or else that our practise is either more learned or more rash The spring it selfe riseth out of a clift naked and unsensed against the sea and is imbraced and often covered by the raging ocean by which it obtayneth some mixture both of substance and quality from the same which is not the least of our observations since it doth coÌ„duce much to the ill or well disposing of the matter for use the drinkers of the same have beene many and they report some of them that it tasteth harsh and like rust of iron others taste it like inke and all thinke it a miracle that by the infusion of a nutgaule it doth turnered alter the colour To be short the manner of practise is thus advised and appointed by a Physician who is thought to be learned and hee had need to bee so to make good the adventurous and confident advising such a remedie upon so small acquaintance triall which if Hippocrates may bee judge w Hip lib. de prisca medicina quandoquidem naturae cegnitio mini medico esse necessaria videtur isque omni sludio deber contendare si modo quod recte praeslare volet ut ir telligat quonam modo quis ad ca quae comeduntur et bibuntur se habent c. will appeare to bee a fault Moreover this spaw as it is named by the chief Physician thereof is resolutely determined to be from a minerall but of what mixture is yet disputable and therefore the practise ought to bee the more doubtfull especially being to be received into the body For which cause our learned countrey-man of the bath in his discourse of minerall waters Doctor Iorden although his affection to such springs perswades him of much good use that may be made of them and great benefit to man in curing diseases if they were inwardly taken yet because of his feare of some mixture with other waters which may issue into them for this cause only hee protests hee dares not advise the inward use of them yet this our spaw lies more open to such mixture then the bath and a worse mixture from the sea yet wee will not feare to drinke and advise it to be drunke by pottles at one time and in the morning cold and fasting as also in the open ayre crude and raw from the spring contrary to the practise of all that ever were rationall and this course every morning to continue for the space of thirtie or fourtie dayes and it is said to cure all distempers without any other consideration So that if we examin this spring and the practise of it wee cannot but see a direct opposition to and confutation of all the ancients But so it fares with too much confidence as the Tragedian speakes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aio nego neque ratio mibi constat ulla cur aiam aut negem And that this may appeare it is needfull that wee compare this practise and opinion with the practise of those times especially in this thing which indeed if it were but what it is by some thought to bee it were then the complement of all medicine which the learnedst Physicians never yet comprehended For although the vulgar claime power to make every weaver and apothecarie a physician without either studie or learning or authority from any universitie and thinke it a light matter to bee a x facile quidem est esse medicum sed bonum medicum esse difficillimum ne dicam impossibile Physician yet those that are so indeed never found it so easie a matter Quolibet ex ligno non fit Mercurius True it is there are some which can act the carriage of physicians as Players doe the persons of Kings and Lords and yet are none according to y Hipp. li.de leg quemadmodum enim illi quidem formam habitum personâ—m bystriones referant Hippocrates But to make good our undertakings and to shew the difference of our spaw-practise from that of old or any other that is called learned Avicen z Avicen tract 5. cap. 1. potus plurimae aquae nocet tribus modis quorum nous est quod debilitat caliditatem naturalem in nembris et lebilitat membra principalia quare accidit eis tuno debilitas virtutum quatuor naturalium membris autem instrumentalibus accidit debilitas motuum et tremor secundus modus est quod virtus sequestrative in hepate debilitatur in sequestrando omnem aquositatem a sanguine quare aut effuÌ„ditur aquositas ad partes inter mirach et sifach accidit hydropisis aquosa aut penetrat aquositas cum sanguine ad membra accidit hydropisis carnoso et virtus sequestrativa inrenibus debilitature qutaex eomictus urinae irvoluatarlus cum difficultate in ed et debilitantur renes affirmeth the drinking of waters in generall to debilitate naturall heate enervate the instrumeÌ„ts of motion deject the appetite and weaken the liver but this our spaw is said to incite appetite temper naturall heate inliven the members and rectifie the liver Hippocrates Hipp. Gallen Avicen li. citat Galen Avicen say all with one consent that the drinking of waters cold and raw unboyled unstrayned or uncorrected although otherwise they be not of minerals yet that such drinking doth enlarge the spleene and swell and harden the substance of the same but contrary to this we say our spawwater drunke in large quantities cold raw from the spring doth diminish soften and cure the swellings of the spleen and by its mineral qualitie if it were well knowne is able to performe greater cures then these to which I shall answer more fully in our following discourse when I discover the opinions of some moderne coÌ„cerning the drinking of minerall waters cold and raw a Avicen loc citat Hipp. at vero calculo maxime renian ur er renum morbis ac urinae stilliciaio Moreover the said authors affirme the drinking of water to generate waterie dropsies the stone and strangurie with other diseases in such as have imperfect and distempered reines but this our Spaw is prescribed as a speciall remedie against the same difficultie of urine the stone dropsie b Avicen tract 5. aqua bibita in iejunio debilitat stomachum facit accidere catarrhas in frigidan do cerebrum propter consensum stomachi cum cerebro propter ascensum vaporum aquosorum nocet enim in frigidando hepar et splenem preparat ad hydropisim c. Matutine or morning drinking of water saith Avicen doth debilitate the stomacke breedeth rhumes and refrigerateth the braine overmuch by consent with the ventricle as also by the ascent of waterie vapors and refrigerating the liver and spleene disposeth to the foresaid dropsies but our Spaw-water drunke early in the morning and cold cornforts the heart strengthens the stomacke and so by consent the head liver and spleene They allow the drinking of no waters either fresh salt aluminous bituminous or sulphureous to bee
ΠΕΡΙ ΥΔΡΟΠΟΣΙΑΣ OR A DISCOVRSE of WATERS Their Qualities and Effects Diaeteticall Pathologicall and Pharmacaiticall By TOBIAS WHITAKER Doctor in Physicke of Norwich LONDON Printed for Iohn Grismond at the signe of the Gunne in Ivie-Lane 1634. TO THE READER Gentle Reader AT the first view this subject may seem light simple and scarce worth the reading but whenas you have consulted with your second thoughts you cannot but confesse that our whole beeing in nature and the continuance of the same doth depend upon the right use and application of water as being so necessary in meates and drinkes as also in medicamental compositions which cannot but be a matter of very great consequence since no natural good can bee equall to life and health which is lost or injoyed by the ill disposition of water and ayre Therfore not well knowing how to offer a sacrifice more gratefull and acceptable to my Countrey and dearest friends I have indeavoured to wade throgh springs pools moats moores as also the sea which is the wombe of them all And that I may guide both my selfe and others safely over these Washes no lesse dangerous then the rocks and quick-sands of the Ocean therfore I have borrowed a light from those ancient guides which have steered the course so many hundreds of yeares without shipwracke This stile and method are answerable to my intentioÌ„ which is onely to informe strangers in our art without prejudice to the same considering that I have inabled no man any otherwise then to defend himselfe and preserve his health by the choice of a wholsome situation in respect of water which is so usefull in the whole course of his life and so dangerous if proceeding from an unwholsome earth whether used in medicament or diet For this cause I have clad my discourse in such robes as are most fashionable for the place and persons to whom it is chiefely intended and although Suum cuique pulchrum bee the common proverbe and that every mans owne childe seemes to himselfe the fairest howsoere apparelled yet in judgement whatsoever otherwise my affection is I caÌ„ admire beauty in others more lovely then my owne and will bee bold to taxe censorious spirits chiefely in such as never yet were fruitful themselves not knowing but that their owne birthes may prove as monstrous and deformed as any and also others who out of a coÌ„tentious spirit shall oppose any positive truth or indeavour to raise their owne names by the defaming others more worthy then themselves for example who is ignorant of that subtle Argenterius as also with what malignity and contentious spirit he doth oppose the solid learned doctrine of Galen notwithstanding there is a liberty of exception granted to all writers and hath beene practised by all both ancient and modern as is extant in many volumes where wee plainly see the scholer at foyles with the Master and one equall with another which were a new labour and would require another tract to make particular demonstration therfore to avoyde all strife I have chiefely laboured to shews plainely the ancient opinions practice use of this subject as it may conduce to the preser vatioÌ„ of health generation of sickenesse and recover of the same and from hence to teacl how dangerous it may be to forsake the beaten roade or path in which the ancient Worthies have safely walked so many ages losing our selus dangerously misleading others into unknowne wayes which cannot but be doubtfull how ever wee escape If therfore in thus doing I have given offence to any t is beside my intention or desire if otherwise I have not then I have the reward of my time and labour which might have been more negligently spent yet had I desired to shew my selfe rather then make good the just requests of my speciall friends then J would have chosen another part which I suppose might have beene better acted but lest the Gates should exceede the Citie I take my leave Tobias Whitaker Doctor in Physicke ΠΕΡΙ ΥΔΡΟΠΟΣΙΑΣ HIppocrates a Lib. de aere locis aquis sect 3. Qui artem meadicam recta investigatione consequi volet is primum quidem anni tempora in coÌ„siderationeÌ„ debet adhibere quid horuÌ„ quidque possit neque enim quicquaÌ„ habent simile sed cum inter se plurimum differunt tum etiam propter varias quae in eis contingunt mutationes advises earnestly those which will apply themselves to Artes in the first place that they diligently observe the times seasons of the yere with their alteration and change as also the faculties of waters b Gal. l. de aere loc aq cap. 1. Neque vero negligentiorem se circa aquaruÌ„ facultates cognosceÌ„das exhibere coÌ„venit queÌ„admodum enim gustu differunt et pondere sic quoque virtute aliae ab aliss longe dissentire videntur conducing much to the Diagnosticke Prognostick and Curative part of Medicine as appeareth plainly in the foresaid Book and in his Booke c l. De ulcer sect 6. ulceribus plerisquè calidum anni tempus magis quam hyems conducit praeterquam ijs quaesunt in capite aequinoctium De Vlcer Since therefore there is such necessitie as also such power in these to preserve health and maintaine a natural body as also in generating diseases of â—arious formes to â—he perdition and â—uine of the best Constitution and Temper it behoâ—eth a Physician especially specially to studie the nature and difference of them and all others to take notice and stricktly observe them so farre as in their nature they are good or bad for common use for by this meane they shall be ablâ— to prevent a danger which other wise were inevitable for commonly all diseases and distempers are conveyed to us in our prinoiples of generation or conservation to both which do chiefely concur the elemeÌ„ts both by way of existence and consistence and in both respects are Causes either of harmony or dispord in mixt bodies and are Physically divided into foure that is to say materiall formall efficient and finall medically into two and they are per consensum medicorum divided generally into externall and internall But because external causes are prime more universall therefore wee will chiefely explicat the nature and condition of them so farre as they tend to our purpose External causes are such as come from without and of these we coÌ„stitute three orders divine caelestiall and subluharie But wee passe by the two former and to atoyde digression wee will bound our selves within the limits of the later and amongst sublunary causes wee will principally discourse of d Hipp. sect 3. fol. 66. demceps vero de aquis nobis commemoranduÌ„ est quae mor bosae quae saluberrimae existant Waters and consider them not only philosophically as elementary but also medically as they are corrupt or incorrupt e Plurimum enim momentiad sanitatem consert as a weighty matter in
renum saith waters of this nature that are ill savouring hinder the penetration descent of meat and by reason of their impuritie beget viscous phlegme or melancholy multiply Diseases of the spleene in such manner that those which drink them often either by coaction or otherwise are subjected to the haemorroids dropsie by the imbecilitie and defect of the liver obtained by the ill qualitie of these waters as also in voluntary mixtion by the ill disposition of the reines other waters there are of moores standing pooles and lakes and these are said to smell especially in the summer u Gal. lib. de aere aq cap. 3. quaecunque igitur palustres sunt stabiles ac lacustres eas necesse est aestate esse calidas ac crassas olentes cum enim non defluant sed aqua pluvia semper nova inferatur et sol urat necesse est ipsas decolores esse pravas vitiosas which doth necessarily come to passe for want of perflueÌ„ce for they are not as springs fitted of themselves as they are emptied but such as are augmented w th new showers of raine exhaled again by the power of the sun insomuch that necessarily they are grosse discolored unpleasant corrupt in winter begetting corrupt phlegme by their congealed disposition and in summer time vicious and cholerick by adustion in winter they are cold crude and soon converted or transmutated into ice and mixt with mud and snow are not much unlike the dead sea or some Stygian lake but however they are very unwholsom troublesome to the venâ—ricle and such as â—â—oth viciate and â—orrupt the whole â—ody poyson the â—â—asse and destroy â—he best temper after what manâ—er Hippocrates x Hip. li. de aere loc aq sect 3. bibentibus autem lienes semper magnos esse compressos ventres vero duros tenues ac calidos humeros vero iugula faciem extenuari in lienem enim carnes coliquescunt ideoque graciles sunt â—heweth The â—rinkers saith he of such waters are alwayes or conâ—inually affected with large spleens hard thin and hot bellies shoulders throat face extenuat the flesh resolved into spleen and the whole body wasted consumed they are also ravenous and very thirsty because of the siccity and drinesse both of the upper and lower venters Adde also to these dropsies and for the most part such as are lethall besides many difficulties of the bowels and fluxes of the belly long quartane fevers which by protraction of time terminate in dropsies both particular and universally of the whole body by which they perish And these diseases which are generated of such corrupt water happen in the summer But those of the winter such as fall upon young bodies are inflammations of the lungs madnes to those that are more ancient burning fevers by reason of the hardnesse of their bellies y Hip. mulieribus verò tumores proveniunt pituita alba vix concipiunt cum difficultate foetus magnos tumidos pariunt quique postea dum educantur contabescunt deteriores evadunt neque bona post partum â—ulieribus purgatio contingit women shall labour with phlegmatick swellings it shall bee difficult for them to conceive child and if they prove pregnant their births shal be large great brought forth with difficultie and in short time perish neither after child-birth doe they purge according to the custome of women To children that drinke these waters chiefly happeÌ„ ruptures and to men warts and ulcers of the anckles of such a malignant condition as that they doe kill them in short time and in the meane while do wither them make them seeme old or aged before their time Moreover such women seeme to themselves to bee with child and when the time of delivery commeth the tumor vanisheth and they are altogether deceived and their expectations frustrated To conclude these and such like are the common and ordinary effects of such waters which are of moors standing pooles and the like through which wee have speedily waded find them good for nothing but the nourishing of venemous creatures especially raw therefore to bee shunned according to the caveat of Galen * Gal. de sanit tuend li. 1. cap. 11. covendae vero sunt quae ex stagnis hauriuntur et quae turbide quae malae olentes quae salsae denique in quibus qualit as aliqua gustu deprehenditur Now let us examine pierce the rocks z Hipp. ac hujusmodi aqua ad quidvis paratus esse censeo secundo loco eas quarum fontes in saxosis locis sunt quas duras esse necesse est aut si vbi calidae aquae existunt aut serrum nascitur aut as aut argentum aut aurum aut sulphur aut al umen aut bitumen aut nitrum haec enim omnia caloris vi proveniunt mines and taste what liquor springs from them usefull and safe or morbificall These waters that spring from rocks and clifts are generally esteemed crude hard that is such as passe not easily through the body but are turbulent to the strongest nature * Hip sect 3 But those hot waters which spring from minerals of gold silver brasse iron sulphur alume bitumen the like al these spring from the violeÌ„ce of heat insomuch as some philosophers have thought these to be the shewers of fire brimstone that destroyed Sodom and were thrown up by the force of some Earth-quake out of some Aetna But however they are such as beget straÌ„ge diseases in humane bodies a Hipp. neque igitur ex hujusmodi terra bonae aquae nascuntur sed durae aestuosae quaeque per urinas non facile feruntur alvi egestioni adversantur and no good waters can spring from earth of this nature for they are fervently hot and dry they passe not easily by urine and are averse from nature in common egestion But because we shall have occasion to explicate them more particularly in our following discourse therefore we will forsake the shore and launch into the Ocean where we chiefly observe the qualitie of sea water to bee salt and not to bee drunke but absolutely prohibited b Hip sect 3 salsae vero et indomitae durae in totum quidem ut bibantur inprobandae to bee received into the body for which cause I will hasten out lest Neptune inraged should force mee to drinke whether I will or not at festina lente let me before I take my leave acquaint you with the will of my Master Hippocrates c Hip. sect 3 at vero de aquis salsis propter imperitiam falluntur quidam quodque alvum solvere existimentur cum maxime alvi dâ—sectioni repugneÌ„t in domitae enim sunt et coquinequeunt proindeque ah eis venter potius adstriâ—gitur who would have it knowne that for want of skill
in our facultie either Greeks or Arabians or learned moderns some respect they give them and chiefely in externall use by the way of baths lotions and the like and yet not ordinarily so to bee used but with a great deale of caution as will appeare hereafter both in respect of tempers and distempers of the bodies to which they are applyed In so much as Hippocrates or Galen tooke little notice of them which doth imply the little regard they had of them or their use in medicine either for preservation or restauration for which cause we will travell amongst the Arabians to the end that wee may search out the nature and use of them more directly and principally take our view from that learned Avicen of such minerall springs as are before nominated And because Chymists constitute sulphur as one of the tria principia in minerals therefore wee will in the first place discover the nocuments of such waters As for their differences they are as many as the minerals from whence they spring and with which they are mixed but in generall all of them are accounted hurtfull and dangerous externally or internally applyed without speciall indication and preparation without which they are very obnoxious after what manner I am now to shew The nocuments of minerall waters by potation or drinking and especially springing from sulphur are these they m Avicen tract 5 Istae quidem aqua adurunt humores eos putrefaciunt quare sequuntur in principio febres chotericae postea in fiae febris melancholicae propter adastionem sanguinis ex ets factum 〈◊〉 et melācholicus quidem humor qui ex hujus modi aquis generatur est humor melancholicus malus qui nominatur cholera nigra c. scortch and putrifie the humors beget cholericke feavers which alter are changed into melancholicke by reason of adustion of the blood this melancholicke humor thus generated is called adust choler and is the worst of all melancholy Moreover the effects that come of drinking such waters are inflammations of the eyes jaundies hot rhumes difficultie in pissing consumption of the whole body n Avicen nocumentum istarum aquarum est stipricare et constringere naturam exasperare pectus vocem causare difficultatem urinae stringere vias cibi et causare corporis maciem Aluminous waters are astringent generally and they exasperate the breast cause a difficultie of urine and wasting of the body o nocumentum istarum est compositum ex nocumento aquae aluminosae et nocumento aquae sulphureae c Vitriall waters are compounded of alume and sulphur and therefore the effects are answerable to both in respect of stiptication exasperation as also in adustion and putrefaction of humors p nocumentum istius aquae est simite nocumento sulphureae Al springs from silver should seem cordial according to the vaine apprehension of the vulgar Neverthelesse by the same authority they make up the number of morbifical causes and the speciall nocuments are to ulcerate the bowels and the generall are answerable to those of sulphur So also are those waters which q nocumentum istius aquae est si mile etiam nocumento aquae sulphureae verum est majoris nocumenti quam illud c. spring from green brasse saving that the nocuments are greater then of sulphur violently opening the orifice of the veines by which doth happen pissing and spitting of blood and bloody fluxes all being exceeding dangerous and these are the qualities of them effects inwardly taken either as meate or medicine Now let us consider their nocuments externally applyed as by way of bathing and the like Bathing in salt waters is somewhat allowed by Avicen where he affirmeth it to bee good to cure the itch and scabs and r Hip. sect 3. sunt tamen naturae quaedam et morbi quibus tales aquae potu sunt commodae Hippocrates although in generall hee protesteth against them and doth absolutely prohibit their use internally yet saith hee the nature of some disease may require such a remedy by which is to bee understood some extraordinary occasion and after a most speciall manner to bee used And so also may other compositions of minerals be used yet Avicen conceiveth it to bee somewhat doubtfull and however the remedie to be worse then the disease for saith he s Avieen tract 4. aqua salsa in balneo confert scabiei et pruritui verum caresacit cutem postea condensat et quum non fuerit pruritus tunc ipsa facit accidere pruritum although it bee profitable for the curing of itch and scabs so it is apt to generate the same in those that are cleare and sound by reason of condensation and rarification of the skin besides it withereth the body hurts the eyes disturbes the senses and causeth catharrs rhumes so as if it be well considered the remedy is more obnoxious then the disease t aqua aluminosa condensat cutem et constringit ipsam Bathing in aluminous waters condenseth constringeth the skin causeth ephemeral fevers cramps and convulsions especially in cleane bodies u aqua sulphurea neptica corrumpit complexionem cut is corporis et praeparat ipsam ad putredinem et facit accidere catarrhas Baths of sulphurious and bituminous waters spoile the complection of the body and dispose it to putrifaction and rhumes and if they continue in such a bath long it doth threaten a dropsie but a jandice doth more frequently follow The minerall waters of iron are thought to be least hurtfull of all other minerals and yet of little use amongst the ancients for medicament or otherwise Thus I have waded through fountaines pools motes moores rivers and as farre into the sea as I dare or as is needfull and have shewed both generally and particularly their difference use and effects by which description every man may know how to distinguish for use those that are wholesome from those which are unwholesome and morbificall as also how and after what manner they hurt being taken into the body alimentally or medicamentally without speciall correction as also by their outward application and all this confirmed by the doctrine decrees of the most learned and ancient doctors and parents of medicine Now it remaineth that I acquaint the world with a new minerall spring unheard of before and lately practised amongst us in our owne County of Norfolke and although it be yet unknown to soūd and learned Physicians yet it is very adventurously and most dangerously practised against both reason and all authority For in my opinion it will appeare to bee a flat confutation of all both ancient and moderne as it is used and advised the manner wherof I intend to set downe and compare it with the former grounds as also with those which are more recent by which it will appeare either that minerall waters differ this yeare from those of old
wholesome c Gal. de sanit tuen lib. 6 cap. 9. Si tamen ipsis utendum quae utâ—que dulces sunt quod utile etiam aliqui ex ipsis p oveniat id vero nen perinde tuto dixeris and although I incline somewhat to an exact correction yet Avicen maketh question whether minerall waters will admit of any or not d Avicen rectificatio istarum aquarum si possibile est but they were ignorant of the vertue of our Spaw for this is to be drunk without any preparation as if abundans cautela were hereticall in this our nimble age Notwithstanding they were not ignorant of them as will appeare by Galen e Gal. loc citato satius autem sit ejusmodi equas experientia disceraere quando etiam rarae inventu sunt when as hee renders a reason of his dislike which is the uncertainty of their mixture and such saith hee as cannot not be discovered or found out otherwise then by experience and experience is dangerous f Hipp. aph 1. experientia periculosa saith Hippocrates the reason is taken from the dignitie of the subject which is the body of man upon which such experiments are tried And for this cause Galen was feareful of their use although wee may grant something to be profitable in them as there is in every creature in respect of their qualities so they be rightly prepared and applyed yet saith he g Gal. loc.citato Id vero non perinde tuto dixeris let no man say they are safe or the practise of them not that the ancients were so ignorant of their qualities h Gal. loc.citato Calidarum autem quae sponte ascuntur noxius his usat est siqui dem quae sulphurosae bituminosaeve sunt â—ae propterca quod 〈◊〉 aciunt inimicissimae calida naturaliter capiti sunt as some modern Chymist pretend neither doe I conceive any great difficultie to prove their nova medicina to be but as a new cape set upon an old cloak as also that minerals were as substantially discovered and distinguished one from an other in respect of name nature and mixture as also first and second qualities as they have beene by any Chymist Although I am not ignorant of Paracelsus Arnoldus Lullius Crollius Agric Libavius which by way of explication and laborious operation have made it somewhat more cleare in speculation and practise And yet all is but a dilatation or enlargement of an old foundation of the ancients and no absolute new edifice of their owne as some of them pretend But however because this practise of drinking minerall waters in our couÌ„trey I suppose is chiefely incouraged by and grounded upon our own learned countreyman of the Bath Doxtor lorden who is not unknowne to any Physician therefore it will not be amisse to transcribe his opinion concerning the use of minerall waters and whether the drinking of them may bee allowed after the manner of our minerall Spaw that is to be taken into the body cold and raw For although hee were much devoted to the use of them yet he adviseth the externall use only in bathing when as he saith we find many of these to be venemous and deadly as proceeding from Arsenicke Sandaracha Cadinia and the like therefore we had need bee very warie in the inward use of them therefore Neptunes well in Taracina was found to be so deadly as that for this cause it was stopped up by Montpellier at Perant is a well which kils all the fowles that drinke of it the lake Avernus kils all the fowles that fly over it so doe the vapours arising from Carons den betweene Naples and Puteolum so there are divers waters in Savoy and Rhetia which breed swellings in the throat others proceeding from Gipsum doe strangle But where we find waters to proceed from wholesome minerals and such as are convenient proper for our intents and upon good search and long experience found to bee so there we may bee bold to use thâ—â—â— both 〈…〉 doe not imagine them to bee such absolute remedies as that they are of themselves able to cure diseases without either rule for the use of them or without other helpe adjoyning to them Moreover the said Doctor doth confesse that although the mixture of the Bath in Somersetshiere in his owne opinion bee the most absolute and wholsome of all others he conceiveth as wholesome as any to bee taken into the body yet saith hee the jealosie I have of their alien mixture with other vvaters adjoyning doth deterre mee from the counselling their invvard use and the practise of them any other wayes then by bathing But if any adventure to drinke of such minerall streames he desireth them to be drunke hot by any meanes both for the better penetration and lesse offence to the stomacke then when they are taken crude cold producing for proofe the ancient custome of the Grecians Romans which drank most of their wine and water hot and not cold raw from the spring according to the practise of our Spaw in Norfolke Thus it appeares that neither ancieÌ„t nor modern do much affect the practise of drinking any water except upon such strict and warie termes and circumstances as rarely or never will concurre But however the drinking of the water cold is absolutely prohibited as contrary to reason and antiquity so that it must appeare that the ground of this our practise and the use of this our minerall spring is precipitious dangerous as hath bin plainely proved both out of the ancients also many learned modernes yet such is the vanity of our age as that i Audax omnia perpeti Gens humana ruit per vetitum nefas Horat. Nitimur in votitum semper cu pimusque negata prohibition is the greatest spurre to praecipitation and doth hurrie us into mischiefes forbidden as also cause us Narcissus like to dote upon our own supposed perfection transcending if wee may be our owne judges our reverend and learned fathers as if wee were not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nay 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as hee vaunts himselfe in the Poet k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Homer Tydides melier patie Horat. upon which confidence in our own strength wee are ready to blemish them with dotage thinking those learned fathers of medicine too old and not wise enough to teach us when wise men know we are too young to sound their depthes without their owne lines For when wee have done all our best even then we are compelled to acknowledge the truth of that everlasting sentence of Hippocrates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that our lives are too short to measure the extent of art and for this cause I thinke my selfe bound to admire that those which I cannot comprehend according to his judgement in Plutarch upon a book of Heraclitus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And although I had rather be wise alone