groweth thicke and grosse the minde is dull and sad This is too apparent in many though it be obscured by discretion in some I see not therfore how Tabacco can be acquited from procuring the ouerthrow of the perfect state both of body and minde and that not onlie in Tabacconists themselues but in their posterity also for the temperament and constitution of the father is ordinarily transfused into the children and the affections of the minde also depending vpon the other This is verified likewise in distempered and sicke bodies Fernelius saith what disease so euer the father hath that goeth into the childe The father giueth the forme nature and essence to the child as Galen affirmeth Therefore where the humours of the body haue contracted a sharpe heat and drinesse by drinking of Tabacco there the father getteth a childe like to himselfe wanting that kinde moisture that should protract his life vnto olde age and incline him to an ingenuous courteous and kinde carriage But many take it imagining that it doth inable them in some actions I confesse that it putteth a sharpe and fretting heat into the blood which doth incitare but they shall the sooner faile in their course for heat can not be preserued without moisture and Tabacco consumeth that by infusing a drie qualitie into the body by excesse of heat and by drawing out of moisture Therefore Tabacco though neuer so sparingly taken can not be good for you nor for yoong and sound bodies and the often vse of it in such bodies driueth them lentis gradibus into their graue long before that time that nature had assigned them Hippocrates sayth that which is done by little and little is done safely and in diet as well as in other things he commandeth all to be vsed with moderation Galen speaking of gentle opening medicines affirmeth that the often vse of them drieth vp the solid parts of the body and maketh the blood thicke and grosse which being burnt in the kidnies breedeth the stone This may as well be verified of Tabacco for many take it oftener than euer such opening medicines were taken and it hath also more heat and drinesse than those had and therefore greater power to hurt sound bodies There may peradueÌ„ture be a profitable vse of it in cold moist bodies but it must be taken very seldome and with great regard of sundry other circumstances To conclude sith it is so hurtfull and dangerous to youth I wish in compassion of them that it might haue the pernitious nature expressed in the name and that it were as well knowen by the name of Youths-bane as by the name of Tabacco The second thing is meat and drinke Our bodies as Galen affirmeth are in assiduo fluore in a continuall wasting the inward heat alwayes consuming part of the very substance of them The vse of meat and drinke is necessarie for the restauration of this dayly losse These rightly vsed according to the rules of physicke haue great power to preserue the body from diseases This is verified by Galen in the same booke To him Fernelius assenteth in these words He shall be troubled with no disease that layeth temperance for the foundation of his life And in the same chapter he addeth That neither the aire nor the affections of the minde nor any other cause doth breed diseases vnlesse there be a disposition in the body proceeding from some errour in diet There are fiue things to be obserued in the vse of meat The substance the quantity the qualities the times of eating and the order Touching the substance Galen sayth In victu salubri c. In healthfull diet the two chiefe things are meats of good iuice and not stopping Here to auoid tediousnesse I passe ouer meats of good nourishment most of them being well knowen to you and I will speake only of some few that are badde Meats of ill iuice fill the body with grosse humours subiect to putrifafaction which is one of the principall causes of most diseases Galen reporteth that when there was great scarsitie of corne thorowout the Romane Empire the people being compelled to eat roots and hearbs of bad nourishment fell into diseases of sundry kindes This he doth further confirme by the example of his owne body for during the time of his eating of ordinary fruits he was troubled with agues almost euery yeere but after that he left them and fed only on good meats he protracted his life vntill extreame olde age without any sicknesse The worst meats that are in vse with vs are of flesh Bulles beefe the blood whereof being accounted poison amongst Physicians may iustly make the flesh suspected specially for colde and weake stomacks All olde beefe is of hard digestion and breedeth grosse and melancholike blood Bores flesh is much of the same nature and the older and greater the worse There is the like reason of Bucks Male-goats and Rammes in their kinde their ill iuice increaseth with their yeeres and those vngelt are of harder and grosser nourishment Blood howsoeuer it be prepared is vtterly condemned by Galen so are the inwards of beasts and the feet also specially of the greater sort of them Of fishes the greater and older are the worst and bring most labour to the stomacke those that liue in muddy or standing waters are farre worse than those of the same kinde that keepe in grauelly or cleere riuers Ecles are iustly excluded from the number of holsome meats because they breed of putrifaction Most English fruits are forbidden in diet Many of them are profitable in medicines therefore Galen sayth Apples Peares and Medlers are not to be vsed as meats but as medicines The sooner ripe and the sooner subiect to corruption are most condemned because they are easily turned into putrifaction in the body Cucumbers are too vsuall with vs being vtterly reiected by Galen for their ill iuice and if they be not well concocted as they are neuer in a colde stomacke they are almost like to deadly poison Our common raw salads are full of danger Lettice is one of the best of their vsuall ingredients which though it be good in a hot stomacke yet being taken in a great quantity it pierceth to the heart and killeth as Galen affirmeth It is not safe for any man in the vse of these bad meats to presume vpon his strong stomacke for though naughty meats be well concocted yet Galen telleth vs that when the iuice of them is caried into the veines it reteineth the old nature This point is more largely handled by Ludouicus Mercaâ—us a learned Italian But I conclude with Galen in the foresayd place we must abstaine from all meats of bad iuice though they be easie of concoction for by the vse of them our bodies will be filled with matter ready to putrifie vpon euery light occasion whereupon maligne and dangerous
THE COPY OF A LETTER written by E. D. Doctour of Physicke to a Gentleman by whom it was published The former part conteineth rules for the preseruation of health and preuenting of all diseases vntill extreme olde age Herein is inserted the Authours opinion of Tabacco The latter is a discourse of Emperiks or vnlearned Physitians wherein is plainly prooued that the practise of all those which haue not beene brought vp in the Grammar and Vniuersity is alwayes confused commonly dangerous and often Deadly ECCLES 38. 1. Honour the Physician with that honour that is due vnto him for the Lord hath created him LONDON Printed by Melchisedech Bradwood 1606. THE PVBLISHER to the Reader GEntle Reader let it not seeme strange that I publish vnto thee a priuate letter There are three principall causes which haue moued me hereunto First a world of examples both of moderne and ancient Writers whose epistles perhaps priuatly intended as this was haue now their publike vse Secondly my loue vnto the Authour a man deseruing loue of all but specially of me vnto whom I am beholding next vnto God for that health which Ienioy Thirdly the woorth of the worke it selfe wherein looke not for hyperbolicall phrases or curious affectation for as in his life he preferreth deeds before words so in his writings shalt thou finde more substance than shewes Yet so hath he ioyned profit with pleasure sound discourse with sweet delight that if my loue deceiueth me not and some learned Physicians who at my request haue perused it as the Poet sayth Omne tulit punctum His rules of health vnto those that will be ruled by them are full of health his discouery of bastard Physicians will make wisemen beware their ignorance their arrogancie their rashnesse is here layd open not with iesting termes for that he accounteth no lesse than an artificiall iniury but with such euident demonstrations as he that hereafter shall know them and will not eschew them shall be deemed accessary to his own ouerthrow I haue named the former part Healths Preseruatiue and the latter A Discourse of Empiricks and vnlearned Physicians I wish as much good to come vnto thee by this my friends labour as was meant vnto my selfe Be thine owne friend Take heed of Empiricks And so farewell Healths Preseruatiue SIr I haue here sent you an answer to your kinde letters though not so soone as you expected yet assoone as my businesse and the large handling of the matter protracted farre beyond my first purpose would permit Your request standeth vpon two scuerall parts the one is To set downe rules and directions out of our Art for the preseruation ofhealth and preuenting of diseases the other is To deliuer my opinion concerning Empericks Touching the former though health be a precious thing and the greatest blessing belonging to this life yet the meanes of preseruing it are little thought of and lightly regarded of most that haue full fruition of it and are in their flourishing yeeres If this your request proceedeth from a resolution to obserue those things which you desire to heare Dignus es Nestoris annis Crotonis salubritate You are worthy oflong life and perfect health Some place their felicitie in honour some in wealth other in other things but if health be not a continuall attendant vpon these this supposed happinesse is soone changed into miserie An ancient Poet sayth O blessed health when thou art present all things flourish as in the Spring without thee no man is happy To this agreeth that of Pindarus If a man possesse riches ioyned with health and hath with them a good report there is no cause why he should desire to be a god Health is thus defined by Galen Sanitas est calidi frigidi humidi siccitemperies an equall mixture or proportion of the foure elements not equall by iust proportion ofweight of euery element alike which is called temperatum ad pondus but temperatum ad iustitiam such a proportion as is most agreeable to the preseruation and continuance oflife and health and as it were due by the right ofiustice The same author in another place sheweth more plainly what health is in these words We call that constitution of body health wherein we are not vexed with paine nor hindred in the actions of our life This perfect constitution is altered impaired two wayes the one by inward the other by outward ward things The inward are bred and borne with vs and it is not in our power to resist them they are in number three Drinesse continuall decay or wasting of the substance of our bodies and breeding of superfluous excrements Of these Galen discourseth at large in the foresaid booke but I omit them as things out of our power and come to the outward which haue equall or greater force to ouerthrow our health if they be lightly regarded and much vertue to preserue vs from sicknesse if we vse them rightly These are almost in our power and most of them may be obserued by vs if we endeuor to liue free from sicknesse That they haue ability to effect this it doth plainly appeare in the booke before cited in these words He that leadeth a free life and hath a care of keeping his health shall neuer be troubled with so much as a bile And in another place They which haue a good state of bodie and free transpiration and vse not too violent exercise and keepe their stomacke and liuer warme it is impossible for them to haue an ague This warrant of so great a Physician to liue vntill extreame olde age without any disease may moue you to a carefull and diligent obseruation of the rules required to this happy state of life These outward things are in number six The aire meat and drinke exercise and rest sleepe and waking expelling and retaining of superfluities and the affections of the mind All these are in our arte comprised vnder the name of Diet as Galen doth testifie in plaine words These are called things not naturall because they are not of the essence or nature of the body They are called by Galen Causae couseruatrices because they keepe and preserue the body in perfect health vntill it commeth lege adrastriae by ineuitable fate neere the graue being withered and consumed for want of moisture Of these six the aire hath the first place because our life beginneth with that and we haue a continuall vse of it as well by night as by day both sleeping and waking it is of it owne nature bot and moist but it is subiect to many alterations from the earth from the waters from the windes and from the heauens it ministreth nourishment to the spirits and cooleth them and receiueth their superfluous fumes it passeth by the mouth nose and arteries into the braine lungs heart and all parts of the body what substance or qualities soeuer be in it those it infuseth first into the spirits then
agues will follow The second thing to be considered in eating is the quantity this must not be proportioned to the appetite but to the strength of the stomacke to concoct it perfectly for the fault or defect of the first concoction is neuer amended in the second or third if the liuer receiueth the chylus or iuice of meats raw and inconcocted from the stomacke it conuerteth it into grosse and impurel bood and so sendeth it into the lesser veines where there is no power to refine it It were superfluous to speake of defect in this point for gluttony that great murdering tyrant of the world hath subiected most of the richer sort and lead them by pleasant variety to the cruell prison of sicknesse and from thence to mercilesse execution Hippocrates sayth Where meat is taken in too great quantity there it breedeth diseases Health requireth little meat and much exercise Socrates maketh meat and drinke taken beyond hunger and thirst the breeders of sicknesse Tully prescribeth meat and drinke in a small quantity that we may thereby be refreshed and not oppressed Fernelius a learned French man maketh gluttony the mother of all diseases though they haue another father Of all the fiue things before mentioned the error in quantity is most vsuall and most dangerous and therefore most carefully to be auoided A full diet stuffeth the body with grosse humours and with winde it breedeth obstructions after which followeth putrifaction and agues of sundry kindes also it begetteth many colde diseases as gouts dropsies palsies and such like it oppresseth both the outward and inward senses it suffocateth extinguisheth the natural heat as a lampe with too much oile Thus were some of the great champions that vsed to contend at the solemne games of Olympus suddenly choked with fulnesse as Galen reporteth Also it breedeth thicke grosse spirits whereby the wit is made obtuse and blunt and the iudgement dull and weake Finally it maketh a man vnfit not only for naturall and ciuill actions but also for diuine meditations according to that of Galen The minde choked with blood and fatnesse can not meditate of heauenly things Horatius also speaketh to this purpose The body being oppressed with the former errours in diet cloggeth the mide and presseth it downe to the ground A slender diet bringeth forth contrary effects Many of these are set forth by Galen in his first booke De sanit tuenda Fernelius in the place aboue cited sayth Only temperance is the gouernour of a pleasant and healthfull life Galen bringeth in sundry men that liued in health with perfect vse of their outward and inward senses vntill extreme olde age by the continuall vse of a slender diet There is a memorable history of one Apollonius Tyanaeus in the reigne of Domitian who hauing excellent gifts of nature and confirming them by dayly hearing reading and meditating obteined such deepe and admirable knowledge that he could tell many strange things yea and foretell things to come wherupon he was accused before the Emperor to haue conference with diuels but he cleered himselfe with this answer That he did alwayes seed on light meats in a small quantity and without variety This kinde of diet sayd he hath giuen such an excellent perspicuity to my inward senses that I doe cleerely see as in a glasse things past and to come Josephus reporteth that the sect called Esseni inioyed life and health farre longer than other men by their slender diet The great Philosophers of Pythagoras sect had for their vsuall diet only bread and hony To conclude this point variety of meats is the greatest meane to allure the appetite and consequently to procure ouerfeeding therefore all Physicians doe inhibit many sorts of meat to be eaten at one meale for beside the hurt of the quantity the difference of their qualities procureth labour to the stomacke and hindereth perfect concoction The opinion of Montanus is very strict in this point for he doth rather allow one dish of meat be it neuer so bad than variety of good One thing more is here to be obserued that after you be past that flourishing state and full strength of body which you now inioy then as your yeeres increase so the quantity of your meat must be diminished for there will be a decay of your naturall heat which you shall not perceiue and consequently of perfect concoction if the vsuall quantity of meat be continued Out of this the stomacke will breed raw and incocted iuice which will fill the body with matter fit for diseases before there be any sensible feeling of it This is confirmed by Hippocrates in these words Olde men haue little heat and therefore should eat little meat for as an heape of greene wood quencheth a little fire so much meat extinguisheth the decayed heat of the stomacke In this respect Montanus forbiddeth olde men to go to feasts lest by long sitting and inticing variety of meats they should eat much The third thing to be considered in meat is the quality in which it shall be sufficient to obserue these two rules out of Hippocrates Similiasimilibus conseruantur and contraria contrarijs curantur an equall and perfect temper of the body is to be preserued by meats temperate and without any excesse of heat moisture colde or drinesse but if this eucrasia or perfect mixture of the elements be decayed so as some of these qualities haue obtained dominion then the body is to be reduced to his former state by contraries as when it is too hot the diet must be cooling and so of the rest Also the diet in Summer must be much cooler and moister than in Winter for in that season we draw in by breathing farre hotter aire the Sunne also infuseth into vs a burning heat and sucketh out much of our moisture Furthermore yoong men and olde are to obserue this difference in respect of their yeeres for that age is like to Summer and this to Winter The fourth thing that is to be obserued in eating is the times New meat may not be put into the stomacke before the former be thorowly concocted and digested for so should both be corrupted as Galen affirmeth I know that Lud. Mercat counselleth otherwise whereof a strong stomacke may make experience without hurt but I thinke it not safe for others to imitate The iudgement of Fernelius is freer from danger where he commendeth fasting as the best meanes to concoct crudity They that are full of superfluous humors sayth he can hardly endure fasting and yet while they endeuour to represse the violence and fury of the humour by taking meat often they nourish not themselues but their owne destruction for all the offence that groweth by fasting will soone be taken away by the continuance of it The custome of our nation for the vsuall times of eating amongst the
this affection how profitable soeuer it be ifit exceedeth the limits bounds of moderation it is sometimes deadly therefore Fernel sayth it disperseth the spirits like lightning that they can not returne to mainteine life There is a lamentable example of one Diâ—goras who had three sonnes crowned Victors in one day at the solemne games of Olymâ—us and whiles he embraced them and they put their garlands vpon his head and the people reioycing with them cast flowers vpon him the olde man ouerfilled with ioy yeelded vp his life suddenly in the middes of the assembly But examples of this kinde are rare and therefore not to be feared Sorow Sorow and griefe hath great power to weaken the ablest state of body it doth as Plato speaketh exercise cruell tyranny Tuscul quest Cum omnis perturbatio mâ—sera est tum carniâ—icina est agritu do c. Tully discoursing of the affections of the mind hath these words Euery perturbation is miserable but griefe is a cruell torment lust hath with it heat mirth lightnesse feare basenesse but griefe bringeth farre greater things wasting torment vexation deformity it teareth it eateth and vtterly consumeth the mind and body also Histories affoord many examples of those that haue beene brought into consumptions and to death by sorrow and griefe Feare Feare is an expectation of ill it is commonly the forerunner of griefe it calleth the bloud suddenly from the outward parts to the heart and leaueth them destitute of their naturall heat for want whereof they tremble and shake the heart then suffereth violence also as appeareth by the weake and slow pulse and it is sometimes suddenly ouercome and suffocated by the violent recourse of bloud Feare killeth many Thus Publius Rutilius and Marcus Lepidus ended their liues as Pliny reporteth There are sundry examples in histories of those that through extreame feare haue had their haire changed into a whitish hoarenesse in one night Skenk obseruat This opinion is confirmed by Scaliger contra Cardan and the reason annexed Anger Anger may adde somewhat to health in colde and moist bodies for it is an increase of the heat of bloud about the heart Gal. de sanit tu enda lib. 2 ex Aristot This bringeth much hurt to cholericke bodies it is comprehended vnder the first of the fiue generall causes of agues it is also sometime the cause of an epilepsie or the falling sicknesse as a De locis affectis lib. 5 cap. 5. Galen affirmeth in the history of Diodorus the Grammarian but this affection be it neuer so violent taketh not away the life suddenly as b De sympt caus lib 2. Galen and most other Physitians affirme for in cold and weake constitutions it can not be vehement Magnaniâ—s ob nullam animi aegritud moriuntur Gal. de locis affect lib. 5. and the strength of hot bodies wherein it is alwayes most violent will not yeeld vnto it I know that some c Cardan consil 1. are of contrary opinion but I may not enter into controuersies hauing beene already so long Other affections I omit as being neere the nature of some of these and hauing lesse power to hurt the body You see sir with what efficacy the affections of the minde worke into the body therefore it is as necessary for health to holde a meane and moderation in them as in the fiue other forenamed things For though we liue in a sweet and pure aire obserue a strict diet vse sleepe and exercise according to the rules of Physicke and keepe fit times and measure in expelling superfluities out of our bodies yet if we haue not quiet calme and placable mindes we shall subiect ourselues to those diseases that the minde yeelding to these passions commonly inflicteth vpon the body these are many in number grieuous to suffer and dangerous to life Thus I haue briefly run ouer these six things which being rightly vsed with speciall care and regard will preserue all strong bodies in continuall health and preuent all diseases vntill the radicall moisture be consumed and no oile left to maintaine the light of the lampe A Discourse of Empiricks or vnlearned Physicians A Preface to the Reader THe life of man is so precious as that all which a man hath he will giue for the ransome thereof Neither is this care of preseruing his owne life alone naturally implanted in the heart of man but that he may saue the life of others also how dangerously will he aduenture somtimes casting himselfe into deepe waters to saue one from danger of drowning sometimes breaking into an house flaming on euery side to deliuer one from perishing in the fire And this naturall instinct hath beene the cause also that publike persons haue by holesome lawes prouided for the safety thereof and priuate men haue spent their thoughts in discouering those stratagems whereby the life of man is oppugned Now because none are more pernicious enemies to the same than are these Empericks who vnder colour of drawing out the threed of mans life doe most cruelly cut the same in sunder before the time there haue beene some in all ages that haue vehemently inueighed â—gaâ—â—st them and laboured with all diligence to suppresse them as it were to quench some griâ—uous fire But hitherto all labour hath beene lost that was spent that way for like the Lernean monster against which Hercules fought in the roome of one seuen others haue arisen and haue by opposition growen both in number and estimation also with many and that partly by their owne diuellish and detestable practises and partly by the folly of others And first for themselues they will falsly vaunt what admirable cures haue beene performed by them that No mottall man is able to doe more than they can doe They will promise confidently to cure any disease though neuer so desperate as to breake a confirmed stone in the bladder or els To lodge it in some part of the bladder that it shall neuer paine them after And vnto such as are therefore left by the iudicious Physician because sentence of death hath already passed against them on an Indicatory day they will warrant life and that to the end they may be imployed after their betters which is no small credit vnto them Now if they be found to haue missed the cushion and the party dies as was foretold then will they pawne their liues that the disease was mistaken by the first Physitian and that if they had beene called to the cure but one day sooner it had beene a matter of nothing to haue saued his life for the partie died because he was let bloud if that were aduised by the other with good discretion or because he was not let blood if that were omitted vpon iust cause On the contrary the learned Physitian though he haue no religion will not for his credit sake be found to vtter any vntrueth is very sparing in reporting
the matter of the disease is discussed by outward medicines and requireth neither of these two helps Sometimes there is a fit vse of fomentations and after them of bleeding as Hippoc. did when the disease could not be mitigated by these outward meanes he opened a veine the eighth day In many other cases it is necessary to take away a great quantity of bloud in the beginning therefore Heurnius sayth Blood can not be taken away too soone nor in too great a quantity if the patient be strong but in weaknesse it must be done often by small quantities In some bodies Arte forbiddeth taking away of any bloud though the patient be strong and inioyneth purging In some cases the passages are to be stopped and the humor to be made thicke after bleeding lest new matter should flow to the place affected After the flux is stayed then the weake parts are to be strengthened and the matter impact in the side to be prepared or tempered that it may be cast vp by coughing with greater facility Heere is a broad gate opened to a large field of medicines of sundry sorts as ointments plaisters syrups potions c. Some of these are very hot and much opening some very cold and binding In the vse of these and also of all the former things the Empirike is plunged into many doubts and the patient into as many dangers if he take away too little blood he taketh not away the disease if too much he taketh away life if he purgeth when he should open a veine or doth this when that is required he committeth a pernicious errour if he iudgeth not rightly of the humor abounding of the complexion c. of which only Arte is the competent iudge he can attempt nothing in the cure safely nor so much as appoint a fit diet If he prescribeth locall or outward medicines of too hot operation the heart is thereby inflamed the ague exasperated and life indangered If there be in them any defect of heat the matter of the disease is bound faster into the side and chest with as great perill If inward medicines be not proportioned to euery vnnaturall affect in the body and to euery offensiue quality as now heating then cooling now moistening then drying sometimes extenuating or making the humor thinne sometimes incrassating or making it thicke sometimes opening somtimes stopping c. the patient doth neuer receiue any good but commonly much hurt by them Neither is the Pleurisie only to be respected but there must be a vigilant eye vpon the Ague also which alwayes accompanieth the other and may kill the patient as well as the Pleurisie Moreouer there may be great malignity in the humor as Gesner reporteth in an epidemiall Pleurisie all died in whom a veine was opened and all liued that receiued cordials In the great variety of these doubts difficulties and distinctions there is a necessary vse of sound iudgement confirmed by long study and profound knowledge both in Philosophy and Physicke It is therefore cleere that the practise of Empiriks being destitute of these helps must needs be vnfit and full of perill It may well be compared to his that Forestus mentioneth who wrot out sundry receits ouer night and put them confusedly into a bagge in the morning when patients came to him after he had looked on the vrine he put his hand into the bagge saying to the party Pray that you may haue a happy lot and plucking out that which came first to hand he gaue it as a remedy for the disease Though our Empiriks haue a farre better colour for their practise than this was yet in effect they often agree But I proceed to lay open some few of their grosse and palpable errors in their practise for to speake of all requireth a whole volume I will begin with their mistaking of diseases a common errour with them exceeding dangerous to their patients Diseases are knowen and distinguished by their signes The knowledge of this is comprehended vnder the second part of Physicke before mentioned whereof because they are ignorant they must needs fall often into this fault This is seldome discouered but when rationall Physicians haue opportunity to looke into their practise then they see the disease taken to be in the liuer when it is in the lungs or kidneis to be in the heart when it is in the head or mouth of the stomacke to be in the brest when it is winde in the stomacke extending that region and many such What though they can iudge of the gout the palsie and the dropsie so can simple women doe but to iudge rightly of the causes and differences of these diseases of the manifold differences of Agues of simple and compound sicknesses and of sundry diseases of the head that requireth Arte which is not in any Empirike Hippoc. sheweth the misery that fel vpon many of the Scythians by mistaking their disease and the causes of it and thereupon by taking a wrong course in the cure of strong and able men they became as effeminate as weake women and spent all the remainder of their wretched life in the offices of that sex Heurnius reporteth that an vnlearned Physician by mistaking the cause of the disease put his patient into a bath wherein he died presently and the Empirike was iustly accused for killing of him Guanerius setteth forth the deadly error of another in the cure of a sicke man who after extreme intolerable paines ended his life A learned Physician hauing a melancholike patient depriued of the right vse of his inward senses amongst other things in the cure appointed his head to be shauen and then to be anointed and bathed according to arte an Empirike hearing of this cure gat the receit of the outward medicines vsed in it and not long after lighting vpon one sicke of a phrensic or inflammation of the braine thought it to be the same disease with the former because both the patients were madde therefore he followed the steps of the other with great confidence of the cure this grieuous error in mistaking both the disease and the cause of it brought the miserable man to a speedy and of his life farre more cruell to himselfe and more terrible to the beholders than the sicknesse could haue done The reason of this is plaine and euident to euery meane Physician The cause of rauing in the former was a cold humor in the latter a hot therefore hot medicines which were fit to cure the one were as fit to kill the other But admit the Empirike had beene called to the cure of the same disease proceeding from the same cause yet he could not haue obserued the circumstances which arte required and therefore his receit was vaine and vnprofitable If the course of these blinde practisioners could be obserued it would be found to be like to this in euery disease Our books are full
of such wofull examples A huge volume will not conteine all the tragicall histories of the sicke of this age manifestly killed by the ignorance of Empiriks being not able to discerne one disease from another or to distinguish of their causes or to proceed orderly in the cure The eye can not discerne colours but by the light nor Physitians diseases but by learning In the night not only indiui lua but species are mistaken as a man for a beast or a tree for either of them It is alwâ—â—es night with Empiriks ignorance is darknesse and knowledge is as the cleere light of the sun And doubtlesse the learned Physitian hath as great aduantage ouer Empiriks in discerning of diseases as they that iudge of the eyes obiect by the sunne ouer those that iudge of it by the starres They do the oftener fall into this errour because some diseases agree in two or three signes and yet are farre different The perfect examining and comparing of signes and referring of them to their seuerall causes can not be performed without Arte. But suppose they could distinguish of most diseases whereof they come farre short yet to know the disease is not one step to the cure vnlesse the method and maner of proceeding in it be as well knowen But to proceed in discouering their errours the two most effectuall and vsuall meanes for the cure of most diseases are opening a veine and purging The speciall obseruations that are required in both these are farre aboue the apprehension of vnlearned Empiriks therefore they can not vndertake any thing fitly and safely in either of them What a great regard is to be had in preseruing bloud in his naturall quantity and qualities is euident in that it giueth nourishment and strength to the whole body and it is as it were the meat whereby the natiue heat is fed as Galen sayth therefore it may not be drawen out of the body without mature deliberation The things that are to be obserued in opening a veine are reduced vnto ten heads these I must not mention because I labour to be short Many of these conteine such doubts and difficulties as require much reading and deepe knowledge Empiriks alwayes take away blood without due examination of these for how can they examine those that they know not therefore oft times they take away life also Experience their only mistresse can not teach the difference of diseases of complexions and of the rest What though they can iudge of them in a large latitude as to perceiue a difference betwixt a great disease and a light betwixt strength and weaknesse this euery ideot can do as when two plots of ground are obiect to the eye the one farre exceeding the other in greatnesse euery beholder perceiueth a great difference but the iust proportion of that difference can not be found out but by measuring them according to the rules of Geometry So Empiriks for want of learning can not iudge of these things in so strait a latitude as arte requireth But beside the foresayd ten heads other consultations are necessary whereof Empiriks are lesse capable than of the former as what veine is to be opened whether a large or small orifice be fitter what quantity of bloud should be taken whether it be safer to doe it at once or at sundry times whether emptying simply or reuelling or diuerting be required at what time of the disease it should be done how many things do inhibit opening of a veine or perswade delay The learned Physician is bound by the rules of his Arte to consult of all these and many other before he dare attempt so great a worke but the Empirike not foreseeing the perill of omitting these consultations runneth rashly into it and abuseth this excellent remedy to the losse of the life of many a patient as Galen plainly sheweth Errours in this kinde are obuious and common to them one openeth a veine vnder the tongue by following some English booke or imitating some learned Physician not knowing the obseruations necessary in that he attempteth in a squinsie the patient being full of blood and the disease in the beginning whereupon followeth present suffocation by drawing a greater flux to the place affected An other as ignorantly openeth a veine on the arme vpon the criticall day when there are signes of the crisis by bleeding at the nose by this action nature is crossed in her regular course and compelled to yeeld to the disease A third omitteth letting of blood in a sharpe disease sundry indications which he vnderstandeth not concurring to perswade it and none to disswade A fourth taketh away too little blood in a great disease or too much in a light All these Empiriks increase their credit out of these deadly errours by extolling their owne skill falsifying strange cures performed by them and affirming that if they had come in time they would not haue failed in the cure of these diseases now they had performed all that arte required the best Doctour in the land could haue taken no other course They that are eye and eare witnesses of these secret tragoedies can hardly suspect the ignorance of these confident and glorious Empiriks to haue beene the cause of them Thus you see Sir how infortunate or rather indiscreet they are that commit their bodies to the cure of an Empirike whose ignorance often bringeth death where the disease threateneth no danger at all It is a miserable thing when greater peril hangeth ouer the patient from the Physician than from the disease The countrey is full of such pitifull practise The Empiriks lance is oft times as deadly as the Butchers knife He that promiseth life with his tongue bringeth the instrument of death in his hand Therefore whosoeuer regardeth his life let him not suffer a veine to be opened without the aduice of a learned Physician In other cases where life is not presently indangered grâ—euous effects follow The taking away of blood from women and weake men casteth them into palsies gouts dropsies and such like diâ—eases Galen in many places doth inculcate the danger of opening a veine often it wasteth consumeth the spirits diminisheth naturall heat strength and hasteneth old age accompanied with many infirmities Yet the common people ignorant of this flocke together to Empiriks in the Spring to be let bloud as if it were a preseruatiue against all diseases Few or none are refused because they bring money few receiue good many hurt because the fornamed obseruations are neglected The blame of this publike hurt lieth iustly vpon the head of Empiriks who partly for their owne gaine and partly for want of iudgement haue led the multitude into this errour Touching purging as it is more common and vsuall than letting of bloud so the errours committed in it are as many and in many cases procure equall danger to the sicke It is called a great worke for it bringeth
which haue beene his apprentises If these old breeders be maintained we shall haue within these few yeeres more Empirikes than butchers more killers of men than of oxen The number of them is so increased that they are at enmity one with another It is a sport to heare one of the most eminent of them being placed in a chaire for his great skill raile vpon vnlearned Physicians and yet he himselfe was neuer admitted vnto Grammar schoole But this doth exempt them from all suspition of ignorance amongst the vulgar and procureth them many patients But the more they are admired and the greater number of patients they haue the more they exceed in craft and falshood For ignorance cannot purchase admiration vnlesse craft and subtilty be ioint-purchasers with her But to draw to an end sith Empirikes are vtterlie disabled by the difficultie of the Arte of Physicke by their education in their youth by the want of grammer logicke and philosophy by their palpable ignorance in the theorie and speculation of that they professe by the manifold errors they fall into Sith experience cannot teach them the methode and order of curing diseases nor reading of English bookes affoord them any mediocrity of knowledge Sith most of their cures are naturall or casuall all their secrets triuiall and common their discourse out of vrines grounded vpon subtiltie and deceit their fame and multitude of patients rising from fraude and falshood in themselues or from follie in the vulgar Finally sith there is a full consent of all learned Physicians iustlie condemning them I may firmly conclude that their practise is alwaies confused commonly dangerous and often deadly Therefore whereas Ludouicus Mercatus saith it is a good medicine sometimes to take no medicine at all And Forestus affirmeth sometimes the whole worke is to be left to nature which when Empiriks see not they often kill the sicke In my opinion this distinction of time may be cut off and both these sayings made generall for where the pactise is wholly ingrossed by these men there the best medicine is alwaies to take no medicine at all and the whole worke is euer to be left to nature rather then to be committed to any of these For though they cure some yet they kill many the way of erring in the practise of Physicke is so ample and broad and the path leading to the methodicall cure of diseases so narrow and straight Thus Sir you haue that which you required directions for your health and my opinion of Empirikes God almighty blesse you with the benefit of the former or preserue you from the perill of the latter Ipswich the third nones of Iuly 1605. a Hippoc. de diaeta lib. 3. b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. What health is d Cont. Iulianum Lib. 1. de sanit tuenda eam corporis constitutionâ— c. Three enemies to life Qui libâ—ram vitaÌ„ nactus est c. Qui boni haâ—itus sunt c. de feb diff li. 1. ca. 3. a In Hippoc de morb vulg li. 3. 〈◊〉 3. 9. 1. The aire a De re rusticâ— lib. 1. b Pâ—lit 7. 11. Lib. de aere c. Sol non vidit vrbemsitu elegantiorem Tabacco Monard The first qualities of Tabacco Not safe for youth Comment in lib. de victu sâ—lub Aphor. 2. 37. corpora salubriâ— difficulter feruâ— medic Alimenta saâ—â— medicamenta aegris c. Sound bodies need no alteration Humiditas caloris pabulum Qui maximè sunt buâ—idi maximè sunt long aeui de san tuenda lib. 6. Breuioris esse vitae eos qui calidas regiones incolunt It shorteneth life 2. de legibus quia eos ad libidinem iram praecipites reddat Siccitas caloris stimulus Cereus in vitium flecti monitoribus asper sublimis c. It breedeth many diseases It breedeth melancholy Sensâ—n sine sensu De sanit tuenda optimi temperamenti optimi mores It hurteth the minde It is ill for their issue Est in â—uuencis est in equis patrum virtus Quocunque morbo pater geneâ—ans afficitur iderâ— iâ— prolem transit Mas formam foemina materianâ— dat De semine It shortneth life Quod paulatim fit tutò fit Aphor. lib. 2. 4. de cib boni mali succi ca. 2. Youths-bane 2. Meat and drinke Lib. 1. de sanit tuend Lib. 1. de morb causes cap. 14. Nulla calamitate c. De cib boni mali succi ca. 4. 2 Initio lib. 1. de sanit tuenda initio lib. de cibis boni mali succi 1 Initio lib. 5. de sanit tuenda Flesh Blood De aliment facult Fish Fruits De cibis bon c. cap. 5. Therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a De aliment facult b De cib bon mal suc â—ap 5. Salads De simp medic facult lib. 3. a De aliment facult li. 2. ca. 6. De indicat li. 1. ca. 1. Omnibus praui succi â—dulijs abstin The quantity Plures interimit crapula quà m gladius a 2. Aphor. 17. vbi cibus c. b 6. Epideâ— 4. sanitatis studâ—um c. c De senect tantum cibi potionis c. d De morb caus lib. 1. ca. 14. In Hippoc. aphor lib. 1. 3. a Animus sanguine adipe suffocat b Quin corpus onustum besternis vitijs c. sorm li. 2 sat 2. c Mores probos reddit d Vna temperaâ—tia totius est iucundae c. e De sanit tuenda li. 5. f Philostrat 9. li. 3. De bello Judâ—ico lib 2. Panem mel Atticum Consil 246. deterius est vti ciboruÌ„ salub variet quaÌ„ vnico vâ—cunq sit prauus a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vigor Sensim sine sensâ— b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c 1. Aphoris 14. The qualities of meat The times a Initio lib. de dissol contin b De indic lib. 1. cap. â— c Lib. 1. de morb causis cap. 14. Non se sed suam perniciem alunt The custome of our meales not agreeable to physicke a De sanit tuâ—nda lib. 6. The champions diet b Lib. de acre c. pransores c In Hip. prognost li. 2. 13. d Lib. 3. de diâ—tae Two meales Suidâ—â— De sanit tuend lib. 6. Horat. coena dâ—bia Li. 1. fen 3. doct 2. ca. 8. senectus luet adolescentiae peccata The order Gal. in Hippoc. de vict rat com 3. 22. a De dissol contin 2. Aphor. 50. Custome not suddenly to be broken Two dishes at one meale Of drinke Wine De cib bon ca. 8. Lib. an animi mores c. Lib de cib bon cap. 8. a De sanit tuend a De morb caus b Lâ— ca. 14. fructum accelerat sed arbâ—rem perâ—mit c Lib. an animi mores a Li. 1. de sanit tuenda b In Hip. de vict ratione lib. 3. c Labor cibus