Life But when one is naturally of an ill Constitution he loses his Health as often as he neglects the Admonitions of his Instinct and consequently must lead a very troublsome and uneasie Life CHAP. I. Of the principal Causes of Diseases in the general THERE are four Causes of Diseases viz. two remote which are Melancholy or Vexation and Debauchery and two immediate which are an excess of Blood and the too long continuance of the Excrements in the great Guts Of Melancholy The first remote Cause of Diseases Of the bad Effects which it produces both in the Body and Mind and of its Remedies THere are very few Persons who are not acquainted with Melancholy either by Reason or Experience since the Life of Man is a continual Revolution of Prosperity and Adversity and the Oppositions betwixt those two Conditions excite in us contrary Motions and very different Passions That Tranquillity of Mind which accompanies good Fortune is very proper to preserve the Health for tho' the Mind and the Body are of a different Nature yet they have an Affinity which keep 'em in such Dependance one to the other that there is nothing regularly done in the whole Composition unless it be carry'd on by an equal Combination of the two Parts All our Actions are perform'd by the assistance of the Vital and Animal Spirits and 't is their Commerce which maintains that perfect Union between the Heart and the Brain which are the principal Organs of the Body For 't is plain that the Brain cannot produce the Animal Spirits unless the subtil parts of the Blood be convey'd thither through the Arteries and that the Heart which is a Muscle hath not power by its continual Motion to diffuse the Blood through the whole Body but by the assistance of the Animal Spirits Now when the Mind is serene and undisturb'd that all the Parts may be sensible of her Impressions she furnishes 'em with a sufficient quantity of Spirits to enable 'em to perform their respective Actions But on the other hand when the Mind is agitated with a Croud of dismal Apprehensions that give Entrance to Grief and Melancholy she is perpetually ruminating on the Causes of her Disasters and endeavouring with all imaginable Application to remove 'em which must needs occasion a vast expence of Spirits So that all the Animal Spirits which are generated in the Brain are scarce able to supply those Parts which are subservient to the designs of the Soul in the performance of those hasty Motions she requires from 'em and consequently since so large a quantity of the Spirits flows into the Nerves that are bestow'd upon those Parts there are but few left for the other Nerves Now the Parts which help to change or digest the Aliments and are subservient to all the Actions which are call'd Natural being of no use to the Passions 't is plain that the Nerves which go to those Parts receive but few Spirits from the Brain and consequently that their Fibres are very weakly mov'd and their Actions disorderly and irregular so that the Excrements can hardly be expell'd and their too long continuance in the Guts is the immediate Cause of Diseases We may add that the great dissipation of the Animal Spirits when the Soul is vex'd and disturb'd is the occasion that a greater quantity of Blood than usual is sent from the Heart to the Brain to make up the Loss of those Spirits and consequently the Nourishment of all the other Parts is both much lessen'd and chang'd as to its quality For 't is always the best part of the Blood that runs to the Brain and the Body is depriv'd of its best Nourishment particularly the Membranous Parts which are weakned and dry'd up for want of fit Matter to preserve them and this Inconveniency reaching the Intestines as well as all the other Parts 't is certain that they cannot expel the Excrements with vigour by their Vermicular or Peristaltick Motion being depriv'd of the Animal Spirits by whose Assistance they were moved We also see that those who are naturally of a melancholy and peevish Humour who apply themselves to study or to other Employments which require much application are usually lean and subject to be often Costive and commonly fancy themselves to be extremely sick before they have the least disposition or tendency to Sickness What ought to be done in order to prevent the Effects of Grief or Melancholy ALL Diseases as well of the Body as of the Mind may be cured either perfectly or imperfectly A perfect Cure consists in the entire destruction of all the Causes of the Disease which must necessarily cease when the Causes are remov'd Sublatâ causâ tollitur effectus This sort of Cure is call'd cradicative Grief is not only a Disease of the Body but 't is one of the most considerable Distempers that can possibly afflict the Mind It cannot be always cur'd by an entire removal of its Causes since they are not always in our power and the best Reasons that can be alledged to persuade a Man to raise himself by the Strength of his Mind above the reach of Ill Fortune may serve indeed for a fine Amusement to a contemplative Genius but are rarely able to allay the torment of an afflicted Mind For as it is easie for those on whom Fortune smiles to comfort the Miserable so it is hard for those who are in trouble not to feel the weight of their Misfortunes As for Example if a Man was entirely ruin'd or reduc'd to extreme want by a litigious Action enter'd against him by his Enemies a grave Philosopher might indeed admonish him that the Estate he had lost was transitory and perishable and that he ought not to have settl'd his Affections on it neither as a Man because he shou'd have consider'd that he must have left it sooner or later nor as a Christian because as such he ought not to look upon such fleeting Enjoyments as his Portion but upon those which are Everlasting These are certain and undoubted Truths but wou'd not in all probability quiet the Mind of a Person in such Circumstances or make him forget his Loss And 't is no less certain that the Recovery of his Estate wou'd be the most effectual Expedient to restore the Tranquility of his Mind Grief may be also occasion'd by many other Causes which are no less without our power and beyond the reach of Medicines than the former But that which seems to be peculiar to this troublesome Distemper is that whereas other Distempers are commonly cur'd by things that are contrary to 'em that which is contrary to this commonly augments rather than abates the Distemper For a Man who is drowned in Sorrow is incapable of taking Pleasure in any thing and Joy which is opposite to his Grief is so far from easing him that he cannot endure to perceive the least appearance of it in another ' Twou'd be needless then to attempt the Cure by endeavouring
we must not only be possest of an unshaken Firmness and Resolution but be furnish'd with constant Supplies of Grace for Chastity in Youth is a sort of Martyrdom or as a Father of the Church terms it Martyrium sine sanguine This Consideration obliges me to advise all unmarry'd Persons to abstain entirely from the Pleasures that are propos'd to them by this Passion provided their ordinary Food be not too Juicy and provocative such as new-laid Eggs Capons Partridges Woodcocks Pigeons Artichokes Asparagus Celery all sorts of Salt and Pepper'd Meats as also some kinds of Pulse because of their Windiness as Pease and Beans and therefore such Persons must content themselves with less Nourishing Food and cool their Bodies more or less according to their Age and Constitutions which they may do very easily by consulting their Physicians for otherwise they may by abstaining entirely from the Pleasures of Love render themselves obnoxious to many Diseases as Stoppage of Urine the Gravel Stone Vapours Faintings the Jaundice and Green-Sickness 'T is certain that an excessive use of the Pleasures of Love is more dangerous than an entire abstinence from them for the Ebullition of the Blood ending sooner or later with Age the Passions are extinguish'd with it and the Calm we enjoy after the Storm makes us soon forget all the Pain we suffer'd to resist it whereas the Inconveniencies that remain after the immoderate use of those Pleasures such as the trembling of the Nerves Palsie Shortness of Breath Phthisis Gout c. make us pay very dear in a long and infirm Old Age for the transitory Charms we enjoy'd and the frivolous Amusements of our Youth What has been said may suffice to give us an Idea of the remote Causes of Diseases and therefore in the next place we must proceed to consider their more immediate Causes CHAP. IV. Of the Redundancy or too great Abundance of Blood the first immediate Cause of Diseases THE Blood which is the Treasure of Life when it exceeds either in Quantity or Quality may prove the Cause of Death when there is more than a sufficient quantity of it in the Body which we call a Plethora or a fulness of Blood or when it hath acquired some bad Quality which we call Cacochymia or a depravation of the Humours Bleeding destroys or removes the former and Purging the latter We may easily comprehend how Diseases may be occasion'd meerly by the Quantity of the Blood if we reflect upon the Disposition of the Organs which contain and convey the Blood and conduce to its Motion In order to this we may compare the Veins and Arteries of our Bodies to the Pipes of a Fountain the first of which or those that are next the Spring-head are very big and large but grow insensibly smaller as they spread themselves into Branches supposing for Example that the first gives passage to a Foot of Water and that the last do not give passage to above an Inch. The same Observations may be apply'd to the Blood-Vessels The Arteries which proceed from the Heart are very large and are divided into others of a middle bigness these again are divided into smaller Branches which are successively subdivided till they become so small that they are usually call'd Capillarie or Hair-like and Invisible And in all parts of the Body where these invisible Arteries are found they meet with very small Veins which grow larger as they meet and join with one another and return at length to the Heart where they terminate and are as large as the Arteries at their coming out of the Heart Now the Blood flows thro' all those Pipes and the Heart directs its Motion as a Conduit-Maker directs that of the Water in the Pipes of the Fountain And as it often happens that the Water-Pipes are either stopt or broken when a Body that is Bulky enough to fill up the Passage enters with the Water or a greater quantity of Water than they can contain so the Blood-Vessels are frequently obstructed and sometimes broken when the Liquor they contain is either redundant or thicker than it ought to be from whence proceed Fevers Ebullitions of the Blood Abscesses or Impostumes both in the inward Parts and upon the Surface of the Body Bleeding at the Nose and other Parts Apoplexies Suffocating Defluxions and Obstructions of the Intrals which make way for an infinite Number of Diseases But if the Abundance of Blood may be look'd upon as the Cause of so many Distempers 't is certain that the depravation of it may produce a far greater Number of more stubborn and dangerous Diseases CHAP. V. Of the Depravation of the Blood consider'd as an immediate Cause of Diseases occasion'd by the retaining of the Excrements in the Body SINCE the retaining of the Excrements in the great Guts is that which most frequently makes the Blood lose that good Disposition in which our Health consists and occasions a Cacochymia which we have already intimated to be the Cause of the most stubborn Diseases 't will be convenient to give the Reader a comprehensive View of this fatal Source of Distempers The Meat which we eat receives its first Change in the Mouth by the help of the Teeth which are as it were small natural Knives to mince it and of the Spittle which may not improperly be said to serve instead of Salt to help its Concoction From the Mouth 't is carry'd through a long Chanel which Anatomists call the Oesaphagus or Gullet into a spacious Cavity call'd the Stomach where either by a proper and peculiar Vertue belonging to that Part or by the help of an Acid or some other Ferment which it meets with there 't is chang'd into a liquid and greyish Substance which they call Chyle Then continuing its Journey downwards it goes out of the Stomach by its inferiour Orifice and slips into the upper part of the Intestines to the several Parts of which Anatomists have given different Names according to certain Remarks and Observations they have made upon these Parts The first part which in the dissection of several Animals they found to be about twelve Inches long is call'd the Duodenum that which follows which some pretend is not so full as the rest is term'd the Jejunum that which consists of most Folds is call'd the Ileon and so of the rest The greatest part of this Intestine is fasten'd about a Part which by reason of its Folds or Plaits resembles those Ruffs that were formerly worn about the Neck and is call'd the Mesentery Its Figure renders it very apt to retain in a small space a considerable part of this Intestine which is variously wound or twisted about its Folds 'T is in this part of the Intestines that the most useful part of the Chyle insinuates it self into the Mouths of certain Vessels call'd the Lactean or Milky which run along between the Membranes of the Mesentery And the grosser Particles which cannot enter into the Branches of those Vessels
great Guts they can only facilitate the Evacuation of the Excrements that are retain'd in those Intestines whereas when they are taken inwardly they not only cause the same Irritations in all the Parts which they touch and consequently by augmenting their Natural Motion hasten the expulsion of the Matter which they contain but many of their Particles mingle with the Chyle in the Vessels which carry it to the Heart in which as well as in the Arteries they excite divers Fermentations that promote the separation of the different Particles of the Blood in the several Parts of the Body where they are usually separated from its Mass according to the disposition that each of those Remedies has to put certain parts of the Blood in Motion rather than others Thus we may observe that a visible Fermentation or Ebullition is produc'd in certain Liquors when they are mix'd with other Fluids that are dispos'd to put 'em in Motion whereas they remain undisturb'd when they are mixt with others And from the Operation of Purgatives on different parts of the Blood there arises a distinction of Names For Example some are call'd simply Purgatives which are again divided into Hydragogues Cholagogues Melanagogues and Phlegmagogues or Medicines that purge Watery Humours Choler Melancholy and Phlegm Others are call'd Emeties Sudorifics Errhines c. Now those Names are very fitly impos'd either with respect to the Parts of the Body thro' which they procure the Evacuations or to the parts of the Blood which they are particularly apt to put in Motion From hence we may observe that all those Remedies are endu'd with one common Property that is to excite a Motion in the Blood and that their different ways of Operating proceed only from the different Figure or Contexture of their Parts for by reason of their peculiar Configuration they are more easily admitted into certain parts of the Body than into others and by the Irritation they occasion in the Parts they promote the Separation which is perform'd there of some particular Excrements from the Blood And upon this Score we may reasonably say that they are proper to purge such and such Parts as for Example such as are proper to purge the Liver we call Hepatics and those that are peculiarly adapted to the Spleen are term'd Splenetics Besides according to the various situation or contexture of their Parts they are disposed to agitate Certain Particles of the Blood to which they unite sooner than to others And upon this account we may say that such a Medicine is proper to purge such a Humour This Observation is confirm'd by Experience particularly what relates to Hydragogues or Medicines that purge Watery Humours for the Evacuation of Serosities is much more sensible than that of the other Particles which compose the Blood because that which the Purgative drives into the Intestines whether it be separated by the Glands of their inward Membrane or squeez'd out of the Biliary and Pancreatic Ducts being mixt with the Slime and Excrements which it finds in the Intestines it is very hard to determine what Humour hath been chiefly wrought upon or expell'd by the Purgative Medicine CHAP. XII Of the Purgatives that ought to be used for the preventing of Diseases PVRGATION by Stool ought to be preferr'd before all other Evacuations because 't is the most natural and ordinary way and that which best answers the design we ought to have in order to the removal of the Cause of Diseases speedily to expel the Excrements that are stopt in the great Guts and to correct the ill Quality of the Blood which is the Consequence thereof Nevertheless Emetics or Vomits may be useful to some Persons when they are troubl'd with an inclination to Vomit such as those who have a strong and large Breast And others may profitably use Sudorifics namely those who are Choleric and whose Pores are very open Diuretics or Medicines that provoke Urine are proper for those who feel a heaviness and heat in their Kidneys such as are subject to the Gravel live unmarried and abstain from the use of Women Some may make use of such as occasion Spitting and others of those which expel the Excrements by the Nose Those who have a weak Breast and wet Brain may find benefit by the use of these Remedies provided they have no Polypus or other Impediment in the Nostrils In a Word every Man ought to be directed by his own Experience and either have recourse to or abstain from such sorts of Evacuations according to the good or bad Effects which he finds they produce upon him For Example a Person who is apt to Vomit without any considerable trouble when he finds his Stomach over-charg'd will receive greater benefit by a Vomit than by ordinary Purgations whereas those who cannot Vomit without an unusual disturbance ought rather to use Simple Laxatives least the Fibres of the Stomach be weaken'd by such over-violent Motions Others who labour under Faintness or Weariness provided they be not naturally too dry or lean will find themselves eased if after Bleeding they take a Medicine to procure a moderate Sweat The People in the Levant by this means prevent a great number of Diseases Those who are troubl'd with Pains in their Kidneys and whose Urine is of a high Colour or thick may after the use of cooling Remedies have recourse to Medicines that provoke Urine either alone or mixed with Laxatives Those who are naturally inclin'd to Spitting and have a moist Brain may both prevent and cure their Distempers by raising a Salivation by the use of Remedies that are proper to produce that Effect In fine every Man ought to consult his own Experience and study the Constitution of his Body and afterwards use those Remedies which he finds to be most useful and agreeable to him There is one important Rule to be observ'd in the administring of all those Remedies and that is To begin always with the gentlest and most simple It is certain that when we use Remedies meerly for prevention we ought to be our own Physicians for since the bare Presages or Signs of a future Disease cannot be suppos'd to have depriv'd us of the use of our Reason we may chuse those Medicines which upon trial have formerly succeeded and which cannot be so well known by a Stranger as by our selves Besides it ought to be observ'd that there is nothing more various or uncertain than the Operation of Purgatives on Humane Bodies Some Persons are violently purg'd by weak Medicines when a stronger Remedy wou'd not produce the least effect upon 'em There are others on whom mild Physick will not work at all and even the strongest Medicines are scarce effectual On the other hand some are so easily purg'd that a Decoction of Herbs will suffice and to others half an Hours Conversation in an Apothecary's Shop Some are purg'd by Strawberries Cherries Gooseberries Peaches Pears c. Some by sour Milk fresh Pork c. and others by