admit in other Animals And tho these two Acts which some reckon to be but one be produced by the same Faculty as the Acts of Memory yet they differ in this that the Memory may be without the use of reasoning but the others require the Assistance of the Rational Faculty to recover the lost Ideas by the help of certain Circumstances that remain yet in our Mind Besides it 's very common that some who are excellent for Memory may be the more apt to be guilty of Forgetfulness and to let slip out of their Thoughts many weighty Matters Again Memory precedes Remembrance in relation to Time for we can't call to mind Things that we never had in our Memory before And I judg there is this difference between Recordatio and Reminiscentia that the first is a plain Remembrance of Things remaining yet in the Memory but not thought upon before by reason of the multiplicity and crowd of other Ideas whereas Reminiscentia is a recovery of the lost Ideas which were blotted out of the Memory and again refreshed and renewed by the assistance of some known Circumstances and Passages that lead us to the minding again of those Things that we had forgotten however we must acknowledg between them the difference of magis minus Now there are four natural Motions observable in Memory First the Motion of the Spirits which convey the Species or Ideas from the thinking Faculty to that of Memory Secondly the Formation or Reception of those Ideas and the fixing or imprinting them into the Fancy Thirdly a returning back of those Spirits from the memorative Faculty to the rational Fourthly that Action by which the thinking Faculty reviews what is treasured up in Memory which indeed is the very Act of Memory Therefore some have defined Memory Apprehensio in Anima existentium specierum cum indagatione inquisitione An Apprehension of the Mind of those Ideas that are in the Soul accompanied by a Search and Inquisition We must here make one Observation more That as the Peripateticks commonly distinguish three distinct Things in every Faculty so we must note the same in that of Memory First there is the Faculty Power or Ability of Memory which we fancy to reside in the Soul as in its proper Subject and to produce Acts by that Organ appointed by our wise Maker namely the Cerebellum Secondly to this Ability or Faculty belongs the Habit of Memory which is acquired by repeated Acts for there may be a Faculty in the Soul which through Neglect or otherwise may be useless and it often happens that the Faculty is perfected by a constant and continual Practice and Habit whereas Slothfulness decays and ruines the most excellent Ability The third Thing observable in Memory is the several Acts produced by the Faculty which at last make up an Habit. We shall find this Distinction to be of some use in the following Chapters Now the Seat of Memory is generally acknowledged to be in the hinder part of the Head which we call Occiput in the third Closet named Ventriculus Puppis or Cerebellum For as all the Naturalists are of opinion that in the Brain there are three Operations of the Soul the Imagination Reason and Memory they have from the Direction of Experience assigned to the two first the two greater Closets of the Brain and to the latter the less and hindermost For I need not busy my self to prove that all the Functions of Life have their particular Organs and the Soul acting little or nothing without the concurrence and assistance of the Body our wise Creator hath appointed the several distinct parts where the Spirit is to move and act to produce the differing Actions of Life according to that old and approved Saying of the Physicians Cor sapit pulmo loquitur fel suscitat iras Splen ridere facit cogit amare jecur The Heart is the Seat of Wisdom the Lights are employed in Speaking the Gaul moves us to Anger the Spleen inclines to Laughter and the Liver to an Amorous Temper Thus in this Closet of Memory the Soul treasures up the Ideas of Things making use of a clear and subtile Spirit ascending from the Heart to form the Impressions which contain either a longer or shorter space answerable to the Temperature of the Body and the Largeness of this Closet For they have observed that such have a capacious Memory whose hinder-part of the Head is larger than ordinary but when that part is otherwise plain and narrow such Persons are seldom gifted with a rich and an officious Memory It is most certain that the good or evil Disposition of the hindermost part of the Head contributes much either to the largeness or shallowness of Memory For when that part of the Brain is sound and the Passage open and wide by which the Spirits ascend up to it with Ease and without any Obstruction such Men are quick of Apprehension and their Memory is the more happy and the more susceptible of the Ideas But if the way be obstructed that conveys up the Spirits or if there be any natural or casual Defect in that part they will quickly find it by the decay of Memory Some having received a considerable Blow in that side of the Head as a Greek Author relates forgot all their nearest Relations And it is reported of Messala Corvinus the Orator that by an Accident he became so stupified as to forget his own Name The Casualties therefore that may happen to this excellent Faculty by the Prejudices to which this part of the Brain is subject should awaken our Care and Diligence to preserve and defend it But as the Parts of the Body and the Soundness and Perfection of the Brain are great Helps to a good Memory they have caused the Naturalists to divide Memory into Natural and Artificial The Natural is when the Person hath this great Advantage from his Natural Parts without any help from his own Industry and when his wise Maker hath bestowed upon him all the inward Qualifications needful for a large and happy Memory The Artificial is that which is acquired by our Care Study Invention and Labour For it is the Opinion of Cicero That the goodness of our Memory proceeds not always from our Natural Perfections but sometimes from the Contrivance and Art of Man And our Experience can verify the same that Memory is capable of increase and decrease and that the Art of Man may add much and accomplish this excellent Ability However if we offer to neglect and suffer this rare Faculty to be unpolish'd and covered over as it were with the Rubbish of Idleness and Debauchery when God and Nature have been bountiful to us in this respect we cannot expect to use it with that Advantage as others who have laboured to increase their Maker's Gifts by their Study and Industry Of some it hath been reported that they had prodigious Memories Mithridates that famous Enemy of the Roman State was
and Wisdom that influences our Wills and Endeavours yet we are not to be sluggish and idle But as we come into the World with active Abilities we are in all reason obliged to employ them and make them instrumental in procuring our own Good Nay we are to seek and endeavour this Improvement and not wholly to depend on the favourable Will and Blessings of our Maker But of all Improvements those of the Spiritual part of Man are chiefly to be minded because our present and future Happiness will thereupon depend because such Improvements are not subject to the Casualties of the Body nor cannot easily be taken from us by Violence or Death but as this excellent Being is Immortal all the Ornaments and Perfections acquired to it do accompany it into another State and are not changeable without our Wills and contrary Endeavours How soon are the Excellencies of the Body destroyed and 〈◊〉 the Gifts of God and Nature humbled in the Dust together with all our Labours to imbellish and adorn this outward part of our Selves made the Sport and Food of the vilest Worms But the precious Souls of Men with the Graces and Vertues that enrich them are not so quickly spoiled they are to continue with that Heavenly Substance and to abide with it for ever Death the great Destroyer of God's Works can't separate those Perfections from the Souls with which God's Blessings and our Endeavours have enrich'd them For this Noble Part as well as the Body is capable of great Improvement The latter grows and encreases by degrees in the use of the ordinary Methods appointed by God in Nature Thus the Soul with every Faculty is to be enlarged increased and advanced to Perfection by the means prescribed to us by the Divine Wisdom The Understanding is to be enriched with an increase of Prudence Wisdom and Knowledg the Will of Man with the Habits of Moral and Christian Vertues Thus ought the other Faculty of the Soul called the Memory to be enlarged increased and imbellished To this purpose St. Bernard hath an excellent Saying Dilatari oportet animam ut fiat habitatio Dei Sup. Cant. Serm. 28. For that intent our wise Creator hath appointed in his Church the use of his Word and Ordinances hath ordered his inspired Prophets and Apostles to deliver to us the Sacred Mysteries of our Religion and the most Heavenly Directions that we may grow in Grace and in the knowledg of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 2 Pet. 3. 18. And for the same purpose our good God hath opened to us the Books of Nature and Providence that we might continually read study and understand the Secrets of his Divine Wisdom and draw nearer to the Perfections of the Mind unto which we shall never attain till we are admitted to the Vision of God Now this precious Jewel is by the Philosophers defined Forma substantialis corporis viventis per quam vivimus sentimus nutrimur intelligimus loco movemur The substantial Form of our living Body by which we live are sensible nourished understand and move from place to place Aristotle tells us it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the living organized Body 'T is altogether Spiritual and proceeds from the immediate Agency of our wise God Creator and Preserver of all things who at the time of Conception and Formation of the Body when the Parts and Organs are duly prepared and fitted to receive this Heavenly Guest creates it without any Concurrence or Assistance of the Parents Witness the Words of the Ecclesiastes chap. 12. vers 7. That at the Dissolution the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it And it is observable in this Excellent and Spiritual Being here are divers Faculties which are either natural vital or animal by which the Soul in conjunction with the Body produces divers Functions and Actions of Life The Natural Faculty is that Power of the Soul by which the Body assisted by the natural Heat and Food is nourished grows and produces acts of Generation The Vital Faculty is that by which the Vital Spirits are engendered in the Heart and Life is preserved in the whole Body The Animal Faculty is likewise that Power of the Soul by which a Man is sensible moves and performs the principal Functions which are Imagination Reason and Memory which indeed are the chief Functions of the reasonable Soul We must here take notice of a considerable difference between 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 anima and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spiritus Indeed the Divine Oracles make use of both Words to express the same Spiritual Being as in Matth. 10. 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fear not them which kill the Body but are not able to kill the Soul but rather fear him which is able to destroy both Soul and Body in Hell This same Soul is named the Spirit in the last Prayer of the Proto-Martyr Acts 7. 59. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord Jesus receive my Spirit Therefore the Soul and the Spirit in the Scripture-Language signifies that same Spiritual Being that enlivens moves and governs this dull Mass of the Body which cannot be destroyed by the Malice of Men and which at the Separation is received into an Estate of Bliss by our great Saviour and the Holy Angels his ministring Spirits Yet if we examine some other Passages of Holy Writ we shall meet with a Distinction not Essential but Accidental In 1 Thess 5. 23. St. Paul desires that their whole Spirit and Soul and Body be preserved blameless unto the Appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ And the Author to the Hebrews Chap. 4. v. 12. declares That the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged Sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit Interpreters differ something in the Exposition of these two Passages Mr. Calvin understands by the Soul the Will and its Affections and by the Spirit the Understanding and all its Gifts which Interpretation seems to be weak and not answering the Scope of the Words Others and amongst the Antient Fathers not a few tell us by the Soul is meant the Sensual and Animal Part of Man and by the Spirit the more refined and more sublime Part the Intellect and its Perfections This Interpretation in my Judgment draws nearest to the meaning of the Apostle but we must take heed of a gross Error contrary to all Reason and Philosophy of some of them who make Man to be composed of three Parts Body Soul and Spirit and multiply Beings without Necessity The Spirit given by God to enliven move and govern this Body is but one and hath all the Abilities granted to it which they ascribe to two distinct Substances it hath the Power to govern the Senses as it is united to the Body and as it withdraws it self from the Senses it performs all Spiritual Operations Therefore this Gloss which is designed by them to solve the difficult Question about the Descent of Christ into Hell in my Opinion
is not Orthodox nor agreeing with the Principles of Reason and Nature So that in these two Passages 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 differ in some respect but it is only in the Original Signification of the Words and in the Relation that the Spirit of Man hath to the Body and the Animal Faculties and Operations As it is a Spiritual Being separate from the Body and enjoys a Subsistence independent from this outward Tabernacle it is named 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Spirit of Man created by the immediate Hand of God at that moment that it is put to inform and enliven the Organized Body which takes its immediate Beginning from other Principles This Spirit at the Dissolution of the Body is immortal and returns to God that made it and cannot be destroyed by Death It enters into another State and hath the freedom of its Faculties and Operations as the Holy Angels above It is deliver'd from the Pains and Slavery of the Body and from its Concernment with this vile Part of Man It enters into a new Acquaintance and into a Conversation with Beings answerable to it self In this blessed State stiled in Holy Writ The Joy of our Lord The Paradise of God Fulness of Joy God's Presence c. the Soul or Spirit retains all its Perfections Graces and Abilities and being delivered or let loose from the Body that clogs it from the Members and Organs decay'd by Sickness or old Age it thereby arrives to a more excellent Activity than it was formerly capable of when confined to the Limits and Bondage of the Senses It is not so much straitned in its Operations as when it was One in Society with the weak and infirm Body but every Faculty hath the greater liberty to manifest that Improvement that hath been made in them by our former Diligence Industry and Labours But while this Spirit continues in Conjunction with the Body and operates by the Senses and Organs it is properly named 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Anima or the Soul and in the Hebrew Tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word derived from the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he breathed because its present Being and Subsistence relates to the Animal Functions maintained and continued by our constant breathing But tho most part of the Actions of this Spiritual Being are produced in and by the Organs of the Body there are at present many Operations of the Soul that have no relation to the Senses especially in such as are sanctified by the Spirit of God and are designed for a better and higher State Therefore in the former Passage to the Thessalonians St. Paul prays that God would sanctify their Spirits from the Corruption convey'd to them by the vicious Inclinations of the Body and that this immortal Part might be preserved pure and undesiled from all Sin and Infection That the Soul likewise that is the same Spirit as it works and acts by the Animal Senses of the Body and in conjunction with this outward Part might be also free from Sin and Pollution And that the Body also with all its Members might be sanctified and preserved blameless unto the Appearance of Christ Likewise the Author to the Hebrews tells us that the Word of God is so sharp as to divide between the Spirit and the Soul that is that it is so exact in its Commands and Injunctions in relation to Piety and Holiness as to lay an Obligation to be circumspect upon the Spiritual Being of Man in the Actions that are produced in conjunction with the Body and in the Operations that are separate from the Senses and that it censures both the Spiritual and the Sensitive Part of Man But by this near Conjunction of the Soul and Body it happens that the Habits of the former are more or less perfect and the Actions more or less excellent according to the good or vicious Disposition of the latter So that an Impediment or a Weakness in the Organ may hinder the Soul from acting But such Impediments if they proceed not from a natural Deficiency in the principal Part may in some cases be removed by an assidual Labour a resolute Industry a long Usage and the Blessing of the God of Nature As in the Example of a famous Orator who wore away the stammering of his Tongue with Peble Stones and attained to a Facility of Speech and Memory by speaking often to the roaring Waves of the Sea Indeed we are the more indebted to our wise Maker when he gives an excellent Soul in a well-disposed and well-organized Body and that the Temper of the one assists the Operations of the other CHAP. II. Of Memory its Seat and Excellency ST Austin names Memory the Soul's Belly or Store-house or the Receptacle of the Mind because it is appointed to receive and lay up as in a Treasury those things that may be for our Benefit and Advantage Divers Names and Descriptions are given to it but all may be reduced to this one Definition That it is that Faculty of the Soul appointed by our wise Creator to receive retain and preserve the several Ideas convey'd into it by the Inlets of the Understanding whether intellectual or sensitive Two Vertues belong to it readily to receive and long to retain whatsoever is committed to its Custody by the Understanding For Perfection of Memory consists in these two Qualities quickly to receive the Impressions or Images of things and to keep them long from Oblivion that the Intellect might there find them to employ them for such Uses as Reason may require There are likewise three differing Acts of this Faculty tho some reckon but two 1 st That which we properly call Memory which is a Retention of the Ideas of things admitted into the Soul 2 dly Recordatio Remembrance or a calling to Mind or a refreshing those Ideas that are there closeted up 3 dly Reminiscentia which is a Recovery of the same Ideas which were formerly lost or a renewing of those Impressions in the Memory that were blotted out or defaced by Forgetfulness The first may be found in some measure in the Brutes and other Animals who have a kind of local Retention of the Objects that are either grateful or hurtful to their Natures so that the presence of those things cause them either to fly from or to run to them having had a former Sense of their good or evil Qualities This Animal Memory differs in this from that of Man in that it requires the presence of the Objects to mind the dumb Creatures of their past Experience but the Soul of Man having more perfect and excellent Assistances needs not the Representation of Things to remember the former Passages neither is his Memory so narrow so weak and infirm as that of the Brutes But the two latter Acts of Memory are not to be found in them because they depend on the reasoning of the Understanding and cannot be produced without that Ability which we cannot
once a King of two and twenty Kingdoms where so many differing Languages were spoken which he understood so well that he could speak every one of them and to all his Subjects without an Interpreter The Great Cyrus had so large a Memory that he could call every Souldier of his numerous Army by his proper Name Likewise Seneca tells us of himself that he could repeat 2000 distinct Names that had no dependance And in our late Days the Cardinal du Perron was able to repeat without missing a Word two hundred Verses which were spoken before Henry the Fourth by a famous Poet and never heard nor saw them before Likewise in our Age and Nation some carry with them whole Libraries in their Memory Which in reason cannot be expected unless Men endeavour to improve this rare Gift of God by a continued Exercise I need not inlarge upon the Usefulness and Excellency of Memory to incline Men to the practice of the Means to attain to it All other Abilities of the Mind borrow from hence their Beauty Ornaments and Perfections as from a common Treasury And the other Capacities and Faculties of the Soul are useless without this For to what purpose is Knowledg and Understanding if we want Memory to preserve and use it What signify all other Spiritual Gifts if they are lost as soon as they are obtained It is Memory alone that enriches the Mind that preserves what Labour and Industry collect which supply this Noble and Heavenly Being with those Divine Excellencies by which it is prepared for a Glorious Immortality In a word there can be neither Knowledg neither Arts nor Sciences without Memory Nor can there be any improvement of Mankind either in respect of the present Welfare or future Happiness without the Assistance and Influence of this Supernatural Ability Memory is the Mother of Wisdom the common Nurse of Knowledg and Vertue as the Poet very well hath express'd Sophiam me vocant Graeci vos sapientiam Vsus me genuit mater peperit memoria But as these Lines are designed for the Benefit and Encouragement of their Memories chiefly who are to appear in the Pulpit or at the Bar to speak in the Audience of the People I need not tell them with St. Austin Memoria in primis oratori necessaria That there is no Ability more useful to an Orator than Memory For it gives Life to what is spoken and makes a deeper Impression in the Minds of Men it awakens the dullest Spirits and causeth them to receive a Discourse more kindly than otherwise it adds a Grace and an extraordinary Excellency both to the Person and his Oration and is the greatest Ornament of that part of Rhetorick that we commonly name Pronunciatio So that if there is any thing worthy to be esteemed or valued in that Art so useful in a Common-wealth 't is all borrowed from Memory alone which gives the greatest weight and efficacy to the Words that are spoken It is reported of Eschines that when he came to Rhodes he read to the Inhabitants a famous Oration of Demosthenes which they very much admired tho pronounced without the Grace of an Orator But said he to them Quid si ipsum audissetis How much more would you admire and esteem this Oration if you had heard it from his own Mouth But our daily Experience can declare more of the Excellency of this rare Ability I shall therefore proceed to examine what Temper is most agreeable with a good Memory CHAP. III. The Temper or Disposition of the Body best and worst for Memory with the Natural Causes and Reasons of both MEmory is named or rather described by Plato that great and famous Philosopher of his Age the Soundness of the Senses because the Soul making use of the Senses of the Body to receive the Impressions of Things the Memory is either larger or narrower greater or less according to the good or ill Qualities of the Senses and the Ideas are more or less lasting in Man However 't is most certain that in general it is requisite for a good Memory that the Body be in a perfect Health for if either the whole be distemper'd or any part be diseased the Sufferings are communicated to every Member and all are sensible in some respect of the Pain with the disaffected Part and the Disease whatever it be disorders the Functions more or less according to the nearness of Communication Some Diseases have that evil Influence that they totally deprive us of our Memory for a time as those that seize upon the Head and Brain and such as distemper the Nerves and Veins that are uppermost and corrupt the Blood and Spirits which are used for the Exercise of Memory Besides when any part of the Body is diseased the Mind is distracted and cannot so readily perform that Office as when it enjoys a perfect Tranquillity free from the Avocations of Maladies and Pain Likewise if the Spirit be disturbed by the violent Passions of Anger Fear Despair c. the Exercise of Memory can never be so free because it requires a sedate and quiet Temper of Mind as well as a Soundness in the Body All the Alarms and Troubles of the Soul blot out the Ideas that are already entertain'd and hinder others from coming in They obstruct all the Passages and the Crowd of Thoughts that in such Cases arise is a great hindrance to Memory But the Learned observe that two Tempers of the Body or Brain are Enemies to a good Memory and that such can never expect any great Advantage from this Ability that in those cases is naturally disinabled The first is a Temper extraordinary Cold for thereby the necessary Motions are stopt and the Passages for a speedy Conveyance frozen and the Imagination as it were benumm'd So that as a convenient Heat of the Body is a notable Help to an active Memory a cold Temper can never be so quick in Apprehension nor receive the Impressions that are offered Therefore a noted Physician names Cold the Mother of Forgetfulness and declares that there can be nothing more pernicious to Memory either to the admittance of the Ideas or to the making use of them than an inward or a too violent and ambient Cold. The second Temper unfit for Memory is Moist when a too great Humidity seizes upon the Brain as in Drunkenness Intemperance and Defluxions Memory in such a case may quickly receive an Impression but it will as speedily lose it As a Ship at Sea running swiftly through the Waves leaves behind a Track which is almost assoon lost as made so that no sign can be found of its Passage through that fluid Element So the Moisture of the Brain may be susceptible of an Idea for the present but 't is not lasting nor is there any sign a little after of any such matter Those Persons may remember the things near at hand but they seldom call to mind that which hath been long ago done I might add
a third Temper very much unfit for Memory that is an extraordinary dry Brain or a corrupt Disposition of Body proceeding from too much Heat and Driness for tho these two Qualities are necessary Assistants of a good Memory both for Reception and Retention yet when they exceed the Prescript of Nature they must needs be offensive to Health and consequently to the Practice of Memory It is therefore needful for this purpose that the four Qualities of the Body be in an Equilibrium in an equal Ballance because this Equality serves very much for a more ready Formation of the Ideas and inables the Organ the better to receive and retain them But of the four Qualities it is observed that Cold and Moist are the most destructive to Memory an excessive Cold being the greatest Enemy of Nature and of its Preservation For Humidity it cannot be expected that when the Brain is drowned in Liquor or overflows with Humours that in such an Inundation Memory can act and perform its Duty with that Exactness and in that Perfection that it can at other times and in a better Temper Now 't is not difficult to understand what Quality is predominant by these following Experiments First by our Sleep for if we are more inclinable to it than ordinary it is a sign of a wet and moist Brain that makes us heavy and drowsy but if we cannot take our usual Rest it is an evident Token of a dry Temper Besides this Humidity falls down into the Palate by an extraordinary Spittle breaks out of the corner of the Eyes and evacuates it self through the Nose and other Conveyances from the Brain in a greater abundance than is usual But if the Brain be too dry you will not be able to close your Eyes as formerly you will find a Lightness in the Head there will be seldom any natural Evacuations and the Eyes will appear sunk into the Head and the Excrements of the Ears will encrease This is the Case of such as grow in Years which causeth old Age to be less susceptible of new Impressions in their Memory but to be more retentive of those that are there already So that all the Passages of their youthful days they can quickly call to mind But if an inward Cold predominates it will appear by these Signs The Face will seem very white the Eyes languishing the Veins will scarce be seen a Cold may be felt about the Parts next to the Head and a Dulness and Stupidity seizeth in such a case upon the Spirits and Brain so that by this means Men are rendered less fit for Action Now it is observed by Physicians that the Brain is naturally hotter in Summer than in Winter unless it be when some Distemper increaseth the internal Heat and augments it the more by reason of the ambient Cold. If too much Heat be in the Brain it may be perceived by these infallible Signs All the Parts about the Head will be hotter and more red than ordinary the Eyes will be rolling and fiery the Temples burning and the Person cannot be inclinable to sleep because all the Vapours that cause Drowsiness are consumed by that internal Heat and dried up as soon as they enter the Closets of the Brain From what hath been said it is most certain that a moderate Temper where all the four Qualities correspond and agree in an Equality is the most fit for the Practice of a good Memory and when any of these exceed the natural Proportion both the Health and Memory also are impaired in that Body and rendered more unfit for Exercise In such cases therefore the Physicians Art may be very useful to restore Health to rectify the Brain to remedy the Temper and remove the superfluous and pernicious Quality and consequently it may preserve increase inlarge and help Memory For as it is most certain that divers Diseases destroy this Ability or disinable it so it is unquestionable that several Remedies may assist comfort and corroborate this excellent Faculty which requires a good Disposition of Body a careful Government of our selves and an Abstinence from the Extravagancies and Debaucheries of the Age. Now in some Cases 't is impossible to remedy a decay'd Memory as when Nature fails through some violent Disease when an extraordinary Heat and internal Driness hath corrupted the vital Parts or the Closet of Memory and filled it with infected Spirits or when old Age brings a Diminution to our Strength Vigor Abilities and all our Natural Parts decay with our Body 'T is then in vain to attempt by Physick to help or remedy that which is naturally lost and perished However in such Cases we may preserve what remains of Memory by a regular manner of living and by such Food as may expel the inward Driness and Cold and comfort the Brain with a Recruit of wholsome Spirits proceeding from the Easiness and Quickness of Digestion CHAP. IV. Some General and Physical Observations and Prescriptions for the remedying strengthning and restoring a Memory injured by the ill Temper of the Body or the Predominancy of one of the four Qualities in the Brain THE Excellency of Memory as we have taken notice depending wholly upon the Health and good Disposition of the Body 't is not to be doubted but that which restores Health to the one is by consequence useful and assisting to the Welfare and Operations of the other Chiefly if the Head or Brain be any ways damnified incumbred or prejudiced such Medicines as are proper to remove the ill Qualities or to restore Soundness are also proper to help Memory Divers therefore are prescribed by the most eminent Physicians answerable to the several Distempers of the Brain and the Causes from whence they proceed First If by reason of extraordinary Loosness and immoderate Evacuations or of any internal Driness the Memory be prejudiced we must seek a Remedy from a convenient Diet which may strengthen the Body and comfort the Spirits and Senses In such a Case juicy Meats are to be used and such as are of easy Digestion in the Stomach good and wholsome Drinks are to be taken as Claret Wine Metheglin well made c. We are likewise to exercise our Bodies moderately and without being tired we ought to rub the Head and Temples softly with Woollen Clothes and endeavour to restore the Body to its ordinary Temper by Sleep Bathing and other natural Means But if the Brain and Memory be injured by reason of an internal Cold Heat must be applied to expel it as Humidity is used to remedy the Driness of the Temper but always with a convenient Moderation for we must take heed that we heat not the Brain too much nor totally dry up the internal Humidity for fear of falling into a more dangerous Distemper which may deprive us both of Life and Memory together When the Brain is out of order by reason of Cold and Moisture the Air is to be chosen for the Patient to live in which may