and couragious to know and practize vertuous operations Of Bread. NOw let vs particularlie declare the seueral kindes of meate and drink and first let vs begin with bread whiche as Nouius affirmeth is called in latine Panis a Pascendo of feedinge The best Breade is made of fine wheate flower cleane boulted from all branne and other baggage which grew on holesome groūd sufficiētly leauened moderately seasoned with Salte well moulded and throughlie baked but not burned in the ouen Auenzoar would that bread shoulde be eatē the same day that it is made whē it is colde which then as he thinketh greatlie conserueth health and after it be a day olde he saieth it should not be eaten because it hath lost his tymperatenes of complexion and the more it is hardened the heauier is it to be concocted Auicen his opinion is that bread ought not to be eaten before it haue stoode one night and as for hoate bread he vtterlie discommēdeth it saying that it ought to be eschewed because it is not as he there affirmeth receptible of nature and also by reason of his warmenes causeth thirste and by reason of his vaporous moysture swymmeth in the Stomacke and is longe ere it passe and descend into the entrailes It doth also send an vnnaturall heate into the stomacke or ventricle whereby it is checked maistered and damnified Therefore hoate bread must be eschewed and also in sommer when it is aboue two dayes olde and in winter after three daies age it ought to be forborne And we must be very circumspect in the fanning and making cleane of such graine and séedes as wée shall afterward eate For of this let vs be well assured that although we do not presentlie féele the dailie harme that by little and little encreaseth vnperceaued of vs for a while because of the smalenes thereof yet notwithstandinge in continuance of time it bringeth much inconueniences and disquietnes And at length bursteth out to our great paine Hauing spoken of bread which Homer termeth the pithe and marow of man and the sacred Scriptures affirme to corborate mans hart and nature let vs now likewise make the like discourse of wine which of the same Authour is called the Strength of man and in holie writte is sayed to cheere vp the minde and make the hart mery Of VVine WYne hath great vertue and sundrie singuler effectes come by drinking thereof as not onelie Aristotle Galen but other phisicions of later daies haue noted and namelie the absolute and learned man Andrew Matheolus Senensis out of whose worke I do not excerpe and alledge any thing least I should vainely séeme to make a Commentarie out of Commentaries and like a vaine glorious person séeke to trimme vp my self with other birdes feathers speacially sith his Bokes are to all persons and in all places to be had And brieflie to declare my opinion I say that wine moderately dronken clarifieth the Spirit maketh it lustie and lightsome and of competent substance it nourisheth and comforteth it and greatlie refresheth the minde wherfore not without good reason it is endued with great power and singuler vertue to letifie and conserue nature But being immoderatelie dronken and ingluuiouslie swilled as now adaies many vse to do it is most hurtfull and the special cause of many gréeuous diseases For it endamageth and hurteth the braine and all the sinewes senses and doth too much humect and moysture the whole bodie Therfore it must be temperately dronken and good regarde had that it be of the best kinde growinge in the best soyle here I will reken vp some kinds of the best for all I neither can declare neyther will the breuitie of this small compendie permitte That wine is best whiche is neither to olde nor to new but meane betwéen bothe well fined and cleare reddish or of a citron couler pleasant in tast and of a swéete smell of suche relish I say as in tast séemeth neither to be very tarte and sharpe nor yet very doulcet swéet For thynges sharpe and pontique yea and swéete also do quickly cause obstructions the one because they bynde the other because they passe into the veines and members vnconcocted of which sort swéete wine is one of the chiefest In so muche that Auerrois althoughe he be a man not of the greatest aucthoritie in phisicke affirmeth wine to be drawen of the Liuer vndigested euen assoone as it is dronken But the drinkinge of white wine being subtile and cleare and speciallie in sommer time as it doth vnto other famous and expert doctours in phisicke so also vnto me doth it seeme verie good and commendable For this is it that Galen the prince of phisicions by actuall trial and experiment yea Auerrois saieth the same also affirmeth that he found in diuerse places of Italie wherin was to be found neither sowernes ponticitie stipticitie bitternes nor Swéetenes which also engendred no inflacions and fumosities and this wine onelie is without all such daungers and inconueniences as commonlie happen chaunce after the drinkinge of other wines or of water And therfore this wine is moste agréeable and fitte for stronge and mature age or the age of consistencie and for hoate complexions and namelye in Sommer for many causes but chieflie because it causeth no headache but rather driueth it and taketh it awaye if it come throughe heate of the stomacke Néere vnto it in goodnes is an other wine which in the olde time was named Ablutum and in Italie speciallie in Lumbardie it is commonlye termed by the name of Auicen his wine And in this maner is it made Take three partes of Muste and one parte of water boyle thē together till the fowerth part be wasted Other some vse when the Grapes be trodèn and the iuyce wringed out to put water to it in proporciō according to the strength and power of the wine and thē after a fewe dayes to put it in vesselles But when the season of the yere is somwhat colde or when the temperature of the bodie by reson of age or otherwise is faint and weake Claret and Citron couloured wine if no impediment and cause to the contrarie is best and to be preferred before any other Whiche if it be endued with any fumositie the same may be qualefied and alayed with water least it stuffe the head and cause thirst Yet may it not be to much alayed and made thinne for then doth it debilitate and weaken the stomacke causing many fumosities in the same but beyng moderately alayed and tempered it is muche praysed of Galen because it qualefieth humours exciteth and stirreth vp naturall heate and without harme pearceth the membres Certes euery one of these kinds of wine are greatly avayleable to them that therwith be acquainted and accustonied For it strengthneth vertue expelleth Choler and Melancholy by prouokynge of vrine quickly ripeth the good iuice and humours wherewith the body is humected and maketh the ill
the vse of reason transforme him from that state and ordre that is accordinge to nature For moderate mirthe helpeth muche to accomplishe all the offices and functions of the minde speciallie to furder and make excellent concoction as contrariwise heauines and sorrowe is the greatest hinderaunce and obstacle to let it Beware therefore in any wise of heauines or desparation for a heauie and sorrowfull spirite saieth Solomon drieth vp the bones and géeue thy selfe to honest mirthe and Christianlike ioye For as Auicen sayeth The often vse of mirthe disposeth a man to be mery and thereof come twoo no smale commodities One is that naturall vertue is corroborated and strengthened and continual regeneration of the spirites is caused and verye small or rather no dissolution of them at al ensueth The other is that the same spirits thereby are dilated and consequently lyfe prolonged Moreouer it is expedient temperately to recreate the senses as for example the sight with viewinge and beholding faire shewes and beautifull things the hearing with harmonicall and melodious Musicke the smellinge with soote sauours and fragaraunt odours such as in somer the smell of Rose water is I do not say Roses themselues or violettes because throughe their moystnes they stuffe and fill the head with vapours and fumosities But in winter with the smell of Lignum Aloes whiche comforteth and cheereth vp the Hart Braine Entrailes and all the senses of Man wōderfullye But beware of too hoate and sharpe sauours for they send vapours to the braine The tastinge with a meane relice and tast as that which is confectionate of Sugar and the Iuyce of Pomegranades or Quinces thickened by decoction or som other of like temperature being not harmefull neither excéeding in the excesse of any qualitie Of Venery or the Acte of Generation THe delectation and pleasure that cometh by touchinge muste be well measured by mediocritie for if it excéede and be vsed intemperatlie it resolueth the spirites and naturall heate aboue measure and dryeth vp the radicall moysture whereby naturall heate is preserued and nourished and so daungerous diseases I will not saye death happeneth vnto man sooner then otherwise by nature they would Therfore sithens in the act of Generacion there is so great resolution of the spirites excesse thereof specially of them that be Studients and leane of bodie is to be eschewed Albeit as hath ben before often shewed great regarde and accompte muste be made of custom We must saieth Hippocrates goe from one thinge to another by litle and litle and not change vpon a sodaine Therfore Galen and before hs daies Aristotle in his Problemes affirmeth that sodaine alteracions and changes are verie noysome to nature and concludeth how that the Tiranne Dionisius being expulsed and driuen out of his Kingdome fell into a gréeuous maladie and disease by forbearing his former lasciuiousnes and wanton order because contrari to his custome which he had before vsed he sodainelie gaue himselfe to continencie and of a monstrous whoremonger became a verye chaste liuer Therefore let vs conclude with Galen that the vse of carnall copulation doth litle or no harme so that so muche space and time in the vse thereof be adhibited that neyther any resolution of the spirites be felt and also that a man may thereby after a sorte séeme to be lighter then he was before and to fetche his breath the better and with more facilitie But this I will further aduouche which both reason and experience prooueth to be true that it is much better to vse it seldome then often because among many other harmes and daungers which much Coiture and carnalitie bringeth this is not the lest that it weakeneth the heart debilitateth the braine and dryeth vp all the bodie because it wasteth the substance of the last alimēt For Sperm or Séede of generation is as Aristotle sayeth the last substance of profitable aliment And also as we haue before declared because through the great pleasure that is in it the spirits and naturall heate are to muche resolued and the stomacke principallie endamaged as contrarywise by conuenient continencie and oportune forbearing therof it is cherished and preserued It was not without good cause that Auicen thought if neuer so litle Sperme or Seede ouer and aboue the measure and stinte of nature do passe from a man in doing this acte of generation it harmeth him more then if he should bléede fortie tymes so muche For the Sperme is a thing more conforme to natural heate and moysture and more spiritual then bloude is Moreouer carnall apetite is a deadlie enemie to dry complexions likewise to colde but vnhurtfull beinge moderately vsed onely to them that are hoate and moyste and whiche haue naturally great aboundance of Sperme Galen sayeth that the state of those bodies is worst which haue abundaunce of hoate Séede because it doth prorite and tickle them to expell it sithens both the mouth of their ventres is resolued and all their bodie is not onely relaxed and made weak but also they be drye slender pale and holow eyed vnto whome he in that same place prescribeth store of remedies But if a man woulde abstaine from very hoate meats and wyndie and muche drinkynge of headie wyne and refrayne venerous imaginations and suche like pleasures he shall not lightly be muche assailed and tempted with desire of any carnall appetite Likewise if he ernestly addicte himselfe to the studie of Morall Philosophie and of the sacred Scriptures banishinge Idlenes and forbearinge the companye so farre as he conuenientlye maye of beawtifull damselles and amorous women Or if a man vse the Séede of Agnos Castus which is also called Viter he shall sée and féele a merueilous effecte to represse his fleshlie concupiscence If thy loynes be to hoate annointe them with the Oyle of Henbane or Popie and do likewise to thy Genitories and do not vse to lye in a softe feather bedde Some there be whiche coole there Priuities in colde water and finde thereby a present remedie They that drinke the iuyce of water Lillie called of the Apothecaries Nenuphar the space of xij dayes together shall haue no maner of desire to carnalitie And therefore it is good for wiuelesse Bachelers and husbandlesse maydens to drinke to driue away theire vncleane dreaminge of venerie and the filthy pollutions that they haue by night But in fine bidde daintie fare a dieu and vse not to pamper thy selfe with muche gurmandize but onely so muche as nature requireth to kéepe thy bodye in perfecte health and soundnes For there is an olde Prouerbe and a true sayinge From frequent Venus muche cheere and sleepe Eche Studient ought himselfe to keepe I remember that I haue read in sainct Chrisostome that our Sauiour Christe when he dwelled héere amonge vs on earth vsed to eate and drinke so litle and so seldome that he encresed not this superfluous Seed But as in this poinct so in many other
binde and restrain the stomacke but after meates they mollefie the bealie and cloase or drawe the stomacke together which is not to be merueyled at cōsideringe that the mouth of the stomacke by a certaine astrictiue power which is in them is shutte together and the nourishement or meate before eaten forciblie protruded and thruste forward as we sée by experience in a bottle or in a bladder when we wring hard and thrust out of them being full the licour In the noumber of fruictes also Seruice bearies Cornell bearies and Medlars are of all others most constrictiue and may be very well vsed as medicine but not as meate because they increase no commendable bloude but bynde the bealie to muche and bringe muche harm to the head and the whole bodie Of Apples those that are swéete sayeth Aegineta haue more power to heate then others and are more easely digested speciallye if they be rosted or boyled Sower apples do coole more and cutte a sunder the congeled humoures in the stomacke The harrishe and roughe tasted apples do confirme the stomacke that is weake by distemperaunce of heate or muche moysture and suppresse the bealy but yet Quinces for that purpose more then any others But in goodnes those apples excell all others that are called Regia poma which are not altogether so colde and are thought to be very holesom and comfortatiue to the harte because they repell and driue away al fuligiuous moyste vapours which trouble the harte strike vp into the head Finallie when the head is distempered throughe drinking muche wyne they haue bene found right commodious to alaye and redresse the inconueniences thereof but they be thought to be hurtefull to the Sinewes and to hebetate or dull the memorie speciallie if they be of nature sower For they be colde ynough and by the slynesse of there substaunce pearce and are conueighed euen into the very innermoste partes But swéete apples whiche are kept til the next winter are farre better For beinge then through tract and continuance of time come to a full ripenes and perfecte maturitie are thereby also made more holesome and apt to be digested and are not so soone corrupted beinge orderly vsed For them that haue weake stomackes they be excellent good beinge rosted in the ashes or trimmelie sodden in water when they be eaten Peares also in like maner being kept they be mellow and fully rype haue the same vertu but they géeue more plentifull nourishement to the eaters and are more pleasant to the stomacke As for Pome Citrons Limons Orenges and Adam Apples sith they rather serue for medicine then for meate I will here say nothing they that be disposed to know the historie and operations of them may at large sée them most learnedly and truely described and set forth by Mattheolus in his commentaries vpon Dioscorides Oliues although Auicen reckeneth them among those fruictes that hurt the stomacke and Eyesight yet in another place he affirmeth that they beinge conduict in salte licour or Pickle do stirre vp appetite corroborate and comfort the stomacke and loseth the bealie speciallie if they be eaten with vineigre And Capers beinge in like sorte vsed are right commendable for the same purposes Chestnuttes because they are of heauie concoction and engendre grosse crude humours albeit not verye ill and cause windynes very greatly I iudge fitter to be left to them that vse labour and much exercise Notwithstanding they coole and drye and somewhat binde but beinge boyled they nourish well and loose much of their windines specially if they be sodden with the séedes of Anyse or fenell or suche like Hasill nuttes are hoate and drye in the first degrée they cause headache inflate the stomack if they be much eatē they be hardly digested they degrauate the tōgue hinder the speach albeit being new they are somwhat more friēdlie to the stomack for they bring lesse harm therunto although they engender grosse humours Beinge eaten with figges they are the better to be borne withall because they are sooner conueighed from the stomacke downe into the mawe and thence expelled But to eats them aloane or often speciallie out of winter is not so holesome Filberdes because they be astrictiue and restraine Reumes and Catarres might be thought to be profitable to the stomacke but for all that they are very ill and hard to be digested by reasō of the thicke substaunce that is in them and consequentlie because they binde the bealie the more But Auicen commendeth them because they are good for all Lieuers by reason of the small heate wherwith they be endued For they are hoate and drye in the firste degrée and therefore they do no hurte so a Lieuer that is hoat and vnto it that is colde they do muche good Also they are aperitiue and open oppilations and obstructions and make good iuyce in the bodie but they inflate and engender windinesse in the bottome of the bealie and cause headache with augmentacion of the braine They are slowe of digestion and prouoke vomite and the ryndes of them bynde the bealie and therfore they are but seldome and not of al men to be eatē And if thou happen at anye time to eate of them to driue away the coughe and to helpe spettle for they do easely cause spittinge and heale an inueterate cough it is best firste to drawe out and extract the iuyce out of the substance of them for by that means they are made lighter of digestion the subtiler substance being taken out of the grosser left behinde And if a little Anyse or Cinamome be stamped and put vnto them all their inflation and windines is taken awaye And both of them as well the filberd as the hasill nutte eaten with figges are preseruatiue against all small poisons as Auenzoar and since his daies Auicen haue written Swéete Almonds are almoste equall in heate with these aforesaide sauinge that they somewhat decline to moysture vnlesse they be vinewed and restie for then they are drye The nourishement which they géeue although it be smal yet it is good Also they extenuate and cleanse with out any binding they do open and comfort the passages and vesselles of the vrine and take awaye all obstructions speciallye of the Splene and Lieuer and they be very soueraigne and good for them that haue any diseases in their Breastes or Kidneis or haue any inflamation of the Lunges But because they cause Sléepe and tary longe in the stomacke for they be harde of digestion if they be eaten alone they send vp fumes and vapours into the head and trouble it with the Murre and Reume And therefore I woulde wishe that the iuyce shoulde be taken out of thē whiche is called the milke of Almonds and this is the best way to eate them beinge made in little dishes rather then to eate the whole harde Almondes speciallie in Autumne For by this meanes it will easely descend and
that to be dronk once in euerie month is holsome and healthfull to the bodie yet we because it may do more harm then good and specially in them that haue weake and feeble braines are and euer were of a contrarye minde and opinion Wyne I cannot denye is most congruent and agréeable to naturall heate but euen as too muche Oyle quencheth the light of a Lampe so doth excessiue bibbinge of wyne oppresse and suffocate naturall heate In so muche that manye haue ben brought to their longe home by thys superfluous bollinge and beastlie swilling of muche wyne Now if perchaunce thou passe beyonde the limittes of sobrietie and excéede natures measure eyther in meate or drinke the former erroure and faulte of excesse muste be recompenced with spare féedinge and as it were almost with abstinence followinge For after repletion abstinence ought to be vsed as the propre remedie to redresse the same and if at diner thou do ouercharge nature let thy supper be verye little or none at all and vse longer sléepe then at other times thou art accustomed and thē some exquisite exercise But the beste way of all is to desist and leaue eatinge and drinkinge while yet thy stomacke woulde serue to eate and drinke more For thy hungrye luste yet remaininge will within one hower passe awaye And that kinde of eating sayeth Auicen is worste that maketh the stomack heauie and that drinkinge is most vituperable which passeth the boundes of temperaunce and swimmeth in the the stomacke Therefore that the meate maye be the better concocted and the more conuenientlye distributed into all the partes of the body let drinke be vsed by a little and a litle at once Of Emptines EVen as to muche repletion and gurmandize is most hurtefull and pernicious so is to muche hunger and abstinence most noyfull and dangerous For excesse and defect that is to saye superfluitie and wante or to muche and too litle engender and cause as the phisicions affirme manye maladies and diseases But here to enter into a disputacion whether of these is worse neither place nor time will permitte because our purpose is to wryte a compendious Dietary for health and not phisicall quiddities Therefore in any wise refraine to much abstinence because it bringeth great annoyance to the whole bodie and chieflie to the stomacke which is the seruant and officiall minister to the whole bodie The whole bodie is thereby harmed because by to muche abstinence and hunger his moysture is withdrawen and diminished consequentlie it is debilitated and made leane and naturall heate is to muche incended insomuche that not findinge humour to worke on it tourneth his violence and power to the radicall and substantiall humour and exhaustinge that moysture bringeth the bodie into a consumption The stomacke is thereby annoyed because beside the common discomoditie and hurt done to the whole bodie it is also replete with rotten and putrefied humours Therefore at conuenient and ordinarie howers and when appetite well serueth whiche may be knowen by the alacritie or lustines of the bodie and when the Stomack is not ouer laden with heauines and pōderisitie of other meate and after a conuenable space of certaine howers betwéene meale and meale it is beste to eate The Arabians appoincted xvi howers betwéene meale and meale For they thought it best to eate no oftener but thrise in xlviii howers or two daies But I suppose that ten howers are sufficient for Studientes and them that be not altogether of hoate temperatures espectallie for them that vse neither to infarce themselues with repletion nor yet to eate meates of harde digestion Some others very wel appoincte eight houres to be betwéene meales But this by the way may not be omitted that euery one muste be wayned and reduced to suche and so manye meales as their custome and education hath ben vsed vnto vnles their custome hath ben verye ill and discōmendable and as their naturall appetite serueth them If thy busines be such that thou muste watche muche of the night or if thou haue a weake braine or a heauines and swimminge in thy head or if thy stomacke and power digestiue be weake and féeble it is best to take but a light supper but other wise let thy dinner be lesse in quantitie then thy supper if custome will so permitte whiche in an olde man cannot be altered but in a younge man by litle and litle if it be ill must be reduced to better order For a large supper is by the ayde of sléepe muche better digested for sléepe comforteth naturall heate whiche is occupied about the matter wherof procéedeth nourishement and so digestion is made better the bodie fatter the minde quieter and the humours temperater And in the night the Ayre is cooler and darker whereby the spirittes beinge gathered and collected vnto the inner partes and without the cares functions of the mind and sences are verye conducible to helpe digestion And also there is longer time betwéene supper and the nexte meale on the morrowe after then is betweene dyner and supper Notwithstanding Custome as is afore shewed may not be forgotten Finally at supper it is best to eat dry meates and therfore rosted meates are very commendable and best then to be lyked to cutte a sunder and driue away superfluous humoures but in the morninge or daye time boyled meates are better Of Purgation by siege or other wise IT is expedient and healthfull also for a man euerye daye to purge his bodie exonerate nature by cōueniēt euacuation and tempestiuious Sieges or stooles for these excrementes of ordure and vrine are matter superfluous and vnsauerie which by the natural powers may not be conuerted into fleshe but remaininge in the body corrupt the members and therefore nature abhorringe them desireth to haue them expelled For as the noble Arrabian Auenzoar sayeth All Phisicions do agrée that in the bealie being not costiue but measurably soluble and softe resteth muche of the health and soundnes of all the whole bodye by benefit wherof it is preserued from manye diseases and namely the Pleuresie But if the bealie be sore bounde and costiue Raisons being throughly rype eaten in winter or at anyother time of the yere with Sugar will helpe that inconuenience They be as before we haue declared great fréendes to the stomacke and Lieuer There be also other fruictes but not in all poinctes so holesome as these which are good to be eaten in sommer and Autumne of whom we haue sufficientlye spoken before as Mulberies Plummes Damsons Mellons Pompons Fygges and rype Grapes Which beinge eaten before meate haue vertue and power to mollifie and loose the bealie And there be other fruictes which being taken after meate are stipticke as Peares Quinces Medlers and such like Also Béetes eaten before meat are very good speciallie in the Springe season at which time hearbes haue their most strength vertue and validitie Olde auncient wryters haue highlie extolled Mallowes whose
therefore that liue of them selues freely and are not enthralled or mancipated to the inconueniences abouesaide we haue compiled this treatise how and in what sorte they may liue a long life in prosperous health and welfare Furthermore that which in euerie kinde is simple and faultlesse ought alwaies to be preferred before all others And in bodies that same is called simple and faultelesse which is in a very good plight likinge but in the trade of life that is to be accompted best which is free and not in subiection For it behooueth that such a one as would liue longe and neuer be attached with any Sicknes should be exempt and frée from all turmoiling troubles and publique affaires in the Common wealth liuinge onely to himselfe cherishinge his body and tendringe his health For there is no meanes to make that immortall which naturally was begotten created mortall but to make the same to be of longe life and continuance may be done and brought to passe Galene saieth that if he which hath his bodye in good likinge and temperature doe not intermeddle with the laborious cares of worldly busines but geeue himselfe onely to quietnesse and tender regarde of his owne health shall not at all as farre as is possible be arrested and vexed with any maladie neither be preuented with death vntill he haue liued a merueilous long age But who is he not onely among vs Christians but euen among Paymms and Epicures so blockishe and insensate to thinke that he is borne only for himselfe and for his osone priuate commoditie without hauing any respect or regarde at all either of matter or person in the societie of humaine life vnto such as these if any suche be we doo not addresse these our preceptes but vnto those which at such times as they haue cōuenient leisure to surceasse from their charges and offices accordinge as theire callinge and vocation is doo measurably and for healthes sake tender their bodies to thintent they may be the better able to continue about their néedefull and vrgent businesse and not to addicte themselues to voluptuousnes and bellychere as though they beleeued there were non other life but only this fraile and transitorie life and therfore securely to wallow in their disordered and lasciuious appetites tendryng and cockeryng their wanton Carkases for whose toothe and appetite Galen hath fully written their desired diet in his sixe Bookes De tuend Sanitate Where he doth so copiously and so exquisitely depaynt out the Arte that I suppose a man shall vnethe finde any amonge a great many of Princes Potentates who liue fréely without checke at their owne pleasure and ease that doth obserue all his precepts in those bookes mencioned That whiche here wée write shall bée good and auayleable in maner to all Ages Childehoode and extreame Oldeage excepted wherin my counsayle is to all men that what euery man shall finde and by experience prooue best to agrée with his nature the same to vse as neare as he may Of Exercise and Labour BEcause a greate part of Healthinesse consisteth in a conuenient and oportune exercise of the Body as Auicen and before him Hippocrates and Galen affyrme néedefull it is to haue a diligent eye and consideration therevnto It is commended for many speciall causes but namely because it beeyng duely and seasonablie vsed will not suffre the substance of ouermuch meate engendrynge Surphet to clotter and cōgele within the body and also maketh the whole bodye light nymble and actiue Furthermore it kéepeth and merueilously stirreth vp naturall heate restoreth the powers of the whole body and strengthneth all the vertues therof Small and weake heate it encreaseth and dayly dissolueth the superfluities by litle litle gathered within the body and conuaieth the same to such places from whence they be conueniently sent out and expelled It also maketh the membres a greate deale the apter to receyue nourishment because the filth and excrementall matter of the bodie is thereby scattered and auoyded Moreouer it openeth the cunduites of the body the courses or passages wherin the bloud hauyng therto the conuenient ministerie of the naturall powers apoynted for that office is easely receyued and conuerted into the substance of the member whiche continual nourishment is most necessarie vnto mans life For without this vertue present death ensueth This gayne and commoditie is also gotten by exercise that by expellyng superfluous humours it excuseth a man from the vsuall receipt of Purgations and Medicines For wée must be very circumspect and take greate héede as Plato saith in Timaeo that we mooue not the body with medicines and specially Electuaries soluble if wée may otherwise choose because although they doo purge yet doo they inueterate And although there be no poyson in them as in deede in the most of them there is yet are they very paynefull to be taken inwardly because their office is contrarie to nature For they draw away from the membres those humours which the powers of nature doo draw to the same for a nourishment and also because beside the ill humours whiche they draw out they doo for the most part also draw out those whiche be good and the vitall spirites whiche maintayne and comforte life It is not therefore without good cause that the learned wyse Doctours of this Arte haue written so muche and so diligently of Exercise that men therby might shunne and auoyde many sortes of diseases whiche els woulde assault the body by reason of sundry surphets and gurmandise For the substance remayninge after digestion and distribucion of the meate and drynke whiche Nature beynge ouercharged is not able to concocte and euacuate beynge eftsoones encreased by eatyng and fillynge gorge vpon gorge must néedes engendre diseases In this case to auoyde and eschew the recept of purging medicines which serue either to recure the body beynge thereby sicke or els to preserue it from beyng sicke Exercise is a thynge most cōmodious as the causes of maladies doo beginne so dayly hereby to expel the same These noble writers therefore were of this mynde that if the residue of theyr preceptes whiche hereafter shal also by vs bee recited were obserued and kept bodyly health might very well in this consistent Age be conserued yea and not in this age onely but also in the Age whiche goeth before and the Age whiche commeth after a verie few pointes beyng thereto either added or els altered As for any particuler Regiment for old age we do not in this place namelie pursue because beside Galene it is also at large described set out by diuerse other learned Phisicions and namely in a seuerall booke penned and published by that famous and excellent Grayehead Antonius Fumanellus of Verona Thou shalt therefore Gentle Reader with al thy deuoyre and diligence so vse thy selfe that thou mayest passe ouer and lead this flourishing time of thine age by thine owne wisedome and our holesome counsaile in health and welfare
And herein I do firste géeue the to vnderstand that it is best and holsomest to vse meates that be simple For simple meate by good reason is most profitable but many and sundry dishes and diuers sortes of Viande and Cates is most hurtfull and a great enemie to health Our predecessors whiche liued very long without Sicknes were wont as Galen Auicen affirme to eate at one meale fleshe and at another bread onely Yet would I not wishe thée to accustome thyself to one onely meate specially if thou be in youth for Galen expounding one of the Aphorismes of Hippocrates saieth Such thinges as we haue long times beene vsed vnto yea although they be not of the best nourishing meates are not so daungerous and hurtfull as other thinges are which in deede be far better wherunto we haue not be accustomed We must therefore saieth he now and then altre our diet and vse to eate suche meates as before we vsed not Neither ought we to bind ourselues to any one kinde least if we should perchaunce be driuen at any time to change that custome we should straightwaies therupon fall sicke And Cornelius Celsus counsaileth suche as be in health to vse their ordinarie fare and plaine vsuall diet But to eschue forbeare much varietie of meates is vndoubtedly bothe better and wholesomer because the stomacke is to muche set a woorke and laboureth greatly in the digestyng concoctyng of sundrie meates at once It is thought good and so it is in déede to mingle moyst with drie colde with hoat and hoat with colde swéete and toothe some with sower and eigre But those meates whiche be in the meane or mediocritie of all excesse are most commendable Of whiche sorte is Breade made of cleane corne sufficiently leauened well moulded and moderately baked also the flesh of Hennes and Capons Phesants Partriches Woodcockes yonge Pigeons Blackbirdes Thrushes Turtles and suche like small byrdes Semblably suche fishes as bréede amonge Rockes and stones or aboute the Sea side and suche as in taste are neither vnpleasant and vnsauerie nor yet clammy and vnctuous of whom heareafter we will particulerly speake Notwithstandynge meates must be vsed accordyng to the diuersitie that is in bodies for they that haue very melancholique bloud muste vse moyste and hoate meates they that be Cholerique must vse colde and moist But phlegmatique persons must eate such meates as haue vertue to drie and calefie Furthermore the bloud is made most perfit and pure by vsing moderate exercise and suche meates as engendre good iuice beyng eaten at due and seasonable howers and in such quantitie as is required and by moderate and tempestiuious drinkyng And in meates nothyng so wel encreaseth and maketh good bloud as for them to be throughly concocted and perfitly boiled in the stomake For thereby is more easely finished the second concoction whiche is in the veines and Liuer and also admitteth the thyrde digestion which is in the particuler membres and partes which be nourisshed A due ordre therefore is to be kepte in meates as for example that whiche is slippery and moyst before that whiche is stipticke and harde agayne that whiche is more easely concocted before that which is of slow digestion as potched Egges before fleshe and suche like Likewise suche as are of theyr owne nature soone corrupted as Mylke and moyst fruites as wee shall hereafter more largely declare For when meate of easie digestion is eaten after that whiche is slowly concocted it is holden backe and stopped by the meate of slow digestion before taken that it cannot passe into the entrayles therfore the meate of easie digestion beyng perfitly concocted remayneth and is forcibly kept in the stomacke longer then it ought to be whereby it is made very apt to corruption whiche to health is very hurtfull and a great hindrance But there be some meates betwéene whem there is but small difference of digestion as between a henne and a sucking Calfe a Chicken and a Kidde the flesh of a big olde Calfe and a younge Bullocke or Steere in such respectes as these where the difference is so small it skilleth not greatly if they whiche be somwhat hard to digest be eaten before other of sōwhat lighter digestion This vnlesse I be much deecaued was the opion of Galen and not without good consideracion For heauie meates and such as be of slow digestion require a stronger and greater power digestiue And all men without exception doo confesse and know that the lower part of the Stomacke or Maw in the act of concoction is stronger then the vpper and middle parte is Therefore meates of easie digestion ought to be taken before those which doo differ so farre from them in easinesse of concoction as the power of the lowest parte of the ventricle differeth from the first and middle which difference ought to be referred to the discretion and iudgement of the skilfull Phisicion Thus may the flesh of a Bullocke be eaten before the flesh of a bigge calfe and the flesh of a suckinge kid or yonge tender calfe after veale of a calf of bigger growthe thus also may yonge Pigeons Hennes and Capons be well eaten before Partriches and Chickens Neither néedeth a man to feare least thei should be corrupted in his stomacke because they are not easely corruptible and also because there séemeth to be such proporcion of digestion in a maner betwéen these meates for facilitie or difficultie of concoction as is betwéen the vpper and the lowest part of the ventricle and therfore they may at one and the same time be concocted in the stomack because meates of hard digestion are sent to the lower and stronger parte and they of lighter digestion to the weaker And also this must not be omitted that we must altogether abstaine from crude and rawe meates and take beede that al our Cates be cleanlie dressed well seasoned and throughlie boyled or els rosted But in any wise we must beware that we do not infarce pamper our selues with to muche and that we do not irrit◠our Stomack and prouoke an appetite with fine Iunkets and delicious Sauees For meate excessiuelie ingurgitate and eaten althoughe it be of good iuyce and nourishemtnt commonly engendreth and breedeth cruditie laskes and vomit Againe lesse then necessitie and nature requireth is the cause why the bodie is not nourished but weakened and enfeebled and made vnhable to do his busines as it did befeore because the bodie is emptie and not able to distribute sufficient and conuenable nourishement to the spirite For euen as Repletion hindereth nourishment and rebuketh nature and the poore Animall so all maner of abstinence causeth vomites hurteth the ventricle resolueth the powers of the bodie and encreaseth ill humours And euen as an ill diet bringeth heauines and drowsie lumpishenes to the bodie and a dulnes to the wit and senses so a conuenient and orderlie diet quickeneth the spirites and reuiueth the minde making it more actiue
it is soone conuertible into Choler The thicke and curdie Milke whiche first commeth into the Dugges incontinently after the Cowe hath calued commonly called Biestings is very daungerous for it is slow of digestion and descendeth slowlye from the stomacke and is also grosse of substance causing grosse humours and consequently is thought to engender the stone Fresh and new Cheese sayth Dioscorides is beneficiall to the stomacke but Auicen doubteth therof But I thinke that in hoate seasons and aboute the beginnynge of Autumne it may without daunger be eaten But being olde and yet not rotten nor hard with age conueniently salted I iudge better to be eaten in colde seasons and at the latter ende of meales yet herein as in all other things Nature and Custome is of greate force and muche to be considered For there are some whiche do abhorre Chéese and cannot in any wise brooke it as some others do lothe Wyne and so forthe of others Auicen sayth that such indiuiduall proprieties as these are without the cōpasse of reason and that experience and triall herein is aboue reason The thinnest part of the mylke called whaye beinge vsed by way of medicine rather thē for meate and speciallye in Maye wyth Sugar is very good to scower clense and purefie the bloude and also to quenche choler and purge melancholie without any paine or greeuance For it washeth the breast prouoketh vrine maketh cleane the bladder and without any pain or excoriation draweth out ill humours and as Auicen sayeth rectifieth nourishment and openeth the partes of the bodie that are with obstructions stopped All which vertues and operatious make Auicen to thinke that it maketh men fat Into it may be put a conuenient quantitie of Roses or Sene accordinge as the pacient shal be opplete with humoures the space of a night with a little Anyse séede or Cinamome to make it woorke more strongelie But then were it good that the humours shoulde be concoct and prepared For the approued wise Hippocrates commaundeth vs to minister Phisicke to those thinges that be concoct and to mooue the vncrude Finally all those meates are discommended that are compounded and made of Milke Egges and Chéese or suche other like thinges For although they be all of easie digestiō being seuerally taken yet beyng mingled together they are hardly concocted muche endamage the stomack For sundrie meates of diuers substance and qualitie is a great enemie to health and by reason of the grossenes of some and the finenesse of other some there is required to be diuerse operations of nature and diuerse temperatures of the stomacke for it is greatly busied in the decoction of them all And because some tarie longer in the stomacke then some other doth it causeth fumes and vapours to ascende and strike vp into the head whereby health is much appayred Of Fishe FYshes for the moste parte are not holesome or they are of smale and illnourishement and leaue manye sufluities in the body and also are easlie corrupted And therefore Auicen counsaileth vs not to eate them after vehement and stronge exercise because they will soone be turned into corruption and do also corrupt the humours And in an other place which is also auouched by Galen he sayeth that fishe beinge new and fresh engendreth phlegme and mollifieth the ventricle and is not to be eaten but of them which haue very hoate stomackes because they be verye colde and moyste Beynge salted they are hoate and drye and therfore for them that be phlegmaticke it is better to eate them salted and in winter or at the beginninge of spring but for cholerique persons and in hoate seasons they are best when they be new and moyste but the surest and best way is altogether to abstaine from them The Gréeke poet Homer for his manifolde knoweledge in al faculties worthie to be called the perelesse Phenix of learninge most learnedly bringeth in that Vlisses when he had trauailed longe vpon the Seas and all his victualles were spent was by necessitie enforced and driuen to fishe Meaninge therby that so longe as we may liue without fishe we shoulde refraine it But for asmuche as euerie man may not alwayes eate egges nor fleshe nor at all seasons without any respect and difference and also appetite many times beareth swaye aboue reason Therefore I will declare describe such fishes as are lest hurtfull And first this is to be knowen that those fishes are best which be neither verye harde and drye neyther yet full of stimie and clammie toughnes nether opplete with much fattinesse for all fatte is ill but of fishes the fattenesse is worse then anye other neyther of ill sauoure and relice but pleasant swéete and toothsome in taste and which will not soone stinke after they be taken out of the water It is further also to be noted that of those which are soft and tender the greatest are best but of hard fishe take the smalest For that which among moyst thinges is found drye must be taken as moderate as that is whiche amonge drye thinges is founde moyste Yet let a conuenient measure aswell in the bignesse as in the smalenesse be obserued Also the fishes that liue about cleare Rockes and in stony places are as Galen sayeth better then any other And it is not without good cause that suche fishes be preferred and winne the commendaciō from others For they exercise and mooue themselues muche and often and lye in suche places where they are often tossed and beaten with the continuall surges and waues of the tempestuous Sea and neuer are embroyned with anye filth or diertie slimishnes Those fishes also are greatly commended that come swymminge out of the Sea into Riuers sith they come agaynst the streame and the farther of that they be from the Sea the holesomer and better they are Next vnto them are those that liue in sandie places and those that breede in cleare and freshe runninge water that is without much mudde Furthermore those fishes that féede vpon swéete herbes rootes and wéedes aboute the banke sides are better then those that liue by mudde and slime amonge which ill sorte are those fishes that are called Mugles or Lompes which are not holesome although they séeme to haue a pleasant taste and sauoure Therefore al such fishes as liue in filthye puddles fennes marshes dyches and standinge waters whiche mooue not are to be eschewed This generall warninge now premised briefly and namelye let vs touche suche sortes of fyshes as are best and most sufferable supposed to be of good nourishement and of lightest concoction Good and holesome is the Gilthead called Aurata and of the Gréeques Chrysophris because it hath in his forehead a thinge congelate which in the water shineth like golde as in the olde ones it is to be séene they géeue muche nourishement and therefore are difficultie digested So is the Rochet and Seapearches But Riuer pearches whiche are like in maner to the
Christ hath but very few Imitatours and folowers wheras notwithstandinge there be many whiche haue still this saying in there mouthes how that euery action of Christe is our instruction But let vs draw towarde an ende of our purpose When nature is desirous of carnall coniunction and is neither prouoked therevnto by imagination and thought nor any other outwarde cause but with multitude and abundance of Sperme it must be vsed in a fit and conuenient time And that is when the meat is throughlie concocted and yet no hunger nor desire to eate approcheth that Sleepe or rest immediatlie after it may take away the lasitude gotten and caused through the action there of or at the least mitigate and lenifie the same But if we should erre in either parte it were much better as Galene sayth to offend being replete and armed with a full Stomack then when it is emptie and pynched with ouermuch defect and want of foode For it is better that is to say it doth lesse harme to vse when the bodie is warme and calefied then when it is cold and infrigidate and full infarced rather then when it is emptie and when it is humected rather then when it is drye But he the same Galene taught before that measure and temperatenesse therein ought to be chosen and obserued that the bodie neither should be too hoate nor too cold too moyst nor too drie too much replete nor to much emptied Neither do I heere allow the Law and ordinance of Solon whereby the enacted that a man shoulde carnally know his wyfe at least thrise in a moneth For often vse thereof to many men is harmefull yea to some once is to muche Againe this acte is not a thinge necessarie to conserue the partie that vseth it but onely to repaire and encrease the Spece or kinde whiche otherwise in short time woulde decaye Therfore let Solon beinge an heathen Eathnique take his lawe to himselfe Studientes many tymes are troubled with a phlegmaticke humour descending from their heades into their stomackes being of them selues colde whiche inconuenience may easely be remedied if they take in the morning a dragme or twaine of the confection named Diatrion Piperion Or else they may drinke Pepper alone specially that whiche is white beinge brayed and put into water or let them take betime in the morning a litle Ginger condite or else a Chebule condite which is a kinde of mirobolanes Of Ayre Holsome and vnholsome AYre althoughe we describe it last in order and what qualitie therof is best for bodily health yet is it a principall poinct and no lesse to be regarded then the other preceding For néedes must it inspiâ—â—â—â—d breath into vs continuallye that the heart and lunges may therby be competentlye and conuenablie cooled This among all other is so néedefull and necessarie vnto man that he is vneth able to liue one moment of an houre vnlesse new fresh Ayre comming in and out coole and refrigerate his hart Therfore vnto all men without any exception it is hole some and expedient to drawe into lunges the best that is to wit the purest Ayre For corrupte and vnpure Ayre is vnto all age a great backefriende and enemie Now the diuersitie of Ayres procedinge of heate colde drought or moystnes accordeth not to euerie mans nature alike For vnto those bodies that are of the best temperature the most temperate Ayre is holesomest But in whom anye excellinge qualitie beareth domination vnto such that Ayre is moste holesome whiche in like degrée resisteth and oppugneth that qualitie For temperature is altered with contrarious diete and order and is conserued with his like Thou shalt therefore as farreforth as may be 〈…〉 thy selfe to liue neither in a troubled and contagions ayre nor in that which is very cold or too hoate or too moyst or whiche is open to vaporous blastes and pestilent windes such as blowe out of the South In winter it is best to liue in a warme and open Sunnye place lyinge open to the Cast but we must alwayes tourne our heads from the Rayes and Beames of the Sunne speciallye about noone because beside calefaction and heate whiche they bring to the head they do also draw vnto it humours and matters wherfore manye times they cause headache and bléedinge at the nose But the Rayes or Beames of the Moone are a great deale more to be eschewed and taken héede vnto that they shine not vpon vs speciallye when we sléepe for they cause ill diseases For asmuche as the Moone is Ladie of moysture and mooueth humours Also the night aire is not holesome because the Sunne géeuer of life is gone out of our Hemisphere In winter if the Ayre be troubled and darke which as Auicen saieth maketh the soule sorrowful it must in part if it may not in all be qualified and by some artificiall meanes bettered Whiche is done either by remaining in a house or in some couert place shrowded from the sturdie stormes of dismall Boreas certaine houres of the daye and also by purifinge the Ayre with a good fyer in our Chamber made with good woodde or else by makinge in it a perfume with Iuniper or Lignum Aloes In Somer it is best to dwell in suche a temperate place that the windowes of our house may open towarde the North or if we will we may sprincle our ChaÌ„ber with Rose water and vineigre specially when the Ayre is corrupt with anye stinkinge fauour or anye other fulsome exhalacion Auicen praiseth the Aire of Mountaines and Downes for the Somer time and thinketh it best for a man in the night to lye in the vpper parte or Garettes of his house but in the daye time he sayeth the lower roomes are fittest and holesomest Aristotle choose him a dwellinge place that stoode highe and laye open with prospectes towarde the South and the East in a subtile Ayre neither moyst nor colde Plato found verye olde and aged persons dwelinge in high and temperate regions And this is to be noted and knowen that the Ayre in highe places which by repercussion and reflection of the Sunne Beames are not warmed be cold and the higher the place is the colder is the Ayre Therfore the middle loftes of the house are fittest for winter and the highest for Somer You muste also beware that when yow be hoate yow stand not longe in the winde or colde Ayre because euerye sodaine alteration and chaunge hurteth nature very muche and colde stoppinge the pores and passages of the humours hindereth conuenient refrigeration and difflation of vapours and also is a great Enemie to naturall heate but chieflie to the brain and sinewes To be shorte the sentence and opinion of Hippocrates is alwayes to be sette before our eyes whose woords I haue here recited For he sayeth that to euacuate muche and sodainelie or to be filled with repletion to warme to coole or by anye other meanes to mooue the bodie more then naturall course tolerateth