knowledge of the Arte. Thirdly the maner of teaching differeth farre from the maner of practise and is not subiect to so many errours But on the other side as no Minister is able to confute a learned aduersarie that hath not skill at the least in the Latine tongue so no Empirike is able to encounter with sicknesse that great aduersarie to nature without weapons fetched from the Greeke or Latine tongue M. Latimer sayth in one of his sermons English Diuinity will neuer be able to expell Popery out of this land and it may as truly be sayd Englâ—sh Physicians can not cure English diseases The third reason is They do many cures Thâ—s maketh much for their credit with them that perceiue not the falshood of it All cures are artificiall naturall or casuall No man of iudgement can ascribe artificiall cures to them that are not Artists I am not ignorant that nature is sayd to cure all diseases nor how that is to be vnderstood but by naturall cures I meane those that are performed by the strength of nature alone without any helpe of medicines and doubtlesse many of their cures are of this kinde for when the disease is dangerous or vnknowen as it is often to them there the most circumspect of them commonly giueth some light medicine that hath no power to alter the body or mitigate the disease as is required this is as one sayth to leaue a ship in a great storme to the violence of the waues If in this case the patient recouer by the aid of nature then this fortunate Empirike and his companions extoll and magnifie the cure as if rare and extraordinary skill had beene shewed in it when it was meerely naturall By casuall cures I meane not such as are meerely casuall and beside the purpose of them that giue the medicines of this kinde are the histories in Galen of two desperately sicke of the leprosie to both which was giuen wine wherein a viper had beene drowned both the giuers had a purpose to kill them the one of compassion the other of hatred but both the patients were cured by the secret and admirable vertue of the viper Like to this is that which we reade of a woman that gaue her husband the powder of a toad to rid him out of a painfull dropsie but by the violent operation of the poison all the matter of the disease was expelled and the man recouered But by casuall cures I vnderstand such as are performed by hap or chance in respect of the Arte being done without order or method as when one shooteth neglecting all the fiue things required in an Archer and yet hitteth the marke this is a meere chance and falleth out seldome Such are the cures of Empiriks Fulnesse of blood in the veines and of ill humors in the body are the common causes of most inward diseases here the learned Physician first collecteth all the signes of the disease then he referreth them to their causes and hauing diligently reuolued in in his minde all the indications belonging to the Art he proceedeth to the cure by taking away the cause of the disease The Empirike in the same case not knowing how to gather the signes of the sicknesse much lesse how to referre them to their causes attempteth the cure without consultation and by a weake and inartificiall coniecture openeth a veine or giueth a violent purger by both which rash and vnaduised courses many lose their liues but when any recouer the cure may fitly be called casuall more by good hap than by learning Light errors in the cure of a disease doe neuer appeare in a strong bodie as Hippoc. saith nor in a light disease no more than the ignorance of a pilot in a calme but a great disease and a violent storme trieth the skill of them both Sometimes grosse and gricuous errors are obscured and hidden for where the strength of nature weareth them out and the patient recouereth his health the Empericke can neuer be stained with the blot of them Therefore since almost all inward diseases proceed from fulnesse some are cured in strong bodies by emptying though that be done confusedly and without Arte. But this reason is further inforced that sundrie sicke persons recouer vnder them which came out of the hands of learned Physitians This is no argument of their knowledge for in long diseases patients are commonly desirous of change when somtimes the cause of the disease is taken awaie before and nothing required but time to gather strength Moreouer they that are tired with long sicknesse do vsually submit themselues to a stricter course both of medicines and diet vnder their second Physitian and though nothing be administred in either of these agreeable to Art yet some few may escape as a shippe or two in the losse of a great fleet may passe by rockes and sands and aâ—iue at the wished hauen Also some that haue beene afflicted with long sicknesse are willing to submit themselues to a farre stricter course vnder their second Physitian than vnder their first and are easily induced both to abstaine from things hurtfull be they neuer so pleasing to them and to take that which is offensiue And although the best of these vnlearned Practitioners cannot prescribe diet or medicine fitting to the temper of the body and agreeing to the nature of the disease yet a slender diet of rosted meats and a drying drinke which is a common course with them all doth sometimes cure an old disease proceeding from a cold and moist humour though all things be done confusedlie without order or methode Fernelius affirmeth that some great and dangerous diseases haue had an happie end by a slender and strict diet onelâ—e without any Arte. And this is the reason why learned Physitians doe sometimes faile in the cure of diseases of this kind because intemperate patients will not be barred from eating drinking according to their appetite but as fast as the Physitian diminisheth the matter of the sicknesse by emptying so fast they renew it againe by filling Therefore a seruant that by the basenesse of his condition is bound to follow all that which is prescribed agreeable to the rules of our Arte is cured in a shorter time and with more facility than those which are free and wiâ—l not subiect themselues to ordinarie meanes An Empiricke then that hath opportunity to draw patients â—rom their owne houses where they haue all pleasant things at command and to bring them into his strict custodie may well heale some by abstinence onely as Plin. reporteth of one Iulius a Romane and Bâ—neuenius telleth of a patient of his both which were cured of a dropsie by abstaining from drinke Furthermore ignorance the mother of boldnesse maketh Empiriks more aduenturous in their practise and more hardy in the vse of strong and violent medicines by reason whereof they plucke vp the roote of some disease
groweth thicke and grosse the minde is dull and sad This is too apparent in many though it be obscured by discretion in some I see not therfore how Tabacco can be acquited from procuring the ouerthrow of the perfect state both of body and minde and that not onlie in Tabacconists themselues but in their posterity also for the temperament and constitution of the father is ordinarily transfused into the children and the affections of the minde also depending vpon the other This is verified likewise in distempered and sicke bodies Fernelius saith what disease so euer the father hath that goeth into the childe The father giueth the forme nature and essence to the child as Galen affirmeth Therefore where the humours of the body haue contracted a sharpe heat and drinesse by drinking of Tabacco there the father getteth a childe like to himselfe wanting that kinde moisture that should protract his life vnto olde age and incline him to an ingenuous courteous and kinde carriage But many take it imagining that it doth inable them in some actions I confesse that it putteth a sharpe and fretting heat into the blood which doth incitare but they shall the sooner faile in their course for heat can not be preserued without moisture and Tabacco consumeth that by infusing a drie qualitie into the body by excesse of heat and by drawing out of moisture Therefore Tabacco though neuer so sparingly taken can not be good for you nor for yoong and sound bodies and the often vse of it in such bodies driueth them lentis gradibus into their graue long before that time that nature had assigned them Hippocrates sayth that which is done by little and little is done safely and in diet as well as in other things he commandeth all to be vsed with moderation Galen speaking of gentle opening medicines affirmeth that the often vse of them drieth vp the solid parts of the body and maketh the blood thicke and grosse which being burnt in the kidnies breedeth the stone This may as well be verified of Tabacco for many take it oftener than euer such opening medicines were taken and it hath also more heat and drinesse than those had and therefore greater power to hurt sound bodies There may peradueÌ„ture be a profitable vse of it in cold moist bodies but it must be taken very seldome and with great regard of sundry other circumstances To conclude sith it is so hurtfull and dangerous to youth I wish in compassion of them that it might haue the pernitious nature expressed in the name and that it were as well knowen by the name of Youths-bane as by the name of Tabacco The second thing is meat and drinke Our bodies as Galen affirmeth are in assiduo fluore in a continuall wasting the inward heat alwayes consuming part of the very substance of them The vse of meat and drinke is necessarie for the restauration of this dayly losse These rightly vsed according to the rules of physicke haue great power to preserue the body from diseases This is verified by Galen in the same booke To him Fernelius assenteth in these words He shall be troubled with no disease that layeth temperance for the foundation of his life And in the same chapter he addeth That neither the aire nor the affections of the minde nor any other cause doth breed diseases vnlesse there be a disposition in the body proceeding from some errour in diet There are fiue things to be obserued in the vse of meat The substance the quantity the qualities the times of eating and the order Touching the substance Galen sayth In victu salubri c. In healthfull diet the two chiefe things are meats of good iuice and not stopping Here to auoid tediousnesse I passe ouer meats of good nourishment most of them being well knowen to you and I will speake only of some few that are badde Meats of ill iuice fill the body with grosse humours subiect to putrifafaction which is one of the principall causes of most diseases Galen reporteth that when there was great scarsitie of corne thorowout the Romane Empire the people being compelled to eat roots and hearbs of bad nourishment fell into diseases of sundry kindes This he doth further confirme by the example of his owne body for during the time of his eating of ordinary fruits he was troubled with agues almost euery yeere but after that he left them and fed only on good meats he protracted his life vntill extreame olde age without any sicknesse The worst meats that are in vse with vs are of flesh Bulles beefe the blood whereof being accounted poison amongst Physicians may iustly make the flesh suspected specially for colde and weake stomacks All olde beefe is of hard digestion and breedeth grosse and melancholike blood Bores flesh is much of the same nature and the older and greater the worse There is the like reason of Bucks Male-goats and Rammes in their kinde their ill iuice increaseth with their yeeres and those vngelt are of harder and grosser nourishment Blood howsoeuer it be prepared is vtterly condemned by Galen so are the inwards of beasts and the feet also specially of the greater sort of them Of fishes the greater and older are the worst and bring most labour to the stomacke those that liue in muddy or standing waters are farre worse than those of the same kinde that keepe in grauelly or cleere riuers Ecles are iustly excluded from the number of holsome meats because they breed of putrifaction Most English fruits are forbidden in diet Many of them are profitable in medicines therefore Galen sayth Apples Peares and Medlers are not to be vsed as meats but as medicines The sooner ripe and the sooner subiect to corruption are most condemned because they are easily turned into putrifaction in the body Cucumbers are too vsuall with vs being vtterly reiected by Galen for their ill iuice and if they be not well concocted as they are neuer in a colde stomacke they are almost like to deadly poison Our common raw salads are full of danger Lettice is one of the best of their vsuall ingredients which though it be good in a hot stomacke yet being taken in a great quantity it pierceth to the heart and killeth as Galen affirmeth It is not safe for any man in the vse of these bad meats to presume vpon his strong stomacke for though naughty meats be well concocted yet Galen telleth vs that when the iuice of them is caried into the veines it reteineth the old nature This point is more largely handled by Ludouicus Mercaâ—us a learned Italian But I conclude with Galen in the foresayd place we must abstaine from all meats of bad iuice though they be easie of concoction for by the vse of them our bodies will be filled with matter ready to putrifie vpon euery light occasion whereupon maligne and dangerous
great thirst Hippoc. forbiddeth drinke to them that are ready to go to bed because sleepe moisteneth sufficiently The third thing to be considered for the preseruation of health is exercise and rest Exercise is defined to be a vehement motion of the body whereby breathing is altered or wearinesse procured Galen sayth That all motion of the body is not to be accounted exercise but only that which is violent euen to the drawing of breath shorter Exercise is not safe in all bodies for if there be plethora or cacochymia fulnesse of blood in the veines or of some bad humors in the whole body there it may driue the superfluous matter into some principall part and so breed dangerous diseases or into the ioynts and procure extreame paines Therefore in this case the safest way is first to take away this fulnesse by opening a veine or by purging or by a slender diet and then to begin with gentle and moderate exercise increasing it dayly by small degrees for all sudden changes are dangerous as Hippocrates affirmeth The fittest time for exercise is the morning vpon an empty stomacke when the supper is perfectly concocted and fully digested for if any man feeleth any relikes of his supper after he ariseth in the morning it is farre safer for him to follow the counsell of Celsus and betake himselfe to sleepe againe than by exercise to send raw humours into the habit of the body Much more is that exercise to be condemned that is vsed soone after meat Galen sayth he that auoideth crudity and doth not exercise himselfe after meat shall neuer be sicke and when exercise is omitted before meat he teacheth a remedy for that parcius cibandum the meale must be th e lighter Hippoc. setteth forth the commendation of exercise moderatly vsed and at fit times in these few words Corpus robustum reddit It maketh the body strong And in another place he sayth Labour is to the ioynts and flesh as meat and sleepe to the inward parts Plato sheweth the benefit of exercise and the hurt of much rest Exercise strengtheneth Rest breedeth rottennesse in the body To these accordeth that of the Poet Cernis vt ignauum corrumpant otia corpus vt capiant vitium ni moâ—eantur aquae Idlenesse corrupteth a sluggish body as waters soone putrifie if they be not stirred Ludouic Mercat in commending exercise sayth it helpeth three wayes First it increaseth the naturall heat whereby commeth perfect concoction and plentifull nourishment Secondly the spirits thereby are caried with greater force which cleanseth the passages of the body and expelleth the superfluous excrements better Out of these two riseth a third commodity that the instrumentall parts of the body doe by this motion gather hardnesse and strength and are more inabled to resist the diseases incident vnto them The fourth thing to be obserued for continuance of health is sleeping and waking Of this is that aphorisme of Hippoc. Sleeping or waking exceeding measure are both ill This he further confirmeth in another place Too little sleepe hindereth concoction and too much is an enemy to distribution it hindereth the carriage of the chylus or iuyce of the meat into the veines by this grosse humors are ingendred the body made heauy and lumpish and the wit dull The night is much fitter for sleepe than the day because the spirits moue inward by reason of the darke I will not trouble you with the dissenting opinions of our authours about the maner of lying in sleepe it shall be sufficient to note that it is not good to lie all night vpon one side and that the worst maner oflying is vpon the backe The length of time allowed for sleepe is seuen or eight houres longer sleepe is required after a large supper than after a light Galen seemeth to allow nine houres for sleepe which Cardan a great patron of long sleepe taketh holde of Sleepe moisteneth the body therefore larger sleepe is permitted to drier bodies The olde rule of rising early presupposeth light suppers which are hardly warranted by Physicke but when full dinners go before or where there is some infirmity of the head Sleepe is not allowed vntil three or foure houres after supper for vpon a ful stomacke a whole cloud of fumes vapors ascend to the head in sleepe a great part wherof is dispersed in waking This reason doth inhibit sleepe after dinner as an vtter enemy to the head but when the stomacke is weake and the head strong a short nap sitting is allowed because it helpeth concoction by drawing the heat inward The fift thing for continuance of health is retention and expulsion of superfluous excrements at fit times Euery concoction hath it seuerall superfluity if any of these be reteined or kept too long in the body or expelled too soone or with great violence health is thereby impaired if the bowels empty not themselues at fit times the neighbour parts suffer offence thereby and the head also receiueth vnkinde fumes if the liuer and spleene want their timely vnloadings into the kidnies and bowels diseases of sundry sorts follow after if the kidnies and bladder holde their vnprofitable burdens beyond their iust times they are weakened by that heauy weight by extending the parts and by increasing of heat if sweat or insensible transpiration be hindered obstructions and putrefactâ—on succeed and after them agues of sundry kinds if any of there or any other humour rush out of the body with great force or issue quietly in too great quantity the naturall heat and spirits passe out with them whereby the whole body is weakened There was a custome amongst the Egyptians to empty their bodies with medicines three dayes together in euery moneth that no superfluous humour might hold long possession there By this it appeareth what great danger they esteemed it to nourish their enemies within the walles of their city But this course can not be iustified by the rules of physicke it agreeth farre better with health to preuent this fulnesse by a slender diet and moderate exercise The errours committed in these two are commonly the cause of the excesse and defect in this point The sixt and last thing is the affections of the minde the excesse of any of these ouerthroweth the naturall and perfect state of body as Galen affirmeth Plato held opinion that all the diseases of the body haue their beginning from the minde Moderate ioy and mirth do both preserue health and driue away sicknesse the spirits are thereby stirred vp heat is increased and the humours are extenuated and clarified Quintus Fabius that renowmed Romane captaine being twelue yeeres afflicted with a quartane ague was freed from it by the ioy of a victory obteined against Hannibal An ancient English poet singeth thus As long liues neuer thee as euer thee and a yere the longer for his meritee But
this affection how profitable soeuer it be ifit exceedeth the limits bounds of moderation it is sometimes deadly therefore Fernel sayth it disperseth the spirits like lightning that they can not returne to mainteine life There is a lamentable example of one Diâ—goras who had three sonnes crowned Victors in one day at the solemne games of Olymâ—us and whiles he embraced them and they put their garlands vpon his head and the people reioycing with them cast flowers vpon him the olde man ouerfilled with ioy yeelded vp his life suddenly in the middes of the assembly But examples of this kinde are rare and therefore not to be feared Sorow Sorow and griefe hath great power to weaken the ablest state of body it doth as Plato speaketh exercise cruell tyranny Tuscul quest Cum omnis perturbatio mâ—sera est tum carniâ—icina est agritu do c. Tully discoursing of the affections of the mind hath these words Euery perturbation is miserable but griefe is a cruell torment lust hath with it heat mirth lightnesse feare basenesse but griefe bringeth farre greater things wasting torment vexation deformity it teareth it eateth and vtterly consumeth the mind and body also Histories affoord many examples of those that haue beene brought into consumptions and to death by sorrow and griefe Feare Feare is an expectation of ill it is commonly the forerunner of griefe it calleth the bloud suddenly from the outward parts to the heart and leaueth them destitute of their naturall heat for want whereof they tremble and shake the heart then suffereth violence also as appeareth by the weake and slow pulse and it is sometimes suddenly ouercome and suffocated by the violent recourse of bloud Feare killeth many Thus Publius Rutilius and Marcus Lepidus ended their liues as Pliny reporteth There are sundry examples in histories of those that through extreame feare haue had their haire changed into a whitish hoarenesse in one night Skenk obseruat This opinion is confirmed by Scaliger contra Cardan and the reason annexed Anger Anger may adde somewhat to health in colde and moist bodies for it is an increase of the heat of bloud about the heart Gal. de sanit tu enda lib. 2 ex Aristot This bringeth much hurt to cholericke bodies it is comprehended vnder the first of the fiue generall causes of agues it is also sometime the cause of an epilepsie or the falling sicknesse as a De locis affectis lib. 5 cap. 5. Galen affirmeth in the history of Diodorus the Grammarian but this affection be it neuer so violent taketh not away the life suddenly as b De sympt caus lib 2. Galen and most other Physitians affirme for in cold and weake constitutions it can not be vehement Magnaniâ—s ob nullam animi aegritud moriuntur Gal. de locis affect lib. 5. and the strength of hot bodies wherein it is alwayes most violent will not yeeld vnto it I know that some c Cardan consil 1. are of contrary opinion but I may not enter into controuersies hauing beene already so long Other affections I omit as being neere the nature of some of these and hauing lesse power to hurt the body You see sir with what efficacy the affections of the minde worke into the body therefore it is as necessary for health to holde a meane and moderation in them as in the fiue other forenamed things For though we liue in a sweet and pure aire obserue a strict diet vse sleepe and exercise according to the rules of Physicke and keepe fit times and measure in expelling superfluities out of our bodies yet if we haue not quiet calme and placable mindes we shall subiect ourselues to those diseases that the minde yeelding to these passions commonly inflicteth vpon the body these are many in number grieuous to suffer and dangerous to life Thus I haue briefly run ouer these six things which being rightly vsed with speciall care and regard will preserue all strong bodies in continuall health and preuent all diseases vntill the radicall moisture be consumed and no oile left to maintaine the light of the lampe A Discourse of Empiricks or vnlearned Physicians A Preface to the Reader THe life of man is so precious as that all which a man hath he will giue for the ransome thereof Neither is this care of preseruing his owne life alone naturally implanted in the heart of man but that he may saue the life of others also how dangerously will he aduenture somtimes casting himselfe into deepe waters to saue one from danger of drowning sometimes breaking into an house flaming on euery side to deliuer one from perishing in the fire And this naturall instinct hath beene the cause also that publike persons haue by holesome lawes prouided for the safety thereof and priuate men haue spent their thoughts in discouering those stratagems whereby the life of man is oppugned Now because none are more pernicious enemies to the same than are these Empericks who vnder colour of drawing out the threed of mans life doe most cruelly cut the same in sunder before the time there haue beene some in all ages that haue vehemently inueighed â—gaâ—â—st them and laboured with all diligence to suppresse them as it were to quench some griâ—uous fire But hitherto all labour hath beene lost that was spent that way for like the Lernean monster against which Hercules fought in the roome of one seuen others haue arisen and haue by opposition growen both in number and estimation also with many and that partly by their owne diuellish and detestable practises and partly by the folly of others And first for themselues they will falsly vaunt what admirable cures haue beene performed by them that No mottall man is able to doe more than they can doe They will promise confidently to cure any disease though neuer so desperate as to breake a confirmed stone in the bladder or els To lodge it in some part of the bladder that it shall neuer paine them after And vnto such as are therefore left by the iudicious Physician because sentence of death hath already passed against them on an Indicatory day they will warrant life and that to the end they may be imployed after their betters which is no small credit vnto them Now if they be found to haue missed the cushion and the party dies as was foretold then will they pawne their liues that the disease was mistaken by the first Physitian and that if they had beene called to the cure but one day sooner it had beene a matter of nothing to haue saued his life for the partie died because he was let bloud if that were aduised by the other with good discretion or because he was not let blood if that were omitted vpon iust cause On the contrary the learned Physitian though he haue no religion will not for his credit sake be found to vtter any vntrueth is very sparing in reporting
particular thing in Physicke The whole life is required to the perfect knowledge of the pulse What can be here said in defence of Empiriks Hippocrates and Galen the most competent iudges of all matters belonging to our Arte require many things in all the professors of it two whereof are not to be found in the best of them for whosoeuer examineth their education shall finde that they neuer applied their youth to studie neuer had learned man to instruct them neuer vnderstood method or order of study and therefore can follow none in their practise for want whereof all they do is confused disordered and dangerous The ancients did signifie the difficulty of this Arte by placing a cragged or knotty staffe by the picture of Aesculapius meaning thereby that it was a deepe intricate and profound study full of knots and doubts which can not be explaned or dissolued but by such as haue long laboured in the diligent search of the secrets thereof Apollo was accounted amongst the heathen to be the god of Physicke and to haue reuealed it vnto Aesculapius his sonne so there is the same god of Wisdome and of physicke and learned Physicians were called by the ancients The sonnes of the gods But Empiriks whose yoong yeeres were neuer blessed with the knowledge of inferior Arts cannot in their riper age attaine to any meane knowledge in this diuine profession He that applieth not his minde to the study of the liberall sciences when he is yoong shall practise Physicke dangerously in his full age It is well knowen that scholars bestow almost twenty yeeres in study first in the Grammar schoole and then in the Vniuersity before they can take the degree of Doctours If there had beene a more easie and compendious way to this knowledge all ages had greatly erred in following this long laborious and chargeable course I might inlarge the difficulty of this Arte in setting downe the definition and diuision of it but I desire to auoid ted ousnesse therefore I will omit the former and touch the latter briefly This I note by the way that the knowledge of both these â—s necessary to euery meane Physician being the first step and entrance into that study This can not be comprehended without Grammar Logike and Philosophy for where a Philosopher endeth there a Physician beginneth and the other two are necessary guides to this Therefore Empiriks being ignorant of all these are not to be called Physitions the Artists name being iustly denied to them that vnderstand not the Arte. Physicke is diuided into fiue parts these haue no proper English or Latine names and therefore are strange to the best Empiriks The first comprehendeth those things which are of the essence and nature of man and are in number seuen The elements the temperament the humors the spirits the parts of the body the faculties and the actions The second searcheth out diseases with their causes and signes The third expresseth and explaneth the signes whereby the courses and times of diseases and consequently of life and death are prognosticated and foreknowen The fourth preserueth health and preuenteth diseases The last teacheth the meanes to take away diseases and to restore the body to perfect health The particulars contained vnder these heads are almost infinite and haue filled many large volumes Galen wrot 659 books of them That which hath beene written since will fill great libraries Out of all the best of these the learned professours of our Arte haue increased their knowledge and confirmed their iudgement whereas Empiriks haue not read any of them being ignorant of the languages wherin they are written and also destitute of other learning necessary to the vnderstanding of such books Of the fiue foresayd parts of Physicke Empiriks haue little to do with foure for vnder these the theory and speculation of our Arte is comprised and that is farre aboue their capacity therefore they exercise themselues in the last wh ch comprehendeth the practise only This reason is sufficient alone to bring all their practise into contempt with all men that haue any taste of learning for if of fiue parts necessary for euery Physician to know they be vtterly ignorant of foure and haue but a slender and superficiall skill in the fift if they rush into the practise of an Arte hauing neuer learned the theory which is in all learning accounted necessary to be knowen before the practise can happily be attempted they shall be driuen into infinite errours and precipitate many of their patients into the graue I need not adde further proofe of the antecedent I know you see a manifest and vndoubted truth in it those things are to be learned in schooles only into which Empiriks were neuer admitted Further there are in the Arte of Physicke sixteene indications as we caâ—l them the knowledge of these is as necessary to direct a Physician in the cure of diseases as the Pilots Card in sailing They are as guides and conducters to leade vs into the vnderstanding of all things that may helpe or hurt our patients The consideration of euery one of these is so necessary that the omitting of one doth oft times marre the cure as Heurmus affirmeth Empiriks can not attaine to the knowledge of these though they had the experience of Nestors yeeres If it please you to heare some few of the obseruations that the methodicall cure of one disease requireth you may thereby coniecture the difficulty of the healing of that and others I take for example a Pleurisie wherein I omit as impertinent to this place the vsuall errour of Empiriks in taking other diseases for this and the danger of the sicke by the course of Physicke built vpon a false foundation First the learned Physician is to search out the proper signes of this disease and by them to distinguish it from others that haue some affinity with it then he looketh into the cause of it into the differences and into the symptomes or accidents that attend vpon it he examineth the naturall constitution of the patient his present state of body his former course of life his age his strength the time of the disease the season of the yeere c. he considereth the qualities and quantity of the humors from whence the matter of the disease floweth whether from the whole body or from one part by what passages it mooueth whether swiftly or slowly whether vehement paine draweth it or the sharpnesse or plenty of the humor stirreth vp or prouoketh the motion Out of an aduised consideration of all these first a diet is to be appointed this can not be the same in euery one that laboureth of this sicknesse but it requireth great variety and alteration agreeable to the foresaid circumstances Then followeth the consultation of the meanes of the cure what kinde of euacuation is fittest whether opening a veine or purging or both or neither for sometimes
of such wofull examples A huge volume will not conteine all the tragicall histories of the sicke of this age manifestly killed by the ignorance of Empiriks being not able to discerne one disease from another or to distinguish of their causes or to proceed orderly in the cure The eye can not discerne colours but by the light nor Physitians diseases but by learning In the night not only indiui lua but species are mistaken as a man for a beast or a tree for either of them It is alwâ—â—es night with Empiriks ignorance is darknesse and knowledge is as the cleere light of the sun And doubtlesse the learned Physitian hath as great aduantage ouer Empiriks in discerning of diseases as they that iudge of the eyes obiect by the sunne ouer those that iudge of it by the starres They do the oftener fall into this errour because some diseases agree in two or three signes and yet are farre different The perfect examining and comparing of signes and referring of them to their seuerall causes can not be performed without Arte. But suppose they could distinguish of most diseases whereof they come farre short yet to know the disease is not one step to the cure vnlesse the method and maner of proceeding in it be as well knowen But to proceed in discouering their errours the two most effectuall and vsuall meanes for the cure of most diseases are opening a veine and purging The speciall obseruations that are required in both these are farre aboue the apprehension of vnlearned Empiriks therefore they can not vndertake any thing fitly and safely in either of them What a great regard is to be had in preseruing bloud in his naturall quantity and qualities is euident in that it giueth nourishment and strength to the whole body and it is as it were the meat whereby the natiue heat is fed as Galen sayth therefore it may not be drawen out of the body without mature deliberation The things that are to be obserued in opening a veine are reduced vnto ten heads these I must not mention because I labour to be short Many of these conteine such doubts and difficulties as require much reading and deepe knowledge Empiriks alwayes take away blood without due examination of these for how can they examine those that they know not therefore oft times they take away life also Experience their only mistresse can not teach the difference of diseases of complexions and of the rest What though they can iudge of them in a large latitude as to perceiue a difference betwixt a great disease and a light betwixt strength and weaknesse this euery ideot can do as when two plots of ground are obiect to the eye the one farre exceeding the other in greatnesse euery beholder perceiueth a great difference but the iust proportion of that difference can not be found out but by measuring them according to the rules of Geometry So Empiriks for want of learning can not iudge of these things in so strait a latitude as arte requireth But beside the foresayd ten heads other consultations are necessary whereof Empiriks are lesse capable than of the former as what veine is to be opened whether a large or small orifice be fitter what quantity of bloud should be taken whether it be safer to doe it at once or at sundry times whether emptying simply or reuelling or diuerting be required at what time of the disease it should be done how many things do inhibit opening of a veine or perswade delay The learned Physician is bound by the rules of his Arte to consult of all these and many other before he dare attempt so great a worke but the Empirike not foreseeing the perill of omitting these consultations runneth rashly into it and abuseth this excellent remedy to the losse of the life of many a patient as Galen plainly sheweth Errours in this kinde are obuious and common to them one openeth a veine vnder the tongue by following some English booke or imitating some learned Physician not knowing the obseruations necessary in that he attempteth in a squinsie the patient being full of blood and the disease in the beginning whereupon followeth present suffocation by drawing a greater flux to the place affected An other as ignorantly openeth a veine on the arme vpon the criticall day when there are signes of the crisis by bleeding at the nose by this action nature is crossed in her regular course and compelled to yeeld to the disease A third omitteth letting of blood in a sharpe disease sundry indications which he vnderstandeth not concurring to perswade it and none to disswade A fourth taketh away too little blood in a great disease or too much in a light All these Empiriks increase their credit out of these deadly errours by extolling their owne skill falsifying strange cures performed by them and affirming that if they had come in time they would not haue failed in the cure of these diseases now they had performed all that arte required the best Doctour in the land could haue taken no other course They that are eye and eare witnesses of these secret tragoedies can hardly suspect the ignorance of these confident and glorious Empiriks to haue beene the cause of them Thus you see Sir how infortunate or rather indiscreet they are that commit their bodies to the cure of an Empirike whose ignorance often bringeth death where the disease threateneth no danger at all It is a miserable thing when greater peril hangeth ouer the patient from the Physician than from the disease The countrey is full of such pitifull practise The Empiriks lance is oft times as deadly as the Butchers knife He that promiseth life with his tongue bringeth the instrument of death in his hand Therefore whosoeuer regardeth his life let him not suffer a veine to be opened without the aduice of a learned Physician In other cases where life is not presently indangered grâ—euous effects follow The taking away of blood from women and weake men casteth them into palsies gouts dropsies and such like diâ—eases Galen in many places doth inculcate the danger of opening a veine often it wasteth consumeth the spirits diminisheth naturall heat strength and hasteneth old age accompanied with many infirmities Yet the common people ignorant of this flocke together to Empiriks in the Spring to be let bloud as if it were a preseruatiue against all diseases Few or none are refused because they bring money few receiue good many hurt because the fornamed obseruations are neglected The blame of this publike hurt lieth iustly vpon the head of Empiriks who partly for their owne gaine and partly for want of iudgement haue led the multitude into this errour Touching purging as it is more common and vsuall than letting of bloud so the errours committed in it are as many and in many cases procure equall danger to the sicke It is called a great worke for it bringeth
the matter of the disease is discussed by outward medicines and requireth neither of these two helps Sometimes there is a fit vse of fomentations and after them of bleeding as Hippoc. did when the disease could not be mitigated by these outward meanes he opened a veine the eighth day In many other cases it is necessary to take away a great quantity of bloud in the beginning therefore Heurnius sayth Blood can not be taken away too soone nor in too great a quantity if the patient be strong but in weaknesse it must be done often by small quantities In some bodies Arte forbiddeth taking away of any bloud though the patient be strong and inioyneth purging In some cases the passages are to be stopped and the humor to be made thicke after bleeding lest new matter should flow to the place affected After the flux is stayed then the weake parts are to be strengthened and the matter impact in the side to be prepared or tempered that it may be cast vp by coughing with greater facility Heere is a broad gate opened to a large field of medicines of sundry sorts as ointments plaisters syrups potions c. Some of these are very hot and much opening some very cold and binding In the vse of these and also of all the former things the Empirike is plunged into many doubts and the patient into as many dangers if he take away too little blood he taketh not away the disease if too much he taketh away life if he purgeth when he should open a veine or doth this when that is required he committeth a pernicious errour if he iudgeth not rightly of the humor abounding of the complexion c. of which only Arte is the competent iudge he can attempt nothing in the cure safely nor so much as appoint a fit diet If he prescribeth locall or outward medicines of too hot operation the heart is thereby inflamed the ague exasperated and life indangered If there be in them any defect of heat the matter of the disease is bound faster into the side and chest with as great perill If inward medicines be not proportioned to euery vnnaturall affect in the body and to euery offensiue quality as now heating then cooling now moistening then drying sometimes extenuating or making the humor thinne sometimes incrassating or making it thicke sometimes opening somtimes stopping c. the patient doth neuer receiue any good but commonly much hurt by them Neither is the Pleurisie only to be respected but there must be a vigilant eye vpon the Ague also which alwayes accompanieth the other and may kill the patient as well as the Pleurisie Moreouer there may be great malignity in the humor as Gesner reporteth in an epidemiall Pleurisie all died in whom a veine was opened and all liued that receiued cordials In the great variety of these doubts difficulties and distinctions there is a necessary vse of sound iudgement confirmed by long study and profound knowledge both in Philosophy and Physicke It is therefore cleere that the practise of Empiriks being destitute of these helps must needs be vnfit and full of perill It may well be compared to his that Forestus mentioneth who wrot out sundry receits ouer night and put them confusedly into a bagge in the morning when patients came to him after he had looked on the vrine he put his hand into the bagge saying to the party Pray that you may haue a happy lot and plucking out that which came first to hand he gaue it as a remedy for the disease Though our Empiriks haue a farre better colour for their practise than this was yet in effect they often agree But I proceed to lay open some few of their grosse and palpable errors in their practise for to speake of all requireth a whole volume I will begin with their mistaking of diseases a common errour with them exceeding dangerous to their patients Diseases are knowen and distinguished by their signes The knowledge of this is comprehended vnder the second part of Physicke before mentioned whereof because they are ignorant they must needs fall often into this fault This is seldome discouered but when rationall Physicians haue opportunity to looke into their practise then they see the disease taken to be in the liuer when it is in the lungs or kidneis to be in the heart when it is in the head or mouth of the stomacke to be in the brest when it is winde in the stomacke extending that region and many such What though they can iudge of the gout the palsie and the dropsie so can simple women doe but to iudge rightly of the causes and differences of these diseases of the manifold differences of Agues of simple and compound sicknesses and of sundry diseases of the head that requireth Arte which is not in any Empirike Hippoc. sheweth the misery that fel vpon many of the Scythians by mistaking their disease and the causes of it and thereupon by taking a wrong course in the cure of strong and able men they became as effeminate as weake women and spent all the remainder of their wretched life in the offices of that sex Heurnius reporteth that an vnlearned Physician by mistaking the cause of the disease put his patient into a bath wherein he died presently and the Empirike was iustly accused for killing of him Guanerius setteth forth the deadly error of another in the cure of a sicke man who after extreme intolerable paines ended his life A learned Physician hauing a melancholike patient depriued of the right vse of his inward senses amongst other things in the cure appointed his head to be shauen and then to be anointed and bathed according to arte an Empirike hearing of this cure gat the receit of the outward medicines vsed in it and not long after lighting vpon one sicke of a phrensic or inflammation of the braine thought it to be the same disease with the former because both the patients were madde therefore he followed the steps of the other with great confidence of the cure this grieuous error in mistaking both the disease and the cause of it brought the miserable man to a speedy and of his life farre more cruell to himselfe and more terrible to the beholders than the sicknesse could haue done The reason of this is plaine and euident to euery meane Physician The cause of rauing in the former was a cold humor in the latter a hot therefore hot medicines which were fit to cure the one were as fit to kill the other But admit the Empirike had beene called to the cure of the same disease proceeding from the same cause yet he could not haue obserued the circumstances which arte required and therefore his receit was vaine and vnprofitable If the course of these blinde practisioners could be obserued it would be found to be like to this in euery disease Our books are full
multitude flocked to those that were boldest in the vse of this medicine for the fame of it for present remedy was spread abroad by them that gaue it and the danger concealed Thus the simple people greedy of the pleasant bait swallowed downe the killing hooke It was not easie for one to take warning by another the subtill Empiriks had so prouided for the credit both of the medicine and of themselues for when any died they gaue out that the medicine was not giuen soone enough whereas the sooner it commeth the more perill it bringeth or that the patient committed some fault which was the cause ofhis death for many had beene cured by this in other places Another pernicious error whereinto ignorance carrieth them is to seeke out medicines in the titles of diseases as in some English bookes in the title of an Ague they finde that Sorell is good for it and Carduus benâ—dictus also the one being very hot and the other colde Heere Arte is necessary to distinguish of the humour and the complexion for he that giueth that which is not fit for both these bringeth no light danger Galen vtterly condemneth medicines giuen without distinction and sheweth the danger of them by an example in the practise of an vnlearned Physitian who hauing cured many of patnes in the cares proceeding from a colde cause gaue the same medicine in a hot cause with vnhappy successe Also he reporteth a greater error in another Physician who in the beginning of a sweat brought his patient into a bath whereupon followed present death If all our learned Physitians should bring together all the pitifull examples that they haue obserued in the practise of Empiriks they would fill large volumes Galen sayth many die because they obey not their Physician But they that obâ—erue the practise of our Empiriks may as truly say many die because they obey their ignorant and vnlearned Physicians If their deadly errors could be perceiued by others as well as by those that professe the Arte some of them might be as famous as Themison of whom Iuuenal sayth Olde age is subiect to as many infirmities as Themison killed patients in one Autumne Galen setteâ—h forth their errors very liuely in these words As often as they visit their patients so often they erre by their inartificiall attempts But I will examine their errors no further The reasons brought in defence of Empiriks are now to be confuted The first and maine reason is their experience the very foundation of all their practise It is thus defined by Gaâ—en It is an obseruation and remembrance of that which hath fallen out often and after the same maner This definition vtterly maimeth the practise of our best Empiriks for by this it is cleere that experience reacheth not to the theorie and speculation of the Arte it teacheth not the knowledge of the difference of the constitutions of mens bodies nor of the causes of diseases nor method of curing them for none of theâ—e fall out after the same maner but it respecteth only some few things in the practise for in that also are many occurents that fall not out after the same maner and therefore can noâ— be learned by experience Diseases as they haue sundry causes so their symptomes and accidents are variable Heurnius speaking of one disease sayth it deludeth the Physician a thousand wayes What can experience learne in this great variety I confesse it is a necessary and effectuall meane to confirme the knowledge of a Physician The euent and successe of things past must be carefully obserued and layd vp in memory to be compared with things to come Many things also are found out by experience alone as the nature of simples wherein Galen commendeth it highly In finding out the vertue of medicines we must begin at exper ence sayth he To this agreeth that which he speaketh of the same argument in another place This first taught that Rubarbe purgeth choler and Agarike flegme Gesner amongst others was exceedingly industrious in this kinde found out many things in our Art by his experience as he affirmeth in his Epistles But this bringeth nothing to the credit of Empiriks for what are these few things in comparison of all those that are required in a Physician One reporteth that a yong man walking by the sea side and finding an old boat purposed to build a ship therewith neuer considering what a great number of other things were required to so great a worke Experience helpeth no more towards that great building of the Art of Physicke than that did towards a ship No learned man euer ascribed any commendation to experience in this Arte but when it was ioyned with learning Pliny speaketh thus of them that practise by experience without learning They learne by our perils and they trie experiments by our death Experience alone with a little helpe of nature maketh men skilfull in mechanicall trades in merchandize and in other kinds of buying and selling but the deepe knowledge conteined in the l berall sciences and in other learning rising out of them requireth much read ng long study great meditation and after the theoric or speculation of them is obteined then practise and experience confirmeth and establisheth them but without the former the latter is weake lame and maimed Galen in sundry places expresseth the danger of experience without learning and sheweth into what grieuous errouâ—s Empiriks fall for want of knowledge They runne rashly and without reason from one medicine to another hoping at the last to finde out that which shall helpe A dangerous and desperate kind of practise when for want of the light of Arte they are compelled to wander groâ—ing in the darke dungeon of ignorance not knowing wh ch way to turne And yet in Galens time there were no such Empirâ—ks as in this age it was not then heard of that a man vtterly ignorant in the foundation of all learning durst presume to intrude himselfe into the practise of that deepe and intricate science The difference betwixt an Artist and him that worketh by experience is set â—oorth by Aristotle an Artist knoweth the causes and reasons of things subiect to his Arte an Empirike knoweth many things also but he is ignorant of the causes of them What thought he can in some things satisfie the ignorant vulgar with some shew of reason euery simple man can doe this in his trade yet in the great and maine points of the Arte Empiriks can yeeld no sound reason being vo d of the knowledge of Philosophy from wh ch the causes of such things are drawen Galen setteth Physicke as a perfect man vpon two legges Learning and Experience therefore the best Empirike is but a lame and left-legged Physician It is a full consent of all learned in Physicke or Philosophy That nothing can be happily done in the Art of Physicke without method and order
and it is as true that experience can not teach this method This is confirmed by Plato He that thinketh he hath learned an Arte without the method of â—t let him know that he hath but the shadow of the Arte and not the Arte it selfe Therefore all the practise of our long experienced men being destitute of order and method can haue no approbation amongst the learned but it is to be vtterly reiected and banished out of the common-wealth as a pernicious and perillous enemy to the liues of men It is like to the walking of a blinde man in a knowen path wherein if there be a hole digged or a blocke layed he is in danger of falling so if there be any hidden thing in the disease in the causes or symptomes of it as there is commonly the Empirike is beyond his skill he stumbleth and falleth and the life of the sicke is in ieopardy Moreouer if an Empirike light vpon a rare disease not seene before by him or vpon a new disease whereof he neuer heard what safe course can he take here he wanteth learning and experience hath taught him nothing that bringeth any sparke of hope in this case Here he is vtterly confounded yet he will neuer confesse his ignorance and counsell his patient to send to a learned Physician but not knowing what to do in the disease nor able to giue any reason of it he pâ—onounâ—â—th the patient to be bewitched and so leaueth him Therefore though the vulgar may suppose that experience is sufficient for the cure of common and ordinary maladies yet it is absurd and senselesse to imagine that it can inable then in rare extraordinary and new sicknesses An Ague that seemeth to be but an ordinary and light sicknesse may haue some malignity in it or may be secretly fixed in some principall part or be accompanied with some other disease Heere experience can not distinguish that must proceed from Logicke and from knowledge in Naturall Philosophy but especially from anatomy and the grounds of Physicke Therefore experience is a blinde and weake guide to direct in these cases and no patient can assure himselfe that his disease is not within the compasse of some of these How can any man then call an Empirike to the cure of his body without great danger You see sir what a weake ground experience is to build all the practise of Physicke vpon Learning is as it were the very soule of this Arte which hath his full perfection when it is confirmed by experience but this wiâ—hout that is to be condemned as a dangerous thing But some men are so full of grosse ignorance and so dull of conceit that notwithstanding all that hath beene sayd they will be obstinate in their senselesse opinion that sufficient knowledge for the practise in Physicke may be gotten by experience alone I will not deale with these vnlearned men I write onely to you whom I know to be learned and iudiciall and therfore satisfied in this point and yet I will adde this out of Galen He that hopeth to heape vp the speculation of the Arte of Physicke by experience without learning hath need of a thousand yeeres This grand reason of experience is further vrged of some by the example of Atturneys at the common law most of these haue nothing to direct them but experience and obseruation and yet sundry things passe thorow their hands as substantially and effectually performed as by learned Counsellers therefore vnlearned Physicians well instructed by experience may do some cures as well as great scholars The answer to this is easie There are many things in law which belong meerely to Atturneys and require no learning also they follow presidents and vsuall formes and many things wh ch they doe are plaine transcripts written out of bookes verbatim wherein they cannot erre if they follow their paterne But it is farre otherwise in Physicke there is no vsuall forme to follow in iudging or curing of diseases things seldome fall out after the same maner the Physician must alter and change his course as the disease and accidents require wherein experience can not guide him but the rules of the Arte. But if I should grant that Empiriks are as Atturneys then it must follow that learned Physicians are as learned Counsellers and as Atturneys in doubtfull cases aske the opinion of them so should Empiriks do of the other this would make their practise farre freer from danger and preserue the â—ues of many of their patients But the case of an Atturney and of an Empirike is not alike if by his fault his client lose the day the matter may somtimes be brought about againe but if life be lost by the error of the Empirike it can not be restored The second reason brought in defence of Empir ks is That they reade English books sufficient to instruct them in their practise This reason seemeth to proceed from one that vnderstandeth his mother tongue only for if his iudgement were confirmed by the knowledge of learned languages he would not vrge this weake argument All the large volumes of Hipp. Gal. Auicen and all other famous Physicians both new and olde were first written in the Greeke or Latine tongues or afterward translated into one of them the ignorance whereof hath in all ages beene accounted a strong baâ—â—e to exclude all men from the profession of that Arte. That which is written in English is very little and light in respect of the whole nether can it be perfectly vnderstood without the helpe of Grammar and Logicke as euery meane scholar will confesse All nations Christian wherein the ciuill law is vsed can not affoord one man of any meane account in that profession that vnderstands not the Latine tongue wherein their large books are written And I dare confidently affirme that Physicke is as profound and intricate a study as the Ciuill law and requireth as much reading and knowledge oâ— tongues as that doth Therefore I see not why the practise of our most famous Empiriks should not be brought into base and contemptible account What though there be a profitable vse of Ministers in our Church that vnderstand English books only being yet able to execute their office in some commendable maner yet this reason holdeth not in Empiriks for first there is farre more Diuinity than Physicke written in our vulgar idiome all the grounds and principles of religion are set forth at large in it whereas no part of Hipp. Gal. c. is translated into that tongue Secondly Ministers haue farre greater helps in hearing the learned of that profession and in frequent conference with them whereas Empiriks labour alwayes to auoid the presence and company of learned Physicians being not able to speake any th ng sensibly in their profession nor willing to haue it knowen that they aske counsell of any man because they carry themselues as if they had the complete and absolute
which a warie and circumspect Physitian forseeing the perill would not attempt And although this kind of practise be alwaies full of danger and bringeth many a man to vntimely death yet it is in daily vse with many ignorant practitioners And when one amongst many receiue health by it then the Emperike taketh occasion to magnifie himselfe and to disable the former Physitian were he neuer so learned his owne fame together with the others infamie is blased abroad But if their practise with other mens patients were well examined it would plainly appeare that for one that recouereth very many end their liues or increase their disease Tully saith he that shooteth all day long is like to hit the marke sometimes and they that haue many patients may cure some in despite of Arte. Their cures are farre more noted because they doe earnestly endeuour to make them obiects to the eies and eares of all men and labour as carefully to conceale the dangerous and deadly effects of their ignorant and desperate practise from the view of the World Men that runne thorow many great actions if the few happie and fortunate they performe be set vpon a stage in the light of the sunne and all the bad and vnhappie hidden in the darke the vulgar shall finde much matter of commendation though some few sharpe sighted shall see iust cause to condemne them It is vsuall with Empirikes to extoll and magnifie their owne cures and with their smooth tongues to allure simple credulous men to applaude and giue credit to their hyperbolicall and amplified discourse and vaine glorious brags of their woonderfull and rare cures But learned and ingenious Physitians account it an odious and hatefull thing to boast of their cures therefore they haue commonly lesse applause and commendation of the multitude When mens actions merit no true and iust praise they are woont to seeke for false and he is allowed to commend himselfe whom no other will commend The fourth reason to inable Empiriks is that they haue excellent medicines yea some of them haue rare and admirable secrets This is like a plaine iugling tricke wherein things seeme to simple beholders farre otherwise than they are Hippoc. Gal. and other renowmed Physitians had no secrets though some things in their bookes haue a sound and outward shew of them For Hip. saith holy things meaning the secrets of Physicke are not to be discouered to profane persons And Galen speaketh to the same purpose we write not these things for the Germanes nor for other rude and barbarous people no more then for Beares or Bores or Lions but for the Grecians and for those that imitate their studies though they be of the stocke of the Barbarians This they wrot to shew the base account that the learned Grecians made of the rude and illiterate Barbarians But it is manifest out of their works that they had no purpose to conceale the mysteries of their Art from learned men For Hipp. sweareth to teach his scholers all the mysteries and secrets of Physick And Heurnius speaking of Hippocrates saith so great was the bountie of that great master that he knew nothing whereof he would haue vs ignorant Also Galen hath these words A louer of the truth ought to hide nothing that he hath found out And in another place he vttereth his disliking of concealing secrets in these words It seemeth to me a very rude and clownish part to hide those things which belong to health And he protesteth that he hath communicated to others all the secrets that he had found out If it were esteemed odious and intolerable amongst them that had no knowledge of God to locke vp those things in secret which might preserue the bodie in health or bring an happie and wished end to grieuous diseases much more ought it to be condemned amongst religious Christians But in this boasting of secrets the common sort are carried into a double errour for First Empiriks haue no such secrets Secondly if they had they cannot make a fit and safe vse of them For the former no man of iudgement can imagine that they haue them by their owne reading that reade so little vnderstand farre lesse and that which is much more that are ignorant of the languages wherein it is most probable these secrets should be inclosed Neither is it credible that any learned man should discouer them rather to this ignorant brood than to those of their owne ranke learned and ingenious All the secrets contained within the Art of Physicke are soonest found out by the profoundest scholers greatest students Therfore if any be in the hands of Empirikes the same yea many more are knowen to the learned Touching the latter it is euident as hath beene partly prooued before that diseases are not cured by medicines receits but by a learned and methodical vse of them whereunto Empirikes cannot attaine And if it were possible for any of them to ingrosse all the secrets of the world yet his practise should deserue neuer the better estimation for they should be but as so many sharpe weapons in the hands of a mad man wherewith it is liker he should do hurt than good The sharper a toole is the more skilfull workeman it requireth and the more effectuall or excellent a medicine is the greater knowledge should be in him that vseth it An ancient Physitian saith medicines vsed by the vnlearned are poison Apollo the God of Physicke is said to hold sharpe arrowes in his left hand threatning danger to the patients where medicines are sinisterly or vnlearnedly vsed Medicines cannot be rightly vsed but by them that vnderstand the whole methode of Physicke The vnlearned Physition before mentioned abused his excellent medicine for the eares Galen taught one a present remedy for paine in his stomacke which he vsing afterward in the same disease but proceeding from another cause was farre worse for it Medicines therefore do oftner hurt then helpe be they neuer so excellent if there be not Art in the giuing of them to fit them to the cause of the disease and other circumstances required But to impart to you my confident opinion of these secrets grounded partly vpon my own obseruation and partly vpon intelligence from learned and honest Physitians they are but triuiall and common things knowen to euerie meane Apothecarie or of baser account than the meanest drugge One of these ignoraut and vaine glorious fellowes hauing spent a few moneths in following the warres beyond the seas and being desirous to liue at home with more case and lesse perill resolued to become a Physitian To the effecting heereof he procured some common receits from an Apothecarie and returned hither Heere he gat some shifting companions to him promising them part of his gaine if they would extoll his skill and magnifie his medicines as rare and admirable secrets farre fetched and bought at a great price
trades supposing it to be as soone and easily learned as the plaine craft of a tailer or carpenter This foolish and senseles opinion increaseth the reputation of Empirikes and procureth them many patients for heereby their light and superficiall skill is esteemed equall to the complete and sound knowledge that is in the most iudiciall professors of that Arte. Euen as a plaine countrie fidler is thought by his neighbours not to be inferiour to cunning Musicians Another reason that moueth the vulgar to vse them is the hope they haue to be cured by them with lesse charge But this deceiueth them on both sides for oft times their diseases are left vncured and commonly the subtill Empirike draweth more money from them than a learned Physician would doe Their practise is also further inlarged by the ignorance of the common sort who when they are sicke vse to inquire after one that hath cured the like disease Heere is worke for these popular fellowes who haue filled many credulous eares with a false report of their cures I confesse it was an ancient custome amongst the Egyptians to lay their sicke in open places and to inquire of them that passed by what they had heard or tried to haue holpen in the like case But this was before the Arte of Physicke was perfected and brought into a methode Now the case is farre altered there is a learned and iudiciall course confirmed and established for the cure of all diseases Therefore now the patient is to enquire after him that hath greatest knowledge and soundest iudgement in the Art and not after him that is reported to haue cured the like sicknesse for many cures are falsely attributed to Empirikes and besides that some diseases are healed by chance and some by nature as is before shewed There is yet another errour in the multitude that profiteth these ignorant men much For many binde themselues to that Physician whom they haue vsed before be he neuer so ignorant supposing that he knoweth the state of their bodie better than a stranger But in this they are also vtterly deceiued for no Empirike can know the state of any mans body Philosophy teacheth that and not experience All that he can know is but whether the body be easie or hard to purge and what is that in respect of all other things before mentioned which are necessarie in euerie Physician Therefore let euery man of iudgement vse him that can by Art find out the complexion and constitution of his body that knoweth how to distinguish one disease from another and prosecute the course fit for the cure turning and altering it to euery occurrent And let him that hath recouered out of the hands of an Empirike rest satisfied in his happy fortune and euer after commit his body to the best learned These are the weake and lame reasons whereupon the fame and great practise of these ignorant men is built If in this tractate I had imitated Galen and others that haue written of them it should haue beene farre sharper and much more pearcing For Galen compareth them to theeues these â—aith he lay waite for men in mountaines and woods those in townes and cities Langius and Oberndorf two learned Germanes lay griâ—uous accusations vpon them The former speaking of their patients saith whole armies of them are killed but verie few cured And in the same Epistle he addeth I dare sweare that thousands of their patients perish euery yeere by their deadly errors And doubtlesse many of our Empirikes in England are not inferiour to those of Germany in boldnesse and ignorance The other forenamed Germane imposeth many base tearmes vpon them as coseners mountibankes murderers and such like There is much odious matter heaped vp against some of them by Guinâ—er Erastus Libauius Cardan and many others all which I omit leonem ex vngue The Physicians of the colledge of London take an oath at their admittance to pursue vnlearned Empirikes and impostors confounding the names as if all Empirikes were coseners One calleth the baser sort of them analphabetos nebulones not hauing learned their crissecrosse No man can heere obiect with iudgement that all these learned men wrot out of a weake perturbation that it was as the Poet saith one enuying another and that these are contentions amongst Physicians rising from varietie of opinions as in other professions For all these men oppugned are vtterly ignorant and vnlearned and dare neuer attempt to speake one word of their profession in the presence of a learned Physician It is therefore knowledge against ignorance naturall and christian compassion mouing these learned ingenious men to protect the liues of their brethren by opposing themselues to the blind practise of Empirikes who fight with their eies shut against sickenesse the great enemy to nature as the men called Andibatae did against their enemies I remember a story of a blind woman famous for her skill in Physicke by whose dore a porter passing with a heauy burthen vpon his back fell downe and cried out for helpe the compassionate woman came speedily with aqua vitae and feeling for his mouth offered to powre in some whereas halfe an eie would haue serued her to haue eased him of his burthen It is vsuall with Empirikes for want of the eie of learning to bring as ridiculous and senseles meanes of helpe to their patients for when they see not the cause of the disease as they do very seldome see it fully they cannot fit a medicine to it They may fondly purpose foolishly consult and largely promise to performe great matters in Physicke but in execution they will be found like to Hermogenes his apes who assembled themselues together to take counsell how they might be secured from the violent incursions and assaults of greater beastes they concluded to builde a strong for t they agreed vpon the matter and forme thereof Euery onè was assigned to his seuerall worke some to cut downe timber some to make bricke other for other offices But when they met to begin this great building they had not one instrument or toole to worke withall so their counsell was ouerthrowen So Empirikes may attempt to build vp health in a sicke body they may promise the cure of diseases but what can be expected at their hands sith they want all the tooles of Galen and Hippocrates necessarie for so great a worke The consideration of all these things hath often moued me to compare their patients to them that crosse the seas in a smal leaking boate with an vnskilful pilot they may arriue safe at the wished hauen but wisedome trusteth to the strongest meanes which alwaies promise and commonly performe greatest securitie One thing I will adde more of this odious generation the multitude of them in this country is incredible Out of one rotten and maligne stocke spring many riotous branches One master sendeth foorth many iourneymen