their burden And in case of hanging or strangling letting of blood in great quantity has sometimes saved mens lives that have been executed and this by no other ways that I can think of than by helping to discharge the lungs of their oppression as has been already said 8. And thus we have if our Opinion fail us not discovered the true use of Respiration We have also of consequence freed the heart of almost one half of the task imposed on it by the modern Physitians For since the circulation of the blood consists of two parts viz. First the conveying it from the heart or center to the rest of the body as to a kind of natural circumference And secondly the returning or bringing back of the blood again to the heart The first part we conceive to be the Office of the heart The second part seems to be the work of every particular member to discharge it self of its own superfluities For which purpose nature hath endued them with a tone or tonical motion sufficient for that service the lungs only excepted wherein Nature hath worthily imployed her industry by the additional contrivance of Respiration through the assistance of the Diaphragme which labour of the lungs in Respiration for the returning of the blood to the left Ventricle of the heart seems to equal that of the tone or tonical motion of all the other parts of the body for the lungs convey the same quantity with all the rest that is to say the whole Mass of blood through them and that in as little time as the same passes through the rest of the body And if it carries it not so far it moves â—t so much the faster And so we shall have entitled the lungs to one full quarter part of this work of the circulation of the blood leaving an other quarter to the tonical motion of the body And the first and worthier half of dispensing blood and life through the whole body to the heart as its proper office and duty What part the lungs may justly claim to themselves in the business of Sanguification we shall more conveniently find place to consider of in the following Chapter CHAP. IV. Of Sanguification THe Chyle when separated from the remaining unprofitable parts of our Aliment is by proper vessels of its own the discovery of modern Anatomists conveyed directly into the Subclavial veins and from thence into the right Ventricle of the heart where it is mingled with a larger quantity of blood returning home by the great vein together with which it is immediately transmitted to the lungs where though it make great hast through and moves very impetuously as has been said yet by reason of the length of the way it continues a considerable time and is more perfectly mingled with the blood and wrought up together with it into one Mass and at the same time acquires both the name and form of blood as Physitians term it and so is fitted for the heart from thence to be distributed to the rest of the body where after what manner it is circulated we say not as a thing already sufficiently known and whereof we have delivered our sense already 2. That Chyle is very easily mixt with blood is evident for that it is the matter whereof all blood is made by a farther continuation of that fermentation or concoction begun on it in the stomack Nor yet is the proportion so great between them but that upon mingling the dissimilitude of parts becomes immediately the cause of an extraordinary ebullition which is very much encreased by the reciprocal motion of the lungs whereby the blood is wrought almost all into a froth or foam by that time it gets into the left Ventricle of the heart Which sudden excess of heat is not unlike what happens upon the mingling several Chymical liquors together as Spirit of Wine and Spirit of Turpentine and other such like where the heat becomes so great that it often endangers the vessel they are contained in And this is the cause of that heat a while after meals discernable in Hectical persons and others otherwise affected and which in many appears by flushings in the face Now that the blood is wrought up to that froth we speak of during its passage through the lungs is not only suitable to reason but appears most evidently in those sanguine excretions from the lungs which happen in consumptive persons nor does that frothiness then observable proceed from the mingling with it the air we breath for that at one breathing out or expiration could not be sufficiently performed 3. The blood by several very learned men has not unaptly been compared to wine and in my Opinion the Chyle may as properly be likened to the juice newly pressed out of the Grapes which if it were by certain intervals in a due proportion poured gently into new wine or must as it begins to cool would again renew its ebullition and continue the warmth of it to what degree is requisite and that so long as this practise shall be continued And from this Illustration may be clearly gather'd the necessity and use of eating at least within certain periods or intervals to wit that by the frequent affusion of Chyle the blood may again recover its motion warmth and vigour without which supply it would soon languish cool and congeal and consequently death ensue Now that the lungs are indeed the principal Officina Sanguinis may be farther collected from Consumptions of the lungs wherein all parts of the body are so suddenly extenuated by the affection of the part 4. 'T is probable that the blood during its stay in the lungs does not actually dilate it self and rise into froth but only acquires an aptness so to do as soon as it is at a little more liberty as appears in blood spit out of them and consequently when it falls into the left Ventricle of the heart it immediately dilates it self with great force in the manner of botled Beer and in this manner does for ought I know in great part become the cause of the Diastole or expansion of the heart which being extended beyond its due and natural scituation does again violently contract it self by a power almost all bodies have of restoring themselves and which we call the tone or tonical motion And as we observe in a Switch bowed down or in a Pendulum removed out of its place that they return beyond the perpendicular so it fares in this motion of the heart whereby it is again more contracted than is natural to it and so of it self returns again to expand it self and is again violently distended as before by the influx of more spumy blood from the lungs Now though it may be objected that the pulse in the heart continues many times a long while after it is taken out of the body and when there is no longer any such influx to be pretended as the cause of it To this I answer that such pulse
is what the Physitians call the Myurus or Mouse-tail for that its Diadromes or differences between greatest and least expansion do continually become less and less even as it happens in Pendulums once removed from the perpendicular which continue their motion for a long time after the hand is from them that first set them awork At least this ebullition of the blood in the heart seems not a little to contribute to the continuation and strengthening of this pulsive motion In contemplation of this Orgasmus or fury as I may call it in the blood issuing out of the lungs and now to be distributed into all parts of the body Nature contrived the Arteries with thick and double coats the better to contain it whereas the veins designed for the carrying it back again to the heart at what time the blood is very much cooled and tamed are only made of single membranes as being sufficient now to hold it And this is all the difference between Arterial and Venal blood 5. It seems of all other Opinions the most probable that the blood when arrived at the extremities of the smallest Arteries is there shed upon the habit of the body in the belly or fleshy part of every Muscle each Muscle having the proportion or likeness of one of the quarters or Acetabula in an Orange or a Lemon upon the compression of which either by local or tonical motion it is not hard to conceive how the blood is again forced into the mouths of the veins and after the same manner has every Muscle its particular membrane And thus we find that blood issues forth upon pricking the flesh in any place although it cannot be imagined we should always prick a vein or Artery or we must conclude there is nothing else in flesh but a multitude of capillar veins and arteries which were absurd to be asserted 6. To make short Life it self is but a continuation of this vigorous fermentation of the blood which is so long maintained as the Mass of blood is kept hot and circulating through the veins and arteries and if done by those means and in that manner which is suitable to Nature so long the body is in perfect health If it be too violently fermented or moved it does in general become the cause of Fevers and other acute diseases as contrariwise if the fermentation be too weak from thence all chronical diseases take their original and that particularly according to the several irregularities that may happen either in excess or defect in this fermentation and circular motion of the blood We descend not now to particulars the most we aim at in this Treatise being but a general method either of preventing or curing diseases after a way not yet treated of 7. Since the discovery of the circulation of the blood it has been the Opinion of many great Assertous of it that where the indication is of letting blood it matters not out of what vein it be taken provided so many ounces be let out as the disease requires And this their Assertion is made probable by many arguments alledged by them for that purpose and but for the tonical motion of the habit of our bodies would be as great a truth as any is in Physick But the tonical motion of the parts once admitted We must likewise grant that those parts will empty themselves first that lie nearest to the incision as well for that there is less strength required to force any liquor to a shorter than a longer distance as also because the more remote parts or Muscles do exercise a kind of Antipraxia or Contranitency and so become of mutual impediment one to the other whereas the nearer parts do almost immediately discharge themselves upon the Orifice or incision 8. From this tonical motion of the whole body it happens that any particular part is sometimes preternaturally swelled either from a stroak the application of cupping-glasses or generally any other cause which may weaken the tone of the part for in such case the heart continuing its motion for the distribution of the Mass of humors it is very easie to conceive that more of them will pass into that part where least resistance is made than otherwise would have happened had the part continued in its natural tone and vigour 9. From hence likewise the reason is to be sought how it happens in letting blood that so large a quantity should in so small a time issue out at the incision made in one vein and that perhaps none of the largest For if we duly consider how quickly a man may bleed to death by the opening for instance of a vein in his arm we must conclude that the blood passes not much faster through the heart than it does at the same time out at the Orifice in his arm and that consequently there is but little blood received during this evacuation into the rest of the body which doth then by its tone discharge it self into the great vein of its Plethora or superfluous blood which returning again from the heart toward the habit the greatest part takes its way to the part where the incision was made it finding there no other opposition than what it has while it is travasated from the arteries into the veins through the smallness of their mouths which yet is in part recompenced by the multitude of them Now if it be agreed on that in half an hour a man may bleed to death or thereabout if a vein in the arm be kept open and that there will in such case be about one half of his blood let out computing what is likewise contained in the capillar vessels and what remains in the habit of the body it will follow either that the whole Mass is compleatly circulated twenty four times in twenty four hours or a natural day Which seems a little too often or that the blood circulates much faster while a vein is breathing than at other times which is not improbable or that a man may continue bleeding longer than half an hour which is not so likely or that there is not in such case of bleeding to death one full half of the Mass let out All which may deserve a more exact scrutiny but must now be left to be decided by the experiments of such as are conversant in the dissection of live Animals 10. It is frequently seen in horses that upon long and much labour they lose the sight of their eyes nay I have known some horses that have lost one or both eyes with one days over-straining either by draught or course and so became blinde of a sudden And then we commonly say they have drawn their eyes out But how the eyes should suffer or what part they take in the labour or violent exercise of the body is not so easily made out unless by this tonical motion of the body which now becomes much strengthened by the violent local motion either in drawing or running whereby the Muscles
to drink as the last means left to preserve their lives Which practise as it cannot replenish the veins to that measure it already emptied them so it evidently concludes that emptiness of the Vessels is not the true cause of perishing for want of food Much less can the continuation of Suction from the exhausted Vessels to the Stomack be the cause of hunger For first such hunger could not be immediately appeased after eating the Vessels receiving no part thereof till a considerable time after when distribution begins to succeed concoction as is well known and confessed Secondly 't will appear to such as shall duly consider it that the Vessels or Veins are then fullest when the Stomack is emptiest è contra the emptying of the Stomack beginning with the filling of the Guts and Veins Nor shall we need other arguments against this Suction though it were easie to charge it with more difficulties than that the owners of it will be forced to prove there is some such power of moving by attraction drawing or Suction which will be a harder matter than it appears at first sight Though as not making to our present purpose I shall not determine ought concerning it 3. In confirmation of this our Assertion viz. That the concoction of the stomack is a kind of fermentation it will not bâ— amiss to shew the reason of some circumstances of it And first concerning that preparation which meat receives in the mouth by chewing or jawing of it which is rather a bruising than mincing and it is a common observation that flesh minced very small is of much harder concoction than if eaten by bigger pieces and a sufficient reason is withall assigned that meat minced slips down into the stomack before it be duly masticated or chewed which is so necessary an antecedent of concoction that the Arabian Physitians are wont to say That he that chaws not his meat well hates his own Soul Now that any thing bruised will soon after corrupt is evident in all fruits which will sooner putrisie after bruising than if they were cut with a sharp knife into many pieces Thus a flesh-wound made without bruising will commonly heal again with little or no corruption but not if the part were bruised at the same time Thus the common practise is to bruise Whitloes to ripen and break them the sooner And thus to conclude our meat by being bruiâ—ed becomes of much easier and speedier concoction which seems to be the reason why Nature has given to most Creatures namely Dogs Wolfes Swine Foxes c. three sorts of teeth to wit Tusks to kill their prey with sharp fore-teeth or cutters wherewith they tear it into smaller pieces And lastly Grinders to chew and bruise it the better to prepare it for the stomack Birds seem to grinde their meat in their Gizards after it is first well soaked in their craps for which purpose they pick up sharp stones and their stomacks are made of two large Muscles one on either side the chief instruments in this work of Moliture or grinding The Locusta or Lobsters has his teeth placed in his stomack and so have the rest of that kind which they imploy for the same purpose 4. Our next observation shall be upon two Rules of Diet commonly given by Physitians the one is that we should not put new meat into our stomack till after a perfect digestion of what was eaten the meal before the reason of which Rule seems to be this That it is necessary thâ— stomack should continue some time empty that so the Fracid Tincture or small corrupted remaining portion of the former meat may have acquired its due acidity whereby it may the better help the succeeding fermentation or concoction And it is no more than if you should advise the House-wife not to make any new Bread till the Leven be grown ripe or sowre enough to leven and ferment the Mass of Dough. The second Rule is that we should leave eating with some small appetite to eat on or that we should rise from Table with an appetite the reason is almost the same with the former and may well be illustrated by the same instance which is that it is requisite the Leven should bear some just proportion to the Mass it is to ferment Thus if we rise with an appetite it will appear that we have not over-charged this ferment of our stomacks for appetite being as is said a sense of pain caused by the sharpness of this acid ferment it follows that this acidity is not yet quite obscured by the late mixture of good and consequently the stomack not charged with more than may be well digested at once by 〈◊〉 And these are Rules very fit to be observed as well by those which are of a more robust nature as of them especially who have weak stomacks and find themselves indisposed after eating 5. 'T is further advised by some Physitians that such as have weak stomacks should forbear drinking till they have neer dined and we commonly observe that drinking just before dinner spoils our eating which it does by diluting this ferment of the stomack whereupon the sense of pain and consequently hunger abates very much or quite ceases for a time And 't is usually seen that they who are great Drinkers are bad Trencher-men and that as well for that much drinking relaxes the tone and extenuates the coats of the stomack as more especially for that it washes away by little and little all this fracid tincture or sowre ferment of the membranes thereof which is as well the cause of concoction as of appetite or hunger 6. Bulls Blood drunk was found a present poyson by the Ancients and Milk taken plentifully and after curdling on the stomack has often been the cause of great and mortal Surfeits the reason of both is the same for that both blood and milk being curdled and brought into one hard lump becomes insuperable to the stomack Whereas if the same be suffered to coagulate before they be eaten and broken into small parts they will have no such effect and instead of poysoning will afford an indifferent good nourishment to the body So far seems Helmont to have missed the mark when he says The cause of this poyson is Imago Irae in Sanguine Taurino And I doubt not but a lump of Beef or a piece of Cheese of the same bigness whole in the stomack would as surely poyson if not more effectually And this may farther confirm what is said in the third paragraph of preparing our Food by chawing c. 7. The inward membranes or skins of the Gizards of most Birds especially such as feed on corn prepared by drying and powdring them are held a great help to concoction Now the acidity of them is very manifest and no doubt they do no otherwise comfort our stomacks than by encreasing and corroborating that ferment so often mentioned Thus the dung of several Animals prepared namely of Wolves Dogs Peacocks
cause of their ascending as some even knowing men have suffered themselves to be perswaded but because such bodies formerly heavier than water quantity for quantity and consequently apt to sink have now acquired a larger dimension while they however increase not their weight and so becoming lighter than the water contained in the like space are protruded by it to the top where they by degrees swell yet bigger so that sometimes I have seen a dog lye with more than one halfe of his body above the surface of the water and it is no more than happens in a pound of Glass metal or other heavy material which in a solid Mass sinks to the bottom but if blown or wrought into a bottle it keeps the top of the water all which together with the reason is well enough known to such as have been conversant in statick Experiments 5 Another very useful property of Fermentation is that while it separates all Heterogeneous parts it leaves the Basis as it were or main ingredient of the Mass clear and limpid if not hindred by the density of the body and throws off two recrements or superfluities one a heavier descending to the bottom the other of a lighter more frothy substance which takes its place at the top of the liquor as is manifest in Wine Sider and the juices of other fruits in Beer made with Barly and the decoctions of other grains first maulted and grown'd This happens not in Bread because the greatest part of the Mass being the more solid the less or watry par◠takes its flight on all sides to the circumference though somewhat more slowly and there coagulates into a blew mould 6. Another noble property of Fermentation is that it exalts the body fermented to what perfection it is capable of but then it is requisite that the body fermented be of such a consistence as may not be fermented too fast as in fruits upon trees or if thin that it be close stop't in some full Vessel as all kind of drinks or if o◠〈◊〉 middle consistence that it be often stirred which is observed by Apothecaries in the making of Treacle and other such Compositions which afterward will keep a very long time For thus it is necessary that that spirit as we will call it for the present which ferments the Mass be for a while detained either by the tone of the body by some strong vessel or that it be often re-effused as it were upon its body that so by its long difficult and reiterated working it may at last find out some congruity amongst the less Heterogeneous parts and cause a kind of complanation of the whole Mass and it self with less reluctancy be detained in the Body or Mass 7. Another very General property of Fermentation is that all bodies almost by it at last become acide as is manifest in all liquors decoctions of flesh or herbs electuaries sirups c. by which acidity I understand not that sowre taste observable in most green fruits which is rather to be termed acerbity and differs as much from what we here speak of as Agresta the juyce of green grapes exprest doth from Vinegar 8. In the next place let us briefly consider the causes of Fermentation the most immediate of which seems to be the Air contained in every mixt body for as I noted before all bodies fermented do occupy a larger room than they did before fermentation which cannot be duely ascribed to any other ingredient in mixt bodies than to the air for that it hath not yet been found by sufficient experiment that any body whatsoever is capable of rarifaction and condensation or dilation and construction besides air as for Leaf Gold what it got in one dimension it lost in the other and all the parts of Gold calcined do but equal the Mass they were made of no more than if the same had been reduced to an impalpable powder by means of a very fine file The same is to be understood of water evaporated by heat which is only a comminution of it into exceeding small parts and no way a conversion of it into air as hath been formerly received which is from hence evidenced that such vapours by the Alembic are again reducible to the same liquors from whence they were first raised viz. into Rosewater or spirit of Wine which were no more possible if they had been really converted into air then out of common air to draw Rose-water or spirit of Wine and if water or milke or other liquor take up more room when boyling on the fire then they did cold 't is by reason that the particles of air formerly not visible are now considerably dilated so as to become observable to the eye 9. As the Air contained in mixt bodies is the most immediat efficient cause of Fermentation so it needs exciting and actuating for the most part as well by the temper and tone of the Medium as from the addition of this or that particular Ferment as of leven yeast Renet or the like of which perhaps we shall have farther occasion to speak more hereafter and at present only consider how the Medium especially the Ambient Air excites the internal air in the work of Fermentation 10. By the Tone of the Air I understand the measure of its rarity and density and especially its reciprocations or frequent access and recess to this or that degree of rarity and density Now that one Air is rarer than another as that of hills then that of the valleys that of southern Regions then that of the more Northern is I think an undoubted truth also that the Air of every particular place is sometimes rarer sometimes denser according to the several seasons of the year times of the day and night c. needs no other proof then that of the Weather-glass By the temperature of the Air I mean its degree and difference of heat and cold which admits of the same considerations of place and time as before and is not only proved by the Weather-glass but even by sense it self 11. The manner how the Ambient works upon the internal air in mixed bodies is the same with that of the Weather-glass where the inclosed air is rarified and condensed heated and cooled accordingly as the Medium is affected So in bodies fermented especially liquors the imperceptible particles of air being gently and by degrees dilated become the cause that the whole Mass doth occupy more and more room or encreases its dimensions under the same weight whereupon this effect immediately follows that several Heterogeneous Particles which before floated in the liquor and were as I may say equilibrous with the same do now gently descend toward the bottom in order according to their weight The small Particles of air in the mean while being more and more dilated do together with the more viscous parts of the liquor of which they form themselves Coats or Integuments gently ascend to the top of the Mass where
they make that frothy head or scum observable in Sider Wine Beer and other liquors and this I take to be the natural method of all fermentâ—tion when not checked or otherwise determined by some outward circumstance And this also seems a genuine reason of the depuration and of the casting off the heavier and lighter recrement mentioned before N. 5. to happen in fermented liquors 12. That Bodies are ripened and acquire their due perfection by fermentation is asserted N. 6. but in such case it is necessary that this fermentation be checked or retarded in such sort as is there mentioned both in natural and more artificial fermentations But the most universal Moderator of this motion is what was lately call'd the tone of Air as well as its temperature which daily and hourly changing doth accelerate retard check and put backward this motion and then restores it again by which various and oft repeated course the parts are comminuted their roughness retunded and mitigated and they so disposed of after an inexplicable manner as conduces most to the beauty and perfection of the Body fermented 13. This dilatation and constriction in Bodies fermented caused by the like accidents of the Ambient Air may not improperly be compared with the pulse in Animals having its Systole and Diastole even as they have though by longer periods as of day and night warm weather and cold c. and from hence perhaps is the true cause of pulses in Animals to be lookt for which yet as forreign to our present scope we here enquire not farther after but it will not be improper to observe with common experience that Malt is best made in windy weather and that the best and most lasting Beer is brewed in March and September windy moneths and of an unequal temper Now 't is evident that all winds are moved by gusts rather then equal fluxes from whence probably it is that the Sea is lifted into Waves as it were numbring to us the several impetuous stroaks it received from the winds Thus the motion of all Animals seems to be performed by snatches and jerks and it is indeed a great question among School-Philosophers whether any local motion be strictly speaking continual and not rather consisting of short motions and frequent rests as it were compounded together This Pulse or frequent change in the tone of the Air however it may seem at first view an idle or over-subtil contemplation will upon due consideration be found not only true and the cause of those effects assigned to it in the foregoing Paragraph but that it may also with good effect be made use of in Physick as a notable instrument for preservation of health and the cure of diseases I shall hereafter endeavour to prove in the ensuing discourse That most liquors fermented especially in the beginning conceive heat and become warm even to sense the reason may be partly gathered out of what has been already said namely that the small particles of Air in such liquor become dilated which dilatation is always accompanied with an encrease of heat they mutually making way for and introducing one the other in the Air and bodies participating of Air if not hindred from without to which may be added that all motion is apt to beget heat in the Body moved which is true not only of solid Bodies though more eminently in them but also of liquid Bodies themselves Thus 't is said in making Butter you must neither make too much at once nor yet must it be too violently beaten or shaken for in such case there will be great hazard of over-heating the Butter which as you see is the meer effect of motion in a liquid Body only Besides most liquors fermented abouâ— with a kind of Tartar which afterwâ—â—â— subsideth when the Mass begins to coâ—… the collision of whose rough particles 〈◊〉 against the other may perhaps somewâ—… contribute to the production of this heâ—… though I for my part impute less to 〈◊〉 then the causes before assigned though 〈◊〉 remarkable heat arising in Aqua fortis aâ—…sed upon filings of Iron or Silver is perhâ—… best made out by the collision of its asproâ—… parts against those of the said Metals 14. As concerning particular ferments I shall only observe that congenerous Bodies suffer most and are best fermented by their own proper ferments namely Ale by yeast Dough by Leven Milk by Renet Thus Apples Pears and Grapes and generally all fruit once corrupted or rotten do more easily affect and putrifie those of their own kind then of any other I say more easily for they will though with more difficulty and after a longer time corrupt fruits of a divers kind also and those particular Levens before-mentioned will in like manner though probably not so naturally ferment â—ther Bodies of whose kind they are not â—…s Yest will ferment Dough which yet 〈◊〉 something congenerous to it as proâ—…ng it self originally from Corn or 〈◊〉 and whites of Eggs beaâ—… up 〈◊〉 snowy froth will indifferently supply â—…ant of Yest in either Wort or Dough â—…am verily perswaded that the Yesty 〈◊〉 which may be taken off the top of 〈◊〉 running Drills of water would effect â—…me mingled with Dough unless perâ—… it be not viscous enough wherein it â—…ms only to differ from the whites of â—ggs beaten as is said and it were worth the trying to understand whether a Mass of Dough made with flower and snow only would need any other raising or Leven I have read that in the Countryes about Parma and Piacenza whence those so much valued Parmisan Cheeses come the people make use of Snow instead of Renet This instance however of the white of an Egg beaten may serve very well to illustrate our Position concerning the fermentation of Bodies by the dilatation and constriction of its aereous Particles as also the kneding of Dough and shaking of liquors which is a kind of kneding too the better to make them rise and work will notably confirm what we said of the Tone of the Air its frequent alterations and of windy weather how much they conduce to the better fermentation of most Bodies 15. Note that the reason why the juices of most fruits do soon after expression acquire a strong fermentation seems to be this that not only the liquor is now more at liberty then when mixed with the fleshy parts of the fruit but likewise that the Airy Particles lay very much compressed in the fruit every particular Grape Cherry and Apple being in the nature of a little Bottle which as we see if well stopt hinders the working of Ale or Wine but once opened the liquors straightway ferment and swell very impetuously the compressed Air forcibly dilating it self and this is the reason that fruit a little eaten by the Birds or Snails will ripen much faster than if they had not been entered upon but then the taste will not be altogether so generous and sprightly Thus Apples and Pears gather'd green and hoarded ripen
c. have been approved of in divers diseases or distempers of the stomack and guts for the same cause Nay I have heard that Paracelsus his Occidental Civet prepared will make an excellent Peptick for them that can dispense with such homely remedies 8. It is a famous Question among Physitians Whether it be better to make a meal of one only dish of meat or to eat of several meats at the same setting and it is commonly determined in favour of the simpler diet But it seems more consonant to our Opinion to allow rather of several dishes for that which is easie of concoction will help to concoct that which is harder Thus good Sauces to meats make them set easie and light upon the stomack the Sauces being easie of concoction helping the dissolution of the meats And we may surely expect a heartier nourishment from them than single dishes as we find by experience better broth to be made of several sorts of flesh than of any one and commonly the more variety the more perfect is the pottage And it s well known we are nourished by juices only and not by the solid part of our food 9. Where this ferment of the stomack is more acid than is requisite as it is in Hypochondriacal persons and such as are troubled with sowre belches 't is found by experience that to make two three or four meals in a day is better than one and that fasting encreases much the acidity Thaâ— hard meats as dry bread Biscuits and those that are less easie concoction are more useful than Broths and other light meats which will sometimes especially taken in a morning the ferment after long emptiness becoming extraordinary sowre work so violently that they will flow up into the mouth and with their eagerness set the teeth an edge and ferment the very ground But both in this and the former rule 't will be necessary to take some care that we do not eat much more of our Many dishes than we should have eat of one and that the quantity of our meat at many meals but equals or not much exceeds what we should have eaten at once or twice 10. 'T is observed that sudden change of diet has sometimes proved very fatal and been often the occasion of dangerous diseases The reason may well be that the stomack having received its tincture or ferment from food of another nature is but ill prepared for the concoction of those meats to which it hath not been accustomed and from which it has as yet received no stain or impression Such changes therefore must be made by degrees and thus I have heard that horses have been brought to live upon flesh and some men have indifferently well supported life with bread and herbs only 11. Wolves are said when pressed with extremity of hunger sometimes to tear the ground and fill their panches with meer earth which surely affords them little or no nourishment But it serves for the present to abate the edge of their appetites till they meet with some prey at which time they easily discharge their stomacks of the earth and fall to better meat This instance may indifferently well support our Assertion that hunger is rather a sense of pain from the acid ferment of the stomack than of emptiness from the Suction of the veins 12. As concoction succeeds best with rest so motion is said to help distribution Now by distribution we are to understand the dispersing of the thinner parts of the Chyle into the milky veins from thence into the Subclavials thence into the right Ventricle of the heart where the Chyle already is pretty well stained or imperfectly mingled with blood from whence it takes its course to the lungs where by the reciprocations of that part it is yet more perfectly mixed with the blood From the lungs it descends into the hearts left Ventricle from whence it is thrown into the Arteries where by degrees it receives the form and name of blood and by them is conveyed into all parts of the body In regard the milky veins have no attractive power whereby the Chyle might be suckt into them as far as could yet be fairly made appear nor has the Chyle much less any such inclination or power of moving it self that way it remains that this distribution of the Chyle is performed by the motion of the body And thus we find moderate exercise soon causes an emptiness in the â—…irst ways and begets an appetite And yet we may likewise observe that while we sit still or sleep this distribution is performed though not so speedily Now while we rest there is no other motion observeable beside that of breathing which seems to be the true cause of this distribution of the Chyle till it comes into the Subclavials for when we draw in our breaths the Diaphragme or Midriff compresseth the stomack and gently forceth the Chyle thence into the guts And again when we breath out the Muscles of the belly straight subside and strongly compress the guts whereupon the thinner part of the Chyle insinuates it self into the mouths of the milky veins and by the succeeding parts of the Chyle is protruded into the Subclavials where afterward it is moved with the motion of the blood I do not deny the Peristaltick motion of the Intestines whereby the guts distended with Chyle beyond their due tone do again by their transverse fibres contract themselves for this is also a partial cause of distribution as appears in the dissection of live Animals where this motion of the Chyle continues after the Abdomen or belly is laid open from one end to the other but is much strengthened no doubt by the Muscles of the belly besides this Peristaltick motion of the guts shews indeed in part how they are emptied but not how they are fitted with Chyle which is the first part of distribution 13. 'T is worthy observation that Butter melted and very well beaten or drawn the while becomes a much pleasanter cause and easier of digestion than if it be not beaten and yet all the difference is that by beating a great quantity of Air is every where mingled with it whereby it very much helps the fermentation or concoction of our meat in our stomacks after the same manner as is already said of whites of Eggs in the former Chapter and indeed all sauses are a kind of additional ferments That there is great quantity of air in Butter thus beaten may not only be gathered from hence that after beating it takes up more room than it did before or otherwise would do if not beaten but the same particles of air are even manifest to sense it self and the whole Mass of Butter appears beaten up into a froth so far is â—t from being made thicker thereby as we commonly express our Opinions of it â—hat indeed it becomes much thinner and lighter if compared quantity with quantity as is manifest CHAP. III. Of Respiration THat Animals breath not at all
trunk of the body namely those of the Belly Chest and Shoulders seem to afford their assistance in this great work of Respiration The motion of the Midriff is first downwards whereupon the lungs follow and the air is admitted and again upwards whereby the lungs are compressed and the air excluded Thus you see that as the construction of the Midriff so is its motion somewhat different from that of other Muscles which as being well known we shall not need to spend longer time about but come to the publick use of the lungs in the Oeconomy of our bodies 4. In the circulation of the blood we ascribed the reduction of it again into the right ventricle of the heart to the Tonical motion of the body where yet as we have said the blood moves but very slowly if compared with that swift and rapid motion it is carried on with through the lungs where it moves perhaps ten times as fast as in any other part of the body as has been already proved Which notwithstanding we shall not be able upon perusal of the structure of the lungs to conclude that they are endowed with any considerable tonical motion as may be gathered as well from their want of Muscles as for that their substance is very spongey and flaccid and their common integument is but one thin membrane Nor was it without a particular and that a most excellent design that Nature thus contrived the lungs with little or no tonical motion in them For first had this Tone been equivalent to the Mass of blood to be returned by it it would much have retarded the influx of the blood into the lungs and consequently have hindered a great work of Nature upon it there as shall be shewed hereafter But chiefly for that it has largely supplied such defect by the assistance of the Diaphragme which becomes the cause both of dilating and contracting the lungs according to the occasion and at the will and pleasure of the Animal And this is indeed the first and principal Office of the lungs as to what concerns their reciprocal motion Namely that upon the subsiding of them in Respiration the blood may be vigorously squeezed out of them through the Arteria Venosa into the hearts left Ventricle And because the substance of the lungs is very tender Nature contrives that not the Diaphragme immediately but the air inclosed in the cavity of the brest for this very purpose only being first streightened and crowded as it were together by the motion of the Diaphragm upward should cause this compression upon the lungs while by its Elastic power it endeavours to dilate it self again to its usual dimensions Nor could any way of compressing the lungs thereby to discharge them of the superfluous blood have been contrived more equal for this pent air is as apt to press upon one part as on another Nor yet more gentle and secure for what contact could have been more delicate or less apt to wound the tender membrane of the lungs than the air inclosed in the brest about them Nor need any doubt but that the air thus comprest and streightned is of strength sufficient for this service and that there is such a Spring in the air who shall but consider with what force the air breaks forth of the Wind-gun and other Pneumatic Engines A farther confirmation hereof may be had from hence that such wounds as perforate the brest if left open but for a little time do quickly cause a difficulty of breathing and I do not much question but if both sides of the brest were perforated it would as certainly dispatch a man as hanging and that almost in as short a time Farther in the dissection of live Animals Respiration continues long after the Abdomen or belly is laid open but immediately ceases upon dividing the Diaphragme or Midriff 5. Whether the air that enters into the lungs by the Wind-pipe have a share in this compression of them for the discharging of the blood or not I am as yet not well satisfied At first view this compression should seem to be best made upon drawing in our breath between the air implanted in the cavity of the brest and the air in the rough Arteries or branches of the Wind-pipe but at such time the implanted air is but little or not at all contracted and therefore we must conclude that either the air taken in bears no part in this compression or which is most probable that the sanguine Vessels of the lungs are not only strongly compressed upon expirations but also upon inspiration that is so often as the lungs are removed from their natural middle or indifferent scituation whether expanded or contracted Viz. Tà m in quiete externâ quà m internâ We must likewise allow the air to cool the lungs very considerably and that it discharges them of a fuliginous or rather vaporous excrement But these are â—s we have said the less principal uses of Respiration As for the airs becoming the matter of Vital Spirits in Respiration I shall say no more than that I neither find any need of it nor any may for the mingling of it with the Mass of blood 6. Allowing what has been said concernâ—ng â—he use of respiration we may perhaps â—â—nd out a more commodious reason of sighing than has been yet assigned For if a man shall for a while either wholly forbear breathing or at least breath seldomer â—nd lower than is his usual custom the â—unges in the mean time swell and fill â—hemselves with blood for want of that â—requent and strenuous compression formerly equal to the influx of the blood while the pulse is not so full as ordinarily â—he hearts left Ventricle not receiving its â—ue supply from the lungs which in this â—ase receive more than they deliver Hereâ—pon a man is necessitated for avoiding â—uffocation to fetch a great breath or â—â—gh which may more strongly than usuâ—lly compress the substance of the lungs â—nd reduce them to their former estate And thus great attention any deep contemplation sad thoughts and a melancholick constitution do often become the cause of frequent sighing As also a natural sloth or less aptness in the lungs themselves or Diaphragme to motion will sometimes make this passion customary and habitual And it is observable that the pulse rises very much upon sighing for the first stroak or two at least the blood coming to the Artery again in that abundance that a man may feel the tingling of it at his very fingers ends 7. Furthermore it may not a little strengthen our Assertion that in all great difficulties of breathing and where there is most imminent danger of suffocation to let blood in good quantity is commonly prescribed as the last remedy and which seldome fails of giving at least a present relief let the cause be what it may be And this it seems to do by diverting the course of blood from the lungs while they gently again discharge themselves of
of the whole body are much more compressed than in their natural state of rest and consequently do not only not admit of the usual quantity of blood and humours due to them by circulation but by their violent and frequent contraction do return them back in much a larger proportion than they now receive them whereupon the lungs become over-charged which causes frequent breathing and makes the pulse quicker and stronger than formerly distends the great vein and artery with a greater quantity of blood than is usuall Whereupon the Artery by its pulse and tone endeavours to discharge it self upon the habit of the body which not receiving it in its due and accustomed proportion the blood does in a more than a usual manner fill the vessels of the eyes and other weak parts and either by dissention compression or extravasation of blood or other humor the order and disposition of the parts of the eyes becomes so confused and disturbed that no wonder if blindness immediately or soon after do ensue Now 't is manifest from hence that where the body of an horse is clean that is to say not so full of humors and where blood abounds not over-much this accident shall not easily happen And here we are to observe that though the native tone of the eye do rather exceed that of the other parts than come short of it yet it is not sufficient to resist this influx when the tone of the other parts is so much strengthened by the violent local motions of the body 11. If we a little reflect upon the manner of the Circulation of the Blood and how by very modern discovery the Chyle is first mingled with the blood in the axillary or subclavial veins from whence it passes by the right Ventricle of the heart through the lungs into the left Ventricle from thence to be distributed into the whole body One thing very remarkable will arise to our observation namely that what part of the blood is sent toward the head by the carotides or arteries of the neck flows thither very crude and accompanied with all its excrements it having not yet received or suffered any depuration or alteration from the Reins or Spleen like that which passes into almost all other especially the lower parts of the body though indeed it seems not to be cleansed of the gall till it returns home again through the liver Now though Natures purpose herein be very obscure that the blood thus impure should be designed for the service of the most Noble part yet that so it is will farther appear by the several Emunctories or sinks wherewith the head is in a particular manner provided as the ears eyes nose palat every of which discharge the brain of a several excrement and that no longer useful to the body except what is secerned by the palat which is for the most part again returned to the stomack for the better separating of which Nature has industriously placed about the head so many of those serous vessels called the Ductus Salivares which seem here to perform the same Office to that part of the blood sent to the head which the Reins do execute to the remaining Mass Hence no wonder it is if excessive drinking do so much weaken the brain cause Catarrhs which is nothing but an over-flowing of the Ductus Salivares weaken all the faculties of the Soul and senses and at length enervate the whole body although at the same time the Reins do their duty indifferently well and this especially if the native tone of the brain be weak it being then so much the less able to discharge it self of such superfluous excrements This may be said in general that the blood is thus sent to the brain before depuration in regard of its publick Office that the same may there be farther elaborated as shall best suit with its service in that Noble part Thus much by way of an useful digression may suffice concerning tonical motion and some considerable circumstances of it which as well for the assistance it gives the heart in the circulation of the blood as for the many useful indications from thence arising in the Doctrine of Phlebotomy was most properly to be handled in this Chapter of Sanguification 12. And now I do not much doubt but whoever shall have carefully perused what has been lately said concerning Sanguification and the use of the lungs will as readily conclude with me that the lungs do bear a very principal part in the work of Sanguification for in them the Chyle is perfectly mingled with the blood in them one half part of the circulation is performed and in them the blood seems to free it self first of all from any excrement to wit a fuliginous or rather a vaporous watry superfluity which passeth out together with our breath And this seems the first and chiefest part of Sanguification The second is a farther elaborating the Mass of blood in the arteries which is performed by the pulsive motion of the heart The third and last part is the depuration of the blood whereby its superfluous excrements are separated from it and this is performed by the rest of the bowels thus by passing through the Reins it is dreined of its serous parts Another excrement it seems to leave behind it in the Spleen though of what kind is not yet well determined among the modern Physitians But on all sides it is concluded that while it passeâ— through the liver as through a Streiner iâ— is there purged of choler which in mosâ— Animals is collected in a little bladder oâ— Cistis from whence it is transmitted to thâ— Intestines where it becomes a kind of natural Clyster and provokes to the excerning the excrements of the first ways as they use to term them And this is what lay in our way to say at present concerning Sanguification CHAP. V. That often changing the Air is a friend to health Also a discovery of a new method of doing it without removing from one place to another by means of a Domicil or Air-Chamber fitted to that purpose HAving hitherto shewed what part the air acts in all fermentations and that in respect of its tone and temper Viz. its difference of rarity and density and of heat and cold and that in general only not considering what other dispositions of the Air may make it apt to promote or retard the motion of fermentation whereby it may also powerfully operate to the continuation or destruction of mixt bodies as not so directly serving for the illustration of the Subject we principally intend in this discourse Having farther made it probable that the work of our stomacks upon our Aliments as also that Sanguification it self is a kind of fermentation And lastly having asserted the publick Office of the lungs together with the use of breathing as well in promoting the circulation as elaborating of the blood And having likewise said something of the tonical motion of the body and all this
sooner far than if they had continued hanging on the Trees for that they now receive some vent at their stalks and I find the Ancients were wont to plant the Caprificus or wild Fig-tree neer their other domestick Fig-trees that so the Flees which in great quantities are bred out of the fruit of the Caprificus may seize and pierce the Figs of the other trees as they do in several places thereby not only accelerating their time of maturity but also which perhaps is particular to this kind of fruit rendring them much more tender and delightful than otherwise they would have been had no such Artifice been made use of Now as we have said this kind of fermentation whereby fruits attain their maturity bears a very due proportion with that observed in botled drinks which if well stopt are slower in ripening but of better taste than in open vessels as also if placed in cold well-vaulted Cellars then if exposed to the Air and that for this reason that the difference of heat and cold especially in Summer is by many degrees more in the open Air than in such subterraneous Vaults and consequently the Aerous Particles contained in such fermented liquors are more dilated and constricted reciprocally when exposed to the weather than if laid up in Cellars or buried in the ground Which reciprocation of the tone of Air we have already asserted to be the principal if not the only cause of all fermentation And it may be farther illustrated by a common practise of botling up Wine or other drink with a lump of Loaf-sugar in it which will make it much more brisk and lively And this it dâ—th not by its sweetness sure for that were apter to clog and tame it as is found by practise or if it did then Syrup of Sugar or a small quantity of powder Sugar might indifferently produce the same effect which yet is contradicted by experience Nay I dare confidently affirm that the like quantity of the fame Loaf-sugar first done into very fine powder will not serve the turn So that I cannot imagine other reason why the lump of Loaf-sugar is of that use put into botled wine c. than that being very porous it conveys with it self a great quantity of air into the liquor and does in effect no more than what has been already said of the whites of Eggs beaten up together into a froth So it is not the Sugar but the air contained in the sugar which mends the fermentation of the drink and whereby the Sugar supplies the place of an additional ferment the better to excite the working of the liquor 16. And lastly methinks it might alone serve turn to convince us of the great efficacy the air hath and the power it exerciseth on all or most mixed Bodies what we finde to manifest by experience in preserving of flesh fruits the Bodies of Insects and other the like whether for aliments or curiosity only and that with little other preparation many times than by barely immersing them in wax oyl butter sewet some Gum or Rosine c. and afterward carefully putting them up into Vessels well stopped By which practise we seem to obtain little else than that we do hereby as it were conceal those Bodies thus preserved from the air which would otherwise in a short time have totally corrupted them their long continuance and preservation seeming to follow as the consequence of that artificial exclusion of the air whereby the Bodies or rather the air in them are no longer apt to be affected according to the various dispositions of the Medium Farther it is well worth our Observation that Chyle Milk Cream the seeds of all Vegetables and even that of Animals it self seem to owe their whiteness to the interspersion or dissemination of air only even after the same manner as is already observed in Snow and some other Bodies CHAP. II. That Chylification is a sort of Fermentation and how distribution is performed 1. THe Stomack or Ventricle in animals designed by Nature for the Office of Chylification commonly called the first Concoction and which is as it were the root of all Vegetation or nutrition in them seems at first birth but ill fitted for such a work till the Coats or Membrances thereof have been well stained or seasoned by the receipt of an aliment so prepared that it want little more than warmth to the perfecting of that operation upon it which is expected from the Stomack And thus for all animals that suck Nature has provided for their first food a kind of corrupted Milk usually called Beastings which gives as it were the first tincture to their tender Stomacks and whereby they seem enabled to concoct more perfect Milk which they begin to draw after a day or two Which Milk also by degrees becomes more thick and harder of concoction proportionably to the encrease of strength in the stomack it self till by little and little they begin to alter their diet and forsake the Teat for such other food as is most proportionable to their respective Natures 2. This Tincture thus imprinted on the Stomack may very properly be termed a ferment and seems to bear a just proportion with Leven which is a small part of the Mass of Dough suffered to grow sowre while the rest is converted into bread which if not hindred would have all turned into leven likewise Thus after the Chyle is conveyed from the Stomack into the Guts from thence to be distributed through the whole Body some small part that remains sticking to the coats of the Stomack soon after acquires that acidity due to all fermentation not interrupted which after some time begins to grieve and afflict the Stomack with its sharpness the sense whereof we usually call hunger which sense of pain or hunger continues to grow more and more that which caused it becoming still sharper and sharper till by the reception of new aliment the acidity of the said Tincture or Leven be so mitigated and allayed that the Stomack being as it were healed by application of these new benigne and uncorrupted juices is no longer sensible of any pain or molestation which then puts an end to the desire of eating But if food be forborn or withheld the pain so long encreases till it at last destroys the sense of the part and introduces a sphalelus Gangrene or Mortification in the Stomack which is afterward soon conveyed to the heart and brain by its communion of Vessels and so at length becomes the death of the Animal Which seems rather to be the cause of death in such as perish by hunger than the emptiness or inanition of the Vessels which though much exhausted are yet found in such cases with a considerable quantity of blood in them Nay 't is a frequent practise in the Desarts of Arabia as I am informed by some that have travelled in the Levant to let their Camels blood after several days fasting and to give them their own blood