Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	blue_a	eye_n	grey_n	76	3	15.9976	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47663	The secret miracles of nature in four books : learnedly and moderately treating of generation, and the parts thereof, the soul, and its immortality, of plants and living creatures, of diseases, their symptoms and cures, and many other rarities ... : whereunto is added one book containing philosophical and prudential rules how man shall become excellent in all conditions, whether high or low, and lead his life with health of body and mind ... / written by that famous physitian, Levinus Lemnius.; De miraculis occultis naturae. English	Lemnius, Levinus, 1505-1568.	1658 (1658)	Wing L1044; ESTC R8382	466,452	422

that they see clearly by day because the day light runs into these dark shady eyes and moves and enlightens the spirits But at night they see ill and not so exactly as others because they want the outward light to move the humours and spirits to sharpen their sight Grey and blew colour'd eyes whence and how they see but where the humour of a mans eye is transparent and clear but the spirit is small slender and weak they have Owls eyes or grey and blew colour'd that is temper'd with blew and white of which colour are lanthorns that you may see through Lanthorns are a light grey for with these are made plates for lanthorns and of this colour are the eyes of Owls and many other creatures They that have such eyes see weakly and confusedly by day because the day light and brightnesse of the Sun dissolves and dissipates the visual spirits that are not very strong but in the night because the organs of sight are enlightned with a natural and imbred light the spirits being collected and heaped together they see clearly what is in their way These kind of eyes sparkle What eyes twinkle in the night and shine in the dark and like glittering Stars they send forth their beams so that besides men many living creatures not so much by their craft in hunting as by the faculty of sight they are endued with find no inconvenience by the darknesse of the night whereas the bright day hurts them and blinds them as we see in Owls Creatures that see clear in the night night-Crows Bats Cats Rats Mice Dormice who see worse in the day by reason of the too great light but the darknesse of the night sharpneth their eyes for you see that if you hold candles or Torches before them they can hardly see wherefore Sea-men when they Sail at night desire not that the Moon should shine too clear but a dark kind of sky that is not covered with too thick clouds For so they can see farther and the rayes are lesse dissipated by a light object and do not vanish away so soon Sea-colourd eyes Sea-colourd eyes are tempered with white and green it is a moyster colour than the rest but not so clear and smooth and neat Wherefore by reason of the grosse moysture of it and the small spirits they that are so affected see not very clearly especially in a bright Ayre which offends them chiefly But if the humour and spirit be of a moderate temper Eyes and sight moderately disposed the colour is between white and black very clear and thereby is the sight performed most exactly The colours of the eyes vary according to age The colour and sight of the eye by what reason it is varied and by reason of the thicknesse thinnesse plenty paucity of the humours and spirits which thing is also manifest in the leaves of plants which when they first shoot forth are yellow then as they grow elder they wax green and again as the plant grows old they become yellow or Sea-colour So when children are first born their eyes are grey and blew Sea-green green Owl-eyes but as age comes on they grow black but in old age they grow white as their hairs do or degenerate into Owl-like eyes Also Dioscorides hath from the opinion of other men L. 1. c. written that by medicaments the colours of the eyes may be altered For the shells of small nuts burnt to ashes will make the pupills of young childrens eyes black that are grey and blew being powred in and anointed on the forehead with Oyl Also the wind the constitution of the Ayre the climate diseases affections and passions of the mind immoderate venery hunger immoderate sleep watching and surfetting change both the colours of the eyes and the qualities of the humours and spirits Counsels in restoring the eyes Wherefore a moderate diet and course of life must be kept least the organ of sight than which God hath given us nothing better in our bodies should receive any damage Emptinesse and fullnesse to be observed in recreating the eyes And if the eyes begin to grow dark for want of humours or by drinesse or want of spirits with grief of mind weeping watching wearinesse old age immoderate venery or be extenuated and wasted with immoderate study we must use such things as are restorative for our bodies and foster our eyes What things restore eyes that are decay'd as new rere Egs sweet wine Raysins sweet Almonds Pistaches Chestnuts either rosted or boyled soft Turneps the vertue whereof by reason of the plenty of their windinesse riseth to the head and wonderfully refresheth the visive spirits that are wasted also the brains of birds that fly much do the like as of Sparrows Linnets Spinks They do unadvisedly who without any choice or making any difference apply to their eyes Rue Celandine Rue sometimes hurts the eyes the galls of Vultures Kites Hawks that are of a burning and biting faculty and they waste and devour the spirits and humours that make the sight they are indeed fitly applied when the eyes are dark and misty from superfluity of humours When Rue and Celandine are good for the eyes Radish and Rapes good for the eyes and when the pin and web take away the sight and deform the eyes for they dissolve the congealed and collected humours that by their thicknesse hinder the spirits to be brought thither so all things that are abstergent and extenuating are good in this case as are common Radish that procures a good appetite Fennel-seed leaves and roots Eyebright French-Lavander and all things that cleanse the brain of thick vapours Wherefore let Schollers that must study by the help of their eyes avoid Garlick Leeks Onions and all strong ●●●elling things and that send forth such s●●●king vapours and are hurtfull for them Garlick and all strong things are hurtfull to the eyes For these spoil the eyes memory and damnify all the senses But such as use hard labour and exercise none of these things can hurt them But outwardly we must look on such things that refresh the sight Green things delight the eyes and are delightfull to behold as are all green things whereof there are innumerable kinds and differences in the fields woods Gardens Groves to be found but of stones Emrods are by their green colours good for the eyes the full greennesse of the Emrod and with which the eyes can never be satisfied as also the Prasius the Topaz the Jasp●r the Saphir Eranos commonly called a Tarquesse and the Lazul-stone Whereby the visive spirits are collected and do not vanish so they sharpen the sight of the eyes But that some by looking on the eyes do collect the inclination of the mind and thoughts The eyes are tokens of the mind I am not against it For they are the Indexes and do shew forth the inward affections thoughts conceptions though the tongue be

to his sight and he can see at the first glance but cannot exactly distinguish things for grossenesse hinders sharp sight which may be observed in a cold or moist complexion which is the flegmatique A moyst and small spirit what sight it makes But he that hath a moist and mean animal spirit to serve the organ or sight he can neither see things near hand exactly nor at all things afar off for a few spirits soon vanish and are dispersed but grosse ones hinder the function of sight since the rays that proceed from the sight of the eyes are not carried to the object nor do they receive the species of things that come to the eye from without A thin and rare spirit binders the sight when spectacles are good But a rare thin slender dark spirit such as is in old decayed people and such as are wasted by sicknesse doth make a weak sight and almost none at all wherefore they do well to help their dull sight with spectacles for by them all things seem bigger and the visual spirits are restored and collected into one they do not vanish and disperse so much but I advise no man to use them too soon for when they want them they will be quite blind For that these are dark and grow blind comes from want of spirits Wherefore spectacles refresh the sight because the rays are reflected and retorted by them Spectacles refresh the sight and the spirits gain strength new ones continually coming thither from the brain But there are besides these things spoken of many more that darken the eyes and either hurt or hinder the sight For if the pupil chance to be moved from its place How many things hinder the sight or be dilated too much contorted contracted or diminished or from some stroke or wound fall or contusion be tumefied or inflamed the faculty of seeing is wonderfully offended Eyes that stick out or sink in are dark also eyes that stick out too far or sink in too deep do bring some inconvenience to our sight for prominent eyes are hurt by the external light so that in the clear Ayre and Sun shine they see not their objects well for the immoderate light hinders them but if the skye be dark and clowdy they see the better hence it is that they see perfectly what is near them but things afar off darkly and obscurely again such whose eyes lye hid and deep within and their balls stick lesse without their eye-lids are contrary to the former For these see things hard by not so distinctly but they see things afar off very well Hid eyes and such as stick forth are contrary to seeing wherefore when we would see things afar off we half shut our eyes and wink almost for so the spirits compacted and heaped together do send forth their rayes very far Hence we use to wink with one eye and put a vail before it which may darken the Ayre and hinder the light whereby we can more forcibly and fixedly look upon the object as men do that shoot in Guns and Crosse-bows for they shutting their left eye From Archers a reason for sight is taken the spirits run more plentifully to the right and make the sight stronger therefore Archers ayme thus and so come to hit the mark they shoot at To which we may apply that Ironical speech in Persius He can direct a verse as fine Sat. 1. As winking with one eye hee 'd draw a line But that some men see two things for one is caused by the distraction of their eyes into divers parts Why some men see double For when the rayes of the eyes do not direct themselves to the same point of the object but are carried divers waies and the spirit that uncertainly receives the species of things fluctuates with inordinate and wandring motion here and there we see two for one Why things seem divided But things seem divided cut in sunder full of chinks and holes when part of the pupil is blinded with some humour standing before it also thick fumes and vapours rising from the stomach to the brain do present various sights and images to our eyes so that sometimes all things seem to run round and turn here and there Some think they see straws fleas gnats flyes Beetles spiders Why we see such absurd things Hobgoblins witches fairies and drunkennesse and gluttony cause these effects as also a melancholique humour which cloud the brain with most grosse vapours But that the right eye is duller than the left every man may prove in himself The right eye duller than the est In our perfect age a grosse and thick spirit occasioneth this and because commonly by lying on our right side nocturnal vapours rise and flow thither but in old age the right eye grows drier and the heat of the Liver devours the humours that serve the sight but the left eye is moyster and in that the spirits are not so easily extenuated nor do the humours grow dry But the heart The heart lives first and dies last the fountain of life begins first to live and dieth last and being taken forth of some living creatures will pant a long time after yet the eyes which are thought to be perfected last first cease to move and shew signs of death The eyes dye first and they dye before the rest because the spirits being taken from them when death comes they must vanish or the spirits are drawn back from the eyes to the brain that is the beginning of motion and sight But as for the causes of divers colours that are seen in the eyes I shall speak something here to it They proceed from the humours that are round about Whence come diversity of colours in the eyes whose quality plenty want thinnesse thicknesse mixture make divers colours and species of the eyes as black blew gray Owl or Goats eyes red yellow tawny pale light-red clay-colour green dark-red fiery flaming bloud-red violet-colour saffron-colour golden-colour white as milk whitish But eyes that are all with black colour whose beauty if the eye-lids be of the same colour make a man seem comely proceed from this Whence come black eyes when the visible spirit is weak and the humour plentifull thick dark and shady so that one cannot see through it by reason of the abounding humour and the profundity of it for no light that comes from our eyes is carried into his eyes that stands over against us but the rayes flye back again and are as it were retorted upon us So in Fountains and cisterns Why the water shews black in wells and deep pits the water seems to be black and serves for a Looking glasse the sight of the eyes being beaten back by the thicknesse of the water and reflected upon it self for it forceth back our sight upon us What sight black eyes have But black eyes are of that nature and condition