Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	blood_n	great_a	vein_n	1,434	5	9.4641	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47787	The temperate man, or, The right way of preserving life and health, together with soundness of the senses, judgment and memory unto extream old age in three treatises / the first written by the learned Leonardus Lessius, the second by Lodowich Cornaro, a noble gentleman of Venice, the third by a famous Italian; faithfully Englished.; Hygiasticon. English. 1678	Lessius, Leonardus, 1554-1623.; Cornarus, Ludwig.; Herbert, George, 1593-1633.; Ferrar, Nicholas, 1592-1637.	1678 (1678)	Wing L1181; ESTC R32465	69,139	222

well prove 2. 2. q. 141. art 6. and is indeed of it self without proof manifest These allowances then both for quantity and variety are not set out by Founders and Superiors as just measures for every man but with the largest for all in general to the intent that the strongest and they who need most might have enough and the rest might take of that which best liked them yet always keeping within those limits which reason prescribes and in those things which they forbore might have opportunity to exercise their vertue For it is no great glory to shew temperance in the absence of temptations but to keep hunger on foot at a banquet and to restrain the greediness of the belly in the midst of provoking dainties why this is a mastery indeed especially to Novices and such as have not gotten the victory over their appetites It is a great mastery I say and therefore undoubtedly of no small price with God To the intent therefore that the exercise of this vertue and the benefit of the reward that by Gods mercy belongs to it might not be wanting to them that seek and endeavor the increasing of their reward hereafter the Founders and Institutors of religious Societies have perhaps allotted a larger measure and more variety of food than is necessary or they would have every one to make use of Touching this matter we have a very pertinent example in the life of Pachomius faithfully written 1200. years ago as it is extant in Surius 14. Maii. Where it is mentioned that this Pachomius in his Monasteries and especially in those that younger persons lived in would have beside bread and salt some sod or rost meat set before all the Monks to the intent that albeit the most of them were so abstemious that they contented themselves only with bread and salt or some green fruit yet they might have it in their free choice and liberty either to eat thereof or to forbear And so if either for mortification sake or the better fitting of themselves for devotion they should abstain they might exercise a greater vertue since it is a more difficult thing to abstain when meat is set before us and by its presence doth provoke the appetite than when it is removed out of our sight More to this purpose may be read in Jacob. de Paz. Tom. 2. l. 2. de Mortif ext hom cap. 5. Nor will it any thing at all abate from the probability of this opinion to say that in this allowance of variety and abundance there was a direct intention of giving some kind of refreshment to Nature Inasmuch as the refreshment which the Institutors and Founders of these Societies meant consisteth not in this that the true and right measure of temperance should at any time be notably exceeded but that there might be now and then an opportunity of delight ministred through the different and grateful savor of sundry kinds of meats yet so always as this delight should be kept bounded within the limits of temperance and the appetite never fully satisfied For whatsoever exceeds this measure is to be accounted vice be it upon what occasion it will whether of Marriage Dedication of Churches or any other solemn Feasts whatsoever Now that is alwaies excess which proves more in quantity than the stomach can perfectly digest without leaving any crudities at all behind CHAP. III. Seven Rules for the finding out of the right Measure 9. NOw to find out this right Measure we shall make use of these Rules and observations following The first Rule is If thou dost usually take so much food at meals as thou art thereby made unfit for the duties and offices belonging to the Mind such as are Prayer Meditation Studies of learning and the like it is then evident that thou dost exceed the measure which thou oughtest to hold For both Nature and Reason exact that the Vegetative part in a man that is that wherein the growth and conservation of the body consisteth should be so ordered and cherished as that there should arise no offence or damage thereby to the Animal and Reasonable parts of the soul in as much as the Vegetative part is ordained to the service of these other and therefore ought to be of furtherance and help and no ways of hinderance unto them in their several functions and operations Whenever therefore there is so much food taken in upon account of the Vegetative part as proves of any remarkable offence or hinderance to the operations of the superior faculties to wit of the Senses the Imagination the Understanding or the Memory then it is a sign that the fitting measure in this kind is exceeded Now this impediment and offence proceeds from the abundance of vapors that are chiefly sent up into the head out of the stomach which as experience demonstrates would be but sparingly sent up if this measure were not exceeded For they who follow a sober course of life are as apt and ready to all services and imployments of the mind after their meals as before as our Author whom we have annexed to this present Treatise doth oft times testifie and my self and divers others of our Society do daily make proof of Nay those holy Fathers of old who eat only once a day did it so sparingly as they were no whit at all thereby hindered in their performances of the functions belonging to the mind How much more easily than may it be effected by them who divide the quantity and twice a day use moderate refection 10. I said before that those vapors and fumes which cloud and overshadow the clearness of the Brain are chiefly caused by the meat taken down into the stomach Chiefly I say in regard that however this be the principal yet it is not the only cause For these vapors proceed not only from the meat immediately before taken which begins to boil and concoct but also from the abundance of blood and other humors which are in the Liver the Spleen and the Veins which together with the meat fall on seething as it were and send up great abundance of these kind of sooty fumes But a Sober diet doth by little and little diminish this abundance of humors and abates this ill moisture and reduceth them to their due proportions both in quantity and quality so that they do not more upon eating send up these kind of fumes For when Nature doth perfectly govern all the humors of the body by the ministery of the vegetative faculties she doth so order and dispense all things as neither any diseases arise in the body nor any impediment follows to the superior offices and duties of the soul Nor matters it at all that many men addicted to sobriety are accustomed to sleep a while after dinner inasmuch as they do it to the intent that their vigor and the spirits which have been spent and wasted by any labor either of mind or body might be refreshed and restored by

or because there was not a due space of time left for the perfect concoction of food doth imperfectly digest then that Chylus or juice which it makes of the meats so taken is said to be Crude that is raw or to have Crudity in it which brings many inconveniences First it fills the brain and bowels with many phlegmatick and bilious excrements Secondly it breeds many obstructions in the narrow passages of the bowels Thirdly it corrupts the temper of the whole body Lastly it stuffes the veins with putrid humors whereof proceed very grievous diseases 32. These things might be largely demonstrated but the thing is manifest enough of it self especially the first and the second point I will only therefore explain the third and fourth When the Chylus is crude or malignantly concocted by the stomach and rather corrupted than digested for so Aristotle calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a corruption not a concoction there cannot be bred good blood in the store-house of the Liver out of this kind of Chylus but only that which is bad and vicious For as Physicians affirm The second concoction cannot amend the first Now then from corrupt blood there cannot be made good nourishment in the body but of necessity the whole temper of the body is corrupted and so becomes subject to diseases For the third concoction which is made in the small pores of the body where the blood is assimilated to every part which it is to nourish and lastly disposed to the receiving of the form thereof cannot mend the second By this means the temper of the body through these Crudities is by little and little altered and marred and made subject to many inconveniences Again the crudity of the Chylus is a cause that the veins through the whole body are replenished with impure and foul blood and such as is mingled with many evil humors which in tract of time do by little and little putrifie and at last upon occasion of Labor Heat Cold Winds and the like are set on fire breaking out into great and perilous diseases whereby an innumerable company of men do perish even in the flower of their age These inconveniences a sober course of Diet prevents by taking away the Cruditities which are the cause of all For when there is no more taken in than the stomach can well concoct and afterwards sufficient space of time is allowed thereunto Crudities cannot arise but the Chylus is made good and agreeable to Nature And from good Chylus good blood is bred And from good blood there followeth good nourishment and good temper in and throughout the whole body By this means also the putrefaction of the humors in the veins is avoided as likewise obstructions in the inward parts and those superfluous excrements which do so often vex and molest the head and inward parts and joynts of the body So that a good constitution of the body and health is hereby preserved for they consist in these two things to wit the due proportion and symmetry of the humors both in respect of their quantity and quality and in a certain spongy kind of disposition throughout the whole body having no let nor impediment by obstructions so that the spirits and blood have their free passage and recourse through all parts Nor doth Sobriety only prevent the Crudity of humors and the evil consequences arising thereupon but it doth also consume the superfluous humors and that much more safely and effectually than bodily exercise doth as the famous Doctor Viringus doth learnedly shew in his Fifth Book concerning Fasting chap. 3 4 5. For Labor doth confusedly stir the body and alwaies exerciseth some parts more than other and most commonly only some few parts alone and that ofttimes with a great perturbation in the humors with much heat and hazard of sickness especially of Fevers Pleurisies and several kinds of Distillations upon sundry parts which breed much grief and pain But Abstinence pierceth far more inwardly even unto the very entrals and to all the joynts and knittings in the body and doth with ease and equality make a general evacuation For it extenuates that which is overthickened it opens that which is closed it consumes those things that are superfluous it unlocks the passages of the spirits and makes the spirits themselves the more clear and that without disturbance of the humors without fluxes and pains without heating the body and without hazard of diseases without expense of time or loss and neglect of better imployments Notwithstanding it must needs be granted That Exercise if it be used in due time and do not exceed measure is very profitable and to many necessary Yet ordinarily to such as lead temperate and sober lives and follow their studies being much given to the imployments of the mind there is no great need of long walks or other long continued exercises whereby much time is wasted and lost but it is sufficient if only for the space of a quarter or half an hour before meals they use to swing or to toss a Bar Stool or some such like heavy thing or taking in each hand a weight of Two or Three pounds they strike and swing their arms about them the one after the other as if they fought with a shadow These are Exercises which many grave and worthy men even Cardinals themselves do use and that not undecently in their Chambers And there is no other which I know that doth more stir all the muscles of the breast and of the back nor more rid the joynts of superfluous humors than these forenamed Exercises do CHAP. VI. Of Two other Commodities which it brings to the Body 33. THe second Commodity is That a sober Diet doth not only preserve from those diseases which are bred by crudities and inward corruptions of the humors but it doth also arm and fortifie against outward causes For they who have their bodies free and untainted and the humors well tempered are not so easily hurt by Heat Cold Labor and the like inconveniences as other men are who are full of ill humors and if at any time they be prejudiced by these outward inconveniences they are much sooner and easilier cured The self-same comes to pass in wounds bruises puttings out of joynt and breaking of bones in regard that there is either no flux at all of ill humors or at least very little to that part that is affected Now the flux of humors doth very much hinder the cure and causeth pain and inflamations Our Author doth confirm this by a notable proof in himself num 11. Furthermore a sober Diet doth arm and fortifie against the Plague for the venome thereof is much better resisted if the body be clear and free Whereupon Socrates by his Frugality and Temperance brought to pass that he himself was never sick of the Plague which oftimes greatly wasted the City of Athens where he lived as Laertius writeth libro

firiness of the spirits by abstaining from hot and windy meats and from the use of wine and strong beer at least so long as is needful for coming to the right Mediocrity And when the Seed is diminished and tempered and withal the spirits lustful imaginations do cease of their own accord or if so be they rise they are easily quelled except it be so that by Gods permission they are continued through the devils suggestion For lustful imaginations do spring up in the Mind through a certain kind of sympathy which they have with the disposition of the Body to wit by reason of the abundance of Seed and Spirits as also other imaginations do which follow the condition of the Predominant Humor as we formerly declared In sign and proof whereof we see the followers of Sobriety for the most part free from such kind of imaginations and temptations or rarely molested with them Now if so be there be not store of these causes laid up beforehand in the body Sobriety doth easily prevent their growth inasmuch as it causeth that a man neither eats nor drinks more than the sustenation of the body requires For he doth not measure the quantity of those things which he takes by his Appetite which is altogether deceitful but by Reason which looks what and how much is proportionable for the conservation of the Body and the performance of the duties and services belonging to the Mind 59. Now there is a double Reason why the Appetite becomes a deceitful Measurer in this kind The first is Because the Appetite doth not only desire that which is necessary to the conservation of the Body but also that which may serve for the use of Procreation For the appetite of eating and drinking is both in men and beasts ordained to both these ends to wit to the conservation of the Individual and to the propagation of the whole Kind And therefore Reason chargeth them who desire to live chastly and not to be molested by the sting of Lust that they should not obey their Appetite to the full but give it satisfaction only to the half that is only asmuch as is needful for the sustenance of the Body which thing if they carefully observe there will be little store of Seed bred in their Bodies and very few incitements to Lust For Seed is bred of that superfluity of the nourishment which was more than requisite for the sustentation of the body So that where there is no more sustenance taken in than is sufficient for the nourishment of the body there remains either nothing at all or very little to be distributed for the increase of Seed 60. The other cause why the Appetite is deceitful is Because it oftentimes longs after more than is any way proportionable to either of these fore-mentioned ends that is to say more than is fitting either for the nourishment of the Body or for the matter of Propagation And that is caused either through the ill disposition of the stomach as it comes to pass in that ravening kind of Appetite which is called Dogs-hunger Ox-hunger and when the Melancholick Humor is soaked into the tunicles of the stomach or else by reason of the condiments and Lickorish cooking of the meats themselves which by their variety and new relishes do go on continually provoking the Appetite and stirring up Gluttony In which regard this variety and curious dressing of meats is as Physicians teach especially to be eschewed by all them that are followers of Sobriety and Chastity and in very truth by all those who have care of their health concerning which thing we have discoursed more largely before By all this it appears That there is far greater vertue and power for the quenching of Lust in Sobriety and Abstinence than in other corporal mortifications such are hair-cloths whippings lying upon the ground and bodily labors for these do only afflict the body outwardly and but rase the skin as it were but come not at all to the ground of the evil which lies hidden within But Abstinence plucks up the cause of all by the roots in the inward veins reducing the natural temper to a just modiocrity This remedy then is to be used by all those who are vexed with this disease 61. And thus much touching the benefits and singular fruits of Sobriety all which might well be confirmed by the testimonies of the ancient holy Fathers but for brevity sake I omit them contenting my self with one passage only out of S. Chrysostom who in his first Homily concerning Fasting writes thus Fasting is asmuch as lies in us an imitation of the Angels a contemning of things present a school of prayer a nourishing of the soul a bridle of the mouth an abatement of concupiscence as they that use to fast do well know and prove in themselves It mollifies rage it appeaseth anger it calms the tempests of Nature it excites reason it clears the mind it disburdens the flesh it chaseth away night-pollutions it frees from head-ach and it breeds clear and well-coloured visages By fasting a man gets composed behavior free utterance of his tongue right apprehensions of his mind c. See him likewise in his First Homily on Genesis And agreeable to this we find many things in S. Basil in his Oration concerning Fasting In Ambrose in his Book of Elias and Fasting and in Cyprian in his Oration concerning Fasting and in many others CHAP. XIII That a Sober Diet is not of any grief or trouble and that Intemperance bringeth many great and grievous maladies 62. BUt some will object That this straitness of Diet is troublesome in regard it leaves a man always tormented as it were with hunger and therefore it were better to die sooner than to prolong a wretched life by such a painful medicine accordingly as it was once said by a certain diseased person whose Thigh was to be cut off that The preservation of life would be two dear bought at the price of so much pain To which I answer At first indeed this spareness of Diet is somewhat troublesome in regard of the contrary usage formerly and also in regard of the inlargement of the stomach but by little and little that trouble is removed For we must not suddenly pass from a great quantity to a small but every day by degrees subtracting a little till we come to the just measure as Hippocrates doth oftentimes warn for by this means the stomach is contracted by little and little without any great trouble and the greediness which was formerly felt is taken away Now when the stomach comes to be contracted to the right measure that it ought there is no more trouble remaining by means of a Sober Diet inasmuch as that small quantity doth justly agree and answer the capacity and strength of the stomach In proof whereof we see that it is very grievous to most men to forbear their usual Break-fast at the beginning of Lent but