ΥΓΙΕΙÎΗ OR A Conservatory OF HEALTH Comprized in a plain and practicall Discourse upon the six particulars necessary to Mans Life viz. 1. Aire 2. Meat and Drink 3. Motion and Rest 4 Sleep and Wakefulness 5. The Excrements 6. The Passions of the Mind With the discussion of divers Questions pertinent thereunto Compiled and published for the prevention of Sickness and prolonâ—â—â—ion of Life By H. Brooke M. B. Mihi verò qui ambitionis aut cujusvis Cupiditatis gratià impeditam negotiis vitam delegerunt quo minus corpori curando vacare queant ii quoque servire ultro dominis quidem pessimis videntur Gal. London Printed by R. W. for G. Whittington and are to be sold at the Blew-Anchor in Cornhill near the Exchange 1650. Praesidi Electis reliquisque Collegii Medicorum Londinensis Sociis Egregiis Viris DoctissimisqueS D. PVlblicae sanitati consulens ad quorum pedes libentius tractatulum hunc deponerem quà m vestris qui {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Summi estis antistites non est gratitudinis hoc sed observantiae pignus quippe qui prius de vobis bene mereri studui quà m audire sodalitii vestri me dignum reddere quà m ambire Hoc saltem conaâ—â— fas sit nec desperare Medicinae partem hanc secundam abstrusam satis nodosis implicatam controversiis consultò elâ—gi vernaculâ promulgavi uniuscujusque scilicet cognitioni necessariam ut vos etiam expertos magis intimiores Apollinis {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} provocarem quod perfunctoriè incoepi stylo magis exarato per ficere rationibusque veritatem magis irrefragabilibus confirmare Gladio vixdum vaginato novum imminere videtur bellum quod tamen avertat Deus publica autem calamitas Medicorum duplicare curam industriamque debet ut vel sic compensanda strages Litibus quidem locupletatur jurisconsultus morbis Medicus Illius autem finis debet esse Pax hujus Sanitas quippe utriusque lucro Populi preferenda est Salus haec est summa lex tam in Scholâ Hippocratis quà m in Politicis Sanitatis praecepta necesse est tutò cognoscat populus in hisce enim sui juris est bisce etiam abundè vacat reliquas medicinae partes nisi omnes easque non superficialitèr sed intimè cognoscat melius est ut penitus ignoraret adeò luculentèr constat nihilo plus inesse periculi quam imperfectâ scientiâ Operae pretium ergo existimavi enchiridion Diaiteticum concinnare portatu facile quo promptè consilium unicuique occasioni suggeratur Primitias has vobis dedico exiles satis nec tanto dignas patrocinio majora tempus proferet vestrumque exemplum haec interim candidè accipite verissimum observantiae {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} me vobis addictissimum totâ vitâ futurum existimate H. Brooke Ex Musaeolo meo Londini Anno Salutis 1650. To the Reader BEing solicitous of thy health and finding thee too neglectful of thy own I have for thy benefit at a few leasure hours compiled the ensuing Treatise of that part of Physick which concerns Dieting or the Regulation and well ordering thy Life the Reasons prompting me thereunto being these 1. My Duty as a Physician for being bred up in the Study of that Faculty and licentiated in the practise thereof and so taking upon me a generall care and charge of preserving Health I judg my self thereby obliged to communicate what Councel and advice I esteem necessary thereunto 2. Because this part of Physick though by most Physicians esteemed the principall and by some the All or only necessary part yet hath the publication thereof in the English Tongue been omitted very little having been written thereupon which was an urgent more then ordinary motive to me to supply somewhat that defect 3. The Physician being seldom or not at all consulted with about preserving Health there is the more need of furnishing every man with a Manuall that may be alwaies ready at hand to which recourse may be had upon any occasion And indeed so far every man ought to be a Physician or else he brings into Question that discretion by which well imployed in a strict observance of what is good or bad wholsom or unwholsom in the six non-naturals he may easily make his Conclusions and reserve them as a Guide to himself and leave them as a Help to his Posterity If I had regarded applause or preferred Fame Opinion before thy welfare I should have come abroad in a more queint Scholastical dress whereas I have now studied plainness and so far as the Subject I treat upon will permit evened my words to the meanest capacity which though happily the most Critically Learned may despise yet will the most wise I doubt not approve knowing well that matter was not made for words but words for the plain and Intelligible conveyance of our minds one to another Vnwilling I was as Dr. Brown cautions us to put thee to the trouble of learning Latine to understand English my drift being herein not so much to delight the Learned who may elsewhere find gardens enough to exspatiate in but instruct the ignorant I have not taken much care in quoting Authors to some of whom I have been beholding intending thou shouldst rather be perswaded by Reason then Authority and this I did ex industriâ on set purrose preferring the simplicity of Truth before the Honor of Allegation I desire likewise that notice may be taken that what I have written is intended for the preservation of Health other Rules there are in Diseases to be observed particular according to the Nature and with reference to the Beginning Augmentation State and Declination of each disease in which each one must expect advice from his Physician This Part of Physick thou mayst simply and safely known In the rest unless thou beest skilful in all and with some exactness 't is better thou remain Ignorant which thou canst not be if thou hast any other employment considering the abundance of time necessarily required before 't is possible to attain those many particulars that are hard to be learnt and yet of necessity to be known before thou canst without extreamest hazzard undertake the practise of Physick With a Smattering and Imperfect Knowledge thou mayst be bold as most are but not skilful To the first gain and Pride may prompt but to a true Physician see by that which follows what is Necessary It is expedient thou shouldst first know whereof man is made his principles of Composition his due Temperament as he is intire and of every part Their deviations likewise and diversities The Nature of Spirits Innate Heat and Radicall Moisture The Conformation Situation and use of all and every part of the Body both Similar and Organical the several Vessels Rivulets and Conveyances within us and this is only attainable by frequent dissection and
the former inconvenience not seeing that thereby we incur another which is the over-heating and drying our bodies which were too much heated and dryed before To avoid both and to refresh the body withall the best way is first to rest a while warm if conveniently we may but however to drink a good draught of Cawdle Mace-Ale Hot Beer and Sugar or of some other Supping whose Warmth is not Scorching but analogous to that of our Bodies so will the Spirits soon settle and be refreshed and the Limbs after rest be enabled with ease to undergo new Labor For the kinds of Labor some stir the whole Body the best whereof are Dancing Running Leaping Bowling Walking Tennis is too Violent and to be used only upon extraordinary occasions with convenient Rubbings Sweating in Bed and other accommodations after it Fencing hath too many inconveniences attending it and is best to be learned as necessary for safeguard and Defence and not used as a customary exercise There are also Exercises appropriated to certain parts as lifting great Weights and the Pike to the Back and Loins Riding is availful for the Stomack the Kidnies and Hips Navigation for those that are Pthisical Ball and Bowls for the Reins The Breast and Lungs are opened and cleared by Shooting Hollowing Singing Sawing Blowing the Horn or Wind Instruments Drawing a Rope too and again about a Post or Table Swinging Lifting the Poyse or Plummets on high and letting them down again And last of all the use of Frications or Rubbings which hath been much in use but is now grown obsolete is very convenient for whatsoever part we please Gentle Rubbings with warm soft Cloths softens the Parts attenuates the Humors and opens the Pores But Strong Rubbings with hot and course Cloths used long do Dry and Harden The Ancients had two kinds of Frications the one which they called Praeparatorium which they used before Exercise to render the Limbs agile and apt to Motion the other Recreatorium which was used after Exercise and was performed with sweet and Mollifying Oyles to Moysten and refresh the Body dryed and wasted with toil Natures great Explorator in his Centuries much commends the use of Frictions as a Furtherance of Nourishment and Augmentation he instances in Horses whom for that end we constantly Rub His reasons are for that it draws a great quantity of Spirits and blood to the Parts it ought not therefore to be used upon a full Stomack and again because it relaxes the Pores and so makes passage for the Aliment and dissipates the excrementitious Moistures He prefers it before Exercise for Impinguation or Fatning the Body because in Frictions the outward parts only are moved and the inward at Rest Hence saies he Gally slaves are Fat and Fleshy because they stir the Limbs more and the Inward parts less I shall not say more hereof but only commend its use to good Women that they gently and by a warm fire either themselves their Maids or Nurses every night rub the Sides Back Shoulders and Hips of their Children as verynecessary to prevent obstructions and the Rickets and to further their growth and agility and also to keep streight and strong the Limbs of their Children Of Sleeping and Wakefulness THe Subject of Sleep is not the Heart as Aristotle hath asserted but the Brain as Galen for to that we make our applications in cases of too much Sleep as in the Lethargy or of too little as in Phrensies The cause thereof is the ascention of pleasant and benigne Vapors into the Head from the blood and Aliment benigne ones I say for those that are sharp hot and furious in their Motions as in Burning or putrid Feavors occasion Wakefulness and want of Rest In Sleep Heat Blood and Spirits retire towards the Center and inward parts which is one reason why 't is a furtherance to digestion When we are awake the Understanding is employed the Senses the Limbs and parts destined to Motion whereby the Spirits are wasted it is necessary therefore that they be replenished by Sleep In which all the Faculties are at rest except sometimes the Phansy and alwaies the Motions of the Pulse and Respiration By that cares are taken away Anger is appeased the Storms Agonies and Agitations of the Body are calmed the Mind is rendred Tranquil and Serene It Stops all immoderate Fluxes except Sweating Hence is it that * Soporiferous Potions are good in Lienteries and all other Laskes These are the Commodities of Moderate Sleep of Immoderate the Inconveniences are 1. In that the Heat being thereby called into the Body it consumes the superfluous Moistures and then the Necessary and lastly the Solid parts themselves and so extenuates dries emaciates the Body And secondly it fixes the Spirits and makes them sluggish and stupid it duls the understanding it hardens the Excrements and makes the Body Costive from whence follows many inconveniences Old men may Sleep long and 't is necessary they should for nothing refreshes them more for that end Condite Lettice is very good eaten to Bed-ward So is the washing of their Feet or Hands or both in warm water with flowres of Water-Lillies Chamomil Dill Heads of Poppy Vine-leaves Roses c. boiled in it It is necessary likewise that they go to bed Merry and keep their Minds devoid of Perturbations That they avoid Costiveness by taking loosening Meats at the beginning of their Meals and by using now and then as need requireth some Laxative as Electuarium Lenitivum Catholicum or Benidicta Laxativa of any of them 2. drams in the Mornings with a little powder of Anniseeds or yet Cassia Tamarinds or Prunes Pulp'd Manna c. either of themselves or dissolved in Broth or Posset-drink But these though gentle I advise they use not too often for better is it to be moved naturally besides that by the frequency the Party using them will loose the benefit thereof Children may likewise sleep Largely So may the Cholerick and the Lean The Phlegmatick and Fat should Watch much Sleep after Dinner may be allowed Old men Children and they who are accustomed to it And then 't is best not to lie or hang down the Head but to sit upright in a Chaire to have no binding before upon the breast and not to be suddenly awaked but better it is that they only drowze for the better closure of the Stomack for long sleeping in the day indisposes the Body very much and makes the Nights restless but they are especially Hurtful for those that are apt to Rheums Sore Eyes and Coughes The best form of Lying is with the Arms and Thighs somewhat contract the Head a little elevated on either of the Sides for lying on the back is bad for the Stone assists much the Ascension of Vapors and wasts the Marrow in the Spine Over-much Watching consumeth the Spirits dryeth the body hurteth the Eye-sight and very much shortens our Lives Of the Excrements
Resistance that is made in the Stomack and that is most done by Dissimilaries For Inter Symbola facilis est transitus Those things that are of nearest similitude do easiest pass one into another I plead not here for bad Customs but for the best way of Removing them desiring this Inference rather may be made there-from that since Evil things becoming Customary are so difficulty removable we be very careful to enure our selves only to those things that are good wholsom of easy charge and preparation Whether Physick be Necessary for the preservation of Health If the due Course and Order of Nature were observed there would be very little or no need at all of Medicinal Helps for we see those that live nearest thereunto continue longest and most free from sickness as Country-men and those who observe a Strict Diet the last by an extraordinary temperance prevent the generation of those Crudities and Corrupt Humors which are the matter and Fuel of Diseases The other though they feed heartily and plentifully yet is their Diet but simple and at all times much alike their Appetites fresh and urgent their Concoction strong and constant and the accumulation of evil Humors prevented by their hard and Customary Labor These want little or no Physical helps But those that are subject to many Disorders as the most part of Mankind is stand in much need of Preservatives Preventives Hence hath come in the Custom of bleeding purging at Spring Fall and with some Monthly the now frequent Regurgitations after every feeding the use of Fontanels the frequenting of the Wells the entring into Diets and Courses of Physick Nor do we usually after Restauration become Wiser or more wary and orderly in the Regulation of our lives but recover strength only for the new more able exercise of our Intemperance so continue the Necessity of customary preventives In these cases therefore they are to be allowed for the avoiding of greater Evils only with these Cautions That strong and violent means be not used when gentle and more familiar helps wil serve nor many Remedies when few are sufficient that we prefer Alteratives and Correctives before Purgatives and likewise Minoratives and benigne Medicines before Churlish and Scammoniate bleeding or purging before an Issue for that is Medicamentum Continuatum a being as it were in Continual Physick which is also frequently liable to pain and irksome prickings upon the change of weather and other accidents But then though gentle means be to be preferred it must be with a great probability of effecting the ends intended 2. Though Imminency-of Diseas do beget a Necessity of observing the Seasons for Physick yet that Custom need not be continued but when there is a likelihood of the same Imminency as suppose a Turgency of Humors heaviness and wearisomness of the Limbs want of appetite c. hath for these six years every Spring signified a Necessity of Dieting and Purgation and that they have to good purpose been used accordingly yet if the same man do by observing a better order in Diet and a greater Temperance so behave himself for the following year as not to have the same Symptomes and Indications neither is it necessary that he continue by Custom of Physick but may the next Spring without danger leave it off or at least wise lessen it as occasion requires For in these cases the Indication is not to be taken from Custom but the Imminency of Sickness 3. Though Customary means be needfull for prevention of Imminent Sicknesses yet they are not therefore to be used Out of Wantonness and when there is no appearance or likelihood of an ensuing Malady for by that means as Celsus well saith We consume in our Healths the Remedies of our Sickness and dispose our selves many times by so weakning our Bodies to those sicknesses we had before no propension unto for that they worst of all endure Medicines that are of sound Constitution who have nothing for Physick to work upon but the good Humors and Habit of the Body it self 4. They who either naturally or by the excessive feeding upon hot and dry meats have slow bellies and are constantly costive must prevent the inconveniences which will thence ensue as extream putrefaction of Excrements hot Vapours in the Brain heaviness and pain in the Head Inappetency palpitation of the Heart windiness in the Stomack the Cholick c. they must prevent I say these Inconveniences by the use of some gentle Lenitive and such order as is requisite for keeping the body loose and laxative as eating roast Apples or stewed Prunes half an houre before Dinner drinking a good Draught in the Mornings forbearing dry Meats using Cassia Manna Pulp of Tamarinds Syrup of Roses Pilulae ante Cibum loosening Clisters Whey with Fumitery Senna or Epithymum c. Milk or the Waters in the Summer and the like proper to facilitate the Belly prevent those obstructions which are the Fountain and Nurse of most Diseases and all this may be done familiarly without much ado and beget no disturbance to the Body Of Aire AIre we attract by Inspiration and Perspiration by the Windpipe and by the Pores and that to repair our continual loss of Spirits and contemperate the heat of the Heart and Blood The goodness of Aire is considered either as it is in it self or with Relation to this or that Body In it self that is best wch is pure serene not mingled with any noysome smell as of Carrion Iaxes places where they repose their Dung standing and corrupted Waters thick Foggs and Vapors c but is naturally pure and void of all inquination Considered with Relation to this or that Body that is best which by its similitude is most proper to preserve Health or by its contrariety most efficacious to expel diseases as over moist bodies live most Healthfully in Dry Aires and over dry in Moist so that 't is a mistake to think the clearest and sharpest Aire is best for every body since Distempered and depraved Constitutions do as necessarily require a contrariety in Aire and consequently somtimes moist and thick Aires as in Meats and Drinks I have lately known two sickly bodies who heretofore were hardly ever out of Physick and yet for that time since they lived in Lambeth-Marsh a place that no one would choose for the pureness and Clarity of the Aire have enjoyed a sound and uninterrupted Health and one of them hath lived there for these 3. or 4. years Sound Bodies and healthful endure well almost any Aire but Crazy Persons must if they have the Conveniency make choise of such Aires as are opposite to their Distempers But when want of Means and Conveniency necessitates any to those Aires that are most repugnant to their Healths all the help that remains is by proper meats and drinks and other means to repair what may be that defect as if the Aire be hot and the Body inclined
to hot Distempers to use cooling aliments to drink VVater in stead of VVine to frequent Bathing where it may be had to Rest much and forbear Violent Motions To have little Cisterns of Water always running such as are commonly made of Peuter to hang up Wet clothes to strew the pavement with Roses Rushes Vine-leaves Water-Lillies and other Cooling Hearbs which may likewise be sprinkled with Rose-water and Vinegar On the contrary cold and moist Aires may be much helped by Large Fires Bath-stoves Warming-stones and agreeably provisions may be made in other cases I purpose not to insist upon every consideration that relates to Aire but passing by those that are speculative I shall touch only upon such as are useful and practical and from which most men may derive some Commodity to themselves Mountanous Aires are esteemed wholsomer then in the Valley because more perflated and cleansed by the Winds whereas the others are stagnant like standing Waters But I doubt the truth hereof for that I see not how one part of the Aire can be moved without the other its motion and impulsion being so easy that we see the very voice moves and makes it give way at a very great Distance and then again if to some bodies more gross and stagnant Aires are not so wholsom for instance to the slaggy and corpulent to others they are most agreeable and the thin sharp and Penetrative most inconvenient namely to thin spare and emaciated Bodies What the inconveniences of Metalline Vapors are I shall not need to recite neither yet what helps there are against them because living not where they are we are not subject thereunto The Causes whereby Aire is Corrupted that are within our Ken and which may by us be Remedied are especially three 1. Great Standing Waters never Refreshed 2. Carrion lying long above ground 3. Much People in small Roome living uncleanly and sluttishly The Aire Changes its qualities from the Diversity of Winds By those from the North 't is cold and dry they do confirm and strengthen such bodies which are able to bear them From the South they are hot and moist and so loosen and dissolve the West is more Temperate but the East apt to blastings The South Wind without rains continuing long disposes to Feavors andthe Pestilence and generally so do stagnant Airs without Winds Rain and Thunder It is observed that from the North there arises with the Dogg-star certain Winds called Ethesiae which do not only contemperate the Heat of the Aire but Purg it from putrefaction and pestilential Infections and have thence got the name of Scoparij because they do as it were Brush and Clense the Aire In Consumptions and for Restauration after long Sicknesses the best Aires are in dry Champaignes where there is much Timber-Shade and Forrest Beach Trees and Groves of Bayes where likewise grow odoriferous Plants as Wild Time Wild Marjerom Penny-royal Camomil Calamint Juniper and the like and where the Brier-Rose smells like Musk-Roses Helpful whereunto is likewise the Steam of new ploughed grounds and for such as have not strength to walk a Fresh Turf of Earth every Morning with a little Vinegar poured upon it However 't is best for them that are any thing Healthful not to be over-solicitous in the choise of Aire or to judg that they cannot have their healths except in some few Places of best and excellent Aire for they do thereby very much deject Nature and opinionate themselves into Sickness Such Imaginations the mind in continuall doubts perplexities and make us sickly out of a fear of being sick We see that many men and those not of the strongest and most healthful constitutions live long and without sickness amidst noysom and unpleasant Smells as Oyl-men Sope-boylers Tallow-Chandlers and divers others besides those that are conversant about Dung cleanfing of Common-shores and Jaxes and though Custom in these cases may be urged because of the familiarity that by long use is begotten between such Smells and their Natures yet is it thence clearly evincible that health and noysom smells are not inconsistible which is a clear argument that we need not be over nice and solicitous in the election of Aires as if in this City of London amidst thick fumes Sulphurious Vapors from the Sea-coal we could not enjoy our Health In these cases Opinion is more our Mistris then Reason which whilst we are pleading for we can content our selves with the Smoak of Narcotick Tobacco not only surround our selves therewith in a close Room and in hot weather too but suck it in and let it sometimes descend-into our Stomacks and sometimes ascend into our Nostrils and so into the very Brain it self In some cases therefore we are scrupulously exact in others supinely negligent a middle between both were best as not to think but that health is preservable in Aires not exquisitely serene and penetrative and on the other side to avoid choaking hot and too exiccative Fumes which in time parch the Lungs and dry up the Brain For Odors those are best which neither by their super-abundance of Heat Strength and Crassitude of Spirits do overcome us but which by their rarity and quickness do refresh us But they also are good only sometimes and the bodies infirmity requiring it for otherwise no Smell is best but that which is almost insensible in the Aire it self It is observed that the Aire we are born in tends much to the Restauration of Health Something may be allowed to 't because of its Sympathy with the innate Spirits of the Body which remain in some measure from our generation to our Dissolution Although I conceive when we go into our Native Countries to repair our Health after long Sickness the principal means thereof is vacancy from care and business the wholsomness and simplicity of Country Feeding the enjoyment of friends merriment and pleasant pastime which is usuall and which ought indeed to be especially intended in such Journies But above all sudden alterations in Aire from extream to extream is very dangerous Such as usually falls out in March April and somtimes in May as also in September October the change is usuall too in severall parts of the same day the Mornings and Evenings extream cold the mid day excessive Hot In these cases the surest way is for them that are crazy to go warm clothed till the uncertainty of the weather is over the Proverb speaks well though homely Till May be out Leave not off a Clout We must not like the unexperienced Marriner believe the Stormy Season to be past because of a fit of Sun-shine If we err t is better do it on the safe hand and not run the hazard of a sickness for fear of an unhansome Nick-name This Caution concerns those only that are any thing infirm and sickly as indeed most are the youthful and robust can bear all Weathers and in the thinnest apparel though there is a Proverb
well by eating too much as by eating too little for Nutrition and Augmentation consists principally in good Digestion and perfit Distribution Abundance of Meat and Drinks hinders first Digestion 1. In that it suffers not the Stomack to close but leaves the upper Orifice open by which its heat exhales and so languishes the inconveniences thence arising are almost innumerable for then Vapors ascend and fill the Brain there they thicken and cause Defluxions into the Eyes the Gums and Teeth the Stomack the Lungs the Spine of the Back the Kidnies the Joynts the Veins Nerves and Arteries according as they can insinuate themselves and the openness of Passages affords them way 2. When the Stomack is over-charged it is extended its Pleits and Duplications unfolded and consequently both its own heat is diminished the Parts surrounding which are very great Assistants if not principalls in concoction cannot afford their due Heat and efficacy in that they are not able to compass the Stomack as it is then extended Thence arises Crudities Putrifactions Worms Putrid Malignant and Pestilentiall Feavers with many other Diseases 2. For Distribution how can that be performed when the Passages are choakt up through the abundance of Meats how can each part have its proportionable share by Wise and Equal Nature allotted when we raise Banks and Dambs to hinder that Distribution On the contrary when a due competency is taken into the Stomack it presently closes and aptly surrounds it and is fitly embraced by its assistant parts So is Digestion perfected the Meat made passable the Excrement orderly descends the Nourishing juyce takes its Course to the Liver and after Sanguification is distributed and assimilated into the Habit of the Body it self So that since we eat to be Nourished and since by a due competency that is best performed and excess is a manifest Impediment thereunto how vain are we if we alter not our Course and take that way that is effectual for producing of our Ends The 2d Argument is taken from the greater Pleasure that Temperance brings with it then Excess And this Argument sure will do for why is it that we indulg our Bellies so much but because of the supposed pleasure we reap therefrom Now if it can be made appear that Temperance brings more we cannot then choose sure but follow her tract and Prescript 1. Then that pleasure is greatest which is most Natural and unforc't such is the Temperate man's His Appetite only is his Sawce which by spare feeding and due Abstinence is kept alwaies fresh vivid and Importunate so that he tasts to the last and to the very end of his Temperate Meal his Appetite continues and consequently his Delight Whereas the excessive man eats not from desire but Custom and generally finds no Appetite naturally but is fain to force it by artificiall Helps whilst to the other ordinary Fare doth Equal in Sweetness the greatest Dainties 2. That Delight is best which is most lasting such is the Temperate mans His all the year long continues Whilst the other for his Deliciousness to day is fain to lie by it to morrow nay is distracted amidst his Pleasure by the fore-knowledge of what will follow And how can that be termed delight which is intermixt with an expectation of Sorrow There will bee Qualms and Surfets a necessity of frequent Purgations Vomitings Bleeding making Issues And then the former Surfets are called to mind and repented of then we condemn our selves for preferring a sickly and momentany Pleasure before a sound and lasting The Athenians by one of their Senatours were told that they never Treated of Peace but in their black Robes after the loss of their dearest Friends Kinsfolks So are we regardless of a sober Diet till we are cauterised and have Cataplasmes and Plaisters about us Till then we blame one while the Aire another while the place we live in as unwholsome attribute the fault to our being out of our Native Country or some such trifle but never think of the true cause our Intemperance But I shall not need further to pursue this Point for to such as have the Command of themselves their longings and desires here is sufficient Such as have not will run their course till Sickness and an inability of being Intemperate restrain them I come now to the Thing it self The Determination of the Bounds and Limits of Temperance In doing whereof I cannot approve of that Arithmeticall Proportion or Dieta Statica the allotment of a certain Weight and Measure of Meat and Drink not upon any tearms to be exceeded I cannot I say approve it as to generall practice for how should the same shoo fit every foot how can it be but that where there is difference in Constitution Age Sex c. and so diversities of Heat and ability to Concoct and Digest a different proportion should be also requisite That Quantity surely which is but sufficient for a young man in his Heat and Growth is by much too much for an aged man whose Nutritive Faculties are languide whose Transpiration being litle stands in need also of but litle Repaire Leaving therefore the strictness of Lessius and Cornaro to Speculative and Monastick men as somewhat above us and besides us My purpose is only to prescribe two generall Rules of Temperance which may easily be made practicable by all sorts of Men and Women and likewise to suggest some Helps to such as finding the inconveniencies of Customary large feeding are desirous to reclaim themselves and observe such a Diet as is most advantagious to their Healths The first Rule is that of Hippocratis {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} They that study their Health must not be satisfied with meat but as Avicen otherwise expresses it must rise from the Table cum Famis reliquiis with the remainder of their Hunger by this means the Stomack will well overcome and digest what it hath received the remainder of thy Appetite will be better imployed in perfecting thy Digestion 2. That thou so feed as after it to be neither unfit for the labor of the Body nor the employments of thy Mind For he that finds an oppressive Dulness and slothfull Weariness after his Meal may know for certain that he hath exceeded the Bounds of Temperance and perverted the end of Feeding which is not to oppress but to recreate the Spirits and renew the strength and powers of the body to make them more cheerfull and vigorous that by abstinence or labor were impayred If therefore thou transgressest in this point let thy Abstinence be the greater and thy care circumspection doubled at thy following Meals Many as Lessius well observes run into an extream mistake in this point for finding themselves more faint and unweldy after Meals then before they presently attribute the cause thereof to their not having eaten enough or conceive that their Meats were not sufficiently Nutritive
hot and able to concoct And lastly because they are in their Growth Young men proportionably may to the Frequency be allowed Larger Quantities Very Old men are to be fed like Children because they are not able to digest much But being not in the extremity of Age they can best of all endure Hunger The Hot and Cholerick endure not Hunger The Cold and Moist can bear with long Abstinence The Lean and Hot whose Transpiration vvasting is much must have Large Reparations To the Fat who have narrow Pores Abstinence is good and easily endured Much Labor and Exercise as they spend much so do they require Large and Frequent Supplies otherwise the body is soon enfeebled But they who Lead a Sedentary life which is the unhappiness of most Women must seldom and sparingly feed yea very seldom and sparingly otherwise they will have need of continual Physick and Evacuation to spend and drive those Humors that in other are consumed by Labor or Exercise Custom is here of very great Moment also which if not very bad must be indulged but if so it must be altered by degrees and insensible Gradations The usual Custom in England is to eat thrice a day a Break-fast Dinner and Supper the young and very healthful may be allowed it eating not to fulness But forasmuch as the generality of People are infirm and since most diseases proceed from Crudities and Indigestion I judg it better to omit the Break-fast that so by Abstinence the Stomack may be cleansed and its superfluous Moistures consumed I mean those that labor not and who have crude Stomacks their mouths being constantly bedewed with Phlegmatick moisture who seldom eat from the instigation of Hunger but Custom Much benefit they will likewise find from the using of some desiccative to dry up these moistures such as are Condite-Ginger Ginger-Bread the Condite-Roots or Stalks of Angelica Rinds of Oranges Lemmons or Citrons condited Cakes or conserve of the Flowers of Rosemary Conserve of Roman Wormwood with a little Cream of Tartar the Roots of Horse-Radish sliced and steeped in Sack of any of which a small quantity as half a Dram a Dram or two Drams to more Robust Bodies will dry up Reumatick Superfluities dispel Wind and prevent those Scorbutick Maladies to which most People are Inclinable From this Rule I except those that Labor Nurses Growing Persons who must daily eat thrice at least And also in Recompence of the others Abstinence 't is requisite that they Dine betimes as about Eleven and Sup about six so will there be a sufficient Space intervening for the perfecting of Each Digestion Whether may be allowed the larger Dinner or Supper Custom pleads for the former for then our appetite being strong and we coming with empty bellies and importunate Hunger to our Dinners feed largely having respect only to our present Satiety by which meanes the space to Supper time being but short and consequently our Stomacks not yet empty our appetite is then weak so that at least if we have any regard to Health we then feed sparingly otherwise we must expect a a very turbulent and restless Night But setting Custom aside which is alike inclined to that which is bad as good I conceive the healthfullest way is to propose the Largest Meal for Supper the largest I say not to a Surcharge or Surfet for that is at no time good but to a competent Satiety alwaies provided that it be somewhat early as about six that so a due space may intervene between that and Bed time That our Dinner be only ad mulcendam famem to asswage Hunger not satisfie it but take off its Edg and Urgency till Supper And that Supper be Quasi Laboris Cogitationum Terminus and the time after it till Bed time be only destined to Mirth and Pastime pleasant both to the body and the mind My Reasons for larger Supper are 1. Because the time after Supper is fittest for Concoction as destined to Rest and Sleep in which the heat Spirits are not distracted or otherwise imployed in the Brain or limbs as in the day time by Business or Labor but are totally retired imployed about Digestion 2. The Intervening Space between Supper and Dinner is much larger then between Dinner and Supper the Heat Spirits have thereby the greater Help and opportunity to perform their office of Digestion The strongest Objection against this that I can find is in the case of those that are troubled with the Head-ach Vertigo Catarrhs or any other infirmities of a weak and moist Brain To which I answer first that my enquiry was only of what is best for them that are in good state and condition of Health and that particular Infirmities require particular Rules 2. I say as to the present case that the early Supping avoids the inconvenience for that a sufficient space is allotted before sleeping time for the closure of the Stomack nor can I but conceive that Motion and Labor which is usual after Dinner doth by Agitation and subversion of the Stomack hinder its Closure and so more inclines to the Elevation of Vapors which is the cause of the infirmities in the objection mentioned To the Common Argument of the assistance the Stomack finds by the additional Heat of the Sun for its Help to Digestion I answer that all external Heats are rather a Hinderance thereunto then a Furtherance for that they dissipate and draw forth the Natural Heat and leave the Inner parts more Cold and Helpless This they shall soon experiment that sit by a great Fire or in the Hot Sun after Meals and the case is clear by our Stomacks greater inability in the Summer then Winter So that my assertion to me remains firm which therefore I commend to publick consideration The same Rules as are for Eating serve also for the times of Drinking the only motive whereunto ought to be Thirst the only ends of Drinking being to Moisten and make passable the Victuals therefore Moist Meats require little Drink and solid require only so much as well to temper them and prevent obstructions They therefore who drink much at Meals incur a double inconvenience 1. By making the Victuals Float in the Stomack which ought to reside in the Bottom thereof they hinder Digestion and by over-much moistning the upper Orifice thereof they keep it open and so make the Vapors rise And 2. It makes the Victuals pass too soon out of the Stomack raw and indigested whence come Fluxes in the Bowels and putrid Crudities in the Veins and Arteries The best time of Drinking is about the middle of the Meal for that best moistens and contemperates the Meat and so helps Digestion To Drink before too much dissolves the Stomack unless in those that have a very Currant passage and then an houre must be allowed between To drink after is very bad for those that are apt to Rheums and Head-aches Avoid drinking also at
the expence how sad is their Condition when the Means and Store-house thereof is by any casuality wasted to an infinite Number whereof God hath subjected us How much better is it to copy the Picture of a Vertuous Woman wch Solomon in his last Chapter hath so lively delineated and for every good Woman to endeavor the being like Her In whom the heart of Her Husband may Trust and by whose Industry he shall have no need of Spoile But I digress too far and happily may incur a censure for my boldness in this point However with the Vertuous I hope to find excuse since my fault if it be any hath proceeded only from my Love and fair Respects to that Sex Be pleased that I may add some few Arguments to press the Necessity of Labor and Exercise I have urged before how much the want thereof enclines you to diseases and puts you to a continuall need of Physick that it decays your Colours and Complexions that particularly it disposes you to Obstructions of the Liver Spleen Womb and Breast One more and that a grievous Inconvenience it produces viz. Long Travel difficulty and danger in Childing The Hebrew-Women saies the Egyptian Midwives are lively and are delivered ere the Midwife comes to them The Irish Women because of their stirring and active Lives are Streight Tall full grown quick in Delivery The German-Women are also observed to be such here in England also the poor and laboring Women in City and Country are very quick at their Labors and allow themselves hardly a Weeks Retirement So that in this particular also which is of no small concernment the active and stirring Life is of greatest advantage 2. They that Lead Sedentary Lives usually bear Weak and Sickly Children and so beget themselves much sorrow double care and charge in their Education besides the Injury they thereby do the Common-wealth 3. The mind for want of convenient business to employ it becomes either dulled and unacquainted with humane accidents and so not fitted and prepared to bear them or otherwise misguided and depraved 4. It is necessary that Parents and they that have the Charge in Education timely take care in this particular for that their Children being at first bred up restively acquire a habit thereby and cannot afterwards when they or their Parents see the inconveniences thereof change their course their Joynts and Limbs are so stiff and unweildly and their obstructions so great Insomuch that by endeavouring an alteration they incur many times grevious diseases So that Parents ought to lay this particular very much to heart in time and to order the Education of their Children accordingly for which they will afterwards be more beholding to them then for their Portions as of more reall benefit and behoof unto them For what is Wealth without Health yea how much better is a mean fortune with a Sound and Healthful Constitution then Large possessions when the Body is Crazy and unapt to enjoy them But if through neglect or inanimadvertency this at first be over-slipt the old Custom must not all at once be left nor the Body suddenly be innur'd to Labor but by degrees using at the same time convenient Helps such drinks as do powerfully clear obstructions and remove shortness and difficulty of Breathing And so I have done with that Particular I shall add one or two Considerations more concerning Motion and Rest and so Leave it When the Body is very foul replete with ill humors exercise must be forborn till it be conveniently cleansed for that otherwise it will work disperse them into the Habit of the Body it Self and occasion thereby some long and hardly curable Disease In this case 't is best to avoid fool-hardiness venienti occurrere Morbo remember that to prevent is far easier then to Cure They that are Lean should exercise only ad Ruborem till the Body and Spirits are gently heated for that will help to satten them They that are fat may Exercise ad Sudorem till they Sweat that will extenuate them Exercise is best before Meals for it clears the Stomack and prepares the Appetite but a little time must be allowed again to settle the body before we eat Too soon after meals 't is very bad for it subverts the Stomack and forces the Victuals thence raw and indigested and so disperses it into the Veins and Habit of the Body whereby putrid Feavours Head-aches Weakness of the Eyes and a general Cacochymy or depraved Constitution is engendred Avoid exercising in damp and noysom places for that the Lungs being opened and Respiration encreased much aire is drawn in and the brain thereby filled and the Lungs corrupted This Caution is to be observed by all but especially by those that are Pthisical and Rheumatick Lastly too Violent Exercise is very bad for it too much dries the Body it engenders the Stone Gout especially towards old age when it is discontinued Let not therefore Pleasure and a too earnest Intention at our sports make us so much our own Enemies as to convert that which ought to be used only to refresh the Mind to Strengthen and keep healthfull the Body into the means of its Infirmity Sickness and decay especially knowing that exercise is then only pleasant when the Body is fresh Vigorous and very well able and without toil and pain to undergo the same Besides that too constant a use and intention upon Sports corrupts the Mind and distracts it in the midst of all affairs and business and begets a Dotage thereupon wherein there is not true Pleasure and contentment but a wâ—arish and impotent giving up of the Spirits and Faculties thereunto a convenient mixture of Labor and Excercise is best so as that the first do far exceed the last and that the last be indeed but as a Refreshment and quickning of the Spirit and Body for the better and more Pleasant undergoing of the first Lastly If it be too much or too violent it is no friend to Prolongation of Life for it over-heats the Spirits and renders them easily evaporable 2. It consumes too much the Moisture of the Body 3. It wasts the inward Parts which delight most in and are conserved best by Rest We see by this the inconveniences of Excess and Defect Via Media via Tuta the middle way is best and wholsomest A usual error is the drinking cold beere after Violent Exercise and in our Sweat to which Heat and Thirst intises us but the effects are 1. Damping and almost exstinguishing the small remainder of heat that is left in the inward parts 2. Surfetting the Body by Mixing cold Drink with the fat which is at that time melted and floating in the Body Let that inconvenient custom be therefore carefully left Another is to Drink Sack or Strong-Water when we have spent and wearied our selves with hard Labor or Exercise which is done as for avoiding
the fist c. With many more evils anger is accompanied all of which though they fall not out to every one that is angry yet some do and more or less as it is it inclines us to all these had in Remembrance may be a Motive to refrain that which is the cause of them that 's one help against it Another is to observe them that be angry for in others we can better judge of the unseemliness of it then in our selves to whom we cannot but be partial neither are we capable Judges in our Fits when we are wholy possest by it But observing it in others we may thus reason Shews this so unhansome in my Freind sure it doth so in me also Doth it impair his Health so will it mine also Doth it un-man him doubtless it also transforms me into a Beast Thirdly Consider we that the more we enure our selves to it the stronger habit we get and the apter we shall alwaies be upon every slight occasion to fall into it Fourthly 'T is to be thought upon that the frequency thereof makes it loose its effect and become wholly neglected by them upon whom we spend it It ought to be ultimately not against Persons but Things not against Men but Vices so that we ought even in our Angers to give some manifest of a desire of good to the Person we are angry withall as of Reclaimer of his amendment and altering his Course so will it both make the deeper Impression and do our selves less Hurt Sixthly Let us call to mind the Patience Long-sufferance and Humility for Anger is frequently an effect of Pride enjoyned us in Scripture Let us remember how unspeakable it is in God towards us And lastly How Christ the Son of God and God who might have had Legions of Angels to have defended him and who indeed wanted nothing had he pleased to have defended himself yet did he patiently submit himself to Rebukes Scorns and false Accusations to be hurryed from place to place to be bound with Cords whipt spit on buffeted Crowned with sharp Thorns to carry his own Cross he was to suffer on to be extended forth and nayled thereon to have his Sides pierced his Sinews stretched and at last suffer death and all this not for his own but even his Enemies offences for whom he prayed whilst he was Tormented O let us all lay this to heart and let it sink into us so shall it doubtless be a means to restrain those light and customary Heats and animosities that take fire at the least motion and upon the slightest occasion and last of all as we respect our own Happiness even here in this World in Body in Mind let us wisely pass by Mistakes Affronts Injuries at least wise let us assay all gentle means first of amity and Love of winning upon our Adversaries by all Christian wayes that can be thought on and when no other means will serve then to shew our Anger for our own defence only and preservation Let us consider that t is easy to begin strife but hard to allay it The Beginning thereof saith Solomon is as one that openeth the Waters therefore ere the contention be medled with leave off One means more there is and that is Diversion Octavian was advised to say over the A. B. C. before he exprest his Anger in word or deed for giving some pause thereunto it many times vanishes Reason then as I conceive having some space to work and rowse it self which at other times is surprized If I were not Angry said Architus Tarentinus to his Bailiff I would now beat thee This man had well Learned his Lesson and may be our Master The reading of good Books is likewise a great Help to make us Masters of our Passions especially the Scripture For thereby the mind will be furnished with sound Knowledge and Reason instructed and made ready against all its Temptations and assaults Of Love THis in its extream is a Passion seldom heard of in our times the two Catholick Vices Pride and Covetousness having almost swallowed up this Affection the sincerity whereof as it relates either to Freindship or Marriage is now converted into Conveniency and terminated not in another as it ought to be but in our selves I distinguish it into 3. kinds The 1. Godlike which is a knitting of the Soul to God and manifesting by his blessed example without any indirect ends Sine serâ sine fuco without deceit or without dissimulation a Sympathetical Spirit and Affection towards one another This is uncapable of extremity in its utmost extent being but our Duty The 2. is Humane towards particular Persons as Parents Wife Children Friend or Things towards the first it ought also to be Hearty Constant begotten continued for their sakes not our own but yet bounded with a due submission to the Will of God That to Things is not to be fixt but apt to change and alteration because the Things themselves are so which we are to love The Apostle saith As if we loved them not The 3. is that which is shewn between one Sex to another and ends in the Conjugal This is naturally imprest upon us and is to be carefully preserved from Dotage and Lust when it takes fire from the last 't is never permanent but soon cloyes it self and Vanishes upon satiety Reason is here excluded and that hath made so many happily seeming Marriages soon vanish into those which are full of Bitterness and pâ—ssionate Distemper Love therefore is to Begin as it ought to Continue or rather to encrease by continuance and so it ever doth when Vertue and sweetness of Disposition is its Foundation and not Wealth or Beauty which are good Concomitants but bad Principles A Vertuous Mind an unblemished Life and Conversation a Healthful Body these are me thinks essentially necessary in man and Woman to make a Marriage Happy the other two are Ornamentals that adde to its perfection but not to its essence For Dotage which is an Impotent and unreasonable placing of the Affection upon another which many times brings all the Faculties of Soul and Body into a Languishment or Consumption and sometime by Summoning and uniting all its spirits in the Brain causes Phrensies Madness and divers other Maladies For this I say neither Reason nor Physick hath yet found any Remedy it being neither capable of Councel nor within the reach or power of any Medicine Diversion is by the Wisest esteemed the best Remedy Change of Objects devides it and so lessens it Indeed Stratagem and Invention hath most share in this Cure which must be assisted by Season and Opportunity I shall end this with one only Caution That Parents hazard not the destruction of their Children by not giving their consents to those Marriages where the Hearts are United and Vertue is the Bond and the defect or cause of obstacle is only inequality of Birth or Estate Of Greif and Sadness
Inspection Thou art also to know the Operations of the Soul as it is distributed in and makes use of several parts of the Body whether they be Nutritive Generative Vital Animal Sensitive Motive The particulars contained in the Diaetetical part thou hast in this Treatise Thou art likewise to have exact knowledg of all diseases of the whole Body and of every Part Their Nature Causes Differences Symptoms or concomitant Accidents and Signs as well to know them by as also to fore-know their issues and events Their usual Mutations Duplications sudden and many times frightful Alterations which will distract the Practitioner who to save his credit will then also venter but with extreamest danger to the Patient But above all and that which is most necessary is right knowledge of the manner and method of Curing which comprehends all the operations in Physick and Surgery which are exceeding numerous and require a large Discourse but to reckon up and explain And as one requisite hereunto thou oughtest to be furnished with the Knowledge of all Plants and Trees at least that are in use in Physick Their Roots Stems Barks Leaves Flowers Berries Fruits Seeds excresences to know all Forraign Drugs Gums Rozens juyces liquid and inspissated all medicinal Animals their parts and Excrements Whatsoever the Sea affords for Medecine or the bowels of the Earth as Mettals and Minerals All these ought well to be known both how to choose them to prepare mix and compound them To make of them distilled Waters Simple and Compound Conserves Syrups Loches Powders Electuaries Pills Trochisks Diet Drinks Apozems Potions of all sorts proper to each body part disease Vomits Iuleps Ptisans Opiats Epithems Lotions Fomentations Baths Liniments Oyntments Cataplasmes Cerats Plaisters Vesicatories Colliries for the Eyes Caps for the Head Gargarismes for the Mouth and Throat Dentifrices for the Teeth Errhina for the Nose Sneezing-powders Suffiments Pessaries Suppositories Clysters and Injections These of diverse kinds with many more which for brevity sake I omit a Physician ought to be well seen in and acquainted with but principally to know the proper time and season of using them which is not to be done but with much study education therein great helps and experience and yet without that all Medicines though in themselves they be {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} as the hand of God to cure diseases prove like a sword in a mad mans hand by which instead of doing the Physicians work Work is made for the Physician I intend not by this to affright any from the acquisition of the Medicinal Art but rather to let the World see what is requisite thereunto that it may understand how far short of being Physicians such men are who upon the bare stock of a few Receipts and knowing how churlishly to Purge and Vomit with three or four more common Operations in Physick presently and with confidence fall to the practise therefore As if a man should boast himself a good Painter because he knows how to mix Colours but knows not what belongs to Symmetry and Proportion Sed quo non mortalia pectora cogit Auri Sacra Fames It were better their need or Avarice did prompt them to venter upon some other subject then the body of man Thus much I thought good to insert in this place to shew the difference between what is requisite to the preserving preserving thy Health and restoring it The first is properly thy own work the last is the Physicians unless thou givest thy time to make thy self such But to return from whence I doubt I have too long digressed They who resolve to continue their course of life without care or consideration of their Health guided by their appetite and not their understandings will receive little or no benefit by this Treatise however Liberavi animam meam I have done my duty and therein receive satisfaction Others who are more careful of themselves will I question not hence gain some light and benefit to whom I offer this but not impose it prefer it in my own understanding as best but submit it to theirs and wish them to be perswaded as the reason thereof proves efficacious all that I desire is that they would not be prejudiced by Custom and long received opinion wch in some places it thwarts but preseinding from that give their understandings leave clearly to examine and so judge and Practise It is like my attempt herein may set others at work I shall be glad of that also and of whatsoever else may tend to the Helath and Commodity of Mankind Studious whereof is Thy Friend and Servant H. Brook From my Study in More-Feilds this 16. of April 1650. To my Freind the Author a Truly Learned and Expert Physician WHat mean you Sir This will undo Physicians and Surgeons too They live by Sickness not by Health Disorder brings them all their Wealth If this take place you ne'r will ride On foot cloth with a Groom by your side This is as if a Draper should Invent a neat spun cloth that would Seven Ages last and after be Fresh and fit for Livery Pray timely think on 't and Recall This Book that will undo us all You rather should excess invite And raise decayed Appetite Cry down all Rules and Freedom praise The Rich t' Apicius Diet raise Teach Curious Sauces and advance The Mysteries of Intemperance Make Rabelaies in our English shine Erect a School for Aretine That to encrease Physicians gain The Rich mans Gout and P may raign Catarrhes and Palsies and the new Disease that lately scapt so few Or think you that egregious Race Of Leeches that yet spring apace From every Trade will find you more Work then diseases did before Or then those Books which teach new skill How with good Medicines men to kill But your diffusive Soul that still Studies the World with truth to fill And useful Knowledge shews a way Would mankind but your Rules obey To scape those Quick sands and live free From need of Drug or Surgery Reader THis little Manuel will prove A House Physician that in Love To each mans Health will ready stay Without his Fee and every day Councel sound and plain impart Drawn from surest Rules of Art Where by an undisturbed Health Thou mayst enjoy the Crown of Wealth But I detain you from a Feast At which you long to be a Guest Read and Practise so you 'l find In a Sound Body a Sound Mind Sam. Blaicklock Chirurgus The Table OF Aire 55 Which the best Aire ibid. Helps against bad Aire 58 Sharp Aires 60 Corruption of Aire 62 Change of Aire by Winds 63 Of Native Aires 71 Sudden alteration of Aire bad 72 Caution about Aire 74 Of Anger 237 Its Discommodities ibid. Remedies against Anger 228 B. No Breakfast 123 C. Benefits of Continency 185 Costiveness to be prevented 52 Of Custom 34 Customs how to be altered 35 D. Rules for Drink 133 Effects of Drunkenness 136 Of Dotage 240. E. Of