rebellious and thereby without stay easily subdueth the body Hypocrates generallie and deeply speaketh of all feauers eyther simple or compound that first the disease is vnsetled and vncertainly roueth in the bodye and next for that it dooth abound with paynfull trauels difficultlie wrastleth skyrmisheth and trauelleth either to settle and possesse some one part of the body or after the spyrituall partes possessed inuadeth all the partes of the body to destruction Herein is it manifestly prooued that in the beginning of diseases nature hath no need of such nourishments for if appetite were gredy and desirous thereof yet not able to beare that which is wished and lingred vpon For whosoeuer infarceth and inforceth nature in the first entrance of euerie such sicknes both cherisheth the disease weakeneth and defoyleth nature Galen in his first booke de arte curatiua writing to Glawco in his chapter de cura febrium continuarum saith that if continuall feauers consist in one estate the body very weake are best ruled vnder an exquisite and sharp diet if strength and age agree therewith but if the disease exceed beyond that lymittation is then to be vnderstaied with a plenarie stronger food so the same be apt to constitution Auycen saith when the estate is perfected in the disease let the diet be more plentifull or otherwise let the diet be augmented or diminished as the disease increaseth or vanisheth away So also this is a generall agreement among all the auntient Fathers for the regiment of mans health hauing put foorth an vniuersall edict that in all mestiue mortalites thin diets are most pertinent for medicine to work vpon because their accidentes are infectious and of indiuertible substance and especiallie so long as these infections in their accidents are conioyned to the beginning otherwise if the increase of the disease prosper and proceede to be perfected and setled to some verie likely estate they ought to be sollicited more at large either by curatiue medicine or diet vntill the vsurped properties be expelled after which the body is to be inlarged to a full diet vntil nature be reuiued restored and recouered in full strength These rules and reasons proceede from men of great countenance of sound and vpright iudgement repugning the wrongfull and erronious interpretations and opinions of certaine newe writers who hauing set open their shoppe of counterfect practises in defrauding the good constitutions of heath in mans body who in the beginning of simple feuers in place of a gracil and thin diet haue constituted and put in place a free and bountifull diet Secondly in simple feuers when the disease increaseth doo prefer a thin diet in steed of a compleat diet And thirdlye they doo in the estate of compound and inflamatiue feuers magnifie a full diet in steede and place of a thin and peaceable diet Surely Hypocrates somewhat bendeth to the second controuersie that in the increase of al simple feuers a competent diet is most meetest so that if the disease doo proceede in the increase or forsheweth any similie end either by ripenesse to cease or els take safe degrees to estate Then the Phisitian hath full power ouer the disease eyther to recouer health or els to stay the patient from large and strong sustenance Petrus Brissotus and Lionicius doo say if in the estate of simple feuers sustenance bee denied to the patient because of the strength of the disease then what ieopardie are those pacientes put into in their time of estate when inflamations and accidentes together yeeld no place to rest their bodies beeing strenghened with nutrimentall sustenance doo continue the disease most cruell fierce dangerous and outragious vnto the approchment of death Hereby all patientes may perceiue that all diseases within the knowledge and helpe of man are vnder lawes and ordinances Therefore whosoeuer shall either violate or mistake these lawes and ordinances offendeth both the sicke patient and his owne conscience And furthermore if the sicke Patient will not bee ordered but rebell against this wholsome gouernment preferring both his owne wilfull minde and reason before the sounde and perfect counsell of the Phisitian Let him be adiudged guiltie of his owne death and distruction The first Booke of the Temperamentes AN Element is the least part of euery proper thing compounded and vnited into one substance perfourmeth not the least but the immixt parcels of the same thinges to bee made a perfect element and equally to place those smallest things to be tempered with the highest as that not in any behalf any one of them be immixt from an other It is an high onderstanding wherefore we oguht to deuide the least portion of euerye tempered bodie as followeth That is there ought to be in number foure elementes neither ought there to be more or lesse and yet can there be but one element alone for that with an vnreprooueable qualitie all things returne to destruction neither can there bee two elements as fire and ayre because all interiour thinges woulde presentlie be consumed with their coniomed strength of heat Then may it be imagined that nature might haue framed fire and water to beare their seueral course alone both because they doo in variablenesse differ one from another or that they might seeme more durable in their course aboue the rest The third element is the ayr which nature hath so placed between the rest as that moistnesse is ioined to water and heat to fire neither do these three elementes suffice except there be a fourth element conioyned hereunto that is say the earth not only because it is the seat and habitation of men in this world but also and much rather being commixed with water dooth by her coldnes temper the other two elements therfore nature most decently hath bound not one nor two nor three but four elements and that with a straight and agreeable concord as when they were disâ—ramed and dissociated from their equall places As when the earth was downward the water and the ayre in the middle and the fire vpward although there are not onely some philosophers but verie Christians which haue practised to discouer Which is taken as an errour for the knowledge of man a certain dark thicke and shadowed fire about the point centre of the earth by a direct light gleaming and irradiating from the starres The which fire is vestall pure not elementarie Herein if we consider that both the earth and the water doo not onely entertaine the same fire but the ayre interiected forthwith followeth the same euen as there is a coniunction of the earth to the ayre so is the water placed betweene both of them otherwise the ayre should wholly remaine moyst being placed between two drie elements Galen and other graue Philosophers doe seem otherwise to thinke who on their behalfe call the water most moyst and is so adiudged in the absolute power of nature for by touching the same is perfectly bewraied whereas the ayre is not comprehended at
all by touching therfore the ayre is more moyst yet because water is of more rounder and compact substance then of an intentiue qualitie some philosophers report water is more moist then ayre otherwise how should yse more coole then water and yet not more colder Galen affirmeth water to be most moist for that it is cleare and no drinesse is contained within the substance thereof By this reason no simple medicine can shewe in his vttermost nature to be either hot colde moist or drie in the highest degree in respect of equalite 〈…〉 ature from contrary plaâ—ing therefore this reason most proâ—pereth and prooueth in â—urt bodies and although the ayre were clearely hot yet not in the highest degree So likewise if water were clearlie moist yet not in the highest degree for it â—s repugnaâ—t in the reasonable onâ—e standing of elements that there should be two qualities or els noâ— at all obtained in the highest degree for if ayre hath not maystnesse it shoulde then vnnaturally exceede in the vttermost place which is against the nature and order of the elements And furthermore it is greatly to be marueyled that certain new Philosophers with some counterfeit weake reasons blaste abroad in the world that water is more moyst then ayre which cannot holde for then the elements shoulde fall out in contrarie order which otherwise haue an equall constitution in the rest of the bodies one after an other although they bee of disframed conditions and qualities or els we may iudge of mans bodie to haue more earth and water litle ayre and lesse fire whereas it is in holie writing farre otherwise declared that man was not fashioned neither of ayre water nor fire but of the earth shewing that earth water are imperious ruling elements This element as a heauie substance doth beare great sway in the constitution of man for that heat and drinesse are of more lighter matter Then doeth it stande by naturall reason that heat among other qualities is actiue and as the qualitie therof is most plaine so the least portion thereof as in man for which cause these two outward bodies colde and heat may bee perceyued and that coldnes is tempered by heat and heat delaâ—ed by cold drines by moystnesse and moystnesse by drenesse that one of them should haue equall seruice by an other so there is also a motiue cause of coldnesse and drinesse thorow the sinewes so also there is coldnes and moystnes in the braine where the conceit and sence beginneth their place The hart is the instrument of life the liuer the instrument of blood the which of necessity are hot and moist and so from thencefoorth there are certaine instruments of necessitie some cold some hot some moyst and some drie if any one of them at any time do bend or writh aside from these iust temperature their actiue qualitie must be disured and fall away therewith for that the instrument which leadeth the same is decaied Therefore the bodye of necessitie is to possesse and inioy a perfect estate in his members in seruice of all the offices appertaining thereunto And the rather because all bodies haue a coniunction of the foure elementes otherwise choller which is hot drie and colde cannot serue the body in perfect nature and operation for that vnnaturall choller corrupteth the whole body And furthermore as the foure humours are seperated one from another in seueral estates and constitutions so such members which are insigned vnder any one of these humors are commoderated one by an other vntill there be a iudicial temperance raigning ouer all the wholl members for although any such instrument were of necessitie cold yet it is not conuenient so to be in the highest degree for that certaine immixt elementes doo want the temperance of the second qualitie Now if successiuely these instruments were by this means most righteous and equall they ought not to be tempered on some one behalfe but on euery behalfe for no instrument can bee meete whereas if any part thereof be vnmeete And for this cause it is not onely a seemely sight that these elements after their greatest portions should be grosly mingled in a myxt body but that in the whole they become perfectly vnited and that there be no want in any part thereof Therefore as diuers elements are so mixed in one body as that there is a ful seruice of al the members one to another So was it righteous that there should be a whole perfect coniunction in the iust commoderation of all other instrumentes for if all and euery part were not equally moderated one part would decay and fall away from another For is not the body conserued and satisfied by the said elements from hunger and thirst which otherwise would in al the partes thereof languish and fal Wine is a bountiâ—ull element ordained to me perfect properties away therefore man is nourished of the foure elemâ—ts in that the heat of the sunne is commixed with the earth and the water and ayre commixed are of generable nature producing sustenance agreeing with all natures indumentes And furthermore consider that whosoeuer drinketh wâ—â—e for coldnesse of stomach dooth not poure or infuse fire into his body although the moistnesse of water is tempered with a fiery element to frame a perfect body not in outward action but by the pure power of heat This verily proueth that one element is fashioned with another so that all the elementes are of equall power and propertie one with another Otherwise if man were framed of one element he were impassible and without suffering Or if there were such a dissimilitude in the elementes as that not one of them could be drawne in agreement with the other but still continue a contrarietie then all passiue actions were dispropriated and vnperfectly disequalled Euen as there is manifestly shewed forth all necessarie causes to the construction of euery one body So these elementes all in all are commixed without separation following vpon the immixion of humours in mans body vnto which euerie liuing man is subiect and bound vnto by natures ordinance And there are some which wallowing in their owne wils doe affirme that bloud is nothing els but a certaine confounded humour extracted out of three humours although the same is vtterly false Yet may it manifestly proue a great varietie in the permixioÌ„ of elements Therefore if it be possible that foure humours are confounded Maners doe follow the humour of bloud within themselues and yet their formes kept together vndiffacioned or that one forme or fashion appeareth for them all then surely these elementes are aswell commixed in these humours as wholly perfected thorow the body it selfe that although their formes were eyther disfigured or in some part abstracted yet there qualities are vndefaced Otherwise the reason and measure of mixture should perishe together both in forme and qualtie touching corporall formes as they are neuer taken from their substance So not the forme but the qualitâ—e hath
fatnesse concreated vpon drie bodies thorow which the dyaphragma is thereby safest preserued from contagion as the reason and vnderstanding vnuanquished so that a large and liberall life with sondrie excellent indowmentes are appertayning to those bodyes But corpulencie declareth the aboundance of fleshe which ingrosseth and vapoureth vpon moistnesse bringeth forth manie noysome and filthy diseases in the body Whereas thinnesse and smalenesse of flesh sheweth perfect drinesse so corpulencie doth shew coldnesse and moystnesse Cornelius Celsus doth affirme that a thinne body sheweth frugall fatnesse nourished in the warmenesse of a thinne bloud So these grosse bodies nurse vp thicke bloud and venomed humours These men are in a most dangerous case if there be a colde congealement in the vaines and other members which belongeth to surfetting dronkardes and such like disordered persons Galen affirmeth verie muche good appertaineth to those men which are perfected vnder a measurable comprehension First if their bloud be hote thinne and clearely recourseth in the vaynes if their breath be sharpe sweete and thinne if their bloud be warme sharpe and sweete all which maketh indication of a perfect substance except these natures be poysoned otherwise by some cold vaporous accidentes for colde things doe easily concreate vppon a warme substance or except also this vnnaturall distemperat coldnesse falleth out in melancholious complexions whose bloud is thicke slimie and sower And yet there are some sanguine complexions of inclineable fat as they doe greatly fauour daintie meates so doe they yeld good liking to euery seuerall office and portion in the body And nature euermore fauoureth comforteth nourisheth and purgeth these complexions in her owne propertie These complexions doe neuer concord with anie earthlie exhalations but speedily decay and perish therewith Galen sayth in his booke of simples that the naturall fat in these men is both hote and tastfull And the waterie fat which is congested into substance vpon these men is sower bitter and exposed to innumerable perils Also when thinne portions of this earthly bloud thorow cold vapours is made thicke and thorow slender vaynes falling downe best liketh and desireth to possesse the coldest partes of the body forthwith congealeth into cold fatnesse not onely thereby pearceth the thinne substance of the body but also hurteth the naturall actions in the senses especially by the diseases of the crampe stitches feauers rewnis crickes lamenesse numnesse painefull gripinges and such like whereas otherwise good nourishment warmenesse comfortable sweates bathinges opening the poores electuaries purginges omission of bloud choyse of meates might be sufficient meanes to chase away the intollerable hurtes and perilles that may insue heereof as also by preseruing and nourishing of a more hotter and sweeter bloud Next followeth that whatsoeuer hath bin spoken heretofore touching drinesse in the oment of the belly which is a couerture aboue and beyond the filme vnder which all the guttes are lapped so there is another oment in the head which is moyst called the skinne or rim of the brayne and commonly called of the chyrurgians pia mater It is coarcted in the middle partes of the head with many offices and appurtenances thereto belonging Therefore aswell such men as women whose bodyes are inuested with corpulent and fattie flesh are molested in the substance thereof with an interflowing inundation so that their complexion is commonly moyst and there oment in the head moyster Yet surely there are some natures so equally compacted in the order of the foure elementes whose temperance is vnder the gretlie word EVCRATON which is neuer changed or molested with any malignitie but stand mightilie against all distemperances And as their temperatures are indifferent in all measures so are they neuer deprehended by any impropertie or euill accidence if the bloud be thicke then the vaines be straight and narrowe and the blood slowlie interfloweth The which sort of men are troubled with giddines and swimming in the head are vnable to indure any paines or vndertake fasting or honger Whereas the other temperatures vnder this word EVCRATON vndertake strongly are swift in digestion do wholsomly nourish al sustenance into perfect substance their blood floweth and comfortablie interfloweth in the course of the whole bodie Their sleep is sweete chearable and restfull they liue in health Their yoong daies are ioyfull and their old daies peaceable to their graue And seeing we are farther to pursue the bodie of man in hys whole and substantiall essence wee are next to consider the temperatures of the ayre And although Auycen reporteth that the bones of man hath more drinesse then the hayres yet I cannot otherwise reade but that hayres haue encrease of an earthlie vapour and the bones are vnder a sharpe thinne vegetation of blood and the stronger nature is there the increase is made more valourable thicke and styffe and as nature is insigned out in the worke hereof most perfect to the eies of all men so doo they valiantly sustaine the trauels and miseries which appertaine to this life Here might be a gathered coniunction in the temperatures of the gristles or the gristely lygumens the tendons which are the great sinewes or the cordes of the body as also the arterick vaines where the spirit of life recourseth and the hard and soft sinewes sensitiue with the spinall marrowe For the more softer these portions doo appeare the rather doo they obtaine and generate an indifferent nature both of moistnesse and drinesse aswell of heat as of colde so that the good temperature of all these portions in the body doo yeeld a perfect increase and nourishment to the hayr of the head except they be distempered thorow any superfluous accidence otherwise Therefore Rasis sayth that the haire is a materiall cause deriued from the humours of the inward partes of the body as of the vaines Ruellius saith that strong is the officient and perfect cause of thicke haire which somewat consisteth and â—ayeth vnder the estate and condition of the skinne and is not generated of euery supersiuitie ercept onely of that superaboundant temperature which is gathered in the extreame partes of man and those excrements are variable As first the excrementes in the bleather are of two sortes the one cleare and the other thick the one is called Hypostasis which by a perfect digestion The excrement of moisture is of two sortes is aduanced in the substance of the brine and either is in the blather or seroot or strained and extenuated from the bodie is passed ouer into vapours for the increase of hayres or els in styrring and chafing the body is deliuered foorth by sweates or els groweth into flegmatike inundations Galen auoucheth that there is one part thereof ascending vp and peacing the braines deliuered and absumed away by a dry rewmatike spyttell an other part is deliuered away by common course of excrementes at the nostrels and an other part is deliuered away by sweaâ—es an other part is deliuered away by sorrow of the eyes in weeping an other part is
these naturall causes to be no other thing theÌ„ an indicible All indicible thinges haue a indicible temperance temperature hauing some indicible propertie and forme is no other thing then a temperance in his owne nature or the immediate and extraordinarie reason from the celestiall influence therefore the naturall philosophers haue not spoken in vaine that Man and the sonne did beget man Then surely the starres are nothing at all occupied in the generation of mixt things rather doe they claime a most great part to themselues of that which appertaineth to these immixt properties and powers And it is no maruell but that these vertues powers and strength are so opposite and manifest to our feeling and perceiuing that heate and colde should also haue a singular prehemmence in the stars Theophrastus Paracelsus sayth that all these medicineable hearbes are not elementarily ingendred But brought forth of some deuine power from the pure celestiall estate aboue But yet these elementall qualities so highly doe beare their force in the countenance of all inferiour thinges and their powers are so full and large in all medicineable effectes that no furtherance or meanes preuayleth eyther to confirme them or els bring them backe to any other strange act or vnusuall alteration Dyoscorides sayth that the deuine power moueth the elementes to become eyther naturall or vnnaturall to the earth And the earth withall the bountifull creatures therein do take their essence increase or decrease from the due course or alteration of the said elementes The chiefe Philosophers doe say that the high fruitfull scituation of the sunne worketh vpon all liuing creatures that all naturall causes greatly preuayle thereby Then it is no maruell that single medicines haue an appropriat inclination in themselues but artificially qualified from their owne nature haue a more clearer and peaceable effect And although the sunne doth in euery place east her seasonable power and strength yet not with one indifferent qualitie of warmenesse and heate to be intertained into all thinges alike not for that there is any defect in the primarie propertie of the sunne but because there is a seuerall propertie from the complexion of elements For as no phisitian can frame one medicine to be indifferently receiued and intertained into euerie seuerall constitution So the sunne is shewed forth in one force and potentiall estate alike although the action vpon all inferiour causes vnlike for that euery thing followeth the propertie of nature from the complexion of elements in generation and the propertie of the sunne in augmentation The vnseasonable elementes doe oftentimes darken the sun and thereby distemper and disseason the inferiour causes of the earth So also the confused courses and running together of the flâ—â—s 〈…〉 oursing by an vnsingled and variable power within themselues is the onely cause why all the hearbes and fruits of the stelde are of medicionable and saluing condition ouer one and nothing at all profiting but rather hurting vnto another Therefore the power of all these thinges are distinguished three maner of waies As firste their possibilitie hath one ordinarie power in themselues Secondlie that a supreame naturall substance coagulateth in the power of all inferiour causes Thirdlie dooth in the same power obtaine and accomplish some effectuall propertie in it selfe which by any forraine accidents can neither be interuented nor altered except inforced from one propertte to an other to some supreame excesse within their owne naturall essence Therefore these medicines whose vertues are determined hot in the second degree are most easily made hot in their action and also most easily are they conuerted to fire in open extremitie exceeding their natures as vnflaken lune rosenne or gumme which yssueth from the excesse vapours of trees But the greatest danger happeneth in colde medicines especially if nature hath determined their operation hotte and their action colde as the Hemlock which of Dyoscorides is called Cicuta a most poisonsome practise in the fourth degree hath not onely a hot propertie and troublesome effect but an impressiue action of a colde benumming the sences which cannot bee afterwards rased out And yet many times some strong forcible complections will rather alter and subdue such strong medicines to become inclinable to the body then indure themselues to be altered or subdued af the body Theophrastus Paracelsus saith it is no perfect opinion neither of the olde nor new writers that medicines ought to bee first drawen into actuall preheminence before the corruption bee styrred and prepared by some preparatiue or gentle mollefaceion the easier the power of of purgation is extended to mortifie and slay the disease Alwaies prouided that medicines be matched with the nature of the bodie aswel in sicknesse as in health Like as clear water contemperated with pure wine doth much profite and season a hot and inflammatiue bodie to become ttmperate After the same manner weake medicines gentely are framed to doo their effect then those medicines which are of high and grosse operation For the more weaker medicines are composed for slender bodies the easier their strength is euidently knowne their limits and bounds discouered and therby lesse feared Whereas grosse hot and strong medicines are subtill fierce easily doo insinuate and winde themselues into all the partes of man and although they be most charily regarded yet will they many times exceed art wherefore medicine ought to be framed and drawen after the measure of bodyly heate otherwise it is no equall instrument of nature neither can nature be vsed in her potentiall measure for the speedy ouerthrowe of the disease For as medicine ought to be framed most like vnto nature so the disease from time to time is directed by nature Therefore medicine ought to bee receiued into the body vnder the warmnesse of newe milke or mans blood although Galen counselleth that medicines in sommer season bee proffered vnto some bodilie constitutions vnder the coldnesse of fountaine water But touching medicines outwardly applyed some high and singular practise must be attained for healing and curing such outwarde sores First by rubbing and searching the grieued place of the patient whereupon sometimes the inflammatiue infection of the furious and hot humour increaseth and far surpasseth the boundes both of medicine and nature except peraduenture it be corrected by some drieng drinke or purgatiue potion inwardlye taken or that the outwarde medicine bee of some very colde and slender power in operation which sensibly is perceiued For and if medicines be vnapt they will contrarile wrastle both against nature and the afflicted sore as swiftlie vncertainlie and groslie winde in their power and strength But if colde medicines be slowe they may be remedied and preferred after the skill of the Chirurgian to a more fuller and larger estate and degree Yet hot searching and inflammatiue medicines are necessarilie required in fulsome putrified and corâ—siue sores eyther for searching searing scowring and fadoming the deepenesse thereof as for the staying and stopping of some further
regiment in it selfe ouer them that commonly they scower wash and drie their naturall propertie of the body from those corrupt influences of the ayre which by infection they were before subiect vnto Furthermore it is a greate securitye to drawe some generall rules both for hot cold and myxt complections to serue this our purpose that euery one may be instructed vnder measure fit for their inclinement of heat and cold or all other motions good or bad whereunto any change is made in the vexation of sicknes Therefore chieflie there must bee a consideration had to vnderstand what maling humours haue possessed the body and whether the disease by reason of weaknes desireth strength or by ouermuch fulnesse dissolution if the disease thorow weaknes hath lost appetite then a profitable medecine to health is required aswell to search the propertie of the disease as to chace the infectious ventâ—â—s from the vâ—tall partes For as in fulnes of stomack 〈◊〉 is ouercrushed so appetite is fauourably intysed in weaknesse of stomacke And in these sharp sicknesses equall propertie of medicine must be reduced to equall propertie of dâ—â—t for the pacients appetite must be framed according to strength and corporall might desiring alwaies to make sustinance appetite the disease familiar one with another remembring what Thriuerus saith In egritudine longa non eadem virium ratio in egritudine infesta non eadem victus proportio that in long sicknesses there cannot be equall maner of strength neither infectious sicknesses haue equall portion of diet therefore both diet medicines ought in sicknes to be deuided into seuerall conditions of men in health for those which haue liued both daintly pleasantly in health their stomack cannot beare grosse medicines nor grosse diet in sicknes as they who haue liued more rudely and fed more basely Yet Auycene affyrmeth that medicine and diet in sicknesse is brooked according to the strength and weaknesse of stomacke Therefore Hypocates most wisely and learnedly speaketh of the Phisitian who in a common infection of sicknes commeth to diuers estates of men of seuerall maners seuerall education and of seuerall appetites hazarding his credite to be praised or dispraised among them is like a swift ship pearcing many blustering stormes or dangerous rockes of the sea hardly escapeth drowning or to a Pilgrym passing ouer the wilde desart compassed on euery side with wilde beastes scarsly escapeth slaying So dooth it fall out that although many times the learned Physition putteth all the wholsome rules of phisicke in vse and practise in the times of so great infections and mortalities yet by the immeasurable mindes of men for their trauels and skill are they either ouermuch contemned or ouer litle commended The rudest basest sort of the world with their sharp slanderous tongues practise nothing els then to murder and slay the Phisitions credite whereas the Phisition deserueth renowme honour I further doo wish that in all generall diseases that the godly Phisitian behold and respect generally not onely the complection of the pacient but the course of his liuing in health and whether the corruption of old diseases haue drawen any fresh alteration to the body by infection and of what nature the disease is of and vnder what season of the yeare the infection falleth out Lastlie what perilous influence doeth then trouble and foyzen th ayre likewise to consider what diseases happen in the diuers ages of men As whether aboundance of bloud or drines doo abound or want And in middle age whether the body be moyst dry or hot or whether in that age the mouth of the stomacke be cleane for that in those yeares man is most apt to ryot and surfet infestring the â—â—ward partes with innumerable corruption I wish therfore that middle age be considered vpon against the miserable dayes and dangers of old age seeing that the offensiue dayes of middle age by diseases taketh hold continueth and gnaweth vppon old age to death as sometimes by one disease sometimes by an other so that the naturall spirites hereby are so ouerthrowne whereby their first qualities of cold moist and drought are vtterly extinguished neither can be tempered in the last daies of man to any good health by art especially and the rather when two places in the inward partes called Myrac Syphax are eyther dryed vp or ingurged with superfluous and vnnaturall floudes of immateriall water therefore man is to respect the dayly trymming of his bodie in health with wholsome dyed and artificiall medicines of perfect operation in sicknesse for so nature is fortified in all duties without excesse and beware that appetite doo not settle to any loathsome or odious custome of gluttonie or droÌ„kinnes which can hardly afterwards be repressed Therefore learned Hypocrates speaketh most phthâ—ly Crapula inescantur robust qlimi athletae The most strong champions of the world are vayned thorow surfet hereby become weake and without stomacke Therefore it is most greate wisedome to beware that custome do not alluae the outward sences to mordinate appetite and deâ—our the inward patiâ—tes of man at length to become fulsoâ—e and deadlie in tâ—â—â—r owne feeling For ryot and excesse sometimes asia fit the ap 〈…〉 of the most wisest men yet so staied in their owne dispositions as that neuer vtterlye vanquished hauing alwayes prickes and sharp defences to dispossâ—sse those corrupt burthens which vniuersally prepare to op 〈…〉 their sences sometimes by naturall purgations sometimes by naturall vomites sometimes by naturall sweates sometimes by one meanes somtimes by an other It standeth far otherwise among the ruder sort hauing stuffed and ingorged their stomackes by outragious and mightie surfettinges doo expose their bodies and sences to all rauening diseases neither by reuerent abstinence or any other approoued remedy can leaue off in fauour of their infeebled and stuffed affections for that greedines of appetite hath so snared them These men permit prodigall surfet in large breadth length to creep more more vpon the bounds of nature so that profiand healthfull dyet becommeth contumelious and contrarie to table their disposition These and such like men shall find sobriety to become holie and wholsome appetite and nature subdued to a sufficient contentment one with an other if in the first onset vnreasonable conditions be repulsed thorow reasonable and moderate manners I doo not speake herein as Menardus putteth downe as either to choke nature or crush the bodie in peeces or vniuersally suppresse all the lustfull inclinations of man Seeing all thinges are for the vse of man created it is without offence to take his reasonable benefite thereof Surely these creatures desire a spedy dissolution restauration to more excellent perfectnes as ouerfatigated and in their seruice to mans corruption shewing and confirming the same thorow many prodigious signes And also because nature is oppressed the sences subdued the dody distempered thorow mans ouer great gluttonie dronkennes the elements thereby so offended in their naturall courses
Apelles their workmanshâ—p was without natural temperance actiue motion or sensible feeling And for that the foure elemeÌ„s had not tempered or vnited a motiue life or breath in them theâ—r worke is not passiue nor subiect either to temperance or distemperance health nor sicknesse they fâ—eâ—e neyther friendship nor hatred good nor harme when they are in tired they cannot reuenge nor yet requite any good benefit bestowed vppon them they are ignorant of the alterations and chaunges of seasons They neyther feele the pleasure of life nor the paine of death Their complexion is without disposition or inclination to any good or euill thinges where as naturall forme hath a most high place in the worke of a visible substance So that Lyonicenus hereunder placeth Physiognomy to bee conioyned and annexed vnder naturall forme and therewithal the partes and gestures of the body are framed accordyng to the manners of the minde Aristotle in like sort dooth reckon the actions of the body to be agreeable with most men after the manners of the mind Fuchsyus saith a temperate body is not considered or measured in the waight of the elements but in the perfect action of euery seueral meÌ„ber If which reason be true then those bodies cannot be temperate which are not fashionable then also those actions which are done without forme are neyther perfect nor effectual No credite is assumed hereunto eyther of learning wisedome or experience for otherwise the head cannot conceiue any good purpose if the ioyntes be peruerted from nature Surely the highest and happiest temperance appertaining hereunto is when the mind in naturall propertie is prouided to all good deedes and perfect workes and that nothing may hinder or entercept the honest intent thereof this is perfect temperance For otherwise if there wanted handes to doo a good seruice in distributing if the composition of the body were vytiate eyther in the mothers wombe or by the vnskilfulnesse of the Mydwife in some one ioynt shall this prooue the childe to bee disabled from all temperance and vnperfect in all actions and therefore in him all neighbourly beneuolence were to bee quite taken away if in any such respect temperaunce did consist This standeth far both from reason and iudgement therefore seeing a temperate worke frameth a temperate man to be equall and measurable we are to vnderstand that formitie and fashion is an instrumentall cause not effectual without the qualitâ—e of the minde so that an elementall bodie measurably commixed in disposition may be temperate although the same bee not fashionable Vlisses may be adioyned an example hereunto who was far wyser then Achilles notwithstaÌ„ding he wanted outward induments comely forme which both Achylles Nereus possessed I wil possith foorth a liuely picture in the perfect discription of this matter of one Acsop a Philosopher of all men that liued in his age was in all the partes of his body most deformed as being goor-bellied bowe-legged crooked-backed a mishapen head with a crooked necke the carootes thereof were both short and slender hauing also flat nostrels and hanging lips ouerreaching their sights in all mishapen deformities notwithstanding nature indued him with a temperate brame hee was most wittie pregnant fruitfull and in setting foorth of fayned fantasies and sodaine deuises among al men then liuing most happy Therefore it followeth that the best fashion in body doth not attaine the best and wholsommest temperance in the ornament of the mind Manardus is deceiued affyrning that outward forme is better then inward temperance which if it should so fall out forme is the principall and efficient cause and inward temperance is a cause coniunctiue following For Aiax was of a fashionable strong and mighty body yet was he mad raging and furious so that it is to be prooued that the outward frame and forme although it be neuer so faire and beautifull cannot be well directed and gouerned where inward temperance wanteth And Hypocrates affyrmeth that forme and fashion with reasonable creatures ought to be possessed vnder a proportion or measure of the inward qualities and that temperance is a seasonable gift from that heauenly workman infused in man contriuing all inward qualities to become most splendant and vertuous in all metaphisicaâ— causes farre beyond mans conceit The Philosopher sayth Homo hominem generat sol Man and the sunne doe generat and bring forth man Therefore inferiour causes doe not inforce the superiour causes from aboue And Galen sayth that the deuine cause hath fashioned the proportion of the body after the maners of the minde and doe many times oen of them agree with an other which if it doe so fall out then corporall actions and naturall conditions depend within themselues one vpon another by a mutuall consent in temperance Arnoldus de noua villa sayth that euery member in a seruiceable body obtaineth perfect temperance from the inward minde and yet he doth further report that bloud and humours are more thicker in an vntemperate body and therefore degenerate in conditions Auycen concludeth that the foure elementes are congested into euery seuerall body predominating euery man in some speciall disposition of good or euill touching the qualities of the minde of what fashion or disfashion soeuer the body is but the power of heauen ouerruleth all Dyoscorides sayth innocencie hath begotten man in a perfect Mans innocencie compared to a paynters tinsell minde in the beginning of his dayes and was stayned afterwardes by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or larger corruption like a paynters tinsell from white to red in the carnation of mans bloud but the celestiall power by a regular order reformeth all thinges Thus endeth the first booke of temperaments The Lord made heauen and earth and all things therein Blessed be the workes of his hands HERE FOLLOWETH THE SECOND Booke of Temperamentes SEing in this first booke wee haue spoken of the nature number and order of elementes aswell of their proportion and substance in body as their propertie in qualitie haue found out not two but foure compounded temperamentes So also by delatiue circumstance haue we distinguished in the temperatures of times and seasons of the yeare the one by vniuersall substance the other by vniuersall nature the one in temperature or distemperature of heate drinesse moysture and coldnesse and the other touching purenesse in health as corruptions in sickenesse happening vnder the good or euill regiment thereof We are further now to proceede vntill by rule and order we finde out by an vttermost indeuour the plenary parts of mans estate and condition in this life the comprehension thereof is in one behalfe naturall and the other animall So that a temperat man is by rule and 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 kindo of worke by good manuring and ciuill framing of his outward members made inwardly perfect for that voluntary motion hath before performed many seuerall duties in the most excellent sences of a vertuous man And yet it is a necessarie thing to discerne vnder these sences a common sence so
belonging to children is increased and multiplied with nourishmentes vntill adolescencie be perfected and afterward shorteneth decayeth and falleth away as the somme◠dayes vpon the approchment of winter And therefore he sayth that generation is colde and moyst As a kernell throwne into cold earth is by the naturall operation of the earth nourished by one degree to another vntill it become a plant and so forth vnto a perfect tree so is bloud and heate directed to increase and arise from generation to conception vntill a perfect birth be performed to infancie and then forwardes to childhoode vntill adolescencie be consummat This reason standeth verie proper to manie dispositions As touching adolescencie it is most largely set downe in the second of the Aphorisines touching wormes in yoong men proceeding of an intentiue heat and by the same reason adolescency more easily falleth into sharpe feauers than children First not onely because heat is in them more intentiue but also sharpe and dry all which is manifested by touching and feeling the complexion whether in the course of blood it be soft or hard for those kindes of feauers are of diuers natures which eyther by an extreame deuoydance or defect of blood doo aswell offend the arteries as other principall members the heart the lyuer the lunges the stomach and the raines which in their vegetatiue nature are wasted and consumed so that by the highest degree of daunger the spirites vitall naturall and animall are excessiuely infoizned or in an other respect the naturall humoures boyles and seethes about the stomach or the braines oftimes are vanquished by strong vapoures so that both giddinesse distempereth the head and disapetteth the stomach and the rather if naturall heat be interdicted from all rightfull and due passage in the vaines for which respect these rotten feauers doo growe vpon adolescencie in the contagion aforesaid or els by reason of grosse blood salt fleame or prassiue choller or melancholious sorrowe or by distemperance of mordinate heat in the sunne or putrified ayres or inordinate surfets or for lacke of exercises There are diuers sortes of these feauers hauing diuers natural inconuemences attending vpon them Some of them are called humerall some are called Ephimerae some are called Hecticae some are called Capillares These feauers haue diuers secreet perils depending vpon them and oftentimes when their constitution is inwardly drie doo denunciate great outward moystnesse For as wax is moyst and drie or colde and drie in one nature so these feauers may be more noysome◠aduersible and impedimental for that nature molested by cold drinesse is like soft clay congealed to drie hardnes of a frozen compact substance which reason declareth that colde drinesse taketh his first substance from colde moystnesse In which dangerous degree immedicable corruptions depend hereupon nature being transpersed in the first maner of comparison as the elements reserue in thēselues a perfect substance and yet dispose and alter the qualitie an other way For where the substance falleth away there putrifaction beginneth a common calamity nature vtterly desisteth and leaueth of her common and operatiue course thereby These differences of moystnesse and drinesse by alteration of nature are knowen in sustance of all liuing things For wher liquid propertie of fluxing hath power there the course of corruption poysoneth and putrifieth all thinges for fluxible things are moist ouerflowe and run foorth abroad to euery detrimental mischiefe and those thinges which easilie concreat are speedilie drie and will not afterwardes vnderbend to the qualitie of moistnesse So after this manner the contrarieties of drinesse and moystnesse are in their natures esteemed and accounted off We are then to consider not onelie the humours which euery man is best disposed vnto but all the partes of a man vnder what constitution eyther of drinesse or moystnesse he doo wholly depend As first wee are to pleade vpon the highnesse and excellencie of fatnesse which is so much aduanced in the bodie of man As that thorow that mediocritie all voluptuous delightes are prospered and by the exesse thereof the vitall blood is much corrupted And as pure fatnesse is contayned vnder health and wholsomnesse so fat which commeth of gluttonous ingurgitation is verie deceitfull to the body And therfore fatnesse is contayned vnder diuers kindes and after diuers complexons so the propertie thereof is also diuers For as faines inlarded vpon the flesh is most purely congested into substance so is it moistly nourishable in digestion And yet the parchment skin called the membrans as the calle This moistnes is like a running gutter which if the fountaine be stopped aboue the gutter forthwith drieth beneath and fylme wherin the guters or bowels are lapped are most drie after the opinion of Theophrastus both because their moistnesse swiftly is transported into the liuer vaines and oftentimes deuoided away by the vrine or ordour and also for that all the inward partes continuallie as also hotly and excessiuely breathing thereupon made thereby of necessitie drie although hot moistnes reeketh thereupon yet can it neuer growe into perfect substance therewith There is an other fatnesse impertinent from the temperature of man called tallow onely belonging to Oxen and other such like vnreasonable creatures partible in the hooffe the which is both drie and yearthly Likewise there is an other fatnesse called grease which nothing appertaineth to man except that which moystlie is gathered in the gall And as that grease which is so gathered is moyst so is it moistlie digested and drawen into moist substance especiallie vpon claw footed beastes and foules of the ayre Auycen assureth that nothing is more preseruing to mans life then naturall grease gathered vpon pure and perfect sustenance yet many make no choise of their meates but in their feeding doo groslie satisfie appetite greedilie furnish their stomaches and in pursuing their owne delightes doo thereby vtterlie disfauour complexion corrupt blood and nourish diseases And the fatnesse so gathered vppon such slymie and loathsome sustenance is moyste in the highest degree thorowe which the bodie is ingrossed the guttes puffed the braines inuapoured and the stomach ingurged Besides which it dooth congeale into a variable viscous and matery substance of waterie blood inundating between the skinne and the flesh so that swelling tympanies oftentimes breake foorth in the fulsome generation thereof Auycen sayth that whosoeuer desireth health and long dayes let him make his choyse of drye meates to feede vppon and thereby to increase and gather perfect substaunce of fatte so that the fleshe and the fatte may bee equallye inlarded-agreeable one together with an other as that nothing may exceede therein one from another vnder Natures temperaunce And that the vitall bloud taking perfect liking and pleasure therewith may fruitfully flowe into all the partes of man without opilation There is moreouer a fatte deeply couched in the bones which Auycen calleth the pyth and kernell of the bones it is hot and drie and beeing melted presently yeeldeth and spreadeth to
Paracelsus geueth counsell and therewithall assureth that no good scarchâ—r of mans disposition after fourtie and sixe yeares of age inderdealeth with the excrementes Arnoldus de noua villa geueth more larger libertie in perfect bodies vntill fyftie and fiue yeares bee accomplished For as many old men haue a hot drie bodies so manye others haue yearthly and waterie bodies vnder which seuerall dispositions in old age falleth out Last of all it is a doubtfull and vncertaine thing to discerne the temperature of euerie olde man in age and sicnesse Rasis holdeth in opinion that in age nothing is to be gathered neither from excrementes neither from fourme nor shape nor scarse from operation for operation of some part by occasion of variable disposition may be confounded in an other part I doo let passe the opionins and iudgmentes of manye Writers how the signes of diuers ages differ in sicknesse neither thorow out the whole ages of man doo they obtaine or continue any one perfect significatiue agreement Therefore whosoeuer traueileth in the variable temperances of man let his best direction bee taken from the pulses as feeling euery office of the bodie in his proper worke Yet surelye whatsoeuer is spoken against the view of excrementes in the sicknes of old men Ruellius saith that excrementes are not altogether to be reiected or dispised but according to the straungenesse of the sicknesse and accidentes of the disease duely to bee considered vpon To conclude euerie practitioner hath a large field to trauell in in the time of sickenesse As first to vnderstand the disease by feeling the pulses Nexte to consider whether euerie office of the bodie laboureth alike or no. And thirdlie whether the Accidentes doo stay in any one parte of the body more then an other And last of all whether the duetie of the excrementes be perfourmed in a naturall course or no. Thus endeth the second booke of the Temperamentes The Lord made heauen and earth and all thinges therein blessed bee the wâ—orkes of his handes HERE BEGINNETH THE THIRD booke of the Temperaments IN these former bookes there is set open the differences significations and accidentes of cold hote moyst and drie thinges in their actiue natures and to finde out the reason not only why they should be approued in action as also why they should obtaine their equall qualities to be comprehended and easily perceiued by touching I will not much herein trauell For as one of them hath no powerfull nor perfect constitution without the equall trauell and furtherance of one another So one constitution doth still appeale vnto another vntill the occasion which before was obscure and vnperfect be drawne vnto manifestation power strength and agreement which as Galen sayth doth confirme all medicinable confections And there must be hereunto also annexed not onely the sensible vnderstanding of these naturall causes but a iust coÌ„senting of their forcible power and vertue to haue one successe Also there must be a very high regard had that medicines do nothing in nature digresse from the assenting inclination of suche bodyes vnto which they owe their defence helpe and succour For contrary medicines dangerously doe imprint their malice power inforcing the griefe to become more outragious inflammatiue and vnsetled Experience may instruct heerein that a powerfull medicine in the fourth degree hote cannot escape or be driuen backe from Causticke iâ— burning some verie dangerous action For these putrifactiue or corosiue playsters which in their causticke nature doe worke vpon outward sores although they be sodainly taken away from that place ouer which they did worke power and effect yet their impression or action of heate cannot sodainly or vnawares be taken away for the deepenesse of the sore hath comprehended the power thereof And therefore these inflammatiue actions without more larger libertie and skill cannot bee extinguished The same thing by colde medicines is more clearely perceiued and vnderstoode For blacke popy cannot in the fourth degree vnawares be intertained into the body but that by the same meanes doth oftentimes forthwith alter the body and the actiue mouinges sensible hindered in the vnnaturall course and action thereof It is otherwise with hote medicines which although they exceede from vs in common course of heat yet the power thereof many either be mitigated or vtterly put out As touching cold medicines the reason and vnderstanding is not heereunto alike because coldnesse not onely deepely lurketh in the vaines but stoppeth the vegetation and quickenesse of nature hauing once ouercome the sensible partes of man that although warme thinges be proffered for restoring quickning and lifting vp of that sleepie and deadly inuasion either shal it nothing at all preuaile or els the sensible and naturall partes cannot be recouered to a perfect and due estate and disposition as before For if colde water by a secret potentiall estate be intertained into a warme body and the body by a variable disposition therof altereth into a more higher degree of coldnesse doth extenuate nature and decayeth the power of bloud although the strength of the body exhausteth the sensible coldnesse thereof yet there remaineth a sharpe impression for many discases to insue Furthermore warme water being receiued into a hote bodie although it be possessed with the body for a whole dayes space as it hath nourished vnder some naturall warmth by the strength of the body so can it not be otherwise knowne or perceiued but that the body is made more colder thereby although vnder naturall warmnesse it passeth from the bleather againe So doe we beholde the power of a cataplasma which although it hath a naturall power of coldnesse yet if it be remoued and the place touched all inflammations shall sensibly appeare more subdued moderated and seasoned for inducement of a more higher and excellenter practise in the worke thereof which as some holde in opinion is contrarie in powdred medicines whose power is onely to purge drie and excoriat Yet no doubt there are some powdred medicines which in reuealing an imagination of drinesse in substance are in propertie altogether moyst And except the body be of a drie chollericke disposition shall nothing preuaile to accomplishe any drie action to become perfect and sound Some will maruell why the qualitie of elementes shoulde minister health ease and safegard to one And shewe no potentiall act but rather offence in another Certainely as all inferiour causes are subiect to the alteration of celestiall dispositions so celestiall bodies are stable firme and perfect and in their properties are voyd from alterations Then no scruple herein neede to arise whether this potentiall estate be ingendered or giuen to medicineable hearbs from nature or from celestiall bodies I doe thinke not onely power but all indicible properties inioy a metaphisicall effect And surely forme or bodily shape which heerewith is adioyned hath an indifferent participation from the complexion of elementes and the condition of celestial thinges Yet the iudgement of olde writers is that the propertie of
sayth that whosoeuer drinketh iuyce of the vyper or aspes is deadly poysoned can neuer be healed nor the poyson thereof subdued corrected or surprised by any art in man Yet Dyoscorides sayth that the stone taken from the corse and sepulchre of some ancient king after hee hath bene long dead is a speciall remedie against the poyson of vyper or aspes and all other poysons in the highest degre Galen calleth euerie distemperate action in propertie deleterion that is venomous to which hee rehearseth two seuerall kindes of hote and colde poysons as aforesaid Dyoscorides reporteth that the natures of poysons are of sondrie degrees to mans body And this contrarietie not onely respecteth a most mischieuous operation for a peculiar qualitie in it selfe but hath also an indicible propertie in his owne substance which is not onely contrary vncertaine and gathered from the most distemperat influences aboue but of the moste contagious vaporations beneath all which easily is knowne by a certaine ordinary mutation going betweene so that all those which continently doe not passe ouer in agreement with nature are contrarie in their power to bodily substance although they doe in eyther qualitie disagree As manie of these vnnaturall poysons are within themselues of one proper qualitie so manie of them are of two qualities one disagreeing from another and yet are they not contrarie in their seueall operatiue malice There are on the other side many poysons which in their owne proper qualities resist againe and yet in their kinde are not contrarie therefore some extraordinarie mutation may determine and correct this onely contrarietie Yet I doe greatly maruell that Auycen holdeth opinion that all colde poysons are whollie contrarie to mans nature in their kinde and propertie as that they may not be corrected or delayed Dyoscorides reporteth that an olde wife of Athens made a contrarie experience hereof transmuting the heath Cicuta by litle and litle without danger agreeable to purge her owne nature And Galen in his third booke of Simples the xxi chapter doth say that all cold poysons shewe their venome not in nature but in quantitie neither can they be altered from their malignitie nor yet passe ouer into substance Theophrastus Paracelsus saith this opinion is very dangerous neither can it be true that poisonsome medicines obtain their force rather from powerfull quantitie then actiue malignitie for the force of colde poysons beeing loste vnder the action of heate manifestly doe infrigerate the body which cannot be more notablie discouered then if colde water being made of an accidentall heat from a former propertie of cold not onely returneth to nature but becommeth more colder then before So whosoeuer drinketh cold medicines being drawen into accidentall heate do in their operation return to former propertie and not onely alter in their owne power but are preferred to a more greater manifestation For oftentimes colde fieame is so discerned as if the vrine be thicke and clammie by contemplation or by some forraine corruption hath an vsurping accidence of heat which although natural medicine hath some operatiue inclinatio nyet there may be a texgiuer sation to their former propertie and power of coldnesse and thereby oftentimes greatly offend vs except the strength of our nature ouertrauell the danger thereof or that the quantitie be small or because litle heat is obtained and gotten in the vertue thereof is the more easier deiected We haue an example of the Salamander who hath a continuall propertie of fire and yet beeing of extreame naturall power of coldnesse extinguisheth and quencheth all fire Euen so this hearbe Cycuta and such like vnconstant poysons haue an outward affynitie with fire yet the practise thereof benummeth the most perfect heat of the body to become vncertaine and wauering Dyoscorides affyrmeth that although artificiall practise should delay this hearbe Cycuta to worke in a moderat propertie yet wil it returne to a former affliction and euill disposition in it selfe Which easily may be perceiued in that al cold poysons are of contrary natures to hot poisons So both of them are two dangerous contrarieâ—â—es to the substance of the body as also such medicines which work beyond common course are poisons and all such medicines which hasten the disease to become more swift sharp and insult the spirituall partes are poâ—sons And all such medicines which disgrace the disease are ordinarie and of high condignitie with nature And all such medicines whith purely frame and vnite with the body are prepreseruations for the helpe both of health and long life to the bodie Therefore in ministring of medicines there is both an ordinarie and an extraordinarie composition ministration and operation For medicines are rather framed of an actiue then passiue nature As Pepper or Mustard seede are actiue so wine and honnie are passiue in operation Also there be other simples of doubtfull propertie in their worke As the Lettuce which although Galen commendeth the propertie thereof to bee wholsome against the heate of the the stomach yet Theophrastus Paracelsus reporteth that it hath an energiecall worke to moderate coole and season the body in the middest of hotte infectious diseases but neither Valerius Cordus neither the Pandeâ—t nor yet the Luminarie make any such rehearsall But Petrus Galiensis saith that both the Lettuce and hearbes of such like vertue drawe vpon the north Pole as some more nearer and some farther off and therefore in degrees they exceede one an other And saith all hearbes whose properties are leuied from the south hot are mitigated measured and equally compounded by an increment of the north â—ind And he further saith that all single hearbes worke after the coastes of the elementes except hearbes of cold propertie which of themselues haue no elemental attraction the Fusun notwithstanding hath a singular conflexion vpon them And although it was before spoken in the first booke of these Temperaments that the Sun splendeth or diminisheth her force vpon all liuing creatures yet there must bee vnderstood that the Sun hath a permanent reflection in her owne power and nature but onely that the heat of the Sun is styrred and prouoked to be of greater strength in sommer by meanes of certaine hot planets which then haue speciall domination in the elementes So on the contrarie the coldnesse of the elements in winter doo weaken and infeeble the heat and yet the sunne hath one like power both in winter and sommer so that as the sunne arrisâ—th in heat by the temperance of the year aâ—so the fruits of the ground arise and ripen therewith and as the sun with the course of the yeare falleth so doo the naturall fruites of the earth recline Then are we rightlie to coniecture that the hearbes of the field attract from the elements an operatiue power in the vniuersall estate of mans health for the hearbe Peperites hath a wonderfull and excellent operation against the commiâ—iall disease called the falling sicknesse and draweth vpon the full of the moone in the east and the said