the effort of that part We shall not make it our business to oppose this circulation and though it be accompany'd with great difficulties yet may it nevertheless be affirmed that it is true and that it is effectually wrought though haply not after the same manner as is held by the maintainers thereof It is sufficient for the prosecution of our design to shew that the beating of the Heart is not the cause of the blood's motion especially that which comes into the veins For that done it will be easie to make it appear that they are only the Spirits which can transport it to the places whither it goes and consequenlty that they are bodies distinct from the humours which follow the motions of the Soul and not that of the Heart and may be mov'd by an agitation different from that of the latter Art 8. The heating of the Heart forces not the Blood into all the Parts IT being suppos'd then as the Patrons of this opinion would have it that the Heart by a certain compression or contraction of it self drives out into the arteries the blood which it hath receiv'd into its ventricles and that by the violence of that motion it forces it even to their extremities so to make its passage into the small veins which are near them and thence into the hollow vein and at last to the Heart whence it afterwards passes back again into the arteries and then into the veins perpetually running out of one into another by a continuall circulation This I say being sâ—ppos'd it might be said that there is some probability that this impulsion which it receives from the Heart may cause it to flow along into the arteries but it can never be conceiv'd how this impulsion should be continu'd even into the veins after that its force hath been check'd and broken by so many windings and so many obstructions which the blood must needs meet with in its way What! it shall open the moâ—ths of the vessels it shall force its passage through the fleshy parts as they pretend it shall surmount the impressions which the air and other external causes every moment make in the parts and after all this by vertue of that first impulsion it shall reascend to the Heart with the same agility that it descended thence But this is a thing cannot enter into a man's imagination I am content that as it passes through the small vessels the compression it suffers therein may continue the impetuosity of its motion but that it should be so when it flows into the greater veins and the spaciousness of their channels gives it more liberty is a thing which cannot be affirm'd without a defiance of experience and reason and there is a necessity it should have the same fate as rivers and torrents which flowing out of a narrow into a broad channel abate much of the impetuosity of their course And certainly if the beating of the Heart and arteries causes the blood to be thus moved Nature hath forgot her self extreamly that she gave not the same agitation to the veins especially those in the lower parts where the blood is more gross and heavy and hath so great a way to get up to the Heart For there it is that the cause and instruments of this miraculous transportation ought to be the more powerful having a greater and heavier weight to conduct nay indeed to force upward then is the arterial blood which is more subtile more susceptible of motion and at that time only descends downwards It may then be conceiv'd that those who first advanc'd this opinion never consider'd that fluid bodies cannot long conserve the vertue and impulsion if it be not extreamly strong and that that which is made in the Heart is too weak to maintain the motion of the blood in so long a course and through so many obstacles That if it were forc'd out as they pretend it would so much swell the veins that they would alwayes seem full and stretch'd out especially when it should be forc'd to ascend And in fine that opening the veins it should issue out by certain sallies and reiterations as that which comes out of the arteries since it is the same impulsion that makes both move and that we find in Water-Engines that the water alwayes flows proportionably to the violent shocks it received at the entrance of its channell But why should there be imagin'd in the veins a motion of the blood different not only from that which is made in the bones into the depth whereof it penetrates in order to their nourishment but also from that which conveys the sap of plants to all their parts For this sap and the blood we speak of is the last Aliment whereby they are sustein'd and therefore it is but one and the same Faculty that hath the direction and conveyance thereof and Nature who loves uniformity in all her operations will not easily change this since it may and ought to be performed after the same manner Moreover if the impulsion be the only cause of the motion of the blood it must be also the same of all the natural motions whereby it is agitated And yet that transportation of the humours which Nature makes in Crises and the regularity punctually observ'd by her when she conveys them from one place to another depends on another principle For the violence done in the Heart ought to be equally communicated to all the vessels and cannot determine the blood to flow towards one part rather then another How shall it then cause it to ascend to the left nostril in Inflammations of the Spleen rather then to the right Shall it be also the impulsion that shall force choler to the Intestines in Fluxes without inflammation And convey the serosities to the skin in critical sweats For all these sorts of motions proceed from nature and are made or at least begun in the veins though the beating and impulsion of the Heart and Arteries contribute nothing thereto To conclude since Nature multiplies not the ways of acting in those operations which are of the same kind it is necessary that she cause the blood to ascend by the same vertue whereby she causes the chylus to do so making it to pass out of the Intestines into the Vessels and afterwards conducting it to those places where it is necessary Now I do not think there is any body will affirm that the beating of the Heart contributes ought to this motion as having no communication with the Intestines at least so great as to force the chylus upwards and consequently it may be said that the blood is no more mov'd then it by that impulsion We must therefore find out some other cause then that whereto we may referr not only the ordinary transportation of the blood and all its other motions which though they seem extraordinary are nevertheless natural thereto as those which happen in the Passions but also those of the chylus and the other
and savage according to the quality of the air they breath and which produces that effect by the impression it makes upon the Temperament Lastly that the very Animals themselves are fearful or venturous docile or untractable proportionably to the coldness or heat the thickness or subtility of their blood The reason for which the Temperament is the cause of all these effects is deduced from the secret knowledge which the soul hath of the instruments whereof she makes use in her actions for being so neerly united or joyned to them she knows the weakness or strength thereof and consequently is soon satisfi'd what she may and what she may not do by their means Now though this knowledge be secret yet does it not proceed from the instinct for the instinct is a clear and distinct knowledge which is bestow'd only on the species and consequently ought to be common to all the individuals that are under it whereas this knowledge is different in every one of them and is withall obscure and confused For the Soul hath but a confused knowledge of choler and thence it comes that she represents it to her self in dreams by certain Images which do not absolutely resemble it but have only a certain conformity to it such as are those of fire fighting bright colours c. She does the same thing in Melancholy which she figures to her self by spectres obscurity and inextricable disturbances and so proportionably of the others as we shall press more particularly in the Treatise of the TEMPERAMENTS Now this knowledge how confus'd soever it may be is sufficient to instruct the soul how far she may be able to act or not to act by the assistance of these humours For it teaches her by the experience she makes of it ever and anon that choler is an active and unconstant humour and that it may be serviceable to her in assaulting fighting with and destroying whatever injures her That on the contrary Melancholy is not easily stirr'd troublesome and opposite to the principles of life and so of the rest And upon this knowledge the Estimative faculty frames its judgment conformably to the effects produced by these humours which it keeps in the memory and every foot refreshes by new apprehensions by that means rendring them perfectly representative and capable of producing the inclinatiâ—ns which we commonly observe therein Art 4. That the Conformation of the parts is a cause of the Inclination AS to the Conformation of the parts I do not think any body doubts but that it is a certain sign of many Inclinations in as much as it is observable that without any art but only by the bare inspection of the lineaments of the face the humour and thoughts of some persons may be in some measure discovered That those men in whom there is a certain resemblance to certain other Animals are inclinable to the same passions as they are That such as deal in Horses and Huntsmen consult it very exactly that they may thereby judge of the docility and tractability of Horses and Dogs And lastly that it is come into a Proverb affirming that those are not to be trusted who are guilty of any strange default or miscarriage of Nature But I am further to add that this Conformation of the parts is not only the sign but is also the cause of those inclinations for it gives the soul a bent to certain actions as the Temperament doth Yet is it not to be said that the Conformation is the effect of the Temperament and consequently that it does not denote the inclinations upon any other ground then that it denotes the Temperament which is the true cause thereof and not it For though this may be true in many occasions and that it is certain also that ordinarily the parts are lengthned contracted and assume several figures according to the quality of the predominant humour yet does it very often happen that the Conformation agrees not with the Temperament and that for instance a cold complexion may be consistent with a Conformation which seems to denote heat Accordingly the heart and brain are sometimes too great or too little in the same Temperament which must needs cause a notable difference in the passions over which those two parts have any power Add to this how many cholerick persons are there who have thick and short noses and how many subject to melancholy have them long and sharp contrary to the nature of those humours Who would affirm that all the Tartars and all the Chineses are of the same Temperament because all the former have large faces and that the latter are all flat-nos'd Are there not some creatures of different species that have the same Temperament and yet the figure of their parts is wholy different To be short it is not the Temperament which penetrates the veines and arteries which makes the articulation of the bones divides the fingers and builds up that admirable structure of the parts of every animal But it is the formative vertue is the Architect which the soul imployes to build up a body such as may be fit to perform the actions whereto it is designed and whereas this vertue alwaies endeavours to make the Animal it frames like unto that which produces it if this latter have parts of such a largness and figure the aforesaid vertue which bears the character of it alwaies frames the like if it be not obstructed It is true that many times the Temperament opposes its design and hinders the parts from receiving that figure which the formative vertue had design'd to give them but many times also it does not oppose but leaves it to act according to the measures it hath taken Hence it comes that the imagination of Women with child causes it to change the figure of the Embryo's parts so as that the Temperament makes no opposition Thus the Stars imprint on the body such marks as are not correspondent to the natural complexion thereof c. Art 5. How Figure acts ALl this presuppos'd the next question is to know how Figure which is a barren quality and does not act at all may cause inclinations Nor is it to be imagin'd that it produces them by an active vertue for the Temperament it self though it have that vertue yet does not employ it upon the soul which is not susceptible of material qualities there being not any thing that can really either warm or cool the soul So that both the Temperament and Conformation of the parts are only occasional causes and motives which excite her to the performance of her actions When she hath taken cognizance of the heat which is predominant in the body she frames her judgements conformably to the effects which she is able to produce and afterwards disposes her self to set the organs on work according to the design she hath taken The same thing is to be said of Figure she knows which is which is not proper for certain functions she afterwards makes
Soul which takes notice of them to represent to her self such objects as are proper to those Passions and so to frame the Passions themselves However it be this is deducible hence that when the Imagination hath felt the emotion excited by the Will in the Appetite it frames to its self such an object as is requisite for the producing of that Passion But it is an uncertain and confused object which does not precisely determine it and therefore it many times happens that in such a case a man cannot give any reason why he is sad or merry and though he be sensible of the Good or Evil yet can he not specifie which it is SECT 6. What is the Seat and first Subject of the Appetite BY all we have hitherto said it is sufficiently apparent that the Appetite is the first Subject of the Passions because they are motions and that the Appetite is the only part of the Soul which moves But as the Soul is the Form of the Body and the faculties have certain proper Organs wherein they reside and where they act we are now to examine what part of the Body it is which serves for a Seat to the Appetite and where it frames its first motions for this examination is necessary to our design since we shall be ever and anon oblig'd to speak of the place whence the Passions have their first rise We are then in the first place to suppose that the Faculties of the Soul are inseparable from its substance and that whereever she is they also are But in regard that of these there are some which stand in need of Organs in order to action though they are in all places where the Soul is yet they act only in their own Organs Those Faculties which are Spiritual being not confin'd to matter do not stand in need of Organs and consequently they are and act in all places where the Soul is as the Understanding and Will For though the actions of the Understanding are more apparent in the Head and those of the Will in the Heart then they are any where else yet is it not to be conceiv'd that these two parts are the Organs thereof but because the faculties subservient to them are in those places and that we commonly attribute to those high powers the actions of those faculties which are subservient thereto as we attribute to the Prince what is done by his Ministers But the case is otherwise in the Corporeal Faculties for it is requisite that they should be restrain'd to some part of the Body which serves them for a subject and instrument in order to the performance of their functions And it is out of all doubt that the Sensitive and Natural Appetites are of that order but there is a great dispute among Philosophers to know which is the proper seat of either of them Art 1. What is the Seat of the Sensitive Appetite AS to the Sensitive Appetite we find by experience that in any Passion whatsoever the Heart is troubled and mov'd and that there are very few how secret soever they may be which may not be discover'd by the beating of the Arteries The ordinary manner of speaking nay indeed Religion it self will have it that this part should not only be a source of all the Passions which cause any alteration in the Body but also of all the affections and motions of the Soul so that we may affirm it to be the Seat Subject and principal Organ of the sensitive Appetite But we see further that in Insects and Serpents the parts after separation from the Heart discover sense and motion when they are touch'd Nay some have observ'd that in the more perfect Animals the Members move for a certain time after this part hath been taken away from them And we are assur'd by our late observations that before the formation of the Heart and Brain there is motion and sentiment in the Embryo To be short Hunger and Thirst are two sensitive Appetites and it is generally acknowledg'd that the mouth of the Stomach and not the Heart is the real subject thereof Nay there is no sensible part can be so slightly wounded as not to move at the same instant and yet it cannot be said that the Heart is the cause of that motion And therefore it seems probable that the Appetite ought to be whereever there is sentiment since the Sense enlightens the Appetite and that the latter cannot move without it And thence some have imagin'd that the Brain which is the principle of sentiment and the Organ of the Imagination should also have the same relation to the sensitive Appetite From all these observations it may be concluded that there are two kinds of sensitive Appetite one which is general and common regarding the conservation of the whole Animal such as is that which frames the ordinary Passions of Love Hate c. the other particular and proper to every part The first no doubt is plac'd in the Heart which is the spring of Life and the Centre from which do proceed all the powers whereby the Animal is govern'd The second hath its seat in every part as Hunger and Thirst in the Stomach But considering further that these two Appetites are of one and the same nature having the same motions the same objects and the same end and that they differ one from the other but as homogenial parts of the same whole it is accordingly requisite that they should have one subject which ought also to be of the same nature And consequently it is necessary that there should be in the Heart and in every part some Organ which may be common in order to its being the chief Subject of that Faculty which is common to them To discover this we are to remember and reflect on what we said before to wit that all the powers of the Soul are inseparable from her substance and that nevertheless they do not act whereever she is but only in certain parts Now this cannot proceed from any thing but the particular disposition which those parts have to be assistant to their actions whether they be more proper to receive the Impression of the objects as for instance the Eye which ought to be transparent that it might give passage to Light and the visible Species and so of the other Senses or that they are more proper to execute the motion which the Soul ought to make as the Muscles are the instruments of voluntary motions in regard they consist of tendons and flesh which are capable of contraction without which these motions cannot be made This presuppos'd as a truth not to be brought into dispute it is requisite that the part wherein the Appetite hath its immediate residence should be proper to the action it ought to do and whereas there is no other action then motion it is also necessary that the said part should have the dispositions proper to motion Now there is not any disposition more proper
the motion of the body and so all those things which are said to be attracted by these qualities are mov'd by another kind of motion then that of Attraction And indeed who can easily conceive that a simple quality should be able so of a sudden and so powerfully to offer violence to things solid and weighty What motion can have an incorporeal vertue to go and find out and bring away massy bodies How is it to be apprehended that contrary to all other qualities which advance forward this only should return back Would there not be a necessity that while it brings back the bodies which it draws after it it should quit the space where it found them which yet continues still full of the same quality True it is and must be acknowledg'd that the Loadstone hath a magnetick vertue which it diffuses out of it self But this vertue is not attractive it only causes in the iron a certain feeling of its presence and thereupon the iron makes towards it of it self as it is in like manner inclin'd towards the iron For if they be both set on the water so as that they may freely swim on it they will approach one another if they be of equal force and if the iron be the more weighty or that it be stopp'd the Loadstone only will move towards it So that it is clear they draw one another no otherwise then as it is said the Sun draws the vapours which by reason of their lightness ascend of themselves after they have felt the heat Art 12. That there is not any attractive vertue in Purgative Medicines NOr is it by Attraction that purgative Medicaments do operate For of these these are some which cause vomiting being apply'd to the soals of the feet and other inferiour parts then which there cannot be a more certain argument of their not attracting the humours since that instead of obliging them to come to themselves they cause them to make a contrary motion Besides the purgative vertue being a natural Faculty should attract the humours which are conformable and consonant to it self in what subject soever they are found whereas far from that it attracts them not at all in bodies which are weak or depriv'd of life And indeed those who have more exactly examin'd the manner how purgation is wrought have shewn that purgatives have no other vertue then that of dissolving and separating the humours as the Rennet does the parts of the Milk And that the separation being made Nature being incens'd thereat expels and drives them out So that the evacuation thereof is wrought not by Attraction but Impulsion Art 13. That Grief and Heat are not attractive THere are yet others who affirm that grief and heat are attractive but they are only the Spirits which Nature sends with the blood into the parts for their support and assistance And this is no true attraction no more then that which is made by a vacuum For a privation which in effect is nothing cannot have any vertue But in this case the bodies put themselves forward to prevent a disorder which Nature cannot bear withall There are not therefore any Attractive vertues and consequently we are not to look for any in Animals in order to the causing of any conveyance of the blood into the veins But there remains this yet to be urg'd to the particular in dispute that it is true the Blood is not attracted but that it moves of it self as does the iron which is sensible of the magnetick vertue of the Loadstone and that having in like manner a certain feeling of the sympathetical vertue inspir'd by the parts it is of it self inclin'd towards them It must be acknowledg'd this expedient would do pretty well if this sympathetical vertue could be well establish'd But how shall we imagine it can subsist in such different subjects as Plants and Animals are or members of a different constitution and temperament such as are those of sound and unsound or diseas'd parts Nay though it should be granted in them What allyance can there be imagin'd between that vertue and the blood which is often alter'd or corrupted between it and the mineral waters which are drunk in fine between it and the poisons which are dispers'd all over the body Nay when all is done neither this means nor any of the others that have been propos'd doth satisfie the regularity which Nature observes in the motions of the blood nor most of the agitations it suffers in the Passions of the Soul nor yet the transportation of the chylus and other humours which is wrought in the body So that there is a necessity of having recourse to the Spirits as the general cause of all these effects And certainly whereas the Blood moves not of it self and that whatsoever is mov'd by another must be either forc'd or attracted or inclin'd neither impulsion nor attraction having any place here it is accordingly necessary that some Body which hath the vertue of moving it self should combine with it and convey it whereever it goes Now since we know that the Spirits are the chief instrmments of the Soul sent by Nature to all the parts to dispose them to action mixt by her with the blood to render it fluid and which she insinuates even into the humours against Nature as well to concoct as force them away there is no question to be made of their being the transporters of the moisture which is in the Vessels since they are beforehand in them to keep them fluid and that there are not any other substances which may be mixt with them to convey them to the places whereto they ought to go And consequently that they are bodies most susceptible of motion which being animated or immediately mov'd by the Soul are the only instruments that can move the blood in all the differences of situation which we observe therein Art 14. That the Blood is convey'd to the parts only by the Spirits FRom what hath been deliver'd it is apparent that in the ordinary course of the Blood the Spirits are the only instruments which cause it to ascend without trouble descend without precipitation and direct and convey it into all the parts nay even to the depth of the Bones for their nourishment By the same Spirits it is diversly stirr'd in the Passions according to the different designs which the Soul proposes to her self they convey it to the wounded parts to relieve them and confine it to an exact observance of that rectitude and regularity which is remarkable in all its motions In a word Nature is the principle and source of all these operations and that Nature is no other then the Soul and her Faculties all which stand in need of Organs in order to their action and can have no other then the Spirits whereto all these effects may be referred They are therefore intermixt with the Blood and as the Air being stirr'd carries along with it the vapours that are got
its substance it being a thing may be confidently affirm'd that there is not any disease which so much corrupts the nature of the Liver and destroys not only its vertue but also its substance as this does which upon that accompt is called the Universal Cancer of the Liver and the whole mass of bloud Galen no doubt was ignorant of this sympathy as being a thing which pure Ratiocination could never have discover'd when to be inform'd thereof it was requisite it should be reveal'd to him in a dream For he relates that being troubled with a violent pain which put him into a fright of being troubled with an Imposthume in the Liver he had an advice in his sleep to open the Artery which runs along that finger and that the said remedy immediately appeas'd the pain whereto he had been subject a long time before Which is a manifest sign that there is a particular communication between those two parts and a certain secret friendship and combination whereby they are united together Art 12. That there is a Sympathy between the Heart and the Ring-finger THe second Observation shall be to shew that there is sympathy between the Heart and the fourth finger which in regard Rings are worn on it is commonly called the Ring-finger For it is a thing cannot be reflected on without something of wonder that when the Gout falls into the Hands that finger is the last which it fastens upon And Levinus relates that in all those whom he met with troubled with that Disease the fourth finger of the left Hand that is the Ring-finger was ever free from it while all the others were extremly subject to pains and inflammations Now whereas the parts make a stronger or weaker resistance against Diseases according to the greater or lesser force they have and that their force depends on the greater or lesser degree of natural heat which is in them it must needs be inferr'd that that finger must have more of it then any of the others since it makes a greater resistance against the evil then they do And whereas the distribution of the natural heat proceeds either from the first Conformation of the parts or from the influence communicated to them by the principle of heat and that there is no probability the said finger having the same structure and composition with the rest should have a greater portion then they of that fixt and original heat whereof there is a distribution made at the birth it must needs follow that the divident it hath thereof should proceed from the influence which the principle of heat sends it in greater abundance then to any of the rest and consequently that there is a greater communication a greater dependence and connexion between it and the Heart which without all dispute is the principle of that heat then there can be between the Heart and all the other fingers put together Nor was Antiquity wholly ignorant of this sympathy in as much as History informs us that the Antient Physicians were of Opinion that this finger had a certain cordial vertue as making use of it exclusively to all the rest in the mixture of those medicaments whereof they made their Antidotes And thence it came that they gave it the denomination of the medical finger which it still keeps in the Latine Tongue that this is one of the reasons why Rings have been ever since worn on it and that many apply thereto remedies for the weaknesses of the Heart as Levinus affirms that he had often made experience as also for the curing of intermittent Fevers as some do still with good success Nor is it of late onely that some have made it their business to find out the cause of this intelligence and relation between these two parts For some as Appion in Anlus Gellius have affirmed that there was a nerve which proceeding from the Heart ended at the said finger others that that connexion was wrought by an Artery and that it is manifestly perceiv'd to beat in Women during the time of their Travel as also in those who are wearied with over-working and in all the Diseases which assault the Heart But though this last Opinion be the more probable yet doth it not absolutely take away the difficulty in as much as the other fingers have each of them an Artery at well as this which Artery proceeds from the same branch and the same source as that of the other does Whereto it may be added that it is not necessary there should be manifest conduits for the conveyance of these vertues Nature her self as Hippocrates affirms making secret paths and ways for the passage not onely of her own faculties but also for that of the humours themselves which she would rid her self of Art 13. That there is a like Sympathy between the Spleen and the Middle-finger I might add for a third observation to discover the Sympathy there is between the Spleen and the Long or Middle-finger the miraculous effects which the opening of the Salvatella produces in diseases of the Spleen For that Vein passing commonly between the Middle-finger and the Ring-finger as Hippocrates affirms or between the latter and the Little-finger but sending some branch to the Middle-finger it may with much probability be imagin'd that the vertue of the Spleen is convey'd by the said Vein to that Finger and that the Ring-finger being wholly taken up with the influence of the Heart cannot entertain that of the Spleen if it be true that the vertues are not confounded as we have shewn elsewhere And indeed what ever some late Practicers of Physick may say experience back'd by the authority of the first Masters of that Science is of more force then all the reasons can be alledged by them For besides that it is a thing of dangerous consequence for any one to think to make all the rules of Medicine subject to ratiocination which is many times weak and deceitful and to discard the sentiments of the Ancient Professors of that Art who were more exact observers of things then those who have come after them this I say not urg'd I can truly and safely affirm that having caus'd this vein to be opened in Quartan Agues above sixty times it never fail'd after the preparations necessary thereto either quite to take away the Fever or abate much of the violence of it and made the fits more easily supportable Let them not therefore argue any thing from the distribution nor yet from the largness of the Vessels For as one and the same boal of a tree hath several branches which have not the same vertue and that of these some bear flowers or fruits others nothing at all In like manner though all the veins of the Arm and Hand proceed from the same trunk yet have they not the same employments and they are only so many channels through which the several faculties may flow So that the faculty which proceeds from the Spleen may pass wholy in the
some kinds of fishes cannot be boyl'd if the heart be left within them these I say are effects so particular thereto and whereof it is so hard to give any reason by the manifest qualities that there is some ground to presume that those which it hath are of a higher order and referrible as Aristotle affirms to the Element of the Starrs Now if the influence which the Heart receives from the Sun is the cause that the Dreams do by the images of that Planet represent the diverse dispositions wherein the heart is it is requisite the case should be the same as to the Moon and Stars in reference to the Cavities of the Body and the exteriour parts And thence no doubt it proceeds that Astrology hath dispos'd under the direction of the Moon the Brain the Breast the Intestines the Bladder and the Matrix which are the most considerable cavities of the Body as also that it hath divided all the exteriour parts among the Signs of the Zodiack grounding it self at first on this Doctrine of Hippocrates whereto it hath since added its own Experiences Art 23. That the other Planets have the Government of the other interiour parts THese reasons thus laid down there is no difficulty to be made but that the other Planets have also their particular influences and as well as the two already mentioned have the government of certain parts of the Body But Philosophy hath been so negligent in preserving the observations thereof that those which Astrology furnishes us withall being excepted we have not any from which may be deduced the direction of Jupiter over the Liver that of Saturn over the Spleen c. unless we may be admitted to bring into that rank the marks and moles which are found naturally imprinted on those parts For it is an observation grounded on experience that he at whose birth Saturn hath the predominancy hath commonly one of those marks upon the region of the Spleen if it be Jupiter he hath it upon that of the Liver if Venus the mark is to be seen on the privy parts and the party hath another between the Ey-brows Upon which observation Dares Phrygius in the Pourtraiture he made of the beautiful Helene affirms that she had one between the Ey-brows which Cornelius Nepos hath neatly express'd in these two excellent verses Parva superciliis nubes interflua raris Audaci maculâ tenues discriminat artus But I do not account these observations full enough nor so sufficiently confirm'd by experience as that a certain proof of what we pretend to may be deduced from them In the mean time till there be a more exact disquisition made thereof we shall not stick to affirm that the Sun and Moon which without all dispute have a predominancy over the Heart and Brain may well secure the presumption we have to imagine that the other Planets have a certain Empire over the members which Astrology hath made subject thereto And consequently we may conclude that the Principle which Chiromancy derives from it is not without some ground and that it may make good a great part of the promises it makes Art 24. That the Principles establish'd regulate many doubtful things in Chiromancy THese are then the reasons upon which I conceiv'd that some establishment might be made This further advantage may be made of them that they may serve to regulate many things whereof there is some controversie in the practick part of Chiromancy and to discover the causes of many effects observ'd therein For there are some who affirm that it is not only requisite to make an inspection into the Hands but that it is also necessary to look upon the Feet that the left Hand ought to be the more consider'd in Women and those whose Nativities happen in the night and the Right in men and those who are born in the day But the advantage which the Hands have over the Feet clearly shews that the inspection of the latter is to little purpose and that the Artist may find out in the Hands whatever can be expected from this kind of knowledge Moreover the Right Hand being more noble then the Left in all sexes at what time soever the Querent be born ought to be more exactly consider'd then the latter especially as to what concerns the Heart Liver and Brain between which and it there is a greater communication But on the other side the Left hath the preheminence as to what concerns the Spleen and the other parts which are on the same side by reason of the power which Regularity hath upon those occasions In fine what we have said before concerning Length Bredth and Profundity furnishes us with the causes of the diversity which is observ'd in the Lines for those which are simple shew that the vertue is weak length being the first essay it mâ—kes those which are â—rosâ—'d discover a greater strength in it as having extended it self into bredth and that it does its utmost in those which are deep But I forget my self and consider not that I insensibly enter into a particular disquisition of those things which it was my design to have balk'd â—â—y I am to fear I have express'd my self too â—reely in the general and that I betray a certain acknowledgment by the certainty I find therein that â— have the same persuasion for the particular But I am far from entertaining any such thoughâ— Trâ—e it is I lay the foundations of a Science which seem â—o me solid enough but I find not materials to compleat the Edifice For most of those rules and precâ—pts wherewith some would have carried on the Superstructure are not sufficiently establish'd the experiences by which they are maintain'd are not fully verified and confirm'd And there is â—quinte a new supply of observations made with all â—he caution and exactness necessary to give it the â—orm and solidâ—ty which Art and Science require But from whom are these to be expected since those who might be thought able to make them will not busie themselves about it And when may they be expected since there are so many to be made and that there is so much difficulty in the making of them wel But if it shall happen that any will venture their endeavours herein and shall attempt it with a confidence of being able to overcome the charge and difficulties of so great a design I am to tell them that in my judgment they will be extreamly oblig'd to you SIR for having engag'd me to promote their work and assigning them the foundations on which they are to build and you are to acknowledge withall my complyance with your desires For if you consider my ordinary imployments and studies you will find that I have done them some violence to humour your inclinations and that I could not give you a greater demonstration of the friendship and respects I have for you then by exposing my self to censure to satisfie your curiosity I am not to fear yours because I
Knowledg But for Man to know Man which is the Subject of this Treatise it is an Art as full of incertitude as any The lineaments of the Face and lines of the Hands are not streight enough to lead us unto it though Vultus be Index Animi though the Eyes be as the Casements of the Soul yet many times they prove false Glasses though as the Turk believes every Man's Fate and Fancy be written in his Forehead yet the letters are so obscure that we cannot read them and the Poet tells us Fronti nulla fid es Indeed the probablest way to get this Art is by Conversation and Discourse according to the Italian Proverb A Roma ti viddi a Venetia ti conobbi I saw thee at Rome I knew thee at Venice which made the Philosopher say to a man who had a promising Face of Wisdom I thought thee wise till I heard thee speak This Sagacious and sharp-sighted Author hath gone very farr in this Art as appears in this Discourse and in other acute Notions that I have read of His which shew him to be full of pensees desliees Moreover I had the good hap and occasion to know Him and converse with Him in Paris and truly I believe He may well be ranked among the Philosophers of the Vpper House which this Age affords Therefore Sir besides your great Ingenuity you discover also much Judgment in the Election of your Authors who are much oblig'd to you for your exact fidelity in rendring them And consequently it may well be said that You have attain'd the Art of knowing Men by penetrating the true sence and every Souls of those Authors you deal withall JAM HOWEL THE PREFACE Wherein is treated of the Excellency of the ART HOW TO KNOW MEN and of the Author's Design IT was a groundless complaint of him who wish'd Nature had plac'd a window before mens hearts that their thoughts and secret designs might be seen There was I say no reason for that complaint not only in regard those are not things which fall under the Senses and that though the eyes saw the very bottom and all the windings turnings of the heart yet could they not observe any thing therein from whence they might derive the least knowledge of it but also in as much as Nature hath made other provision for this discovery and found out more certain means to make it then would have been that strange openness which Momus imagin'd to himself For she hath not only bestow'd on Man voice and tongue to be the interpreters of his thoughts But out of a certain distrust she conceiv'd that he might abuse them she hath contriv'd a language in his forehead and eyes to give the others the Lye in case they should not prove faithful In a word she hath expos'd his soul to be observ'd on the out-side so that there is no necessity of any window to see his Motions Inclinations and Habits since they are apparent in his face and are there written in such visible and manifest characters From these characters it is our design to frame the greatest and most advantageous work that haply was ever undertaken a work wherein the Noblest and most necessary discoveries of knowledg which Man can arrive unto are contained in fine a work wherein may be found the secret and perfection of Wisdom and humane Prudence These great promises will be thought the more attainable when it shall be known that what we undertake is THE ART HOW TO KNOW MEN an Art whereby every man is taught to know himself wherein consists the highest point of Wisdom and withall to know others which is the Master-piece of Prudence The secret of Wisdom consists in this that a man knows what he is himself what he may do and what he ought to do and that of Prudence in knowing also what others are what they may do and what they are desirous to do Can any knowledg be more delightful or more profitable then these And may not he who hath acquir'd them justly pretend to the acquisition of the greatest advantages of this life Now the Art of Knowing Man teaches all these things For though it seems to have no other end then to discover the Inclinations the Motions of the Soul the Vertues Vices which are observable in others yet does it with the same labour teach every one to find them out in himself and to deduce more rational and more impartial judgments thereof then if he first considered them in his own person For it is most certain that we cannot by our selves come to a perfect knowledge of our selves and our Souls may in that respect be compar'd to our Faces inasmuch as the former as well as the latter can only view themselvs in Mirrours If she attempts the beholding of herself the trouble she is at in that self-reflection distracts and wearies her and self-love corrupts and poysons all the judgments she makes of her-self For instance a person transported with Anger cannot make any just judgment of his passion which how furious soever it may be still thinks that all the reason and justice is of its side A covetous person thinks his most sordid cares the effects of Prudence and Necessity In a word all our Inclinations and Habits please and humour us all our Passions seem rational to us Who therefore could be sensible of them much less condemn them having the recommendation of pleasure being maintain'd by an appearance of Reason which are the two greatest corrupters of our sentiments To apprehend therefore their imperfections it is requisite we saw them in another that being a glass which flatters not and though those we make use of do represent such Images as are immediately blotted out of the memory the case is not the same with this which makes constant and permanent draughts the remembrance whereof is not easily lost In fine it is a thing out of all dispute that there is no better way for a man to come to the knowledg of himself then by studying that knowledg in others Thus is it then that the Art weteach is able to bring a man to the knowledg of himself But inasmuch as there are two kinds thereof one Physical and Natural which examines the composition of Man the nature of the Soul's faculties and the admirable Oeconomy observable in their functions the other Moral which relates to Morality and makes a discovery of the Inclinations Passions and Vices it must be acknowledg'd that it undertakes not to give an account of the former to the utmost extent it is capable of but leaves the absolute and exact disquisition thereof to Medicine and Philosophy But being oblig'd to make the strictest examination of things relating to Manners it is impossible but that enquiring into their causes and the manner whereby they are framed in the Soul there falls within its design the noblest and most intricate part of Physick or natural Philosophy and treating of the conformation of parts
do's not admit of any in particular as oblig'd to be equally capable of all by reason of its being indeterminate and indifferent as we have shewn before It is therefore out of pure necessity that they are raised in the Soul and by the connexion and unavoidable consequence there is between the effects and their causes True it is indeed that Nature hath propos'd to her self to bestow on Man besides the Faculties convenient for his species those also which are proper to his Sex to wit the active vertue in order to generation and heat and drought to serve as instruments to that vertue as she hath bestow'd on the Woman the passive power and cold and moisture to perform the function of the material cause But all the Inclinations consequent to those qualities as confidence or fearfulness liberality or avarice c. are onely dispositions fram'd in the Soul without her knowedge and beside or against her intention It must be confess'd they are natural because they are by accident in the order of Nature and follow the causes which depend on the matter Nay they are allow'd to be perfections and if they should be wanting there would be a defect in as much as the causes from which they proceed necessarily require that consequence and concatenation which is between them For a Man who should not be couragious or a Woman who should not be timorous would be guilty of the same imperfection as a Lion that should be fearfull and a Hare that should be couragious Art 9. That there are some parts fram'd by Nature out of design others not THE same thing may be said of the Conformation of the parts for Nature hath in her Idaeas that figure which is most convenient to every species and which she would bestow on every individual were she not prevented by the particular causes such as is the Temperament And though she gives each Sex a different structure of body yet does she as much as lies in her power always preserve the character of the figure which is proper to the species For though the Conformation of the Woman's parts be different from that of the Man's yet is there a greater resemblance between her and Man than any other Animal whatsoever Now it is certain there are some parts which are proper to each Sex and such as Nature hath a design to frame after such and such a fashion as those that serve for organs to perform the functions whereto each of them is ordered But for the rest as height of stature largeness of head a square figure of the face c. which are to be observ'd in Man or lowness of stature littleness of head and roundness of face c. which are proper to the Woman all this variety I say proceeds not from the design of Nature but pure necessity consequently to the Temperament which is proper to either though it contributes to the perfection and beauty of the body for the reasons we have given already SECT 2. Wherein the Perfection of the Male consists Art 1. Of the Inclinations proper to Man THis presuppos'd we now come to observe the Inclinations consequent to the Temperament of Man Nature hath made him hot and dry for the end we have already assign'd But according to the proportion of his being hot he must necessarily be strong and consequently thereto that he should be naturally Couragious desirous of Fame Magnanimous Sincere Liberal Mercifull Just Gratefull and consequent to his being dry he should be Resolv'd Constant Patient Modest Faithfull Judicious The reasons of all these effects are easily found For as the Soul makes use of these qualities knows what she is able to perform by their means and is inclin'd to the actions conformable to their vertue So upon heâ— being sensible of the heat which is the principle of strength and courage she takes a confidence in her self and upon that she would command she courageously undertakes and slights small dangers And being courageous she is forward free and without artifice She is also liberal not onely upon this account that it is the property of heat to dilate it self but also for this reason that the confidence she hath of her self takes away the apprehension of wanting those things that shall be necessary for her She easily pardons because she thinks she cannot be injur'd She is just because she desires little as being satisfy'd with her self in fine she is gratefull because she is just and liberal On the other side as drought obliges things to keep within their bounds and hinders them from spreading and dispersing themselves so she accommodates her self to this vertue and is fortify'd within her self not easily changing the resolutions she hath taken patiently enduring the inconveniences which happen to her constantly endeavouring to perform the promises she hath made and not suffering her self to be carried away with the vanity of those honours which she deserves not In a word drought contributes to the purity of the Spirits and checks the impetuous sallies of the Imagination allowing the time required by the understanding for the consideration of things whence proceed prudence and soundness of judgment Art 2. That the Temperament of Man is hot and dry in the first degree BUt it is her to be observed that all these natural vertues are not consistent with these two qualities if they be excessive For if the heat be too great instead of Courage it will raise Temerity the desire of Fame will be chang'd into Pride Magnanimity into Insolence Liberality into Prodegality Justice into Severity Clemency into Induigence and Gratitude into Ostentation and Vanity In like manner if drought be predominant the Constancy of the Soul degenerates into Obstinacy Harshness Insensibility Austerity The perfection therefore of the Temperament convenient to Man in respect of his Sex should come as near as may be to the exact Temperature proper to humane Nature as we have shewn And so it may be affirm'd that it ought not to be hot and dry but in the first degree whatever goes beyond it leading to excess and imperfection The reason this that Nature which always endeavours to give the several Sexes the Temperament convenient to the species recedes no further from that Temperament than is necessary for the disposing of them into the order of those causes whereof they are to perform the function Whence it may be inferr'd that the least degree of heat and drought which Man may have beyond the exact Temperature is sufficient to give him the vertue and efficacy of the efficient cause The same thing is to be advanc'd concerning the Conformation of the parts for there is one conformation which is convenient to the species and is a mean between those which are proper to the several Sexes For as all things should aim at a certain mediocrity in humane nature for the reasons before alledged so ought the conformation of the body to be in the mean between the excess and defect which may
be found therein But in regard the Temperament qualifies the formative vertue and forces it to give the parts that greatness and figure which are proper for them it was requisite that those of Man should be answerable to the two qualities which were to be predominant in him and that they should be larger not onely than those of the Woman but also than those which were design'd to the humane species Art 3. A Model of Man's figure ARistotle hath design'd the figure of Man according to that of the Lion as if there were no other Animal in which the form of the male Sex were more perfect and that it ought to be the Model according to which that of Man should be represented But not to urge that Man is the most perfect of all Animals and consequently that he ought to be the measure of the rest the Lion is more proper to frame an Idaea of the strength than of the perfection of the Sex for as much as that quality requires more heat and drought than is necessary to the male Sex And accordingly the Lion is one of the least fruitfull creatures of any and consequently hath not always the vertue and efficacy convenient for that Sex besides that his Temperament recedes too much from the mediocrity most befitting humane nature and whoever shall compare it to that of Man which is hot and dry but in the first degree will find that the Lion's reaches to the third Add to this that the atra bilis or black choler is predominant in the Lion as also in a strong and robust man and therefore they have both large mouths a harsh and thick hair the forehead sull of folds and contractions between the Eye-brows the extremities large and tough the flesh hard and musculous the voice bigg and resounding as it were out of the throat the gate grave with a certain weighing from one side to the other all which are the significations of an excessive heat and drought as we shall shew elsewhere And it is probable that Aristotle did not in that place consider Man simply according to the vertue of his Sex but according to the quality which was most considerable in the opinions of men to wit Heroick Fortitude which is the source of Valour which hath the prerogative of commanding and for which men always reserv'd the greatest honours and the noblest rewards Accordingly when he proposes the Panther for the Idaea of the Female Sex it is easily perceiv'd that his consideration runs more upon the strength of the Sexes than their natural perfection since that is a creature which is indeed very stout and couragious but hath not the docility the fearfulness and other qualities proper to the Woman Art 4. Of the Figure of Man's parts BUt for our parts who follow not the opinions of Men but the designs and orders of Nature we cannot represent a figure of Man convenient to his Sex but according to a draught of those qualities which are natural to him with reference to the comparison to be made between them and those of the Woman there being not among Animals any that hath a greater resemblance to the Man than She. We are therefore to affirm that as to his stature it is of a greater height and more unbounded than that of the Woman That his head is bigger That his hair is stronger and inclining to a certain curle towards the extremities That his Forehead is less round less smooth and almost of a square figure That his Eye-brows are bigger and stronger That his Eyes are more lively That the Nose descending in a streight line from the forehead is somewhat bigger at the extremity That the Nostrils are a little more open That the Mouth is larger The Lips thinner The Voice bigger The Chin less round And the whole Face inclining to a square figure The Neck should be thicker The Shoulders and Breast larger and stronger The Buttocks and Thighs less fleshy All the Junctures more free The Extremities larger and stronger The Flesh harder and more musculous The Meen more majestick The Carriage and Deportment of the body more noble The Gate more sprightly and vigorous Art 5. The Reasons of the figure of Man's parts NOw whosoever shall seriously consider the whole business of this Conformation of the parts shall find that it proceeds from the moderation of the two aforesaid qualities as we have shewn For height of stature greatness of the head and mouth the openness of the nostrills the thickness of the neck the largeness and breadth of the shoulders and bâ—east the sprightliness of the eies the bigness of the voice the freedom and activity of the junctures the majesty and nobleness of the meen carriage and gate are the effects of heat which dilates the parts and renders the motion of them more active and more vigorous On the other side the harshness of the hair the hardness of the flesh the solidity of the junctures the ruggedness of the forehead and its figure less round the thinness of the Lips the more obtuse figure of the chin and that of the whole face inclining to a square are the effects of drought which hardens the parts and resists the motions of the humours not permitting them to assume the round figure which is proper and natural to them as we shall hereafter take occasion to shew more particularly Art 6. That the figure of the parts denotes the inclinations BUt what calls upon our further observation in all these parts is that they have a certain rapport to and dependency on the faculties and inclinations which the Sex bestowes on the Soul so that they serve for markes and signs to discover them whether it proceeds hence that they are the Instruments of those powers and that the knowledg of the instrument discovers the cause to which it is subservient or that both the inclinations and signs proceed from the Temperament as their common principle and that the Conformation of the parts bewraying the Temperament the Temperament afterwards bewrayes the inclination and faculties whereof it is the cause Accordingly the largeness of the breast and shoulders the nimbleness and strength of the junctures the openness of the nostrills and the greatness or wideness of the mouth are markes of Courage A thick neck the flesh hard and musculous the extremities large are signs of Strength as well of Body as Soul The square forehead the nose somewhat big the lips thin the chin somewhat large denote magnanimity and greatness of courage The stature high and streight the ey-brows elevated a majestick gate and sprightly eies signify Glory or a desire of Fame The forehead and face of a square figure and the head of a convenient bigness are marks of Wisedom Constancy and Justice and so of the rest as we shall further shew in its proper place Whence it may be affirmed that of all the parts which make up the Male Beauty or which is beseeming a Man there is not any but
distrust avarice and the rest are in her in the lowest and weakest degree they can be Nay there are some of them which in that condition may pass for so many natural vertues For Distrust and Dissimulation may deserve the name of Prudence a moderate Avarice may fall under the notion of Frugality a light Superstition may pass for Piety moderate Revenge may assume the name of Justice and that Timidity which begets shame-fastness is the greatest ornament and commendation of the Woman and the bridle which is most likely to give her a check in the bent she might have to all the greatest vices But it is also to be inferr'd that when the coldness and moisture exceed the degree of that moderation all the Inclinations we have mentioned are proportionably heightned and become as vicious as their names imply them to be Moreover those Inclinations which go under the name of vices are not to speak exactly so many defects but rather on the contrary so many natural perfections as being correspondent and conformable to the feminine Sex For as it is no imperfection in a Hare to be fearfull nor in a Tygre to be cruel for as much as their natures require those qualities in them so can it not be said that Timidity Distrust Inconstancy c. are defects or imperfections in a Woman in regard they are natural to her Sex which would be defective if it were depriv'd thereof Yet is it to be granted that comparing them with the Inclinations of Man they seem to be vicious but the comparison which is made between diverse things may not be the rule and measure of their natural perfection in as much as it transferrs to one subject what appertains to the other and there is not any thing wherein some excess or defect may not be found when it is so compar'd Accordingly the strength of a Man compared to that of a Lion is weakness and all the Inclinations which are insur'd into him upon the account of his Sex though they seem vertuous are nevertheless defects in respect of the humane species which ougth to be indifferent as we have shewn elsewhere Nay mediocrity it self which is so perfect in reference to things humane is a defect as admitting any comparison between them and the supernatural and divine The Inclinations then which the Woman derives from her Sex whatever they may be in themselves are to be accounted perfections when they are confin'd within the moderation correspondent to the first degree of cold and moisture of which Temperament she ought to be If they exceed it they are defects declining from the perfection requisite in her Sex and the excess of that Temperament causes no less deformity in the Soul than it does in all the parts of the Body Art 3. That the Inclinations of Man are defects in the Woman BUt what Is it impossible that a Woman should be of the same Temperament as a man and consequently that she may have the same inclinations and be couragious magnanimous liberal c. as we experimentally find many of them who have all those qualities It must be acknowledg'd but what is a perfection in one subject may be a defect in another as for instance courage in a Lion is a vertue in a Hare a vice and so what is a perfection in the man is a default and imperfection in the Woman because it makes her recede from the natural perfection of her Sex And if these Inclinations proceed not from instruction education example or some rational habit they are indeed such qualities as seem vertuous but have withall the attendance of farr greater vices And those Women who are born with that confidence and audacity which are proper onely to man are commonly rash impudent unthrifty c. there being a necessity that whatever recedes from perfection should fall into defects and the greater the recession is so much the more remarkable are the vices Whence it proceeds that no body wonders so much to see a Woman very fearfull very covetous and very light and unconstant as to find her couragious prodigal obstinate in regard these last qualities proceed from a Temperament which is absolutely opposite to that of the Woman whereas the former are consonant to that which is proper to her though it exceeds the moderation it should have In like manner to be cowardly penurious fickle-minded are farr greater imperfections in a man than if he were hare-brain'd prodigal self-will'd in as much as the latter are the effects of the hot and dry Temperament proper to him the former of the cold and moist which is perfectly contrary to him Art 4. Wherein the Beauty of the Woman consists WE come now to examine the Conformation of the parts which is consequent to the Temperament of the Woman and to consider wherein the Beauty which is proper and natural to her consists In the first place as to her Stature she is lower and smaller than the man The Head is less and rounder and the whole face inclining to the same figure She hath a great quantity of hair and that very long small and soft to the Touch. Her Forehead is even smooth higher and rounder towards the Temples The Eye-brows are slender soft at a little distance one from the other and gently twining about the Eyes The Eyes are large black betraying a certain mildness and modesty The Nose of a middle size descending in a streight line upon the Lips and gently inclining to a roundness towards the Extremity The Nostrils narrow and not opening much The Cheeks round The Mouth little The Lips red somewhat bigg or plump not shutting close together nor moving unless it be when she speaks or laughs The Teeth are small white and orderly dispos'd The Chin should be round smooth not admitting the appearance of the least hair The Ears little soft and of a convenient compass The Neck round somewhat long small smooth and even all about The upper part of the Breast plump and fleshy and the Breast it self or Dugg firm and somewhat hard round and of a middle-size The Shoulders little and close The Back streight and weak The Thighs round and fleshy The Knees round and so as there be not in them the appearance of any juncture The Feet little round and fleshy The Arms short and of a proportionable roundness The Hands long little and fleshy The Fingers long small and round The Skin in all parts soft delicate and of an exquisite whiteness save onely in those places which admit a mixture of carnation as in the Cheeks the Chin and the Ears Lastly Weakness ought to appear in her voice and all her motions bashfulness and a reserv'd modesty in her countenance her gestures carriage and behaviour Art 5. The Causes assign'd of this figuration of parts in the Woman OF all these parts the little short and slender are the effects of the cold Temperament which confines the matter and hinders it from spreading and dilating it self The fleshy
and soft parts are the productions of the moisture for they denote abundance of flegmatick bloud But of the round some have their dependance on the cold others on the moisture for they either proceed from the fat which fills the vacant places of the muscles as in the arms cheeks thighs or from the cold which contracts the figure of the parts and presses them of all sides whereas the heat always spreading it self forward causes unevenness angles which prevent the roundness of them Hence it comes that the forehead and face of the Man are of a square figure and those who are inclin'd to Melancholy have corners of the forehead ending in a sharp point and long faces contrary to the â—legmatick who have them almost of a round figure The mildness modesty and the bashfulness which appear in the countenance and actions of the Woman are also effects of the cold which abates the courage and checks or remits the motion of the parts To the same principle is also to be attributed the smalness and weakness of the voice by contracting the throat in which it is framed and weakning the vital faculty But all these things fall more particularly under consideration in the Treatise of Beauty it shall suffice here to observe in the main that the natural conformation of the Woman follows the Temperament of cold and moist in that degree which Nature hath prescrib'd for the perfection of her Sex Art 6. That all these parts denote the Inclinations which are proper to the Woman OUr next work must be to shew that all these parts have a dertain ceâ—ation to the qualities of the mind whereof we have given an account that they are the signs which discover them how secret soever they may be and lastly that of all the figures and lineaments which contribute to the Beauty of the Woman there is not any one but denotes a vicious inclination We need produce no other proof of this truth than the natural weakness which is remarkable in the â—ody of the Woman and the conformation of all her parts whereof there is not any one but is the effect either of the coldness of her Temperament or the moisture predominant in her as we have shewn already For since the weakness of the body and of natural heat is ever attended by an inclination to fearfulness distrust avarice c. and that the superabundance of moisture accompanying it causes softness of nature effeminacy inconstancy and fickleness c. it follows that she hath not any part which does not discover some one of the Inclinations before-mentioned But for the further clearing up of a Proposition that seems so strange we must fall into a more particular consideration of things and make it appear by those rules of Physiognomy which Aristotle and other great Persons among the Antients have left us that there is no truth so well establish'd as this Aristotle hath given us this observation That a little face is a sign of pusillanimity and lowness of spirit By that character he designs those who are not abe to bear good or bad fortune who upon the least smile of prosperity become insolent upon the least frown of adversity are utterly cast down and discourag'd who entertain the least delay or denial as a great misfortune a small negligence for a great injury continually complaining distrustfull of all they have to do with full of suspence in the taking of any resolution c. as we shall shew more at large when we come to the particular characters of this vice The round face denotes maliciousness and an easie inclination to anger The narrow forehead is an argument of a fickle and incorrigible disposition The round forehead is a sign of testiness and weakness of mind The high forehead and very smooth signifies flattery and disâ—imulation Black eyes denote fearfulness the large eye argues inconstancy Thick and soft lips are marks of Loquacity an over-busie enquiry into the affairs of other people and a negligence of their own Some affirm that they are the significators of avarice and lying which two vices are commonly observable in the Moors whose lips are of that making The little mouth is a sign of weakness and lying The round chin denotes envie The long and small neck denotes a timorous disposition and a person inclin'd to loquacity When the upper part of the breast is smooth and fleshy it is an argument of credulity and weakness of judgment The shoulders little and close together are signs of avarice When the thighs feet and hands are fleshy the back streight and weak the hands little all these are signs of a soft and effeminate constitution that is they denote a delicate and voluptuous person one who is not able to endure any hardship or pains-taking to whom the slightest inconveniences are insupportable and one that impatiently bears the want of the least pleasures and enjoyments of life Art 7. Wherein perfect Beauty consists THis is all the account we have to give of the Beauty as well of the Man as the Woman There remains yet onely one difficulty which no doubt will occurr to all those who shall read this Discourse and may if not resolv'd bring the truth we have established into some dispute It is this that the Beauty whereof we have given a description is proper and correspondent onely to our climats and not to be accommodated to others for there is no Countrey but admits a diversity of judgments and opinions concerning this point nay there are some Nations that are so much at a distance from the sentiments we have of Beauty that they account beautifull such persons as in our apprehensions are little remov'd from deformity it self If the case stand thus how can any one frame to himself a certain and determinate Idaea of Beauty which is so indeterminate and full of diversity and restrain to the designs of Nature a thing which seems wholly to depend on the opinions of men Nay it being suppos'd that it is a natural perfection what Judge shall be able to decide which is the most perfect and accomplish'd since every People and Nation will imagine it hath good grounds to bestow the prize on that which is proper to it self We answer then that Reason onely is that soveraign Judg of all Nations who is able to pronounce a final sentence in a business so nice and prosecuted with so much partiality Yet is it not paricular Reason that shall have this prerogative but the general Reason which is grounded on common notions and principles not admitting of any dispute This Reason it is which teaches us that the Body is the Instrument of the Soul and the greater number of faculties and different powers this latter hath so much the greater diversity of parts must the former have to be employ'd as the organs thereof for the Instrument ought to be proportionate both to the cause by which it is used and to the action which it is by its
if they be not often renewed they are so lost or weakned that they cannot make a perfect representation of things 'T is true there are certain objects which upon the first sight make so strong an impression in the Soul that the species thereof are preserv'd a long time in the memory and that the first apprehension which is had of them hath as great an influence upon him as many several apprehensions often reiterated would have upon some other occasion Hence it comes that the first sight of a very beautifull person many times raises a Love which continues many years Upon this account it is said commonly in the Schools that there are certain acts which alone and upon the first performance of them may produce habits But otherwise that is those onely excepted there is a necessity that the Images which the Soul frames and continues in the memory should be often renew'd and as it were receive a second touch by several subsequent reflections that they may be perfectly expressive and representative For as often as ever the Soul makes an apprehension or a commemoration of some object so often does she frame an Image thereof to her self in regard that by apprehending or remembring she acts and that she can have no other action then the production of Images which Images joyn'd with those that are in the memory render them stronger and more lively much after the same manner as the colours which are often touched over as we have shewn in the place before alledged Art 9. That the disposition and facility of the Appetite 's motion proceeds from the same Images THese Images therefore which are in the memory and are accordingly perfectly expressive are those from which the disposition and facility which the Appetite hath to motion toward certain objects does proceed And certainly it may be affirm'd that the Soul which finds her self stored with these Images and sees her self in a condition to produce the apprehensions necessary to her is raised up to a certain confidence in her self and without any reflection of hers thereupon she is sensible of her own strength and courage And as a man who hath a vigorons body much wealth or is of noble extraction assumes a confidence in himself and is at all times in a condition to undertake things conformably to his power though he thinks not of it in like manner the Soul does the same when she hath the Images in a readiness in order to the making of her judgments she hath all her faculties in a disposition fit to act and when she is in action it may be easily perceiv'd she was prepar'd thereto And thence it will not be hard to judge that the Instinct the Temperament the Habits c. cause the inclinations because all these things presuppose Images perfectly expressive For those of the Instinct are strong and deep as we have already shewn those of the Habits ought to be often reiterated and the Temperament the Conformation of the parts kind of life c. which the Soul knows and is sensible of have the same effect on the Images as the Habit. Whence it may be inferr'd that in all these the Images are perfectly representative the Appetite is in a condition to move as soon as the Practick understanding or the Estimative faculty shall present them to it And here does consist the facility which it hath to be inclin'd thereto as the Inclination consists in that facility as we have already affirmed These things thus laid down we may define the Inclination by proper notions and terms thus The Inclination is a permanent disposition and a facility attain'd by a long progress of time which the Appetite hath to move towards certain objects which are acceptable and delightfull thereto SECT 2. What are the Causes of the Inclinations Art 1. The several distinctions of the said causes THus farr have we discoursed concerning the nature object and seat of the Inclinations we now come to an examination of the causes thereof For though we have already spoken of the principal cause and that which is the immediate source of them to wit the Images which are preserv'd in the memory yet are there yet remaining some others which albeit not so nearly adjacent to the Inclination are nevertheless in a certain degree necessary thereto nay they are such as being better known and more manifest will accordingly give a greater light to a thing so obscure as this is Besides therefore that secret and immediate Cause we have treated of before there are two other kinds to wit Next causes and Remote and both of them are either Natural or Moral Of the Natural the Next are the Instinct the Temperament and the Conformation of the parts The Remote are the Starrs the Climate difference of Age of Sustenance and indispositions of the body The Moral are nobleness or meanness of Extraction Riches and Poverty Power and Subjection good and bad Fortune and kind of Life which comprehends Arts Sciences Habits and Counsels Examples Punishments and Rewards For all these things raise particular inclinations by disposing the Soul to judge whether the things are good and givng her a bent towards them We are now to consider how this is done Art 2. That the Instinct is one of the causes of the Inclinations AS to the Instinct there is no doubt but that it must be numbred among the said Causes when it shall be found that it consists in the Images which have their birth with the Animal in order to its apprehension of those things which are necessary for its conservation and whereof he cannot come to the knowledg by the Senses For as these Images are perfectly expressive as being perfectly present to the Soul so upon all occasions they are the Sollicitours and remembrancers of the Estimative faculty that it would propose them to the Appetite and raise in that as we said before the inclination it hath to the action which they command should be done Thus is it that the Soul apprehends and is inclin'd to the functions whereto she is design'd and to a search after most of those things which are necessary for her For thence proceeds the inclination which Birds have to flie Fish to swim Men to discourse and which all living Creatures have to seek out the sustenance and remedies which they know are naturally fit and profitable for them Art 3. That the Temperament is one of the causes of the Inclinations AS concerning the Temperament it is unanimously acknowledged by all to be the most general and most eminent cause of the Inclinations that according to that quality of the humours which is predominant in the body men are inclin'd to such and such passions that such as are subject to Melancholy are naturally sad and ingenious the Cholerick active and angry the Sanguine jovial and affable the Flegmatick stupid and slothful As to Climates there are some in which men are more ingenious and more civiliz'd in others more dull
her judgment of them and lastly sollicits the Appetite to move conformably to the resolution she hath taken Now as there are some figures which are fit for the motion of natural bodies others opposite thereto so is it certain that every organicall function hath a certain figure that is suitable to it and without which it cannot be otherwise then imperfectly performed Thence it comes that every part nay every species of living creature hath a different figure because the functions of it are different And as the body which should have been square and was consequently design'd for rest receives a property and aptitude to motion when it is reduc'd to a round figure in like manner when any one of the organical parts which should have been of such a figure receives some other it is deprived of the disposition it had for the function for which it was design'd and acquires that which hath some correspondence with the extraordinary figure it hath receiv'd The case is the same as when an Artisan makes use of an Instrument which is not convenient and fit for the design he had propos'd to himself for instead of doing what he intended he does the quite contrary he cuts off that which he should have bored he makes uneven what he should have smooth'd and whereas his design was to cast the statue of a man he does that of a Lyon if the mold he makes use of be such as may represent that creature Such is the procedure of the soul when she hath such organs as have not the natural figure they ought to have For there is nothing more certain then that man as well as all other Animals hath a proper and peculiar figure design'd by nature to every one of his parts And therefore as the soul hath an inclination to perform the actions which are proper to the organs she ought to have so must it needs follow that that inclination will be chang'd when the organ is chang'd But there remains yet a difficulty which seems nor easily resolvable It is this that the soul knows by the instinct the action which the organs ought to perform when they have the conformation proper and natural to them On the contrary this cannot be said when the organ hath not the figure it ought to have because the Instinct gives her not the apprehension of the action which is not proper to her since it is a particular default and that the Instinct is a general apprehension bestow'd on the whole species To rid our hands of this difficulty we are to observe that the figure of the parts is the effect of the formative vertue and that the said vertue follows the Temperament or the impression and image it hath receiv'd from the animal engendring If it follow the Temperament the figure is not the cause of the inclination it is only the sign of it in regard the Temperament is the true cause thereof and in that case the soul knows the action of the part by means of the Temperament as we have said before But if it follow the impression or the image of the animal which engenders the formative vertue is the cause of the inclination inasmuch as it is a faculty which brings along with it not only the character of the parts of the animal engendring but also the disposition which it had to act conformably to their figure And this is so unquestionable that many times the child betrayes the same inclinations as his parents had done before him though he do not resemble them the Temperament having opposed the figure of the parts yet not had strength enough to deface the disposition to the inclination which they had Now it is certain that it is only the formative vertue which brings the character of these inclinations there being not any thing which the animal engendring communicates to that which is engendred but only that vertue as several modern experiences have made apparent Now as the formative vertue which is in the organs of the animal engendring moves with those organs so it acquires the same bent and the same disposition to move which those organs have so that coming to frame another animal it carries along with it that very same disposition which it hath acquir'd and communicates it thereto And whereas this disposition is as it were a weight continually pressing and solliciting the soul to move the soul sensible of that sollicitation at last frames the judgment conformable to the impression she hath receiv'd from it and afterwards derives it to the Appetite which entertains the same bent and this bent is the true Inclination in regard the Inclination cannot be any where but in the appetite Art 6. How Inclinations are produc'd by the remote Causes THus far have we discours'd of the Natural and Next causes of the Inclinations As to the Remote they are all in a manner reducible to the Temperament For the Stars the Climate Age Aliment and the Indispositions of body have no other influence on the inclinations then what is caus'd by the alteration they make in the temperament True it is there are some diseases which alter them by destroying the Conformation of the parts as a man who is maim'd in the hand or leg looses the inclination he had to play on the Lute or dance As concerning the Moral Causes they dispose the Estimative faculty to make its judgments according to the apprehension it receives from them of the strength or weakness they have as Nobleness of birth Wealth good Fortune raise in men an inclination to Ambition Pride and Courage in regard they are perswaded by the power they derive from them that they deserve honours and that there is not any thing which they may not attempt whereas on the contrary the inclinations arising from meanness of birth poverty and ill fortune are opposite to the other All the rest as course of Life Arts Sciences Vertues and Vices are grounded on Custome which renders things easie and agreeable upon the recommendation of the profit or pleasure that may be reaped thereby For all this being frequently represented to the Estimative faculty it makes favourable judgments thereof which are preserv'd in the memory and at last cause the Appetite to incline as we have shewn elswhere But we must not in this place omit one advertisement which is absolutely necessary in reference to the subject we treat of It is this that when we speak of the Temperament we do not understand only by that word the conjunction and mixture of the first qualities but our meaning is to add thereto the second qualities And therefore we do not speak only of the hot cold dry or moist Temperament but also of the Sanguine Cholerick Plegmatick and Melancholick Temperament in regard the humours which give the denominations to these Temperaments comprehend these two sorts of qualities But of all the second qualities there are not any so considerable in reference to the Inclinations as subtilty and
into it or as the exhalations of the Earth raise up the matters that are join'd with them so the Spirits having receiv'd the motion and direction of the Soul carry away the blood and humours to all those places which they have orders to convey them For it is not to be doubted but that an oeconomy so just and so regular in the variety of its operations is guided and govern'd by some power which hath a preheminence above the elementary vertues and participates of that secret intelligence which God hath been pleas'd to entrust the Soul withall for the conservation of the Animal It is therefore she alone that causes the Spirits to move and gives them orders for the conduct of the humours SECT 1. Of the animation of the Spirits THe difficulty now remaining is to know how the Soul causes the Spirits to move whether it be as instruments separated from the Body or as Organs animated by her In a word the question is to know whether they are animated or not The common opinion is for the Negative and maintains that they are only distinct instruments which communicate the vertue of the Soul to the parts and are themselves guided by the direction they receive from her as the Arrow which is shot by the Archer and flies towards the mark at which he took his aim But if we consider this Direction a little more narrowly as also the manner whereby it may be made we shall find all this to amount to no more then fair words which do not explain the thing but leave in the mind a thousand difficulties inducing it to affirm the contrary Now if this Motion and Direction ought to be given to the Spirits as to distinct instruments it is necessary it should be done in the Heart which is the place where they have their birth and from which they derive all their force and vertue Nay it is further requisite that the whole mass of Spirits which issue thence should receive the same impression in asmuch as they are not divided one from the other If it be so this question will arise How it comes to pass that some of them go to one place rather then another As also these others How comes it that in one Passion they are directed to the forehead as in Love How in another to the eyes as in Anger How in others to the lower part of the cheeks and the ears as in Shame How happens there a greater confluence of them on the indâ—spos'd parts then on those which are sound and well For as in the springs the impetuosity of the water is equally communicated to all the channels or rivulets and that the art of the Designer cannot make the water flow into one rather then another if they be all equally open so can it not be conceiv'd that the Spirits should rather go to one part then another since the several branches of the Arteries through which they are to flow are all equally open Moreover he who shall consider how that in Anger they choose out the venome which is in the veins that it may be convey'd to the teeth of Animals how that in diseases they discern the humours from which they have proceeded to the end they might be forc'd out will easily find that there is not any direction of the Soul which can satisfie all these effects and there is requisite a vital knowledge and discernment such as cannot proceed from any other then an animated instrument For if any should affirm that the soul makes this discernment and choice there will follow a necessity that she should be mixt with those humours that so she may be able to separate them and they will be forc'd to acknowledge that the Soul is in those humours which will be a far greater inconvenience then to maintain the animation of the Spirits Now we have already shewn that it is by their means these motions are wrought We may adde further that the Direction of things forc'd or thrust forward does only regulate their motion towards the mark whereto they are to tend it does not diminish ought of the impetuosity which hath been imprinted on them and it is necessary their motion should persist to the end with all the force the mover hath given them And yet the Spirits go many times to other places then those whereto the Soul had ordered them to repair when they receiv'd her first impulsion And sometimes in their course they move more vigorously or more faintly then the impetuosity they had receiv'd might require For example in Shame they have order to spread the blood over the whole face as it were to cover and conceal the Soul from the infamy ready to fall on her and yet they cast themselves on the extremities of the eares and the lower part of the cheeks contrary to her first design Many times they begin a Crisis of sweats which they end by Urins and some times they grow faint and retreat in the conflict wherein Nature had engag'd them It may be more closely urg'd that the Soul does not only cause the Spirits to advance but she also makes them retreat she dilates them and contracts them And if so what shall this pretended Direction do upon all these occasions How shall it cause them to rally about the heart when they have straggled from it There must then be suppos'd some Attractive vertue whose work it shall be to seize on them at the extremities of the Body and bring them back to their first rendezvous But we have made it clear that this vertue is but an imaginary one and that however the case stands there must be some subject to convey it to the place where it ought to do its operation which is not to be imagin'd There is yet a greater difficulty in assigning the manner how the soul is able to dilate and contract them when they are at some distance from the heart For there is not in nature any impulsion or direction whereby these motions may be communicated There is is only Heat and Cold that can do it and whereas these qualities require a considerable time for the performance of their action it follows that they cannot be causes of that dilatation and contraction of the Spirits which are wrought of a sudden Adde to this that there is a necessity the Soul should send these qualities into the vessels to produce that effect and that in Fear for example she should cause Cold to rise to make a contraction of the Spirits which can neither be said nor imagin'd without absurdity For if the Cold be discover'd in some Passions it is not a cause of the contraction of the Spirits but the effect of it In fine it is generally acknowledg'd by all the great masters of Medicine that the vital sensitive and motive faculties are convey'd to the parts by the Spirits And Experience confirms this truth in asmuch as life motion and sentiment cease in them when they have not
Dissemblers in regard that both Timorousness and Dissimulation proceed from the weakness which attends the melancholick Temperament and then it is that the effect is sign of an effect Now since causes and effects serve for Signs to the Art we treat of the next thing to be known is what these causes and effects are Art 1. What Causes they are which serve for Signs IT is not to be doubted but that the Causes which contribute to the discovery of men must be such as have an influence over Man and are in him that is such as cause some alteration in the Body and Soul and promote and change the actions of both Of these there are two Orders some are Internal some External The Internal causes are the Faculties of the Soul the Temperament the Conformation of the parts Age Nobleness or meanness of Birth the Habits as well Intellectual as Moral and the Passions The External are Parents the Celestial Bodies the Climate the Seasons Aliment prosperous or adverse Fortune Example Advice Punishments and Rewards For all these Causes make different impressions upon Man and according to the strength they have they produce in him different effects and dispose him to such and such actions So that every Faculty of the Soul every Temperament every Age every several kind of Birth hath its proper actions its particular dispositions its inclinations and aversions Parents do many times derive to their children those qualities of body and mind which are natural to themselves the Climate Health and Sickness course of Life Prosperity and Adversity Good and Bad Example in fine the different aspects of the Celestial Bodies cause an alteration in the Body and Soul imprinting in them divers qualities and making them inclinable to certain Actions Art 2. What the Effects are which serve for Signs THe Effects which proceed from these Causes are also of two kinds for some are Corporeal others Spiritual The Spiritual are the qualities of the mind the Inclinations the Habits all the actions and motions of the Soul for that they have been numbred among the Causes was in consideration of the Effects which they produce as here they are ranked among the Effects by reason of the Causes from which they proceed For instance the Inclination which a man hath to Anger is the cause of the Anger but it is also the effect of the cholerick Temperament which gives birth to that Inclination The Corporeal Effects consist in the Bulk of the Figure of the parts in the first and second Qualities in the Air of the Countenance in the Carriage and motion of the Body as we shall shew more particularly hereafter So that upon cognizance taken of these Causes and a knowledge of the power they have some judgment may be made of their present or future effects And on the other side upon an observation of the Effects and a knowledge of that whereto they ought to be referred the present or past causes may be ghess'd at Thus are they Signs one of the other and THE ART HOW TO KNOW MEN hath a priviledge to make its advantage of them in order to the performance of what it promises But in regard all these Signs create not an equal knowledge of the things whereto they are referr'd that some of them denote the same with more certainty then others it is requisite there should be a careful examination taken of their Strength and Weakness since that is the chiefest and most solid ground of this Art CHAP. 2. Of the Strength and Weakness of Signs Art 1. What Judgment is made by the Causes GEnerally speaking the judgment which is made by the Causes is more uncertain then that which is made by the Effects in regard that from the knowledge of the cause of some thing it does not follow that it should produce the effect it is imagin'd to do by reason of divers obstructions which may happen in the production thereof But when an effect is seen it must of necessity be that the cause did precede Thence it comes that the knowledge which is had of the Temperaments by the marks they leave upon the Body is more certain then that which is had of the inclinations by the Temperament in asmuch as these marks are the effects of the Temperament and that the Temperament is the cause of the Inclinations Art 2. Of the next Causes MOreover the causes are of two kinds some are termed the Next Causes others are Remote From the former a more certaine judgment may be deduced in regard they have a stricter connexion with their effects Accordingly the knowledge which is had of the Temperament better discovers the inclinations then any thing that can be inferr'd from Birth Age or the Climate c. But there is not any Cause from which there may be a more certaine judgment deduc'd of a mans actions then the Habit For he who shall know one to be a just person will be the more apt to affirm that upon such or such an occasion he will do an act of justice Into this rank may also be reduced the Passions themselves in reference to those others which are wont to accompany them for the Passions never march alone and there is not any of them but produces some others which either appear with it or follow it very closely Thus Arrogance Impatience Indiscretion accompany Anger and therefore he who knows a man to be sometimes transported with the latter may affirm that he is apt to fall into the others And this observation is so considerable that it makes way for the Noblest rule of all Physiognomy whereof Aristotle is the author and which he calls Syllogistick and of which we shall have occasion to speak hereafter The Qualities or Endowments of the mind do also give a certain judgment of the good bad productions which shall proceed from them And it may be affirmed that when some man shall conceive himself oblig'd out of the bent of his own inclination to embrace some opinion or to speak to some business he will judge and discourse of it answerable to the opinion the world hath of his capacity and endowments Art 3. Of the Remote Causes AS to the remote Causes if there were so great certainty in Astrology as some imagine to themselves no question but the judgments which might be made upon consideration of the Celestial Bodies would be the most certain of any But we do not acknowledge so great a power in those Bodies as is attributed to them and we can grant them at most but some small advantage over the Climate which gives some ground to judge of the Inclinations upon the accompt of the Temperament whereof it is a Remote cause as well as they Age and Sickness may be put in the some rank But good and bad Fortune Nobleness or meanness of Birth Examples under which I comprehend Counsels Advice Rewards and Punishments afford but very doubtful conjectures Lastly the Seasons and Aliment make the most uncertain
judgments of any Art 4. What Judgment that is which is made by the Effects AS to what concerns the discovery which may be of the Causes by the Effects we are to presuppose the distinction we have already made thereof that is that of these latter there are some Spiritual some Corporeal For generally speaking the judgment which is made by the Corporeal is more certain then that deduc'd from the Spiritual in as much as the former immediately proceed from the Temperament and the Conformation of the parts which are the Next Causes of the Inclinations or they viz the effects proceed from the Passion it self which produces them on the Body when the Soul is stirr'd thereby And as to the Spiritual which are the Qualities or Endowments of the mind the Inclinations the Actions and Motions of the Soul and the Habits as there are many several Causes whereby each of them may be produc'd so the judgment made thereof is the more indeterminate and uncertain For the Passion may be caus'd by divers objects by the Weakness of the Mind by the Inclination c. In like manner the Inclination may be the product of the Instinct to the Temperament and of Custome The Habits also have diverse Principles as well as the Qualities of the mind so that it is no easie matter precisely to assigne the Cause from which each of these Effects proceeds Now since there may be a more exact knowledge deduced from the Corporeal Effects and that it is of them only that Physiognomy makes use in order to the discovery of the Inclinations it concerns us to engage upon a more careful examination of them and to see what their number may be what the causes thereof are and what Strength and Weakness they have that so we may judge not only of the Inclinations as Physiognomy does but also of the Qualities of the mind the Passions and Habits which THE ART HOW TO KNOW MEN pretends it self able to discover by them CHAP. III. Of the Natural Signs IN the first place we are here to presuppose that there are two kinds of Effects or Signs which are imprinted on the Body Of these one is the Natural which proceeds from the constitution of the Body and the other Elementary Causes the other the Astrological which proceeds from the Stars or Celestial Bodies whereof Metoposcopy and Chiromancy make use We shall hereafter examine whether there be any certainty in those Sciences and whether the Signs upon which they have fram'd their Rules may contribute any knowledge of the Inclinations the Passions and the Habits as they pretend to do As to the Natural Signs Aristotle hath reduc'd them to nine Heads or Articles which are these 1. The Motion of the Body as the Cate the Gesture and Carriage of it 2. Beauty and Deformity 3. Colour 4. The Air of the Countenance 5. The quality of the Skin 6. The Voice 7. The Fleshiness of the Body 8. The Figure Of the Parts 9. The Largness Of the Parts All these Signs proceed from Internal or External Causes And this distinction is so necessary that it makes in a manner the whole difference there is between those which are advantageous and those that are otherwise as we shall make appear The Internal Causes are the Conformation of the Parts the Temperament and the Motive Vertue the External are all those things which come from without and work some alteration in the Body Thus a man may go slowly either out of his natural Inclination or out of Design or through Weakness Beauty and Deformity proceed from Nature Artifice or Accident The Colour ought to be consonant to the Temperament but the Air and such other things may alter it The Air of the Countenance and the Voice the Skin and the Fleshiness of the parts may receive alteration upon the same account In fine the Figure of the Parts â—s either Natural or Accidental for a man may become crooked and crump-shoulder'd either by a Fluxion or by a Fall or by Nature True it is that of these Signs some are not so easily changed by the External Causes as the Figure the Air of the Countenance and Motion but the Colour the Skin and the Voice do easily receive the impressions thereof But it being suppos'd as it is certain that the Internal causes are those which produce the most certain Signs we make this further observation That the Figure and Largness of the Parts proceed from the Conformation the Temperament gives the Colour the quality of the Skin and the Fleshiness of the Parts The particular kind of Gate and the other Motions proceed from the Motive Vertue But Beauty the Voice the Air of the Countenance proceed from all these three Causes joyned together For Beauty consisting in a symmetry and just proportion of the Members as to colour and grace the proportion proceeds from the Conformation Colour from the Temperament and the grace from Motion The Voice is answerable to the Conformation of the Organs their Temperament and the motion of the Muscles In fine the Air of the Countenance and the Carriage of the Body have their principal dependence on the Motion for in the disturbance of the Passions the Air which accompanies them is nothing else then a certain proportion of the parts resulting from the diverse motions they make in pursuit of Good and Evil which moves the Appetite But that disturbance of the Passion being calm'd and taken away the Air which remains fix'd on the Countenance relates to the Conformation and the Temperament as may be observ'd in those who naturally have the same constitution and disposition of the Parts with those which the Passion is wont to cause Art 1. Of the Difference of Signs OF the Signs before-mentioned some are Common others Proper The Common Signs are not determinated to any one quality but may signifie many on the contrary the Proper are determinated only to one Moreover there are some Signs which in a manner never change as the Conformation all the rest may be chang'd And among these last some are Stable and Permanent others are Transient and continue but a short time Thus those which proceed from Age and the Climate are Stable but such as proceed from Sickness and the Passions are of small continuance From these Distinctions something may be deduc'd which may contribute to the discovery of the Strength and Weakness of the Signs for those which proceed from external causes do not denote any thing certain And of those which the Internal causes have produc'd the Stable are significators of Permanent Inclinations the others may possibly denote the present Passions but not the natural Inclinations unless it be by accident as Aristotle speaks Besides the signs which are the least easily chang'd by the External causes are the most certain such as are the Figure the Air of the Countenance and Motion but the Colour the Skin the Fleshiness of the parts and the Voice are consequently the
it the first place as to what concerns Physiognomical Signs and to dispose the eyes in the most excellent place therein then to bring in the forehead and so consequently the others for the reasons we have alledged Art 4. That the Inclinations are most apparent in the Head IT might be said that all this Discourse does indeed demonstrate the appearance of the Passions more remarkably in the Face then any where else but that the same thing is not to be concluded as to the inclinations and that all this alteration and all these motions which are consequent to the agitation of the Soul are only transient Signs incapable of denoting permanent disposition such as are those of the Inclinations and Habits But we conceive it no inconsiderable advancement to have shewn that the Characters of the Passions are principally apparent in that part of the Body since that according to the rule of conformity whereof we shall speak hereafter those who naturally have the same air which the Passion causes are inclinable to the same Passion However it may happen if the Temperament the Conformation of the parts and the Motive vertue be the causes of permanent Signs it is consequently certain that there are not any parts wherein the Formative vertue acts more efficaciously then it does in the Head by reason of the excellency of its Operations and its Organs no parts wherein the Temperament can be more easily discover'd by reason of the particular constitution which the skin is of in fine no parts wherein the motive vertue is stronger and more free in its motions since there it is in its proper seat and vigour To these reasons this may be added that the great variety of the organs which are in the Head supplies us with a greater number of Signs then any other part whatsoever and that Audacity and Fear taken away as also some others which have dependance on them there is not any Passion that leaves its marks on the parts whereby the Heart is encompass'd So that without any further difficulty we may allow the Head the preheminence as to what concerns the Signs observable in Physiognomy Art 5. That the Inclinations are discoverable by the Arms and Leggs IT may seem deducible from these last reasons that we are willing to allow the second rank to the Arms and Leggs and admit them to be the places from which next to the Head there may be drawn such Signs as may pretend to most certainty and whereof there are a greater number and consequently that the Breast is not so considerable as they are And indeed if the Air of the Face the Behaviour and motion be more certain Signs then the Figure as Aristotle in these words seems to affirm 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 placing the Figure after the Motions it is certain that they are much more apparent in the Gesture and Gate then in the Breast where it may be thought there is only the Figure to be consider'd But we are here to call to mind what we have said elsewhere to wit that the Passions may be consider'd in their first stirring and in their execution and that the execution is not alwaies consequent to the stirring and emotion Now the Arms and Legs are the principal organs in order to the execution of what the Appetite commands and the Heart is the principle and source of the emotion So that the marks which this latter gives are more universal and more certain then those of the others it being affirmed that the Heart is alwaies mov'd in the Passions and that every Passion comes not to execution I add further that the Breast and Shoulders have also their particular carriage and motion as well as the Arms besides that the motion of the Arms and the manner of Going may be chang'd by custom whereas the same thing cannot be said of the Figure of the Breast which alwaies denotes the Temperament of the Heart and consequently the Inclinations And as for Aristotle we are to affirm that he does not make any comparison between the Air of the Countenance and Motion and Figure but he compares these three together with the other Signs as for example the Colour the Voice the quality of the Skin and the Fleshy parts which no doubt are much less certain then the former as we said elsewhere So that it is to be maintain'd as manifest that the most excellent place from which the most remarkable Signs of Physiognomy are to be drawn is the Head the next to that the parts which enclose the Heart the third the Arms and Leggs and the last the Belly For though this last hath some right to dispute the precedence with the Arms by reason of the many Signs found therein especially as to what concerns the Temperament yet it is most certain that modesty does not easily permit that part to be consider'd whence it must needs follow that the Signs are so much the less manifest whereto may be added this also that they do not principally denote the operations of the sensitive Soul but only of the Vegetative and that it is only by accident that it makes any signification of the other Art 6. From what places the Signs are taken THe most considerable places from which the Signs are to be taken are as Aristotle affirms those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In quibus sapientiae multae apparentia fit which assertion may be explicated two ways The former that the parts where Wisdom and Modesty ought to be most apparent are those which discover the most certain marks of the Inclinations So that the air of the countenance and the carriage or deportment of the Body making the principal discovery of Wisdom in a man it is accordingly from those places that we are to derive the most assured Signs of Physiognomy For as Prudence brings along with it a general disposition to all the other Vertues So on the other side Imprudence invests a man with a susceptibility of all sorts of Vices and Imperfections So that the places where those two qualities are most remarkable must of necessity furnish us with the Signs of all the other Inclinations The second Explication of that Assertion and in my judgment the better is that the external parts whereof the Soul seems to stand most in need and wherein she imploys the more art and conduct whether as to the framing of them or keeping them after they are fram'd are those from which we are to extract the most certain Signs of the Inclinations The reason this that the Soul making a fuller discovery of her self and in some sort more manifestly producing her self in those parts than in the others may in them also make a greater discovery of her Inclinations Now it is generally acknowledg'd that there are not any wherein her cares her conduct and her industry are more apparent than in the eyes and in the other parts of the Head in regard that all the Senses nay Reason it self are lodg'd therein
of some other Creatures have the same Inclinations with those Creatures it is to be examin'd what Creatures those are which may give a ground for this rule For all are not fit to be admitted into that predicament either in regard that sufficient observations have not been made of them or that they are at too great a distance from the nature of man as Insects Serpents Fishes c. Aristotle therefore in his Physiognomy hath pitch'd upon twenty seven to wit fifteen four-footed Beasts and seaven Volatiles The former are the Lion the Panther the Horse the Hart the Ox the Ass the Dog the Wolf the Swine the Goat the Sheep the Ape the Fox the Cat and the Frog The other are the Eagle the Hawk the Cock the Raven the Quail Sea-Fowl and small Birds Others have added to these the Owl and the Ostrich It is therefore requisite there should be so many Chapters design'd wherein must be treated of the natures of these Animals and especially of those parts of them whereto those of men may have any resemblance and of the Inclinations they denote Art 3. How the said Art makes use of the third Rule AS to the third Rule which shews that he who hath any semblance to Men of some other Climate hath the same Inclinations as they have this is grounded on the Figure of the Body and such Inclinations of the Soul as that Climate causes But in asmuch as the Climate is to be consider'd not only by the position of the Heavens but also by the nature of the Soil by the Scituation by the Winds reigning there it is requisite in the first place to treat of that Constitution of the Body and the Inclinations which a hot dry cold or moist Climate may cause and afterwards of those which may proceed from a moist or dry fruitful or barren soil In the third place of that which is consequent to the scituation as it is oriental or occidental high or low maritime or mediterranean In fine what contribution may be made thereto by the several Winds East West North and South Thence it must descend to the Figure and Manners of those Nations which depend partly on these causes partly on the original of the people themselves whereof they still retain some tincture as also on the good or ill fortune which hath attended them and causes them to change their former discipline and their antient course of life This Treatise must needs be long and will require great pains to bring it to a period For besides that there must be some reason given of the particular Figure of every People and its Inclinations which is a thing very hard to do it must also give an account of the Laws which are proper thereto in regard that the Law as Plato sayes is the finding out of Truth all sorts of Laws being not convenient for all manner of Nations but only such as are conformable to their natural dispositions and he who hath lighted on that Conformity and Correspondence hath met with Truth But howere it may be this Discourse is to be divided into so many Chapters as there are Climates and those subdivided again into so many Sections as there be Nations inhabiting each of them Art 4. How the said Art makes use of the fourth Rule THe fourth Rule teaches us That those men who have any thing in their countenances approaching the Beauty of Women have the same Inclinations as they have and on the contrary This is grounded on the Beauty which is peculiarly answerable to either Sex as also upon the Inclinations which are natural to each of them It is therefore requisite there should be a discourse concerning Beauty and that it should be divided into two Treatises whereof the former shall shew how all the parts ought to be made which frame the Beauty of Man and the Inclinations attending it And the other is to give a particular account of the parts whereof the Beauty of the Woman consists and the Inclinations correspondent to her Sex All this shall be treated in fifty Chapters there being no less then twenty five parts in each Sex whereby they are represented as differing one from the other the Colour and Proportion which ought to be between them being comprehended therein Art 5. Why The Art how to know Men treats of the Temperaments BUt in regard these two last Rules are principally grounded on the Temperament before we come to the examination of them it is requisite there should be a previous Treatise of the Temperaments and a discovery made of the Inclinations which each of them causes in the Soul and the Figure it gives to the parts of the Body And this is to be done in fifty two Chapters wherof the first sixteen shal treat of the Temperaments which are conformable to the whole Body and the other thirtysix of those of the Nobler parts For there are some principal temperaments correspondent to the four Humours when they are only predominant to wit the Sanguine the Cholerick the Melancholick and the Flegmatick then each of these hath some one of the other humours predominant under it as the Cholerick-Sanguine the Melancholick-Sanguine c. and that makes up the number of sixteen In fine every noble part is either temperate or hot cold dry or moist or is hot and moist hot and dry cold and moist cold and dry So that there being four noble parts and each of those having nine differences of Temperaments all put together make up two and fifty kinds of Temperaments which must be known in order to a judgment of the Inclinations Art 6. That there are other Rules besides those of Physiognomy whereby the Inclinations may be discover'd THus is it that The Art how to know Men makes use of the Rules of Physiognomy for the discovery of the Inclinations and how upon small foundations it designs the greatest superstructure whereof Science ever attempted the carrying on But it does not think that sufficient as having added thereto some other means whereof Physiognomy makes no advantage For besides that it makes the very effects of the Inclinations to contribute to the discovery of them to wit the desire of doing the actions and the pleasure there is in doing them often it being a thing out of all dispute that if a person be observ'd to be often desirous to do the same thing or that he does it many times with a certain pleasure it is a certain sign of the Inclination he hath thereto Besides this I say it very advantageously makes use of the remote causes whereof we have made mention before for though the judgments which may be deduced from them be not absolutely certain yet do they either fortifie or weaken those which proceed from the next causes which are as we said the Instinct the Temperament and the Conformation of the parts Accordingly if a man be of such a Temperament and Conformation as may be proper for courageous actions and that he
that part such miracles as are not yet fully known and that if the knowledge thereof could be attain'd there would haply be acquir'd that which Chiromancy does so much pretend to Add to this that he who shall take notice that the Lines which are in the Hands are different in all men that in the self-same person they are chang'd at certain periods of time and that all this diversity cannot proceed from any internal cause to us yet known will in all likelihood be forc'd to acknowledge that all those Characters are the effects of some secret influence by which they are imprinted in that particular part And that nothing being superfluously done in Nature they have their particular use and do denote if not any thing else at least this to wit the alteration which happens in the principles whereby they are produc'd For to make these impressions relate to the Articulations and the motions of the hand as some have done is a thing which cannot be maintain'd since the Articulations are equal in all men who nevertheless have all their Lines unequal that there are many Hands wherein there is not any Articulation at all as in the space which lies between the joints of the fingers That children newly born who have their hands shut all after the same manner without making in a manner any motion have nevertheless many lines which are different in every one of them that those who exercise the same Art and consequently ought as neer as may be to use the same motions have them nevertheless as different as if they were of contrary professions That in the self-same person they are chang'd though there be not any change in his course of life And lastly that in the forehead where there is not any Articulation and which part all men move after the saâ—â— manner there are also such lines wherein may be observ'd the same diversity as in those of the Hand We may further add to these considerations the great Antiquity of the Science of Chiromancy which must needs have been studied before Aristotle's time in as much as what he sayes of the Lines of the Hand is one of its observations and rules the work it hath found so many learned men who search'd into the secrets of it and have honour'd it by their Writings And lastly the admirable judgments which have been made according to its Maximes For it is a thing comes not much short of astonishment that of forty and five persons whom Cocles had foreseen by his Art to be subject to dye violent deaths Cardan observ's that there were but two of them living in his time to whom that misfortune had not hapned But to come to a free acknowledgement of the truth all these as we have already observ'd are but so many slight suspicions which conclude not for the certainty of this Science For as to the order of the Planets which it hath chang'd it gives a great presumption that it hath not been done without some reason but the question remains still undecided to wit Whether it be true that those celestial Bodies have any kind of power or influence over the Hand and whether any one of them have some particular place assign'd it therein The Authority of Aristotle may also be question'd and all this diversity of Lines may proceed from other causes and have other uses different from those appropriated thereto by Chiromancy Moreover how ancient soever that Science may be it makes not much for its certainty since there are ancient errours whereby all the precedent Ages have been abused And though many great Wits have thought it not unworthy their study yet have there been in all times some who have employ'd their endeavors about curiosities as vain as possibly this may be In fine all the testimonies and examples which are commonly produc'd in defence of it can pretend to no more weight and validity then those brought for Geomancy Onomancy and other Arts of Divination all which are imaginary and superstitious and yet neither want Patrons to protect them nor fail of success in the judgments which are made by them On the other side neither do all these reasons absolutely condemn it and make not any otherwise against it then in that they render it doubtful leaving the inquisitive person in an uncertainty what he ought to believe and continuing him in the desire of being satisfi'd therein Now the only means to attain that satisfaction is to examine the Principles of it and to see whether there be any reasons whereby they may be maintain'd For if any of them be certain and well grounded there is not in my judgment any rational person who joyning the precedent suspitions with the truth of these Principles but will acknowledge that if the Science which hath been built thereupon is not arriv'd to the highest degree of certainty it may come to it in time by the diligent and exact observations which are yet to be added thereto And that if it cannot promise as much as Astrology pretends it should discover by the Stars which it hath plac'd in the Hand it may at least judge of the good or bad disposition of the interiour parts between which and it there is an undeniable sympathy and by that means conduce very much to the conservation and continuance of Health and the curing of diseases For when it shall be confin'd within these limits and quit all other pretences it will still be a very considerable Science and such as for the excellency of its discoveries and the advantage may be made thereof might be worthy the curiosity of the severest Philosophers and all those who make it their business to enquire into the wonderful things of Nature These are the considerations which I had before I fell to examin the Principle before-mentioned which is the main foundation on which the disposal of the Planets into several parts of the Hand is built and in a manner the only source from which all the judgments which Chiromancy can promise are deduced The method I have observ'd therein is according to the subsequent Articles to shew 1. That of situations some are more noble then others 2. That the nobler situations are design'd for the more excellent parts and that the excellency of the parts is deduc'd from the advantage they bring along with them 3. What advantages may be deduced from the Hands 4. That the Right Hand is more noble then the Left 5. That motion begins on the Right side 6. That the Hands have the greatest portion of the natural Heat 7. That the Hands have a greater communication with the nobler parts 8. That some secret Vertues are convey'd from the nobler parts into the Hands 9. That Nature does not confound the Vertues and consequently 10. That the Vertues of the nobler parts are not receiv'd into the same places of the Hâ—nd 11. That there is a Sympathy between the Liver and the Fore-finger 12. That there is a Sympathy between the
Females And generally speaking diseases commonly assault the parts on the left side as such as having least heat are consequently the weakest Art 5. That Motion begins on the Right side NOw that Motion naturally begins on the Right side is a truth which cannot admit of any dispute if we but take into our consideration what passes in all Animals For those which have four feet do always begin to go by setting the right fore-foot foremost and others which have but two ever raise up the right foot first Burthens are better carried on the left shoulder then on the right in regard it is requisite the principle of Motion should be freâ— and dis-engag'd And Painters never forget in their Pictures when drawn to the full length to dispose them into such a posture as that the left Legg stands foremost as it is commonly seen in those that are standing whereby the right is put into an aptitude to move when they would go from the place where they are Nay there are some creatures which having not been able by reason of their Figure to receive the two differences of Right and Left as the Purple-fish and all the others which have their shells after the form of a Snail have not nevertheless been depriv'd of that of Right in regard that it being necessary they should move it was accordingly necessary that they should have the principle of motion All these truths therefore being thus establish'd to wit that there are some places and parts in the body more or less noble That the more noble are design'd for the reception of the more excellent parts That the excellency of the parts is deriv'd from the advantage they bring along with them And consequently that the Hands which for the many several services they do are plac'd in the upper part as being the noblest Place ought to have the precedence in point of excellency of the Feet In the next place it will be our business to shew that the Hands receive a more considerable assistance and relief from the principles of Life and that all the nobler parts do communicate a greater vertue to them then to any other whatsoever Art 6. That the Hands have the greatest portion of natural heat TO make good this assertion we are in the first place to observe that Nature hath a greater care and tenderness for those parts which are the more excellent That ordinarily she frames them first and that she uses more Art in the making of them and more providence in the conservation of them then she does in others This is apparent in the order she observes in their first conformation for next the Heart and Brain whereof She first makes a draught the Eyes which without dispute are the most delicate and noblest organs appear before all the other parts nay indeed before there is any designation of the Liver the Spleen and the Reins The Mouth in all Animals is also one of the first parts that are framed next to the Eyes Then may be seen the organs of progressive motion and after them may be observ'd the Liver the Spleen and the other internal parts as the last and most exact observations of Anatomy have discover'd Moreover we find that the upper parts are soonest finish'd and that in Children they are bigger and stronger then the lower whence it comes that they have all the same proportion as is in the stature of Dwarfs and that it is with some difficulty they are brought to go in regard their Leggs are too short and too weak Now it is certain that all the care which Nature takes whether in the framing of them first or in promoting their perfection depends on the natural heat whereof she communicates a greater abundance to them For that is the general instrument of all her actions and the real subjunct wherein all her faculties reside So that if there be any parts which are framed before others it proceeds hence that they must first have had their portions of that heat which is always most pure and efficacious in its source And if they are brought to perfection before the others it must be attributed to this that it is done by a particular application of that quality acting there more powerfully then in any other part and being for that reason continually supply'd by the influence of the Spirits which augment and fortifie it Whence it must follow that the Hands which are framed before so many other parts and are sooner advanced to perfection and accomplishment then the Feet have accordingly had a more advantageous distribution of the natural heat and a larger proportion of the Spirits then the other Art 7. That there is a greater communication between the Hands and the nobler parts BUt if we would consider these parts when they are arriv'd to a more perfect state and in a time when they are able to execute the principal functions whereto they are design'd we shall certainly find that the Heart the Liver and the Brain do communicate to them a greater portion of Vertue then they do to any of the other parts For not to mention the actions of the natural and sensitive life which are common to them with the parts afore-mentioned progressive Motion is particularly reserv'd for them So that to perform that action wherein there is more difficulty and more strength requir'd it is but just there should come to them a greater relief and a stronger influence from those principal members then may be necessary for the other actions of life It is accordingly requisite that they should have more bloud more heat and more spirits more bloud to render their consistence the more firm more vital heat that they may be inspir'd with greater force and a greater abundance of the animal Spirits to convey into them not onely sentiment but also the motive faculty For without these conditions those organs are of no advantage and no motion can be made In a word since instruments are not instruments but correspondently to the vertue they derive from the cause whereby they are employ'd it is necessary that those parts which are the instruments of Motion sâ—â—â—â—d accordingly receive from the principles of Motion that vertue whereby they are put in action And thence it also follows that they should have that vertue in a higher degree then others they should have more Spirits whereby it might be convey'd into them and consequently there is a greater correspondence between them and the nobler parts which are the sources of those spirits and that vertue This reason indeed is common to the Hands and Feet that is comparatively to the other parts but if we consider the great advantage with the situation of the upper part hath over that of the lower as also the excellency of the parts which are placed in the former and the particular care which Nature takes of them as we have shewn already It will be apparent that in the said distribution of Spirits and Vertues the
Hands have had the best share and consequently that there is a greater correspondence between them and the nobler parts then there is between these last and the Feet or any other member whatsoever Art 8. That some secret Vertues are convey'd from the nobler parts into the Hands BUt besides this communication and correspondence which there is betweeen the Hands and the nobler parts by means of the Veins Arteries and Nerves there are yet others more secret such as have more obscure ways and passages and yet much more clearly discover the truth we search after For if it be certain that the Lines of the Hand denote the length and shortness of Life according as they are long or short of themselves as Aristotle and Experience have taught us it is necessary not onely that there should be a greater rapport and a stronger connexion between it and the principles of life then there is between them and all the other parts where those marks are not to be found But it is further necessary that the nobler parts which are the sources wherein those principles are comprehended should communicate to it some secret influence which must have no reference to the ordinary and manifest vertues it receives from them in as much as neither the bloud nor the spirits nor the heat nor the motion which they distribute and disperse into it do not contribute ought to the making of the Lines therein longer or shorter or denoting the length or shortness of Man's life Art 9. That Nature does not confound the Vertues THis secret Sympathy which is between the Hand and the nobler parts being presupposed at least till such time as we shall have prov'd it more at large by more full and particular observations we shall lay it down as a most certain principle that Nature does not confound the vertues especially the formal and specifick so there be ever so little opposition between them and that she always distinguishes them as much as lies in her power For not to bring on the Stage the Oaximes of Astrologie which hath divided the Heavens into so many Planets and Starrs into so many Signs and Houses differing one from another in point of vertue there is not any order of things in the Universe wherein this truth is not observable For example in perfect Animals the qualities necessary to generation have been divided between the two Sexes in each of those the faculties conducing to the government of life have every one of them its particular Seat And all the Senses have their proper organs and distinct functions Nay let us examine Plants Minerals and Stones and we shall find the same distinction and not to descend to the particulars which might be instanced we need only direct our observation to the Load-stone where it is so obvious to the Sense that without blindness or stupidity it cannot be doubted of For in an Homogenial body the composition whereof is equal every where and wherein it seems that all the parts should have one and the same power yet is it observ'd that of those parts there are some whereto the Magnetick qualities have been particularly distributed and that there are two Poles wherein they have been distinctly placed And if what some persons of late pretend that they have made it their discovery be true to wit that there is a fixt Meridian in the said Stone it is requisite that all the others should also be fixt and consequently they have each of them a different inclination So true is it that Nature loves to distinguish the Vertues and so averse is she to the intermixture and confusion of them And indeed if she did not exactly proceed according to this order things would be done many times contrary to her design one quality would destroy another and the effects would not be answerable to their causes nor to the end whereto they are design'd Art 10. That the Vertues of the nobler parts are not receiv'd into the same places of the Hand IF the case stand thus and it be granted that there are some particular Vertues communicated from the nobler parts to the Hand it is requisite that they should not be confounded together nor receiv'd into the same part of it And consequently it is necessary that there should be one place assign'd for that of the Liver another for that of the Heart and so of all the rest But the main difficulty is to find out which those particular places and parts are whereinto those influences are receiv'd For though Chiromancy assures us that there is a sympathy between the Fore-finger and the Liver between the Middle-finger and the Spleen between the Ring-finger and the Heart c. yet does it not produce any convincing proof of this truth and as for the Experiences it advances for the confirmation thereof they still leave those unsatisfy'd who allow nothing to be granted but what is back'd with sound reasons and are look'd upon by them as so many reveries and extravagances of man's curiosity But certainly he who could make good this Sympathy by other observations then those which may be deduc'd from Chiromancy and such as should be built upon Medicine or some other part of natural Philosophy might justly make it his boast that he had discover'd the mysterie of this Science and that he had found out the onely ground upon which the truth of all Celestial configurations is supported For my part I do not pretend that I can produce all those which might be necessary to make an absolute proof thereof yet dare I affirm that I have some which may as it were lay the foundations of such an eviction and are such as having demonstrated some part of it will leave an invincible presumption for the rest and a hope that it may be accomplish'd after there hath been a carefull observation made of what happens to this admirable organ Art 11. That there is a Sympathy between the Liver and the Fore-finger THe first Observation then which we have to propose is to shew the communication and sympathy which is between the Liver and the Finger commonly called by the Latines Index It is deduc'd from Medicine which teaches us that the Leprozie hath its source and principal seat in the Liver and that one of the first Signs it gives whereby it may be discover'd appears in that finger For when all the Muscles of the Hand and indeed of all the Body are full and succulent those which are subservient to the motion of that finger wither and dry up especially that which is in the Thenar that is in the space between the said Finger and the Thumb where all that is fleshy is consum'd and there remains onely the skin and the fibres which lye flat to the bone Now this could not happen thus if there were not some analogie and secret correspondence between the Liver and that part since it is one of the first that is sensible of the alteration which is wrought in
the Reins the third in the Liver the fourth in the Eyes and the Fift in the Head from whence he draws four pair of Veins which are afterwards spread into divers places Art 17. That the distribution of the Veins made by Hippocrates for the discovery of the said Sympathy was not understood either by Aristotle or Galen FRom what is abovesaid it is not to be inferr'd that Hippocrates was of opinion that those were the first Sources from which the Veins derive their origine as Aristotle Galen and in a manner all their followers have impos'd upon him since he could not be ignorant that all of them have their root in the Liver whence they are distributed into all the parts of the Body in order to the conveyance of their nourishment into them as he afterwards makes it appear in the distribution he hath made of the Liver-vein and whereof he hath given a further account in the second Book of Popular diseases But it was only to denote the correspondence there is between those five parts and the rest the diseases and symptomes which they mutually communicate Accordingly when he saies that the left Eye receives a Vein from the Right and the latter another from the Left it is not to be taken literally as if those Veins did really derive their origine from those places but it is to shew that the indispositions of one eye are communicated to the other as if they had veins whereby they might be directly convey'd True indeed it is that this communication is wrought by the interposition of the veins and that these veins do also proceed from some common branch but that is at such a distance from the Eyes that it cannot be precisely affirm'd there is any intercourse of veins between them upon any other account then that of the sympathy there is between them And this is so certain that many times Hippocrates considers not the continuity of the veins in the distribution he makes thereof since he shews that the Head and Lungs hold a correspondence with the Spleen though the veins of the Spleen are not united nor continuous with those of the aforesaid parts in as much as it is sufficient in order to the correspondence whereof he speaks that there should be some kind of communication between those veins by some means or other as we shall shew hereafter But to make a more particular discovery of the secret and advantage of this admirable distribution it is requisite we should examin some articles of it For when he tells us that from these four pair of veins which issue from the Head there is one which hath two branches which falling from the Temples descend into the Lungs whereof one passes from the right side to the left and spreads into the Spleen and left Kidney and the other passes from the left side and goes into the Liver and right Kidney and afterwards both those branches end at the Hemorrhoidal veins Does he not thereby teach us not only why the opening of the Hemorrhoidal veins is good for those who are troubled with pains in the Reins Plurifies and Inflammations of the Lungs but also why the suppression of them causes the Dropsie and the Phthisick For though there be other places where it should seem that the reflux of the blood which they contain might be made yet the correspondence there is between them and the Liver and Lungs is the only reason why it is not made elsewhere And questionless those branches which descending from them pass from the right side to the left and from the left to the right acquaint us with the cause which hath been sought after to so little purpose to wit why the imposthumes and swellings which happen from the upper part to the lower are not alwayes on the same side where the source of the disease is observ'd but sometimes on the right sometimes on the left whereas those which happen from the lower part to the upper are alwayes consonant to the regularity of the part where the seat of the indisposition is For without this distribution of the Veins it is impossible to give a reason for all these accidents Nay further without the said distribution it would not be known why there is so great a correspondence between the Breast and the Genitals that the Cough ceases when those are swell'd that the swelling is asswag'd when the Cough follows nay that the swellings of the Veins which happens to them correct the defects that make the voice small or hoarse In a word this is the only secret to discover the wayes which Nature observes in her transportation of the humours from one part to another and for the discerning of the veins which are to be opened in every particular indisposition For though they have all the same root though divers of them have common branches which should equally distribute unto them the blood and humours which they contain yet the correspondence and friendship there is between the parts prevails with Nature to force them rather by one vein then another and she making choice of that which is most convenient for her purpose meddles not with the others which are near it and proceed from the self-same origine And this is evidently remarkable in the sympathy whereof we have heretofore given such pressing examples For in all probability it is by the Veins and Arteries that the secret vertue which is communicated from the Heart and Liver to certain fingers is convey'd into them and yet all those which are in the Hand are not employ'd in that conveyance and though they proceed from the same branch yet is there not any more then one whereby the vertue of the Heart and another whereby that of the Liver is convey'd Otherwise there would be no determinate place for the reception of their influence and all the fingers of the Hand which have veins and arteries would receive it equally the contrary whereof we find by experience Accordingly to say the truth all these vessels are only channels and conduit-pipes which cannot no more then those of springs or fountains give any motion to the humours But they are the Spirits only which convey and force them to those places where they are ordered to go And as the correspondence there is between the members is carry'd on and improv'd by means of these Spirits so is it not to be doubted but that the blood wherewith they are intermix'd marches along with them from one part to another and consequently occasions that miraculous harmony of the veins observ'd by Hippocrates For no doubt that Harmony was the ground upon which he and the ancient Masters of Medicine have in the same member observ'd veins that held a certain correspondence with several parts as in the Arm the Head-vein the Liver-vein and the Spleen-vein which they alwayes punctually opened in the particular indispositions of those parts slighting or at least not minding the weak reasons which the inspection of Bodies
another upon the Breast and accordingly as the former shall be in the midst of the Forehead or in the upper or lower part thereof on the one side or the other that upon the Breast shall have the same differences of situation If there be one upon the Ey-brows the correspondent mark shall be upon the Shoulders if upon the Nose the other shall be about the Parts we spoke of in the precedent Article if on the Cheeks the other shall be on the Thighs if on the Ears the other shall be on the Arms and so of the rest It is certainly impossible for a man to consider the miraculous references of these correspondent marks and not take occasion thence to reflect on the infinite wisdom of God who reducing all things to unity that they may be the more confoâ—mable to himself after he had made an abridgment of all the World in man thought fit to make an Epitome of man in his own Face For it cannot be affirm'd that this correspondence whereof we speak is simply in those marks since they are all fram'd of one and the same matter and consequently they cannot have any more reference to one then to another But it must of necessity be in the parts themselves and that the association there is between them should be the cause that one cannot have a mark imprinted on it but the correspondent member must at the same time undergo the same impression Accordingly we find besides the secret concurrence they may have together a sensible and manifest rapport and resemblance in their situation and structure For the Breast which is that part of the Body below the Head which is most bony and most flat before is exactly answerable to the Forehead which hath the same qualities The parts necessary to Generation are in the midst of the Body with a certain prominency as the Nose is in the midst of the Face The Thighs which are very fleshy and sideling have a reference to the Cheeks which have the same situation The Ey-brow is answerable to the Shoulders by reason of the eminency remarkable in both the Ear to the Arm as being both on the sides and as it were our of play and so of the rest Yet is it not to be inferr'd hence that this resemblance is the true source of the said sympathy no it is not sufficiently adjusted and exact enough to produce effects so like and it is necessary that there should be some more secret tye and connexion whereby these parts might be so associated among themselves as they are and which may be the principal cause of that miraculous Harmony which is found among them whereof these natural Characters are the irreproachable witnesses Art 7. Whence the Lines of the Forehead proceed THe Forehead is no doubt that part of the Face wherein Metoposcopy finds most work to busie it self about and where it meets with the greatest number of those Signs upon which it makes its judgments which are therefore the more certain in regard there is a greater diversity of the said marks and that they are the more apparent in that part then in any other And this is also the reason why it hath taken the name it bears from that part as such as it looks upon as the most considerable and most necessary For certainly he who shall make it his business to observe that in so narrow a space which should naturally be smooth and eaven there is fram'd so great a variety of lines points and irregular figures That of these some start out as it were of a sudden and others vanish and are blotted out That some are more deep others more superficial some shorter some longer some pale and others in a manner betraying a certain colour That there are not any two men in the world in whom they are alike And lastly that all this diversity of lines may be observ'd in the same person He I say who shall take a particular notice of all these things will have just occasion to believe that there is in the Forehead some secret which is not known to men and that the impressions made therein have nobler and higher causes then any that are in Animals And indeed upon examination it will be found that all the reasons which may be alleged for this diversity of Lines cannot be deduc'd but either from Motion which gives a certain fold or wrinkle to the skin where it hath been often accustomed to be made as it happens in the joynts or from Drought which causes a contraction of the skin and wrinkles as may be seen in fruits that have been long kept and in the furrows and wrinkles which old Age spreads into all the parts But there is no probability that the Lines of the Forehead should be the effects of the motion which it is wont to suffer since they are different in all men who nevertheless move that part after the same manner For all persons have the same manner of dilating and contracting the Forehead every one hath the same muscles purposely design'd for those motions And Nature inspires into every one the same motives upon which they ought to be made Some may haply affirm that the Consistency of the skin is the cause of that diversity and according to its being more thin or thick the folds are more or less easily made in it But are there not abundance of persons who have the same constitution of Skin wherein yet there is not any line like one the others Are there not some whose skin is very delicate and thin wherein there is not any to be seen And are there not also those who have it thick which yet is full of them Nor can it be maintain'd on the other side that Drought is the cause of these Lines since it may be observ'd that some children of a sanguine Constitution have more of them then some decrepid old men And that it is found they are not alike in old people though 't is possible the Drought may have been equal Besides I would fain know it being suppos'd that this quality should be the cause of these impressions whence it comes that young people who have wrinkles in their Foreheads have not any in the other parts And why those which old Age imprints on the other parts of the skin are alike in all men and are not so in the Forehead Yet it is not to be inferr'd but that Motion and Drought contribute very much thereto but with this caution that they do not occasion the first draughts of them and only promote their sooner or more remarkable appearance There is some other Cause which draws the first design of them and as a Master-builder takes the first measures thereof and begins the structure which is afterwards compleated by the contributory labours of other workmen For to be short all the Lines are design'd on the Forehead even from the very birth though they do not immediately appear there but discover
know well enough that the Enemies of Astrologie laugh at the particular vertues commonly attributed to them But there is a certain mediocrity to be observ'd between those who deprive them of all and those who allow them too much For no man should be so farr self-will'd as quite to destroy their Influences for the reason alleged by us nor on the other side so credulous as to grant them all those vertues which the vanity of the Judicial part of the Science is so liberal as to give them Though there be in it a thousand frivolous and ridiculous suppositions yet may there be also derived from it some rational observations which require a sincere acknowledgment When it is taken into consideration what Agriculture the Art of Navigation and Medicine affirm of the Rising and Setting of the Starrs When it is seen that the Horoscope gives so exact a description of the Stature the Temperament and the humour of those whose Nativities are examin'd would it not be an insupportable obstinacy or rather a blindness of mind out of pure willfulness to contest against the vertue of the Starrs upon which those judgments are made and without any reason to oppose such experiences as have been observ'd an infinite number of times For my part I am so distrustfull of the strength of Humane Understanding and I find there are so few things in Nature into which 't is able to penetrate that if Religion had not declar'd free actions to be exempted from all subjection to the power of the Starrs I durst not upon the pure Ratiocination of Philosophy affirm the contrary What! We are ignorant of that which we ought to know best Nay we are yet to learn what it is to Think and know not how we think and yet we shall have the temerity to regulate the power and influences of the greatest and most admirable Bodies that are in the World and to presume that those are deceiv'd who allow them more then we imagine they have It speaks therefore greater prudence and moderation to comply with the common opinion which attributes to those Bodies the direction and government of the principal parts of Man's body as being such as is confirm'd by the many observations and experiences which have been made thereof But it must be done with this precaution however that we suffer not our selves to be abus'd by the consequences which may be deduc'd from this Truth For we must so look on it as not to extend much beyond the principles and grounds of Chiromancy and Metoposcopy in as much as particular Rules which have been built thereon are either false or uncertain And indeed it may confidently be affirm'd that those Rules which pretend to judge of free and contingent actions are absurd and criminal And that those others which are limited and levell'd onely to the discovery of corporeal dispositions are doubtful as being not sufficiently confirm'd by just and exact observations It were therefore to be wish'd that some persons had apply'd themselves more seriously then hath yet been done by any to this curious disquisition in as much as it would possibly have furnished us with a fuller knowledge of that miraculous harmony which is observable among the parts of man's body and gâ—ve the occasion of its being sometime call'd 〈◊〉 Miâ—acle of Miracles Nay it may be further presum'd that the Science of Medicine might have deriv'd some light and assistance from it in order to a more exact discovery of the dispositions of the interiour parts and the making of more certain judgments of the success of Diseases And lastly THE ART HOW TO KNOW MEN would also have made considerable advantages of such a disquisition and would have inserted among its own Rules such as those kinds of Sciences should have supply'd it withall but with this caution on the other side as not to permit those other things which are not onely uncertain and upon their ill-groundedness unmaintainable but also cry'd down as vain and superstitious to creep into a design so serious and so solidly grounded as that it pretends to So that instead of going so farr to find out the Signs which may discover the Inclinations the Motions of the Soul Vertues and Vices This contents it self with those which are nearer hand and more manifest and such as may be deducible from sublunary Causes SECT 1. Of the several parts which compleat THE ART HOW TO KNOW MEN. THe said Art then makes account to comprehend all the knowledge it may give and the several discoveries it is to make in Nine general Treatises whereof The First shall contain the Characters of the Passions in two and twenty Chapters The Second the Character of Vertues and Vices in an hundred Chapters The Third the Temperaments in two and fifty Chapters The Fourth the nature of those living Creatures which contribute any way to the Physiognomy in twenty nine Chapters The Fifth shall treat of the Beauty of Man and Woman in fifty Chapters The Sixth of the Morality of several Nations according to the Climates in sixty Chapters The Seventh Of the Inclinations proceeding from Age Fortune Course of Life c. in twenty Chapters The Eighth Of Dissimulation and the ways how it may be discovered The Ninth and last shall set in order all the Signs which shall be deduc'd from these great sources shall shew as it were at the first sight those which ought to discover every Inclination in particular every Motion of the Soul every Vertue and every Vice and so compleat and give its utmost perfection to THE ART HOW TO KNOW MEN. CHAP. X. What qualities are requisite in that person who would apply himself to THE ART HOW TO KNOW MEN. IF Antiquity had reason to say That the case is the same with Sciences as with Seeds and Plants which never bring forth any thing if they meet not with a soil fit for them it is certain that there is not any wherein that Truth may be more evident then in those Sciences which pretend to Divination as being such as will become barren and of no advantage if they meet not in their minds who are desirous to make use of them with the dispositions which are necessary thereto Thence it is that Ptolemy tells us that it is not sufficient to know the Rules and Maxims of them and that if the Student have not the particular Genius which those Sciences require he will never be able to make a rational judgment So that before he exercise himself in THE ART HOW TO KNOW MEN he ought to know what that particular Genius is whereof he stands in need as also the Qualities he should be Master of to make his advantage of that familiarity I shall not make the business more difficult then it is nor bring in hither all the other Sciences to keep this Art of ours company I might say that Medicine and Moral Philosophy are particularly requisite thereto That treating of Climatâ— and the natures of several
to fear So that upon such occasions weakness of mind is the cause of those emotions as on the other side soundness of judgment smother them The Sixth Whereas it is possible that vicious Inclinations may be reform'd by study and bad education may alter corrupt the good it concerns the Artist to add as much as may be the Moral marks to the Natural and endeavour to discover by the Words and Actions of the person whose humour he would be acquainted with whether he follows his Inclinations or hath reform'd them Art 4. Of the Moderation of Spirit indispensibly requisite in the Study of this Art NOw whereas all these Rules and all these Observations are very hard to be reduc'd to practice it must be laid down as a thing certain that it is very easie to make many temerarious judgments thereby and to abuse this art if great care be not taken Therefore among all the Qualities requisite in the person who is desirous to study it I wish him particularly Moderation of Spirit that he may not be partial or praecipitate in his judgments and above all things not to make any to the disadvantage of others but in the secret closet of his own Heart so as that neither his Tongue nor their Ears may be witnesses thereof Otherwise Religion and Prudence would not permit the exercise of this noble Science and in stead of being necessary and serviceable to Society it would become its greatest Enemy FINIS THE TABLE THE FIRST BOOK CHAP. I. AN Idaea of the natural Perfection of Man page 1 ART 1. That only man hath the sense of Touching in perfection 3 2. All in man should be in a mediocrity 4 3. That all the Faculties ought to be in a mean 6 4. That all natural Inclinations are defects 7 5. That every Species hath its proper Temperament 9 6. Why Sexes were bestowed on Animals and why the male is hot and dry and the female cold and moist 10 7. Wherein the Beauty of Sexes consists That there are two sorts of natural effects 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 12 8. That there are some Faculties and Inclinations which it is Natures design to bestow on the Sexes others not 13 9. That there are some parts fram'd by nature out of design others not 15 SECT 2. Wherein the perfection of the Male consists p. 16 ART 1. Of the Inclinations proper to Man ib. 2. That the Temperament of Man is hot and dry in the first degree 18 3. A model of Man's figure 19 4. Of the figure of Man's parts 21 5. The Reasons of the figure of Man's parts 22 6. That the figure of the parts denotes the inclinations 23 SECT 3. Shewing wherein consists the natural perfection of the Woman 24 ART 1. The Reasons of these Inclinations 26 2. That the Inclinations of the Woman are not defects 28 3. That the Inclinations of Man are defects in the Woman 30 4. Wherein the Beauty of the Woman consists 31 5. The causes assign'd of this figuration of parts in the Woman 33 6. That all these parts denote the Inclinations which are proper to the Woman 34 7. Wherein perfect Beauty consists 36 CHAP. II. Of the Inclinations SECT 1. Of the Nature of Inclination p. 40 Art 1. The Object of the Inclination 41 2. The distinction of the Inclinations 42 3. The Seat of the Inclinations 43 4. How Inclination is to be defin'd 44 5. Whence proceeds the Disposition wherein the Inclination consists 45 6. How the motions of the Appetite are wrought 47 7. Of the Judgments of the said Faculties 48 8. That the Images which are in the memory the causes of Inclination 50 9. That the disposition facility of the Appetites motion proceeds from the same Images 52 SECT 2. What are the Causes of the Inclinations 54 Art 1. The several distinctions of the said causes ibid. 2. That the Instinct is one of the causes of the Inclinations 55 3. That the Temperament is one of the causes of the Inclinations 56 4. That the Conformation of the parts is a cause of the Inclination 58 5. How Figure acts 60 6. How Inclinations are produc'd by the remote Causes 63 7. Of the nature of Aversion 65 CHAP. III. Of the Motions of the Soul 67 SECT 1. That the Soul moves ibid. Art 1. What part of the Soul moves 68 2. That the motions of the Soul are not metaphorical ibid. 3. That the rational Soul hath a real motion as the Angels have 69 4. That the motions of the Will are real motions 70 5. That Objections made against the motions of the Soul considered 73 6. The Motions of the Appetites 75 SECT 2. How Good and Evil move the Appetite 77 Art 1. How Knowledge is wrought 79 2. That the Images are multiply'd 81 SECT 3. What are Motions of the Soul 84 SECT 4. Of the Number of the Passions 87 Art 1. What the Simple Passions and how many there are 88 2. That there are but eight Simple Passions 89 3. Why there are but eight simple Passions ibid. 4. The Definitions of the simple Passions 91 5. The Definitions of the mixt Passions 92 6. The Natural order of the Passions 94 7. That there are three Orders of the Passions 95 SECT 5. How the Passions of one Appetite are communicated to the another 98 SECT 6. What is the Seat and first Subject of the Appetite 106 Art 1. What is the Seat of the Sensitive Appetite 107 2. The Seat of the natural Appetite 111 3. How the Passions are compleated 113 CHAP. IV. Of the Motion of the Heart and Spirits in the Passions 114 Art 1. Of the Nature of the Spirits 115 2. Of the matter of the Spirits 116 3. How the Spirits are framed ibid. 4. An Objection against the precedent Doctrine answered 118 5. Why the heart moves 120 6. That the Spirits are moved for three ends 122 7. That the Spirits convey the blood into the parts 123 8. The beating of the Heart forces not the Blood into all the Parts 124 9. That the blood is not attracted by the Fibres 128 10. That the blood is not atttracted by any Magnetick vertue 130 11. That there are not any Attractive vertues 131 12. That there is not any attractive vertue in Purgative Medicines 133 13. That Grief and Heat are not attractive 134 14. That the blood is convey'd to the parts only by the Spirits 136 SECT 1. Of the animation of the Spirits 137 Art 1. Objections answered 142 2. The union between the Spirits and the Parts 143 3. How the foresaid union is consistent with the intermixture of the Spirits with the blood and humours 144 SECT 2. Why the Heart and Spirits move in the Passions 146 SECT 3. What Faculty it is that moves the Spirits 149 Art 1. Of what kind the motion of the Heart and Spirits is in the other Passions 152 SECT 4. How the Soul causes the Body to move 154 CHAP. V. Of the Vertues and Vices whereof the