or black according as the cause is that maketh it so to change Of alteration by complexion I will write in the next Chapter Now have you heard as touching alteration of urine in health according to diversity of ages both in men and women times of the yeer countries meats and drinks labour rest sleep and watch so that you must have regard to these in all judgements both in health and in sicknesse For if these be not diligently marked they may cause great error as you may well coâ—der What is to be considered in urine First therefore in every urine you 〈◊〉 consider whether it be a mans or a womâ— and what age he or shee is of then wâ— time of the yeer it is and what count what meats and drinks the person usâ— and likewise of labour and rest sleep 〈◊〉 watch And then must you consider 〈◊〉 every one of these doth alter urine so 〈◊〉 if the altering of them from that health urine whereof I spake in the beginning this Chapter be but such as one of thâ— foresaid things would cause then may it be judged to come of any disease as for â—â—ample High coloured water in sumâ— so that it pass not saffron colour or wâ— coloured water in winter should rather reckoned to come of the time of the yâ— then of any sickness and likewise of oâ— things CHAP. VII What be the generall qualities that alteâ— the parts of Vrine BEfore I treat of the signification of 〈◊〉 parts of Urine I think it good to instrâ— you of the generall qualities which cause all alterations in urine whereby you shall perceive not only what every urine doth betoken as I shall anon set forth but also if you mark well this Chapter you shall see â—he cause why every urine doth so signifie You shall understand therefore that there be four chief and only qualities whereof all things that are both in the Sea and Earth are made as man and beast fish and fowl trees herbs stones and mettals These four qualities are heat cold moistness and driness and these four continuing duly tempered as nature ordered them first in every perfect body be the cause of continuall health But if they bee altered wrongly then doe they cause diseases diversly according to the diversitie of the alterations And as they doe cause diseases so they change the colour substance and other parts of the urine whereby wee may conjecture the cause of the disease and so consequently the disease it self though sometime it declareth the disease it self and not the cause thereof Passive and active qualities But now to come to the matter meetest for this time you shall mark that two of these four qualities are named Passive and they cause but small alteration in comparison The other two are called Active anâ— they cause great alteration The Active qualities are heat and colâ— and the Passive qualities are driness anâ— moistness Moistness When Moistness therefore exceedeth alone it dulleth the naturall colour of urinâ— thicketh and ingrosseth the substance anâ— increaseth the quantitie And as the oveâ— part of it above waxeth rough and troubleâ— so the ground increaseth and continueâ— raw and unconcoct Dryness But dryness doth diminish the quantitâ— of urine and also the contents It maketâ— it thin in substance cleer and bright anâ— causeth mean colour and the ground appeareth grosser Heat Likewise heat if it exceed measure buâ— little it maketh pale and light saffron colour in the urine But if heat exceed greatly it causeth golden and saffron colourâ— with mean substance and a little brightness the ground is mean in respect to the quantity of urine but it declineth from the duâ— whiteness toward saffron colour Cold. But cold on the other side maketh urinâ— turn to white colour and changeth the substance from a mean And if the cold increase the urine will alter from mean substance and therefore consequently will bee either thin or grosse
tell him all things at the first sight more like a God then man So that if there be any Physitian so arrogant that he will take upon him to tell all things alone and will not hear the Patient speak specially not knowing the party before neither seeing other signes but only the urine as I dare boldly pronounce That such a man is unworthy to be called a Physitian So it shall be good for all men not to trust to the judgement of such a one for by such mis-use in this thing not only much harme befalls the patients so that it hath been the occasion of many mens death but also very much reproach hath ensued to the whole estate and order of Physitians and hath caused that excellent and most necessary art to bee contemned derided and little set by To avoid the more this inconvenience I have written this little Treatise to all men in common The use o◠this Book that they may learn to have some knowledge in their own urines and thereby may be the better able to instruct the Physitian at the least what sort of urine they have made from time to time from the beginning of their sicknes and somewhat before And also what sort of water they were wont to make in their health so that if men will be diligent to mark their water in time of health they shall not only be able to instruct the Physitian as I have said but should bee also able to perceive the cause of the disease sometimes before the grief come and so by the counsell of some discreet Physitian avoid the sicknes before it bee fully entred yea and by due marking of their urine they shall perceive from time to time how they shall governe themselves in meats and drinks in exercise and rest and the like things so that thereby they may eschew both the diseases and also the causes of the same Now what a commodity this may bee to all men and what thanks he hath deserved that hath taught this so great a commodity to all men in generall I leave it to every mans own judgement And thus as you may perceive I have declared the causes of this my pains taking them to be for the profit of the whole Commons indifferently Howbeit if any mean learned Physitian shall be thereby furthered in his judgement I will not envie him but will be the gladder the more number of men I perceive to take benefit by it I am sure that the true judgement of urines according to the mind of Hippocrates The difficultie of Judgemen in Urine Galen and such like is very hard though not to excellent Clerks yet to the meaner sort partly by reason that it is written so dispersedly in their works and not in any one Book peculiarly and sufficiently and partly because that sundry words used in the same as in the rest of Physick are obscure to them that have not been exercised in all kinds of learning and that with the knowledge of both the Greek and Latine tongues Therefore I trust that this my pains shall be some help also to them that lack the exercise of such studie and knowledge But because there is a common saying in the mouths of many men now a dayes that it is a profaining of learning and a meanes to bring it into contempt so to set it forth in the vulgar tongue that every man indifferently may read it and study it The answer unto it To this I will briefly answer that this saying is not onely against many great learned mens acts and examples but also against manifest reasons besides that it encludeth a pernitious kinde of counsell For if every thing should be put away or left undone that evill men may pervert and use to an evill purpose so should we have no good thing remain meats and drinks must be taken away because many abuse of it And because evill men doe abuse of both eyes and tongues shall all men therefore pluck out their eyes and their tongues Because many men doe abuse lawes and authority shall men expell lawes and high powers Many evill men and hereticks have misinterpreted Gods word yet ought Gods word neverthelesse to be taught vulgarly to all men Though the Pope Cardinals and Monkes have practised to poyson men even with the very Sacrament of the supper of the Lord yet no man will be so mad therefore to eschue the use of that blessed Sacrament And yet all this followeth if men allow that common saying above written Better meanes it were to set forth publickly all that might doe good to the publique wealth and streightly to punish the abuses of them then to punish good men and good things because that evill men offend It is a like error to that sort of doctrine which contemned wine as an evill thing because that many were made drunken with it But to leave this and to come more particularly to the matter What is learning unlearned or knowledge unknown any thing else but a vaine name Learning then encreaseth most when it is studied of most And learning then triumpheth most when it hath most favourers and followers And then doth ignorance learnings enemy rejoyce most when learning reigneth in fewest and blindnesse ruleth most so that then is learning most profained contemned and hated when it hath most enemies that is to say when most men are ignorant For that old saying shall alwayes be true Learning hath no enemy but the ignorant Plutarch his sentence Aske that great Cleark Plutarch what his minde is in this Whether the judgement of health be a meet thing for every man to study and thou shalt heare him answer that shame it is for men to observe the crying of Crowes and such like things in beasts and birds whereby men judge of the change of weathers and to be negligent in marking motions within themselves and alterations preparing unto sicknes Yea he requireth so exact knowledge in every man appertaining unto health that he noteth it for a great shame and calleth it unsensibleness in a man if he be so ignorant that he shal need to ask of the Physitians what meats are best for him And to ask what meates shall best digest in him is as absurd a question saith he as to ask what meats are sweet soure or bitter and such like Yea beyon◠all this he requireth in every man the knowledge of his own pulse which is a thing harder then the judgement of urines Examples of Writers in the Vulgar tongue Now if you require Examples the whole world is full of them They that wrote i◠Greek wrote in their own vulgar tongue 〈◊〉 and so did they that wrote in Latine write◠in their own common speech Besides that have we not infinite examples of Learned men in Germany France and Spain which wrote of Physick in their own tongue Yea Is not our own England full of Examples How many Books of Practises how many Herbals and
Purple colour PUrple colour declareth need of much strength before it can be altered to a good urine This urine is a sign of burning choler And if it do continue very long it is a token of the yellow Jaunders with abundance gross and corrupt choller gathered in the â—ver And at the beginning there goeth wâ— it some spices and grudgings of the Agâ— with a little thirstiness but unless there bâ— discretion used in the diet of such a Patieâ— it may turn to a much worse disease Of Green Vrines Green colour GReen colour is an evill and a dangeroâ— token for it needeth not only long timâ— but also cotinual strength to bring it agâ— to a good trade The higher that this cold is the more it declareth that choller exceâ—eth the other humours which if it be aâ— more burned will cause black urine which I will anon speak But if green oâ—lour come of wasting of the fat then is somewhat like to oylie colour or popinâ— green but if it come of abundance of purpâ—lish colour and through increase of his quâ—litie then doth the colour incline more â—ward black and glistereth with shadow green drawing very nigh unto black Afâ— green choler followeth madness parbreaâ—ing and avoiding of choler sometimes wiâ— matter or else burned and also continuâ— thirstiness and burning heat of the tongue straightness about the stomack And like other things But if the patient continue strong and the colour of the urine do waxe lighter there is good hope else there is great fear least of the dryness and burning there do follow contraction of the sinews which will kill the patient Of Oilie Vrine or Popinjay Green Oilie urine or popinjay green OYlie Urine is of three sorts as I said in the fift Chapter that is light oylie stark oylie and dark oylie Oylie urines are a token of unnatural heat and the higher that the colour is the greater is the heat And also they betoken melting of the fat within a man for of it are they so coloured But at the beginning when there is a little fat melted the urine is light oylie For if it look stark oylie then it signifieth that the disease increaseth But if it come once to dark oylie then is the disease sore increased Hippocrates in the seventh Book of his Aphorisms speaking of fatness in urine saith thus Who so maketh urine with fatty flotes comming much and fast they have sharp pains in the reins Which sentence though it seem more to appertain to the contents then to the colour yet doth not onely Galen but also Aetinâ— Actuarius and also another Grecian who name I know not expound it amongst colours and by it declare the difference â— know whether that wast or melting â— fat be in the reins it self or in other parts oâ— the body For if it come fast together â— Hippocrates saith then commeth it from thâ— reins it self and betokneth the wasting â— be in them But if it come softly and increaâ— by little and little then doth it declare thâ— the whole body is overcome with unnaturall heat and that the fat of it doth wast it doth betoken as Act. witnesseth a wasting Ague consuming the body Of blew Vrine Ash-colour and Black BLew colour Ash-colour and Black do differ only in lightness and darkness For ash-colour is darker then blew anâ— black is darker then any of them both Blew colour Blew colour sometime cometh of moderate melancholy and then is the urine somewhat thin in substance And sometime iâ— commeth of great cold and then it is thick in substance And sometime it is a token oâ— mortifying of some part Yea and sometime even of whole nature namely if the colour change to worse and worse and there went before no token of concoction Ash-colour Ash coloured urine commeth of like causes and betokeneth like things Howbeit it is so coloured many times when the party that made it hath been sore beaten and bruised But in this you need not the help of urine for you may see the walts and tokens of the stripes in his body Black urine Urine which is extream black sometime betokeneth extream heat and sometime extream cold the which both you may distinctly discerne if you doe observe order of alteration in the colours of the urine that the patient made last before For if his urine before were green or like thereto then doth the black urine which follows it betoken extream heat But if it were last before blew or ash-coloured then doth it signifie extream cold This black colour though it be commonly an evill and deadly sign as I said before speaking of thick urine and black yet sometime it is a good token For in all diseases lightly that come of melancholy matter it betokeneth that the matter doth avoid and so the sicknes to end And such urine doth appear many times after purgations or other meats and drinks which purge the splene namely if a man do labour upon them that was before diseased of the spleen Howbeit sometime meats and drinks of liâ— colour cause black urine as Galen witnesseth namely after dark red wine and Allegant But in moderate Agues if such black â—rine doe appear it is a token of death excepâ— it be on some Criticall dayes And likewiâ— in sharp agues especially if the savour bâ— strong and stinking unless it come of somâ— grief of the bladder Quantitie of urine Let this suffice for this time as touchinâ— colours Now for the quantitie of urine â— when it is mean it is a good token so wheâ— it is either too much or too little it is an evill sign except it come of such cause as shewed before that altereth urine in healthfull man Much in a whole body As first excessive quantitie of urine comâ—meth of much drinking of thin wine as Reâ—nish wine and such like But that shall yoâ— thus know for the colour will be whitely and the substance thinner then a meanâ— the contents also will be divers and not dâ—ly knit Likewise if there be aboundancâ— of raw humours in a man unconcocted anâ— yet nature persevering strong then is therâ— great quantity of urine and somewhat thiâ— of substance but not so white as the otheâ— and the contents of this are better Alsâ— as Hippocrates saith much Vrine made iâ— the night 4. Aph. 3. is a token of small sege so that if any impediment let naturall sege then will the quantity of urine be the greater But in this as the colour is mean so is the ground both greater and grosser yet in healthfull folk may the urine by another means also be greater then a mean and that may be by medicines which provoke urine but then is the colour more naturall then the last that I spake of and the ground is thinner of substance so that it is dark and scarcely seene and then is there a certain glistering in the urine it self Little urine in a whole body Now
32. Howbeit Hippocrates in his Aphorisms seemeth to say the contrary for he saith That when the ground is so coloured of choler especially if at the beginning of the sicknesse it were waterie to sight then doth it betoken a quicke sickness that is to say as Philotheus expoundeth it Philotheus a sicknesse that will shortly be ended and so it may justly be called a good sign Notwithstanding as in this point it is a good token in that it signifieth that the disease is nigh the end so it may be called as Actuarius calleth it an evill sign because it doth betoken a cholerick sickness and that choler doth unnaturally abound Antonius Musa And if this answer do not content you though it content Antonius Musa then may you say more better as I thinke thus That if the ground be at the beginning of the sickness coloured with choller and so increase as Actuarius seemeth to mean then is it an evil token indeed for it declareth both the abundance and also the encrease of choler But if the ground at the beginning of a cholerick disease were warry that is white and thin and afterward turn to saffron colour which is the exact colour of choler or else to a yellow colour which is somewhat lesse cholerick then is it a token that the cholerick matter which before lay lurking in the body doth now begin to avoid and so the cause of sicknesse thus by nature expelled health must neeâ— follow As contrariwise if after yellow or saâ—fron colour it change unto whiter and the be no certain token of concoction then it an evill sign and a token of phrensie Howbeit if there be any token of certain concoction then is the same a good sign that if you take heed you may perceivâ— here what a necessary thing it is to observâ— order in the alteration of urine of whicâ— I have partly spoken before Claret colour Red. Bloudie Now therefore to goe oâ—n If thâ— ground bee of claret colour either red oâ— blew the token is not good For these bloody colours come either of too much abundance of bloud or else by reason that the retentive power is so feeble that it cannoâ— keep in the good humors but suffreth them to run out Claret red Claret colour and red doe betoken a certain default of concoction in the veins and that through the excess of red choler Buâ— yet this default is but mean and without danger seeing that the hurt is only by quantity whereas some other do hurt both by quantitie and qualitie also Bloudie Bloodie grounds are altogether worse then red though they be better then ash-coloured and black for they betoken that the bloud is nothing duely wrought especially if their quantitie be much withall for then the quantity of matter doth let the powers to work which thing yet as it may be born so it declareth need of long time to recover health But if this doe come through weakness of the powers in themselves then is it an extream evill sign for it betokeneth that the powers are overcome with weariness in working and be not able to keep in the good and profitable humors Which thing to discern more exactly you shall take artificiall conjectures by other circumstances which give also tokens of judgement namely as by the age of the person by his order of dyet and such like Blew Ash-colour Black Now to make an end with the other colours which are of a dark hew as blew-ash-colour and black These of all other are the worst and most envious to nature and the nearer they cleave to the bottome of the urinall the worse they are These colours come of a black melancholy humour being ingendred within the veins or else coming from some other part into them or else it betokeneth deadly mortifying But sometimes it cometh of sore bruising and stripes and generally cometh namely the black either of exceâ—sive cold or excessive heat And now for a conclusion whatsoever have said of the ground you shall undeâ—stand the same to bee spoken of the swiâ— and the cloud for they are in kinde but oâ— thing save that they differ in lightness anâ—heft and therefore also in places But thâ— judgement of their substance and colour â— much after one rate though some difference there be as you shall hear hereafter Quantitie And likewise of their quantity whicâ— as it is then only commendable when it iâ— mean so if it be greater then a mean it dotâ— declare some alteration in man though noâ— alwayes extreamly evill for sometime it iâ— a token of fatting or growing to a corporateness Great and that it doth signifie if nonâ— other evill sign be coupled with it Foâ— though the person feed much on nourishing meats and that with rest and an idle life yeâ— naturall heat appeareth so strong that she can easily concoct such meats According to this saith Galen in his Judicials that the plenty of the ground in urine betokeneth certain and exact with concoction And that as the body is repleat with crude humours so it declareth that those same be in expelling out at that present time And for this cause saith he in all children commonly and in men also which feed much or bee of some other cause replete with humors their urine hath a great ground Also oftentimes it chanceth the pores of the skin to be stopped so that such excrements as were wont to pass out by them are inforced to seek a new passage which they find most readiest by the urine and thereof are the contents and namely the ground oftentimes encreased And all these waies chance in health But in sickness it chanceth many and grosse superfluities do appear in the urine as often as the naturall powers namely the alterative or concoctive power being weakned such crude humours pass out undefied So doth it chance as witnesseth Alexander Trallianus That the urine of them which have the Collick Tral 2. cap. 33. is flegmatick and hath a great ground But if the contents be either great or gross in the beginning or in the augmenting of sickness namely if the Patient have any notable Ague it argueth abundance of humours to the concoction of the which there needeth both strength of naturall powers with time and good speed Little Contents And now contrary wayes must you judgâ— of the smalness of the contents for they becaused either of great labour long fasting stopping or obstruction of the veins and such like parts or else of slacknesse of concoction Gal. 2. pres Hip. 26. And as Galen saith when the body is replete with crude and raw humours then is the ground great but if the body be replenished with cholerick humors then is there in the urine either little ground or none at all but in such case it is well if there be any sublimation or swim Urine without ground Now seemeth the place most meet to speak of such urines as
the contents The lowest region And this now may suffice as touching contents of every kind Therefore now will I a little repeat out of Actuarius of the diversitie of judgement by the places or regions of the contents That ground which fleeteth nigh to the bottom of the urinall being in other points also good and mild doth betoken no strange thing But if it be unconcoct and deformed it betokeneth default in nature And if his parts be disparkled asunder it betokeneâ— a dimness in nature which doth not rest the rebellion of noysome humors so thaâ— in such case there appeareth need both â— long time and also more strength to overcome that evill But as it is commendable that the ground fleet nigh the bottome oâ— the urinall so is it discommendable if it lyeâ— flat on the bottome of the same The middle region Now as touching the swim or sublimation if it be good in colour and other waies then doth it differ only in place from a right ground and that cometh of an unnaturall â—iness which maketh it to be so light â—o fleet above his due place but if his â—r and other like points bee evill yet â—oth it betoken lesse evill then if it â—in the right place of the ground The regioâ— â— now as touching the third and highâ—â—gion which is the place of the clouds â—e appear a light and thin cloud it beâ—th no small grief of the head But â—fference is there in the clouds the that they be in colour and substance â—ther they differ from a right good â—urall Content And therefore need â—ng time to return thereunto And â—y wayes the worse that they are in â—nd substance the less they are to be blamed by reason of their place which is so much distant from the naturall place of Contents For this is a generall rule The lower that good contents fleet in the urine excepting alwaies such as cleave to the hard bottom the better they are And contrary wayes of evill contents and such like the higher they fleet the lesse evill they betoken The proportion of the regions to the parts of man Now to make an end of this You shall observe a certain proportion that is between the parts of the urine and the parts of mans body The highest part of the urine doth betoken the highest part of the body namely the head and such other neer unto it The middle region of the urine doth represent the middle parts of man as the breast the bowels and the parts about them The hether region of the urine doth purport the lowest parts of man from the bowels downward And if you mark well this proportion you may the easier judge the griefs of the parts of man For when the contents which in colour and substance are naturall and yet by the abundance of windiness be lift up to the higher part of the urine it declareth some great pain to be in the head And in like manner when the swim or sublimation doth declare grief that grief must be loâ—ed to be in the middlemost parts of man â— I said before and so of the other Again as this proportion between thâ— regions of urine and the parts of mans body doth declare that place in certain heighâ— so doth it in breadth also by like proportion if you doe duly mark the side unto whicâ— the contents do decline And if you mark wel what I have saiâ— you may perceive the only cause of meâ— such griefs when the contents is only diâ—ordered in place cometh of an unnaturaâ— windines but yet commonly annexed witâ— phlegmatick and unconcocted matter And as the windiness doth cause disordâ— in the contents so it causeth also anotheâ— kind of things not to be neglected in urine and that is bubbles Bubbles which sometimes floâ— in the ring or garland onely and sometimeâ— in the middest of the urine onely and otheâ— times doe cover the whole face of the urinâ— The Bubbles which stand round aboâ— over the garland only and continue withouâ— parting if they he of the same colour thâ— the urine is they declare great pain to be it the head and that in all parts of the headâ— if the Bubbles joyn together without parting But and if they occupie only the one half of the garland then is that pain in the one half of the head And so forth may you judge by like proportion But if they doe part in sundry places and joyn not all together it is a token that the pain is the lesser and cometh of a weaker cause The more yellower that their colour is the greater they declare the pain in the head to be If they be white or rather whitish and stand about in the compasse of the garland they betoken little pain or none And if the urine bee thin withall they betoken weakness of naturall heat or else the opilation and stopping of the reins namely if there appear no ground in the urine This doth Hippocrates witness 7. Aph. 14. saying When in the urine there swimmeth bubbles they betoken grief in the reins And also that it shall long continue The reason of the long continuance as Galen and Philotheus doe both declare is because that the grief commeth of cold and tough phlegmatick matter which always is long before it may overcome Lib. 28. c. 6. Pliny also saith that that urine is evil which is ful of bubbles and thick in which if the ground be white it is a token that there shal be grief either about the joynts or else about the bowels Howbeit yet sometimes the bubbles are not an evill token but contrariwise a good token of concoction and declare that nature doth now apply her self wholy unto concoction And this do the Bubbles signifie when they appear in the water in which they were not seen long before And therefore in an Ague we may conjecture the declination of it when we see bubbles to appear after that sort except it be so that they appeared in the urine at the beginning of the sickness and hath so continued still For then they declare grievous pain to be in the head yea and that dangerous if the urine also be thin in substance But if the substance of the urine be thick then the bubbles are not so evill a sign neither declare so greivouâ— danger Sometimes in stead of Bubbles which doe not appear when they should it sufficetâ— that there appear a gross some as it is sometimes seen to rise upon wine and it doth betoken even the same thing that the Bubble do Fome especially in the declination of the Ague of which I spake a little before These Bubbles do appear very thick aboue the garland in the urine of him that hath the issue of seed or wast of nature Sometime also there are seen in the Bubbles certain small scrapps as you would say much like hairs in grossness and of such length sometime that they reach from the one side of the
piss tempered with dust and lâ— in wool will heal corns marveilously anâ— destroy warts Childes urine A childs urine will heal the stinging of Bee Waspe and Hornet if the place be washed therewith Mans urine A mans urine will cleanse the freckleâ— and spots in the face And if a woman caâ—not be delivered of the after burden let he drinke mans urine and she shall be delivered straight Collumella Collumella saith that the best dunging fâ— yong shots of trees is mans urine namely which hath stood half a yeer For if yoâ— water vines or apple-trees with it there no dung that will cause so much fruit as â— will doe Sheeps urin and not only that but it causeâ— also the savour and the taste both of the apples and of the wine to be much the better Constantinus Affricanus Constantinus Affricanus saith That the urine of a Sheep or an Oxe with some hot oil is good for the grief in the ears that cometh of cold Vitalis Urine as Vitalis de Furno saith fretteth dryeth and burneth and is good for the grief of the spleen if it be drunk as Gentilis writeth Asse stale The Urine of a male Asse as the same Vitalis saith tempered with Nardus doth increase and preserve hair M. Virgilius And as some say by the writing of Marcellus Virgilius Vrine is of no smal nourishment for divers folk in the time of dearth have been preserved by the onely use and drinking of it Marcellus Also Marcellus the Practitioner in the 27. Chapter doth witnesse That the Vrine of a man is good for divers diseases of the wombe and bowels and namely for the Collick because that partly with provoking of vomit and partly by occasion of seges it expelleth strongly all noysome humours and for the same cause doth common Practitioners keep it still in daily use Vldericus Huttenus Vlderick Hutten also witnesseth That he did drive away the Ague above 8. times with the only drinking of his own Vrine at the beginning of his sickness And many still doe use the same practise and it proveth well Likewise Marsilius Ficinus writeth that Many men doe use to drink urine for the Pestilence Marsilius Ficinus which thing did Galen write long before him and also Paulus Aegineta and doe testifie also that it preserved them thaâ— dranke it at the least way as they thought Galen All urine as Galen writeth is hot iâ— vertue and sharp as saith Aegineta howbeit it differeth according to them that makâ— it For the hotter they are that make it the hotter is it also and likewise the colder urine cometh of a colder body Mens urine is the weakest of all otheâ— except tame barrow hoggs for they in verâ— many points agree with man but the urinâ— of wild Bores is stronger Mans urine Mens urine is of as strong cleansing vertuâ— as any thing else and therefore doe Fulleâ— use it to scoure and cleanse their cloth Anâ— in cure of griefs also for the same reason it is used to soke and wash maunginess anâ— scabbedness and running sores that are fulâ— of corruption and filth and specially if they have in them putrified matter and for sucâ— sores on the privie members it is good anâ— for mattering eares and for scales and scurfâ— if the head be washed in it I have healed with it many times sores on the toes namely which came of bruises and were without inflammation and that in servants and husbandmen which had a journey to goe and no Physitian with them bidding them to wet a small clout with it and to put into the sores and then to bind a cloth about it and as often as they listed to make water to let it fall on their sore toes and not to take the cloth away till it were quite whole Chrisocola That medicine which is made of childes urine called of some men in Greek Chrysocola that is to say gold soulder because men use to soulder gold This I say is exceeding good for sores that are hard to heal For this medicine doe I use for the chiefest mixing it with such other things as are good for such like sores In the time of Pestilence in Syria many did drinke Childrens urine and mens also and thought that they were preserved by it Alchumists Of urine also do Alchumysts make divers things as salt and other things moe And many other commodities there bee of urine as for washing and scouring and other like which for briefness I over-passe and the rather because they are commonly known of all folk Of the Diseases touching Vrines and the Remedies for the same NOw to come to that I promised as touching the griefs which hinder urine or expell it disorderly either in time oftner then is meet or in qualitie with other fashions then is agreeable to it or like other sorts I will briefly write not intending to teach the art of curing them which would require a longer Treatise and a meeter place but onely to name certain of the most common diseases and to set after them such simple and uncompound medicines only which cure those griefs Stopping of urine The stone First therefore touching the hinderance or stopping of urine it is not unknown that one common cause is the stone which sometimes is in the reins and sometime in the bladder I shewed you before that commonly you may discern those two asunder by the colour of the gravel but the more sure token is the grief in the sick part Now for the cure of the same doth these medicines serve which follow But as I have alwaies said you shal use them with the counsell of some learned Physitian for there is great difference both of the grief and of the medicines Medicines for the stone both in the Reins and Bladder Astra Bacca Ameos Angle toches sod Betony Bryony root Bylgrum Chamamel Capers Bark namely of the root Claret seed Clot seed Dock root Fenel seed and root Goats blood Gladian Gromell Gum of Plumtree and Cherry tree A hedge Sparrow Harebell Kneholm root and Berries Madder root High Mallows seed and Root Mugwort Parseley Pelliter of Spain Pyony Berries which are black Radish Sampere S. Johns Wort. Sperage Scholm Swines Fenell Sothern Wood-seed Sour Almonds Tent-wort Tutsan Berries Water Plantine Winter Gilli-flower And beside these there are divers others Also the Stone it selfe that came from a man being braid and drunken will breake and expell that other within him Beside the stone also it causeth the urine to be clean stopped by reason of weakness of the expulsive vertue and sometimes through clodds of blood which rest in the shaft Sometimes also through tough and clammie humours and sometime through some swelling within the yard and divers other wayes also of which the declaration is too long for this place and time but another time I intend to write of them at large and of all other griefs of