of the aire and that for two notable causes For first seeing the lungs haue not their motion of themselues neither are fastned to the body to receiue motion from it it was needefull to haue them of such matter that they might bee easily mooued and followe the motion of the breast Next they will receiue the aire more easily without any violence if at any time it enter in vehemently and in great quantitie To conclude this point they are so seated in regarde of the heart that they wrappe it and clothe it both on the right side and on the left and serue to defend it against all the neighbour-bones neere about it But heere wee are to note the agreement and mutuall relation which the heart hath with the heauens in that as the first motion of the whole worlde beginneth by the heauens of which all the other motions that are in nature doe depend so the heart is that member in mans body which first receiueth life and motion and which is the wel-spring and fountaine thereof whereupon also it is the first that liueth and the last that dieth And because God hath created it to put into it the vital facultie and vertue from whence the life of liuing creatures proceedeth hee hath also appointed the arteries who receiuing their originall from the heart are afterward distributed and spread throughout all the members of the body as the sinewes and veines are to giue vnto the aire and vitall spirites necessary for life euen as the blood is likewise distributed by meanes of the veines that come from the liuer to nourish them withall and as sense and motion are carried by the sinewes that are deriued from the braine and marrowe of the backe bone as wee haue already shewed Therefore as the aire hath his motion and the windes their course euen such as GOD hath appointed them in the whole body of this great worlde so wee see that the ayre and vitall spirites are in mans body which is the little worlde as windes that haue their course and passages therein to bee carried vnto all the members and to be distributed and communicated vnto them by meanes of the arteries Hereof it is that they heaue and beate in those places where arteries are appointed to be so that by their peace and quietnesse Physitions iudge of the vertue and strength of the heart and consequently of the whole body of health and sickenesse of life and death and of the whole position thereof Therefore the heart hath a double motion to serue for this vse which I speake because it hath yet a third motion and that of another nature of which wee will speake hereafter But as for this first double motion which is heere mentioned it is so called because the one is made when the heart giueth out and the other when it shrinketh in For when it extendeth it selfe foorth then is it refreshed and cooled thereby and when it gathereth inward and restraineth it selfe then doeth it expell and driue out those fuliginous and smokie excrements which otherwise woulde stifle it This two-fold motion is naturall proceeding from the proper nature of the heart and not voluntarie as that of the muscles is which is gouerned by the motion of the braine and sinewes that come from it For the heart hath his filaments or small threedes apt and conuenient for that purpose Nowe this motion serueth not onely for the vses already spoken of but also for the nourishing of the vitall spirite I meane to drawe the blood wherewith it is nourished and also to prepare foode for the lungs thereby to returne such mutuall helpe vnto them as it receiueth from them For as the lungs serue to send breath vnto it thereby to coole it and to further it in the execution of that office which it hath so the heart serueth to nourish and feede the lungs Whereby wee haue a goodly aduerticement concerning that mutuall agreement that ought to be in vs and of that reciprocall helpe which wee owe one to an other and howe wee ought to acknowledge the good turnes that are done vnto vs and doe the like againe to them according to that abilitie which euery one shall haue so to doe For if wee deale not in that sorte it will be all one with vs in humane societie as if one should separate in our body the heart from the lungs that the one might not doe his duetie towardes the other which questionlesse woulde cause the death and ouerthrowe of the whole body Moreouer wee must note that betweene these two motions of the heart nowe spoken of there is some small space in which there is a little rest and then doeth the heart restraine it selfe and drawe from all sides rounde about the aire which is drawne in by the lungs which it enioyeth and hath vse of And for this cause the heart whose flesh is hard and can hardly suffer hath three kindes of filaments called Fibres which serue for all these motions Thus you see the heart that is lorde of mans life howe hee hangeth as it were in his coffer and withdraweth himselfe into his chamber or closet being in a manner separated from the rest of the body to which he giueth life but onely that hee is ioyned thereunto by veines arteries and sinews which hee vseth as pipes some to receiue the benefites that come vnto him from others some to distribute his good things by Wherein we haue a faire resemblance of that mutuall communicating which ought to be among men For although the heart be as the fountaine of life which it imparteth to all the rest of the members and partes of the body yet can it not liue alone without those necessary helpes of the other members vnto which it is seruiceable Nowe we are to consider the substance situation and countepoize thereof with the nature and vse of the vitall spirite which shall be the matter subiect of thy discourse AMANA Of the substance situation and counterpoize of the heart of the nature and vse of the vital Spirite and of the forge vesselles and instruments thereof of the sundry doores and pipes of the heart and of their vses Chap. 38. AMANA All men howe ignorant and brutish soeuer they be cary about with them in their hearts a great testimony that they haue both a God and a Iudge who approoueth that which is good and punisheth the euill For although they neuer heard one worde of his worde yet they cannot be ignorant of this which they sensibly feele and knowe by experience in themselues that nothing but euill can befall them for euill howsoeuer it be long a comming and that they cannot feele the euill which their sinne hath brought vpon them but they will repent them for committing it and wish it had neuer bin done This is naturall Diuinitie which no body can be ignorant of Whereunto Saint Iohn leading vs saith very wel If our heart condemne vs
God is greater then our heart and knoweth all things And we see that repentance ordinarily followeth sinne and that a sinner can not but feele some heauinesse and griefe Yea nature it selfe teacheth vs when wee are displeased for some thing whereof we repent vs to strike our breast because the heart is within it as also to hang downe our eyes for shame But the vexation sadnesse and sorrowe which after the fault committed a man is striken with because of the hurt that taketh holde of him and the punishment he expecteth or endureth already serueth not but for a continuall torment vnto him as if hee were in a hell except he change his mind amend his fault and returne to God againe and so betake himselfe againe to that place and order of his which God had assigned him Beholde what good instructions we haue in our selues which ought to pricke vs forward to goodnesse and drawe vs backe from wickednesse especially our heart beareth vs certaine testimony of that which is acceptable in the sight of God Now as we haue heard that the forme thereof is aptest for the motion it hath so the substance matter whereof it is made is a kinde of flesh that hath none like it in all the other partes of the body For it is needful it should be so thicke and fast that it may the better discharge that office and duety that is laide vpon the heart On the other side it is so seated in the breast that the foundation and foote thereof is directly in the middest of it but the narrow end of it bendeth somewhat towards the left-side Which is done in regarde of two great commodities wherof the one is that it should not rush against the bones of the breast the other that it should heate the left side the more seeing the right side is holpen by the heat of the liuer which is on that side And although the left part of the heart be very bigge and hard and consequently more heauy then the right which is more subtile thinne and soft and therefore lighter neuerthelesse God hath giuen it such a counterpoize that both sides are of equall waight so that although there be no ligameÌ„t or band to tie it vnto the other parts that are neere about it yet without inclining or bending any one way more then other it hangeth in the middest of the vessell and skinne that compasseth it round about For the left part which of it owne nature is heauiest containeth in it a lighter matter namely the vitall spirite and the right side that is not so heauy hath in it a more heauy matter which is the blood Whereby wee see howe the prouidence of God hath so well framed the counterpoize that both partes are equall like to an euen and iust paire of ballance From whence also we may take a good lesson concerning the vprightnesse that ought to be in our heart and wil and in al our affections with what heart we ought to folow the ordinaÌ„ces of God that way which he showeth vs in his word how we should continue and abide stedfast therein and turne neither to the right hand nor the left as wee are often commanded in the holie Scriptures Moreouer forasmuch as the skin that coÌ„passeth the heart hath the bones of the breast on the one side the lungs on the other it was requisit that it should be of a matter so wel teÌ„pered that it might receiue no harme by the hardnes of the bones on the other side shuld not be so hard as to be able to hurt the lungs which are of as soft teÌ„der a flesh as any is in al the body Which teacheth vs sufficiently that the prouidence of God hath forgotten nothing in any respect But we must further know that there are two capacities or holow places in the heart distinguished one from another by a partition the one being on the right side the other on the left That place on the right side serueth to receiue the blood that commeth from the liuer to the heart by veines both for the nourishing of it selfe and of the lungs and for the generation of the vitall spirites whose forge and shoppe is in the other void place on the left side where the hart doth exercise his chiefe office which is to ingâ—nder the vitall spirites of the finest and thinnest blood which resolueth it selfe there as if it came of the sweate that proceedeth out of the right capacitie Now the vital spirit is as it were a most bright and liuely flame like to the celestiall nature which carrieth heat life to the whole body and is the instrument of the chief actions works therof In this left hollow place there is a great artery which is as it were the stocke of al the arteries in the body which a litle from the heart diuideth itselfe into two branches whereof the one ascendeth vpward to carry the vitall spirite into the vpper partes of the body the other which is some what bigger descendeth downeward By meanes of these arteries which are as it were the pipes of the heart the greatest benefite of all is communicated to all partes of the body Now because the arteries and veines haue neede one of an others help they meet one another are so linked and ioyned together that the arteries are seldome alone without the veines For the arteries being ioyned vnto the veines doe giue them aire and spirite which through the vitall heate stirreth the blood and helpeth to bring it to perfection and to preserue it In like manner the arteries sucke some small quantitie of blood out of the veines whereby the vitall spirite is carried sprinckled and increased Wherein wee haue againe a notable example and goodly paterne of that mutuall communicating that ought to be among men without which neither nature nor humane societie can be preserued the like also heereof wee see betweene the heart and the lungs in which there are pipes that passe from the one to the other for their mutuall helping and succouring one of an other For the Arteriall veine that proceedeth out of the right side of the hearâ— carrieth the blood to the lungs to nourish it and the veiny artery which commeth out of the left side of the heart carrieth ayre vnto it from the lungs to refresh it For after it is brought to the lungs by the artery or wind-pipe the lungs communicate the same vnto the heart Likewise by that same veiny artey the ouer-heated ayre and fumes are carried from the heart and serueth besides to carry the spirite and the arteriall blood vnto the lungs to heate them Therefore this artery is not altogether so thicke as the rest are nor so thinne as the veines to the ende it may easily enlarge or straiten it selfe or giue and receiue the ayre and that through hardnesse it hinder not the motion of the lungs as also
that the foggy blood may not euaporate and sweate through For this cause it is called the veiny artery because it holdeth of the nature both of an artery and of a veine and hath this office belonging properly vnto it to carry the ayre and the spirit There are also in the heart other small peeces which Anatomists distinguish from it as the two little eares the right and the left which are as it were little doores as there is also in all the pipes thereof which are so small that vnneth may they be discerned by the eyes These doores and pipes that are in them â—erue partly to this ende that when the heart sucketh such blood as is necessary for it selfe the veine wherewith it draweth shoulde not breake through any ouer-great vehement and sodaine attraction and partly that the ayre might enter in more gently and better wrought according as neede requireth For this cause also it is why the heart doeth not drawe the ayre immediately from the mouth both because if this space were not betweene it coulde not drawe so much as it wanteth and so woulde bee choaked as also because it shoulde receiue it in too colde whereupon it woulde be greatly hurt Therefore it hath pipes passages and instruments not onely to bring this ayre vnto it as it is brought to the lungs but also to dispence and prepare it as is most conuenient for it as wee haue learned already by our speach of the rough artery and of other instruments of the voyce and of respiration Out of which wee are to note two goodly points of the prouidence and wisedome whereby hee doeth admonish vs of that moderation which wee ought to keepe in all things and how we ought to behaue our selues not only in one worke but also in all things that wee take in hand For concerning the first GOD hath prouided alwaies throughout the whole worke of mans body in such sort that there should be no violeÌ„t thing but hath so wel framed disposed and linked all together that no one part or member shoulde receiue hurt of another but al might help support ech other Therfore if there be any burthen to cary from one to an other God hath so distributed it by little and little and by such conuenient means that no part is pressed teaching vs thereby that he loueth moderation and hateth violence in all things for which cause hee dispenseth all and distributeth drop by drop as it were by destillation And to the end he may conioyne in one things of a contrary nature hee alwayes placeth between two contraries things of a middle disposition which are most apt to tie them together and to keep them Besides we see howe hee hath ordred al the parts of the body so wel that one only member and instrument serueth oftentimes for many offices vses as we haue already touched it Wherin God doth admonish vs further of two things wel worthy the noting The first is that we ought to looke so wel vnto al things that we neither forget nor omit any thing that shal be requisit necessary The other that we should imploy our selues about euery thing that we can and may do according to those gifts and graces which wee haue receiued of God and that we should vse al things to euery such purpose as they will serue and so auoid al vaine and superfluous charges For as it is commonly said nothing is to be done by many things that can be performed by fewer otherwise there will be more hindrance then helpe and greater losse then profit For this cause as God hath not giuen to the body one member lesse then there ought to be so he hath not giuen it one more For if there were either more or lesse it would not only be monstrous but there would be eyther some want or some let hinderance And when as one member is able to satisfy two offices he hath not created many to do it if either profit or necessitie required not the help of many Whereupon gouernours of Common-wealths ought to learne that their people are not to bee burthened with vnprofitable and vnnecessary offices and persons If therefore men woulde learne those lessons that God giueth them in their owne bodies and in the members thereof they woulde alwayes keepe a meane in all things following this heauenly example and neuer offend either with too little or too much But notwithstanding wee haue all Nature to be our Mistres so that shee keepe a schoole within vs and teach vs these things her selfe yet wee profite little thereby Nowe leauing this speach seeing wee haue taken a viewe of the nature of the body and of the naturall motion thereof which is commonly called the Pulse and what vse it hath in this corporall life as also of other things concerning this matter it shall be good for vs nowe to speake of another motion that is in the nature of the soule which serueth not onely for this life but also for the spirituall in respect of which especially it is giuen vnto it an image and representation whereof wee haue had in this motion of which wee haue already spoken It belongeth to thee ARAM to discourse vpon this matter Of the second motion of the heart which belongeth to the affections of the soule and of those that goe before or follow after iudgement of the agreement that is betweene the temperature of the body and the affections of the soule Chap. 39. ARAM. As God is not onely an eternall and infinite essence but also infinitely good and happy so hath hee not rested in giuing vnto his creatures life and beeing as it were imparting to them some part of his being but it hath pleased him also to make them partakers of that Good which is essentiall in him and of his blessednesse and felicitie according as euery one was capable thereof in his kinde For he will not onely haue them to be but also to be well For this cause we see that although men desire much to be and therefore are greatly afraid of death as of an enemy that seeketh to vndoe them yet many times it falleth out so that they desire death to the end they might be no more because they thinke it a greater good or at leastwise a lesse euil to be no more theÌ„ to be miserable vnhappy And by this we may knowe that man was not created of God only to be neither was that his principal end but also to be blessed For this cause as God hath giuen to the creatures an inclination to preserue themselues in their life to the end they might be so he hath put into them a natural appetite desire of that which is good to the ende they might be well and that good might be fall them but man specially is thus affected which desire of good is also ioyned with an eschewing of euill For in the pursuite of good his contrary which is
hath prouided in this sort Wherein wee see it resembleth a pot set to seething which retaineth the heate and seetheth that which it containeth better when it is close couered then when it is without a couer Now we are further to knowe that the stomacke is made of two coats or skins one within an other consisting partly of a fleshy and partly of a sinowy substance The innermost is fuller of sinewes and thicker hauing straight filaments within wherewith as it were with fingers it draweth the meate downeward and without it hath certaine oblique filaments which compasse it about and serue to holde it in The outward coate which is more fleshy hath ouerthwart filaments that serue for expulsion For when the stomacke is sometime ouercharged with meate so that it is not able to embrace and keepe it for digestion then by meanes of the expulsiue vertue it driueth out that which is superfluous and prouoketh a man to vomite to the end it be not stifled through the waight and burthen of the meate it beareth For this cause the throate is a pipe appointed for the moouing of things vp and downe not hauing any attractiue force in it but being onely a meere way and place of passage through which meates and drinkes passe to and fro as neede requireth Concerning the seate of the stomach it is placed in the middest of the body betweene the liuer and the splene and that in such sort that the liuer embraceth and warmeth it on the right side and the splene doeth the like on the left side As for the substance of it it is of the nature of sinewes that is cold and drie For it is very conuenient it should bee so first because of the sense and feeling that it might bee incited by such things as agree with it reiecting all others secondly in regarde of appetite that it might be the greater and of more efficacie Moreouer it was requisite that it shoulde be of such matter to the ende it might bee the harder and receiue the lesse hurt from the hardenesse and sharpnesse of meates And besides the naturall heate which it hath of it selfe it is heated also by the neighbour partes to the ende it may the better perfourme that duetie that lyeth vpon it For this cause it hath on the right side the liuer which is vnto it in steade of a boyling pot or cauldron and on the left side it hath the splene for the same purpose the muscles of the chine bone are behind it and before is the skinne commonly called the Kell Likewise as the heart is not farre from it so the midriffe lying ouer it doeth greatly heate it by continuall motion Whereby we see how the prouidence of God hath well fenced and clothed it on all sides that it might haue as much heate as is needefull for it Touching this skinne called the Kell it is a double coate or couering spreading it selfe wholly ouer the intralles being in fashion like to a purse by reason that it is double and wouen like to a nette consisting of fatte of veines of atteries and of a skinne Moreouer the stomach is warmed by the spirits that enter into it in great abundance by reason that it is knit vnto the neighbour partes by veines and arteries Nowe because it serueth to the nutritiue facultie the naturall vertue thereof is to desire foode the sense and feeling of which appetite is in the vpper Orifice into which many sinewes are wouen that come downe from the braine Therefore when the members of the bodie being empty desire nourishment and labour to drawe it from the veines and the veines from the liuer and the liuer from the stomach and the stomach from the Orifice then is there a certaine contraction and wrinckling as it were of the Orifice by reason of the veines that sucke it In which contraction and gathering together of the stomachs mouth there is by meanes of the nerues a kinde of sense and griefe which we call Hunger whereby liuing creatures are stirred vp to seeke after foode and nourishment I make no repetition heere of that which hath beene spoken before namely of the drawing reteining altering and expulsing vertues of the vegetatiue soule For by our discourses wee may easily vnderstand how euery one of them doeth his duety both in the stomach and liuer and in all the other members of the body But the altering vertue is the chiefest whose office is to change in the stomach and to conuert into iuyce and liquor that meate which it hath receiued This liquor is called by the Physicions Chylus which is a Greeke worde and resembleth the reme of a ptisame it is concocted in the stomach vntill it bee so well prepared that it may be sent vnto the liuer Which concoction is first and principally made by the naturall vertue of the stomach as it appeareth in this that euery stomach doth after a wonderfull manner embrace and warme all the meate which it receiueth euen as the whole wombe embraceth her burthen and fruite vntil it come to ripenesse and when the time of birth is come the expulsiue vertue thereof driueth it foorth So fareth it with the meate in the stomach excepting this difference that the stomach needeth not so long a time to finish his worke in as the wombe doth Afterward this naturall vertue of the stomach is holpen and warmed by those meanes before declared And when the stomach hath finished this first concoction whereby the meate receiued is so duely prepared that it may bee sent into the liuer then the lower Orifice and doore called the Porter openeth it selfe and sendeth this liquor into the intralles and bowelles which are ordained as well to receiue it as to purge foorth the superfluities and excrements Therefore AMANA thy speach shall be of these that so wee may goe forward with our matter of those instruments of the vegetatiue soule which shee vseth in her naturall workes Of the intralles and bowelles and of their names and offices of the nature of the three smaller guttes and of the other three that are greater of the instructions which wee may learne by these things Chap. 62. AMANA If there were no other reason but this that the poorest and basest persons amongest men are the creatures of GOD and created after his image and likenesse as well as the richest mightiest and highest in dignities and honours and that as well the one as the other are members of the bodie of mankinde it were enough to with-holde vs from contemning any person of what condition estate or qualitie soeuer hee bee so that his vocation bee of GOD and profitable for mankinde For in contemning any creature and his estate GOD who created him and ordained his vocation is contemned and iniuried thereby considering that hee is his worke which cannot be mocked but the workemaster that framed it must needes bee scorned Besides wee are to consider that many of
rest and also compound as the Charles-waine the Lion both the beares and others so in the body there are simple or similar partes as the sinewes bones arteries veines c. and compound partes as the heart liuer braine stomacke lungs and such like Moreouer it is certaine that the Planets howsoeuer in regarde of their moouing to and fro they are saide to be wandring starres haue yet their certaine liâ—â—â—tes in the heauens especially in the Zodiacke in which as in their dwelling houses they exercise those naturall powers wherewithall they are endued as the proper mansion of the sunne is in Leo of the Moone in Cancer of Saturne in Capricorne of Iupiter in Sagittarius and so of the rest In like manner although the body of man bee so framed as that there is no one part but it is seruiceable vnto all yet there are certaine seuerall places appointed as peculiar shoppes for each facultie to woorke in especially as the braine for the Animall spirite the heart for the Vitall and the liuer for the Naturall the gall is the receptacle for choler the spleene for Melancholy the sucking veines serue to purge the blood from the serous substaunce of it and so of the other powers and partes of the body To conclude this third vse for a day woulde not suffice to vtter all that might bee spoken in this matter as the Sunne by reason of the Annuall progresse through the twelue signes maketh a sensible diuision of the yeere into foure partes which haue their different seasons and qualities if they fallout according to the course of nature and so likewise the Moone by her 〈◊〉 quartereth the moneth accordingly euen so farethit with the body of man in regarde of his whole age which being considered from the beginning vnto the ending agreeth very fitly to those seuerall seasons both for number and praedominant qualities if the threede of life bee not cutte off in the midway by the rasour of death For the body of man in his first age which is his childehoode is moist and hote and so is the former part of the yeere called the Spring as also the first part of the moneth from the new moone to the ending of the first quarter In the second part of mans age which is his florishing and youthfull time the body of man is hote and dry such as are the qualities of the second part of the yeere or Sommer season and of that second part of the moneth which is from the first quarter to the full Moone Thirdly the bodie of man in the third part of his age commonly called Mans-age is colde and moist according to the disposition of the third part of the yeere called Autumne and of that season of the Moone which is from the full to the last quarter To conclude in the fourth and last quarter of mans age called Olde-age his body is coldâ— and drie like to the Winter season and to the fourth part of the Moneth which is from the last quarter to the next newe Moone Nowe as these three former vses of the Anatomie of mans bodie serue for the commoditie and delight of man so the fourth is the same that ought to be made not onely of the body of man but as Salomon teacheth vs of all the creatures both in heauen and earth and that is the glorie of God For the Lord hauing set in his visible creatures euident markes of himselfe and of his eternitie power goodnes wisedome and prouidence as the Apostle teacheth what remaineth but that man for whose sake seruice the Lord created al things should thereby acknowledge his soueraigne Lord and returne vnto him all glory praise and duetifull obedience for the same That we ought to make this vse of the Anatomicall consideration of our bodies the kingly Prophet Dauid teacheth vs most diuinely by his owne example when after a view taken of the admirable woorke of God in fashioning him in his mothers wombe he breakâ—th forth into this saying I will praise thee for I am fearefully and wonderfully made maruellous are thy works and my soule knoweth it wel And surely vnles we tread in the steps of this worthy king propoâ—â—d this as the scope of all our trauailes in searching out the seuerall parts of our bodies that God our Creatour and gratious preserâ—er may bee praised worshipped feared thereby we shall neuer know our selues aright and as we ought to doe but rather ioyne with the most part of men who not vsing their skill in this behalfe as a ladder to climbe vp by vnto God sticke fast in the very matter and forme of their bodies so that many of them become meère Naturalists and very Atheists One especiall cause whereof as 〈◊〉 it is because they lay not the ground and foundation of their skill in the holy Scriptures the fountaine of all sound knowlege which teach vs that â—t is the Lord that made vs and that formed vs from the womb but followe after some small streames of this knowledge euen such as are polluted with the inâ—entions of mans braine placing the course of nature in the procreation of mankind which is but an effect of Gods almightie working power in the roome of God himself the supreme cause of al. In which respect they may not vnfitly be resembled to Moles that are alwaies plodding in the earth or to swine that finding acorns vpon the ground neuer looke vp to the tree from which they fall They forget that mans eies are therefore set in the head which is the vpper part of the body rather then in his breast belly or feet because he should be admonished thereby to lift vp his mind vnto heauen and heauenly things therfore Plato saith that mens eies were set in a body erected and looking vpward that they might be as guides to leade them to the knowledge of God vpon the sight of the celestiall light notice taken of the heauenly motions Otherwise althogh a mans skill be neuer so great althogh he knowetâ— the way of the stars the walles of the world the foundatioÌ„s of the earth the top of the heauens yet if he be ignorant of the creator moderatour of them all it shal profit him nothing But as no man is to look for grapes of thorns or figs of thistles so we must not thinke that Epicures and Atheists wil once either labor to know God or open their lips to praise him when as yet they haue not learned to beleeue that he is much lesse that he is a rewarder of them that seeke him And surely of all Sathans delusions wrought by him in the hearts of vnbeleeâ—ers this monstrous error of 〈…〉 as that which is destitute of all shew of 〈…〉 selfe into the heart of man For 〈…〉 râ—ption hunger and thirst is not more incident vnto him then 〈…〉 relâ—gion and aberration in 〈◊〉 yet for any man not to see and acknowledge by the dimme candle of nature that God is
insensible as the bones gristles are neither can they giue any motion or sense as the sinewes can but serue only for baÌ„ds to tie the bones one to another to knit the other members vnto them But the sinews which proceede either from the braine or from the marrow of the backe bone whose originall is from the braine are of a teÌ„der soft white substance of that nature that they haue al sense which they impart to al the sinewy parts of the body And of theÌ„ also some giue both sense motion together Therfore their substance is not so dry nor so hard as that of the ligaments neyther yet is it so soft tender as is the substaÌ„ce of the flâ—sh or of the kernels or of the skinnes of such other like parts wherof we wil speake hereafter As for the pannicles cords or filaments which are litle long threeds slender white solide strong we may comprehend them vnder the name of sinews ligaments because they take part of both natures For some of them haue sense with the sinewes others haue none with the ligaments The office of the pannicles which are litle skins made of sinews ligaments is to defend to knit together the members to impart to many of them sense as to the liuer the heart the lungs the splene the kidneis And as for the filaments they serue the body some to draw nourishment others to retaine and keep that which is meete to nourish the body and some to driue forward and to cast forth those excrements and superfluities which help not to nourish it but are only a burthen and griefe vnto it The veines are thinne and slender pipes carying the thicker blood wherewith the body is nourished and they haue their beginning from the liuer For in that the hollow veine is greater and larger then the rest and out of that all the other veines extend themselues into all the body as it were branches proceeding from the body of a tree Herein as we will do in all our discourse we follow the common opinion approued of the late learned Philosophers Physicions Anatomists For Aristotle wrote that the heart was the original of the veins But Hippocrates taught otherwise whom Galen followed confuting Aristotles opinion As for the Arteries or pulses they are pipes that proceed froÌ„ the heart For in that is the great artery planted which is the stock of al the rest which serue to cary the vital spirits throghout the body they are couered with litle skins that are strong thick to keep the spirits from breathing out for the same cause they haue their passages more streight So that they haue two skinnes or couerings whereof that which is vnderneath is fiue times thiâ—ker then the skinne of a veine To conclude the Arteries and veines are ioyned together to the ende that the vitall spirites might draw and receiue from the veines conuenient matter for their nourishment as also that by their heat they might warme the blood that is within them For there are certaine mouthes in them both for this mutuall communication both that the spirit might draw his nourishment from the veines as flame fetcheth the preseruation of his light from the lampe and also that the veines might receiue spirit and heat from the arteries As for the flesh it is a substance of blood which is then made when the thickest part of it is as it were congeled and with that all the members of the body are clothed outwardly Wee must speake more largely of the vses and properties of all these simple partes which wee haue here laid open in few wordes In the meane time in this litle that hath bin discoursed wee see a maruailous prouidence of God who hath disposed and tempered the matter of the body in such wise that hee made it so apt to effect that worke which hee purposed that by proportions and mixtures so well contriued from one degree to another as he hath done in the elements to the end that all the partes of the body might the better be preserued one by an other And although mens bodies are compounded of earth and of the other elements as we haue already touched yet God sheweth himselfe very wonâ—e full in this whole worke and matter of man For as he turneth the earth into diuers natures so that of one peece hee maketh gold of another siluer of this brasse iron and other metâ—alles of that mineralles of another pretious stones of sundâ—y sortes which are as it were â—he bones of the earth besides a great many other things of diuers kinds which were infinite to rehearse so of one selfe same matter appointed for the composition of the body hee maketh vaâ—iety of workes that 〈◊〉 may be framed and furnished in al respects For we see what difference there is betweene the bones which partes are most earthy and so consequently driest hardest and coldest because of al other partes they dâ—aw nearest to the nature of the earth Then the gristles obtaine the second degree next after the bones for agreement of nature as that which is in then iddest betweene the bones and the ligaments as the ligaments are of a middle nature betweene the gristles and the filaments and the filaments betweene the ligaments and the sinewes and so of the rest Therefore as God the great workmaster of nature hath framed all the partes of mans body of matter taken from all the elements so also hee hath tempered his matter according to the worke he meant to make and to that office which it pleased him to appoint vnto euery part and member of the body So that the matter of some partes holdeth more of the earth of other partes it hath more water or aire or fire or else is more or lesse mingled of all together Whereby it appeareth how aptly this workemaster can apply himselfe vnto his worke Wee haue also another notable testimony of his prouidence in that hee hath made the ligaments so strong and firme according to the necessitie of their office hauing ordained them to knit the bones in their ioynts and to bee as it were bands cords to tie and conioyne them together euen as the thongs of harnesse keepe the parts thereof bound and tied one to another We may say as much of the filaments but chiefly of the sinewes which in their places serue for bands to the body And here wee haue also to note that because God hath created them to giue both motion and sense to the body therefore hee hath planted their roote partely in the braine partly in the marrow of the backebone which is also deriued from the braine as the originall of the ligaments is either in the bones or in the gristles or in the skinne and the beginning of the filaments both in the ligaments and in the sinewes according to that vse for which they were made And that the motion
the hippe-bones in them that bring foorth children Others saye that there is no opening but onely that it stretcheth foorth and inlargeth it selfe There are some also that thinke it is so called because it is so necessarie vnto life that after it is once hurt death followeth After this bone the rest that followe are lesse and lesse vntill you come to the highest insomuch that the lowest are biggest and the highest least to the ende that as they are the foundation one of another so they might bee able to beare that charge which they are to sustayne and bee the lesse burdened And as for the coniunction and vniting of them together it is so well contriued that it hath so much strength as is necessarie for it and is neyther too soft nor too harde too drie nor too wette and slipperie but that which is meete for their motions This order of bones and turning ioynts thus raunged is properly called the Backebone or Chine and in Latine Spina dorsi because of the sharpe endes or poyntes which eche of them hath oneuerie side for his defence as it were thornes This whole chine hath a marow proceeding from the hinder part of the braine and reaching downe to the nether ende of the backebone which beeyng rounde in shape is as a riuer whose spring is in the brayne from whence it proceedeth as the great Arterie doeth out of the heart and the hollow veyne out of the liuer as wee haue alreadie declared and may intreate thereof more at large in speaking of the inner partes of the bodie Therefore as the great arterie is as it were the stocke of all the rest being planted in the heart from whence it springeth and the hollowe veyne whose fountaine is in the liuer is as it were the stocke of the other veines so the marrowe of the chine is as it were the stocke and spring from whence all the sinewes issue which afterward like to litle riuers impart their sence and motion And because the fountaine of this riuer is in the braine therfore also the originall of sinewes is attributed thereunto notwithstanding that all those sinewes which giue motion and sence to the partes that are vnder the head except it be to the intrals and guttes proceede from the marrowe of the chine Hereby we may note once againe that that place alleadged by mee out of Salomon where hee calleth the backbone a siluer chaine agreeeth also very fitly with that which is here spoken For seeing the sinewes distribute sence and motion to all the members of the body as it hath bene already told vs and haue their beginning from the braine and marrow of the chine we may well say that it is a chaine and coaâ—d of a great length which extendeth it selfe very farre by reason of other chaines and strings proceeding from it For as the backbone may be resembled to a chaine so the marrowe within it is like to a coarde whereof all the sinewes which are as it were the little strings of all the members of the body haue their beginning and increase And therfore some in stead of a siluer chaine translate a coard or threede of siluer as wee reade in the common Latine translation but the sence is all one And that which Salomon addeth after of the golden ewer which is broken in olde-age with the exposition of the best learned giuen thereof agreeth also very well to this effect For by this golden Ewer they vnderstand the skinne that couereth the braine which is of a yellowish colour resembling the colour of golde It is very fitly called a Ewer because it is a vessell contianing the matter and nourishment of the sinewes and as it were the fountaine of all the motions and sences of the body it is as it were the lodging of all the animall partes and the originall of all the sences both internall and externall Wherefore the matter of the braine contayned within it is of a more celestiall nature then any other part of the bodie and commeth neerest to the spiritual and diuine natures So that this vessell is not without good and iust cause called by Salomon the Ewer of gold For there is in it a fountaine out of which man receiueth great treasures Nowe because the sinewes arteries and veynes were to haue their passage and issue from their fountaine without let or hinderaunce it was requisite that the backebone should haue such holes as it hath and that the bones therof should be of that fashion they are to the ende that neyther themselues nor the marrow within might be easily broken and that the next partes and members might not be hurt For it is very dangerous to haue any rupture or hurt in the chine aswell by reason of the marrow as of the sinewes And because it pleased God to lodge there those internall members of the bodie that are most necessarie for life and for the preseruation thereof he fastened the ribbes to both sides of the backebone namely twelue on euery side and hath left a sufficient space betwixt them that the place might bee able to receiue those members for whose cause they were so built disposed So that there are before and behinde especially about the noblest members very long and large bones to defend them on al sides as it were good harnesse and strong bulwarkes but chiefly behind because the armes and handes cannot so well defend them as they may the other before Therefore God hath better armed them with bones making those of the shoulders so large behind as they are and knitting them also vnto the backebone by their bande but yet so that they touch it not Likewise they are fastened to the highest bone in the brest which reacheth vp to the throate aboue the first ribbe by two litle bones which passe ouer the ribbes that are betwixt them For this cause these bones are called the keyes of the throate For they close and shutte vp these partes as it were keyes so that without them shoulder blades would fall backeward beeing no more able to keepe close together then the poldron of an harnesse not beeing fastened to the gorget The armes likewise are fastened to the shoulders as also the thighes and legges to the hippes then the handes are ioyned to the armes with their ioyntes and bandes as hath beene touched before Now we are to note further according to that I spake euen nowe that the backebone is in a mans body as the keele in a ship so that as the rest of the matter and forme of the shippe must bee well proportioned and framed according to the keele so is it in the composition of mans body and in that correspondencie which all the members ought to haue with the ridgebone of which they all depende otherwise there would be no good agreement but great deformitie And as for the ribbes and brest bones they haue such workemanship as is requisite for the members contained within the
as some name them hauing regard to the diuerse actions thereof and to the sundrie degrees of concoction made therein They call the first action or degree of concoction by the name of a harth because it serueth to heate the foode as a harth doth in a kitchin The second is called a table namely when the food beginneth to gather it selfe together in the liuer and is there placed as it were vpon a table to be sent vnto the members The third action hath the name of a knife giuen vnto it because it diuideth maketh a separation of the humors And the fourth is as it were the wagoner because there is the carriage and conueiance of all from thence into the hollow veine For the naturall vertues and powers gouerne the humors very well conducting and leading them to their due places For this cause the liuer is the fountaine of blood and the spring of all the veines by which it is distributed throughout the body as the heart is the fountaine of the vital spirits the originall of the arteries whereby the spirits necessary for the body are conueied into it as the blood from the liuer Wherfore euen as the arteries are a kind of veins to carry and to distribute the aire breath and vital spirites so likewise the veines proceeding from the liuer are ordained to distribute the blood into all partes of the body These two are lincked together with such a neere alliance and agreement that the veines administer matter to the vitall spirit which is ingendred in the heart of the purest and most spiritual blood as the spirit likewise helpeth the blood by his heat in the arteries Therfore they haue mouths ioyning each to other to the end the spirit as it were a litle flame may receiue norishmēt out of the veines and that the veins may draw spirit heat from the arteries For as we haue already touched our life is much like to a flame in a lamp that receiueth food from the oile put into the lamp euen so the vital spirit which is as a flame within vs draweth taketh norishmēt from the veins Wherein we haue a goodly example of that mutual societie which we ought to haue one towards another in this life Now of those veins that deriue their originall frō the liuer there are 2. principall ones that are very great of which the others are but as it were branches that from the liuer spread thēselues vpwards downwards through all the partes of the body These two veines comming out of the liuer take their beginning from many little veines which being as it were their rootes ioyne together afterward into two trunks or great bodies that diuide themselues againe into diuers boughs branches whereof some are greater and some lesser after the maner of trees The first is called the Port-veine because it is as it were the doore of the liuer out of which it proceedeth being placed in the hollow part thereof The vse and profit of it is to receiue nourishment prepared by the stomach and guts then to keep it vntill the liuer hath turned it into pure blood for to send it afterward to all the body by the other great veine called the Caue or hollow veine And this proceedeth from the outside of the liuer resembling the body of a tree and diuiding it selfe into two great branches of which the lesser ascendeth vp to the vitall and animall parts and to the ends of them and the bigger branch descendeth downe alongst the hinder part of the liuer vpon that part of the chine bone that is betweene the kidnies and so goeth to those partes that are contained vnder them Forasmuch therefore as the arteries and veines are the principall instruments whereby the soule giueth life vnto the body some learned men expound that of the vitall and naturall parts which Salomon speaketh of the siluer coard not lengthened of the golden ewer broken of the pitcher broken at the well and of the wheele broken at the cisterne Wee haue already spoken of the siluer chaine and of the golden ewer when wee discoursed of the chine bone of the backe and of the marrowe of it Touching the residue they vnderstand by the well the liuer which is the fountaine of blood and by the pitcher the veines because they are the vesselles whereby the blood is taken out of the liuer and drawne thence that it may be distributed to all the bodie and by the cisterne is vnderstoode the heart and by the wheele the head For we may already perceiue by that which wee haue already saide of the heart howe seruiceable the liuer is vnto it considering that the heart is the fountaine of the vitall spirits and the originall of the arteries as the liuer is of the bloud and of the veines and that the vitall spirits are engendred in the heart of the purest and most spirituall bloud which it draweth and receiueth from the liuer Moreouer these vitall spirites are by meane of the heart sent vnto the braine and the head to serue the animal powers that haue their places and instruments there and to serue all the senses as well spirituall as corporall Therefore the head is aptly compared to a wheele both for the roundnesse of it as also because it draweth and receiueth the vitall spirites from the heart which sendeth them vnto it as the water is drawne from his fountaine well or cisterne by meanes of the wheele Further as it is needefull that there shoulde bee a coard to reach from the wheele downe to the well and a pitcher or bucket at the ende of the coard to drawe water withall so the arteries reaching from the heart vp to the head are like to the coarde and pitcher whereby the braine draweth vitall spirites from the heart For the great artery called Aorta by the Physicions which commeth out of the heart and is diuided into two great branches of which the one goeth vpward to carry the vitall spirite to the superiour partes and the other downeward to doe the like belowe forasmuch as it ioyneth vnto the heart may bee taken for the pitcher that draweth from thence the vitall spirites as from a well and the branch that ascendeth vpward may bee taken for the coard ioyned vnto the wheele The like may bee seene in the liuer For the great veines of it are as it were the pitcher and the veines that ascend vp vnto the head as likewise the arteries are the coarde that draweth vp the blood from out of the liuer If then wee ioyne that which wee haue already heard of the siluer chaine or coarde and of the golden ewer with that which wee speake nowe of the pitcher and of the well of the wheele and of the cisterne wee may bee well assured that Salomon hath most wisely comprehended in so small a number of wordes all the internall partes of the body and all the powers both animall
that obscure place it receiueth the goodliest and most perfect forme that can be imagined And who will not bee abashed to consider that out of that slymie seede of man there shoulde come bones sinewes flesh skinne and such like things so diuers one from another But yet it is a farre greater marueile to see all this great diuersitie of matter to bee framed in so many sundrie members and of so many sundry formes and that with such excellent beautie so profitable and so fitte for those offices that are assigned vnto them as wee haue learned in our former discourses Nowe as God did not create all creatures in one day although he coulde well haue done it if it had so pleased him so doeth he in the generation of men For albeeit that the members are fashioned all at once so that not one of them is framed before another neuerthelesse because there is great varietie betwixt them both in respect of their dignitie and of their strength nature their mother doeth not set them forwarde all alike For in displaying her power generally towards all the partes of the bodie it commeth to passe that her worke and the figure giuen vnto it appeareth sooner or later in some members more then in others Hereof it is that the greatest and chiefest members appeare naturally before the rest albeit they are not the first that are fashioned So likewise all the members are not beautified and made perfect at the same time but some after others according as they haue heate and nourishment Nature therefore obserueth this order that the worthiest partes and such as haue in them the beginning of motion shew themselues first and then those members that are profitable and seruiceable to the former and are created for their cause And according to this order the highest partes are seene sooner then the lowest and those within before them without and they that receiue their substance from the seed before those that haue it from blood These also amongest them that are most excellent are first notwithstanding many times they haue their accomplishment and perfection after the other as it appeareth in the Nauill For although the heart liuer and braine beeing the chiefest partes of the bodie haue their beginning before that yet is it the first amongest them all that appeareth perfect Nowe then after the Nauil with his pipe or passage is formed and fashioned within the first sixe dayes the blood and spirite are next drawen by those veines and arteries whereof we spake euen now to be sent to the seede and mingled therewith that the principall members might be figured as the liuer the heart and the braine which begin first like to little bladders and so consequently the rest which are fashioned by litle and litle according as they receiue nourishment For the veines whereby the burthen is nourished may well be likened to small rootes whereby plants are cherished as also the burden it selfe may bee compared vnto plants in this point as we haue alreadie learned So that the seed receiuing this forme alreadie spoken of in the first sixe dayes during which time it is called by no other name then seede nine dayes after that the blood is drawne thither of which the liuer and the heart receiue their forme so that after twelue dayes added to the former a man may discerne the lineaments and proportion of these two members and also of the braine albeit they are not then altogether fashioned At this time the burthen is called Faetus of the Latines and Embryon of the Greekes which is as much in our language as Sprouting or Budding Next after this within the space of other eighteene daies all the other members are fashioned and distinguished So that about fiue and fourty dayes after the conception the members receiue their perfect fashion and then doeth the burthen beginne to liue not onely as plants liue but also as other liuing creatures For it hath sense feeling about the sixe and thirtieth day and from that time forward it is called an infant But as yet it is voyde of motion For by and by after it is formed it is very tender vntill that by vertue of the heate it waxeth more dry and firme which is by reason that the moysture wherby it is made so soft and tender consumeth away by litle and litle so that the nayles beginne to take roote at the fingers endes and the haires in the head Now after the childe is come to the thirde moneth if it bee a male or to the fourth if it bee a female it beginneth to stirre it selfe according to the testimonie of Hippocrates because then his bones are more firme and somewhat harder But this is not alwaies alike in all women with childe For there are some that alwayes feele it stirre about the two and fourtieth day others neuer feele the same vntill the middest of the time from the conception to the birth Yea in the same woman the same time and order is not alwayes obserued For according to the strength and good complexion of the child and the nature and disposition of the mother these things change and not onely because of the sexe Neuerthelesse it is most ordinary and vsuall for male children to moue within three moneths or thereabouts as likewise to bee borne at the ninth moneth whereas females are commonly somewhat slower both in stirring and also at their birth the reason whereof is this because male children are naturally a great deale more hote then females Galen attributeth the cause of the generation of sonnes to the strength and heate of the seede and saieth that they are caried on the right side of the wombe as the daughters on the left which is the colder side as being farthest remooued from the liuer He yeldeth also this reason why some children are more like the father and some the mother because of the greater strength of seede which they haue either from the one or from the other And when it commeth to passe that the wombe receiueth seede at two sundry passages which it hath then are twinnes engendred either at one conception or at twaine so that the later bee not long after the former according to the opinion of the Philosophers and namely of Aristotle who rehearseth many examples thereof in his seuenth booke of the historie of liuing creatures saying that a whore was deliuered of two children whereof the one was like the father and the other like the adulterer But nowe wee are to consider of the childe-birth which is as wonderfull a woorke of God in nature as any other It belongeth then to thee ACHITOB to ende this dayes worke by a discourse tending to this purpose Of Child-birth and the naturall causes thereof of the great prouidence of God appearing therein of the image of our eternall natiuitie represented vnto vs in our mortall birth Chap. 72. ACHITOB. Men are of that nature that they cannot acknowledge what they