ought to be eaten in the Morning and the smaller quantity and such as is easiest of Concoction in the Afternoon viz. Milk-Pottage Milk and Flour Milk as it comes from the Cow after 't is cold eaten with Bread Water-Gruels c. Now the Reason of this is because in the Morning the Spirits thro' Rest are restored fresh and brisk and the Sun is not come to the Meridian but by that time it arrives there the Food is pretty well digested for you must note that when the Sun comes to the Meridian it doth more or less exhale or cause some Evaporations of the natural Spirits especially in hot Seasons and therefore Nature is then more indisposed dull and heavy than at other times Also the fore-part of the day hath spent the Spirits by Labour Exercise c. For this cause most People do find themselves dull and heavy after Dinner There is nothing that does more help Concoction than the cool refreshing Influences of the Air for it strengthens the natural Heat and makes it more central for which cause People in cold Weather have greater and stronger Appetites and more Spirits than in hot and therefore are able to endure more Action so likewise such as are bred in cold Countries are harder stronger and for the most part longer liv'd than those that inhabit in over-hot Regions for Heat dries up the thin spirituous Vapours and Radical Moisture in the Body and causes the internal Heat and Moisture which should serve for the help of Concoction to spread it self into all the external parts of the Body for all outward Heat does by simile draw forth the internal heat and causes the pure Spirits to evaporate For this very Reason mens desires are much after Drink in hot Seasons and on the contrary for Food in cold thus likewise the heat of Beds where most People wrap themselves up very warm takes away the Appetite for let a man go to Bed some-what hungry yet after he has slept his Stomach shall seem dull and his desire of eating gone till his motion for a while in the Air does recal it and the same quantity of Food eaten for a Supper which proves burdensom to him that goes to Bed shall be most pleasant and lightsom to one that sits up all night so great is the power of Air and Motion Therefore all hot soft Feather Beds with thick Coverings which most People use themselves to with Curtains drawn c. so that their Chambers are in the next degree to Bagneo's or Hot-Houses are very inconvenient for they weaken the Back and Joynts destroy the Appetite and render the whole Body so delicate and tender that every little Inconveniency is felt and such People can scarce endure the fresh Air to blow upon them without some prejudice to their Health which doth increase stoppages and all Windy Diseases but on the contrary open fresh Airs Rooms that have large Windows and fair Prospects and the Bed open hard and clean so that the refreshing Influences of the Air may pass freely will strengthen the whole Body beget and increase Appetite and make the spirits powerful whereby Nature does avoid many Inconveniences and Diseases CHAP. XIII Of Windy Diseases the Reason thereof in Nature and why English People especially Women are so much troubled therewith Also an Account of the Inconveniency of eating and drinking between Meals THE Generation of Windy Diseases in the Body arise from many Causes but chiefly from Three viz. 1. From eating and drinking of too great quantities of various sorts of gross fat Food and strong Drinks of disagreeing Natures which stretch the Vessels of the Stomach beyond what is natural and generate evil Juices of a sower keen quality and sharp griping Nature for it is not purely Wind or an airy quality that doth so gripe and pain the Body and send up such Fumes and Vapours into the Head for if it were so Nature would find some way to discharge it which perhaps might make a noise but not be so painful But this windy substance is mixed with a sharp sower thin poysonous matter that runs out of one place into another and causeth griping pains and all this chiefly proceeds from Repletion and too much Nourishment and uncocted matter For when Meats and Drinks are taken that are either ill prepared or too much in quantity or of a contrary quality to the Constitution then the natural Heat of the Stomach and digestive Faculty cannot concoct such Foods nor make any perfect separation nor cast out those evil Juices and Venoms which all sorts of such Food doth contain but especially Flesh and fat strong Meats which are apt to lodge in Vessels and cause Pains and Swellings for what part or Member soever of the Body is by any Accident made weak these evil Humours will flow unto and seize that part in an especial manner thus If the Brain be weak it causeth a violent Head-Ach to continue for several days together with a dizziness but if the more central parts as the Breast and Passages be impotent then you shall find all the Faculties of the Stomach debilitated and its rententive Property so impaired that it cannot retain the Food whence proceeds loathings and vomitings but on the contrary if the Centre be well fortified with a powerful natural Heat then the Stomach easily flings them off and they disperse themselves into the Members and more external parts which causeth swellings and grievous pains in the Hips Legs and Arms or where-else it happens often shifting from one part to another which some call the Windy Gout a Disease tho' very painful yet not so dangerous as when it lies and centers it self near the Heart and vital Parts for when they lodge about the Stomach such People are not well either full or fasting for after eating this Humour doth so sower the Food that it makes the Stomach sick and subject to sower belchings and the whole body to swell and sickish Qualms to arise And this enticeth many to take a dram of Brandy or other strong spirituous Drink to help Concoction which seems to give some ease for the present but in a little time the same Inconveniency will return and then again away they run to their Doctor Brandy-Bottle and thus come to accustom themselves to such strong fiery Liquors whereby they yet more and more weaken the Stomach and cause the before-mentioned Windy Diseases to encrease so that in a little time they shall not be able to eat any Food without a Dram after it nay it will come to that at last that they will not be able to digest their Food either with it or without it the Liquor will make such a Prey of Nature causing the Head never to be free from dulling Fumes and Vapours Now these Diseases are very rarely cured by any of the Medicines that are appropriated to them because most People do more or less continue the same Disorders which were the first cause thereof For no
Paraphrase on the Apostle Peter's Vision Arise Peter kill and eat p. 273. The true Rise and Ground of Nobility as to Birth and Blood p. 284 c Who are truly Noble and Honourable p. 288. Why Flesh and Blood is so much desired p. 291 c. A short Comment on Gen. 4. concerning Cain and Abel p. 301 c. The cause of Wars p. 311. Of Abraham's eating flesh with the Angels p. 315. Concerning the Resurrection p. 328. The grand Objection answered viz. If all People should live on Herbs c. what should we do with the Beasts They would over-run us c. p. 331. Chap. XV. The Voice of the Dumb or the Complaints of the Creatures expostulating with Man touching the cruel Usages they suffer from him very naturally expressed in a pleasant and useful Allegory p. 367. Chap. XVI A Treatise of most sorts of English Herbs either Physical or fit for common use shewing 1st the apt times to gather them Astrologically when the Planet that governs them is strong and well aspected the same being here calculated for Nineteen Years 2dly How to preserve and keep them without losing their Virtues And 3dly The best way of using them in Posset-Drinks Decoctions and Cordials so as not to destroy the pure spirituous parts of them p. 382 c. The Ignorance Blindness and Deceitfulness of the Doctors made manifest p. 396. A Copy of a learned Doctors confused Latin Bill to an Apothecary and some Observations thereon p. 404. The most natural and proper way of making of Cordials with any kind of Herbs Seeds Flowers Spices and Drugs either simple or compound p. 411. The proper and natural way of making Physical Decoctions Posset-Drinks c. with Herbs Seeds and Drugs p. 414. How Men came first to know the Virtues of several Herbs p. 417. Who were the great Masters of Physick which our modern Doctors make the foundation of their skill and the Reasons why their Rules ought not to be ours p. 421. Chap. XVII Of Bugs and from what Matter and Aliment they do proceed and how to prevent their Generation Of the excellency of clean sweet Beds and perniciousness of old stinking Feather-beds Also several Receipts how to kill Bugs and Fleas p. 434. Chap. XVIII A short Discourse of the Pain in the Teeth shewing from what cause it does chiefly proceed and how to prevent it p. 447. Chap. XIX Of Marriage and the Inconveniences of unequal Matches p. 452. Chap. XX. How to cure Wounds Cuts Pricks of Thorns and other Accidents without Salves Oyntments or Plaisters Also if any part of the Body or Flesh be poysoned it is a certain Remedy p. 474. Chap. XXI Of Harmony and the Power thereof the several sorts of Musical Instruments and under what Planet and Sign each of them is p. 479. A Dialogue between an East-Indian-Brackmanny or Heathen Philosopher and a French Gentleman concerning the present Affiairs in Europe p. 1. THE INTRODUCTION To the Whole TREATISE CHAPTER I. A Description of the four Grand Qualities whence the four Complexions proceed How every Man may know his own Complexion KNOW THY SELF was one of the first Precepts which the Ancients dictated to the Students of Wisdom nor is there a greater Happiness attainable upon Earth than to have in a Sound Body a Sound Mind To direct my Fellow-Mortals towards this great Point of Felicity is the Scope and Intendment of our Pains in this Book The Foundation-Principle of Wisdom being to understand Nature which is the Art of God and thereby our own Frame Powers Faculties and Constitution so as to imbrace what is good wholsom and agreeable and to eschew all that is evil and harmful and the End and Consummation thereof is to know the Supream Being Author of created Nature and to love obey and enjoy him for ever In Order hereunto Temperance and Sobriety are sublime Gifts and to be regarded with the highest esteem not only for the delight and pleasure they afford the Body and Mind but as they fortifie those that observe them against many Vices and Temptations as well as preserve them from a thousand racking Pains and torturing Diseases and so furnish them with the best Treasures of this World viz. Health not only of the Body but also of the Mind for 't is that Health that sweetens all God's Blessings and is the prime good of this Life What advantage or pleasure is there in the highest prepared Food or choice compounded Dishes of the rarest Dainties in the richest or most Cordial Drinks the gayest Apparel or the most flattering Addresses of Honour to a Person rackt with the Stone or tortur'd with an Iliaca passio or half-drown'd with an overflowing Dropsie or burning within like Mount AEtna with the raging violence of a Fever What are Riches and Fame to a Body full of Pain Or who would accept of a Crown upon condition that his Head should thenceforth perpetually Ake Now if the Body be distemper'd thro' disorder and superfluity the Mind and all the Senses are presently afflicted if the Harmony of the one be interrupted or destroyed the other cannot continue For the Spirit is the original whence the Body proceded and is the Life of every visible Substance and as the Properties or Qualities are in their degrees in the Spirit either strong or weak so also they are in the Elements of the Body That quality that doth predominate in the Spirit at the Incarnation and Birth that very same property doth carry the upper Dominion in the Body which is manifested by the Inclination Shape and Form Behaviour Words and Works and this is call'd a Man's COMPLEXION of which there are commonly reckon'd four kinds viz. the Cholerick the Phlegmatick the Sanguine and the Melancholy and since the true understanding of each of these does mainly conduce to a mans knowing and right regulating of himself we shall therefore treat of them severally But in the first place we will lay down a short Description of the four grand Qualities viz. the Bitter Sweet Sour Astringent or Saltish from whence the four Complexions proceed Of the Bitter Quality 1. Those that are dignified with this Quality are for the most part of strong Bodies thick well set of middle Stature of hard fierce Countenances Visage rather round than Oval big Bones Hair curling of quick piercing Eyes bold Behaviours ready of Speech and Apprehension of strong powerful Spirits able to go thro' much Labour and Action if Intemperance do not impede which many of this sort of People are subject to quickly moved to Passion but their Fires burn too fierce to hold long of strong natural Heats great Appetites therefore they are apt to be Gluttons the Diseases they are most subject to are Acute Fevers Gout Pox both small and great Food good for this sort of People are all sorts of Gruels Herbs Fruit small Drinks and all Food made of Milk and every other sort that is Simple and Natural and the contrary they are to
brisk and they do not only afford a greater quantity of Spirits when separated but much stronger and fiercer than any other Vegetables that are of a lean Hungry Nature Therefore People of this Complexion tho' they are strong and brisk yet if they commit Intemperances that are beyond the power of the natural heat to throw off then they are in far greater danger than those that are of a much weaker Nature and Complexion for the Reason before assigned which daily Examples do confirm as when such healthy People fall into Diseases what terrible sharp Fevers do attend most of them which destroy the Life in a few days Therefore the strongest natur'd People ought to be sober and not lay heavier Burthens than Nature can bear for he that hath the healthiest and strongest Constitution may easily oppress it neither is it safe to put too much Confidence in their strength nor to boast of it or commit such out-rages against their own Natures as many young People do in the way of Pride to out-do their Fellows and then glory in it For the strongest Castle will quickly yield by continual Batteries Of the Phlegmatick Complexion Those in whom this Complexion is predominant are not so quick and active either in the doing or apprehending of things as the Cholerick but more slow and of a fofter Nature their central Heats are but weak in comparison of the former and if they incline to inordinate living either in Meats or Drinks or Idleness they are apt to grow Fat and their Bodies swell with gross phlegmatick Humours because their natural heat is but weak and the digestive faculty of the Stomach cannot make so perfect a Concoction as the Cholerick Complexion so that great part of their Food is turned into gross Juices which fret the Body and make it heavy and dull All sorts of strong spirituous Drinks do agree better with this Complexion than with the Cholerick and if they do not exceed in quantity will not so soon precipitate them into Fevers but if they drink much it will swell their Bodies and Members to a wonderful bigness as we see some both Men and Women are which great drinking doth destroy the edge of the Appetite and increases their desire to drink for their natural Heats and Stomachs are not able to make any profitable Concoction nor separation of such quantities of Drink as they swallow down whence are generated abundance of raw Humors that do not only swell the Body as aforesaid but load the Joynts with windy and watry Diseases and also obstruct the passage of the Breast for all fat People have narrower passages than those that are lean and spare and fetch their Breath with more difficulty because the Vessels of the Stomach and Breast are contracted thro' the drinking of too much strong Drink and eating too little Food and what they do eat too rich in Quality Yet is it very easie for this Complexion and all others to prevent Fatness and heavy Dropsical Humors which many of this sort of People are subject to if Order and Temperance be but observed with regard to both quality and quantity of Meats and Drinks with proper exercise especially in the open Air and walking by River-sides and running Waters which do wonderfully open the Passages and beget and sharpen Appetite and cause good Digestion For tho' one Complexion is more apt to grow Fat than others yet Experience teaches that it is Idleness and Superfluity that is the grand cause thereof look amongst ordinary working-people in Country-Towns and you shall very rarely see any of the Husband-men or Field-workers very Fat though in such places are People of all Complexions but Cities and great Towns are the Nurseries of fat Punchinello's where there is good store of Strong Drink and Wine rich Food with ease and idleness I am not ignorant that fat People have an Apology for themselves viz. That they eat and drink less than many lean Folks This is true but lean spare rawbon'd People have for the most part great Heats which do digest and throw off all superfluous matter their Appetites are sharp and piercing also they are generally of active Spirits given to Labour and Action which destroys all matter for Fatness But most that are inclinable to the Phlegmatick Complexion are of contrary and colder Nature as aforesaid their Appetite not so sharp nor digestive faculty so strong and if discretion care and order with proper exercise be not observed great part of their Food and Drinks for want of heat is turned into gross raw Humours which cause an heaviness on the Spirit the Oyl from whence their Light of Life does shine becomes of a watrish Nature therefore such People ought to have understanding in the ordering of their Lives for want whereof many do by various sorts of Intemperances destroy their Healths Also many will take and follow the Paths and Examples of others which they ought not to do for what may be good Food for one may be the contrary for another therefore every one ought to learn the degrees and power of his own Nature For the differences of mens Constitutions are such and their Natures so contrary that 't is impossible to give any particular rule to fit every ones Conveniency so that there isa necessity for every one to see with his own Eyes and in this respect the Proverb is punctual truth Every man to himself is either a Fool or a Physician A man may speak somewhat that may be useful in a general way and helpful to many if minded but the power of doing is in a man's self and if one do but in any tolerable degree know his own composition and the power of his own nature he may very easily help himself for man's Will is free and if he be well informed and his Faith his own and he do not make the ways of the Multitude to be his Rule and their Faith his as many do then he may and hath power by wisdom to alter his Complexion for the better One of the chief causes why so many run themselves into Error and Diseases and Death it self is because they never look into themselves nor observe the operations of their own Nature but look what others do that do they and take the advice of every fool especially if he be a learned Fool without any examination whether it be proper or not Meats and Drinks good for this Complexion are all sorts of drying warming things as Bread eaten with Oyl let Butter be eaten sparingly Cheese is good not new but old also all Gruels and Pottage that are made with quick Fires and not too much boyled but thin brisk and lively for such things are easie to be concocted and quick on the Stomach likewise all spicy Herbs both boyled and raw in their Seasons that is betimes in the Spring and again after Michaelmas viz. in October and November but Flesh they ought to eat sparingly especially from Iune to the last of
Health are easily procurable of small Charge soon made ready and with very little Trouble they are in most places ready and familiar to be obtained with ease and pleasure without violating Justice or hazarding either your Conscience or your Liberty Furthermore Temperance is a strong Bullwark against that pernicious Enemy of Mankind viz. Despair or suspicion of the divine Hand of Providence against the Frowns and Causalties of this World What cares that man if he have not Money to buy Wine who by use finds Water no less pleasant and more wholsom Why should one bemoan not having half a score Dishes when one will serve him not only as well but better Sobriety makes a man Superior to those vain fearful repining Imaginations whereunto most or indeed all superfluous intemperate People are subject and when Poverty comes upon them they are doubly miserable because they had inur'd themselves to Unnecessaries before the absence of which more torments them than any real Wants that they lie under But he that gives the government of himself to Wisdom and has the true knowledg of Gods Love and the eternal Principle of Light in himself and admits it to have its Operation in the Soul and Body and who sees with an inward Eye the great Virtue and Fortitude there is in every simple Grain Fruit and Herb and who hath also bounded his desires to the necessities of Nature there is no such great reason that such a man should trouble his head with care and suspicion and tire his Body with over-labouring for Fruits Herbs Milk Bread and Water are easily procured And what sober man in the World is reduced to that extremity as to want such things except in universal Calamities Every man ought to understand that heavyness oppression of Nature and dulness proceed from the abundance of thick putrid Humours which stop up the Passages and cloy the Joynts filling them with gross moisture so that the course of the Spirits is hindered and they as it were suffocated which causes various Distempers in the Body that men would give all the World if they had it to be cured of but no Physick can help them unless the excellent Lady Sobriety be their Doctress for it must be a clean simple well-ordered Diet only that can fine the Blood by degrees out of which pure Spirits are generated in the goodnss of which all Health and the whole prosperity of the Body and Mind doth consist whereas surplusage of Nourishment destroys the Spirits and damnifies all the Senses as that of Seeing is hurt by gross Humours that obstruct the Optick Nerves And therefore those that are subject to weak Eyes ought to abstain from all such things as replenish the Head with Fumes such are all sorts of fat Meat Butter and the like taken in too great a quantity as also strong thick Drinks especially such wherein Wormwood or any strong bitter Herbs are infused for all such things are very hurtful to the Eyes as experience shews Likewise such superfluous matter offends the organs of Hearing and marrs the sense of Tasting by breeding Cholerick salt Humors so that those who accustom themselves to Excess generally have their Palates debaucht and cannot give a true judgment of the state of things Now the sorts of Food and Drinks that breed the best Blood and finest Spirits are Herbs Fruits and various kinds of Grains also Bread and sundry sorts of excellent Food made by different preparations of Milk and all dry Food out of which the Sun hath exhaled the gross Humidity by which all sorts of Pulses and Grains become of a firmer substance so likewise Oyl is an excellent thing in Nature more sublime and pure than Butter And if you do eat fat flesh let it be sparingly and not without good store of Bread and Herbs There are two things in the practise of Temperance chiefly to be regarded viz. QUANTITY and QUALITY the later ought to be considered by every one that is desirous to preserve Nature but Eror in the former does generally the most mischief For if Meats and Drinks be of a raw gross Nature and not so well prepared as they ought to be yet if a man eat and drink but sparingly with a perfect Appetite the Stomach Nature's Laboratory will make better Nourishment thereof than it can of the best Food when too great Quantities are cram'd into the Belly for the natural Heat of the Stomach is of a wonderful Nature when free from these burdensom gross Humours it can as it were digest and kill the poysonous Juices of unclean Food and by an innate power cast off the malignancy thereof if the Quantity be not too great In this case Abstinence hath been found by experience to cure most Diseases that have proceeded from Superfluity if not gon too far Therefore Quantity is more dangerous to destroy Health than Quality tho' they are both very bad and often meet together and then Health is destroyed with a winged speed which is the chief cause that there are so few either Men Women or Children in perfect Health Where can you find a Man or Woman among such as are Intemperate who have attained to the Age of forty Years that are in perfect Health The best of them being afflicted with windy and scorbutick Diseases which are bred by eating too much in quantity and of an evil unclean quality These windy Diseases are also much increased by the continual eating of their Food too hot that is before the sulpherous moist Vapours which are of a fierce and sharp Nature are evaporated for this sulpherous Heat which goes away in the moist steem or vapours does contain the Spirits of the Fire as also two Qualities viz. A windy moist dulling Nature and a fierce sharp fiery one the first of these is the cause of most windy Diseases and the second does generate in the Blood a hot sharp Humour which causeth an itching and breaking out in the flesh with spots of various colours as also a weariness and indisposedness through the whole Body this likewise is the grand cause of many Leprous and Mangy Diseases especially when the Food is gross and not well prepared and too much in Quantity which Maladies do often happen altogether All Food that is prepared by fire should not be eaten till those thick sulpherous and moist steems be evaporated herein many are mistaken and even Nature it self is little understood for the generality of People account hot Food best and most profitable for Health and the good Dame will be angry if her Servants delay to eat their Food whilst Hot. But the continual eating of Hot Food from the Womb has depraved their Stomachs and natural Heat so that if they eat their Food cold it will not give them satisfaction although hot Food is contrary to the pure simple Nature and the health of the Body nevertheless the continual use of such things have awakened their Similes in the Stomach and that requires their continuation and
most of them of an opening and cleansinn Nature for they gently cleanse and purge the Passages and Bowels But all these Summer Fruits are best and safest Prepared being mixt with things of a drying and warming Quality or rather made into Drinks and when such Juices have passed through Fermentation the Phlegmy Body is digested and the spirituous Parts set at Liberty which do tincture the gross Body so that the Spirit and true Life is made thereby Predominant over the body of Phlegm such Drinks being drunk moderately prove very friendly to Nature especially to such as are Aged People which do most need spirituous Drinks Green Food is not capable either in Man or Beasts to generate so good Nourishment nor so firm as dry neither are the Spirits so brisk and lively the gross Juices of such Food do as it were suffocate the pure Spirits and turn the Balsamick Body sower as it farther appears by all sorts of Animals that live on green Food in this season are they not apt to faint and to be subject to many Diseases their Flesh and Fat being soft and greasy but those that live on dry Food their Bodies are freer from gross Phlegmatick matter their Fat and Flesh is of a firmer substance and their Spirits stronger and livelier and more capable they are to endure Labour without Prejudice to their Health it is also manifested by all Grains Seeds and other Fruits that are cut or gathered before the Sun and Elements have dryed away or exhaled the gross Phlegmy moisture all such things will presently Putrifie and Stink being loaded with so great store of Humidity but if they be gathered the Sun and Elements having dryed away the Humid Parts then all such things will keep sound and good for several Years for this cause all sorts of Food in which Phlegm does abound are very dangerous in this season if Temperance be wanting as our daily experience teaches 5thly In this Season the Sun also declines in strength and vigour which being the central Power and Life of all things they likewise do proportionably decline as appears in Herbage as for Example If you cut Grass in September which is then the Food of most sorts of Cattel the Hay made thereof is of a weak fading Nature and Vertue in comparison of that Hay which was made in Iune or Iuly which is of a lively brik strong substance and vertue for the Earth which is the Mother of all things in this Season is weak and impotent because she hath already put forth her strength and manifested her lively Vertues in the first spring or rising of the Sun for the Winter is the Rest and Sabbath of the Earth in which time she recovers strength-and vertue because she does then as it were cease from all her Labours and the Vegetative Quality stands as it were still and the more Frost and Snow and the drier the Winter is the more strength and vigour the Earth obtains such dry Weather cloaseth up the Pores by which the strength and vertue is prevented from having any Evacuations which is manifested by the goodness and great Increase of all Herbs Fruits and Grains being all filled with a Powerful Lively brisk Spirit and Vertue therefore in the first spring and rising of the Sun every thing rejoyceth and becomes very fragrant by vertue of the sweet Influences of this Coelestial Body and the Power of the Earth so that at this time all things seem to strive with a most lively motion to manifest their most inward Vertues this is the time for People to eat Herbs both Boyl'd and Raw Sallets and Pottages made thereof such Food at the Rising of the Sun are endued with a brisk lively Vertue and Strength and of an opening and cleansing Nature Purging the Blood and are good against all kind of Obstructions Also all sorts of Diseases are by vertue of Sobriety and Temperance and the use of good Medicines then easier cured than at any other of the Year it is also the Briskest and Healthiest Season and the same Intemperances and Disorders which may be the occasion of generating Diseases in the latter part of the Summer in this time will hardly be felt for now all things rejoyce and seem to concur for the Preservation of Nature 6thly In this Season viz. from the middle of Iune to the last of September most sorts of Cattel breed many Diseases First from the continual Heat and gross humid Air which in this season is more sulpherous the Pleasant Influences and Spirits of the Air are dull and thick which causes a dull and fainty Indisposition to possess the Bodies and Spirits of all Creatures Men themselves can witness the Truth of this Moreover all Creatures are more subject to sweat by which the Spirits do evaporate likewise the Food of most Creatures is Grass which is of a gross Phlegmatick Nature and generates not only an unfirm Nourishment but also fills the Body full of evil Juices the Fat and Flesh being of a soft greasy Nature having but few Spirits and those that are very impure the Blood of most Cattel being thick and gross which is the cause their Flesh will not take Salt as at other seasons also about this time most sorts of Cattel especially those that come from remote parts of great Cities are more or less Heated and Surfeited by Driving and other Accidents they being not formerly used to Driving the Weather being Hot and Fainty the Air thick and humid and they being loaded with much gross Flesh and Fat all these things concurring makes their Flesh unwholsom and subject to Corruption especially Sheep and Lambs whose Spirits and Lives are so tender that they cannot endure any kind of violent motion without manifest danger to their Health It is very rare that any Mutton or Lamb is good in this Season they not being free from the aforesaid Accidents you may easily distinguish by the Taste Smell and Colour of that which is killed off the Common without driving and other Accidents and that which is killed in London with driving the Bodies of all Creatures being in this season full of Phlegmy matter that every little Accident will wound the Spirit then presently the Body suffers many Inconveniencies and if such Cattel be kill'd before they have time to recover such Injuries their flesh is of a dull heavy Phlegmatick Nature the Spirits are few and those that are are impure for these reasons it will not take salt nor eat sweet as others will which are free from such Inconveniencies for salt has no Power to Preserve such Flesh from Putrifaction because as is mentioned before the Spirits are impure for those gross Bodies are Preserved by the Vertue and Power of the Spirit and in such flesh where the spirits are few and impure and the Flesh gross and full of Phlegmy matter the salt cannot incorporate therefore in this season use what Art you can in salting your Flesh it will not eat so sweet nor keep
be very profitable First After full Meals and excessive Draughts see that they fast longer than their usual time is this gives great advantage to the natural Heat by which the digestive Faculty of the Stomach does by its secret attractive Power draw unto it self all superfluity and evil Juices that have been bred through Intemperance digesting and throwing off all such matter which might otherwise occasion Diseases for the action and natural heat of the Stomach is never idle but has always its continual motion and secret attraction and Hunger is so powerful that it will draw the very Flesh off the Bones Therefore fasting after immoderate eating and drinking is a sure Remedy to prevent Diseases and Surfeits drinking good store of Water-Gruel made thin and boyl'd quick the following day without any Ingredients in it will cleanse the Stomach and help to carry off the gross matter and evil Juices which do proceed from Repletion If these Rules were observed by those that abound in Meats and Drinks there would not be so many afflicted with the Gout in the Joynts and Pains in the Limbs Swelling and Breaking-out with so many Mangy and Leprous Diseases which are chiefly occasioned through Intemperance and want of Exercises Likewise all Rich compounded Foods which are often of disagreeing Natures do not only destroy the Health but do dull the edge of the Appetite taking away the true Taste and Pleasure which good Stomachs and sharp Appetites enjoy It may be truly said That the Intemperate Person is deprived of all true and natural Pleasure for those that are continually accustomed to rich Compounded Foods and strong Cordial Drinks as Wine c. by the frequent use of them they become rather burdensom than pleasant the same is to be understood of those that live an idle soft Life their whole body is as it were indisposed their Members and Limbs often ake for want of Exercise because they are weak also their Passages are fur'd and stopped so that the Blood becomes thick and gross and the natural Spirits impure such People are on every occasion apt to sweat being also subject to internal Heats which do much disorder the whole Body but the ordinary sort of People who are constrained to live on mean simple Food and small Drink and to labour hard do imagine that the greatest happiness in this World is to live an idle Life and to have their Tables daily furnished with variety of rich Food and strong Drinks few of them considering that the true pleasure of eating and drinking is in having a perfect Appetite and that without Labour no man can be brisk and lively either in Body or Spirit which Superfluity of rich Food strong Drink and Idleness doth destroy because most of such things are unequal in their parts and so beget Inequality also they are endued with too great Vertue whence doth proceed too much Nourishment which is the Foundation of most Diseases for this cause mean and simple Meats and Drinks are not only most greateful to Nature but do best support the Body in perfect Health and Strength far beyond all the richest compounded Flesh Fish and strong Drinks though all such things are and may be very useful now and then being moderately used for â—he necessity of Nature as the Scripture saith all Gods Creatures are good being received with Thanks-giving Most Meats and Drinks in their own Nature are simple and innocent it is generally Compositions that make Meats and Drinks not only too Rich but also Improper CHAP. VI. Of Waters Ale Beer and Tobacco to which is added the consideration of Cloathing Houses and Beds and what great Benefits arise from Moderation and Temperance in those things THE Element of Water is not inferior to any other of the Elements neither is Nature wanting to work wonderfully thereby there is so great a Necessity of Water that without it no Animal can live nor any Herb or Plant bring forth for in it is the Seminary Vertue of all things especially of Animals whose Seed is manifestly Watrish The Seeds also of all Herbs and Plants although they are Earthy must notwithstanding be rooted in moisture before they can be fruitful The great and illuminated Prophet Moses tells us that before the Creation when the Earth was without Form the Spirit of the Lord moved on the Face of the Waters and in another place that the Plants did not grow because God had not caused it to Rain upon the Earth Nay so great is the Efficacy of this cleansing Element that the spiritual Regeneration cannot be performed without it as our Saviour Christ himself testified to Nicomedus and very great have the Vertues of it been in Religious Worship in former Ages among the Prophets and Wise Men in Expiations and Purifications Innumerable are the Benefits and so various the Uses thereof both in the Generation Nourishment and Increase of things that some of the Wise Men have concluded that Water was the beginning of all things and first of all Elements and the most Potent because it hath the mastery over all the rest for it swalloweth up the Earth extinguishes Flames ascends on high and by a most wonderful divine Hand and the stretching forth of the Clouds challengeth the Heavens for its Throne whence falling down in gentle Showers and refreshing Dews as from Natures choicest Limbeck impregnated with Coelestial Vertues it becomes the cause of all things that grow in the Earth Nor is there scarce any part of Nature more full of Wonders than these liquid Regions Iosephus tells us of a River near Sina which runneth with a full Channel all theS abbath-Day and then on a sudden it ceaseth as if the Spring were stopped and all the six days you may pass over it dry-shod but again on the seventh-day no Man knowing the reason of it the Waters return in abundance as before wherefore the Inhabitants therabouts call it the Sabbath-days River The Gospel testifies of a Sheep-Pool into which whosoever stepped first after the Waters were troubled by the Angel was made whole of whatsoever Disease he had Many secret and admirable Vertues the Creator hath endued this Element with as in all Ages hath been manifested for it being pure and clear in its own Nature it is the only and alone thing by which all external things are purified purged and cleansed But if it be adulterated or incorporated with any other Liquor or Juice then it becomes less pure and will not so well perform its Office yet it may make them better and more useful Though it be a vulgar Proverb As weak as Water Yet I must tell you Water is more strong and sublime than most imagine for it contains a most ravishing and excellent Spirituous Balsamick Vertue whence proceeds that pure sweet refreshing Quality whereby it hath Power by its innate Vertue to digest and purifie all sorts of Food Also in all Preparations it is so Innocent and Friendly that it dissipates the gross phlegmy Bodies
of Vermin and Insects which is caused through the Contraction of gross thick fulsom Matter for want of Motion all which running Waters are not subject to But although Water be Natures common drink for Man as well as Beasts yet since now a-days Men generally betake themselves to other Liquors we shall briefly treat of them likewise Of Ale and its Nature and Operation as also of Beer Ale hath the first place of all Drinks made with Malt and is of greatest Antiquity That Ale is best that is made after this manner 1st That the Liquor or Water that you put to your Malt be made boiling-hot but not boyl and then put it into your Mash-Tub or Vessel and let it stand a little while before you put your Malt to it which will somewhat moderate the fierce heat of the Water thereby rendring it more capable to receive the Vertues and sweet Quality of the Malt which violent hot Water will not do so well for it doth not only hurt the pure Spirituous Parts of the Malt but will six or harden the Malt so that the Sweetness and good Vertues will not so easily give it self forth into the Water also if you put the Malt into the Water very hot then it will Tinge or cause the Wort to become of a red Martial Colour but on the contrary the cooler the Water is when you put in the Malt the Paler or more Venerial will the Colour of your Wort be which is the best Colour of the two for all Ale that does look Clear and White is to be preferred before that which hath a high Martial Red Colour And in some parts of England there is such Ale made which is much liked but this commendable White Colour depends also upon the well making of the Malt viz. in the Fewel and degrees of the Fire they dry or fix it with for if the Heat be too strong or fierce or if the egress or regress of the Air be hindred or any other Accident happen of the like nature then such Malt will make Ale and Beer to look of a Reddish Martial Colour which is not to be commended though some ignorantly cry it up For the predominant Quality in all sorts of Corn stands in the White and all the pure Water and sweet Body of it proceeds from the predominant Quality of Venus therefore the more gentle mild and natural the Preparation is from the beginning to the end the more wholsom and Balsamick will the Ale be If the Malt be dryed with too hot or fierce a Fire whence the Colour happens to the Ale it shews Violence done to the essential Spirits which also happens in Brewing when the Malt is put to the Water too hot or by overmuch boyling of the Wort which is not commendable in Ale for good Ale may be made with little or no boyling and indeed there is not much reason for the much boyling of any sort of Drink made of Malt except you design to keep it a great while For the boyling of Ale doth cause a too great Evaporation of the Volatile Spirit and Balsamick Vertues which will not endure the harsh Fire for this cause strong Wort will wast and evaporate as much in quantity in one Hour as Small shall in three and more Besides boyling these Liquors destroys their mild gentle cleansing Qualities and fixes them making them hotter and fiercer in Operation for the more you evaporate or destroy the sweet Body of any thing the stronger and fiercer the Original Qualities become and appear more external but so long as the pure Volatile Spirit and sweet Balsamick Body predominates the strong fiery Original Spirit of Saturn and Mars lies as it were hid and seeing all the friendly and wholsom Vertues of Ale reside in the sweet Body you ought not to destroy That by over-much boyling Nay I will add that the best and most wholsom Ale may be made and not boyled at all as some in this Nation do which does but wast it in Quantity and make it worse in Quality so that it becomes hotter in Operation and a friend to the generation of the Stone Every one knows or may know by experience that Beer heats the Body more than Ale the reason is the Balsamick Vertues in Beer are in part destroyed by boyling so that it becomes more like a Spirit and therefore it will keep longer and because of its lasting most People imagin it the best which is a great mistake for they might as well say that the best Sack drawn off by Distillation into a Spirit is better to drink than the Sack was whereas I think the contrary is known to every body of common sense The nearer you bring any thing to its Original by destroying the balsamick Vertues and middle Qualities or vegetative Vertue the longer that thing will keep sound this is manifest in all Spirits drawn from any Wines or other balsamick Liquors for this reason Beer that is boyled most will longest keep from turning sour or flat but still this is no Argument that it is therefore the best and wholsomest for the predominant Quality in all strong Beer especially if it be kept to be â—tale is of a fierce harsh Martial and Saturnine Heat of a hard greedy Nature which infects the blood with fretting eating Humours very prejudicial to Health also it generates the Stone not so much from the Hops which many accuse as the chief cause but for that the pure sweet body is in so great a measure destroyed in the boyling it to such an height that it might keep not but that the Hops do help to heat the body and cause the Stone and other Diseases but not purely and meerly as they are Hops but this comes to pass from the Preparation For Hops in their own Nature have no such operation to cause the Stone but altogether the contrary for Hops are of an opening cleansing Nature and they powerfully purge by Urine and make excellent Medicines against the Stone Dropsical Diseases but all their natural medicinal Vertues are destroyed in their being boyled in the Beer and then there remains in them chiefly the Martial harsh fiery Property which helps to preserve the Beer from growing flat or eager but it augments its heat and makes it of a harsher operation And as the boyling of Ale destroys the sweet cleansing purging Quality and causes it to evaporate just so it does by Hops and so much the more because in them the volatile Spirit stands as it were external for the Sun and Elements have exhaled the gross Phlegmy substance and thereby sets the spirituous at liberty only being close stuffed into bags preserves them from evaporating whilst there they continue but as soon as they come into the fierce boyling Liquor or Wort these essential Vertues and good Qualities are destroyed and flee away but still there remains the original strong bitter Quality which cannot be destroyed by boyling except they be annhilated for it is
ill Customs willingly deprive themselves of its singular benefits therefore those that regard their Healths ought not to make strong Bulwarks and Fences from the free visits of so good a friend but rather court its Familiarity by motion in the open Fields airy Houses c. I know it is a Custom in many places of the Country to plant Trees before their Houses but I am of opinion that they are not convenient nor profitable in respect of Health for it hinders the fresh breezing Gales of Wind to enter into and sweeten their Houses also Trees Woody places and Vallies do by simile attract the Clouds and moist Vapours which are injurious to some Constitutions of men It is likewise convenient that all sorts of People do not accustom themselves to sit by Fires especially those made of Cole or any other of the like Nature because they do as it were by a natural simile dry up a Radical Moisture exhale and suffocate the Spirits and with too great violence open the Pores of the whole Body and as it were chill the whole-Body making it thereby incapable to endure the Air without trouble and danger of taking cold it also dulls the edge of the Appetite and sends dark thick Fumes into the Head weakens the Eyes and causes a general indisposition through the whole body Besides that heat and warmth which is procured by Fires heavy Clothes c. is very troublesom in comparison of that pleasant natural Heat that is awakened by Motion and Action in airy and open places and there is as much difference both in the Appetite and the whole state of the Body and Spirits between the one and the other as there is between Light and Darkness the one being lightsom airy pleasant strong and lively with a sharp and perfect Appetite the other being unpleasant cold on one side and hot on the other dull and heavy of little Appetite and that not good and so the body being feeble and tender the man knows not what to eat nor what to drink nor what to wear he finds every Room too cold for him he is indisposed therefore he must have this and the other dainty Bit and this and the other Cordial Drink but all to little purpose so long as they drive their old Trade of Superfluities in the above mentioned things A Cup of cold Water or small Drink and a piece of brown Bread to a well-prepared Stomach is above all Dainties Therefore it is a very uncomfortable thing for a man to be ignorant of himself for such never use things that are friendly to Nature and the good Health both of Body and Mind but on the contrary are diligent to procure such things as are inimical and hurtful to it Wisdom which is certainly great Riches teaches a man to put an high Estimation upon mean and simple Things and to use them all with a thankful Heart to the Glory of God Of particular Trades and particularly of Seamen The last Consideration of the great Benefit of the open Air leads us to observe what Callings and Imployments may be esteemed the most wholsom or best accommodated for the preservation of Health touching which we are in the first place to note that all sorts of Trades that work in Wood as Carpenters Ioyners and other Trades of the like Nature are all of them wholsom Imployments as well because their Labour consists of sundry motions of the Body as for that the various sorts of Woods they work in send forth most pleasant and fragrant Smells which must needs be very refreshing to Nature and if those men were Temperate and Careful of themselves not to lift pieces of Timber beyond their strength c. they might enjoy their Health and Strength even to a good old Age. Also those Trades and Imployments that belong to the Water such as Sea-men and Barge-men Skullers c. are healthful Imployments for the pleasant and wholsom Vapours which the Water always sends forth being mixed with the friendly and gentle Breezes of the sweet Air does powerfully penetrate all the parts of the Body and cleanses all the passages of the Breast makes the Lungs sound sharpens the Stomach giving it a good Appetite and an easie Concoction it makes men lively and hardy and the Bones and Nerves strong for they being still in the fresh Air it is no wonder that they find such good Effects of it I know no Imployment men could spend their time about with more Vigour Health and Pleasure than This if the Rules of Sobriety were strictly observed But they are a fort of People whom no bounds of Sobriety can limit such as use no Medium or Equality in their Meats Drinks and Exercises for the greater part they are excessive drinkers of strong Drinks such as Brandy and other adulterated Spirits which not only weaken the Natural Heat but awaken the Original Fires and fierce Poysons in Nature which does cause fiery Passions and Head-strong Humors in the Mind and indeed they living on salt Flesh and Fish can hardly be free from doing Violence to Nature because the Spirituous Parts and Balsamick Body is almost destroyed in that kind of Food and the Quality which is predominant is of a hot sharp and fierce Nature and this Nourishment being commonly taken does heat and dry up the Radical Moisture and cools the refreshing Vapours which proceed from the Elements of Air and Water from whence also proceeds unnatural Droughts and the Generation of the Disease called the Scurvy and innumerable other Distempers But these friendly Elements the Water and the Air give them often great Relief for otherwise they could not as they do eat and drink to such an Excess Many men of this imploy ruin their Health by indulging too much their Appetites for they eating and drinking beyond measure and without exception when they come into hot Climates viz. the East and West-Indies where the Beams of the Sun are so powerful that their Pores are opened and they sweat continually and their pure Spirits and Radical Moisture so much exhaled and evaporated that they presently feel an inward Weakness and a Decay in the Natural Heat and in the Stomach accompanied with cloudy Fumes in the Head causing an Indisposition and Weariness through the whole Body and rendring Nature incapable to bear such a burthen of Intemperances as they lay upon her without manifest Prejudice Their eating I say of salt Flesh and Fish and their drinking of hot and inflaming Liquors and observing of no fit Season nor due proportion of time for taking of Rest which in hot Countries should be from twelve of the Clock to three in the Afternoon These and other Extravagances bring upon them Fluxes griping Pains of the Bowels and Acute Fevers their drinking of that Liquor called Punch is also very Inimical to Health For the Lime-Iuice which is one of the Ingredients they commonly use in it is in its Nature fierce sharp and Astringent apt to create griping Pains
Oates which opens unstops and cleanses the Passages from all kind of Obstructions This is further confirmed if we look into the Country where the Peasant that has no better than course Bread and other hard and mean fare is healthier stronger and more agile and sprightful than the City-Cormorant whose bruitish Appetite cannot be satisfied with any other thing than the costliest and richest Varieties that Nature can afford These latter sort of People accustoming themselves to the highest and finest Preparations of Food and Cordial Drinks are certainly the most unhealthful Men in the World because this sort of Food being in its own nature too Spirituous does prey upon the natural Heat causing either a suffocation or evaporation of the Spirits and contracting the Vessels of the Stomach whereby the whole body seems to languish Every sort of Food has its various operations upon the body and spirit of a Man and that by way of simile Therefore all Meats and Drinks ought to be equally compounded of a body and spirit as most things are in themselves before the Artist makes the separation the Food as the Man should be compounded both of body and spirit And to conclude I know of no separation that should be made of the one from the other but what is done inwardly by the act of the Stomach and natural Heat Of Pease and Beans Beans and Pease are Mars's Grains being drier and courser than the former Pease of the two are the finest and easiest of Concoction they are both of a Windy Quality yet being eaten when they are dryed are not only wholsomer than the Green but also afford a better and finer Nourishment not so apt to generate Crudities in the Body when they are boyled in plenty of Water the Winter-season is the most proper time for eating of them for then the natural Heat being more central the Stomach is much the stronger they are a good Food for young healthy People But Green-Pease and Beans are indued with a gross Phlegmatick Nature and being frequently eaten generate many gross raw Humours in the Body but in the declining part of the year when the Sun and Elements have consumed and dryed away the gross humid parts they thereby become firmer and wholsomer Food and will continue good and sound for several years but if they be cut down before the Sun has acted its part in extracting the gross Juices they will presently corrupt Therefore the frequent eating of such green Pease is of evil Consequence and detrimental to the Health they afford not only unfirm Nourishment but also cause Obstructions Fevers and Pains in the Bowels with Fluxes and a great many other Maladies That this kind of Nourishment is not good will further appear by giving you an Example from Cattle which when they are fed with green Food as Grass or the like their flesh and fat is soft greasy and full of phlegmy gross Matter neither will it take Salt nor keep half the time as that which is fed with Hay Corn and the like nay they are fainter and weaker and more apt to tire in their Labour and to take Surfeits than those that feed with Hay c. I do not say but green Pease may be eaten now and then for they are in their Nature opening and slippery which is caused by the great Quantity of Phlegmy Matter that is in them Yet these Rules should be observed in the dressing of them boyl them in good store of River-Water let your Fire be quick and your Pot open all the time of their boyling and they are to be put in when the Water begins to seeth and not before By this way of Preparation they are made wholsomer than otherwise they would be There is a sort of Bean called by the French English Bean but we commonly call them Kidney or French Beans they run upon sticks like Hops these are mostly eaten when Green they are of an opening and cleansing Nature purge by Urine and help Concoction the usual way of dressing them is to boyl them in the Shells and to eat them together They far exceed and are much better than other Pulses that are eaten green being in their nature and operation more mild and gentle Of Herbs Raw and Boyled The best raw Sallets are made of Spinage Parsley Sorrel Sage Pepper-grass with a small quantity of the Tops of Penny-Royal and Mint for all these have a chearing and warming Quality but Lettice and Onions should be sparingly put in because they are endowed with a gross thick Juice and are of a poysonous Nature sending Fumes into the Head whence proceeds a dull kind of Drowsiness and propensity to sleep which is offensive to the Eyes and Brain There are other Herbs made use of in Raw Sallets but the fore-mentioned are the best and most material Ingredients The proper season for eating them is from the beginning of February to the middle of Iune the earlier in the Spring so much the better and the more frequently they are eaten at this season so much the wholsomer for they are opening and cleansing powerfully the Blood is purified the natural Heat is tempered and encreased the Spirits are made brisk and lively the Appetite is quickned and Concoction facilitated Raw Herbs are a sublime kind of Food and are to be preferred before that which is boyled for the pure Volatile Spirit in the Herbs whence the Animals fragrancy proceeds cannot endure the violence of the fire but in boyling a great part of it is evaporated for this cause boyled Herbs lie heavier and colder in the Stomach than Raw which is scarcely credited by any for they that love boyled Herbs do generally eat much Flesh with them and so cannot discern the operation they have The strength and comforting Quality of every thing consists principally in the spirituous parts which are lost in the boyling and so they become just of another Nature that lively Tincture and spirituous part which it had whilst raw can never be retriv'd by all the Ingredients Nature or Ar 〈…〉 can afford Do not all Creatures eat their Herbs raw and are they not sustained by them to admiration They are powerful Preservers of Life and Health far beyond all the contriv'd Preparations of other Food In most Countries of this World the Inhabitants thereof do eat England excepted their Herbs Raw both in hot and cold Climates This kind of Food is preferrable to the great Quantities of Flesh Butter Cheese c. which are too often eaten among us these latter not only affording too great store of Nourishment but being naturally hot they over-heat the Blood and are heavy to be digested by reason of the oyly fat matter all such things do plentifully contain they dull the Appetite and obstruct and as it were fur the Passages Besides the Vertues we have ascribed to Raw Herbs God Almighty has created them for the use of Man and they were the first Food which was allotted him after the Fall where he
fine and many of their Creatures have hardly any Wool or Hair on them The wonderful and wise Creator hath endued every Country and Climate with such a permanent Nature even in the beginning as brings forth Herbs Fruits and Grains which are proper and most agreeable to the Natures and Constitutions of the People born in that place And as the cold Countries produce abundance of Cloth and Furs so on the contrary hot Climates afford Silks and find Calicoes and the like which are not proper nor useful for us neither are ours for them How contrary to Reason and Nature it is for men in cold Countries to cloath themselves with Silk and fine Calico And so on the contrary for those in hot Countries to cloath themselves with our strong thick Woolen Cloth and Furs But mens Health is not so much endangered by outward Garments as by too great an Indulgence of Nature in the use of Meats and Drinks the one being External and the other Internal It is known by Experience that the mixing of the East and West-Indian and Spanish Fruits with our Food and Drinks have encreased Diseases and made the People more sickly than in former Ages with many new Distempers which had not any existence among us for most or all those things that are brought from those Countries are not proper for Food and are also endued with contrary Natures to the Fruits and Grains our own Country produceth as all sorts of Spices Nutmegs Cloves Mace Cinnamon Pepper and Ginger they are all extream hot and dry and are not proper to be used but in a Physical way and indeed we do not need them in that way neither for we have Herbs and Roots that grow in our own Climate more proper for that use though the Physicians have been as willing to deceive the People as the Merchants by telling them the many excellent Vertues contained in them Yet it cannot be denied but that those Spices are Excellent in their Nature and Operation though not proper for our Constitutions nor to be mixed among our Food and Drinks for that Food in which such things are mixed does by degrees destroy the Natural Heat of the Stomach drying up the Radical Moisture and those cool Vapours which would otherwise refresh the whole Body keeping of it pleasant making the Spirits brisk and full of Life this pleasant Quality is destroyed by Eating and Drinking such things in which Spices Sugars and Spanish Fruits are mixed it makes the Blood also of a hot sharp keen quality and causes thick hot Fumes to ascend into the Head making the Head Hands and Feet and all the external parts to glow with an unnatural Heat it deadens and dulls the Action of the Stomach and takes away the sharpness of the Appetite this may be known to every one if they would observe the operation of such things for they are unequal in their parts the heat bearing a predominacy in them they do by Similes cause all sorts of Foods and Drinks with which the are mixed to become like themselves viz. Unequal if great care be not taken And the worst of all is after our Stomachs are accustomed to such things we cannot be well satisfied without them for they are in some degree like Wine whereof if a man drink frequently he cannot without a great deal of Trouble and some Hazard as to his Health refrain from it the like is true in drinking of Brandy and taking of Tobacco which Customs are far more dangerous than the former For every sort of Food and Drink in which Nature is in its Properties Unequal does powerfully stir up and beget its likeness in the Stomach causeth Nature to be unequal in her Operations for no sorts of Meats or Drinks do more destroy the Health and Welfare of Nature than those that contain too much Nourishment and whose predominant quality is too hot which generally is the effects of all such Foods and Drinks in which the above-mentioned Ingredients are mixed When I consider the strange and unnatural mixture and the variety of Meats and Drinks that are too commonly used I cannot admire the Unhealthiness of our Age And certainly if this Nation do continue and encrease their eating and drinking the improper Fruits Spices Wines and other things that are the Products and Growths of other Countries as has been done for these forty or fifty years last past we shall be corrupted in our Radixes as too many are already all those things being now commonly used which have greatly encouraged other Nations to make such quantities of them as that they are become so Cheap that it is scarcely worth the Merchants while to bring them over for where there was one pound of Sugar spent forty or fity years ago now there is a Thousand and where there was then one quart of Wine drunk there is now Ten Thousand The use of Tobacco and Brandy a hundred years since was hardly known nay the use of our Ale and Beer has hardly been above two hundred years which now we account most Natural there is somewhat may be said against Beer but because it is made of our own Grain I shall not say any thing here of its Nature or Operation having treated of it in another place Great hath been the Increase of those Foreign Ingredients of late years insomuch that they are esteemed good to be mixed among common Food and Drinks as also to be taken Physically for you may hear many say that Tobacco is good to prevent Fumes and Vapours from flying into the Head and so make it their constant practice to take it Now if this had any such operation as they say the constant use of it would destroy its Vertues the same may be alledged of Brandy Wine Spices c. It is to be noted and pitied that Aged People do not only eat and drink such things as are hurtful but they mix Spices Sugars and Fruits among all their Childrens Food and between whiles give them Wine and strong Drink which must be very Injurious to their Health for all Children are tender both as to their Spirits and Bodies and because they are growing their Nature requires great store of moisture which can be no otherways maintained but by a simple and mean Food and Drink If you mix their Food with Sugars Wine Spices and Spanish Fruits they will certainly over-heat the Body stop the Pores dry up the Radical Moisture hinder the pure moist Vapours of the Air that they cannot penetrate the Body These destroy the Stomach blunt the edg of the Appetite contracting the Vessels of their Stomachs making them lean or Consumptive and in others breed abundance of gross Phlegmatick Humors all according to the Nature of each Child's Constitution It causeth likewise all their external parts to burn and glow with unnatural Heat generating many Windy and Watery Diseases and Evil Juices in their Joynts All these Maladies are much augmented by other indulgent ways Women use towards
their Children as keeping them over-warm especially at night and feeding of them too often and too plentifully insomuch that their Stomachs are always fouled and furred with gross and Phlegmy Matter their Food being too much in Quantity and too rich in Quality which makes the Children uneasie apt to cry and froward and puts their Nurses to abundance of trouble which would be in a great measure prevented if Temperance was observed and Women would be content to give their Children that kind of Food that were proper for their Ages and Constitutions and which does grow under and by the Vertue of our own Constellations for every Country or Climate does furnish the Natives thereof with all things both for Food and Physick proper to preserve Nature having more agreement and unity with our Constitutions Is there any sort of thing brought from the West or East-Indies from Spain or any other Country that is to be compared to our Bread Cheese or Butter Have we not a great multitude of excellent Herbs and Roots which make good wholsom Food And have we not also excellent Water which is not only the best of Drinks it self but by the help of our own Grains and Fruits makes various sorts of Drinks as strong as Wine And do we not make excellent Drink of Apples more proper for our Bodies and more suitable to our Nature than any of the Spanish Wines What is it that English People want either for the Belly or the Back if Wantonness or superfluity was set aside Are not all the sorts of Food that are of our own Growth more suitable and friendly to our Natures than those that come from other Countries Are not those that live in the most remote parts of England and far from Cities and Sea-Ports where Mony is scarce and such things dear that the common People cannot buy them most healthful and freest from Diseases But now those Out-landish Ingredients begin to be so much admired that the good Dame viz. the Farmers Wife will sell her Eggs Butter Cheese and Wheat to buy Sugar Spice and Tobacco which stand them in no stead only to increase Intemperance and Distempers The very Plough-men and Shepherds defile their most pleasant Air with the fulsom Fumes of Tobacco Likewise the common use of these things have made way for various Trades and Employments so that a great part of the People are imployed to bring them over and to distribute them here so that there is small hopes of leaving off these Superfluities they are become as it were Essential to the Nature of the Users but the chief Happiness of English People is that their own Country does abound with all things that are needful for the support and preservation of Nature and that every one is left to his free choice Therefore a Wise Man may in the midst of those various Superfluities live soberly and temperately to his own comfort and the praise of his Creator 2. It is to be observed that most of the Fruits and Spices that come from those hot Countries are not only disagreeable to our Natures but even the Natives of those places do very moderately and sparingly use them esteeming them not fit to mix with their common Food the same is likewise true of their Moderation in the use of Wines for they do not drink it as we do in that abundance but sparingly and mixed with Water besides the frequent use of the fore-mentioned Ingredients do make English men too Effeminate and do in no wise agree with their Constitutions for cold Countries do make hardy strong and Martial People as also Food of that Nature does by its simile maintain and preserve the Health of the Body and Mind far beyond what is brought from those hot Climates But if the Natives of those Countries should eat and drink those Spices and Wines in that Quantity as we do it would as it were destroy the very Radix of Health which is one main cause why our English are so unhealthy when they travel and live in such hot Countries for they continuing the same Intemperances which they accustom'd themselves unto in their own Countries which those places will not admit of their Bodies and Natures do much alter and change when they alter the Climate and not only our Bodies but also our Dispositions and Inclinations are thereby much changed Therefore all People ought strictly to observe such degrees of Temperance in such places as are most suitable and profitable to preserve Health for not only all sorts of their Fruits and Food but their Drinks also do much differ from ours the predominant Quality whereof standing chiefly in the Nature of Sol and Venus and if such Fruits and Wines be not taken sparingly they will quickly awaken their Centers and Natures in the Body and cause the pure subtle Spirits to evaporate as most do find after drinking plentifully of Wine or strong Drink and eating Food in which those Rich Fruits are compounded how indisposed will Nature be how heavy and dull the senses and as it were stupified And this is caused not only by overcharging of Nature with the Quantity but with the Quality also of the Food which doth so violently open the Solar and Venerial Properties of the Body by a sympathetical operation and does evaporate the pure Spirits and consumes the sweet Oyl whence the pleasant Life burns after such Intemperance in eating and drinking you find great alterations in the state of your Body Some think That the stronger the Liquor and the Richer their Food is the more Vertue and Strength is in it but the contrary is too apparent for nothing is more hurtful to Nature than that which contains much Nourishment for this cause many People are out of order their natural strength decaying by degrees and occasioning many Diseases to reign which had no being in former Ages when the use of such things were not known In remote parts where such Fruits and Wines cannot be procured they are happily freed from many grievous Distempers with which we are afflicted But all that I can say will not convince such as are Wise in their own Conceits nor prevent them from boyling two Quarts of Ale to one with good store of Oatmealand Spice and then sweetning it well with Sugar give two or three Quarts a day hot to Child-bed-Women Of Fish Fish generally are cold and moist of them some are easie others hard of Digestion The frequent and plentiful eating of this begets Phlegm and a kind of cold moist matter in the Body likewise we are to account some of them unclean and unwholsom others clean and wholsom the first sort are such that are bred in muddy stinking Waters as Ponds c. where the Water has no motion or in Rivers which receive the Excrements of Cities or Towns such Fish produce bad Nourishment corrupt the Blood and cause Obstructions Scabs Leprous Diseases c. If People were sensible of the hurt they do they would no more
Temperature and procures quieter Rest and makes People more lively and brisk preventing many Diseases and burthensom Inconveniencies But here I must be silent lest the Ladies be offended However if good Council may procure my Pardon I doubt not but to recover their good Opinion as soon as they shall have read over the following Chapter CHAP. XI Of WOMEN their Natures Complexions and Intemperatures as also of their Children Together with an account of the Generation of all Windy Diseases THe Nature and Complexion of Women doth differ and vary even as Mens some being more Sanguin others more Cholerick c. But generally they are more Sanguin than Men of weaker Heats and fewer Spirits therefore cannot endure any Inequality or Intemperances without great danger to their Health whether it be in Meats Drinks Exercises or Passions of the Mind Their predominant Quality doth stand in and proceed from the Element of Water therefore are of a finer softer yielding Temper than Men and their Love doth exceed that of the other Sex and indeed all kind of Passions do both sooner and deeper wound their Spirits Therefore all sudden surprizes of Love or Hate Ioy or Sorrow are apter to destroy the Health of Women and suffocate their Spirits stopping the Circulation of the Blood and causing the Body to swell and then abundance of Wind is generated which stops all the Passages so that People in this condition can hardly breathe Now the Original of all such Diseases which are called Vapours or Wind come thro' the weakness of the natural Heat and because the Spirits of most Women are so Volatile that every sudden Accident or Inequality doth either evaporate or suffocate them during which time the whole Operation and Circulation both of the Blood and Spirits is hindered and so the Life seems to be in danger which causeth a Commotion of the inward parts as if they did arise out of their natural places which is nothing else but certain Stoppages and Swellings of the Vessels that the Breath or Air cannot pass and then the Body is in a kind of Agony and trembles during the Fit which is never long for if it were the Life could not continue But thro' this agonous condition and strugling strife of the Properties of Nature the Element of Fire is awakned which is of a quick powerful active Quality and doth penetrate all parts of the Body and breaks open all the Passages which sets Nature into a great Heat throughout all the Body like a Fever and then this taciturn Contraction and suffocation of the Spirits does begin to cease but great dry Ardors do remain a considerable time after and by their violence do awaken the Element of Water which causes a breathing Sweat to succeed that is very beneficial to Nature and gives ease and so the worst seems to be over for the present Now all those Diseases that cause Nature to shake and tremble as Agues Vapours and the like are caused thro' the suffocation of the Spirits which does first awaken the Original Quality viz. the astringent taciturn twitching Property that does forcibly draw and contract all the inward parts and particularly the Vessels of the Stomach and in a moment stops all the Passages which Nature cannot endure and live and therefore uses her utmost efforts to get rid of those Chains by which contention the bitter Quality is awakned for that Quality above all others cannot brook Confinement but breaks open all the barricado'd Passages with its fiery and rapid Motion and awakens the hot Property which presently sets Nature into such a Flame as should it continue would soon consume her but these Heats do so violently hunger after and draw the Airy Quality as its true Life that it rouzes the Watry Element and thereby quenches that Combustion whereby Nature receives Relief and Refreshment But the Original Cause of all at the first is the wounding the Volatile Spirit which in Women is quickly done but Men are very rarely troubled with this Distemper of Vapours and the like because their Nature stands in and proceeds from the Root of the Fire and the Properties of Saturn and Mars are more predominant in them and therefore their natural or central Heats are greater and stronger than Womens and consequently are of better Judgments and Abilities both for the doing and the governing of all things For Man was made first and hath in himself the strong might and tincture of the Fire which is furious and forth driving very desirous to manifest it self But the Tincture of the Female is from the Water viz. from Venus Therefore the Males of all sorts of Creatures are far hotter and of stronger and greater Spirits and more desirous of Copulation or more unchast than the Females not subject to those Uncleannesses but fit for Generation at all Times and Seasons which Women are not And hence it is and always was accounted a greater Sin and Shame for a Woman to be unchaste than for a Man though it is not excusable in either And for the same Reason Women were never allowed those Priviledges of Polygamy as Men among the Ancients For the unchastity of Women destroys the Generation of Mankind in the Root and brings Confusion and Desolation to Families so that Wantonness in Women is a Sin against God and against Nature For the Creator in the beginning hath implanted Modesty and given the Bridg of Chastity unto Women and indeed unto the Females of all Creatures by enduing them with a cold meek Temper derived from the Element of Water which doth allay and cool them and therefore they are naturally more moderate and not so hot and desirous of Copulation as Men and when once they have Conceived are satisfied till such time as they have brought forth setting aside the Consequences proceeding from a debauched Imagination or the wanton Provocations that happen between Men and Women which force and strain Nature but as for pure natural Inclinations they cease and are as free from them as Sheep or the Females of any other Creatures These are the wonderful Works of the great Creator for if it were not so all Generation would be destroyed and corrupted even in the very Root as sometimes it comes to pass among Lascivious and Petulent Men and Women through various sorts of Uncleannesses which are against God's Law and the Right of Nature Do not all the Beasts of the Field observe their Times and Seasons And after Conception do they not strictly withstand their Males and not suffer them to touch them till after they have brought forth and also brought up their young Ones and made them capable to shift for themselves All which time they remain without Inclination because the end of Nature is answered and this is according to the first Law of God which all Creatures have kept especially the Females unviolated EXCEPT WOMEN But though I said that Womans natural Inclinations to the Sports of Venus do cease after Conception yet it
should they be forced to Sleep as the Custom of some is but to go to sleep as Nature inclines them Also they must not sit or lie too long without Motion for 't is that gives Spirit and Life to all young Creatures It is to be noted also that Womens Distempers as to Windiness and many other Weaknesses are much encreased by their straight Garments and Lacings which do press and wound the strength of that part it being one main Reason of their shortness of Breath contracting the Passages and Vessels of the Stomach which causeth also Sickness with pricking pains in the sides and often sends Fumes into the Head nothing being more Injurious to them than those Bodice and Stays which are as stiff and hard as Boards which makes the Stomach Waste and Back so feeble that many when they leave them off they feel themselves so weak that they are forced to continue them neither can they hardly turn themselves in their Beds but seem as if they were unjoynted which causeth many other Inconveniences as growing deformed and makes Labour and Exercises burthensom If these Rules be followed and observed by any they will find great benefit thereby and be eas'd of much Trouble and prevent a great Number of Diseases and lay Foundations for an healthy sound Generation CHAP. XII The Cause of SURFEITS and how to prevent them and keep the Body in Health As also of large Drinking after Meals and of eating of Suppers WHen any one finds himself much wearied or very hot through some violent action or fainty through Labour or long fasting or any other Accidents of the like Nature which may have wasted the Radical Moisture and spent the pure Spirits whereby the whole Body becomes heavy dull and indisposed Then to recover Nature and the Spirits and yet at the same time prevent the Diseases called Surfeits these following Rules are absolutely necessary for every one to observe 1. Before eating or drinking you ought to rest by sitting still and silent or taking a small nap of sleep or if conveniency will permit go to Bed and keep your self warm for an hour or two or three according to the greatness of the occasion which will recover the Spirits and strengthen the natural Heat and sharpen the Appetite refreshing the whole Body and chearing all the Senses so that you shall not only eat and drink with tenfold more pleasure and delight but with much more safety as to Health For no Meats or Drinks though of the highest Preparation have such Power to recover and restore the Spirits and make the sweet Oyl in the Body burn clear as Rest hath for which cause a man can fast longer from Food and with less prejudice to his Health than from Rest or Sleep Nevertheless in some of these times of Weariness there is necessity of present eating or drinking but then it ought to be done sparingly and such Food as is easie of Digestion as thin brisk Gruels Pottages and the like and that in a small Quantity for when the Spirits are spent by any of the forementioned Accidents the natural Heat of the Stomach is so weakned that it cannot bear any great Quantity of Meats or Drinks nor such Foods as are too strong in Quality without manifest danger to the Health All Inequality in this state is very perilous for when the Radical Moisture is wasted the natural Spirits are dull and impure which cannot be restored but only by Rest for the quickness and sharpness of the Stomach and digestive Faculty does chiefly consist in the Goodness and Quantity of the Radical Moisture and pure Spirits And for this cause those that are tired with Labour a less Quantity of strong Drink or Food will overcome them Also those that are endued with strong Spirits and whose Radical Moistures are pure and free from Obstructions have good and sharp Appetites and can eat and drink greater Quantities without prejudice to their Health but on the contrary such as have but weak Heats and few Spirits have but little Stomachs and faint desires to eat their Stomachs being full before their Bellies and the same is to be understood when the Spirits and Natural Heat are impared and made impotent by Accidents Therefore Rest after any kind of Weariness be it what it will is a most safe means to preserve Health and prevent the generation of Diseases 2. It is to be noted that Surfeits and Obstructions are not as many suppose contracted at the first or second Inconveniency except the Accident or Disorder be very great but by degrees every Excess sows some seeds for Diseases which would be prevented if care were taken and Nature not overcharged especially at the forementioned times viz. when the Spirits are weakned or spent for then the sweet Oyl and Radical Moisture immediately turns sourish and then follows an unnatural Heat and Disorder through the whole Body with a dizziness in the Head for the Volatile Spirit is the true Life and Being of every thing Many lively Instances might be given to demonstrate this as we see in all the Vegetations of the Earth if the spirituous parts be any way destroyed or suffocated that Herb Seed or Grain decays and becomes of no use or vertue which is likewise manifest in all Spirituous Liquors as Beer Ale Syder Wine c. if by long keeping or other accidents the spirituous parts be wasted or evaporated immediately the sweet Quality as it were dieth and then the bitter sour astringent Properties predominate and appear in their own Forms which whilst the spirituous and sweet Qualities were strong and not violated did lie hid being therein incorporated So that were it possible for Man by any Art to retain the Volatile Spirit in any Liquors or other things then such things would continue firm and good in all their parts forever The same is to be conceived in the Humane Nature and therefore all People ought to consider the danger the Spirit is in on all Disorders and Superfluities for presently the Appetite is dulled and the Pallate cannot taste or distinguish the pure Relish of any sort of Food For where the Spirits are weak all the Properties of Nature become unequal in their operation and rise up with a kind of violence or hunger after the sweet Oyl with eagerness to devour it which is the true Life Pleasure and Moderator of all the other Properties and Qualities and therefore when once the same is wounded the whole System of Nature is disordered and all her Oeconomy disturbed And this is really the very Root of all Distemperatures both of the Body and Mind which if every one did understand and take care that Nature were not overcharged might easily be prevented But though Nature doth frequently complain sigh groan and languish under many such Inconveniences and burdens yet few there be that ever think or consider the cause from whence such Indispositions proceed but for the most part through Ignorance take wrong measures for if
any find themselves weak fainty weary and the like they presently think to supply this defect of Nature by giving her good store of rich Food and Cordial Drinks which for the most part do but add a second burthen to her and proves of a more hazardous consequence to the Health than the first Disorder since these Indispositions generally come not for want of Nourishment but rather the contrary and for want of due Rest after too violent Actions or over-long continuance at them and for lack of giving Nature proportionable Meats and Drinks whereby the Spirits and Radical Moisture are wasted as aforesaid tho' it must be confessed That Health and Strength cannot be maintained but by a constant supply of Meats and Drinks yet the main thing is in the due and proper Timing thereof Therefore weak-natur'd People at all times and others whenever by Labour Travel or Fasting they are brought into a weak and fainty state should then be more than ordinarily careful that their Meats and Drinks be not too strong nor too much in quantity nor of a contrary quality but proportionable to the present strength of their Natural Heat 3. Great drinking of Wine and strong Drinks after full Meals of Flesh and Fish most of them being of disagreeing Natures one to the other do often wound the health and that constitution is rarely known that they do not prove of evil and dangerous consequence unto which many of the richest sort of People in this Nation might know by woful experience especially in London who do yearly spend many hundreds I think I may say thousands of Pounds on their ungodly Paunches Many of whom may save themselves that charge and trouble they are usually at in learning of Monsieur Nimble heels the Dancing-Master how to go upright for their Bellies are swelled up to their Chins which forces them to behold the Skie but not for Contemplation-sake you may be sure but out of pure necessity and without any more Impressions of Reverence towards the Almighty All-wise Creator than their Fellow Bruits for their Brains are sunk into their Bellies Injection and Ejection is the business of their Life and all their precious hours are spent between the Platter and the Glass and the Close-stool and Piss-pot Are not these fine Fellows to call themselves Christians and Right Worshipfuls The natural Heat being overcharg'd by too great a Quantity of rich Food that contains overmuch Nourishment stops the Passages arrests the Spirits and makes the Stomach violently attract unto it self from all parts of the Body the pleasant moist Vapours to help and assist her to overcome and digest that load of Victuals which they have ingorged that often puts Nature very hard to it in her internal Laboratory causing a kind of suffocation of the pure Spirits drying and consuming the Radical Moisture and thin refreshing Vapours Therefore after such Epicurean Meals there is always an Indisposition through the whole Body with dulling Fumes in the Head and drouziness that generally continues four five or six hours more or less according to the strength of each mans Constitution and the quantity of Food During which time the Passages of the Spirits are obstructed the Pores stopt so that the thin pleasant Vapours of the Air from without cannot penetrate and thence the Blood is heated and its Circulation hindred and all this by gross phlegmatick Juices arising from Superfluities which impede the Passages and free Course of Nature But after some hours when Nature hath strugled with these Besiegers and flung off their Chains and overcome her Enemy and forced her way and made a separation then the Road of the Spirits is again laid open and the Pores are unlockt to let in the refreshing Breezes and the Man grows brisk and lively and fit for business And so indeed he might have been all this while if to pamper a liquorish Pallate and gratifie an extravagant Humour and Custom he had not wilfully Ingurgitated so much Food as thus oppressed Nature for the present and tho' he think now all 's over and is ready the very next day to attack her again with a like Debauch yet he shall shortly find the Dregs remain there is a Morbifick matter left and continually encreased which at length being ripened into Act by some proper Aspect of the Heavens or similary Accident on Earth breaks forth into a most grievous Surfeit or violent Fever and the Man is all on sire and sighs and languishes and dies And who shall pity him since if he would in time have hearkened to the Voice of Reason or Experience either of them would have told him That the sole Intention of Nature in eating and drinking is purely to support and refresh her and not burden her and therefore he ought to have chosen simple Food and the quantity not too great for the natural Heat and then he should have found after such eating and drinking a certain pleasant and refreshing and chearing Joy spread through the whole Body from the Center to the Circumference being more brisk lively active and useful than before But still many there are that be not content to Overcram Nature with too great a quantity of Food but they will needs drown her too with a deluge of Drink pouring in such vast Quantities of Wine and strong Liquors into their foolish Hogsheads as if they designed to make their Souls immediately swim out of their Bodies This second Charge especially when it comes immediately upon or soon after the first wounds Dame Nature to the very Heart and sets her on fire consuming the sweet Oyl and Radical Moisture by whole-sale suffocates the purer Spirits and puts the Blood their limpid and natural Habitation all into a combustion and the first and greatest Sufferer in this Hurliburly is the pure Volatile Spirit Balsamick Body and pure Oyl which is of a friendly Nature so meek and gentle that it cannot without manifest danger to the Health endure any such harsh Fires or churlish Motions And whenever Violence is offered to this benign quality Nature falls into a languishing which makes the Functions of the Stomach to cease and the Salt's spirit looseth its savour if the Disorder happen near the Center of Life But if only the pure Spirits and sweet Oyl of any Member be hurt then it often falls out that the Evil and Defect remains only in that Member and the Stomach and Center continue well and in such cases the Life is seldom in danger But many Physitians mistaken in Nature do conclude That the cause of such Defects proceed from some ill-habit or vitiated Tone of the Stomach and more Central parts and therefore they will give strong Potions of harsh Medicines both Purging and Vomiting which for the most part hurt Nature weaken the Center help to weaken and destroy the Balsamick Vertues and the Limb or Member afflicted grows worse for when in any Member the wrathful Saturnal and Mercurial Poysons and sulpherous Heats of Mars
but they are never the better satisfied nor eased but rather increase the Pain thereby I am confident abundance of People can witness this to be true from their own Experience and yet will not consider or regard the true Reason or Causes of it For it is a gross Mistake when any shall feel their Stomachs gnaw or gripe in this manner to run presently to the Cupbord and think thereby to cure that defect which for the most part does but increase it and no longer gives ease than the Food or Drink is in the Mouth for this evil habit of the Stomach does not proceed from want of Food or Nourishment but through sharp crude superfluous Matter which dulls and disables the Natural Heat that it cannot perform its due Office of Digestion for where Food is thus too frequently cramm'd in the digestive Faculty has not power to make separation which does as it were suffocate the pure Spirits and then presently the sweet Oyl or Juices of such Food turns either of a keen sowr or bitter Quality according to the disorder or nature of each man's Stomach and Constitution which depraved Juices disperse themselves into several parts of the Body enfeebling the Joynts and Members wounding the Spirits and making room for outward Colds and the like Accidents to take place for Colds do rarely seize any part of the Body provided the Accident be not too extream except first there be some inward defect or weakness as may appear by those that are troubled with stoppages of the Breast whom every petty Accident nay even the alteration of the Air shall sensibly afflict But as Nature abhors all Extreams so on the other side over-long Fasting does help to generate windy Diseases especially in infirm People whose natural Heats are weak and Spirits few for they will soon grow fainty and Fumes and Vapors will be apt to fly up into their Heads and when they come to eat a small matter makes them sick for too long fasting does spend and evaporate the Spirits and waste the Radical Moisture and hurt the digestive Faculty so that after eating and drinking the Senses seem to be stupified and the whole Body sleepy and indisposed and besides after such long Fasting People are apt to strain Nature by taking more Meat and Drink than she can bear Therefore a Mean is safest in all things for if any refrain from Food too long the Action of the Stomach is so vigorous and its attractive Faculty so powerful that it preys on the natural Spirits and radical Moisture so that you shall then find a very imperfect Appetite whence comes that common Saying I have out-fasted my self or My Stomach is gone For the strength and perfection of the Palate and Stomach consists in the strength and vigor of the Spirits and radical Moisture therefore both superfluous eating and drinking and also immoderate fasting do generate Diseases and cause Indispositions both in the Body and Mind Therefore it is not so commendable nor so healthy to make but one Meal in twenty four hours as to make two moderate Meals in that space for otherwise there is apt to be too great an Emptiness and too eager an Hunger which makes People give themselves such a freedom of eating as thereby the Vessels aâ—e stretched by the great quantities of Food which makes such have great Bellies and prove fat and gross But though they will eat but once a day yet many of them that are able to come by it do give themselves the liberty of drinking lusty Evening-draughts which do so stupifie the Senses and heat the Blood and furr the Passages so that it is no wonder that they are not prepared for a Breakfast In a word there is nothing so safe nothing so pleafant as Temperance and to observe proper times and feasons for eating and drinking and keeping within the bounds of what is necessary both in quantity and quality And this we must aver That as the world goes few there are that hurt their Health with Fasting in comparison of those Multitudes that destroy themselves by Superfluities nor is it so dangerous a consequence if any competent care be taken It is also to be observed That all kinds of Food ill prepared is hurtful and apt to forward those Windy Distempers for any Food that is too much or too little drest or under or over-prepared is prejudicial to the Health but over-prepared is the more hurtful of the two unless where it is very much too little done for over-preparation be it of what you will does in a great measure destroy the brisk lively Spirits which renders such Food of a heavy dull gross Nature and Operation so that it cannot administer such proper Nourishment nor can the natural heat of the Stomach draw such pure Spirits from it as otherwise it would yield for it cannot give what it has not 'T is therefore a great Error as to Health to overprepare Food as the custom of some is viz. to boil Flesh so long till 't is ready to fall to pieces which many do because the Broth should draw forth all the strength and vertue also they boil it in but small quantity of Water with the Pot or Vessel covered by which means the Broth loseth its proper and natural Complexion and becomes of a dull reddish Colour mixt with black which is very pernicious both to those that are in health and such as are already sickly but especially for weak consumptive people whom Physicians generally order to eat of such Pottages for their natural Heats being weak and Spirits low these unnatural Preparations gross Foods do further the growth of their Distempers for all such Pottages have lost their pure spirituous parts and volatile vertues in the preparation and are loathsom to Nature especially to weak people because by the small quantity of Water long boiling and the grosness of such Flesh the lively Vertues and Tiuctures are destroyed and therefore such Goods lose their natural Colour and fragrant Sent and become strong and fulsome for no preparation ought to be continued any longer than the crude body be opened and the gross matter digested for if it be continued longer then the pure spirituous parts will evaporate The Intention of kinds of Preparation is to digest the phlegmatick gross Parts that thereby the spiritual Vertues may he set at liberty but then if the Preparation be continued your Fire will serve you as the Celestial Fire viz. the Sun and Elements do the Husband-man when he makes his Hay or the Malster his Malt for first the Sun exhales the gross Body and phlegmatick Parts of the Grass or Herbs and sets the Spirit at liberty which perfumes the whole Field with most delectable Odors but if this Hay be continued too long in the Sun and open Air its spirituous Quality will also be exhaled and then it will become like Salt that hath lost its savour good for little but the Dunghil The very same is to be
time Our Friends Abstinence Temperance and Cleanness do continually shew us the vanity of such things and spur us on and hasten us towards the Land of Peace We do not look back for fear we should awaken the Centre the original Poisons and then our sweet Water would be in danger of being dried up as it came to pass in Lucifer and his Legions there being but nine Figures or degrees of Wisdom attainable by mortal Men the tenth Number viz. o is the highest and those that have gradually passed through the Nines must stand still in silence and leave off all numbering and suffer God's Holy Spirit to work the Will and the Deed in him as he pleaseth We have no Butchers Fowlers nor any that belong to the Trade of Killing Violence or Oppression amongst us most of them revolted and join'd themselves to Pharaoh before they came out of Egypt and were destroyed with his Troops in the Sea of Blood or Wrath and those of them that passed through the Red Sea were cut off in the Wilderness for finding their Trade very bad and low and the nearer they came to the Land of Peace the worse it grew so they began to tumult and complain and murmur against the Lord that he dealt so hardly with them Which awaken'd the Centre of Wrath and destroyed them so that none of this sort of People enter'd the holy Land that flows with Milk and Honey and not with the Blood of the humane nor bestial Nature Neither have we any Billings-gates all that sort of People are our Hewers of Wood and Drawers of Water And but very few Inns of Court-Gentlemen or Templers all of them that escaped the Egyptian Plagues were destroyed with Corah Dathan and Abiram in the wild Nature of this World or Wilderness Neither have we many Churches and yet have a great number of Temples in which we worship the Lord but there be no Bells in them that are compounded of imperfect Metals therefore we have no need of those robustick Musicians viz. Ringers to call the People to worship such Musick is too Saturnine and Martial for us No every one of us hath his own Bell and none can ring or make Musick of it but himself which being skilfully handled makes a more sweet soft and pleasing Harmony than the Egyptian Bells who are loud harsh and penetrating and all the Ringers are rude cruel and inhumane Our young People do not learn to ring any Bells but their own which when well learned calls them to the Worship of God in the proper Times and Seasons even as the good Spirit of God shall teach them as the Scripture saith The holy Men of God taught and spoke as the Holy Spirit moved in them We do not admit any to be Magistrates or Governours over us but only those that by Industry Prayer and Meditation have attained to a more excellent Understanding of God Nature and Themselves than their Neighbours which doth render them fit to govern We account none capable to govern others that have not first learned in all particulars to govern themselves It is contrary to our Philosophy to mix or compound our Food with things of disagreeing natures We use no double Preparations the more simple our Food is the more agreeable it is to our Nature and best sustains our Healths It is not a Custom for our Women to give or suffer their Children to drink any kind of Beer or Syder whilst their Food is chiefly Milk there being nothing more contrary to Milk than such sharp Liquors Milk being of a sweet gentle mild friendly Nature and Operation having no manifest Quality that doth too violently predominate there being a certain Harmony between the Properties of Nature in Milk and therefore it hath always been found by Experience to be the best Food for Children and all young People administring proper Nourishment in Equality to all Parts But on the contrary all sorts of Beer Syder and other fermented Drinks are of a sowr keen or sharp Quality and for this cause being mixed with Milk it turns or separates the wheyish part from the thick the same is to be understood if Children or others drink after eating of Milk if they do not forbear a convenient time till the Stomach hath made separation and alter'd the Property of it Besides the constant drinking of such Liquors do sowre the Stomach and generate a keen or sharp Quality which is apt to turn the Milk into an hard tough substance and thereby puts Nature to great difficulty to concoct or make Separation Doth not our daily Experience shew us that all Curd of Milk is hard of Concoction and burthensome to the Stomach For this Cause many having used themselves to drink plentifully of strong Drinks and to the eating of compounded Food which have so sowr'd the Stomach and alter'd it from its simplicity that the eating of this friendly harmless Food becomes offensive to them and disagreeing especially to some particular People whose Stomachs are as it were naturally inclined to generate a sowre Matter For this cause if any shall drink immediately after eating of Milk it will cause them to puke up the thin wheyish parts whilst the hard substance remains in the Stomach which doth foul and hinder Concoction For these Reasons it is much better for all Children and young People whose Food is chiefly Milk to drink Water it being the most like Milk of any Drink of a mild gentle friendly Nature and Operation which is farther manifested by its being mixed with Milk they mix or incorporate themselves as one entire Body making no variation or separation as other Liquors will and therefore it hath been found by Experience in all Ages to be the best and most natural Drink for all People but more especially for Women and Children who are endued with tender Spirits and gentle Heats and if their Meats and Drinks have not a near Affinity both in quality and quantity to their Natures it will quickly put them out of Tune and cause them to fall into Diseases and then Nature will become unequal in her Operations Every like doth with highest diligence endeavour to beget its Simile both in the Body and Mind Water being in its own nature so clean simple and innocent that it doth not only wash and cleanse the Mouth throughly and all the Vessels of the Stomach from such gross thick Matter that doth stick and furr them but it doth distil its moist Nourishment into all parts of the Body without making any noise or causing an unequal Motion cooling and refreshing Nature strengthens Concoction thins the Blood causing it to circulate freely makes the natural parts brisk and lively For this cause those Women and Children that do constantly drink Water are not subject to so many Diseases as others whose practice is to drink strong Liquors We have but one sort of Bread which is neither coarse nor fine We never change the Fashions of our Garments nor deck them
for we are not acquainted with the Babylonical Language where one understandeth not another Distances of Places or various Elevations of the Pole do not cause our Speech to differ for we can as familiarly converse with those of our own kind when removed a Thousand Leagues off as if we had still remained on Cotswold Hills or Salisbury Plain for we are not subject to the Tyranny of School-Masters or the Pedantry of Grammar nor troubled to spend seven years under the filthy punishment of the Rod or more cleanly Discipline of the Ferula merely to learn a few Gibberish Words but we bring into the world with us one simple and general Tone or Sound which we can vary and alter according to the degrees of our Spirits Affections and Passions When we call for our stray'd Lambs it is after one manner distinctly understood by those of our Kind and when we miss our Fellows 't is another but still to them intelligible that 't is to such a purpose and so when we call our Fellows into the Corn-fields or when we have need of Pasturage still we send forth peculiar Tones or Bleats Our Food and our Drink is all simple and natural and therefore we are seldom sick and if we are the chief cause thereof is our Shepherds and Guides who for Covetousness of Gain will half starve and founder us one half of the year and then afterwards in the declining part of the year when all Grass grows weak gross and full of Phlegm then they put us into fresh Corn-fields and other Pastures whereupon those Diseases which were contracted for want of proper food and by the unskilful management of our Guides do manifest themselves sometimes by breaking out with the Scab and various other Diseases And also when years happen very wet especially when store of Rain comes in August or September causes Land-floods then if our Guides be not skilful and very careful of us we suffer Epiaemick Diseases for those of our kind are so tender-natur'd and so equally temper'd that we cannot bear any Extreams without manifest prejudice to our Healths more especially excessive Moisture for we are Phlegmatick Sanguino by our Natures and a little inclined to Melancholy for this Reason very wet dripping Seasons especially in the Fall of the year prove dangerous to us and therefore at such times our Owners ought to keep us pretty long in our Folds and to feed us on the highest Grounds that so the sweet Influences of the Sun and Elements may dry and exhale that gross Moisture which the Night produces before we feed thereupon also they should then give us some Hay or Corn in our Folds which would not only dry up those moist Humours but strengthen our Spirits and enable us to withstand those malignant Dews But most of our Keepers are altogether ignorant of our Nature and so not only suffer us to fall but by their ill conduct precipitate us into many Inconveniences which if we were left to the dictates of our own Instinct by Nature we should avoid for we naturally delight on high ground as Mountains Downs and high Corn Fields and there we are very healthy never afflicted with the tortures of the Stone the trembling Palsie the meager Consumption the idle Gout or the lascivious POX we need not your Bagnio's or Hot-Houses we never are troubled with your horrid purging and vomiting Potions nor crammed with Bolus and Turpentine our Food and Drink is truly natural and innocent and suffer all Changes of the Elements and Seasons without complaining Our Love is as it were universal and War and Strife and Contention are strangers to our Folds Our Females are chaste our Males free from Iealousie and our young Ones are at once the Emblems of Innocency and harmless Sport and Recreation Cleanness and Simplicity dwell in the Root of our Lives and the fierce wrathful Nature terrifies and troubles our Spirits for which cause Wolves Dogs Foxes Bears Lions c. all Creatures in whose Radix the Wrath of God and Nature doth predominate are our sworn Enemies We are also very profitable to those that keep us for every Year we bring them a crop of fine soft Wool which covers the Nakedness of our Princes who oft-times become proud by our Spoils 't is from us a most advantageous Staple-Commodity is raised whereby whole Countries support themselves and by which Multitudes of Merchants grow rich nay our very Dung or Excrement is so rich that it causeth the Ground to bring forth abundance of Corn But notwithstanding all these obligations our unreasonable Task-Masters Men are not contented but after they have yearly plundered us both of our native Raiment and the Fruit of our Bodies our sportive young ones and made the most they can of us living assoon as our Females become super-annuated and not able every Spring to furnish their voluptuous Tables with a Lamb they call them Old Crones and esteem them little better than Dogs and Cats but if they imagine they can make Money of us they will for a small time Regale or flatteringly feast us with store of Pasture and when they think we are fat enough to gratifie their extravagant Desires and Appetites then are we sold driven abused and finally have our Throats cut and our Bodies quartered as if we had committed Treason Now tell us seriously Can there be any thing more ungrateful cruel and tyrannical Do such dealings look like Man in his first state Do not our innocent Cries and dying Groans under your merciless hands penetrate the very Heavens and awaken even the centre of Wrath For no Violence can be done but Wrath must have the chief hand in it and 't is also certain if Men did not live in the power of the wrathful Nature there would be no killing for it is contrary both to the humane and divine Nature to destroy and for this cause it is contrary to the Nature not only of our kind but to most other clean Beasts to eat Flesh or kill and prey upon any of their Fellow-Creatures But on the other side those Beasts that are unclean and whose predominant Quality stands in the wrathful Nature are all or the most of them led by a natural instinct and inclination to kill and prey upon some others of the Creation nay upon Man himself if they find him at an advantage because those bloody ravenous Dispositions are planted in the very Centre of their Lives but those of our kind are in their Radix of near affinity to the undepraved humane Nature And therefore we will be bold since we have obtained so much honour and liberty to plead our own innocent Cause and tell our Governours viz. Men this serious Truth That all Violence as beating hurrying hunting hacking baiting killing fighting rage and contention whatsoever be the occasion what it will does arise from the Fountain of Marah the Root of Wrath and Bitterness in Nature And if our Lord Man were so innocent wise and
Chymical Liquors are at the end of Nature and therefore they will not admit of another Motion Hence it follows that all sorts of Spirits as of Scurvey-Grass of Salt and many others of like Nature that are prepared by Fire whereby the Radical Moisture or sweet Balsamick Quality the Volatile Spirit and Vegitative Vertue or middle Quality are alâ— destroyed have no such physical Virtues 〈◊〉 their Authors appropriate unto them And we do affirm that such as have the Disease called the Scurvey in their Blood shall be as soon and as well cured by taking every morning so many Drops of strong Spirit of Wine as they shall by taking this sort of Spirit of Scurvey-Grass and so of the Spirit of Salt and others For the harsh sulpherous Fires in Stills where the friendly Element of Air is hindred from having its Influence does totally destroy the pure Virtues and opening cleansing Qualities and there does run off only a fierce keen harsh fiery astringent bitter furious Spirit which is very pernicious to Nature and to all the friendly Virtues in the Body nor was it ever known that any such Spirits have given help or cured any of those Diseases which the Lying Authors do so much boast of You may try whether this be true if you take any opening cleansing or purging Herbs Seeds or the like and put them into any kind of Liquor viz. Water Beer Ale Wine or Brandy the last of which those great Physicians and Masters of Art do use to draw their Spirits of Scurvey-grass in when you have put your Ingredients into your Liquor let them lie in it two or three days more or less as you please then put the Herbs and Seeds with the Liquor into your Still or Limbeck and draw it off and you shall only have an harsh strong fiery tart Spirit void of all the Purging Opening and Cleansing Qualities such Herbs or Seeds were naturally endued withal The very same or other as great Evils are in many other of the Physicians and Apothecaries Preparations which ought to be considered and their blind Traditionary senseless Ways and Methods to be abandoned as destructive to the Health and Well-being of Nature It is further to be noted that none ought to apply themselves to the â—â—actice of Physick but such only as the Lord hath in their Radixes endued with proper Gifts and natural Parts for 't is not sufficient for them to read other mens Works and vapour with their Receipts like the proud Iack-daw in the Fable with the fine Feathers stolen from other Birds but they ought to know the true Principles Nature and Operation of every Herb Plant Animal or Mineral that they make use of and for what it is good and the contrary in themselves and also what Simples are proper to be Compounded and what not For he that has no true Knowledge in himself of the Nature of things but follows Tradition blind-fold and trusts to other peoples Say-so's must needs make strange work and instead of Curing often-times Kill and when he does Cure 't is by meer chance Whereas Physicians ought not to administer any Medicine without true Knowledge both of his Patients Disease and what he gives to remove it all things especially where mens Lives are concerned ought to be done with sight and judgment and not without Faith and Prayer to God the Creator of all things who is the inward Virtue Power and Life of every thing For Faith and Prayer do Wonders opening the inward Virtue and Centre of every mean and simple Medicine or thing even Clay and Spittle with it shall cure the Blind this all Physicians ought to be inwardly sensible of and not put so much trust in their Authors for many of them have been very vain and extravagant in their Writings telling us that such and such Herbs and other things were indued with such wonderful Virtues and would cure such Diseases when in truth there were no such things and also invented many improper Compositions even any thing they fancied and most of their Sayings are meer Stories and as contrary to Truth as Light to Darkness Now on such a tottering Foundation what Structure of safety can be expected to be built Our Modern Physicians are much like our Lawyers if a man is like to lose part of his Estate and will vindicate his Cause by Law 't is twenty to one but he spends the other partto secure that and after abundance of charge and trouble loseth the whole Just so if a man through Disorder and Intemperance hath in part destroyed his Health he may be sure to destroy the other part also if he keep close and follow the Physicians Prescriptions and take good store of their adulterated Medicines We must also note that every Patient ought to turn the Eyes of his Mind inward and wait at the Altar of the Lord for an answer and not to do or take any Medicines without some Assurance or Faith in the Lord of his Blessing nor ought any to think himself too mean or simple because he is unlearned for do but read the Scriptures and you may be satisfied that the Lord in all Ages has plentifully given his Gifts and Graces both Divine and Natural to the Simple and Unlearned And as to the Learning of this World did not our Lord Christ himself give his Father the Author of all Beings thanks That he had hid the Mysteries of Salvation both of Soul and Body from the Wise and Letter-learned of this World and revealed them unto Babes poor mean and unlearned People Peter the Fisher-man Paul the Tent-maker c. For indeed the Rich and Learned have shut and double-bar'd the Windows of their Souls against the simple Light of Truth they have cloathed themselves with Vanity and Self-hood being contented with Tradition and a Worldly puffing-up Knowledge which serves them to swagger with but not to do any good with either to themselves or others so that there is no room for the operation of the friendly Love and Light of God they are so full of swelling proud Spirits and noise and boasting Hence it comes to pass that these Admirers of Tradition and Pocket-Learning and the ways of the Multitude are always apt to despise the Simplicity of the Divine Power and Voice of Wisdom not only in themselves but all others and therefore the Lord chuseth to unfold his holy and natural Mysteries unto the Poor and Needy and such who are not wise in their own Eyes and whose Eye-lids are not lifted up For nothing obstructs the Work of the Lord and the Revelations of his Holy Spirit in men more than Inward-Riches Self-conceitedness and the Babylonical-Learning of the Schools of this World which like a too Luxuriant and not well Cultivated Soil produce such abundance of Rank-weeds as overtop and choak the good Seed that it cannot attain to any maturity in the Government of a mans Life the same is to be understood of all outward Fulness and Intemperances
their Mault to be put in too hot when your Water is thus hot then take it off the Fire and put what Herbs Seeds or other Ingredients you please and let them lie in it about an hour and then strain your Liquor from the Herbs c. and let it stand until it be throughly cold then add to it either Ale Beer White or Rhenish-wine or any other Wine you shall think most convenient for your particular use so as to make it either strong or weak as you please and then sweeten it with good Sugar but if you would sweeten it with Spanish Fruits then you are to add the Fruit bruised at the same time as you put the Herbs into the Liquor and let them infuse together and it will do very well and when it is strained and cold add your Wine as aforesaid and put it into Bottles for your use and it will keep 2 3 4 5 6 7 or 8 weeks or more as you make it in strength and drink very pleasant and delightful being endued with all the good Virtues of the Ingredients Physical Decoctions made after this manner will be as welcome to the Pallates and Stomachs of the Sick as good Wine Beer or Ale for there will be no sick fainty gross strong taste nor smell in them as there always is in those made after the common way for all sorts of Beer Ale and Wines have already passed through Fermentation and Digestions which have opened the gross Body of Phlegm whereby the spirituous parts are set at liberty or become Volatile and External so that such Liquors or fermented Drinks will not admit of any other or further Preparation especially by Fire for so soon as they approach it the said Volatile Spirits become either evaporated or suffocated and then presently the sweet Balsamick Body dieth and turneth of an evil sower heavy taste and smell and of a dead heavy Nature and Operation having in it neither true Virtue nor Power therefore the Learned have no reason to oppose me in this Particular for let us both appeal to Experience Take you the best Beer Ale or Wine and warm or boyl it and let it stand till 't is cold and then tell me what 't is good for Verily for as much as Salt is when it hath lost its Savour Nay will not the very standing of such fermental Liquors open to the Air cause the spirituous parts to evaporate and the sweet Body to die and become sower and eager It is therefore no Paradox but a Natural Truth that the boyling of Herbs Seeds c. in Beer Ale or Wine does totally destroy both their Natural and Physical Vertues and such Decoctions are a meer loathing to Nature a Death instead of Life In making of Posset-drink you are to observe when your Milk boyls to turn it with Ale Beer or Wine then strain it and set it again upon the Fire and make it boyling hot but let it not boyl then take it off and add what Herbs Seeds or Flowers you please but if Seeds they must be bruised and let them infuse half a quarter of an hour or thereabouts and then strain it and your Posset-drink will taste and smell and retain the pure essential Virtues and lively Tinctures which the Herbs Seeds or other Ingredients were endued with and be an hundred times more pleasant to the Pallate and agreeable to the Stomach and also much more beneficial against the Disease such Ingredients are appropriated unto than those commonly made wherein the Ingredients are boyled Try and then judge It is to be noted That all sorts of Cordials that are compounded with various sorts of Distilled-waters and Syrups or with Strong-Water as that they call Epidemick-water are an abomination to Nature even in perfect Health when the Pallate and Stomach are strong sharp and powerful and what are they then to weak sick People and Languishing Natures For first the Natural Physical Vertues are destroyed by ill management and unnatural Preparation of each Ingredient before they are mixt And secondly the jumbling together such various things most of which are of contrary and disagreeing Natures is sufficient to destroy the good Virtues of the best of things and therefore 't is certain such Medicines and Cordials have not power to help or cure the least of Distempers not but many thousands after taking great quantities of their Slops may recover and then many people slander the Doctor with a Cure and ascribe to his Medicines mighty Virtues whereof indeed neither the one nor the other was ever guilty They have just cause rather to acknowledge the divine hand of God and his Hand-maid Nature and thereunto attribute the Recovery of their Health and not to those sick fainty Medicaments which generally do abundance more hurt than good Likewise their Epidemick-water is in its own Nature of a fierce hot Quality and Operation and tho it be made of the best of Wine viz. Sack yet the Limbeck does totally destroy its pure volatile spirits and balsamick virtues and also the Opening Cleansing Quality of all the Herbs or Drugs that are distilled with such Liquors or Wine so that there does remain or run off only a strong sulpherous brandish Spirit that has no other Operation than Common-Brandy or Spirit of Wine 'T is true they do allay this hot fiery Nature and Quality by adding to it Sugar or the like which renders it more tolerable to the Pallate and Stomach but the Operation is the very same as Brandy sweetned or any other Spirits If a strong healthy person should be confined to the Cordials Iulips daubing Electuaries and great number of sick Potions boyled Drinks and variety of sweet Slops and nothing more hurts and obstructs the Stomach than sweet things to the close Rooms lusty Fires drawn Curtains and other torturing Circumstances wherewith Doctors and Nurses torment those whose Nature is already wounded and languishing it would no doubt in a very short time destroy the Health of the strongest of men Therefore I would have every Intelligible Person consider the same and the Reasons of things and not be led away by Ignorant Sots who are meer Pretenders and not Physicians for Physicians ought 1st to be born with a Natural Genius and suitable Gifts rendring them capable of understanding natural things 2ly They ought to apply themselves to the Knowledge of God Nature and Themselves 3ly They ought to apply themselves to the Oracle of God in themselves to be taught by the Voice of Wisdom which crys in the Gates of every mans City For he that has not Eyes of his own and Understanding of his own tho he be the greatest of Scholars in outward Learning can never distinguish between Good and Evil but is always uncertain and all his Administrations as vain and presumptuous as a blind mans Judgment is of Colours 4ly They ought to have the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom always before their Eyes and not make Money and
but the Inventions of proud Man are generally obscure scarce intricate and difficult That which I advise is only this As soon as you have cut or prickt your self or perceive any of the before-mentioned Accidents to trouble you and that your Flesh is envenomed suck it with your Mouth and spurt out what you draw from it and continue so to suck ever now and then the more constantly you do it the sooner the Cure will be effected But if the Hurt be great or dangerous then for the more speedy and certain Cure you ought to put Milk or Milk and Sugar in your Mouth and so suck the part afflicted and then spurt it out and repeat it several times and then let it rest a while and afterwards do the same again and if your Wound be great or the Flesh raw or some Flesh cut off then when you have done sucking of it one time in the interim till you come to suck it again lay a Poultice of Bread and Milk on the place and next time you have suckt it lay fresh on again This is a certain Cure if you continue it and it will perform the work in a shorter time than any Plaisters Oyntments or any such things But sometimes the Venoms of such Sores are so great that it will require a proportionate time and in such cases it will be requisite to suck it the oftner and you need not despair of healing it to admiration The same is to be understood of Wens and Moles For the Attractive Faculty of the Mouth and Stomach is so strong that it does by a secret power and virtue draw away the inward poyson that is kindled or awakened by such Accidents and prevents the Flux of Humors for when any part of the Body is hurt or wounded the Violence does certainly stir up or awaken the Mercurial Poysons of that part which do not only cause the Flesh to burn and heat but those Original Poysons do so violently attract matter unto themselves that the Wound or Hurt will quickly swell or putrifie for the Attractive Faculty of Nature stands in and hath its power from the Poysons of Saturn and Mercury Now these Venomous Spirits that are so violently awakened by the Wound the constant sucking with the Mouth does in a secret and most hidden but real and certain way draw forth from the part afflicted which does not only cool it but hinders and totally prevents the flowing of the Humors from the adjoyning part also dislodges the poysonous matter from that very part so that by this way of Sucking the Member or part where the Wound happens is rather made less than bigger for that which causeth any Wound to swell and putrifie is a certain Spirituous Poyson which this attractive Faculty of the Mouth does draw forth and spits it away so that then the Flesh will not heat swell nor putrifie For the same Reasons Dogs and some other Creatures do certainly cure any Wound they receive or other Accident of like Nature by their continual Licking of their Hurts for when those hot Venoms are removed Nature needs no other Remedy but can help her self by her innate power Therefore in managing of the Cure of all Hurts or Wounds the Artist's chief work should be to allay or draw forth those original Poysonous hot Sulpherous Spirits that are so violent in their Operation that they cause that part to burn swell and rage with great extremity of Pain For when in any part of the Body the pure essential Spirits and Balsamick Virtues are wounded or hurt by any kind of Violence presently the Original or fierce Brimstony Spirits are awakened and then they appear in their own Form which so long as the pure Spirits and Balsamick Oyl remained entire were hid or rather moderated and burned gently and friendly and gave life and motion to Nature but as soon as the pure Oyl and Spirits are wounded the aforesaid latent fierce Spirits break forth and shew themselves and become of a furious Nature and Operation The very same is to be understood in the Vegetable Kingdom if you destroy the pure Spirits and sweet Oyl or Balsamick Virtues in any thing then the original Forms of Saturn and Mars appear as is manifest in Charcoal and Brandy For all things both Vegetables Animals and Minerals have but one only ground and foundation and he that understands one by the same Spirit may see into the Grounds and Reasons of them all Nay the chief Cause and Foundation of all Diseases and Distempers in the Body is from the same Ground for when by Accidents or Intemperance the pure Natural Spirits and sweet Oyl in the Body suffers Violence be it in what part of the Body it will then presently the Poysons in that part are stirred up and then there is pain felt there and thence follow those terrible Feavers and Diseases that destroy Life in a moment The Mouth and Attractive Faculty of the Stomach does not only draw forth of the Wound Bruise or Sore green or old the poysonful Spirits which cause Pain and Swelling but by a secret Balsamick Virtue heal such Hurts But where the Hurt is full of Matter and subject to putrifie then it will be convenient to put the Juice of Limes Lemmons or some such keen sharp Juice into your Mouth and so suck your Wound and spurt it out and then take more into your Mouth several times for several days together and not be weary in a day as some are for Nature cannot destroy those kindled Poysons in an instant but it will certainly do it in a shorter time than either Salves Plaisters or Oyntments viz. in two three or four Days most ordinary Hurts will be cured if you apply your Mouth to the sucking of it often both in the Night and the Day And therefore I commend this way of Cure especially to the Country-people who often fall into such ill Accidents as Cuts Pricks Thorns Splinters Bruises and the like which often cost them dear viz. the loss of an Hand or a Leg Nay many times in small Hurts in the Flesh having no Understanding to help themselves but relying upon other Unskilful People many have not only lost their Limbs but their Lives But such as shall use the Means before-mentioned shall by God's Blessing prevent all such Dangers If the Wound or Hurt happen in a place where you cannot come at it with your own Mouth you may get some Body else to do it Also it is convenient that all Wounds Prieks or Cuts when first made should be made to bleed as much as may be without prejudice to the Body for in the Blood the fiery wrathful poysonous Spirits pass away and then the Cure is effected much the soonner But such as do not bleed nor can be made bleed are more dangerous and not soon or easily healed Besides it is to be understood when the Wound bleeds freely there is not any suffocation of the pure Volatile Spirits or at least