Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	body_n	heat_n	natural_a	1,732	5	6.1463	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

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

Original Humidity in which Life chiesly consists is wasted together with the inbred heat For whilest the Humidity or Moisture wasteth the heat founded therein doth equally abate and the moisture being spent the heat is joyntly extinguished as we see it comes to pass in Lamps After this manner do most of them die who have observed an exact Rule of diet unless perchance they die by means of outward violence For having prevented evil Humors by their good diet there is no inward cause in them whereby their Temper should be violently overthrown nor their Natural Heat oppressed And therefore it will needs follow that they must live till the Original Moisture together with the Heat that is founded thereupon be so consumed as it is not sufficient to retain the soul any longer in the body And in the like manner would a mans death be if God should withdraw his conservation of the Natural Heat although the Radical Humor should remain or on the other side if the Radical Humor should by divine operation be in an instant consumed 41. The Fifth Commodity of a sober Diet is That it makes the body Lightsome Agil Fresh and Expedite to all the motions appertaining thereunto For Heaviness Oppression of Nature and Dulness proceed from the abundance of Humors which do stop up the way of the spirits and cloy the joynts and fill them too full of moisture so that the excess of Humors being taken away by means of Diet the cause of that Heaviness Sloth and Dulness is taken away and the passages of the spirits are made free And moreover by means of the self-same Diet it comes to pass that the Concoction is perfect and so good blood is bred out of which abundance of pure spirits are made in which all the vigor and agility of the body mainly consisteth CHAP. VIII That it maintains the Senses in their integrity and vigor 42. WE have found Five Commodities which Sobriety brings to the Body Let us now see the Benefits which it affords to the Mind and they may likewise be well reduced to Five The First is That it ministreth soundness and vigor to the outward Senses For the Sense of Seeing is chiefly deaded in old men by reason that the Optick Nerves are cloyed with superfluous humors and vapors whereby it comes to pass that the Animal spirits which serve to the sight are either darkned or not afforded in such abundance as is needful for quick and clear discerning of things This impediment is taken away or much diminished by the Sobriety of meat and drink and by abstinence from those things which replenish the head with fumes such as are all fat things and especially Butter if it be taken in a good quantity strong wines and thick beer or such as are compounded with those herbs that fly up into the Head 43. The Sense of Hearing is likewise hindered by the flux of crude and superfluous humors out of the Brain into the Organ of hearing or into the Nerve that serves unto it for by this means it comes to pass that a man grows deaf or thick of hearing in that part where this flux of humors is Now this flux is very easily prevented and driven away by the Sobriety of diet And as it may be taken away by help of Physick after it hath befallen a man in case it be not let go on too long so as it take root so likewise it may be taken away by means of Diet especially if together therewith some Topical Medicines to be used 44. The Sense of Tasting is chiefly marred by ill humors that infect the Organ thereof As if cholerick tart or salt humors possess the tongue and throat whether it be that they come out of the Head or out of the Stomach whose inward tunicle is continued with these Organs all things will relish bitter tart and salt This indisposition is taken away by good Diet by means whereof it is further brought about that the most ordinary meats yea and dry bread it self do better taste and relish a sober man and yield him greater pleasure than the greatest dainties that can be do to those who are given to Gluttony For the evil juices that did infect the stomach and the Organ of the Taste and which bred a loathing and offence being removed and cleared the Appetite returneth of it self and the pure relish and natural delight in meats is felt In like manner good Diet conserveth the Senses of Smelling and Touching 45. Nevertheless I grant that by long age the vigor of the Senses and especially of the Eyes and Ears is much abated and almost extinct in regard that the Temper of the Organs as also of the other parts is by little and little dissolved the Radical Humor and the Native Heat being by degrees consumed and dried up whereupon the Temper becomes more dry than is proportionable to the operations of the Senses and all the passages and pores are stopped up with cold Phlegm which is most of all other things contrary to the functions of the mind For as old men by the inward temper of their bodies grow dry and cold in excess so likewise they become full of moisture by reason of excrementitial humors so that old Age is nothing else but a cold drie temper proceeding from the consumption of the Radical Humor and the Native Heat to which there must needs be conjoyned great store of cold Phlegm dispersed through the whole body CHAP. IX That it mitigates the Passions and Affections 46. THe Second Commodity which a sober Diet brings to the Soul of a man is That it doth very much abate and diminish the Affections and Passions and especially those of Anger and Melancholy taking away from them their excess and inordinate violence The self-same it works upon those Affections which are conservant about the taste and touch of delectable things so that in this regard it ought to be highly prized For it is in truth a shameful thing not to be able to master Choler to be subject to Melancholy and to sower cares of the Phansie to be enthralled to Gluttony and Slave to the Belly to be hurried on with violence to eating and drinking and poured out as it were to the exercise of lust and concupiscence Nor is it only shameful and contrary to Vertue to be thus disposed but also very prejudicial in regard of Health and full of opprobry in respect of good men But Sobriety with much ease remedies all these mischiefs partly subtracting and partly correcting the Humors of the body which are the causes of them For that the Humors are the causes of such Passions is both a received ground amongst all Physicians and Philosophers and manifest by experience 47. Inasmuch as we see those who are full of Cholerick Humors to be very Angry and Rash and those who abound with Melancholy to be alwaies troubled with griefs and fears And if these Humors be set on fire in

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

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